Category Archives: Black history

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

October 8, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

We seem to differentiate the mistreatment and torture of the enslaved from the miscarriage and misuse of justice when slavery constitutionally ended. I don’t know why. It seems to me such wrongs need no differentiation.

The story of George Whitmore, Jr is a long one. One that is difficult to read. We keep hoping someone will stop the story, but it keeps going and going and going.

In our eagerness to solve a mystery and ease our pain, we too often create a truth and point a finger at a person. We say “Did it. They are guilty.”

We make an arrest. We have a trial. We find the alleged guilty. We will allow local, state, and federal appeals, but we will put them to death or sentence them to die imprisoned.

That was the sentence we gave to George Whitmore, Jr. An innocent man.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Career Girl murders

August 28, 1963: Janice Wylie, a 21-year-old Newsweek magazine researcher and summer stock actress, and Emily Hoffert, a 23-year-old teacher, were stabbed to death in the apartment they shared at 57 E. 88th Street in Manhattan; Wylie was raped. Wylie is the daughter of Max Wylie, a New York novelist, playwright, and advertising executive. Hoffert is the daughter of a Minneapolis surgeon. The media will call it the Career-Girl Murders. George Whitmore, Jr listened to Kin’g speech in his Wildwood, NJ home. In seven months, Whitmore, an African-American drifter with a limited IQ, will be picked out of a photo lineup by a woman who had been assaulted.

August 30, 1963: Newsweek offered a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the murderer or murderers.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Minnie Edmonds

April 14, 1964: Minnie Edmonds, a 46-year-old African American cleaning woman and mother of five, was stabbed to death by a man who attempted to snatch her purse near Sutter Avenue and Chester Street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Elba Borrero

April 23, 1964: Elba Borrero, a 21-year-old Puerto Rican practical nurse, was assaulted at 1:15 a.m. in what she described as an attempted purse-snatching in Brownsville. NYPD Patrolman Frank Isola heard Borrero scream and ran to the scene. He fired four warning shots at the fleeing assailant. Police Sergeant Thomas J. Collier interviewed Borrero and wrote a report describing the assailant as “an unnamed Negro” and the crime as an attempted purse-snatching. Borrero gave a button that she had ripped off the assailant’s coat to the police after the assault, Patrolman Frank Isola encountered George Whitmore Jr. on the street, but concluded that Whitmore was shorter and thinner than the man he saw running from the scene.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

George Whitmore

April 24, 1964: cruising Brownsville, NYPD Patrolman Frank Isola and Detective Richard Aidala spotted Whitmore and, despite the discrepancy between his appearance and that of the assailant Isola had seen, took Whitmore to the 73d Precinct station for questioning. After Detective Aidala called Elba Borrero and told her a suspect was in custody, she viewed Whitmore through a peephole in a door and said Whitmore was the man who tried to rape her. (This was the first mention of attempted rape.) Whitmore had in his possession a photograph of a young white woman whom Detective Edward Bulger identified as Janice Wylie.

April 25, 1964: after 26 hours of interrogation, George Whitmore, Jr., a 19-year-old eighth-grade dropout with a 90 IQ, signed a 61-page confession admitting to

a) the murders of Wylie, Hoffert; (see May 6)

b) the murder of Minnie Edmonds; (see April 28)

c) attempted rape of Elba Borrero. (see May 6)

April 28, 1964: Whitmore indicted in for the Minnie Edmonds murder. His court-appointed attorney, Jerome Leftow, stated that Whitmore had repudiated the confessions, claiming he was beaten during interrogation, and would like to take a lie-detector test.

May 5, 1964: Whitmore indicted in Kings County for the attempted rape and assault of Elba Borrero.

May 6, 1964: Whitmore indicted in New York County for the Wylie-Hoffert crime.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Richard Robles

October 31, 1964: Police disclosed that they were questioning another unidentified suspect in the Wylie-Hoffert case. The suspect was identified as a white 19-year-old narcotics addict who had a record of burglary and sexual assault. (Evidently the suspect was Richard Robles, although Robles is not 19 but in his early 20s.

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.)

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Whitmore convicted

November 18, 1964.: Whitmore convicted by a jury before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice David L. Malbin of the Elba Borrero assault and attempted rape, but Malbin delayed sentencing pending Whitmore’s trial for the Wylie-Hoffert murders.

January 22, 1965: The New York Times quoted Stanley J. Reiben, George Whitmore, Jr.’s pro bono lawyer, as saying that the photo found in Whitmore’s possession was not a photo of Wylie but of a women named Arlene Franco, who lived in Wildwood, N.J.

January 26, 1965: Richard “Ricky” Robles, a white 22-year-old narcotics addict, charged with the Wylie-Hoffert crime. While not dismissing the indictment against George Whitmore, Jr., New York County DA Frank S. Hogan presented a 1,400-word recommendation that Whitmore be released on his own recognizance. The document seemed to absolve Whitmore of the crime, as did a statement Hogan released to the press. Says the latter, “In spite of every safeguard, occasional honest mistakes are made. To eliminate even this minute fraction of error is the ceaseless effort of those entrusted with the administration of justice.” Hogan’s recommendation that Whitmore be released was accepted, although it was a meaningless gesture, given that Whitmore was being held pending sentencing for the Borrero crime and pending trial for the Edmonds murder.

January 27, 1965: The New York Times quotes an unnamed assistant to NY County DA Frank Hogan as saying, “I am positive that the police prepared the confession for George Whitmore, Jr., just as his lawyer charged a few days ago. I am also sure that the police were the ones who gave Whitmore all the details of the killings that he recited to our office.”

January 29, 1965: Kings County DA Aaron E. Koota met with five representatives of the Brooklyn N.A.A.C.P. who demand that he dismiss the indictment against Whitmore for the Minnie Edmonds murder. Koota refused and told the press that Whitmore’s “guilt or innocence of this crime should be determined by a jury based on all the evidence in the case.”

January 30, 1965: The New York Times published an editorial praising both Stanley J. Reiben (Whitmore’s lawyer) and Frank Hogan (NY prosecutor) for acting “in the highest tradition of the bar.” The editorial said that the case “provokes fresh doubt” about the validity of the death penalty and urged its abolition.

February 1, 1965: Whitmore’s former attorney, Jerome Leftow, and one of this current attorneys, Arthur H. Miller, revealed that Whitmore had been given “truth serum” (sodium amytal) at Bellevue Hospital and, while under the influence of the drug, had consistently maintained his innocence. The N.A.A.C.P. and ACLU asked Governor Nelson Rockefeller and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the circumstances that led to Whitmore’s false confession in the Wylie-Hoffert case.

