April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

April 10, 1917: in Eddystone, PA, an explosion tore apart the Eddystone Ammunition Works loading room. The explosion killed 133 people, mostly women and girls. Of the dead, 55 were never identified

The explosion was initially blamed on German saboteurs, and later on Russians. It may in fact have been an accident caused by malfunctioning equipment. (Pennsylvaniamilitarycollege.org article) (see July 5)

Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta

April 10, 1930: Dolores Huerta born in Dawson, New Mexico. 

Chavez family moves

In 1938: Chávez family left Yuma to work in California as migrant farm workers. 

Leaves school

In 1942 Cesar Chávez was forced to leave school, after completing the eighth grade, in order to help support the family. (see August 1942)

Civilian Conservation Corps

April 10, 1933: the Roosevelt administration created the Civilian Conservation Corps, a tool for employing young men and improving the government’s vast holdings of western land. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was primarily designed to put thousands of unemployed young men to work on useful public projects. Roosevelt put the program under the direction of his Secretary of Interior, Harold Ickes. Since the vast majority of federal public land was in the West, Ickes created most of his CCC projects in that region. The young men who joined, however, came from all over the nation. It was the first time many had left their homes in the densely populated eastern states. (see May 6)

United Farm Workers

April 10, 1966:  March to Sacramento ends. Along the way, thousands of supporters joined César Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The march drew national attention to the suffering of farm workers. At the rally Huerta stated, “We are no longer interested in listening to the excuses the Governor has to give in defense of the growers, to his apologies to them for not paying us decent wages or why the growers cannot dignify the workers as individuals with the right to place the price on their own labor through collective bargaining. The Governor maintains that the growers are in a competitive situation. Well, the farm workers are also. We must also compete—with the standards of living to give our families their bread.”

During the march and after a four-month boycott, Schenley Vineyards negotiated an agreement with NFWA–the first genuine union contract between a grower and farm workers’ union in US history.

Chavez announced a boycott of DiGiorgio Corporation to put pressure on it to negotiate a similar agreement. (fresnobee.com article) (see June 1)

Frances Perkins Building

April 10, 1980: President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall presided over a ceremony renaming the Department of Labor Building the Frances Perkins Building. The date was the 100th anniversary of her birth. Perkins’s daughter,  Susanna Coggeshall, was also present.  A plaque on the building said that Perkins’ “legacy of social action enhances the lives of all of us.”

On the same day, the US Postal Service issued a new 15-cent stamp bearing the likeness of Perkins.  (see Apr 11)

Rutgers University Strike

April 10, 2023: three unions representing an estimated 9,000 full- and part-time faculty members at Rutgers University went on strike for the first time in the school’s 257-year history, bringing classes and research at New Jersey’s flagship public university to a halt.

The strike affected roughly 67,000 students across the state cames after nearly a year of unsuccessful bargaining between union representatives and university officials. The unions said that the two sides remained far apart on several issues, including a pay increase and the rights of untenured adjunct faculty members and graduate workers.

“We intend for this new contract to be transformative, especially for our lowest-paid and most vulnerable members,” Rebecca Givan, the president of one of the unions, Rutgers A.A.U.P.-A.F.T., which represents full-time faculty members, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and counselors, said in a statement. [NPR article] (next LH, see Apr 15)

 

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone

April 10, 1925:  publication of  “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (see February 18, 1929)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Red Scare

Ronald Reagan & Jane Wyman

April 10, 1947:  actor and future president Ronald Reagan, along with his wife Jane Wyman, provided the FBI with a list of names of Screen Actors Guild members they believed were or had been Communists. Reagan developed a close and private relationship with the FBI in the 1940s, which continued while he was Governor of California in the 1960s and early 1970s. (see Apr 16)

