July 3 – 6, 1969: the festival’s 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music and audiences. Its lineup included, besides jazz, Friday evening appearances by rock groups Jeff Beck, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Ten Years After, and Jethro Tull. Saturday’s schedule mixed jazz acts such as Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck with others including John Mayall and Sly & the Family Stone. James Brown was among those who appeared Sunday afternoon, followed in the evening by Johnny Winter, Herbie Hancock, B. B. King, and Led Zeppelin.
July 3 Music et al
Jim Morrison
July 3, 1971: Jim Morrison died. Another member of the 27 Club.
“Jim Morrison, a man who sang, wrote and drank hard as lead singer of the Doors, has died – peacefully – at the age of 27. Morrison’s death, despite (and because of) strategic efforts on the part of his wife Pamela and friends, was shrouded in mystery.
He died in the early morning of Saturday, July 3rd, but it was July 9th, two days after he had been buried in a Paris cemetery, before his manager let word out to the American press.”
July 2, 1777: after declaring independence from New York in January 1777, the citizens of Vermont developed their own constitution, which contained “A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont.” This declaration affirmed that all men were born free and that no male over age 21 or female over age 18 could serve another in the role of servant, slave, or apprentice whether “born in the country, or brought from over sea.” Thus, with the ratification of its constitution on July 2, 1777, Vermont became the first North American territory to abolish slavery. [Slave North dot com article] (see March 1, 1780)
Joseph Cinqué
July 2, 1839: Joseph Cinqué led fifty-two fellow captive Africans, recently abducted from the British protectorate of Sierra Leone by Portuguese slave traders, in a revolt aboard the Spanish schooner Amistad. The ship’s navigator, who was spared in order to direct the ship back to western Africa, managed, instead, to steer it northward. When the Amistad was discovered off the coast of Long Island, New York, it was hauled into New London, Connecticut by the U.S. Navy.
President Martin Van Buren, guided in part by his desire to woo pro-slavery votes in his upcoming bid for reelection, wanted the prisoners returned to Spanish authorities in Cuba to stand trial for mutiny. A Connecticut judge, however, issued a ruling recognizing the defendants’ rights as free citizens and ordering the U.S. government to escort them back to Africa. [NPS article] (see Aug 26)
East St Louis riots
July 2, 1917: the city exploded in the worst racial rioting the country had ever seen. Most of the violence — drive-by shootings, beatings, and arson — targeted the African American community. The riots raged for nearly a week, leaving nine whites and hundreds of African Americans dead, and property damage estimated at close to $400,000. More than six thousand black citizens, fearing for their lives, fled the city. [Smithsonian article] (BH, see July 8; RR, see Aug 23)
Medgar Evers murder
July 2, 1963: in Jackson, Mississippi, the Hinds County grand jury indicted Byron de La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar W. Evers. (BH, see July 4; see Evers for expanded chronology)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Native Americans
Lieutenant Colonel George Custer
July 2, 1874: Lieutenant Colonel George Custer departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln with some 1,000 soldiers and 70 Indian scouts on a 1200 mile expedition to chart the Black Hills of eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota, land which belonged to the Sioux. (see August 2, 1874)
United States v. Washington
July 2, 1979: in United States v. Washington the US Supreme Court reaffirmed an earlier decision by US District Judge George Hugo Boldt that most Washington tribes may act as “co-managers”, alongside the state, of salmon and continue to harvest it. Justice John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the court, writing that “Both sides have a right, secured by treaty, to take a fair share of the available fish.” [DoJ article] (see July 25)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Cold War
July 2, 1948: the Soviet Union rejected participation in the Marshall Plan [the American program to aid Europe with monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II], with Stalin’s Foreign Minister, V.M. Molotov, calling it an “imperialist” plot to enslave Eastern Europe. (see July 15, 1948)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
July 2, 1890: Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Intended to block business monopolies, it will be used effectively by employers against unions. (follow-up, see October 15, 1914; LH, see September 3, 1891)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Cultural Milestone
July 2, 1962: Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Ark. (see July 9)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Feminism and ADA
Civil Rights Act of 1964
July 2, 1964: President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibited discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin but it does not make any provision for people with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities still lacked opportunities to participate in and be contributing members of society, were denied access to employment, and were discriminated against based on disability.
Title XIX
In 1965: Title XIX (19) of the Social Security Act created a cooperative federal/state entitlement program, known as Medicaid, that paid medical costs for certain individuals with disabilities and families with low incomes. [BIA article]
Camp Shriver
In 1962, Eunice Kennedy Shriver had founded the Camp Shriver to provide athletic training and competition for persons with intellectual disabilities. By 1968, the organization had grown into an international program enabling more than one million young people and adults to participate in 23 Olympic-type sports.
