December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback

On May 10, 1837 in Macon, GA Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, or P.B.S. as he preferred, was born the son of Eliza Stewart, an enslaved woman, and William Pinchback, her white master.

P.B.S. Pinchback and his mother were freed when he was a young child and moved to Ohio, where they lived together until his mother died when he was just 12 years old. He then traveled back to the South and found work as a cabin boy.

In 1862, Pinchback moved to Louisiana and enlisted in the Union Army, encouraging other African Americans to do the same. After the war ended, he joined the Louisiana Republican Party and, in 1868, was elected to the state legislature and chosen as President Pro Tempore of the Senate. When Louisiana’s African American lieutenant governor, Oscar Dunn, died in 1871, Pinchback was automatically promoted to lieutenant governor.

In the 1872 presidential election, Louisiana Governor Henry Clay Warmouth, a white Republican, supported Democrat Horace Greeley in his presidential race against Republican Ulysses Grant. Following President Grant’s election, the Louisiana state senate impeached Governor Warmouth, leaving Lt. Governor Pinchback to take over the office.

On December 9, 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback was sworn in as Governor of Louisiana, becoming the first black governor in United States history. He occupied the office for just 43 days, until a special election was held and Republican William Pitt Kellog elected and sworn in. The United States would not see its first elected black governor for another 118 years, when Douglas Wilder was sworn in as Governor of Virginia in 1990. (see April 13, 1873)

see Joe Namath for more

December 9, 1965: the government classified Joe Namath 4F and ineligible for the draft. The Army conceded that “it may seem illogical” that he should be found unfit, but as a pro football player Namath had doctors and trainers close by at every game and practice. “In the military service, these conditions wold not necessarily be present.” (Vietnam, see Dec 16; BH, see January 3, 1966; Ali, see February 17, 1966)

Jim Peck

December 9, 1983: Jim Peck was a pacifist and civil rights activist. A participant in the 1961 Freedom Rides (see May 4, 1961), he was savagely beaten by racists in Anniston, Alabama on May 14, 1961. It was later revealed that the FBI knew in advance of the plan to attack the Freedom Riders but did nothing to prevent the attack. Peck sued and, on this day, the FBI was ordered to pay him $25,000 in damages. (see September 1984)

King assassination

December 9, 1999: a Memphis jury handed down a verdict agreeing with the King family that the 1968 assassination of the civil rights leader was a conspiracy rather than the act of a lone gunman. After four weeks of testimony and one hour of deliberation, the jury in the wrongful-death case found that Loyd Jowers as well as ”others, including governmental agencies” had been part of a conspiracy. The jury awarded the King family the damages they had sought: $100, which the family says it will donate to charity. According to the Los Angeles Times, “The trial relied heavily on second- and third-hand accounts, and the judge and jurors were often seen dozing off during testimony.” John Campbell, an assistant district attorney in Memphis who was part of the criminal trial against James Earl Ray, said: “I’m not surprised by the verdict. This case overlooked so much contradictory evidence that never was presented, what other option did the jury have but to accept Mr. Pepper’s version?” Gerald Posner, an investigative journalist who wrote the book Killing the Dream in which he makes the case that Ray is the killer, said after the verdict: “It distresses me greatly that the legal system was used in such a callous and farcical manner in Memphis. If the King family wanted a rubber stamp of their own view of the facts, they got it.” (see August 29, 2000)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.”

December 9, 1948: in an early stage of what would become a long struggle over religion in public schools, the New York Regents, the governing body of the state public schools, drafted a nondenominational prayer to be read in the schools. The nondenominational prayer was an attempted political compromise: a “prayer” to satisfy those who wanted a mandatory school prayer, but a nondenominational one that hopefully would not offend different religious groups.

The ACLU did not accept the compromise — because a prayer is still a prayer — and protested the “Regents’ Prayer” on this day.