February 2, 1965: a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said the department was “following the situation closely.”

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Governor Nelson Rockefeller

February 4, 1965: NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller refused the NAACP’s demand for an investigation. The Governor stated that he had “no jurisdiction over the courts and therefore it would be inappropriate to seek to intervene in matters pending before them.”

Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley J Reiben, filed an affidavit opposing a blue-ribbon jury. Reiben said that such a jury would be a “lily-white all-male” jury, which would enhance “the conviction ration of the District attorney.”

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Stanley J Reiben

February 11, 1965: Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley J Reiben filed a motion asking Justice Malbin to set aside George Whitmore, Jr.’s conviction in the Elba Borrero attempted rape/robbery case on the grounds that police lacked probable cause to arrest Whitmore and that his confession, therefore, whether voluntary or involuntary, should have been suppressed at the trial. The motion stated that Detective Aidala had testified before the grand jury that he had arrested Whitmore on a Brooklyn street — a concession that police lacked probable cause.

The motion also stated that, in an unrelated case, Detective Edward Bulger (the detective who had incorrectly said the picture Whitmore had in his possession was one of the murdered Janice Wylie) had obtained a confession from 22-year-old David Coleman to the 1960 murder of a 77-year-old woman in Brooklyn — a crime for which Coleman is on death row.

February 14, 1965: District Attorney Aaron E Koota agreed to reopen the David Coleman case.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Richard Robles indicted

February 15, 1965: Richard Robles indicted for the Wylie/Hoffert murders. Robles "maintains his innocence," according to his court-appointed attorney.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Stanley J Reiben

February 17, 1965: Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley J Reiben, said that he had covered the route supposed to have been followed by Whitmore before the attack on Elba Borrero and stated that Whitmore “would have to have a vehicle or be an Olympic runner” to get from his former girl friend’s house to an elevated subway station seven blocks away, follow Borrero back from the station nearly five blocks to her home, attack her, and run away.

March 1, 1965: Gerald Corbin, a juror in the Elba Borrero case, testified at a hearing before Justice Malbin on the motion for a new trial that “practically everyone” on the jury knew that George Whitmore, Jr. had been charged with the Wylie-Hoffert crime. According to Corbin, one of his fellow jurors had stated, “This is nothing compared to what he is going to get in New York.”

Corbin also testified that at least one juror “on more than one occasion” used racial slurs referring to the sexual proclivities of Negroes and Puerto Ricans. “Whitmore,” said the juror in question, “was guilty of attempted rape because Negros are “like jackrabbits” and “got to have their intercourse all the time.” An FBI report, which the prosecution had withheld at the trial, was introduced at the hearing. It stated that the button Borrero ripped from her assailant’s coat differed in size and color from the buttons on the tan poplin raincoat Whitmore was wearing when he was taken into custody.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

District Attorney Aaron Koota

March 2, 1965: District Attorney Aaron Koota conceded that George Whitmore, Jr. deserved a new trial in the Borrero case, but Justice Malbin reserved ruling.

March 3, 1965: At a hearing before Justice Dominic S. Rinaldi, before whom the Minnie Edmonds case was pending, defense lawyers moved to suppress Whitmore’s confession on the ground that police lacked probable cause to arrest him and that, in any event, the confession was unworthy of belief in view of Whitmore’s false confession in the Wylie-Hoffert case.

On the probable cause issue, Detective Richard Aidala testified that he erred when he told the grand jury that he had arrested Whitmore on the street. In fact, Aidala asserted, he merely asked Whitmore to go to the station, Whitmore “willingly agreed,” and the arrest was not made until Borrero identified Whitmore.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Patrolman Frank Isola

March 8, 1965: Patrolman Frank Isola testified before Justice Dominic Rinaldi that he did not arrest George Whitmore, Jr. upon their initial encounter, five hours after the Borrero assault, because Whitmore “did not appear to be same man” he had seen fleeing the scene.

March 9, 1965: Police Sergeant Thomas J. Collier, who took the initial report from Elba Borrero, testified that Borrero did not mention the attempted rape but rather alleged only that her assailant “attempted to take her pocketbook.”

March 19, 1965: NY Supreme Court Justice David L. Malbin found that the jury in the Elba Borrero case had been influenced by “prejudice and racial bias” and reversed George Whitmore, Jr.’s conviction, granting him a new trial. Malbin stated: “The hearing revealed that prejudice and racial bias invaded the jury room. Bigotry I any of its sinister forms is reprehensible, it must be crushed, never to rise again. It has no place in an American courts of Justice.”

On the same day, a bipartisan commission recommended the end of capital punishment in New York State.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

DA Frank Hogan

March 25, 1965: DA Frank Hogan dismissed first-degree murder charges against two drifters — James Stewart, 24, and R. L. Douglas, 32 — who had been charged with the hammer-slaying of John Walshinsky, a derelict — a crime to which Stewart and Douglas confessed. The men said that the confessions were beaten out of them.

March 26, 1965: Justice Dominic Rinaldi ruled that Whitmore’s confession to the Minnie Edmonds murder was voluntary and admissible. Rinaldi chastises Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben, for “talking to the newspapers” about the case.

April 2, 196: The N.A.A.C.P. revealed that Detective Edward Bulger, in addition to his involvement in obtaining the dubious David Coleman confession (see Feb 11, 1965), also had been accused in another case of obtaining a confession by fraud from a man named Charles Everett. If Everett would admit the crime, Detective Bulger allegedly promised to intercede with the victim to work out a light sentence. The victim in fact was dead. Everett was convicted of murder, but his conviction was later reversed.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Blue-ribbon juries

April 6, 1965: The New York Assembly passed a bill to abolish blue-ribbon juries in New York City. Blue ribbon juries were established in the 1930s and are made up of persons selected on the basis of education and economic status.

April 12, 1965: Whitmore’s trial for the Minnie Edmonds slaying opened before an all-male blue-ribbon jury and Kings County Supreme Court Justice Dominic S. Rinaldi. (Blue-ribbon juries — criticized by liberal groups as self-righteous and conviction-prone — are composed of persons from high educational and economic levels and permitted in counties with more than a million population under a New York statute enacted in the 1930s.)

April 14, 1965: Detective Joseph Di Pima testified that George Whitmore, Jr.’s confessions were voluntary, telling the jury, “All I had to say to him was: “What happened next George?”

April 19, 1965: In view of the “the antipathy and antagonism” Justice Dominic Rinaldi had shown Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben, Reiben asked to withdraw from the case, saying he can no longer effectively represent his client. Rinaldi denied the request.

April 21, 1965: The prosecution rested in the Minnie Edmonds murder trial.

