Attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, became an educator for 35 years after graduation from college, and am retired now and often volunteer at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts which is on the site of that 1969 festival.
Adults have questioned the behavior of teenagers as long as both groups have faced each other–forever.
“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words… When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint” (Hesiod, 8th century BC).
American Rebel Without Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Warner Brothers released Rebel Without a Cause on October 26, 1955. It is considered by many to be the teenage movie of all time. In its review, the NY Times stated: It is a violent, brutal, and disturbing picture of modern teen-agers…. Young people neglected by their parents or given no understanding and moral support by fathers and mothers who are themselves unable to achieve balance and security in their home…It is a picture to make the hair stand on end. (NYT review)
The title was adopted from psychiatrist Robert M. Lindner’s 1944 book, Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath.
American Rebel Without Cause
In any case…
Whether or not Rebel Without a Cause is the best movie ever of its genre is unimportant. Each generation has its movie milepost to point to. What is important is that in it we can see the universal conflicts between adults and their values and teenagers and their values; between teenagers own conflicting values; between society’s desire to mold its young members into a satisfactory reflection of its values and those same young members desire to see things differently, do things another way, and do things better
Boy meets girl. Girl laughs at boy. Boy chases girl. Girl turns and smiles. Love. Confusion. Arguments. Fights. Anomie.
Certainly a film to watch again or to watch for the first time.
American Rebel Without Cause
Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274
“The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress.”
American Rebel Without Cause
Legacy
In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to Library of Congress’s National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.” It was the only film that James Dean had top billing, but he died in a car crash before the film’s release.
October 25 – November 2, 1859: trial of John Brown. Following is John Brown’s last speech after his trial by by the Commonwealth of Virginia in Charles Town, Virginia (now part of West Virginia). Brown stated:
I have, may it please the court, a few words to say. In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted — the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.
For Brown’s complete speech see PDF. (next BH, see Dec 2)
School desegregation
October 25, 1958: more than 10,000 marched in Washington, DC for integrated schools. Martin Luther King was scheduled to speak, but he had been stabbed shortly before the march (see Sept 20) and his speech his wife Correta Scott King delivered it. (next BH, see Oct 28; next SD, see Nov 24)
In 1959 Charles Mingus released “Fables of Faubus” aimed at Arkansas governor Orval Fabus. Uncomfortable with the lyrics, Columbia records turned the song into an instrumental (see Jan 12)
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
October 25, 1960: King sent to Reidsville (GA) State Prison for parole violation stemming from his May 4, 1960 arrest for driving without a license. ((BH & MLK, see Oct 26)
Stephon Clark
October 25, 2018: seven months and seven days after 22-year-old Stephon Clark was killed on the patio in the backyard of his grandmother’s home, the Sacramento Police Department concluded its investigation into the shooting that led to his death.
The department said the results of the investigation had been turned over to Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. It was now up to Schubert to decide whether or not to bring charges against the two officers who shot and killed Clark after mistaking his cell phone for a gun. (B & S, see Nov 5; SC, see January 28, 2019; BH, see Nov 9)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
Doctor Matthew Shields
October 25, 1889: twenty-five anthracite coal miners from the Jermyn Coal Colliery in northeastern Pennsylvania attend what is believed to be the first formal training on first aid. Believing that many lives could be saved with quick, efficient medical care until a physician arrived, local doctor Matthew Shields set up a series of courses for the miners who, upon completion, were prepared and able to render first aid to their co-workers. (see Oct 29)
GM/UAW strike ends
October 25, 2019: the longest nationwide strike against General Motors in half a century ended after a solid majority of the company’s union members delivered their support for the four-year contract hammered out by their leaders.
The United Auto Workers union emerged with substantial wage increases and succeeded in ending a two-tier wage structure that had been a particular irritant in its ranks. It also won commitments to new G.M. investments in United States factories, while accepting the permanent shutdown of three plants already idled. [NYT article] (next LH, see Oct 31)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
Technological Milestone
October 25, 1951: the manufacturing of color televisions was put on hold at the request of Defense Mobilizer Charles E. Wilson and the National Production Authority due to scarcity of metals and the conflict in Korea.