On June 25, 1962, the US Supreme The Court found the New York Regents’ prayer to be unconstitutional. Justice Hugo Black wrote the opinion for the 6-1 majority: “We think that by using its public school system to encourage recitation of the Regents’ Prayer, the State of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment Clause. There can, of course, be no doubt that New York’s program of daily classroom invocation of God’s blessings…in the Regents’ Prayer is a religious activity” (see April 28, 1952)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the Cold War

Nuclear and Chemical Weapons

December 9, 1950: Harry Gold–who had confessed to serving as a courier between Klaus Fuchs, a British scientist who stole top-secret information on the atomic bomb, and Soviet agents–was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his crime. Gold’s arrest and confession led to the arrest of David Greenglass, who then implicated his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Gold was paroled in May 1965, after serving just under half of his sentence. He died in 1972 in Philadelphia, age 62. (see Dec 16)

John Birch Society

December 9, 1958: in Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H.W. Welch, Jr., established the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceived to be the extensive infiltration of communism into American society. Welch named the society in honor of John Birch, considered by many to be the first American casualty in the struggle against communism.

In 1945, Birch, a Baptist missionary and U.S. Army intelligence specialist, was killed by Chinese communists in the northern province of Anhwei. (see January 1, 1959).

Minuteman II missile

December 9, 1993: the US Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty. [UPI article] (see January 14, 1994)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

December 9 Music et al

The Beatles/Aldershot

December 9, 1961: The Beatles played to 18 people in Aldershot. (see Dec 13)

Beatles/Cavern recording

December 9, 1962: George Martin wanted to record their first album live at the Cavern in front of the group’s home audience. He visited the Liverpool club to consider the technicalities. Time constraints forced him to record at the EMI studio. (Beatles, see January 1, 1963; album, see February 11, 1963)

Beatles/Anthology

December 9, 1995: The Beatles’ Anthology 1 was the #1 album in the U.S. It was their sixteenth number-one album. It also set a record for the longest time span for a run of number-one albums: 31 years and 10 months between Meet the Beatles and Anthology 1. (see March 4, 1996)

The Supremes

December 9, 1963, The Supremes released their first album, Meet the Supremes. The earliest recordings on this album, done between fall 1960 and fall 1961, feature the Supremes as a quartet composed of teenagers Diane Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin. Martin left the group in early 1962 to start a family, and the others continued as a trio. Martin is not pictured on the album because of her departure earlier in the year; although her vocals are present on the majority of the recordings on the album (as well as other recordings made during that period), she never received any royalties from album sales. Martin did have a speaking part on the song “He’s Seventeen.”

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

December 9, 1961: Tanganyika independent from United Kingdom. (see 1960s Independents for expanded chronology)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS & Ryan White

December 9, 1971: Ryan White born at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Kokomo, Indiana to Jeanne Elaine Hale and Hubert Wayne White, 3-day old Ryan White is diagnosed with severe Hemophilia A. (see Ryan White for expanded chronology)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

Iran

December 9, 1984: a five-day-old hijacking ended as Iranian security men seized control of the plane, which was parked at Tehran airport.(NYT article) (see March 16, 1985)

Thomas Wendell Smith

December 9, 2013, : Thomas Windell Smith, 24, pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy against rights of citizens. During his plea, Smith admitted that he and co-conspirator Steven Joshua Dinkle agreed to burn a cross together in order to intimidate black residents.(see January 23, 2014)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran–Contra Affair

December 9, 1992: Clair George, former CIA spy chief, was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress about the Iran-Contra affair.Before George was sentenced, the first President George HW Bush granted a full and unconditional pardon to him. (see Dec 24)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Hawaii/Same-sex marriage

December 9, 1999: The Hawaii Supreme Court, bound by the new restrictive constitutional amendment, dismisses the couples’ challenge and leaves standing the denial of marriage. (see Dec 20)

Native Americans

December 9, 2016: Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree overruled the tribe’s ban on same-sex marriage.  His opinion specifically said that two sections of the 2004 Cherokee Nation Marriage and Family Act were unconstitutional.

Hembree said the tribe’s constitution protected certain fundamental rights, among them the right to marry.

