November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Matilda Josyln Gage

November 9, 1882: Gage’s daughter, Maud, married L. Frank Baum in the parlor of the Gage home. Under the influence of his wife and mother-in-law, Baum became an enthusiastic convert to feminism. He was, ”a secure man who did not worry about asserting his masculine authority,” and he was not bothered that Maud had the upper hand in the marriage; in fact he seemed to welcome her take-charge attitude. His feminist beliefs would have a profound effect on his fiction. Nearly all of his child heroes were girls, girls who rely on their own resources and not on the aid, or validation, of men. He thought men who did not support feminist aspirations ”selfish, opinionated, conceited or unjust — and perhaps all four combined,” as he wrote in a newspaper editorial. ”The tender husband, the considerate father, the loving brother, will be found invariably championing the cause of women.”(Feminism, see March 8, 1884; see Gage for expanded story)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

John L Lewis

November 9, 1935: United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.

Joe Hill

In 1936, based on a 1925 poem by Alfred Hayes (1911 – 1985), Earl Robinson (1910 – 1991) wrote the song “Joe Hill” in 1936. Joan Baez has sung the song throughout her career, most notably at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival [at the time of the concert, Baez’s husband, David Harris, was in prison for draft evasion]. (see Dec 30)

SAG-AFTRA Settles

November 9, 2023: the heads of major studios agreed to a tentative new three-year contract with SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, stunt performers, voiceover actors and dancers.

“We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. As of 12:01 a.m. PT on Nov. 9, our strike is officially suspended and all picket locations are closed,” the union said in a statement.

“In a contract valued at over one billion dollars,” it continued, “we have achieved a deal… that includes “above-pattern” minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establishes a streaming participation bonus.” [NPR article] (next LH, see March 5, 2024)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

November 9, 1953: Cambodia independent from France.  (see October 26, 1955)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Emmett Till

November 9, 1955:  returning to Mississippi one last time, Moses Wright and Willie Reed testified before a LeFlore County grand jury in Greenwood, Mississippi. The grand jury refused to indict Milam or Bryant for kidnapping. The two men go free. (BH, see Nov 17; see Emmett Till for expanded story)

PGA

November 9, 1961: the Professional Golfers Association eliminated the “Caucasian” clause from its constitution. (see Nov 17)

George Whitmore, Jr

November 9, 1964: Whitmore’s trial for the attempted rape and assault of Borrero opened in Brooklyn. (When a defendant faces trials for more than one crime, it is a common tactic of prosecutors to try the least serious case first so that, if convicted, the defendant will have a criminal record when he goes to trial for a more serious crime. This will discourage the defendant from taking the stand in the latter trial. If the defendant nonetheless chooses to testify, the prior conviction may be used for impeachment purposes on cross examination. It also may be used against the defendant at sentencing.) (see George Whitmore)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

November 9, 1976: The United Nations General Assembly approved 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa. (see April 27, 1977)

Timothy M. Wolfe resigns

November 9, 2015, Timothy M. Wolfe, the president of the University of Missouri system, announced that he was resigning amid a wave of student protests over the school’s handling of racial tensions. Wolfe announced his resignation as the university’s governing board met in Columbia, the centerpiece of the four-campus system. Wolfe took to the podium before a meeting of the Board of Curators and made the announcement before a room full of reporters and other spectators. The announcement seemed to jar the people in the room. [NYT article] (see January 8, 2016)

Autherine Lucy Foster

November 9, 2018: the University of Alabama announced that it would award an honorary degree to Autherine Lucy. [U of Alabama article] (next BH, see Dec 17; Lucy, see May 3, 2018)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

see November 9 Music et al for more

Beatles

November 9, 1961: The Beatles performed at the Cavern Club at lunchtime. That night they appeared at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool (their final performance at that venue).

This is a major day for The Beatles, although they are unaware of it at the time–in the audience at the Cavern Club show is Brian Epstein, dressed in his pin-stripe suit and seeing The Beatles for the first time. Accompanying Epstein is his assistant Alistair Taylor.