By the end of 1951, 23.5% of US homes will have a TV set. (see Nov 10)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
INDEPENDENCE DAY
October 25, 1955: Austria independent again. (see January 1, 1956)
the Chinese People’s Daily announced that “650,000,000 Chinese men and women were standing by the Cuban people”.
at the United Nations, ambassador Adlai Stevenson confronted Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in an emergency meeting challenging him to admit the existence of the missiles.Soviets responded to the blockade by turning back 14 ships presumably carrying offensive weapons. (NYT article) (see Crisis for expanded story)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
October 25 Music et al
Bob Dylan
October 25, 1961: Dylan and Columbia Records drew up a contract. It was a 5-year contract that gave Dylan a small advance against 4% royalties. Columbia would release one album and then decide whether he merited a second. (see Nov 4)
October 25, 1968: The Soviets launch the unmanned Soyuz 2. A day later Soyuz 3, piloted by Georgii Beregovoi, launches and completes a rendezvous with Soyuz 2 in orbit. (see Nov 10)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
Feminism
October 25, 1972: The first female FBI agents were hired. (NYT article) (see January 22, 1973)
FREE SPEECH
October 25, 1976: at its regular meeting, the Board of Commissioners of the Skokie Park District direct Daniel D. Brown, Director of Parks and Recreation, to respond to Mr. Collin of the Nationalist Socialist Party that Skokie has no “Birch Park”. In addition, the Board passes an ordinance relating to “Parades and Public Assemblies” which required that prospective marchers to 1) obtain a permit at least thirty days in advance of the parade date and 2) post an insurance bond equal to $350,000.00. (see April 28, 1977)
LGBTQ
Lewis v. Harris
October 25, 2006: The New Jersey Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Lewis v. Harris that same-sex couples were entitled to all state-level spousal rights and responsibilities. The court defered to the legislature on the question of how to extend these rights and responsibilities, suggesting the state either permit couples to marry or create a separate legal status for same-sex couples, such as civil union. [Wikipedia article] (NJ, see, Dec 14; LGBTQ, see November 7, 2006)
Attorney General Eric Holder
October 25, 2014: Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government would recognizing gay marriage in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming and extended federal benefits to those couples. Gay marriage had recently became legal. (Time magazine article) (see Oct 27)
Occupy Wall Street
October 25, 2011: Oakland, CA. Police use force to disband a group of Occupy protesters and Iraq War veteran, Scott Olsen, was severely wounded. (see Nov 15; Olsen, see March 15, 2012)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
October 25, 2017: federal immigration authorities in Texas detained 10-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez with cerebral palsy after she passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint on her way to a hospital to undergo emergency gall bladder surgery.
Hernandez, who was brought over the border illegally to live in Laredo, Tex., when she was three months old, was being transferred from a medical center in Laredo to a hospital in Corpus Christi around 2 a.m. on October 24 when Border Patrol agents stopped the ambulance she was riding in, her family said. The agents allowed her to continue to Driscoll Children’s Hospital, the family said, but followed the ambulance the rest of the way there, then waited outside her room until she was released from the hospital.
By the evening of October 25, according to family members and advocates involved in her case, immigration agents had taken her to a facility in San Antonio where migrant children who arrive alone in the United States from Central America were usually held, even though her parents, who both lack legal status, live 150 miles away in Laredo. [NYT article] (IH & RMH, see Nov 3)
Colin Kaepernick
October 25, 2018: on line sales of Nike’s Colin Kaepernick t-shirt sold out in 7 hours. (see Nov 1)
TERRORISM
October 25, 2018: Cesar Sayoc, Jr mailed bombs to Robert DiNiro and Joe Biden. None explode. (see Oct 26)
Trump Impeachment Inquiry
October 25, 2019: attorneys for the whistleblower whose complaint kicked off the impeachment inquiry made clear their client would not sit for in-person interviews with investigators on Capitol Hill.
They wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post with the headline: “We represent the whistleblower. Their identity is no longer relevant.”
Key quote: “Much of what has been disclosed since the release of our client’s complaint actually exceeds the whistleblower’s knowledge of what transpired at the time the complaint was submitted. Because our client has no additional information about the president’s call, there is no justification for exposing their identity and all the risks that would follow.” (see TII for expanded chronology)
October 25 Peace Love Art Activism
Cannabis
October 25, 2021: the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told Congress in a report obtained by Marijuana Moment that the Schedule I status of controlled substances like cannabis was preventing or discouraging research into their potential risks and benefits. It also said that current restrictions that block scientists from studying the actual cannabinoid products that consumers can purchase at dispensaries was impeding research to an extent that constitutes a public health concern.