“The constitution affords these rights to all Cherokee citizens, regardless of sexual orientation and the Cherokee Nation, or any subdivision, must recognize validly issued civil unions, same-sex marriages, and same-sex domestic partnerships from other jurisdictions,” the opinion said. [CNN article] (LGBTQ, see Dec 22; NA, see Dec 29)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Syrian Refugees

December 9, 2015: U.S District Judge David Godbey dismissed a request by Texas shortly after it was filed seeking a restraining order to block the imminent entry into the state of nine Syrian refugees, saying the evidence presented was “largely speculative hearsay.”

This was the second attempt by Texas to seek immediate court help to halt the refugees, with Texas saying the U.S. government had not met its legal obligation to consult with local officials about the resettlement.

“The (Texas) Commission has failed to show by competent evidence that any terrorists actually have infiltrated the refugee program, much less that these particular refugees are terrorists intent on causing harm,” said Godbey.  [Reuters article] (see February 9, 2016)

NYC Voting Rights

December 9, 2021: the New York City Council approved a measure that would allow for noncitizens who were legal residents to vote in local elections.

Under the bill, individuals who had lived in the city for at least 30 days and were legal permanent residents in the US — including green card holders, individuals with workers permits and DACA holders — would be allowed to vote in city elections, including mayor, public advocate, borough president and city council.  [CNN article] (next VR, see  January 19, 2022; next IH, see March 12, 2022)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

December 9, 2019:  the US Supreme Court rejected a challenge to a Kentucky law requiring doctors to describe ultrasound images and play fetal heartbeat sound to abortion seekers.

Kentucky argued the law is “simple and straightforward,” calling it part of an” informed-consent process.” The law, Kentucky said, “does nothing more than require that women who are considering an abortion be provided with information that is truthful, non-misleading and relevant to their decision of whether to have an abortion.”

The court rejected the case without comment or noted dissent by any of the justices.

Challengers, including an abortion clinic, argued that the law forced patients to see the images even if she didn’t want to, and that it violated doctors’ First Amendment rights. [CNN story] (next WH, see Dec 13)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

December 9, 2021: the National Labor Relations Board announced that employees at a Buffalo-area Starbucks store voted to form a union, making it the only one of the nearly 9,000 company-owned stores in the United States to be organized and notching an important symbolic victory for labor at a time when workers across the country were expressing frustration with wages and working conditions.

The result represented a major challenge to the labor model at the giant coffee retailer, which had argued that its workers enjoy some of the best wages and benefits in the retail and restaurant industry and don’t need a union. [NYT article] (next LH, see April 1, 2022)

December 9 Peace Love Art Activism

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Cordelia Stevenson Raped/Lynched

December 8, 1915: a white mob in New Hope near Columbus, Mississippi, raped and lynched a Black woman named Cordelia Stevenson and left her body hanging for days near a railroad track to terrorize Black residents.

Though the local police had concluded the her son had not been involved in a barn fire months earlier and released Mrs Stevenson and her husband, on December 8, a white mob gathered outside the Stevenson home, forced their way into the house while the couple slept, and kidnapped Mrs. Stevenson. The mob raped and lynched her, then left Mrs. Stevenson’s naked, brutalized body hanging by the railroad track for two days, where she was visible to thousands of people traveling by train.

No one was ever held responsible for her death. [EJI article] (next BH, see March 24, 1916; next Lynching, see May 15, 1916 or see AL2  for expanded Lynching chronology)

Birth of a Nation

On December 8, 1922 New York City officials yielded to protests and denied a permit to the film Birth of a Nation. D.W. Griffith’s film is one of the most important and controversial films in American movie history. It is important in the development of film as an art form because of its many innovations in cinematography and narrative storytelling techniques. The film was and still is controversial because it embraced the racist view of the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, portraying African-Americans as savages and fools, while presenting the Ku Klux Klan as heroes. The film was protested by civil rights activists when it opened in New York City on March 3, 1915, but it was not banned at that time. (see Dec 12)

Gibbs v. Board of Education

December 8, 1936: the NAACP won in its case, Gibbs v. Board of Education, against the state of Maryland, ensuring that white and black teachers were paid equally.

