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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)

August 30 Peace Love Art Activism

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

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

August 29, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

August 29, 1874: a panel of Coushatta’s leading citizens conducted a trial of the white prisoners arrested on August 27. Late in the day, after hours of grilling, Homer Twitchell, Sheriff Edgerton, and the other white prisoners, in return for a promise of safe passage to Shreveport, resigned their offices and promised in writing to leave the state and never return.

At the same time, the White League issued a proclamation over the signatures of Abney, Pierson, Julius Lisso, and other town leaders, alleging that the prisoners were evil men who had indoctrinated “vicious ideas into the minds of the colored people of Red River, and array[ed] them against the true interest of the country.” [Facing History article] (see Aug 30)

Emmett Till

August 29, 1955: J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant were arrested on kidnapping charges in LeFlore County in connection with Till’s disappearance. They are jailed in Greenwood, Mississippi and held without bond. (see Emmett Till for expanded story)

Voting Rights

August 29, 1957: Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, an ardent segregationist, sustained the longest one-person filibuster in history in an attempt to keep the Civil Rights Act of 1957 from becoming law. His one-man filibuster lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes; he began with readings of every state’s election laws in alphabetical order. Thurmond later read from the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and George Washington’s Farewell Address.

Despite Thurmond’s action, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first federal civil rights legislation since 1875. The legislation set up the US Commission on Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice. [NPR story] (BH, see September; VR, see Sept 9 )

Bob Moses

August 29, 1961: Bob Moses, leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), pursued a voter registration drive in Amite County, Mississippi, where only one African American was allowed to vote. When Moses tried to sign up two more voters, he was attacked and beaten. He filed charges against his white attackers, who were acquitted. [Mississippi Freedom Summer article] (see Sept 22)

Mutual Black Network

August 29, 1979: the Sheridan Broadcasting Company, owned by African-American lawyer and educator Ronald R. Davenport, purchased the Mutual Black Network (MBN).

MBN previously distributed news and public affairs programming to Black-orientate stations around the country, reaching millions of listeners, Encyclopedia of Radio author C. Sterling wrote. The merger marked the beginning of the first completely Black-owned radio network in the world. [Black Then article] (next BH, see Nov 3)

George Whitmore, Jr

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. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

Attica Prison Riot

August 29, 2000: [from the NYT] “Declaring that inmates beaten in the 1971 Attica prison uprising were treated ‘like garbage,’ a federal judge divided an $8 million settlement… to compensate more than 500 inmates and relatives for the abuse that the prisoners suffered. The allotment of the landmark settlement caps one of the longest and most ignominious chapters in American criminal justice history, fleshing out a deal reached in January between New York State and lawyers representing 1,281 former inmates.

At more than 200 pages, the settlement filed…also functions as a harrowing encyclopedia of personal anecdotes, incorporating months of testimony from nearly 200 former inmates who stood before Judge Michael A. Telesca of Federal District Court here and recounted how the uprising and siege at the prison in western New York left 43 people dead, 80 wounded and countless more psychologically scarred.

And now, after almost three decades of waiting and legal maneuvering, the former inmates are scheduled to receive their shares by October, barring an appeal by any inmate.” (BH, see Nov 7; APR, see January 13, 2005)

Jordan Edwards

August 29, 2018: a Texas jury sentenced former police Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver to 15 years in prison for the shooting death of Jordan Edwards, 15, an unarmed African-American teen in a Dallas suburb.

The jury deliberated for 12 hours before deciding the Oliver’s fate. In addition to the prison term, it imposed a fine of $10,000.

Oliver claimed that fired into a car full of teens on April 29, 2017 he believed the car Edwards was a passenger in was moving aggressively toward Oliver’s partner. Oliver’s partner said he’d never felt in danger.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson described Oliver as a “killer in blue” who violated his oath to protect citizens. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of at least 60 years while the defense argued for 20 years or less. (see Sept 6)

Antwon Rose

August 29, 2019: Gregory Wagner, charged with driving his Mercedes-Benz through a crowd that was protesting the police shooting of an unarmed black teen Antwon Rose avoided trial.

