April 3, 1955: the American Civil Liberties Union announced it would defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges.
A few weeks earlier, U.S. Customs Department had seized 520 copies of the book arriving from England and arrested its publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti after undercover cops purchased “Howl” at his bookstore. (see Oct 7)
April 3 Music et al
Elvis Presley
Milton Berle Show
April 3, 1956: Elvis Presley performed on “The Milton Berle Show.” The show was broadcast live from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock. Elvis played the songs “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Money, Honey,” and “Blue Suede Shoes.” An estimated 25% of the American population tuned in to hear him. (seeApr 4)
April 3 Music et al
Marcels
“Blue Moon”
From songfacts.com: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart began writing Blue Moon for the 1933 movie musical Hollywood Party, but it was cut from the film.
The following year, it was used in Manhattan Melodrama – starring Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy – where it was performed by Shirley Ross in a nightclub scene. The song was originally called “The Bad in Every Man,” befitting the story of Gable’s kind-hearted criminal, but was rejected by MGM until it was re-worked as “Blue Moon.”
Blue Moon” by the Marcels was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from April 3 – 23, 1961,
John Lennon
April 3, 1973: John Lennon appealed the order to leave the United States by May 21 and sought to show that the Justice Department’s legal arguments in the action against him had made it “not just a John-and-Yoko case” but one where “many cases hinge on the outcome.”
Lennon’s fight to stay in the country will eventually lead to Preident Obama’s Deferred Action Policy. [2016 NPR story] (see “in May”)
April 3, 1851: in 1850, the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act (see September 18, 1850), which sought to force Northern officials to apprehend alleged runaway slaves and ensure their return to slavery in the South. Any official who would “hinder or prevent” the arrest of a runaway slave or “harbor or conceal” a fugitive slave faced a fine of $1000 or six months imprisonment. Captured fugitives – as well as the many free blacks who were erroneously captured under the law as runaway slaves – had no right to a trial by jury and could not defend themselves in court.
In early 1851, Thomas Sims, a slave from Savannah, Georgia, successfully escaped and fled to Boston, Massachusetts, where slavery had been abolished. Only a few weeks later, on April 3, 1851, a United States Marshal and members of the local police force arrested Sims and took him to the federal courthouse. Fearing riots or an escape attempt, authorities surrounded the courthouse with chains and a heavy police force.
The morning after his capture, attorneys for James Potter, the man who purported to own Sims, presented a complaint to the United States Commissioner. After a short proceeding in which several individuals testified that Sims was the slave who had escaped from Potter’s possession, the Commissioner issued an order remanding Sims back to Georgia. Sims sought review from both the Massachusetts Supreme Court and the United States District Court in Boston, but was unsuccessful. On April 12, Sims left Boston and was returned to Savannah, where he promptly received 39 lashes as punishment for seeking freedom. The marshals who escorted Sims to Georgia received praise and a public dinner for their service.
After the Emancipation Proclamation and in the midst of the Civil War, Thomas Sims again escaped from slavery in 1863, this time fleeing Vicksburg, Mississippi, to return to Boston. (BH, see June 21; SR, see Oct 1)
Smith v Allwright
April 3, 1944: the US Supreme Court overturned the Texas state law that authorized the Democratic Party to set its internal rules, including the use of white primaries. The court ruled that the state had allowed discrimination to be practiced by delegating its authority to the Democratic Party. This affected all other states where the party used the rule.
The Democrats had excluded minority voter participation by this means, another device for legal disfranchisement of blacks across the South beginning in the late 19th century.(Oyez article) (BH, see Apr 22; see June 10, 1946)
Thurgood Marshall
April 3, 1960: speaking at Bennett College, NAACP legal counsel Thurgood Marshallurged attendees not to compromise. The protests strengthened after an economic boycott of the two stores was organized by local leaders. (see Greensboro for expanded story)
Military desegregation
April 3, 1962: President Harry Truman had desegregated the U.S. armed services on July 26, 1948. His order did not cover the Reserves or the National Guard, however. The Defense Department on this day corrected that problem with regard to the Reserves and ordered them racially integrated. National Guard units, however, were still not covered. Although some states began integrating National Guard units in 1947, full integration did not come until the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The issue of whether the federal government or the states control state National Guard units arose again in 2013, when several states refused to comply with Pentagon policy that same-sex spouses of military personnel were entitled to military identification cards. (see Apr 9)
“B Day”
April 3, 1963: “B Day” (for Birmingham) marked the beginning of massive civil rights demonstrations protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. The Birmingham campaign was Rev. Martin Luther King’s major project for 1963. King and other leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began a freedom campaign of nonviolent direct action to demand an end to segregation in Birmingham public facilities and employment discrimination in the city. The Birmingham protests became one of the iconic events of the civil rights movement, marked by the use of police dogs and fire hoses against civil rights demonstrators, on May 3, 1963. Images of the protests sparked national and international protest.