News Music/Strange Fruit

In 1937: originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol (1903 – 1986) under the pseudonym of Lewis Allan [the names of his two biological children, neither of whom survived infancy [(http://www.ladyday.net/stuf/vfsept98.html)]. Put to music, Billie  Billie Holiday’s recording made it to No. 16 on the charts in July 1939.  Time Magazine denounced the song as “a prime piece of musical propaganda” for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).” [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACstrangefruit.htm] (BH &  NM, see In 1938)

 Southern trees bear strange fruitBlood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the popular trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to dropHere is a strange and bitter cry

 Lyrics: http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/billie-holiday-lyrics/strange-fruit-lyrics.html Billie Holliday video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

the Gutter Twins (2005) video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SXeA2QDz9A  (next BH, see Nov 17)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

December 8, 1955: Black taxi drivers charged ten cents per ride, a fare equal to the cost to ride the bus, in support of the boycott. When word of this reached city officials on December 8, the order went out to fine any cab driver who charged a rider less than 45 cents. (BH, see January 3, 1956;see Boycott for much more)

Samuel Younge, Jr

December 8, 1966: Marvin Segrest, tried for the second degree murder of Samuel Younge, Jr, (see January 3, 1966) was found not guilty by an all-white jury. (see Dec 26)

LA Black Panthers Headquarters

December 8, 1969: four days after the assassination of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in Chicago, Illinois, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) set out to serve a warrant to search Party headquarters at 41st Street and Central Avenue for stolen weapons. Though the warrant was obtained on the basis of false information provided by the FBI, police used it as the basis to ambush about twelve Party members inside the building.

More than 200 police officers, including the newly militarized Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team descended on the headquarters, armed with 5000 rounds of ammunition, gas masks, a helicopter, a tank, and a military-grade grenade.

The Party members inside resisted the raid and surrendered only after holding off police forces for approximately five hours. In the end, three officers and six members of the Black Panther Party were wounded during this attack. [EJI article] (next BH & BP, see January 13, 1970)

Nelson Mandela

December 8, 2012: Mandela was hospitalized for nearly 19 days, being treated for pneumonia and having an operation for gallstones. (see December 5, 2013)

137 SHOTS

December 8, 2015: U.S. District Judge James Gwin rejected a reverse-discrimination lawsuit in which eight white Cleveland police officers and one Hispanic officer claimed the city placed them on longer stints of restricted duty than their black counterparts.

Gwin concluded that the officers produced “no evidence” to support their claims. He wrote that what the group described as evidence were just “short excerpts from dated testimony in unrelated cases that consist of individuals giving general discussion about race” and the city. Records show that the length of restricted duty more depends on the facts of a case than the color of an officer’s skin. (see 137 shots for much more)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

December 8, 1886: in the wake of the Haymarket incident (May 4, 1886), labor organizer Samuel Gompers set up the American Federation of Labor (AFL), a collection of trade unions that will play a major role in the labor movement throughout the century to come. (see Dec 11)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Matilda Josyln Gage

December 8, 1893: at a meeting of the Woman’s Suffrage League, Gage reacted to a statement made by the Rev Dr Parkhurst about women turned out to get a night’s lodging—that they might “starve or freeze on the streets,” with his consent, if it only brought them to a proper state of repentance. Gage stated, “For every 2,000 women who are turned homeless and friendless into the cold wintry streets, with every man’s hand against them , there are 20,000 men as guilty who are stting in comfortable homes, surrounded with luxury, who pose as honored and respected members of society.”

In 1895 Gage contributed to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible, writing interpretations of three Biblical passages pertinent to women. TWB is a major criticism of standard biblical interpretation from a radical feminist point of view. (see Gage for expanded chronology)

NY State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

In 1897 Josephine Dodge founded the New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. Dodge was the first president, the NAOWS believed that woman suffrage would decrease women’s work in communities and their ability to effect societal reforms. Active on a state and federal level, the group also established a newsletter, Woman’s Protest( reorganized as Woman Patriot in 1918), that was a bellwether of antisuffrage opinion. In 1918 the NAOWS moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C., where it operated until its disbandment following the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Woman Patriot continued to be published through the 1920s, generally opposing the work of feminists and liberal women’s groups.founded. (NY State Library link) (next Feminism, see  March 18, 1898; VR, see April 25, 1898)

