Category Archives: Peace Love Art and Activism

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Dred Scott

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

The US Supreme Court will eventually side against Dred Scott’s freedom, but on January 12, 1850, the St. Louis Circuit Court charged the jury that Scott’s residence in free jurisdictions would destroy his status as a slave, and if the jurors determined he had in fact lived in a free state or territory, they should find him free. The jury sided with Scott and his family.

The jury concluded that Scott’s residence in a free state and a free territory had made him free. This result was consistent with Missouri precedents dating from 1824. Irene Emerson, reluctant to lose her four slaves, appealed this decision to the Missouri Supreme Court.(see Dred Scott for more; next Black History, see April)

Patrick & Charlotte “Lottie” Morris murdered

January 12, 1896: a mob of twenty men gathered around the home of Patrick and Charlotte “Lottie” Morris in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and set it ablaze. Mr. Morris, a white railroad hand, and his wife, a black woman, had garnered the ill will of the community “on account of their difference in color” as well as their operation of a gathering place and hotel for black people.

The mob first attempted to burn down the Morris’ home at 11:00 that night, but Mr. Morris discovered the fire and extinguished it. By midnight, the mob set a fire that could not be controlled. When the couple attempted to escape the flames through the front door of their home they were met with a barrage of gunfire. Mrs. Morris was shot and killed at the doorstep while Mr. Morris was maimed by a shot to his leg.

The Morris’ twelve-year-old son witnessed the events and escaped through the back door of the home. As the boy ran for safety, the mob shot into the darkness after him but missed. Patrick Morris Jr. spent the night hiding underneath a nearby home in the neighborhood.

The next morning, community members found that much of the Morris’s home had been destroyed by the fire. Mr. and Mrs. Morris’s charred remains were found on their bed inside the home. A coroner’s examination revealed that one of the bodies had been decapitated, though it was unclear whether this act was carried out before or after death. Charlotte Morris was sixty-eight years old and Patrick Morris was fifty-eight years old. (next BH, see May 18; next Lynching, see July 4 see Never Forget for expanded article)

Marcus Garvey

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1922: federal authorities arrest Marcus Garvey for fraudulent use of mails and held on a $2,500 bond pending presentation of his case to a federal grand jury. Garvey was  s proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. (next BH, see Jan 26; see Garvey for expanded chronology)

Raymond Gunn lynched

January 12, 1931: authorities arrested Raymond Gunn, an African American man,  and accused him of killing a white school teacher.

Following his arrest, police took Gunn to jail in a neighboring county due to threats of lynching. Lynch mobs still formed and attempted to seize Gunn from jail, so officials transported him to another prison with reinforcement from firemen and a tank company of the Missouri National Guard.

On January 12, the morning of Gunn’s arraignment, a mob of about two thousand white men, women, and children gathered outside the courthouse. Despite the previous attacks, the local sheriff did not request assistance from the National Guard. With little resistance from local law enforcement, and sixty members of the National Guard at ease in an armory one block from the courthouse, Mr. Gunn was seized by the mob and burned on the roof of the schoolhouse. [EJI article]  (next BH & Lynching, see Jan 14; see AL3 for expanded chronology of early 20th century lynching)

Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma

January 12, 1948: the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race. “The State must provide [such education] … in conformity with the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and provide it as soon as it does for applicants of any other group.” (see July 26)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

January 12, 1956: in response to the Montgomery’s rejection of its most recent offer to end the boycott, the MIA executive board decided to boycott the buses indefinitely. (next BH, see Jan 24; see Montgomery for more)

Motown Records

January 12, 1959:  Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit. (next BH, see Mar 5)

Charlayne Hunter

January 12, 1961: Charlayne Hunter, 18, was whisked away from the University of Georgia campus in a state patrol car when students staged an uprising against the integration. She graduated in 1963.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault became an American journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, and the Public Broadcasting Service. (see Jan 21)

Albany Movement

January 12, 1962: police arrested Albany State College student Ola May Quarterman who refused to move from the front of a city bus. The Albany Movement organized a boycott of the city buses. (see Albany for expanded chronology)

Medgar Evers assassination

January 12, 1966: Byron De La Beckwith, twice tried for the murder of Medgar W. Evers, appeared before a Congressional committee and refused to answer charges that he had participated in Ku Klux Klan intimidation since his release from jail. (BH, see Jan 13; Evers, see September 27, 1973)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism/Voting Rights

No to women’s suffrage

January 12, 1915: US House of Representatives voted for first time on federal woman suffrage amendment, defeating the measure. (see Oct 23)

Hattie W. Caraway

January 12, 1932: Hattie W. Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. (see March 4, 1933)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

January 12, 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt revived the National War Labor Board (NWLB) for World War II. In order to prevent wartime labor stoppages, the NWLB was set up to arbitrate labor disputes that arose during the war. The NWLB also managed wage controls over the airplane, automobile, shipping, mining, telegraph, and railway industries during the war.(see February 27, 1943)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1950: the general public was introduced to color television for the very first time when CBS demonstrated its “field sequential” color system on eight television sets in the Walker Building, in Washington. By the end of 1950, 9% of American homes have a TV set. (see June 25, 1951)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical Weapons