The demonstrations led directly to President John F. Kennedy’s nationally televised speech, on June 11, 1963, when he called for a federal civil rights bill. The bill eventually became law on July 2, 1964. (BH, see Apr 4; MLK, see Apr 12)
Viola Liuzzo
April 3, 1965: Mrs C L Wilkins, the mother of Collie Leory Wilkins, one of four men held in connection with the death of Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, told President Johnson that he made it impossible for her son to have a fair trial. (seeLiuzzo for expanded story)
“I Have Been to the Mountaintop”
April 3, 1968: Martin Luther King spoke publicly for the last time. He delivered the “I Have Been to the Mountaintop.” speech at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee. [Text] (see Ap4 4]
Rep John Conyers
April 3, 2001: Rep. John Conyers introduced the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime. The bill died when it failed to advance in the committee. (next BH, see Apr 7; LGBTQ, see March 28, 2002; Byrd & MSM, see April 2, 2004)
April 3, 2015: (from the NYT) nearly 30 years after the Alabama authorities relied on analyses of a handgun and bullets to send him to death row, Anthony Ray Hinton was freed after experts undermined the state’s case.
Hinton’s release from the Jefferson County jail, where he was being held awaiting a new trial that was ordered last year, came close to three decades after a court-appointed lawyer mounted such a feeble defense that the United States Supreme Court ruled it was “constitutionally deficient.”
At the time of Mr. Hinton’s initial trial, his lawyer used a visually impaired civil engineer with little expertise in firearms to rebut prosecutors whose case hinged on linking the handgun found in Mr. Hinton’s home to a string of shootings in and around Birmingham.
Despite pleas by Mr. Hinton’s lawyers, who cited conclusions by newly enlisted specialists, the state refused for years to reconsider the evidence. And so it was not until Friday at 9:30 a.m., one day after a Circuit Court judge ordered his release, that Mr. Hinton exited the jail to hugs, tears and wails of “Thank you, Lord!”
“The State of Alabama let me down tremendously,” Mr. Hinton said in his first interview after his release. “I have no respect for the prosecutors, the judges. And I say that not with malice in my heart. I say it because they took 30 years from me.” (next death penalty, see Apr 29)
April 3, 1896: Havelock Ellis was among the pioneering investigators of psychedelic drugs and the author of one of the first written reports to the public about an experience with mescaline, which he conducted on himself on April 3, 1896. He consumed a brew made of 3 Echinocacti (peyote) in the afternoon of Good Friday alone in his apartment in Temple, London.
During the experience, lasting for about 24 hours, he noted a plethora of extremely vivid, complex, colourful, pleasantly smelling hallucinations, consisting both of abstract geometrical patterns and definite objects such as butterflies and other insects. He published the account of the experience in The Contemporary Review in 1898 (Mescal: A New Artificial Paradise).
The article’s title alludes to an earlier work on the effects of mind-altering substances, the 1860 book Les Paradis artificiels by French poet Charles Baudelaire (containing descriptions of experiments with opium and hashish). (see November 16, 1938)
Elvis Presley
On April 3, 1956: NBC broadcast the Milton Berle Show live from the deck of the USS Hancock while it was docked at the Naval Air Base in San Diego, California. The show was one of the most popular programs on TV. This one starred Esther Williams, Berle’s comedy sidekick, Arnold Stang and the Harry James Orchestra featuring Buddy Rich.
More importantly, Elvis appeared. Afterwards the Elvis Presley Fan Club sent members a 12″ x 18 1/2″ TV/Concert double-sided announcement / promotional handbill from the Colonel to publicly thank Milton Berle for having Elvis perform on his program and to promote the upcoming concerts in San Diego.
Elvis played “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Money, Honey,” and “Blue Suede Shoes.” An estimated 25% of the Americans tuned in to hear him. (see Apr 4)
Howl
April 3, 1957: the American Civil Liberties Union announced it would defend Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl against obscenity charges. (see June 3)
“Blue Moon”
April 3 – 23, 1961: written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, “Blue Moon” by the Marcels #1 Billboard Hot 100.
The song had been a hit twice already in 1949 with by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.
Over the years, “Blue Moon” has been covered by various artists including versions by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Elvis Presley, the Mavericks, Dean Martin, The Supremes, and Rod Stewart.