April 23, 1965: Whitmore testified that Detective Aidala and Patrolman Frank Isola beat him.

April 28, 1965: Prosecutor Sidney A. Lichtman told the jury that the Wylie-Hoffert indictment was still pending in Manhattan. Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben argued, “How can the Wylie-Hoffert confession be bad and the others good beyond a reasonable doubt, given the same day to the same detectives Is it possible for Wylie-Hoffert to be phony while the others are not?”

May 4, 1965: DA Frank Hogan formally dismissed the Wylie-Hoffert indictment pending against Whitmore.

May 5, 1965: DA Aaron Koota said his office would again try George Whitmore, Jr. for the Elba Borrero attempted assault and rape in Brooklyn.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Abolishing the death penalty

May 13, 1965: The New York Senate by a vote of forty-seven to nine approved a bill abolishing the death penalty for all murders except those of peace officers or prison guards and murders committed during an escape.

May 19, 1965: The New York Assembly passes the abolition bill by a vote of seventy-eight to sixty-seven.

May 22, 1965: The New York State Association of Trial Lawyers and the Northern New York Conference of the Methodist Church urged Governor Rockefeller to sign a bill that would virtually abolish capital punishment in the state.

May 26, 1965: Justice Vincent D. Damiani of Kings County Supreme Court granted a motion by Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley J Reiben, requiring DA Aaron Koota to bring Whitmore to trial for the Minnie Edmonds murder before retrying him for the lesser crime against Borrero. Damiani wrote, “To permit the defendant to be tried again on the lesser charge of attempted rape before his trial on the more serious indictment for murder will result in further publicity and substantially increase the difficulty in selecting an impartial jury in the murder case.”

June 1, 1965: NY Gov Nelson Rockefeller signed the abolition of death penalty bill.

June 3, 1965: DA Aaron Koota argued before George J. Beldock, presiding justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, that Justice Vincent Damiani had no authority to exert control over the prosecution calendar. Beldock directed Damiani to explain more fully why Whitmore should not be tried first for the Borrero case.

June 8, 1965: the Appellate Division unanimously held that Whitmore may be tried first in the Elba Borrero case.

July 15, 1965: Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed legislation abolishing blue-ribbon juries.

October 14, 1965: Richard Robles went on trial before a jury and New York County Supreme Court Justice Irwin D. Davidson for the Wylie-Hoffert murders.

October 18, 1965: Prosecutors disclose that friends of Richard Robles cooperated in the surreptitious recording of conversations in which he admitted the double murder. When confronted with the tapes after his arrest, Robles “freely and voluntarily confessed” in the presence of eight police officers, including Thomas J. Cavanagh Jr., the commander of the Manhattan detective squad.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Richard Robles guilty

December 1, 1965: the jury found Richard Robles guilty. 

January 11, 1966: Justice Davidson sentenced Richard Robles to life in prison.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

George Whitmore, Jr.’s retrial

March 22, 1966: George Whitmore, Jr.’s retrial for the attempted rape and assault of Elba Borrero opened before a Kings County jury and Supreme Court Justice Aaron F. Goldstein.

March 23, 1966: after Detective Richard Aidala testified that Whitmore’s confession to the Elba Borrero crime was voluntary, Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben asked, “Did anyone coerce or force him into making the Wylie-Hoffert confession?” Justice Aaron Goldstein immediately dismissed the jury and then upbraided Reiben for his “intemperate question.”

Out of the jury’s presence, Reiben labeled Aidala “the world’s biggest liar,” and asked Goldstein, “How can I achieve justice unless I can establish this?” Goldstein said he would reserve ruling on the admissibility of the evidence resulting to Whitmore’s confession in the Wylie-Hoffert case.

March 24, 1966: Justice Aaron Goldstein held evidence of the Wylie-Hoffert confession inadmissible. Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben waived further examination of witnesses, declaring that George Whitmore, Jr. cannot receive a fair trial absent the Wylie-Hoffert evidence. Both sides rest. (see Mar 25, 1966) March 25, 1966: Whitmore convicted for the second time in the Elba Borrero attempted rape and assault case.

May 27, 1966: Justice Aaron Goldstein sentenced Whitmore to five to ten years in prison for the attempted rape and assault. With time off for good behavior and credit for 25 months already served, Whitmore was eligible for release in 15 months.

June 13, 1966: in Miranda v. Arizona the US. Supreme Court holds that police must warn suspects of their rights to remain silent and consult with a lawyer before submitting to questioning.

June 30, 1966: on DA Aaron Koota’s motion, Kings County Supreme Court Justice Hyman Barshay dismissed the indictment against Whitmore in the Minnie Edmonds murder case.

July 12, 1966: Justice Hyman Barshay set bail at $5,000 for George Whitmore, Jr. pending appeal of his conviction in the Elba Borrero case.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Whitmore released

July 13, 1966: Whitmore was released two years, eleven weeks, and three days after his arrest — 810 days in all —on bail guaranteed by NYC AM radio station WMCA. R Peter Straus, the station’s president, agreed to put up the necessary collateral and said that he had been interested in the case, had often commented editorially on it, and was concerned about a poor man unable to make bail.

April 10, 1967: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court reversed George Whitmore, Jr.’s conviction in the Borrero case and granted him yet another trial, holding that “under the peculiar circumstances of this case, it was prejudicial error for the trial court to refuse to allow cross examination with reference to all of the defendant’s statements to the police.”

April 13, 1967: DA Aaron Koota stated that “in the interests of justice” Whitmore will be tried a third time for the Elba Borrero crime.

May 15, 1967: Whitmore’s third trial opened before Justice Julius Helf and in Kings County Supreme Court and jury selection completed. In view of the Miranda ruling, the confession is inadmissible. The case now rests entirely on Elsa Borrero’s identification.

May 16, 1967: both sides rest in the third Whitmore trial for assault and attempted rape of Elba Borrero.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Whitmore guilty again

May 17, 1967: the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Whitmore was taken into custody for a psychiatric examination as required by state law. If he law did not so require, Justice Julius Helf stated, he would have continued Whitmore’s bail.

June 8, 1967: Whitmore again sentenced to five to ten years in prison.

June 15, 1967: Kings County Supreme Court Justice Philip M. Kleinfeld granted a motion to release George Whitmore, Jr. on $5,000 bail. The additional time he had spent in custody following his third conviction in the Elba Borrero case had added 395 days of incarceration to the 810 days he had served pending his first two trials and his first release on bail, bringing Whitmore’s total incarceration time to two years, fifteen weeks, and five days.