John Foster Dulles

January 12, 1954: Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced a doctrine of massive retaliation which could entail the use of nuclear weapons against communist aggression.  (Red Scare, see Mar 4; NN, see Jan 21)

Iran’s nuclear program

January 12, 2014: American and Iranian officials said that Iran and six world powers had agreed on how to put in place an accord that would temporarily freeze much of Iran’s nuclear program. That accord would go into effect on Jan. 20. (next N/C N,  see in Feb; next Iran, see January 25, 2015)

Iran again

January 12, 2018: President Trump again stopped short of reimposing punitive sanctions on Iran that would have broken its nuclear deal with world powers, but Trump gave European allies only 120 days to agree to an overhaul of the deal or administration officials said he would pull the United States out of it. (next N/C N, see Jan 13; next Iran, see May 8)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1956: in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, a jury found Samuel Roth guilty of 4 counts of a 26-count indictment charging him with mailing obscene circulars and advertising, and an obscene book, in violation of the federal obscenity statute.”

The judge sentenced Roth to five years for each count (to run concurrently) in the Lewisburg Penitentiary and fined $5,000.(FS, see June 17, 1957; Roth, see June 24, 1957)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Operation Chopper

January 12, 1962: in Operation Chopper, helicopters flown by U.S. Army pilots ferry 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers to sweep a NLF stronghold near Saigon.

Operation Ranch Hand

During the early part of 1962 Operation Ranchhand began. The goal of Ranchhand was to clear vegetation alongside highways, making it more difficult for the Vietcong to conceal themselves for ambushes.

As the war continued, the scope of Ranchhand increased. Vast tracts of forest were sprayed with “Agent Orange,” an herbicide containing the deadly chemical Dioxin. Guerrilla trails and base areas were exposed, and crops that might feed Vietcong units were destroyed. (see Jan 15)

Rev. Philip Berrigan

January 12, 1971: a federal grand jury indicted Rev. Philip Berrigan and 5 others, including a nun and two priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger. Because the charges were filed in Harrisburg, Pa, the group became known as the “Harrisburg Six.” On 5 September 1972 the Justice Department dropped all charges.  (see Jan 14)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12 Music et al

Fear of Rock

January 12, 1958: the NY Times reported that “One St Louis radio stion is in revolt against rock ‘n’ roll music.” On January 13, station KWK would play such music records once and then snap it in two near a mic so listeners could hear it beinb broken. Robert T Convey, the station president, said that rock “has dominated the music field long enough.”  (see January 26, 1962)

Berry Gordy, Jr

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1959:  Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit. (see Motown Records Begins for full story) (next BH, see Apr 18)

Go Away Little Girl

January 12 – 25, 1963: written by written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King “Go Away Little Girl” by Steve Lawrence #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Goffin/King’s third #1 hit (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow in 1960 and Take Good Care of My Baby in 1962)

Teenage Culture

January 12, 1966: ABC-TV’s replacement for Shindig broadcast: Batman. (see Aug 29)

Beatle summit

January 12, 1969: in an attempt to sort out the problems within The Beatles following George Harrison’s sudden departure two days earlier, all four met at Brookfield House, Ringo Starr’s Tudor mansion in Elstead, Surrey.

The meeting was not a success. The feud between Harrison and John Lennon remained unresolved, and Harrison left early without agreeing to rejoin The Beatles. (see Jan 13)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

January 12, 1966: in his State of the Union address, President Johnson stated: Our people have a right to feel secure in their homes and on their streets–and that right just must be secured.Nor can we fail to arrest the destruction of life and property on our highways.I will propose a Highway Safety Act of 1966 to seek an end to this mounting tragedy. (see Feb 10)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ War I

January 12, 1991: a deeply divided Congress gave President George H.W. Bush the authority to use force to expel Iraq from Kuwait. (The Senate vote was 52-47; the House followed suit 250-183.) (see Jan 15)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

January 12, 2005:  U.S. intelligence official told CNN that U.S. inspectors ended their search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. (see Jan 14)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Sister Helen Prejean

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

January 12, 1996: the film, Dead Man Walking, released. In 1994, Sister Helen Prejean released her book titled Dead Man Walking about her role as spiritual advisor for two death row inmates. The popularity of the film led to increased levels of public discourse on the morality of the death penalty. (see Jan 25)

Hurst v. Florida

January 12, 2016: the US Supreme Court held in Hurst v. Florida that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme was unconstitutional because it does not require the jury to make the critical findings necessary to impose the death penalty. Because Alabama has the same sentencing scheme as Florida, the Court’s decision will apply to cases in Alabama as well. (see Mar 3)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

January 12, 1998: Linda Tripp contacted the office of Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr to talk about Lewinsky and the tapes she made of their conversations. The tapes allegedly have Lewinsky detailing an affair with Clinton and indicated that Clinton and Clinton friend Vernon Jordan told Lewinsky to lie about the alleged affair under oath. (see Clinton for much more)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Haitian Earthquake

January 12, 2010: 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. The Haitian government reported that an estimated 316,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. The government of Haiti also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. [2020 NPR report]

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Cuba releases prisoners 

January 12, 2015: U.S. officials announced that Cuba had released all 53 prisoners it had promised to free, a major step toward détente with Washington.