The Architectural Barriers Act
Also in 1968, The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 mandated the removal of what is perceived to be the most significant obstacle to employment for people with disabilities—the physical design of the buildings and facilities on the job. The act requires that all buildings designed, constructed, altered, or leased with federal funds to be made accessible. (BH, see July 9; Feminism, see July 13 – 16, 1964; ADA, see June 19, 1970)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
July 2, 1965: the EEOC was created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Under the terms of the law, the EEOC was established one year later, on this day. (see July 18)
July 2 – 8, 1966: “Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The [Bumpy] Road to Bethel
July 2, 1969: town meeting in Wallkill with many voicing highly critical views of festival. After the public meeting the council passed an ordinance severely curtailing public events. Woodstock Ventures would have an opportunity at a later meeting to show compliance with the various parts of the ordinance. (see July 4 – 5)
Live 8
July 2, 2005 MTV and VH1 aired the eight hours of the Live 8 concerts. The performances, featuring artists U2, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Green Day, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, Jay-Z, Pink Floyd and Destiny’s Child among many others, were held in eight cities to raise awareness of poverty in Africa.
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
Alpha and Bravo Companies
July 2, 1967: Alpha and Bravo Companies, 1st Battalion 9th Marines made their way up north on Highway 561 and secured a crossroad as their first objective. As they went further north between Gia Binh and An Kha, near a place called “The Market Place”, they made contact with the elements of the NVA 90th Regiment when sniper fire began to break out, enemy fire intensified as efforts were made by the 3rd Platoon to suppress it.
The NVA used flamethrowers in combat for the first time setting fire to hedgerows along Highway 561 forcing the Marines out into the open, exposing them to artillery, mortar and small arms fire, causing heavy casualties on A and B Companies and prevented them from linking up. B Company Headquarters was wiped out when a single NVA artillery round exploded within the command group.
Out of nearly 400 Marines, the two Companies suffered 84 killed, 190 wounded and 9 missing making this the worst one-day loss for the Marines in Vietnam. (see July 11)
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
July 2, 1976: North Vietnam and South Vietnam united to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (see January 21, 1977)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
DEATH PENALTY
Gregg v. Georgia
July 2, 1976: in Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of three state death penalty laws that had been passed following Furman v. Georgia [June 29, 1972]. In Furman, the Court had held that the death penalty as applied was unconstitutional because of a lack of procedural safeguards. Following the Furman decision, the newly approved death penalty laws included a bifurcated jury process that separated the decision on guilt from the decision on the sentence, specification of aggravating and mitigating circumstances to guide jury decision-making, and appellate review of death sentences. (see January 17, 1977)
July 2, 1982, The US Supreme Court (Endmund v. Florida) overturned [in a 5-4 vote] the death sentence of a man who was convicted of the robbery and murder of an elderly couple in Florida. Endmund had not directly participated in the murders himself, but had only drive the getaway car. This was enough, under Florida law, to make him a ‘constructive aider and abettor‘ in the killings, and so liable to the death penalty. However, a majority of five of the Supreme Court justices ruled that this is not enough to subject him to the death penalty, since they find Endmund had no intent to kill. (see December 2, 1982)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Women’s Health
July 2, 1979: the Supreme Court ruled, in Bellotti v. Baird, that teenagers were not required to obtain parental consent for an abortion. The decision, however, left questions about the extent of the rights of minors on decisions regarding abortion. In June 1990, in Minnesota v. Hodgson, the Court invalidated a Minnesota requirement that minors obtain the consent of both parents, but approved the constitutionality of a judicial “by-pass” by which a minor, in certain circumstances, could obtain judicial approval for an abortion rather than parental consent. (see March 23, 1981)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Technological Milestones
Walkman
July 2, 1979, : Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple’s iPod and other new digital devices. [Time article]
Two TVs
By the end of 1980 half of American households had more than one television set. (see August 12, 1981)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
July 2, 2015: BP and five Gulf states announced an $18.7 billion settlement that resolved years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by BP’s 2010 oil spill. The settlement money was used to resolve the Clean Water Act penalties; resolve natural resources damage claims; settle economic claims; and resolve economic damage claims of local governments, according to an outline filed in federal court. The settlement involved Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. [chronology via CNN] (see July 16)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Crime and Punishment
July 2, 2019: Judge Marsha J. Pechman of United States District Court for the Western District of Washington blocked an order by Attorney General William P. Barr that would have kept thousands of migrants detained indefinitely while waiting for their asylum cases to be decided.
Pechman described the order, which would have denied some migrants a bail hearing, as unconstitutional. Under a preliminary injunction, Judge Pechman said migrants must be granted a bond hearing within seven days of a request or be released if they have not received a hearing in that time.