John Lennon
April 3, 1973: John Lennon appealed of the order to leave the United States by May 21 and sought to show that the Justice Department’s legal arguments in the action against him had made it “not just a John-and-Yoko case” but one where “many cases hinge on the outcome.” (see “in May”)
April 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
April 3, 1965: an American campaign against North Vietnam’s transport system began. In a month-long offensive, Navy and Air Force planes hit bridges, road and rail junctions, truck parks and supply depots. (see April 6)
April 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Technological Milestone
April 3, 1973: in New York City Martin Cooper made the first handheld cellular phone call . (2010 CNN article) (see December 17, 1976)
April 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Symbionese Liberation Army
April 3, 1974: In a fifth tape recording, sent to KSAN radio station 59 days after the kidnapping, Patty Hearst denounces her family and claims allegiance to the S.L.A. She takes the guerrilla name “Tania.” Her family claims she has been brainwashed. (see Patty Hearst for expanded story)
April 3, 2003: U.S. forces seized control of Bagdad’s Saddam International Airport. (see April 9)
April 3 Peace Love Art Activism
LGBTQ
April 3, 2009: the Iowa Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in favor of the freedom to marry in Varnum v. Brien. The ruling went into effect on April 27, and same-sex couples begin marrying. (see April 7)
April 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Environmental Issues
April 3, 2018: the E.P.A. announced that it would reconsider and most likely roll back, Obama-era rules requiring automakers to hit ambitious emissions and mileage standards by 2025. The statement also implied that the Trump administration would take on California’s authority to set its own rules. (see May 1)
Barr Expands Early Release of Inmates at Prisons Seeing More Coronavirus Cases
April 3, 2020: Attorney General William P. Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons to expand the group of federal inmates eligible for early release and to prioritize those at three facilities where known coronavirus cases had grown precipitously, as the virus threatens to overwhelm prison medical facilities and nearby hospitals.
Barr wrote in a memo to Michael Carvajal, the director of the Bureau of Prisons, that he was intensifying the push to release prisoners to home confinement because “emergency conditions” created by the coronavirus have affected the ability of the bureau to function.
He directed the bureau to prioritize the release of prisoners from federal correctional institutions in Louisiana, Connecticut and Ohio, which comprise the bulk of the system’s 91 inmates and 50 staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus. [NYT article] (next C & P, see May 24)
April 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Trump Impeachment
April 3, 2020: NPR reported that President Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.
In a letter to the Senate Intelligence committee chairs, Trump said he “no longer” has the fullest confidence in Atkinson. The letter said the removal will be effective “30 days from today.”
Atkinson first raised concerns about a complaint involving President Trump’s communications with Ukraine, which led to the impeachment inquiry. (next TI, see or see TIA for expanded chronology)
That was the latest detail that surfaced in reporting on the new seven-year collective bargaining agreement which was also expected to remove drug testing requirements for marijuana.
Throughout our history, whether our nation has been at war or not, we have had a military and many of those in the military have served outside the United States
Thus, we have always had veterans and while we support their efforts with huge amounts of money toward deployment, and combat, our record of support afterwards for the wounded and homeless veterans is less stellar.
When World War II began, thousands of young men enthusiastically joined to defeat the Axis powers.
Calvin Graham was one of those young men.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
Enlistment
USS Dakota
On August 16, 1942 Graham enlisted at the Naval Recruiting Station in his hometown of Houston, TX. The age certification, signed by Graham’s mother, showed a birth date of April 3, 1925, making Graham 17.
After boot camp, the Navy sent Graham Pearl Harbor where he was assigned to the USS South Dakota.
Seventy-two days after his enlistment, on October 26, 1942, the USS South Dakota took part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. The ship shot down 26 Japanese planes. Graham’s gun crew accounted for seven of them.
Twenty-one days later, on November 15, 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal, Japanese fire hit USS South Dakota forty-seven times. One explosion threw Calvin down three decks of stairs. Shrapnel tore through his jaw and mouth. In spite of his injuries, he helped pull fellow sailors from danger. Half the ship’s crew of 3,300 were killed or wounded.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
Background
In Texas, Graham had been one of seven children living at home. His father had died in a car accident, and his mother, a hotel maid, had remarried. With an abusive stepfather, Graham and an older brother moved into a cheap rooming house,
He supported himself by selling newspapers and delivering telegrams on weekends and after school. His mother occasionally visited—sometimes to simply sign his report cards at the end of a semester. With the country at war, his newspapers had afforded him the opportunity to keep up on events overseas.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
Hero Calvin Graham
On December 18, 1942, the USS South Dakota returned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for major repairs, The media profiled the crew for their heroic deeds.
Calvin Graham received a Bronze Star for distinguishing himself in combat, as well as a Purple Heart for his injuries, but he couldn’t bask in glory with his fellow crewmen.
But Graham’s ruse was up. It turned out that back in August, Graham and a friend had signed the other’s enlistment papers where it listed “parent’s approval.” Then they tricked a desk clerk on their paper route to leave the desk and they used his notary public’s seal to stamp their papers.”
Now Graham’s mother, having recognized her son in newsreel footage, wrote to the Navy and revealed her son’s true age. She stated that she “did willingly and knowingly sign consent papers and age certificate to the effect that…Graham was born…on [April 3, 1925] whereas…he was born on April 3, 1930.”