Feminism & Voting Rights

December 8, 1913: a delegation of 94 suffragists, led by Anna Howard Shaw of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA), met with President Woodrow Wilson in the White House on this day to discuss women’s suffrage. Wilson told them that he would not support women’s suffrage because it had not been  mentioned in the 1912 Democratic Party Platform. At the meeting, he refused to give his personal view on the topic. Even while governor of New Jersey (1910–1912), Wilson had avoided taking a public position on the issue. (see March 3, 1914)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Japanese troops in Vietnam

December 8, 1941:  the United States declared war on Japan which already had 50,000 troops in Vietnam with the consent of the Vichy French government. (see April 1943)

Nixon firm on pullout

December 8, 1969: President Richard Nixon said that the Vietnam War was coming to a “conclusion as a result of the plan that we have instituted.” [Nixon had announced at a conference in June that the US would be following a new program he termed “Vietnamization.“] (see Dec 15)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

December 8, 1941: Attorney-General Biddle called for tolerance in dealings with the many Japanese here “of unquestioned loyalty.” (see Internment for expanded chronology)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

December 8, 1947: McCollum v. Board of Education—Attorney  Walter F. Dodd represented Vashti McCollum at the supreme court and John L. Franklin again served as counsel for the State of Illinois. (see Dec 12)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

“Atoms For Peace”

December 8, 1953: at the United Nations, President Eisenhower gave his “Atoms For Peace” speech to the General Assembly at the United Nations. The Atoms For Peace program goal was to supply equipment and information to schools, hospitals, and research institutions within the U.S. and throughout the world. (NYT article) (see January 12, 1954)

Norman D. Mayer

December 8, 1982: Norman D. Mayer, demanding a nationwide debate on nuclear weapons, threatened to blow up the Washington Monument with explosives he claimed were inside a van.

After a 10-hour standoff, law enforcement officers shot Mayer dead. There were no explosives. (NYT article) (see September 26, 1983)

Reagan/Gorbachev and warhead reduction

December 8, 1987:  President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles. (CW, see December 3, 1989; NN, see April 7, 1989)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

December 8 Music et al

Beach Boys

December 8, 1961: Candix Records( X records) a small label based in Los Angeles, released The Beach Boys first single ‘Surfin‘ . It peaked at number 75 in the US; it was never released in the UK.

On the strength of the song’s performance in the Southern California market, Capitol Records signed the group. Other surfing songs would follow: ‘Surfin’ Safari,’ ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.,’and ‘Surfer Girl.’ (see June 4, 1962)

John Lennon

December 8, 1980: John Lennon shot and killed. (see Too Soon Gone) (next Beatles, see January 22, 1981)

Grateful Dead

December 8, 1995: four months after Jerry Garcia’s death, the Grateful Dead announced they were breaking up.  (see May 31, 2017)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Clinton Impeachment

Betty Currie

December 8, 1997: Betty Currie, Clinton’s personal secretary, asked presidential pal Vernon Jordan to help Monica Lewinsky find a job in New York.

Witnesses

December 8, 1998: in a daylong session, President Clinton’s lawyers and three panels of witnesses testified on the president’s behalf, saying Clinton’s behavior does not warrant impeachment.  (see Clinton for expanded chronology)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

December 8, 2009:Ohio prison officials executed a death row inmate, Kenneth Biros, with a one-drug intravenous lethal injection, a method never before used on a human. The new method, which involved a large dose of anesthetic, akin to how animals are euthanized, had been hailed by most experts as painless and an improvement over the three-drug cocktail used in most states, but it is unlikely to settle the debate over the death penalty.

While praising the shift to a single drug, death penalty opponents argued that Ohio’s new method, and specifically its backup plan of using intra-muscular injection, has not been properly vetted by legal and medical experts and that since it has never been tried out on humans before, it is the equivalent of human experimentation. But the United States Supreme Court refused to intervene and the procedure went largely as planned. [NYT article] (see Dec 18)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Arctic Climate Change

December 8, 2020: scientists at a conference of the American Geophysical Union said that during 2020 the Arctic had continued its unwavering shift toward a new climate as the effects of near-record warming surged across the region, shrinking ice and snow cover and fueling extreme wildfires.