Wagner’s trial was to get underway on this date, but earlier in the month was admitted into a probationary program for nonviolent, first-time offenders.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the 59-year-old Wagner must also complete 25 hours of community service. (next Black & Shot, see Sept 26; next AR, see Oct 29)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

National Association of Letter Carriers

August 29, 1889: sixty letter carriers from 18 states meet in a room above Schaefer’s Saloon on Plankinton Avenue in Milwaukee. They unanimously adopt a resolution to form a National Association of Letter Carriers. [NALC site] (see Oct 25)

Lusty Lady Club

August 29, 1996: dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady Club vote 57-15 to be represented by SEIU Local 790. Their first union contract, ratified eight months later, guaranteed work shifts, protection against arbitrary discipline and termination, automatic hourly wage increases, sick days, a grievance procedure, and removal of one-way mirrors from peep show booths [LL site] (Labor, see August 19, 1997; Feminism, see Oct 3)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

August 29 Music et al

Roots of Rock

August 29, 1958: Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show opened at the Fox Theatre in Brooklyn. Those performing included Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Chuck Berry, Bobby Freeman, Bill Haley and his Comets and The Elegants. (see Dec 25)

The Casbah

August 29, 1959: the opening night of a new social club for teenagers, based in the cellar of a large Victorian house at 8 Hayman’s Green, Liverpool. The club was called The Casbah and run by Mona Best, mother of Pete Best and owner of the house. She had bought it after winning a horse racing bet in the 1954 Epson Derby; it had previously been owned by the West Derby Conservative Club, and had 15 bedrooms and an acre of land.

Mona Best had the idea for opening the club after seeing a television report on the 2i’s Coffee Bar in London’s Soho district. The Casbah was intended as a members-only club for Pete, his younger brother Rory, and their friends.

She charged half a crown for annual membership, and served soft drinks, snacks and cakes. The Casbah also had, unusually for the time, an espresso coffee machine. When there weren’t live performances Mona played records on a small Dansette record player, amplified through a 3″ speaker.

The Les Stewart Quartet, with George Harrison and Ken Brown on guitars, had been booked to perform on the opening night, but they cancelled after Stewart and Brown had an argument: Brown had missed a rehearsal as he had been helping Mona Best decorate the club.

As 300 membership cards had already been sold, Mona Best didn’t want to cause disappointment on the club’s opening night. Harrison suggested the Quarrymen play instead, and so they went round to arrange the booking. At this point their line-up was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ken Brown. They didn’t have a drummer at the time, so they played without one.

John, Paul and George went around to see Mona, who told them they were welcome to play but she was still painting the cellar for the club’s opening the following week. The three boys grabbed paintbrushes and helped her finish it off. John mistook gloss for emulsion – because of his short sight – which took days to dry. Cynthia Powell also helped, and painted a silhouette of her future husband John Lennon on the wall; it can still be seen there today. (see Oct 31)

Hullabaloo

August 29, 1966: NBC-TV’s Hullabaloo’s last show. Replaced by The Monkees TV show. (see Sept 12)

The Beatles final live concert

August 29, 1966: performed their final live concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Park’s capacity was 42,500, but only 25,000 tickets were sold, leaving large sections of unsold seats. Fans paid between $4.50 and $6.50 for tickets.

George Harrison: “We’d done about 1,400 live shows and I certainly felt this was it. It was nice to be popular, but when you saw the size of it, it was ridiculous, and it felt dangerous because everybody was out of hand. Even the cops were out of line….It was a very strange feeling. For a year or so I’d been saying, “Let’s not do this anymore.’ And then it played itself out, so that by 1966 everybody was feeling, ‘We’ve got to stop this.’ I don’t know exactly where in 1966, but obviously after the Philippines we thought, ‘Hey, we’ve got to pack this in.'” (see Sept)

Mark David Chapman

August 29, 2016: the NY State Board of Parole denied parole to Mark David Chapman on the grounds that his crime was premeditated and celebrity-seeking in nature. The board said Chapman’s release would deprecate the seriousness of the crime. (see January 18, 2017)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

DDT

August 29, 1962: the dangerous long-range side-effects of DDT and other pesticides was the subject of a press-conference question to President John F. Kennedy. In his reply, he acknowledged Rachel Carson’s ground-breaking environmental book on the subject (Silent Spring) and stated that the government was taking a closer look at this. [the book was not yet published] (see page for more) (see Sept 27)

Methane emissions

August 29, 2019: the Trump administration laid out a far-reaching plan to cut back on the regulation of methane emissions, a major contributor to climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule aims to eliminate federal requirements that oil and gas companies install technology to detect and fix methane leaks from wells, pipelinesand storage facilities. It would also reopen the question of whether the E.P.A. had the legal authority to regulate methane as a pollutant.