July 25, 1968: The Appellate Division held George Whitmore, Jr.’s latest appeal in abeyance pending a hearing before Justice Julius Helf on the validity of the in-court identification by Elba Borrero in view of the fact that her initial identification of him was at a one-man show-up through a peephole.

November 5, 1968: Eugene Gold was elected Brooklyn District Attorney to succeed Aaron Koota.

April 8, 1969: Justice Julius Helf upheld the validity of the identification, saying there was “an unmistakable ring of truth to her testimony.”

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Supreme Court

July 28, 1970: The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division unanimously affirmed George Whitmore, Jr.’s third conviction in the Elba Borrero case.

September 24, 1970: New York Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of Richard Robles in the Wylie-Hoffert case.

April 21, 1971: The New York Court of Appeals by a four-to-three vote upheld the Whitmore conviction without an explanatory opinion.

February 28, 1972: The U.S. the Supreme Court refused to disturb Whitmore’s conviction for the attempted rape and assault of a practical nurse Elba Borrero almost eight years earlier.

December 22, 1972: Brooklyn DA Eugene Gold announced he was reopening the case in view of an affidavit obtained by TV journalist Selwyn Raab from Elba Borrero’s sister, Celeste Viruet, who lived near Borrero at the time of the assault but had since returned to her native Puerto Rico. The affidavit stated that before Borrero identified George Whitmore, Jr. police had shown her a photo array and she had identified another person as her assailant.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

“The Marcus-Nelson Murders“

March 8, 1973: CBS aired “The Marcus-Nelson Murders,” a three-hour film based on the Wylie-Hoffert murders with Telly Savalas staring as Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojack (later shortened to Kojak) — a character loosely based on Detective Cavanagh, who had been instrumental in developing the evidence that the murders were committed not by George Whitmore, Jr. but by Richard Robles.

Leon Vincent, superintendent of Green Haven prison in upstate NY, permitted George Whitmore to go to the sick ward and watch the show in privacy.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Whitmore released a final time

April 10, 1973: NY Supreme Court Justice Irwin Brownstein released Whitmore from jail at the request of Brooklyn DA Eugene Gold based on “fresh new evidence” indicating that Borrero’s identification of him was suspect.” Gold told Brownstein, “If in fact he is guilty of these charges, surely his debt to society has been paid by his incarceration. If he is innocent, I pray that my action today will in some measure repay society’s debt to him.” He termed Whitman’s treatment by the law “a disgrace.” Justice Borwnstein stated, “It is indeed disgraceful that this defendant has been subjected to nine years of prosecution and appeals.” Whitmore’s most recent incarceration totaled 406 days, bringing his total time behind bars to 1,216 days.

April 16, 1979 : The NY Times reported that Whitmore’s $10 million claim against New York City for improper arrest and imprisonment and his request for a jury trial were dismissed for technical reasons the previous week by Justice William Bellard in State Supreme Court.

April 22, 1985: Stanley J. Reiben, chief defense attorney in the George Whitmore murder case, died at his home in Manhattan after a long illness. He was 70 years old.

November, 1986: Richard Robles, who had himself protested his innocence over the original double-murders, admitted his guilt to a parole board hearing. He had broken into the flat in order to obtain money for drugs and had assumed at first it was empty.

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Richard Robles tells his story

October 2, 1988: The New York Times published an article by Selwyn Raab, who interviewed Richard Robles in light of a forthcoming pardon hearing. Raab quoted Robles as saying that he broke into the Wylie-Hoffert apartment believing no one was home. He was looking for money to support his $15-a-day heroin habit, but when he encountered Wylie he raped her. Then he bound her and was preparing to leave when Hoffert came home. He took $30 from her purse and bound her as well. As he again prepared to leave, Hoffert said, “I”m going to remember you for the police. You”re going to jail.” When she said that, Robles continued, “I just went bananas. My head just exploded. I got to kill. You”re mind just races and races. It’s almost like you”re not you.” He said he clubbed both women unconscious with pop bottles, then slashed and stabbed them with knives he found in their kitchen.

November 4, 1988: Richard Robles, who had served 24 years in the famous ”career girls” murder case, was denied parole for a second time. Mr. Robles, 45 years old, was given a life sentence for the killing of Janice Wylie, a Newsweek researcher, and Emily Hoffert, an elementary-school teacher, in an East Side apartment on Aug. 28, 1963.

August 29, 1993: Richard Robles, 50 years old, had served 29 years in prison, one of the longest sentences in the state penal system. The Parole Board, citing “the seriousness of the crime,” has denied him parole five times. Prison officials said that of the state’s 65,000 inmates, only 20 have been imprisoned longer than Mr. Robles.

October 8, 2012: Whitmore died in a Wildwood, N.J., nursing home. He was 68. In a NY Times Op-Ed article entitled, “Who Will Mourn George Whitmore?” T. J English wrote:

This week, a flawed but beautiful man who offered up his innocence to New York City died with hardly any notice. To those who benefited from his struggles or who believe the city is a fairer place for his having borne them, I ask: Who grieves for George Whitmore?

In recent months, I’d fallen out of touch with George Whitmore, Jr.. Knowing him, and attempting to assume a measure of responsibility for his life, was often exhausting. While I had come to love him, the drunken phone calls, the calls from hospital emergency rooms and flophouses, and the constant demands for money became overwhelming. When people who claimed to be friends of his starting calling me and asking for favors, I decided to back off. But when I received a cryptic e-mail from one of his nephews, informing me that Whitmore had died on Monday, I was overcome with sadness and regret.

February 28, 2014: from an article in The Paris Review by Sabine Heinlein. I mailed a copy of my book Among Murderers, about the struggles three men faced when they returned to the world after several decades behind bars, to Richard Robles.

Robles wrote back:

Remorse is a tough subject. It’s complicated by the human desire to avoid pain and punishment, which is actually stronger, I think. It includes feelings of shame and guilt. Then there’s the drive to rehabilitate oneself and change. It is complex and confusing. One has to take an honest look at himself and get rid of that “bullshit ego.”

He added:

I found it [the book] very honest and real. I think it will be an eye opener for those who have the misconception that parole is freedom. I’d like to see it as mandatory reading for all first offenders because they often think “parole is freedom” and are quickly, very negatively struck with profound disappointment when reality smacks or kicks them in the face.

Along these lines I would have liked to see more about the unrealistic expectations prisoners fantasize about in prison—and how fantasies inhibit reform/rehabilitation efforts. I think you tried to portray that but I’m not certain the average reader could get it. You portray a prisoner as saying “Expect the unexpected.” I’d rephrase that to “Expect to be disappointed in every dream you conjure in prison.”