“The story is unambiguous: the transformation of the Arctic to a warmer, less frozen and biologically changed region is well underway,” the scientists said in an annual assessment of the region. [NYT article] (next EI, see January 11, 2021)

Federal Carbon Footprint

December 8, 2021:  President Biden on set in motion a plan to make the federal government carbon neutral, ordering federal agencies to buy electric vehicles, to power facilities with wind, solar and nuclear energy, and to use sustainable building materials.

In a series of executive orders, Mr. Biden directed the government to transform its 300,000 buildings, 600,000 cars and trucks, and use its annual purchases of $650 billion in goods and services to meet his goal of a federal government that stops adding carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2050. [NYT article] (next EI, see Dec 14)

December 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

December 8, 2023: U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw prohibited the practice of separating migrant children from their families for eight years following an settlement that will allow migrant children and their families, who were separated at the US-Mexico border, to be reunited.

The “Mrs. L” deal, the result of a lawsuit against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other government agencies, covered those affected by the 2018 Trump administration policy to separate children from their caregivers if they could not provide documentation at the border.

The separation of thousands of families “represents one of the most shameful chapters in the history of our country,” Sabraw said moments before approving the settlement. [Jurist article] (next IH, see March 8, 2024)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

 BLACK HISTORY

December 7, 1874: during the Reconstruction era that followed Emancipation and the Civil War, African American Mississippians made significant strides toward political equality. Despite the passage of black codes designed to oppress and disenfranchise black people in the South, many African American men voted and served in political office on federal, state, and local levels.

Peter Crosby, a former slave, was elected to Sheriff in Vicksburg, Mississippi – but shortly after taking office, Crosby was indicted on false criminal charges and removed from his position by a violent white mob.

On December 7, 1874, the “Vicksburg Massacre” occurred, in which whites attack and killed many black citizens who had organized to try to help Crosby regain his office. The violence prompted President Ulysses S. Grant to finally send troops to mediate the conflict. Crosby regained his position as Sheriff soon after, through the use of force and the courts.

In early 1875, J.P. Gilmer, a white man, was hired to serve as Crosby’s deputy. After a disagreement, Crosby tried to have Gilmer removed from office. Gilmer responded by shooting Crosby in the head on June 7, 1875. Gilmer was arrested for the attempted assassination, but never brought to trial. Crosby survived the wound but never made a full recovery, and had to serve the remainder of his term through a representative white citizen.

The violence and intimidation tactics utilized by white Mississippians intent on restoring white supremacy soon enabled forces antagonistic to the aims of Reconstruction and racial equality to regain power in Mississippi. (see March 1, 1875)

William Wardley Lynched

December 7, 1896: William Wardley, a Black man, was lynched by an armed mob of white Irondale residents. That day, Mr. Wardley, along with two companions, attempted to purchase apples from a local grocery store. The merchant refused to accept Mr. Wardley’s money because he assumed it was counterfeit..

Based on this accusation, a mob that included a local minister and a police constable pursued Mr. Wardley and his companions before fatally shooting Mr. Wardley. His body was later found along a railroad track a little over a mile outside of town. His two companions survived.

After the lynching of Mr. Wardley, the U.S. Treasury Department investigated the counterfeit claim and proved the money was real. However, the Treasury Department’s report did not mention Mr. Wardley’s death, and white residents continued to maintain the false counterfeit claim to justify the mob’s violent actions. The local press, sympathetic to the mob, reported that Mr. Wardley caused his own death to avoid capture by the authorities. No one was ever held accountable for William Wardley’s lynching. (next BH & next Lynching, see December 10, 1897 or see Never Forget for expanded article)

McLaughlin v. Florida

December 7, 1964: on January 29, 1883 in Pace v. Alabama the U.S. Supreme Court had unanimously ruled that state-level bans on interracial marriage did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