The rollback plan was particularly notable because major energy companies had, in fact, spoken out against it — joining automakers, electric utilities and other industrial giants that had opposed other administration initiatives to dismantle climate-change and environmental rules. (see Sept 12)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War & Cuban Missile Crisis

August 29, 1962: a high-altitude U-2 surveillance flight provided conclusive evidence of the existence of missile sites at eight different locations in Cuba. (see CMC for expanded story)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

August 29, 1970: Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar was shot and killed by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies at a National Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War protest rally. The Moratorium rally was broken up by LASD deputies who used tear gas, and Salazar was shot and killed in the resulting chaos. In 1971 Salazar was posthumously awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. No one was ever prosecuted for the killing, and his death remains an important symbol of discrimination against Latinos in Southern California. (PBS piece) (see Sept 25)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

August 29, 1983: Columbia College, the last U.S. all-male Ivy League college, and a part of Columbia University, admits women to its freshman class for the first time in its 229-year history. [Columbia article] (see September 17, 1983)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS

August 29, 1987: having had their house fire-bombed the day before, Louise Ray said that her family would leave DeSoto County. “I never thought it would go this far,” she said. (Rays, see December 13, 1992; AIDS, see Aug 31)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

August 29, 1991: after three hours of anguished debate, the Soviet Parliament voted to suspend all activities of the Communist Party pending an investigation of its role in the coup. It was an action that confirmed the demise of the old regime even as the search quickened for new forms of association and order. The fate of the party was already sealed before Parliament’s vote. Individual republics had closed its offices and seized its vast properties and funds and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev had quit as its General Secretary and had called on the leadership to step down. But Parliament was the only national institution with the formal powers to act against the entire organization, and its decision served to confirm the indictment already passed by the people. (see Aug 30)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Nominations

August 29, 1996, Democrats re-nominated Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Hurricane Katrina

August 29, 2005: Katrina’s storm surge causes 53 different levee breaches in greater New Orleans, submerging eighty percent of the city. (see Katrina for expanded chronology)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

August 29, 2006: Donald Rumsfeld calls war critics “quitters” who “blame America first” for giving “the enemy the false impression Americans cannot stomach a tough fight” (see Sept 8)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

August 29, 2013: the federal government took an historic step back from its long-running drug war when Attorney General Eric Holder informed the governors of Washington and Colorado that the Department of Justice would allow the states to create a regime that would regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of marijuana for adults.

Holder told the governors in a joint phone call early Thursday afternoon that the department would take a “trust but verify approach” to the state laws. DOJ is reserving its right to file a preemption lawsuit at a later date, since the states’ regulation of marijuana is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act. (see Sept 2, or see CCC for expanded chronology)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

IRS

August 29, 2013: the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced that they will recognize all legally married same-sex for federal tax purposes, regardless of whether the state where they live recognizes the marriage.

The federal rules change was one of many stemming from the landmark Supreme Court decision in June that struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. That ruling found that same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits, but left open the question of how the federal government would actually administer those benefits.

“Imagine a pair of women who marry in Albany and then move to Alabama,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote at the time of the decision. “May they file a joint federal income tax return? Does the answer turn on where they were married or where they live?” [IRS article] (see Aug 30 or see December 13, 2022 re DoMA)

Justice delayed

August 29, 2017: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis kicked President Trump’s proposed ban on transgender people serving in the military down the road, announcing that transgender service members would continue to be allowed to serve pending the results of a study.

Mr. Mattis said that he was establishing a panel of experts, serving within the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, whose task would be to “provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president’s direction.” [NYT article]

Evangelical bias

August 29, 2017: a coalition of over 150 evangelical leaders released a manifesto reiterating their belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Titled the “Nashville Statement,” the document also asserts that God created two distinct sexes, that sex should only occur within the bounds of heterosexual marriage, and that “it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism.”

The statement emerged out of a meeting convened by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s annual conference in Nashville. It consisted of 14 statements of affirmation and denial relating to human sexuality. [Huff Post article] (see Oct 15)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

August 29, 2017: U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed a lawsuit against the New York Times by former U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who claimed the newspaper had defamed her in an editorial linking her to a 2011 mass shooting.

