Judge who ordered UGA desegregation celebrates 100th birthday

MACON - Though he was born in South Carolina, William A. Bootle left a lasting mark on Georgia history. The retired federal judge who ordered the desegregation of the University of Georgia celebrated his 100th birthday Monday. <br> <br> President Coolidge named Bootle U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia in 1928. Twenty-five years later President Eisenhower made him a federal district judge. <br> <br> In 1961, as the civil rights movement grew, Bootle ordered the University of Georgia to admit Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes as the school&#39;s first black students. <br> <br> In response, people in Macon burned an effigy of the judge, and Georgia&#39;s governor threatened to cut the university&#39;s budget. <br> <br> But the threats never deterred Bootle. He ordered the Bibb Transit Company to integrate seating on its buses, and ordered several middle Georgia counties to restore the names of blacks who were removed from voter rolls. <br> <br> When asked if it was ever hard to make those historic decisions, Bootle said ``Once you decide what&#39;s right, the making of it is easy. Right is right.&#39;&#39;