“The court finds that plaintiffs have established a constitutionally protected interest in their liberty, a right to due process, which includes a hearing before a neutral decision maker to assess the necessity of their detention and a likelihood of success on the merits of that issue,” Judge Pechman wrote. [NYT article] (next C & P, see Sept 24)
Squalid conditions
July 2, 2019: a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General reported that overcrowded, squalid conditions were more widespread at migrant centers along the southern border than initially revealed, The report described standing-room-only cells, children without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release.
The findings were released as House Democrats detailed their own findings at migrant holding centers and pressed the agency to answer for the mistreatment not only of migrants but also of their own colleagues, who had been threatened on social media. [NYT article] (next IH, see )
2020 Census
July 2, 2019: the Trump administration abandoned its quest to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, a week after being blocked by the Supreme Court.
Faced with mounting deadlines and a protracted legal fight, officials ordered the Census Bureau to start printing forms for next year’s head count without the question.
The decision was a victory for critics who said the question was part of an administration effort to skew the census results in favor of Republicans. [NYT article] (next IH & Census, see July 3)
Sometimes, even with the internet, it’s hard to pin down an event’s exact date. All of the following happened in July, but I cannot find a date. If you can, let me know and the source. I’d appreciate it.
BLACK HISTORY
Washing Society
July 1881: 20 home laundry workers in Atlanta, Georgia formed a trade organization, the Washing Society. They sought higher pay, respect and autonomy over their work, and established a uniform rate at a dollar per dozen pounds of wash. With the help of African American ministers throughout the city, they held a mass meeting and called a strike to achieve higher pay at the uniform rate.
[AFL-CIO article] (see July 4)
Scottsboro Boys Travesty
July 1948: Haywood Patterson escaped from prison. Patterson sought the help of a journalist, Earl Conrad, and together they write The Scottsboro Boy, an account of Patterson’s life.
July 1977: Victoria Price’s defamation and invasion of privacy suit against NBC for its movie “Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys,” dismissed.
In 1979: Clarence Norris, in ”The Last of the Scottsboro Boys,” a 1979 autobiography written with Sybil D. Washington, contended that the black youths were scapegoats, caught at the wrong place at the wrong time with two white women who were afraid they would be accused of fraternizing with blacks.
In 1982: Victoria Price died without ever having apologized for her role in the injustice her testimony brought upon the innocent defendants. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)
Rosa Parks
In July 1955: Rosa Parks visited the Highlander Folk School. [Rosa Park Bio page article] (BH, see July 10; Montgomery Bus Boycott, see October 21)
Department of Defense Directive 5120.36
In July 1963: Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara issued Department of Defense Directive 5120.36 The directive dealt with the issue of racism in areas surrounding military communities. The directive declared:
It is the policy of the Department of Defense to conduct all of its activities in a manner which is free from racial discrimination, and which provides equal opportunity for all uniformed members and all civilian employees irrespective of their color.
The military departments shall . . . issue appropriate instructions, manuals and regulations in connection with the leadership responsibility for equal opportunity, on and off-base, and containing guidance for its discharge.
Every military commander has the responsibility to oppose discriminatory practices affecting his men and their dependents and to foster equal opportunity for them, not only in areas under his immediate control, but also in nearby communities where they may live or gather in off-duty hours.
The directive empowered commanding officers to use economic power to influence local businesses. With the approval of the Secretary of Defense, the commanding officer could declare an area off-limits to military personnel. [MLDC article] (see July 2)
Rainey Pool
July 1970: despite indictments, the circuit court enters an order granting nolle proseque [decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges either before trial or before a verdict is rendered.] (BH, see July 28)
In 1998: after more than twenty-eight years, five men were indicted for the murder of Pool in 1998. Two of the five men had severed trials. (Pool, see June 30, 1999; BH, see Mar 12)
July Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
USPS weight limits
July 1916: to the huge relief of Post Office Department employees, the service set a limit of 200 pounds a day to be shipped by any one customer. Builders were finding it cheaper to send supplies via post than via wagon freight. In one instance, 80,000 bricks for a new bank were shipped parcel post from Salt Lake City to Vernal, Utah, 170 miles away. The new directive also barred the shipment of humans: a child involved in a couple’s custody fight was shipped—for 17¢—from Stillwell to South Bend, Ind., in a crate labeled “live baby” (see February 9, 1917)
César E. Chávez
July – August 1975: to educate farm workers about their newly-won rights, Chavez embarked upon his longest, and least known, march, a 1,000-mile 59-day trek from the Mexican border at San Ysidro north along the coast to Salinas and then from Sacramento south down the Central Valley to the UFW’s La Paz headquarters at Keene, southeast of Bakersfield. Tens of thousands of farm workers march and attend evening rallies to hear Chavez and organize their ranches. (see May 1976)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Emma Goldman
July – December 1922: Goldman completed a manuscript, My Two Years in Russia and sells the rights to the book. It was published in 1923 as My Disillusionment in Russia. (see Goldman for expanded story)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Religion and Public Education
July 1945: Vashti McCollum brought legal action against the Champaign, Illinois public school district. McCollum’s suit stated that her eight-year-old son had been coerced and ostracized by school officials because his family had chosen to not participate in the district’s in-school religious instruction program. McCollum’s suit argued that religious instruction held during regular school hours on public school property constituted an establishment of religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. [NYT obituary] (see September 10, 1945)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
Chinese withdraw
In July 1946: Chinese troops withdrew from Vietnam. (see Dec 19)
General Paul D Harkins
In July 1962: General Paul D Harkins, head of the Military Assistance Command, told US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that once South Vietnam’s ARVN [Army of the Republic of Vietnam] and Civil Guard were fully trained and engaged in hunting down the communists, their military potential could be eliminated within twelve months.