Hollywood Ten

April 10, 1950: in a test case of two of the so-called “Hollywood Ten,” the Supreme Court upheld their convictions. In a joint statement the Hollywood Ten said, “By it’s refusal to review the cases of John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo…the Supreme Court has welcomed govermental censorship, political blacklisting, and thought control by our system. By this decision it has announced that only those Americans will be safe from inquisition and intimidation who will crawl before men like J Parnell Thomas, John Rankin and Senator McCarthy. (Red Scare, see Apr 20; HT, see May 29)

Elia Kazan

April 10, 1952: theater and film director Elia Kazan named eight people who he had known to have been members of the Communist Party in testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Kazan had refused to name names in his initial appearance before the committee in January 1952, but changed his mind and in order to avoid being blacklisted decided to name names. His naming names on this day provoked a bitter controversy that lasted for decades. (Red Scare, see “in June”; Kazan, see July 28, 1954)

VII Summit of the Americas

April 10, 2015: in the first full-fledged meeting between presidents of the United States and Cuba in more than a half-century, President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba shook hands at the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama and American officials said they would hold discussions the next day during a gathering of regional leaders (see Apr 11)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

see April 10 Music et al for more

Black History

April 10, 1956, African American singer and pianist Nat King Cole was performing before a white-only audience of 4000 at the Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama, when he was attacked and knocked down by a group of white men. The attack happened so quickly that some audience members believed the attackers had rushed the stage to attack a drunk man near the front row who had been jeering at Mr. Cole, “Negro, go home.” Police present at the concert in case of trouble apprehended Cole’s attackers quickly. Four men were charged with inciting a riot while two others were held for questioning. Outside the arena, officers later found a car containing rifles, a blackjack, and brass knuckles. (see May 13)

Elvis’s GI Blues

April 10 – 16, 1961: Elvis’s GI Blues returned to Billboard #1 album for a third time. (see May 22)

Washington Sq Park

April 10, 1961: NYC Parks Commissioner announced that an informal referendum would be held to determine if folk singers should be allowed to sing in Washington Square on Sundays. (see New York City Bans Folk Music for expanded story)

Stu Sutcliffe

April 10, 1962: Stu Sutcliffe died. The Beatles original bassist, Sutcliffe was with the band when he and John Lennon decided to call themselves “The Beatals”, which would later be changed to “The Beatles”. Stu Sutcliffe is one of the people that are often referred to as “The Fifth Beatle”. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as an artist, enrolling in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist, Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students.

Stu had also met Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg and was engaged to her. While in college in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light. In the first days of April 1962, he collapsed in the middle of an art class after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed various checks, but were unable to determine the exact cause of his headaches. On 10 April 1962, he was taken to hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way. The cause of death was later revealed to have been an aneurysm. Sutcliffe was only 21 years old when he died. (see Apr 11)

The Beatles’ Second Album

April 10, 1964, Capital released The Beatles’ Second Album album.

Freddy and the Dreamers

Apr 10 – 23, 1965: “I’m Telling You Now” by Freddy and the Dreamers #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Mary Poppins

April 10 – July 9, 1965: the Mary Poppins soundtrack returns to the Billboard #1 album spot.

A Man for All Seasons

April 10, 1967: 1966 Oscars held. Bob Hope hosts. A Man for All Seasons best  picture.

In the Heat of the Night

April 10, 1968: 1967 Oscars held after two-day delay after ML King’s assassination. Bob Hope hosts. The winner in the Best Picture category was In the Heat of the Night (with seven nominations and five wins – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound).

Beatles break-up

April 10, 1970: The Daily Mirror, Paul McCartney made the Beatles’ secret breakup public by issuing a press release to announce that he has left the group, done in the form of a fake interview: “Q: Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones? PAUL: Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don’t really know.”

John Lennon was furious, especially since the breakup, already agreed upon by the group, was announced just one week prior to the British release of McCartney’s first solo album. When a reporter tracks down Lennon for his thoughts, he replies, “Paul hasn’t left. I sacked him.” (see Beatles break up for expanded story)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

USS Thresher

April 10, 1963:  the USS Thresher, an atomic submarine, sank in the Atlantic Ocean, killing the entire crew. One hundred and twenty-nine sailors and civilians were lost when the sub unexpectedly plunged to the sea floor 300 miles off the coast of New England. (see June 10)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

DRAFT CARD BURNING I

April 10, 1967: Vietnam Week started. Draft card burnings and anti-draft demonstrations. 