The release of the remaining prisoners set a positive tone for historic talks aimed at normalizing relations after decades of hostility. Officials described the Cuban government’s release over the weekend of the last detainees on the list as a milestone but said they would keep pressing Havana to free more people the United States considers political prisoners.

The officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say how many prisoners were released over the weekend or identify them. But the White House will provide the names of all 53 to Congress and expects lawmakers to make them public, the officials added. (NYT article) (see Jan 15)

Cuban refugee status changes

January 12, 2017: President Obama announced that he was terminating the 22-year-old policy that allowed Cubans who arrived on United States soil without visas to remain in the country and gain legal residency.

Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries.”  (NYT article) (see Nov 8)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Louisiana’s ban stays in place

January 12, 2015: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take an early look at a challenge to Louisiana’s state ban.

In addition, the court took no action on four other pending cases concerning gay marriage bans in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee,

The decision not to hear the Louisiana case was not unexpected as gay rights advocates had sought to skip the regular judicial process by seeking Supreme Court review before the case had been decided by an appeals court. Gay rights advocates representing the Louisiana plaintiffs said in court papers there is a “pressing need” to resolve the issue once and for all.

South Dakota’s ban overruled

January 12, 2015: U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ruled against South Dakota’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality.

South Dakota legislation passed in 1996 banned same-sex marriages in the state. In 2006, state voters passed a constitutional amendment stating only a marriage between a man and a woman.

Private attorneys and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) sued the state on behalf of six same-sex couples who argue that South Dakota’s ban on marriage equality violated the U.S. Constitution.

Schreier stayed the decision pending appeal. (NYT article) (see Jan 15)

Adoptions denied

January 12, 2021: with little more than a week left to the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule permitting social-service providers that receive government funds to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

According to the 77-page release Obama-era requirements that agencies refrain from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity and recognize same-sex marriages as legally valid violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. [NBC News article] (next LGBTQ, see Jan 20)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

January 12, 2021: the NY Times reported that the loss of tribal elders had swelled into a cultural crisis as the COVID pandemic had killed American Indians and Alaska Natives at nearly twice the rate of white people, deepening what critics call the deadly toll of a tattered health system and generations of harm and broken promises by the U.S. government. (next NA, see Mar 15)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

2020 Census

January 12, 2021: despite President Trump’s demands since the summer of 2020, the Commerce Department inspector general, Peggy E. Gustafson questioned an order to deliver the estimates before Trump leaves office, after whistle-blowers warned that the rush would imperil their accuracy.

Gustafson said in a letter that two White House political appointees were the “driving forces” behind the order, which required census experts to deliver counts of unauthorized immigrants by January 15, five days before Inauguration Day.

Her letter stated that Steven Dillingha, the Census Bureau director appointed by Mr. Trump, had designated the estimates a top priority for the bureau’s data experts, even though completion of the 2020 census itself had fallen months behind schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic. The letter said Dillingham had discussed offering cash bonuses for producing the estimates quickly.

Dillingham backed off his order this week, according to bureau employees who refused to be named for fear of retaliation. [NYT article] (next 2020 Census, see Jan 18)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration/Trump’s Wall

January 12, 2021: a week before the end of his term, President Trump traveled to Alamo, Texas, near the border, to mark the completion of more than 450 miles of the border wall.

The wall, which Trump repeatedly cited over the last four years as an accomplishment, cost US taxpayers — not Mexico — billions and became emblematic of the President’s restrictionist immigration policies, which largely sealed the US off from immigrants and refugees.

During a brief speech near the wall, Trump listed off a series of those policies, citing them as accomplishments and calling them “historic.”

Many of the policies rolled out over the last four years were unprecedented, including requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their immigration court date in the US and swiftly removing migrants arriving at the southern border under a public health order. Immigrant advocates and lawyers had challenged the policies in court, arguing that they put migrants in harm’s way. [CNN article] [next IH & TW, see Jan 20)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

January 12, 2021: the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to reinstate in-person abortion medication requirements during the pandemic.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations require mifepristone, which is used in medication abortion, to be dispensed at a clinic, hospital or medical office. Lower courts had blocked the requirements this past summer, finding them to be a “substantial obstacle.”

“The question before us is not whether the requirements for dispensing mifepristone impose an undue burden on a woman’s right to an abortion as a general matter,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the opinion.

“The question is instead whether the District Court properly ordered the Food and Drug Administration to lift those established requirements because of the court’s own evaluation of the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic,” Roberts continued.