George Whitmore Jr Crucified

Lynching, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

September 5, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Clinton, Mississippi riot

September 5, 1875: Republicans in Hinds County, Mississippi, held a barbecue and meeting in the town of Clinton that was attended by 3000 people. Hoping to curb the risk of violent political conflict, Clinton authorities appointed special police and prohibited serving liquor. When the Republican speakers began making their political speeches in the afternoon, Democratic party representatives unexpectedly joined the meeting and requested speaking time. In the interest of keeping peace, Republicans accommodated the request and arranged for a public discussion between Judge Amos R. Johnston, a Democratic candidate for state senate, and Captain H.T. Fisher, Republican editor of the Jackson Times.

Both speakers were to be given an equal amount of speaking time, and Johnston spoke first, giving a cordial address. Fisher expressed optimism that meetings between the parties could take place peacefully in the future but eight minutes into his address the crowd was disrupted by an altercation. Soon after, a gunfight erupted between whites and blacks, and bystanders panicked in a rush to escape the danger. About 15 minutes later, three whites and four blacks were dead, and six whites and 20 blacks ;were wounded.

Newspapers reported that the blacks who fired weapons did so in self defense but local whites were enraged by the show of force. That night, armed whites from Clinton and Vicksburg formed roving bands intent on killing black men. By the next day, an estimated 50 blacks had been killed and many more had been forced into the woods and swampland to avoid attack, where they remained until the violence subsided on September 6, 1875. [Black Past article] (BH, see Nov 2; RR, see November 3, 1883)

Walter Johnson lynched

September 5, 1912: a white mob in Princeton, West Virginia lynched a black man named Walter Johnson.

After Mr. Johnson was accused of assaulting a white girl, sheriff’s officials anticipated a lynch mob would form and moved him from Bluefield to Princeton. When the move was discovered, an armed mob of white men came to Princeton and seized Mr. Johnson. The local judge urged the mob to let the court conduct a “speedy trial,” and the state governor warned a lynching should not be allowed — but the mob was determined.

After kidnapping Mr. Johnson from police custody, the enraged mob beat Mr. Johnson with clubs and rocks, strung him to a telegraph pole “in the presence of the judge, sheriff, and armed guards” and shot him with hundreds of bullets. Despite their purported efforts to dissuade the mob, police did not attempt to use force to save Mr. Johnson’s life, and the judge did not order any members of the lynch mob arrested.

After the lynching, the growing mob patrolled the town terrorizing other African Americans, threatening to lynch other black people they encountered – including those who attempted to cut down Mr. Johnson’s hanging corpse. Instead, the mob cut the dead body down, stripped off most of the clothing to keep as souvenirs, and then again hanged the corpse from the same pole.

According to press reports, authorities later acknowledged a growing possibility that Mr. Johnson had been wrongly identified and was innocent of the alleged assault. Nevertheless, a grand jury convened to investigate the murder declined to return a single indictment, and no one was ever arrested or prosecuted for his lynching.

Walter Johnson was one of ten known lynching victims in Mercer County, West Virginia.

Mr. Johnson is one of more than 4,000 documented African American victims of racial terror lynching killed in the United States between 1877 and 1950. (next BH & Lynching, see September 10 following)

Rob Edwards lynched

September 10, 1912: a 24-year-old Black man named Rob Edwards was lynched and hung in downtown Cumming, Edwards was one of several Black men arrested on suspicion of involvement in the fatal assault of a young white woman named Mae Crow.

At least 2,000 white residents of Forsyth County formed a mob and stormed the jail. They found Edwards in his cell, brutally beat him with a crowbar, and shot him repeatedly. The mob then dragged Edwards through the streets to the town square, where they hung his mutilated body and left it on display. Subsequently, two Black teenagers who were also arrested for Mae Crow’s assault, Ernest Knox and Oscar Daniels, were convicted by all-white juries after trials that lasted one day each. They were hanged before thousands of white spectators.

Edwards’s lynching and the mob violence that followed terrorized the remaining 1,098 Black residents of Forsyth County, who fled the county in fear. The loss of Black-owned property in order to flee arbitrary mob violence was common during this era, and Forsyth’s Black residents left behind their homes and farms to escape, taking with them only what they could carry. Forsyth County would remain essentially all white until the 1990s.

No one was ever held accountable for Mr. Edwards’s lynching or the mass exodus of Black residents that followed. [EJI story] [video story] (next BH, see Oct 18; next Lynching, see March 31, 1914; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Muhammad Ali

September 5, 1960: After winning three preliminary bouts, Cassius Clay defeated Poland’s Zbigniew Pietrzkowski to win the light heavyweight gold medal. He became the World Light Heavyweight Olympic Champion less than six years after his bicycle is stolen in Louisville. Cassius Clay returned to the US to a hero’s welcome. He was an honoree at parades in both New York City and Louisville. Despite his accomplishments for the US, he was denied service in a segregated restaurant in Kentucky. (BH, see Oct 17; Ali, see October 29, 1960)

Virginia Theological Seminary

September 5, 2019: Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) announced that the Seminary would create an endowment fund from which the income will fund reparation.

It’s statement read in part: Virginia Theological Seminary recognizes that enslaved persons worked on the campus, and that even after slavery ended, VTS participated in segregation. VTS recognizes that we must start to repair the material consequences of our sin in the past.

The income from the endowment would be allocated annually in conversation with key stakeholders for the following purposes:

the needs emerging from local congregations linked with VTS;
the particular needs of any descendants of enslaved persons that worked at the Seminary;
the work of African American alumni/ae, especially in historic Black congregations;
the raising up of African American clergy in The Episcopal Church;
other activities and programs that promote justice and inclusion. (next BH, see Oct 8)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

First Labor Day Parade

September 5, 1882: some 10,000 workers assembled in New York City to participate in America’s first Labor Day parade. After marching from City Hall, past reviewing stands in Union Square, and then uptown to 42nd Street, the workers and their families gathered in Wendel’s Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches. This first Labor Day celebration was eagerly organized and executed by New York’s Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions. Debate continues to this day as to who originated the idea of a workers’ holiday, but it definitely emerged from the ranks of organized labor at a time when they wanted to demonstrate the strength of their burgeoning movement and inspire improvements in their working conditions. [US DoL article] (see June 13, 1884)

DoJ raids IWW

September 5, 1917: U.S. Department of Justice agents made simultaneous raids on dozens of International Workers of the World meeting halls across the country. Minutes books, correspondence, mailing lists, and publications were seized, with the U.S. Department of Justice removing five tons of material from the IWW’s General Office in Chicago alone. This seized material was scoured for possible violations of the Espionage Act of 1917 and other laws, with a view to future prosecution of the organization’s leaders, organizers, and key activists. (see Sept 11)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

September 5 Music et al

see On The Road for more

September 5, 1957: Jack Kerouac’s On The Road published. It was based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends, particularly Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg, across America. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use. The novel underwent several drafts before Kerouac completed it in April 1951.