Epstein will recall his first impressions in a 1964 interview: “They were fresh and they were honest, and they had:star quality. Whatever that is, they had it, or I sensed that they had it.” Over the next few weeks, Epstein becomes more and more interested in possibly managing The Beatles and he does a lot of research into just exactly what that would entail. When he speaks with the group’s embittered ex-manager Allan Williams, he is told, “Brian, don’t touch ’em with a fucking barge pole.” Nonetheless, Epstein invites The Beatles to a meeting at his record store on December 3.

James Brown

November 9, 1968: James Brown gave support to the civil rights movement with his song, “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud (Part 1),” which hit number one on the R & B charts for a record sixth straight week.

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

War Protest

November 9, 1965: in New York City, 22-year-old Catholic Worker Movement member Roger Allen LaPorte set himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in protest of the war. Before dying the next day, LaPorte declared, “I’m against wars, all wars. I did this as a religious act.” (NYT article) (see Immolation for expanded story)

Massachusetts v. Laird

November 9, 1970: the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of Massachusetts’s anti-draft law. The state had passed a law which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The 1st Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law. (see Nov 17)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Alcatraz Takeover

 

November 9, 1969: Mohawk Indian Richard Oakes leads an attempt to occupy Alcatraz Island twice in one day. Fourteen Native Americans stay overnight and leave peacefully the following morning.  The video following is a report on the takeover. (see Nov 20)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Jones v. Hallahan

November 9, 1973: The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in Jones v. Hallahan that same-sex couples may not marry. The case came after Marjorie Jones and Tracy Knight applied for and were denied a marriage license in Jefferson County, KY. (see Dec 15)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

Fall of the Berlin Wall

November 9, 1989: East Germany’s communist government allowed all citizens direct passage to the west, rendering the Berlin Wall obsolete. (NYT article) (see USSR for expanded chronology)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

November 9, 1998: a House subcommittee heard from legal experts on whether President Clinton’s behavior in the Lewinsky affair rises to the level of an impeachable offense. (see Clinton for expanded story)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

November 9, 2006: Iraqi health minister reported that 150,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the war — “about three times previously accepted estimates.” (see Dec 2)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Arthur Bremer

November 9, 2007: after 35 years of incarceration, Arthur Bremer (shot George Wallace) was released from prison. His probation ends in 2025.

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Marijuana

November 9, 2015:NJ Governor Chris Christie signed into a law a bill permitting parents to give their sick and disabled children edible medical marijuana at school without putting themselves or educators at risk of arrest. (see March 21, 2016)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

November 9, 2016: Nebraskans voted overwhelmingly to restore the death penalty and nullify the historic 2015 vote by state lawmakers to repeal capital punishment. Rural voters voted to “repeal the repeal” by margins as large as 4-to-1 in counties outside Lincoln and Omaha. (see Dec 13)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

November 9, 2017: scientists across Europe had been puzzling about a concentration of radioactive pollution caused by a nuclide called ruthenium 106.

Official monitors in France and Germany concluded that, based on weather patterns, the contamination detected since late September had emanated from southern Russia or from Kazakhstan.

“The most plausible zone of release lies between the Volga and the Urals,” the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety said. Jean-Marc Peres, the institute’s director, told Reuters that the geographic area could indicate a spillage in Russia or in Kazakhstan. [OWH article]  (N/C, see Nov 13; leak, see Nov 21)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

November 9, 2018: President Trump proclaimed that the illegal entry of immigrants across the southern border of the United States was detrimental to the national interest, spurring tough changes that will deny asylum to all migrants who do not enter through official border crossings.

The proclamation suspended asylum rights for all immigrants who were trying to cross into the United States illegally, though officials said it was aimed primarily at several thousand migrants traveling north through Mexico in caravans.

“The continuing and threatened mass migration of aliens with no basis for admission into the United States through our southern border has precipitated a crisis and undermines the integrity of our borders,” Mr. Trump wrote in the proclamation. [NYT report] (see Nov 19)

November 9 Peace Love Art Activism