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor raised concerns about patients’ ability to access abortion pills amid an ongoing public health emergency.

“The FDA’s policy imposes an unnecessary, unjustifiable, irrational, and undue burden on women seeking an abortion during the current pandemic,” Sotomayor argued. [HealthCare News article] (next WH, see Feb 18)

January 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

January 12, 2024:  the Biden administration announced new moves to curb the release from oil and gas facilities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for more than a quarter of the warming the planet is currently experiencing.

Under the new plan, oil and gas companies would be required for the first time to pay a fee for emitting methane. The resulting penalties could total millions of dollars for the companies. [NYT article] (next EI, see Mar 1)

Cannabis

January 12, 2024: the U.S. government released hundreds of pages of documents related to its ongoing review of marijuana’s status under federal law, officially confirming for the first time that health officials had recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) place cannabis in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The 252 pages of documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explained that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”

Federal health officials said their review found that more than 30,000 healthcare professionals “across 43 U.S. jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than six million registered patients for at least 15 medical conditions.”  [MM article] (next Cannabis, see , or see CAC for expanded chronology)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Charles Deslondes captured

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

On January 8, 1811 Charles Deslondes had led a rebellion of some 500 enslaved black people in New Orleans.  Deslondes’s background was that after black people in Haiti won their independence from the French in 1804 following a thirteen-year war, many white planters relocated from Haiti to the area of New Orleans Territory . The planters brought their slaves. Charles Deslondes was one of them. In early January 1811, Charles Deslondes led the plan for an anti-slavery rebellion. The rebellion began with an attack on a plantation attack. One white man died. The rebels then traveled along the Mississippi River, attacking plantations and recruiting more fighters. Some enslaved blacks joined the rebels, while others warned their masters and tried to avert plantation attacks. Many whites escape.

On January 11, 1811 a militia of white planters confronted Charles Deslondes and the rebels in a brief battle, killing many and forcing others to flee. Deslondes and his supporters were captured. Some were returned to their plantations; others were tried and executed, their corpses publicly displayed as warning against future uprisings. The final death toll included two whites and ninety-five blacks. The territorial legislature later voted to financially compensate whites whose enslaved black laborers had been killed. (next BH & SR, see March 6, 1815; or see SR for expanded slave revolt chronology)

Robert Mallard

January 11, 1949: the trial of accused William Howell was set to begin. The other accused Robert Clifton had obtained a severance of trial. Mallard testified that her husband and their family turned off on a side road leading to their home and were stopped by a gang of “about twenty men, wearing white stuff and all carrying pistols.” She testified that she recognized Howell among the members of the mob, and also recognized Clifton’s automobile. During her testimony Mallard became hysterical and fell from the witness chair to the floor, kneeling with her hands in the air. She exclaimed, “It was so horrible! Why did they kill him? He was so good to us. . . . I’m so sick.”

Howell testified that he spent the night with friends, and his friends corroborated this story. The defense sought to imply that Amy Mallard had a pistol that night. Defense lawyers further claimed that outside influences were trying to control the verdict.

After  twenty-five minutes of deliberation, the jury acquitted Howell, and the courthouse crowd cheered in jubilation. The judge granted the county attorney’s motion to dismiss the indictment against Clifton, since the evidence against Clifton was weaker than that against Howell. After the trial, defense attorney Sharpe said of Goldwasser, “That roaring lion from Judea is a disgrace to the Jewish race. He wouldn’t even make catfish bait in the Altamaha River!” (BH & RM, see July 4)

Georgia deprives funds to integrated schools

January 11, 1960: Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver, Jr threatened to withhold funds from integrated schools.

After the US Supreme Court struck down public school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education, many Southern states rushed to implement new laws to circumvent the ruling. In 1955 and 1956, the Georgia legislature passed a series of laws that prevented any integrated school system in the state from receiving or spending state funds.

Georgians elected Ernest Vandiver, Jr., a staunch opponent of integration, Governor of Georgia in 1958. Maintaining segregation within the school system was so core to his candidacy that his election motto was “No, not one,” referring to the number of black children that should be allowed to attend schools alongside white children. During the Vandiver administration, a federal court in Calhoun v. Latimer found that the Atlanta school system remained unlawfully segregated and ordered the school district to integrate. Vandiver defied the court order and continued Georgia’s policy of school segregation, stating that he would comply with existing state law and withhold funds from the offending school district rather than see segregation end.  (BH & SD, see Jan 18)

Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore

During the search for the bodies of civil rights workers Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, the bodies of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore were found and initially mistaken for two of the three workers.