Rakoff, in Manhattan, said that while the June editorial may have contained errors, it was not plausible those errors were made maliciously, which a public figure like Palin must prove to win a defamation lawsuit. [NYT article] (see May 23, 2018)

Marion County Record

August 29, 2023: a judge ordered that Kansas authorities must destroy all electronic copies they made of a small newspaper’s files when police raided its office on August 11 and nearly two weeks after computers and cellphones seized in the search were returned.

The searches of the Marion County Record’s office and the homes of its publisher and a City Council member had been sharply criticized, putting Marion, a central Kansas town of about 1,900 people, at the center of a debate over the press protections offered by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Attorney Bernie Rhodes, who represents the newspaper, said a judge ordered authorities to hand over those electronic records and destroy any copies they have of them along with all photographs that officers took during the raids. [AP article] (next FS, see )

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

August 29, 2019: on December 29,1835, a minority party of the Cherokee Nation met government officials to sign the Treaty of New Echota, which laid out the terms for the removal of the Cherokee from the nation’s ancestral lands in the southeastern United States. Many Cherokee people opposed the treaty, and few willingly departed.

Among the compensation promised to the Cherokee as part of the devastating treaty was the right to send a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. For nearly 200 years, the position remained unfilled.

On this date, the Cherokee Nation’s council approved Kimberly Teehee as its first official representative to Congress.

She was the first delegate of a sovereign Native American government. Her role would be a non-voting one, and may be similar to the positions held by representatives of Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. These delegates can’t vote on the House floor, but are able to introduce legislation, debate on the floor and vote within their committees. (next NA, see February 7, 2020)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

August 29, 2020: Representatives from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the House and Senate Intelligence Committees they they were tightening control over the flow of sensitive intelligence about foreign threats to November’s election, telling Congress that they would no longer provide in-person briefings about election security and would rely solely on written updates instead.

Chief of the intelligence office, John L. Ratcliffe, framed the move as an attempt to “ensure clarity and consistency” in intelligence agencies’ interactions with Congress and to crack down on leaks that have infuriated some intelligence officials.

“I believe this approach helps ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the information O.D.N.I. provides the Congress in support of your oversight responsibilities on elections security, foreign malign influence and election interference is not misunderstood nor politicized,” he wrote, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times. “It will also better protect our sources and methods and most sensitive intelligence from additional unauthorized disclosures or misuse.” [NYT article] (next VR, see Sept 11)

August 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration

August 29, 2020: U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents lack the training to take over the initial processing of asylum claims.

For nearly 20 years officers from Citizenship and Immigration Services had conducted all interviews with asylum seekers and made what are called “credible fear determinations” for those who arrive at the nation’s borders fleeing to the U.S. to escape persecution.

But in January, Department of Homeland Security officials issued a memorandum delegating authority from CIS to Customs and Border Protection to allow CBP agents to handle the early screenings, arguing their training was comparable to that of CIS. CBP and CIS are both agencies within the department.

“Poppycock!” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in his opinion blocking CBP from conducting the interviews of asylum seekers. [NPR story] (next IH, see Sept 4)

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

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

August 28, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism & Voting Rights

August 28, 1917: woman suffragists picket President Woodrow Wilson in front of the White House. They demanded that he support an amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee women the right to vote.

Wilson had a history of lukewarm support for women’s suffrage, although he paid lip service to suffragists’ demands during political campaigns and greeted previously peaceful suffrage demonstrators at the White House with decorum. He was also a former teacher at a women’s college and the father of two daughters who considered themselves “suffragettes.” During the 1912 presidential campaign against Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson and his opponent agreed on many reform measures such as child-labor laws and pro-union legislation. They differed, however, on the subject of women’s suffrage, as Roosevelt was in favor of giving women the vote.

According to the Library of Congress’ American Memory archives, Wilson rode out of the White House gates that morning with his wife at his side and tipped his hat toward the protesters as usual. By this time, though, the suffragists had become increasingly disruptive and brandished anti-World War I slogans on their placards in addition to pleas for the vote and later that day the protesters and outraged bystanders who supported the war clashed. Many of the women were arrested and thrown in jail. (see October)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Emmett Till terrorized and murdered

August 28, 1955: at approximately 2:30 in the morning Carolyn Bryant’s husband, Roy, his half brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Emmett Till from Moses Wright’s home. They then brutally beat, dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his mutilated body into the water.