July 1957: ABC TV show “The Big Beat” with Alan Freed began a short run. Though popular, in an early episode Frankie Lymon, a Black singer, was seen dancing with a white girl. Southern stations protested and ABC cancelled the show. (see In October)
The Rainbow Quest
July 1960: Pete Seeger released The Rainbow Quest album on which was the song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
FCC adopted non-duplication rule
July, 1964: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a non-duplication rule prohibiting FM radio stations in cities of more than 100,000 people from merely running a simulcast of the programming from their AM counterparts. Stations fought the rule and delayed implementation. (CM, see September 5, 1965; RR, see December 13, 1965)
Sidewinder
In July 1964: Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder album released. He recorded it at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Bob Dylan
In July 1965: Dylan and Sara Lownds purchased an eleven-room mansion in the Arts and Crafts Movement Colony of Byrdcliffe named Hi Lo Ha on Camelot Road one mile from Woodstock, NY. (next Dylan, see July 25; Lowands, see Nov 22)
Tim Hardin 1
July, 1966: Tim Hardin (age 25) released first album, Tim Hardin 1. (see Aug 15)
Cultural Milestone
July 1967: the Summer of Love in San Francisco. (see Sept 3)
Future Woodstock Performers
In July, 1967: Canned Heat released first album, Canned Heat.
“Sky Pilot”
July 1968: Eric Burdon and the Animals released “Sky Pilot” and Phil Ochs “The War Is Over.” (Vietnam, see August)
Mind Games
July – August, 1973: in New York’s Record Plant East studio, John Lennon began work on the Mind Games album. Mind Games was completed within a period lasting around two weeks, with Lennon producing it himself. The band was credited as the Plastic U.F.Ono Band.
By that summer John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s marriage was on the rocks. Ono suggested that Lennon embark on an affair with their assistant, May Pang. That decision led to Lennon’s “Lost Weekend,” the 18 months that he lived with Pang in her New York apartment and later a a rented home in Los Angeles. (see Sept 24)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Nuclear/Chemical News
July 1961: Ban The Bomb demonstrations start worldwide. (CW, see Aug 12; NN, see July 3)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Daniel Ellsberg/Pentagon Papers
July 1971: President Nixon appointed Egil “Bud” Krogh, Jr. and Kissinger aide David Young, Jr. to head a special investigations unit (nicknamed “the plumbers”) to obtain evidence to discredit Ellsberg, who Henry Kissinger has deemed “the most dangerous man in America” who “has to be stopped.” Krogh and Young hired G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, who hatched a plan to burglarize the offices of Ellsberg’s one-time psychiatrist in Los Angeles. They carry out the plan in September 1971. (see DE/PP for expanded story)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Symbionese Liberation Army
July 1973: a group of Berkeley-area activists organized a revolutionary group, the Symbionese Liberation Army. The S.L.A. believed a timely example will spark revolt in Black America. Their goals include closing prisons, ending monogamy, and destroying “all other institutions that have made and sustained capitalism.” (see Nov 6)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Sexual Abuse of Children
July 1992: US bishops meeting in South Bend, Indiana, admitted attempts by some of their number to hide abuse. [My Plainview article] (see Oct 10)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Cannabis
In July 1999: in response to a rescheduling petition from Unimed, [Marinol] was moved administratively by DEA to Schedule III to make it more widely available to patients. The rescheduling was granted after a review by DEA and the Department of Health and Human Services found little evidence of illicit abuse of the drug. In Schedule III, Marinol is now subject to fewer regulatory controls and lesser criminal sanctions for illicit use. (next Cannabis, see June 14 or see CCC for expanded chronology)
July Peace Love Art Activism
Iraq War II
In July 2006: White House budget document revealed that administration will ask for another $110 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (see Aug 19)
July Peace Love Art Activism
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
July 3, 1971: Jim Morrison died. Another member of the 27 Club.