James Seale, 1965

An FBI investigation led to the arrests of James Seale and Charles Edwards. On January 11, 1965, on the recommendation of the State District Attorney, the charges were dismissed. Not until . After the dismissal of state charges, the FBI actively continued to investigate the murders to no avail. (seeDee/Moore for expanded chronology; next BH, see Jan 18)

George Whitmore, Jr

January 11, 1966: Justice Davidson sentenced Richard Robles to life in prison. (BH, see Jan 11; Robles, see, November 1986; see Whitmore for expanded chronology)

Vernon Dahmer Sr

January 11, 1966: Vernon Dahmer Sr. died a day after the Ku Klux Klan attacked him and his family in their home near Hattiesburg, Miss. Fourteen men were arrested in the late 1960s, with one conviction and several mistrials. Sam Bowers served six years in prison for the murders of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. (BH, see Jan 12; Dahmer, see June 23)

Medgar Evers

January 11, 2017: the National Park Service named the Evers home a national historic landmark. (next BH, see June 17; see ME for expanded Evers chronology)

Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner

January 11, 2018: Edgar Ray Killen, the former Klansman who was sentenced to a 60-year prison term in 2005 for arranging the murders of three young civil rights workers outside Philadelphia, Miss., in 1964 during the Freedom Summer drive to register Southern black voters, died in prison in Parchman, Miss. He was 92. (next BH, see Mar 15; see Murders for expanded chronology)

Antwon Rose

January 11, 2019: Allegheny County Judge Alexander Bicket decided to unseal the transcript of a closed hearing the previous week related to the criminal case against former police officer Michael Rosfeld.

That hearing hearing was closed and all information within the hearing was sealed, but WPXI-TV and the Post-Gazette had lawyers in court arguing the public was entitled to know the details of that hearing. (B & S and AR, see Jan 14)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Feminism/Lawrence textile strike

January 11 > March 1912: Lawrence textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, often known as the Bread and Roses” strike. Dozens of different immigrant communities united under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in a largely successful strike led to a large extent by women. The strike is credited with inventing the moving picket line, a tactic devised to keep strikers from being arrested for loitering.

It also adopted a tactic used before in Europe, but never in the United States, of sending children to sympathizers in other cities when they could not be cared for by strike funds On 24 February 1912, women attempting to put their children on a train out of town were beaten by police. (LH, see Feb 8; Feminism, see Mar 12)

GM sit-down strike

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

January 11, 1937: nearly two weeks into a sit-down strike by General Motors (GM) auto workers at the Fisher Body Plant No. 2 in Flint, Michigan, a riot broke out when police try to prevent the strikers from receiving food deliveries from supporters on the outside. Strikers and police officers alike were injured in the melee, which was later nicknamed the “Battle of the Running Bulls.” After riot, Michigan governor Frank Murphy called in the National Guard to surround the plant. However, the governor, who wanted to preserve his reputation as a friend to the workingman, decided against ordering troops into the plant. (see Feb 11)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

January 11, 1936: following a protest by the local Ministerial Association, the Tulsa, Oklahoma government banned the play Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell. The play was based on Caldwell’s 1933 novel of the same name. Both the novel and the play were censored in cities around the country because of their treatment of sexuality. The play was also banned in Newark, Chicago, Detroit and Albuquerque for being “immoral.”

Two other Erskine Caldwell novels were banned or challenged over the years: God’s Little Acre (1933) and Tragic Ground (1944). (see January 4, 1937)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

January 11 Music et al

Howlin’ Wolf

January 11, 1962: Howlin’ Wolf released Howlin’ Wolf album. (see  Howlin’ Wolf for more).

Please Please Me

January 11, 1963: recorded on 26 November 1962, the Beatles released their second single in the UK: “Please Please Me.” The song’s title also became the title of their first LP.

John Lennon: ” ‘Please Please Me’ is my song completely. It was my attempt at writing a Roy Orbison song, would you believe it? I wrote it in the bedroom in my house at Menlove Avenue, which was my auntie’s place“. (David Sheff. John Lennon: All We Are Saying).

The single reached No. 1 on the New Musical Express (the most recognized chart at the time) on 22 February 1963, as well as the Melody Maker where it was Number 1 for two weeks. However, it only reached No. 2 on the Record Retailer chart, which subsequently evolved into the UK Singles Chart and because of this it was not included on the multi-million selling Beatles compilation, 1.  (see Please Please Me)  (Beatles, see Jan 25; Please Please Me, see Feb 22)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

January 11, 1992: Paul Simon was the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott. (see October 15, 1993)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

January 11, 1964: U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued “Smoking and Health,” a report by an advisory committee which concluded that “cigarette smoking contributes substantially to mortality from certain specific diseases and to the overall death rate.” (NYT article) (see May 10)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

January 11, 1967: the Justice Department had asked the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the law prohibiting draft card burning. Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall said that the law was “an appropriate regulatory measure designed to preserve a document which plays an important role in the administration of the Selective Service System.”  (next Vietnam, see Jan 12; see Draft Card Burning for expanded story)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

January 11, 1990: in Lithuania, 300,000 demonstrated for independence. (see Jan 16)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