On this date in 1964, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in McLaughlin v. Florida that laws banning interracial sex violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. McLaughlin v. Florida struck down Florida Statute 798.05, which read: “Any negro man and white woman, or any white man and negro woman, who are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the nighttime the same room shall each be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.” While the ruling did not directly address laws banning interracial marriage, it laid down the groundwork for a ruling that definitively did. [EJI article] (see Dec 10)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID & Nelson Mandela

December 7, 1988: Mandela transferred to the Victor Verster Prison Farm, about 50 miles from Cape Town. The South African government said he will not have to return to Pollsmoor Prison. (see July 5, 1989)

Overtown, Miami

December 7, 1989: a jury found William Lozano guilty of manslaughter in the killings of two unarmed black men that set off rioting in the mostly black Overtown section of Miami. The killings, which occurred in January, had  come to symbolize Miami’s ethnic tensions.

The six-member jury returned its verdict at the beginning of the second day of deliberations, rejecting the defendant’s contention that he had fired at the men because their motorcycle, which was being pursued by a patrol car for traffic violations, was about to run him down. (BH, see  January 14, 1990; RR, see June 25, 1991)

BLACK & SHOT

December 7, 2017:  federal Judge David C Norton sentenced Michael T Slager to 20 years in prison and two years of supervised release for fatally shooting Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, during a traffic stop in on April 4, 2015. [NYT article] (see Dec 11)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Women’s Health

Margaret Sanger had ordered a new type of diaphragm (referred to as a pessary) that had been developed in Japan. Custom officials, acting under the 1930 Tariff Act, which included the provisions of the 1873 Comstock Act (March 3, 1873) which outlawed the distribution of birth control information and devices, seized them.

On December 7, 1936, in U.S. v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, the U.S. Court of Appeals held that the ban on birth control devices was “unreasonable” and overturned the ban. Sanger said that the decision “firmly establishes the precedent that contraceptive material may be lawfully admitted into this country and by implication disseminated through the mails in this country if intended for legitimate use. (NYU article) (BC, see January 18, 1939; F, see July 26, 1937)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

World War II

December 7, 1941:Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Canada responded later that day by declaring war on Japan. On December 8, the United States and United Kingdom also declared war on Japan. In response on December 11, Japan’s ally, Germany, declared war on the United States.

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

December 7, 1960: Madalyn Murray (later O’Hair) filed suit in the Superior Court of Baltimore, Maryland, asking the Court to rule that required Bible reading and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in the city’s public schools were unconstitutional. (next Separation, see June 19, 1961; Religion, see June 25, 1962; O’Hair, see February 27 – 28, 1963)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

On December 7, 1962 workers at the Richards Oil Plant in Savage Minnesota forgot to open steam lines that heated oil pipes at the plant. On December 8, these pipes burst in low temperatures and spilled one million gallons of petroleum into the Minnesota River. By January 24, 1963, the Department of Health traced downstream oil back to Richards Oil. Employees claimed only a small leak had occurred.

The Department of Health requested that Richards Oil clean up the oil but could only take action if there was a public health emergency. Richards continued to drain oil until March. (see January 23, 1963)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

Instant replay

December 7, 1963: CBS Sports Director Tony Verna used a system he’d invented to enable a standard videotape machine to instantly replay during the Army-Navy game. It was used only once for a touchdown withTV commentator Lindsey Nelson advising viewers “Ladies and gentle men, Army did not score again!”  (more >>> NPR story)

TTY communication

In 1964: in California, deaf orthodontist Dr. James C. Marsters of Pasadena sent a teletype machine to deaf scientist Robert Weitbrecht, asking him to find a way to attach the TTY to the telephone system. Weitbrecht modified an acoustic coupler and birth to “Baudot,” a code that is still used in TTY communication. (ADA, see July 2, 1964; TM, see April 30)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

December 7 Music et al

Beatles/Empire Theatre

December 7, 1963: perform in their hometown at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre. [I Want to Hold Your Hand > Money > Twist and Shout > With Love From Me to You (instrumental)] (see Dec 10)

“Dominque” the single

December 7, 1963 – January 3, 1964: “Dominque”  by the Singing Nun #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The singing nun was Jeanine Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985) a Belgian nun, and a member (as Sister Luc Gabriel) of the Dominican Fichermont Convent in Belgium.