DRAFT CARD BURNING II

April 10, 1967: The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held unconstitutional the amendment to the Selective Service Act that forbade the burning of draft cards. (Draft Card Burning, see Apr 15; Vietnam, see Apr 14)

My Lai Massacre

April 10, 1972: a tribunal report supported the Army’s account of the events of the day. Witnesses to the event disputed the report’s conclusions and regarded it as a whitewash. (see My Lai for expanded chronology; next Vietnam, Apr 16)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Mississippi Anti-Picketing statute

April 10, 1964: the pickets resumed marching along the now unmarked route; they were arrested for violating the Anti-Picketing statute. (ussnautilus.org article) (see Apr 13)

George Whitmore, Jr.

April 10, 1973: NY Supreme Court Justice Irwin Brownstein released Whitmore from jail at the request of Brooklyn DA Eugene Gold based on “fresh new evidence” indicating that Borrero’s identification of him was suspect.” Gold told Brownstein, “If in fact he is guilty of these charges, surely his debt to society has been paid by his incarceration. If he is innocent, I pray that my action today will in some measure repay society’s debt to him.” He termed Whitman’s treatment by the law “a disgrace.”  Justice Brownstein stated, “It is indeed disgraceful that this defendant has been subjected to nine years of prosecution and appeals.”  Whitmore’s most recent incarceration totaled 406 days, bringing his total time behind bars to 1,216 days. (next BH, see Apr 28;  see Whitmore for expanded story)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

Nelson Mandela

April 10. 1993: Thembisile Chris Hani, a popular black leader of the South African Communist Party, was shot and killed by a white man. At least seven people were killed in clashes over the following days. Mandela appeared on national television and called for calm, urging a stronger commitment to negotiations, a contrast to the A.N.C.’s confrontational reaction to the massacre in Boipatong the year before. (see Oct 15)

STAND YOUR GROUND LAW

Trayvon Martin Shooting

April 10, 2012: Craig Sonner and colleague Hal Uhrig, George Zimmerman’s attorneys, said they were dropping him as a client, complaining that they have lost all contact with him and that he called the prosecutor and talked to a TV host after they told him not to speak to anyone. (see Apr 11)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

Bobby Sands

April 10, 1981: imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands won election to the British Parliament.

Baltic Exchange explosion

April 10, 1992:  a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded in the Baltic Exchange in the City of London; 3 are killed, 91 injured.

Belfast Agreement

April 10, 1998: the Belfast Agreement [Good Friday Agreement]  signed between the Irish and British governments and most Northern Ireland political parties. (see Troubles for expanded story)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS & Ryan White

April 10, 1986: U.S. Circuit Court Judge Jack R. O’Neill dissolves restraining order. White returned to school. When White was finally readmitted, a group of families withdrew their children and started an alternative school. Threats of violence and lawsuits persisted. According to White’s mother, people on the street would often yell, “we know you’re queer” at Ryan. (see White for expanded story)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Concorde

April 10, 2003: Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced that they would retire Concorde later in 2003. They cited low passenger numbers following the 25 July 2000 crash, the slump in air travel following 11 September 2001, and rising maintenance costs. (theatlantic.com article)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

ADA

EEOC v. Ford Motor Co

April 10, 2015: the Sixth Circuit court issued a decision on telecommuting accommodations for disabled employees.  In EEOC v. Ford Motor Co., a divided en banc Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Ford on claims brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  At issue in the case was a telecommuting request from a Ford employee with underlying health problems.  The EEOC alleged that Ford: 1) failed to reasonably accommodate the employee, Ms. Harris, by denying her telecommuting request and 2) retaliated against her for raising the issue with the EEOC.