January 11, 1992: Berkeley, CA declared 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in America,The Year of Indigenous People.”  The idea of abandoning Columbus Day was initiated by the Berkeley chapter of the Resistance 500 task force, a group dedicated to publicizing the belief that Columbus was responsible for the genocide of American Indians. (see February 11 – July 15, 1994)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

January 11, 1999: President Clinton’s defense team denied the charges against the president in a 13-page answer to a Senate summons. House prosecutors submit a pre-trial memo outlining their case. (see CI for expanded chronology)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

January 11, 2002: the first planeload of al-Qaida prisoners from Afghanistan arrived at a U.S. military detention camp in Guantanamo, Cuba. [CNN report] (see Jan 16)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

January 11, 2003: calling the death penalty process “arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral,” Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates, clearing his state’s death row two days before leaving office. (see June 24, 2004)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

AIDS

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

January 11, 2010: the New Jersey Legislature approved a measure made it the 14th in the nation to legalize the use of marijuana to help patients with chronic illnesses. The measure allowed patients diagnosed with severe illnesses like cancer, AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis to have access to marijuana grown and distributed through state-monitored dispensaries — was passed by the General Assembly and State Senate on the final day of the legislative session. (NYT article) (next Cannabis, see Feb 7 or see CCC for expanded chronology; next AIDS, see July 27)

Vermont

January 11, 2018:  Vermont lawmakers approved legalizing recreational marijuana. The bill would go to the state’s Republican governor, who said he would sign it.

The bill allowed possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, or two mature plants. It did not allow a regulated retail market, such as California’s or Colorado’s.

The “yes” vote in the Vermont State House marked the first time legalization had been approved by a Legislature. The eight other states that made pot legal had done so by citizen referendum.

Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman said the bill was a good first step to a regulated market for marijuana in the Green Mountains. (next Cannabis, see Jan 16 or see CCC for expanded chronology; Vermont, see Jan 22)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

West Virginia

January 11, 2014: as hundreds of thousands of residents faced a third day without water because of a chemical spill in a local river. Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water said that it could be days before it was safe for them to drink tap water again. Officials had set up four labs to test the amount of chemical in the water, but that it might take days to provide enough samples to determine whether the water was safe. (NYT article) (see Jan 19)

Reduced Air Pollution

January 11, 2021: according to an estimate published  by the Rhodium Group. America’s greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry plummeted more than 10 percent in 2020, reaching their lowest levels in at least three decades as the coronavirus pandemic slammed the brakes on the nation’s economy,

The steep drop, however, was the result of extraordinary circumstances and experts warned that the country still faced enormous challenges in getting its planet-warming pollution under control. In the years ahead, United States emissions were widely expected to bounce back once the pandemic receded and the economy rumbled back to life — unless policymakers take stronger action to clean up the country’s power plants, factories, cars and trucks. [NYT article] (next EI, see Jan 13)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Who Pays?

January 11, 2017: after repeating many times that Mexico would pay for the wall and in what would turn out to be the first of many contentious press conferences, President Trump clarified that Mexico might not be paying the upfront costs for the wall after all.

“I want to get the wall started. I don’t want to wait a year and a half until I make my deal with Mexico. They will reimburse us for the cost of the wall, whether it’s a tax or whether it’s a payment. Probably less likely that it’s a payment.” (IH & TW, see Jan 25)

See through wall

January 11, 2018: Trump explained to The Wall Street Journal that border officials told him “they need see-through” and indicated a concrete wall might be the wrong thing because of that.

“We need a form of fence or window,” Trump said.

“If you have a wall this thick and it’s solid concrete from ground to 32 feet high, which is a high wall, much higher than people planned. You go 32 feet up and you don’t know who’s over here,” he explained. “If you don’t know who’s there, you’ve got a problem.”

He also said the wall did not need to run the course of the entire border because of natural barriers. But he also insisted “the wall’s identical” to what he promised on the campaign trail. (next TW, see Jan 18 or see Wall for expanded chronology)

Haitian immigrants

January 11, 2018: President Trump balked at an immigration deal that would include protections for people from Haiti and some nations in Africa, demanding to know at a White House meeting why he should accept immigrants from “shithole countries” rather than from places like Norway.

Later, Trump denied using the phrase. (IH, see Jan 22; Temporary Protected Status see Jan 31)

Feminism

January 11, 2024: when St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali looked out at her fellow council members at their initial meeting she saw all the members’ seats were occupied by women — a first for Minnesota’s capital city.

Experts who track women in politics said St. Paul, with a population of about 300,000 people, was the first large U.S. city they know of with an all-female city council.