Moses Wright reported Till’s disappearance to the local authorities. (see Emmett Till for more)

Albany Movement

August 28, 1962: Albany, GA police arrested and jailed seventy religious leaders from the North and Midwest during an anti-segregation protest at the City Hall. (see Albany for expanded story)

Black History/August 28, 1963

King

Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Malcolm X

Referring to the March as the “Farce on Washington, Malcolm X afterwards stated: If you’re going to get yourself a .45 and start singing “We Shall Overcome,” I’m with you. (next BH, see Aug 30, ; next MX, see Oct 11; next MLK, see Oct 10)

George Whitmore, Jr

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 King’s speech in his Wildwood, NJ home, but 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. (next BH, see Aug 30; see Whitmore for the rest of the long sad story)

Philadelphia revolt

August 28 – 30, 1964: tensions between African American residents and police lead to 341 injuries and 774 arrests. [Philadelphia dot com article] (see Sept 1)

Trayvon Martin Shooting

August 28, 2013: Shellie Zimmerman, the wife of George Zimmerman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of perjury. She was placed on probation for one year, was required to perform 100 hours of community service, and must pay court costs. She also had to file a letter of apology within 30 days to Judge Kenneth Lester, who presided over her husband’s case at the time the perjury was committed. Recorded jailhouse phone calls between the couple caught the two speaking in code about their finances. By pleading guilty to a lesser charge of perjury not in an official proceeding, she avoided the original third-degree felony offense — perjury during an official proceeding — that could have meant time in prison. (see Sept 4)

Colin Kaepernick

August 28, 2016: Kaepernick met with the media two days after the game and for the first time since the protest gained national attention. He reiterated that he was acting to give a voice to people who didn’t have one.

“I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. When there’s significant change and I feel that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.” (see Sept 11)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

August 28 Music et al

Wooden Heart

August 28 – September 3, 1961: based on a German folk song and made popular in the US by Elvis in the film G.I. Blues , “Wooden Heart” by Joe Dowell #1 Billboard Hot 100.

Something for Everybody

August 28 – September 17, 1961, Elvis Presley’s Something for Everybody is Billboard #1 album. (see Dec 18)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Bob Dylan

August 28, 1963: Bob Dylan and Joan Baez also perform at the King rally in Washington DC. (see Oct 8)

The Beatles

1964 summer tour

August 28, 1964: Life magazine article reported that the Beatles’ 33-day tour of 23 American cities was a sell out at every location and was expected to gross millions. Beatles pandemonium at the time was such that some hotels along the tour route refused to house the Beatles, and Los Angeles’ Lockheed Airport forbade any Beatles plane from landing there for fear of screaming fans running on to the tarmac.

Bob Dylan and the Beatles meet

August 28, 1964: The Beatles played a concert at New York’s Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. After the concert, the group was taken back to their suite at the city’s Hotel Delmonico. Journalist Al Aronowitz had came down from Woodstock, NY with his friend Bob Dylan, and brought him up to The Beatles hotel suite. John Lennon asked Dylan what he’d like to drink, and Dylan said “cheap wine.” (see Dylan/Beatles for more; Dylan, see January 20, 1965)

Electric Dylan booed

August 28, 1965: (from The College of Rock and Roll Facebook page): Dylan kicked off his tour at NYC’s Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. This show is legendary, and for anyone who doubts that 1965 audiences heaped great scorn on Bob Dylan and his electric crew, all they need to do is listen to a a tape of the concert to hear the audience’s point of view. There was so much hostility directed toward the stage that it’s frightening. Coming as it does after the shocking Newport appearance with members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the audience for the Forest Hills show pretty much knew what to expect, and the majority showed extreme displeasure during the electric half.

The first set, which was acoustic, was very well received. The crowd was quiet and respectful for the 45 minute opening set, which followed a typical top-40 disk jockey introduction more appropriate for a Dave Clark Five concert than a Bob Dylan concert. This show featured the debut of “Desolation Row”, from the Highway 61 album which was yet to be released (only a few days away, in fact). It’s a great performance and it went over very well with the crowd, who laughed appreciatively at the lyrics. It must have been amazing to sit there and hear a brand new masterpiece like “Desolation Row”.