When the book was originally released, The New York Times hailed it as “the most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as ‘beat,’ and whose principal avatar he is.” (next Beat Generation, see Oct 3; see Road for expanded story)

see House of the Rising Sun for more

September 5 – 25, 1964: “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hippie coined

September 5, 1965: San Francisco writer Michael Fallon applied the term “hippie” to the SF counterculture in an article about the Blue Unicorn coffeehouse, where LEMAR (Legalize Marijuana) & the Sexual Freedom League met. (see September 8, 1966)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam & My Lai Massacre

September 5, 1969: the day before his scheduled discharge from the Army, Lieutenant Calley was charged with six counts of premeditated murder. The public information office issued a press release stating Calley was being retained because of an ongoing investigation. (Vietnam, see Sept 24; see My Lai for expanded story)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

September 5, 1972: Sarah Lawrence College began a graduate program in Women’s History, the first such Master’s degree program to be offered by a major college. [Sarah Lawrence site article] (see Sept 12)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

Munich Massacre

September 5 – 6, 1972: eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after 8 members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; 5 guerrillas and 1 policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue. [CBS News article] (see December 15, 1981)

Lynette Fromme

September 5, 1975, in Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme, a follower of jailed cult leader Charles Manson, attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford, but was thwarted by a Secret Service agent. [Rolling Stone article on Fromme] (see Sept 22)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

September 5, 2017: President Trump ordered an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. It had shielded young undocumented immigrants from deportation, calling the program an “amnesty-first approach” and urging Congress to replace it with legislation before it began phasing out on March 5, 2018.

“I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents,” Mr. Trump said in a written statement. “But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.” [NBC News story] (Immigration, see Sept 7; DACA, see Sept 14)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

September 5, 2019: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced that Michigan State University would pay a record $4.5 million fine for failing to protect students from sexual abuse following a sweeping investigation into the university’s response to allegations against a former team doctor and convicted sex criminal, Lawrence G. Nassar.

The fine was part of a settlement with the Education Department, which initiated two investigations into the university’s handling of abuse allegations against Mr. Nassar. (next SAC, see Sept 13; next Nassar, see July 14, 2021)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

Census

September 6, 2020: CNN reported that Judge Lucy Koh ordered the Trump administration to temporarily stop “winding down or altering any Census field operations.” The order applied nationwide.

The temporary restraining order was the first court order this fall impacting how the final weeks of counting would unfold. Several other lawsuits were pending in courts across the country. This order is in effect until a hearing on September 17.

Groups protesting the move said the practice risked undercounting minority groups, including both legal and undocumented immigrants.

Koh, who sits in California, noted in the temporary restraining order the concern from the groups suing the government “that each day that the Census does not conduct its field operations to reach and count hard to reach populations increases the inaccuracy of the Census count and thus increases their irreparable harm.”

The Census Bureau sent a message to its field operations leadership informing them of the order from the federal judge to continue Census field work. (next Census, see Sept 10; next Kohl, see Sept 25)

September 5 Peace Love Art Activism

Lynching, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

August 30, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Gabriel Prosser’s rebellion

August 30, 1800: in the spring of 1800, Gabriel Prosser, a deeply religious man, began plotting an invasion of Richmond, Virginia and an attack on its armory. By summer he had enlisted more than 1,000 slaves and collected an armory of weapons, organizing the first large-scale slave revolt in the U.S. On the day of the revolt, a flood destroyed the bridges leading to Richmond and Prosser was betrayed.

The state militia attacked. Prosser and 35 of his men were hanged on Oct 7, 1800. [Black Past article] (next BH, see Oct 2; next SR, see January 1805; Prosser, see October 28, 2002)

White League Massacre

August 30, 1874: Thomas Abney chose a guard of about twenty-five men, the prisoners and with guards began to walk toward Shreveport. That afternoon, still twenty miles below Shreveport guards at the rear of the group spied forty or fifty heavily armed riders in hot pursuit.

The pursuers were led by a mysterious “Captain Jack”—his real name Dick Coleman—about whom almost nothing is known except that he liked to kill Republicans. Captain Jack’s gang overtook the train, crying out to the guards, “Clear the track,” or die with the prisoners. Dewees, Homer Twitchell, and Sheriff Edgerton died in the first hail of bullets. The lynch mob took Howell, Willis, and Holland prisoner, then executed them in cold blood. At no point did the guards make any effort to protect the prisoners.

South of Coushatta, whites seized a black leader named Levin Allen, broke his arms and legs, and burned him alive. [Facing History article] (next BH, see Aug 31; see expanded chronology of 19th century Lynching )

School Desegregation

August 30, 1956: despite the 1954 “Brown v. Bd Of Education” decision, a white mob in Mansfield, Texas violently barred black students from attending classes. The 12 black students were approved for registering in to Mansfield High School only to be met with racist taunts and burning effigies. Mansfield’s school had board honored the high court’s decision to allow the 12 students to attend the local high school. A mob of 400 pro-segregationists took to the streets brandishing guns and racist signs. Governor Allan Shivers sent six Texas Rangers not to escort the children in to the school, but to stave off any potential for violence. Effigies were hung, with one featuring a burned figure alongside a sign that read, “This Negro tried to enter the school.” [running for re-election in 1954, Shivers had called Ralph Yarborough, his liberal opponent, a “n-gger lover.” Shivers won a third term.]

That day, even though Black residents watched over the students using an armed community watch faction, the students were redirected to a secondary school in Fort Worth. The town resisted student integration and defied the constitutional law until 1965. [Black Past article] (see Sept 1)

William Zantzinger

August 30, 1963: after his charge was reduced to manslaughter and assault, based on the likelihood that it was Hattie Carroll’s stress reaction to William Zantzinger’s verbal and physical abuse that led to the intracranial bleeding, rather than blunt-force trauma from the blow that left no lasting mark, Zantzinger was convicted of both charges and sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of $500. The judges deferred the start of the jail sentence until September 15, to give Zantzinger time to harvest his tobacco crop. He showed no remorse about Hattie Carroll — “I didn’t do anything to her” — and he scoffed at his six-month sentence: “I’ll just miss a lot of snow.” (Zantzinger, see April 24, 1991)

George Whitmore, Jr

August 30, 1963: Newsweek offered a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the murderer or murderers. (see GWJ for expanded story; next BH, see Sept 12)