“We’re a multifaith, multicultural group of women. Our professional experiences are what people trusted as much as our personal ones. … And we have a clear policy vision that we got elected on,” Jalali said in an interview. [AP article] (next Feminism, see Feb 13)

January 11 Peace Love Art Activism

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Pemberton Mill collapse

January 10, 1860: the Pemberton Mill – a five-story brick textile factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts – collapsed from excessive load, killing dozens of workers instantly and trapping many more in the rubble. An estimated 145 workers died and 166 were injured in the collapse and subsequent fire that broke out, the majority of whom were young Irish women. (see January 28, 1861)

Joe Hill framed

January 10, 1914: someone shot  and killed Utah grocer John G. Morrison, 47, and his son Arling, 17,  in their Salt Lake City store. Despite evidence suggesting another man was responsible, police arrested labor activist Joe Hill, who will be executed for the murders.  (see Joe Hill for expanded chronology; LH, see Feb 13)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism 

Voting Rights/Susan B. Anthony

January 10, 1878: Senator A. A. Sargent of California introduced a women’s suffrage amendment drafted by Susan B. Anthony. The text of the amendment will remain unchanged through its ratification forty-four years later as the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. (see February 15, 1879)

Alice Paul

After President Wilson delayed for two weeks meeting a delegation of suffragists and then cut the meeting short and walked out on them.  The next day,  January 10, 1917, suffrage leader Alice Paul began leading picketers (whom they calledSilent Sentinels) in front of the White House gates demanding a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National American Women’s Suffrage Assocation (NAWSA), the larger and moderate suffrage group, stated that picketing the White House was “an error” on the part of Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party. (next Feminism & Voting Rights, see Mar 4)

House approves women’s suffrage

January 10, 1918,:  exactly a year later, the US House of Representatives voted for second time on federal woman suffrage amendment, passing measure by vote of 274 yeas to 136 nays. The Senate will not vote to pass the amendment until June 4, 1919. (see Feb 3)

Malala Yousafzai

January 10, 2013: France awarded Malala Yousufzai the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Womens’ Freedom.(Feminism, see Jan 23; Yousufazi, see Feb 2)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

January 10 Music et al

January 10, 1947: Finian’s Rainbow opened on Broadway. Among its songs was “When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich” written by Yip Harburg. (see Finian’s for more)

When the idle poor become the idle rich, 

You’ll never know just who is who or who is which,

Won’t it be rich when everyone’s poor relative becomes a Rockefellertive,

And palms no longer itch, what a switch,

When we all have ermine and plastic teeth,

How will we determine who’s who underneath?

And when all your neighbors are upper class,

You won’t know your Joneses from your Astors,

Let’s toast the day,

The day we drink that drinkie up,

But with the little pinkie up,

The day on which, the idle poor become the idle rich.

“Talking Atom (Old Man Atom)”

In 1948: Pete Seeger recorded the 1945 Vern Partlow song “Talking Atom (Old Man Atom)” which expressed a fear of atomic energy and its possible consequences. (see News for additional mid-century examples)

Introducing the Beatles

January 10, 1964: although it had originally been scheduled for a July 22, 1963 release, the US label Vee-Jay finally released the Introducing The Beatles LP on this day. Legal and business issues plagued the album. By late fall, it sold more than 1.3 million copies. (see Jan 18)

George Harrison quits Beatles

May be an image of 1 person and text

January 10, 1969,: just as Ringo Starr had temporarily quit The Beatles in August 1968, George Harrison walked out, unable to tolerate any longer the tensions within the group. (see Beatles Officially Legally End) (next Beatles, see Jan 12)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

SCLC

January 10, 1957: Black leaders formed the  Southern Christian Leadership Conference. following the Montgomery Bus Boycott victory and consultations with Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, and others, Dr. Marthin Luther King, Jr. invited about 60 black ministers and leaders to Ebenezer Church in Atlanta. Their goal was to form an organization to coordinate and support nonviolent direct action as a method of desegregating bus systems across the South. In addition to Rustin and Baker, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham, Rev Joseph Lowery of Mobile, Rev Ralph Abernathy of Montgomery, Rev C.K. Steele of Tallahassee, all played key roles in this meeting.(BH, see Jan 13; SCLC, see Feb 14)

Vernon Dahmer home fire-bombed

January 10, 1966: Klansmen firebombed Vernon Dahmer‘s home and attacked his store in Kelly Settlement, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Dahmer was the President of the NAACP chapter in Hattiesburg, and had been helping black voters by letting them pay their poll tax at his store.

Dahmer helped get his family out of the structure, but was severely burned from the waist up. The fire destroyed their home, grocery store, and car. Dahmer died in the hospital due to his lungs being severely burned and smoke inhalation.

Four of Dahmer’s sons were serving overseas and had protective escort from the airport to attend funeral services.(BH, see Jan 11; Dahmer, see March 8, 1968)

Edward W Brooke elected

January 10, 1967:  Republican Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, the first black elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat. (see Jan 27)

Terrorism

January 10, 2017: a federal jury sentenced Dylann S. Roof to death. Dylann was the unrepentant white supremacist who killed nine African-American churchgoers in a racial rampage.  (NYT article) (BH, see Jan 11; T, see Feb 22)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Diane Feinstein

January 10 Peace Love Art ActivismJanuary 10, 1978: Diane Feinstein was elected president of the 11-member SF Board of Supervisors. Harvey Milk and Dan White took their seats on the board for the first time. Milk began his term by sponsoring a civil rights bill that outlawed sexual orientation discrimination. Only one supervisor votes against it. Mayor Moscone signed it into law. (see Nov 7)

Obama admin approves Utah same-sex marriages

January 10, 2014:  the Obama administration said it would recognize same-sex marriages in Utah – even though the state will not do so – and would provide federal benefits to about 1,400 gay couples who wed there before the Supreme Court halted the nuptials this week.