“Researchers have reported that obtaining a new registration can take more than a year, that modifying a registration can also be time consuming, and that differing interpretations of the Schedule I registration requirements among local DEA field offices, research institutions, as well as distinct federal and state registration requirements, greatly complicate the process,” the federal agency told lawmakers. “These challenges can impede critical research on Schedule I substances and deter or prevent scientists from pursuing such work.” [Marijuana Moment article] (next Cannabis, see or see CA for expanded chronology)
October 24, 1861: the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent from California to President Abraham Lincoln. [Forbes article] (see July 27, 1866)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
October 24, 1940: the 40-hour work week went into effect in the United States. (NYT article)
In 1941: union membership of employed workers exceeded 20% (20.3%) for the first time in US history. (see Feb 3)
In 1954: Union membership reached 28.3% of employed workers. The highest in history. (see Sept 2)
In 1975: Union membership declined to 19.5% of employed workers. The first time it fell below 20% since 1942. (see Feb 19)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
United Nations
October 24, 1945, the UN Charter, signed on June 26, 1945, formally entered into force.
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
South Vietnam Leadership
October 24, 1954: President Eisenhower wrote to South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and promised direct assistance to his government. Eisenhower made it clear to Diem that U.S. aid to his government during Vietnam’s “hour of trial” was contingent upon his assurances of the “standards of performance [he] would be able to maintain in the event such aid were supplied. Eisenhower called for land reform and a reduction of government corruption.
Diem agreed to the “needed reforms” stipulated as a precondition for receiving aid, but he never actually followed through on his promises. Ultimately his refusal to make any substantial changes to meet the needs of the people led to extreme civil unrest and eventually a coup by dissident South Vietnamese generals in which Diem and his brother were murdered. (NYT article) (Vietnam, see February 23, 1955; SVL, see April 27, 1955)
Johnson in Manila
October 24, 1966: in Manila, President Johnson met with other Allied leaders and they pledged to withdraw troops from Vietnam within six months if North Vietnam “withdraws its forces to the North and ceases infiltration of South Vietnam.” A communiqué signed by the seven participants (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, South Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States) included a four-point “Declaration of Peace” that stressed the need for a “peaceful settlement of the war in Vietnam and for future peace and progress” in the rest of Asia and the Pacific. After the conference, Johnson flew to South Vietnam for a surprise two-and-a-half-hour visit with U.S. troops at Cam Ranh Bay. ( Johnson statements) (see Nov 7)
Peace Negotiations
October 24, 1972: President Thieu, in a speech, declared the proposals discussed by Mr. Kissinger in Paris unacceptable. (see Oct 26)
WAR POWERS ACT
October 24, 1973: President Nixon vetoed the War Powers Act. [Politico article] (see Nov 7)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
FREE SPEECH
October 24, 1955: based on a Broadway play, The Moon is Blue was a light comedy film that not only used the word “virgin” but also made fun of a young woman for remaining a virgin. The film was released without a seal of approval by the Hollywood Production Code Administration, thus marking an early challenge to the production code system of censorship. It was unclear whether it was because of the word “virgin” or because it made fun of virginity. On this day, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Holmby v. Vaughn, overturned a decision by the Kansas Supreme Court and ended a ban on the film in the state.
The Kansas State Board of Review had originally banned the film, citing “too frank bedroom dialogue” and “many sexy words.” The Supreme Court ruled that the Kansas interpretation of the term obscene was unconstitutionally vague.The Court based is per curium decision on its decision in Burstyn v. Wilson, May 26, 1952), which held for the first time that movies were a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. [TCM article] (see January 12, 1956)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
October 24 Music et al
“I Want to Be Wanted”
October 24 – November 13, 1960: “I Want to Be Wanted” by Benda Lee #1 Billboard Hot 100. She was 15-years-old. (Whatever happened to Brenda Lee?)