“Dominque” the album

December 7, 1963 – February 14, 1964 –  the Singing Nun’s The Singing Nun is the Billboard #1 album. (see Jeanine Deckers for expanded story)

Bob Dylan

December 7, 2020: NPR reported that Bob Dylan had sold his entire songwriting catalog — more than 600 songs written over nearly 60 years — to Universal Music Publishing Group, in a deal announced by Universal.

The agreement was first reported by The New York Times, which said that it was worth over $300 million. The deal with Dylan might have been the highest price ever paid for a musician or group’s songwriting rights. (Universal had not disclosed the purchase price.)

For Universal Music Publishing Group, which was owned by the French media giant Vivendi, there was a lot of appeal in owning Dylan’s songwriting rights. The company would collect money any time another musician covers any of those songs and it would earn revenue for allowing the songs to be used in commercials and movies as well as when the songs were streamed, sold commercially on such formats as CDs, or broadcast.

Songwriting rights — that is, ownership of a song’s melody and lyrics — are figured and paid out separately from recording rights. According to Universal, other artists  had recorded Dylan’s songs more than 6,000 times, including such famous versions as Jimi Hendrix’ cover of Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” and Guns N’ Roses’ version of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.”  (next Dylan, see )

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

On December 7,  1972  Apollo 17 blasted off.

On December 11, Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the last people to walk on the moon. They remained on the moon for three days (75 hours). Schmitt was the first scientist-astronaut to land on the moon. (see July 15 – 24, 1975)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

December 7, 1973: the White House can’t explain an 18 1/2 -minute gap in one ohf the subpoenaed tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig said one theory was that “some sinister force” erased the segment. (see Watergate Scandal for expanded chronology)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

December 7, 1978: the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Leonard  Matlovich was unfairly discharged from the military.(LGBTQ, see May 21; Matlovich, see September 9, 1980)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

December 7, 1982: the first execution by lethal injection took place at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Charles Brooks, Jr., convicted of murdering an auto mechanic, received an intravenous injection of sodium pentathol, the barbiturate that is known as a “truth serum” when administered in lesser doses. [NYT article] (see July 26, 1983)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran–Contra Affair

December 7, 1985: President Ronald Reagan met with his national security advisers and approved the major parts of the Iran-Contra affair. CIA Director William Casey also approved the plan, but Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger objected, arguing that it was illegal. They even joked with Reagan that, if anyone went to jail, “visiting hours are on Thursday.” (The Iran-Contra affair involved a complex set of international deals in which President Ronald Reagan and members of his administration violated the law and civil liberties principles.) (see November 3, 1986)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

December 7, 1987: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrived for his summit with President Ronald Reagan. Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, charmed the American public and media by praising the United States and calling for closer relations between the Soviet Union and America. [Politico article] (see Dec 8)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ

December 7, 2002: in a declaration to the United Nations Iraq denied it had weapons of mass destruction. (NYT article) (see January 28, 2003)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Feminism

December 7, 2009: delegates to the founding convention of the National Nurses United (NNU) in Phoenix, Ariz., unanimously endorsed  the creation of the largest union and professional organization of registered nurses in U.S. history.  (Labor, see January 22, 2010; Feminism, see February 23, 2010)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

December 7, 2018: James Alex Fields Jr. was found guilty of killing Heather Heyer when he plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters last year at a “Unite the Right” rally that quickly turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Fields, 21, was convicted on all counts, including first-degree murder in connection to Heyer’s death and five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and one hit and run count for injuring dozens of others with his vehicle.

In addition, Fields — who a former teacher said was fascinated by Nazism and Hitler — was charged with 30 federal hate crimes. He’s been on trial since November for the murder charge and still faces trial on the additional charges. (next T, see Dec 11); Fields, see March 27, 2019)

December 7 Peace Love Art Activism