President Barack Obama’s Justice Department took the step two days after Gary Herbert, the Republican governor of the conservative, predominantly Mormon state, said Utah would not recognize, at least for now, the marriages of gay couples who rushed to wed after a federal judge’s December 20 ruling briefly allowed such marriages. “These marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

These families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds,” Holder said.

The National Organization for Marriage, which opposed same-sex marriages, condemned Holder’s move as an overreach of federal authority. (see Jan 14)

Ashton Whitake

January 10, 2018: the the Kenosha Unified School District in Wisconsin has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Ashton Whitake, a transgender student who said he was forbidden from using boys bathrooms at his high school and felt degraded by administrators.

The school board’s decision meant that the matter will not be taken up by the United States Supreme Court.

Whitaker filed the lawsuit was filed in 2016, as a rising senior. Court documents showed that Mr. Whitaker, 18, began to openly identify as a boy when he was a freshman at the high school. After teachers and administrators there told him he could not use the boys restrooms, he sued the school district. (see Jan 10)

Costa Rica

January 10, 2018: a ruling supporting same-sex marriage by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a marriage equality case out of Costa Rica was binding not just for Costa Rica but ruling also set a precedent for 19 other countries who had agreed to abide by the court’s decisions.

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay already recognized same-sex marriages as did several states in Mexico. Chile and Ecuador currently recognize same-sex civil unions but not marriages.

The ruling was legally binding in Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay.

In the Western Hemisphere, homosexuality was criminalized in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Dominica, Grenada and Jamaica do not submit to the rulings of the court. (see Jan 13)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical news

January 10, 2003: North Korea withdrew from a global treaty had barred it from making nuclear weapons. (see Dec 19)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

January 10, 2007:  President George W. Bush announced he would send a surge of 21,500 U.S. forces to Iraq. (see Feb 2)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

West Virginia

January 10, 2014: federal prosecutors opened an investigation into a chemical spill in West Virginia that had contaminated drinking water used by more than 200,000 residents. State officials said it remained unclear when tap water would be safe to use.

According to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, the spill that has affected Charleston and the nine surrounding counties was discovered around noon January 9 at a storage facility owned by on the Elk River, where a 48,000-gallon tank began leaking 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, or MCHM, a compound used to wash coal of impurities. [NYT report] (see Jan 11)

Ocean warming

January 10, 2019: a new analysis, published in the journal Science, found that the oceans were heating up 40 percent faster on average than a United Nations panel estimated five years ago. The researchers also concluded that ocean temperatures had broken records for several straight years.

“2018 is going to be the warmest year on record for the Earth’s oceans,” said Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst at the independent climate research group Berkeley Earth and an author of the study. “As 2017 was the warmest year, and 2016 was the warmest year.” [NYT article] (see Feb 6)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Immigration raids

January 10, 2018: federal immigration agents descended on dozens of 7-Eleven convenience stores across the country before daybreak arresting undocumented workers and demanding paperwork from managers, in what the Trump administration described as its largest enforcement operation against employers so far.

The sweeps of 98 stores in 17 states, from California to Florida, resulted in 21 arrests, according to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which signaled intensified efforts against businesses that hire unauthorized workers.

“Today’s actions send a strong message to U.S. businesses that hire and employ an illegal work force: ICE will enforce the law, and if you are found to be breaking the law, you will be held accountable,” Thomas D. Homan, the acting director of the agency, said in a statement. [US News report] (see Jan 11)

Trump’s Wall

January 10, 2019: as the government shutdown neared the end of its third week, the President Trump left Washington with no additional negotiations scheduled with congressional leaders.

In brief remarks to reporters Trump left open the possibility of declaring a state of emergency, which could allow him to bypass Congress to fund the wall. [NYT article] (next IH, see Jan 15; next TW,  see Jan 19)

Space

January 10, 2024: NASA technicians finally removed the stuck fasteners from the sample return capsule of its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — which Initially, the team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas was able to access 70.3 grams (2.48 ounces) of material — 10 grams more than the mission’s goal — from the outside of the sampler head, called the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM).

However, the bulk of the asteroid sample material remained trapped inside the capsule when two of the 35 fasteners on TAGSAM could not be removed with existing tools approved for use inside the OSIRIS-REx glovebox, which ensures the asteroid samples are not contaminated during processing. Researchers were able to develop new tools that could tackle the fasteners, according to a statement from NASA. [Space.com article] (next OSIRIS-REX, see Feb 12)

January 10 Peace Love Art Activism

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