Thurgood Marshall

August 30, 1967: Thurgood Marshall confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court. [Politico article] (see October)

Pontiac school buses bombed

August 30, 1971: Robert Miles and four other Klansmen bombed 10 empty school buses shortly before a court-order issued by Judge Damon Keith to use busing to integrate schools in Pontiac, Michigan, was supposed to go into effect. [NYT article on conviction of Klansmen] (see Sept 9)

Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford

August 30, 1983: U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became the first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifted off on its third mission. It was the first night launch of a space shuttle, and many people stayed up late to watch the spacecraft roar up from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:32 a.m. [Military dot com article] (see Nov 2)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Angelina Grimké

August 30, 1835: Angelina Grimké wrote a letter to abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison endorsing his efforts and calling antislavery a “cause worth dying for.” As Grimké was a southern woman and the daughter of a prominent slave-owning judge, her letter made her a celebrity within the antislavery movement. [Women’s History article] (next Feminism, see November 1836)

Margaret Sanger

August 30, 1949: the U.S. military command in Japan informed Women’s Health pioneer Margaret Sanger that General Douglas MacArthur had canceled her invitation to visit Japan. At issue was the fact that abortion rates in Japan were extremely high and Sanger had expressed concern that the greater availability of Women’s Health information and services would help to reduce the number of abortions.

Gen. MacArthur, however, concluded that Women’s Health was too sensitive an issue for the American occupation command, and consequently cancelled her invitation. (Sanger finally had a triumphant visit to Japan in 1953. She addressed the Japanese Diet and was given a motorcade parade, in which sound trucks announced “Sanger is here.”) [NYU article] (see April 25, 1951)

Sex-segregated ads

August 30, 1967: until the late 1960s, job-wanted ads were sex-segregated, indicating “Men Wanted” and “Women Wanted.” Members of the National Organization for Women (NOW), which had been formed the year before on June 30, 1966, picketed The New York Times on this day to protest its use of sex-segregated ads.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed sex discrimination in employment, but a controversy immediately developed when the new Equal Opportunity Commission initially decided that sex-segregated employment ads were not illegal. After strong feminist protests, the EEOC reversed its position. The Supreme Court upheld a ban on sex-segregated ads, in Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission, on June 21, 1973. (see Oct 13)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Labor History

August 30, 1918: ninety-three I.W.W. members in Chicago were sentenced from one to twenty years’ imprisonment at Leavenworth, Kansas, for violating the Espionage Act. The defendants are also assessed fines from $20,000 to $30,000. (see Sept 14)

Colin Kaepernick

August 30, 2018: arbitrator Stephen Burbank decided that NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick’s grievance alleging the league’s owners colluded to keep him out can go to trial. (FS, see Oct 17; LH, see Nov 6; CK, see Sept 3)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Evelyn Hooker

August 30, 1956: American psychologist Evelyn Hooker shared her paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual” at the American Psychological Association Convention in Chicago. After administering psychological tests, such as the Rorschach, to groups of homosexual and heterosexual males, Hooker’s research concluded homosexuality was not a clinical entity and that heterosexuals and homosexuals do not differ significantly. Hooker’s experiment became very influential, changing clinical perceptions of homosexuality. (see June 24, 1957)

North American Mission Board

August 30, 2013: the North American Mission Board, the domestic arm of the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission outreach programs, issued guidelines ordering the religion’s military chaplains not to perform, attend or participate in same sex weddings in any way. In addition to ordering Baptist chaplains to adhere to the church’s “marriage is for one man and one woman” line doctrinally and pastorally, the guidelines said, “NAMB-endorsed chaplains will not conduct or attend a wedding ceremony for any same-sex couple, bless such a union or perform counseling in support of such a union, assist or support paid contractors or volunteers leading same-sex relational events, nor offer any kind of relationship training or retreat, on or off of a military installation, that would give the appearance of accepting the homosexual lifestyle or sexual wrongdoing. This biblical prohibition remains in effect irrespective of any civil law authorizing same-sex marriage or benefits to the contrary.” (see Sept 4)

Student Rights

August 30, 2021: the Gloucester County school board in Virginia agreed to pay $1.3 million in legal fees to resolve a discrimination lawsuit filed by Gavin Grimm, a former student, whose efforts to use the boys’ bathroom put him at the center of a national debate over rights for transgender people.

Grimm’s battle with the school board began in 2014, when he was a sophomore and his family informed his school that he was transgender. Administrators were supportive at first. But after an uproar from some parents and students, the school board adopted a policy requiring students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms for their “corresponding biological genders.”

Grimm sued the school board. The legal battle pushed him into the national spotlight as Republican-controlled state legislatures introduced a wave of “bathroom bills” requiring transgender people to use public restrooms in government and school buildings that correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificates.

“We are glad that this long litigation is finally over and that Gavin has been fully vindicated by the courts, but it should not have taken over six years of expensive litigation to get to this point,” Joshua Block, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represented Mr. Grimm, said in a statement on Thursday. Mr. Block added that he hoped that the outcome would “give other school boards and lawmakers pause before they use discrimination to score political points.” [ACLU article] (next SR, see ; next LGBTQ, see Oct 11)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

August 30, 1963: the “Hot Line” communications link between the White House, Washington D.C. and the Kremlin, Moscow, went into operation to provide a direct two-way communications channel between the American and Soviet governments in the event of an international crisis. This was one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis. It consisted of one full-time duplex wire telegraph circuit, routed Washington- London- Copenhagen- Stockholm- Helsinki- Moscow, used for the transmission of messages and one full-time duplex radiotelegraph circuit, routed Washington- Tangier- Moscow used for service communications and for coordination of operations between the two terminal points. Note, this was not a telephone voice link. (see Oct 7)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestones

Cultural Milestone

August 30 – September 3, 1963: Dutch electronics company Philips introduced the compact cassette at the Berlin Radio Show (also known as the German Radio Exhibition or Internationale Funkausstellung). Its initial function was as a recording device; only later did prerecorded music become available. (CM, see Sept 2; TM, see Nov 18)

Space Shuttle

August 30, 1984: NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery took off for the first time, beginning what would become 27 years of reliable service. Astounding video!

Cable TV

By the end of 1987, 50.5% American households had cable television. (see April 25, 1990)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

August 30 Music et al

Dylan/Grossman

August 30, 1962: Dylan and Albert Grossman signed a management agreement. It gave Grossman four years as Bob’s exclusive manager, with an option to extend the contract for a further three. (see In September)

see Bob Dylan for more

August 30, 1965: released Highway 61 Revisited album. His sixth studio album. Recorded June 15 – Aug 4, 1965 (see May 16, 1966)

Byrds

August 30, 1968: Byrds released Sweetheart of the Rodeo album.