After the well received acoustic half came to an end with “Mr. Tambourine Man”, the band set up for the second half. No doubt the crowd was gearing up for the hostility that was to follow. The crowd is so loud and belligerent at times that it becomes extremely hard to hear the music, but what can be heard is awesome. Levon lays down a muscular beat that drives the music forward and Robbie plays tough blues licks as only he can. Al Kooper pretty much plays the way only Al Kooper can. [Press Music article] (see Aug 30)

Beatles failed escape

August 28, 1966: nearing the end of their final tour of America, The Beatles performed one show at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California, before a crowd of 45,000. The Beatles’ attempt to escape from the stadium in an armored truck was thwarted when the main gate was found to be locked and The Beatles have to spend two hours in the back of the truck before they can leave the stadium. (see Aug 29)

Dear Prudence

August 28, 1968: started recording a new John Lennon song ‘Dear Prudence’. They built the song instrument by instrument, utilizing the 8-track equipment at Trident. John and George played guitars, while Paul plays drums to compensate for Ringo, who had quit The Beatles on August 22. (see Sept 3)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS

Arcadia, FL

August 28, 1987: a fire of suspicious origin destroyed the home of a couple whose three sons were hemophiliacs known to have been exposed to the virus that caused acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The fire capped a week of bomb and death threats against Clifford and Louise Ray, and their daughter and three sons, and a boycott of local schools. The boycott had been prompted by the Aug. 24 return to school of the three boys after a year’s absence. (Rays, see Aug 29)

LGBTQ & Immigration History

August 28, 1987: the Reagan administration adopted a formal policy barring visas to people with the HIV infection. The policy was one of several similar policies that reflected both an indifference to the HIV/AIDS crisis and hostility to homosexuality.The policy was finally rescinded by the administration of President Barack Obama on January 5, 2010 when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) removed HIV from the list of diseases that barred people from obtaining visas to enter the U.S. [AIDS timeline] (AIDS, see Aug 29; LGBTQ, see see June 22, 1988; IH, see October 30, 2009)

LGBTQ, Walmart

August 28, 2013: the nation’s largest private employer,announced that it will soon offer a full suite of benefits to its employees’ domestic partners, including those of the same sex. The change would take effect in all 50 states, independent of each state’s definition of what marriage, domestic partnership or civil union entails. The retail giant sent postcards to its staffers outlining changes to their health insurance policies for 2014, including news that “full-time associates can cover any spouse or domestic partner,” regardless of gender. [USA Today article] (see August 29)

Rowan County (Kentucky)

August 28, 2015: Rowan County (Kentucky) Clerk Kim Davis asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene on her behalf. Justice Elena Kagan will likely rule on Davis’ request. Kagan joined the majority opinion in June that effectively legalized gay marriage across the country.

Meanwhile, Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins said he’s referred a charge of “Official Misconduct” against Davis to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. (see Aug 31)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

August 28, 2003: the Supreme Court of Alabama removed a monument of the Biblical Ten Commandments from its courthouse rotunda. The monument had been installed on the orders of Chief Justice Roy Moore, triggering a federal lawsuit. In Glassroth v. Moore, the federal District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ordered Moore to remove the monument. This decision was upheld on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit. When Moore refused, he was removed from his post by the Supreme Court of Alabama. [Southeast Missourian article] (see November 21, 2011)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Hurricane Katrina

August 28, 2005: Katrina reached Category 4 intensity with 145 mph winds. By 7:00 AM CDT it was a Category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph , gusts up to 215 mph. In a press conference at roughly 10:00 AM CDT, Mayor Ray Nagin declared that “a mandatory evacuation order is hereby called for all of the parish of Orleans.” (see Aug 29)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

August 28, 2014: U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel threw out new Texas abortion restrictions that would have effectively closed more than a dozen clinics statewide in a victory for opponents of tough new anti-abortion laws sweeping across the U.S.

Yeakel sided with clinics that sued over one of the most disputed measures of a sweeping anti-abortion bill signed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in 2013. The ruling stops new clinic requirements that would have left seven abortion facilities in Texas come Monday, when the law was set to take effect. (BC, see Sept 1; Texas, see June 27, 2016)

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Klamath River restoration

August 28, 2024: the breaching of the two cofferdams at Iron Gate and Copco No. 1 returned the Klamath River to a free-flowing state in California for the first time in 100 years. That meant that the native fish species such as steelhead, coho and Chinook salmon had access to more than 400 miles of opened spawning and rearing habitat.

The habitat included not only the main stem of the Klamath River but several important tributaries that historically supported salmon and steelhead populations and would provide consistent sources of cool water in warm months and in a warming climate.

The restoration project was the largest such effort in American history. [CA gov article] (next EI, see )

August 28 Peace Love Art Activism

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