Graham returned to Texas and was thrown in a brig at Corpus Christi, Texas, for almost three months.
He had been 12-years-old at enlistment. He was 12-years-old when he saved sailors. He was still 12-years-old.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
April 5, 1943
A string of denials
the Navy cancelled Graham’s enlistment
the Navy denied accrued pay and allowances and travel allowances
the Navy denied credit for his military service (including the more than 4 months foreign service)
the Navy denied mustering out pay
the Navy gave him a dishonorable discharge and revoked his disability benefit
the Navy took back his decorations, including a Purple Heart and Bronze Star
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
Still more denials
On May 26, 1943, Graham requested 36 days’ pay he considered to be due him at the time of his release from the Navy.
Denied.
February 14, 1944, Calvin Graham: Graham filed an application with the Chief of Naval Personnel for mustering-out payment.
Denied.
October 4, 1944, Graham wrote to the Chief of Naval Personnel requesting a discharge certificate.
Denied.
The basis for each Navy denial was that his enlistment was void and therefore canceled.
Also in October 1944, Graham presented a claim for arrears of pay and mustering-out pay to the General Accounting Office.
Denied.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
US Marine
Graham married at age 14, became a father the following year, and found work as a welder in a Houston shipyard. Neither his job nor his marriage lasted long. He soon broke his back in a fall, for which he received a 20 percent service-connected disability. The only work he could find after that was selling magazine subscriptions.
On November 6, 1950, At 17 years old (really!), divorced, and with no service record, Graham was about to be drafted when he enlisted in the Marine Corps.
On August 1, 1951 after injuring his back in a fall off a pier, he left the US Marines and received a 20 percent service-connected disability. He drove a cab for a while, then sold magazine subscriptions door to door.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
1976
September 20, 1976, Graham again requested an honorable discharge from the Navy for his World War II service.
Denied.
From the Smithsonian magazine article: When President Jimmy Carter was elected, in 1976, Graham began writing letters, hoping that Carter, “an old Navy man,” might be sympathetic. All Graham had wanted was an honorable discharge so he could get help with his medical and dental expenses. “I had already given up fighting” for the discharge, Graham said at the time. “But then they came along with this discharge program for deserters. I know they had their reasons for doing what they did, but I figure I damn sure deserved more than they did.”
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
People magazine
On October 24, 1977, People magazine reported that Graham, 47, was unable to work, had spent some $5,000 on dental repairs, suffered from diabetes, and heart trouble. As a result of pier fall, he walked only with a cane. He and his wife lived on $600 a month—part of which came from limited Marine disability payments.
On April 20, 1978, the New York Times reported that US Senators Lloyd Bentsen and John Tower of Texas had introduced a bill to give Graham his long-sought discharge.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
35 years, 27 days days later
On May 1, 1978, the General Counsel of the Navy informed the Secretary of the Navy that authority existed on April 5, 1943 (date of Graham’s enlistment cancellation) for the issuance of an honorable discharge. The next day, May 2, 1978 the Secretary of the Navy authorized the issuance of an honorable discharge to Graham, effective April 5, 1943.
On November 15, 1978, the General Accounting Office received Graham’s claim from back-pay due him from his World War II service.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
SNAFU
February 14, 1979, Graham’s claim for back-pay from his World War II service was denied on the basis that the claim was filed more than 6 years after discharge and, by statute, the claim was too late. The existence of the earlier claim (within the 6-year limit) was not known at the time of this decision. The Navy reinstated all of his medals with the exception of the Purple Heart. He was awarded $337 in back pay but was denied health benefits except for disability.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
Vultures
March 27, 1988, Calvin Graham: Too Young to be a Hero, a made-for-TV movie, starring Rick Schroder (age 17). It told the story of Calvin Graham. Graham received $50,000, but 50% went to two agents, and 20% went to a writer of an unpublished book.
WWII Hero Calvin Graham
Reagan intervention
November 12, 1988: President Reagan signed legislation that granted Calvin full disability benefits, increased his back pay to $4917, and allowed $18,000 for past medical bills, contingent on receipts for the medical services. By this time, some of the doctors who treated him had died and many medical bills were lost. Calvin received only $2,100 of the possible $18,000.
In 1991, Allan Stover created The Veterans of Underage Military Service in Ellicott City, Maryland. “Some of these guys came from large families and there wasn’t enough food to go around, and this was a way out,” a member Jackson said, “Others just had family problems and wanted to get away.”
June 6, 1992, Calvin Graham: Graham died at age 62.
On June 21, 1994 at a ceremony in Arlington, Texas Secretary of the Navy, John Dalton presented Graham’s Purple Heart to Mary Graham, his widow.