Festivals

see Isle of Wight Festival for more

August 30 – 31, 1969: attracted an audience of approximately 150,000. It became a legendary event largely owing to the participation of Bob Dylan who had spent the previous three years in semi-retirement following a motorcycle accident. (see June 9, 1970)

see Texas International Pop Festival for more

August 30 – September 1, 1969 [Labor Day weekend] – in Lewisville, TX. Attendance at the festival remains unknown, but is estimated between 120,000 and 150,000

see Sky River Rock Festival for more

August 30 – September 1, 1969 [Labor Day Weekend]: Sky River Rock Festival, Rainier Hereford Ranch. Tenino, Washington. An estimated 25,000 people attended over three days. No breakdown of who played when seems to exist. (see Aug 31)

John Lennon

August 30, 1972: John Lennon performed two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, to raise money for children with mental challenges at friend Geraldo Rivera’s request.

The benefit concerts, billed as One to One, also featured other performers in addition to Lennon, including Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Melanie Safka and Sha-Na-Na.

Live in New York City captured John Lennon’s last full-length concert performance, coming right after the release of Some Time in New York City, which was a commercial failure in the US. Perhaps as a result, Lennon’s stage talk, while humorous, is self-deprecating and slightly nervous in tone. Backing Lennon and Ono were Elephant’s Memory, who had served as Lennon and Ono’s backing band on Some Time in New York City. Although the material Lennon performed was largely drawn from his three most recent albums of the period (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Imagine and Some Time in New York City), he also included in the setlist his Beatles hit “Come Together” and paid tribute to Elvis Presley with “Hound Dog” before leading the audience in a singalong of “Give Peace a Chance”. (Beatles, see March 6, 1973; concert, see February 10, 1986)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

August 30, 1965: General Westmoreland outlined a “three-phase sustained campaign” :

The increased number of American troops would reverse the the “losing trend” that South Vietnamese forces had been experiencing.
In early 1966 a series of offensive operations would clear the enemy from the countryside to allow the expansion of pacification.
If Hanoi didn’t see the hopelessness of its cause, US forces would obliterate their remaining forces. (see Aug 31)

Ho Chi Minh

August 30, 1969: Ho Chi Minh responded to Nixon’s letter of July 15. He wrote that he understood that the United States must emerge from the war with honor, but Minh gave no hint of compromise. He said that the Vietnamese people were “determined to fignt to the end.” (see Sept 2)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

August 30, 1991: Azerbaijan declared independence from Soviet Union. [Culture Tip article] (see Aug 31)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Nominations

August 30, 2004: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney re-nominated at the Republican National Convention in New York City.

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Hurricane Katrina

August 30, 2005: Louisiana Governor Blanco ordered the evacuation of all New Orleans, including the Superdome, due to the flooding of the city. (see Katrina for expanded story)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Veronica Brown

August 30, 2013: the Oklahoma Supreme Court granted an emergency stay to keep Veronica Brown, a 3-year-old Cherokee girl, with her biological father and plans to hear arguments from his lawyers and those of the girl’s adoptive parents. (see Veronica for expanded story)

Denali

August 30, 2015: President Obama announced that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, restoring an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America. [NYT article] (see September 10, 2016)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News & ICAN

August 30, 2013: United Nations working group highlighted humanitarian concerns about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear detonations and the need for non-nuclear nations to push forward. (Nuclear, see Sept 15; ICAN, see In February 2014)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

August 30, 31, and September 1, 2016: at the 98^th National Convention of the American Legion, it was recommended the Legion “urge the Drug Enforcement Agency to license privately-funded medical marijuana production operations in the United States to enable safe and efficient cannabis drug development research; and…that The American Legion urge Congress to amend legislation to remove Marijuana from schedule I and reclassify it in a category that, at a minimum, will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value. (see Oct 19)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Texas immigration crackdown

August 30, 2017: U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia blocked most of a Texas immigration crackdown two days before it was set to go into effect on Sept. 1, offering a major victory for opponents as a tropical storm ravages the state and local officials struggle to assure immigrants it’s safe to seek help.

Garcia issued an injunction that prevents Texas from implementing Senate Bill 4 while a lawsuit challenging the law winds its way through the federal courts. The ruling marked a victory for immigrant rights groups and several local governments ― including those of Austin, Houston, San Antonio and El Cenizo ― that argued the law unconstitutionally requires police to do the work of federal authorities and would lead to racial profiling.

“There is overwhelming evidence by local officials, including local law enforcement, that SB 4 will erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe,” Garcia wrote in his order. “There is also ample evidence that localities will suffer adverse economic consequences which, in turn, harm the State of Texas.” [HuffPost article] (IH, see Sept 5; Texas, see March 13, 2018)

Separation of families

August 30. 2018: documents filed in a lawsuit seeking to reunite the families said that 497 of the 2,654 migrant children that the Trump administration took from their parents at the border were still in federal custody and not with parents. Parents of 322 of those children were deported.

Judge Dana Sabraw had ordered all children under age 5 to be reunited with parents by July 10, but 22 of them were still separated, according to government documents on this date. The deadline for reuniting 5- to 18-year-old children was July 26. (see Aug 31; next Judge Sabraw, see March 8, 2019)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Pledge of Allegiance

August 30, 2018: according to Boulder County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Catherine Olguin, Karen Smith, of Lafayette’s Angevine Middle School, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in injury (see Feb 1). Prosecutors dropped an additional charge of third-degree assault as a condition of the plea agreement.

Smith received an 18-month deferred sentence, which meant the guilty plea will be withdrawn if she fulfilled the terms of the sentence and avoided another criminal case during that time.

Smith, 60, also retired from teaching. (see Pledge for expanded chronology)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

August 30, 2021: the United Nations announced Algeria’s last reserves of leaded gasoline had officially been emptied in July 2021, marking the global end of leaded fuel use in vehicles, according to a statement. Officials said the end of leaded petrol use would prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths per year, and that it was an important step toward improving air pollution levels around the world, reported Helena Horton for the Guardian. [Smithsonian article] (next EI, see Sept 26)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

August 30, 2023: in Massachusetts, a Dedham District Court judge ruled that Theodore McCarrick, the highest-ranking Catholic cleric in the United States to face charges in the church’s ongoing sexual abuse crisis, was not competent to stand trial, a judge in Massachusetts.

McCarrick faced three counts of indecent assault and battery in Massachusetts, based on an accusation that he repeatedly sexually assaulted a teenage boy at a family wedding reception in 1974. [NYT article] (next SAC, see Sept 29)