Adolph Botnick

Adolph Ira "A. I." "B" Botnick (August 17, 1924 – October 5, 1995) was a Jewish activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Botnick often sought to minimize violence in race relations. Botnick was a target of an assassination plot by Byron De La Beckwith, who had previously assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. The assassination was prevented when De La Beckwith was arrested for transporting a bomb across state lines.

Botnick was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended Gulf Coast Military Academy and served in the army in World War II, and his unit fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Afterward, he graduated from Louisiana State University.

Botnick was recruited by the Anti-Defamation League in 1961 and took a position in their Atlanta, Georgia office. In 1964 he became the Anti-Defamation League's regional director for the region of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas and held this position until his retirement in 1992.

He died at the age of 71.

He worked for the Anti-Defamation League and is the namesake for the Anti-Defamation League's annual A. I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award Dinner.