LSD
October 24, 1968: possession of LSD banned federally in the U.S. after the passage of the Staggers-Dodd Bill (Public Law 90-639) which amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. (see January 31, 1970)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
The Cold War
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 24, 1962: the Soviet news agency Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza (TASS) broadcasted a telegram from Khrushchev to President Kennedy, in which Khrushchev warned that the United States’ “pirate action” would lead to war. President John F. Kennedy spoke before reporters during a televised speech to the nation about the strategic blockade of Cuba, and his warning to the Soviet Union about missile sanctions. (see Cuban Missile Crisis)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
INDEPENDENCE DAY
October 24, 1964: Zambia independent from United Kingdom. [SA History article] (see IDs for list of all in 1960s)
October 24, 1977: a People magazine article reported that Graham, 47, was unable to work, had spent some $5,000 on dental repairs, and suffered from diabetes, and heart trouble. As a result of a fall from a pier while serving in the Marines he walked only with a cane. He and his wife existed on $600 a month—part of which came from limited Marine disability payments. (see April 20, 1978)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Women’s Health
October 24, 2017: “Jane Doe” was already nine weeks into her first trimester by the time she learned she was pregnant. And by then, she was already in federal custody at the border in Texas, one of the multitude of unaccompanied minors caught trying to enter the United States without their parents or relatives. She was 17 years old.
Federal officers tried to prevent her from getting an abortion.
On this date, a federal appeals court in Washington sided with “Jane Doe” sending the case back to a lower court, which immediately ordered the Trump administration to allow the girl to obtain an abortion “promptly and without delay.” The girl remained in custody at a federally-funded shelter in Brownsville [NYT article] (IH, see Oct 25; WH, see Oct 27)
Separation of children increases
October 24, 2019: the Trump Administration revealed that an additional 1,556 children had been separated from their parents than previously reported, bringing the total number of family separations since July 2017 up to nearly 5,500. The new instances of family separation came to light after a judge ordered the Administration to deliver an accounting of every case. (next IH, see Nov 2)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
Terrorism
October 24, 2018: Cesar Sayoc, Jr mailed bombs to Maxine Waters (2 different locations), Hillary Clinton, John O Brennan, Barack Obama. None explode. [NYT story] (see Oct 25)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
Student Rights
October 24, 2019: federal judge Sallie Kim fined U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for contempt of court for failing to stop collecting loans from former students of a now-defunct chain of for-profit colleges.
The court ruling orders the Education Department to pay a $100,000 fine. Kim said Devos had violated an order to stop collecting loans owed by students who had been defrauded by Corinthian Colleges.
In a video statement, the Education Department said loan servicers had “mistakenly” billed about 16,000 students and parents. Those borrowers have since been reimbursed, according to the video message.
Money from the fine will go toward various remedies and legal expenses for students who are owed debt relief from the Education Department after Corinthian Colleges collapsed in 2014, according to the ruling. [NPR story] (next SR, see Oct 29)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
BLACK & SHOT/Laquan McDonald
October 24, 2019: David March, the former Chicago police detective who was acquitted of a cover-up in the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald will have the accusation expunged from his record.
Cook County Circuit Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. approved March’s petition filed to expunge the conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct charges he faced. March had resigned from the department in August 2016 after Chicago’s inspector general’s office recommended his firing.
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
Fair Housing
October 24, 2023: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced action that would cover expanded housing and neighborhood choices for more than 800,000 total households using Housing Choice Vouchers to find and secure affordable housing. The act required an additional 41 metropolitan areas that cover more than 440,000 housing vouchers to use Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR) under HUD’s 2016 Small Area Fair Market Rent Final Rule, joining 24 metropolitan areas that covered almost 370,000 vouchers and bringing the total number of metropolitan areas covered by the rule to 65 covering more than 800,000 households (or 45% of families in the Housing Choice Voucher program). [HUD announcement] (next FH, see January 24, 2025 )
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
Women’s Health
October 24, 2023: in the year after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion the total number of legal abortions in the United States did not fall. Instead, it appeared to increase slightly, by about 0.2 percent, according to the first full-year count of abortions provided nationwide.
The finding came despite the fact that 14 states banned all abortions, and seven imposed new limits on them. Even as those restrictions reduced the legal abortion rate to near zero in some states, there were large increases in places where abortions remained legal. Researchers said they were driven by the expansion of telemedicine for mail-order abortion pills, increased options and assistance for women who traveled, and a surge of publicity about ways to get abortions. [NYT article] (next WH, see February 16, 2024)
October 24 Peace Love Art Activism
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