Emphasizing the importance of consistent in-person attendance for interactive jobs, the majority held that no genuine issue of material fact remained, and EEOC’s claims failed as a matter of law. The lynchpin of the court’s ruling was that regular and predictable on-site job attendance was an essential function of Ms. Harris’s job as a resale buyer.  Concluding that Ms. Harris’s job was fundamentally interactive, the majority invoked the “general rule” that regularly attending work on-site is essential to most jobs, especially interactive ones. (see Apr 13)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

April 10, 2017: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was named the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace, with a special focus on girls’ education. (United Nations article) (next Feminism, see Oct 11)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

April 10, 2024: the Biden-Harris Administration issued the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals.’ Exposure to PFAS had been linked to deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children. [EPA announcement] (next EI, see Apr 12)

April 10 Peace Love Art Activism, 

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Ely Samuel Parker

April 9, 1865: Iroquois Ely Samuel Parker was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers in the Union Army.

During the Civil War, Parker, a close friend and colleague of General Ulysses S. Grant, served the Union cause and penned the final copy of the Confederate army’s surrender terms at the Appomattox Courthouse in 1865.

Parker was the first Native American commissioner of Indian affairs. (2014 Native Heritage Project article) (see June 23)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Fair Housing

Civil Rights Act of 1866

April 9, 1866: the Civil Rights Act of 1866, enacted. It was a federal law that was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, in the wake of the American Civil War. The Act had been approved by Congress in 1865 but vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. In April 1866 Congress again passed the bill. Although Johnson again vetoed it, a two-thirds majority in each house overcame the veto and the bill became law.

The act made it illegal to discriminate in jobs and housing on the basis of race. However, federal penalties were not provided for, so that remedies were left to the individuals involved. Because those being discriminated against had limited access to legal help, this left many victims of discrimination without recourse. (House dot gov article) (see May 15, 1911)

Scottsboro Nine

April 9, 1931:  the case against Roy Wright, aged 13, ended in a hung jury when 11 jurors seek a death sentence, and one votes for life imprisonment. That same day, Judge Hawkins sentenced the eight convicted defendants to death by electric chair.  Hawkins set the executions for July 10, 1931, the earliest date Alabama law allowed. 

April 9, 1933: a jury found Haywood Patterson guilty and sentenced him to death in the electric chair. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

Marian Anderson

April 9, 1939: Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her race. (see Aug 21)

Journey of Reconciliation

April 9, 1947: in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision (see June 3, 1946) that outlawed segregation on interstate buses, a group of 16 black and white men rode South together on the first freedom ride, known as the “Journey of Reconciliation.” The Congress of Racial Equality and the Fellowship of Reconciliation sponsored the ride, meant to challenge Jim Crow laws. Two African Americans, Bayard Rustin and Andrew Johnson, served on a chain gang for 30 days after their conviction in North Carolina. (Ncpedia article) (see Apr 15)

Corporal Roman Ducksworth Jr–Black & Shot

April 9, 1962: stationed at Fort Ritchie, Maryland, Corporal Roman Ducksworth Jr. ,27, was on emergency leave and taking a bus to his hometown, Taylorsville, Mississippi, where his family had lived for more than 50 years. He was going home to be with his wife during a difficult pregnancy.

Ducksworth was asleep on the bus when he arrived home. William Kelly, a local policeman, struck Ducksworth and ordered him off the bus. Kelly hit Ducksworth again and then shot him. Kelly claimed he shot Ducksworth in self-defense.

Later Kelly sent a message to Ducksworth’s father: “If I’d known it was your son I wouldn’t have shot him.” The father replied, “I don’t care whose son it was, you had no business shooting him.”

Ducksworth’s wife gave birth that same day to their sixth child. 

Ducksworth was buried with full military honors, including a 16-gun salute by an integrated honor guard. He is among 40 martyrs listed on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala.

A grand jury refused to indict Officer Kelly. (2017 black then article) (BH, see May 5; B & S, see February 2, 2012)

Mississippi Anti-Picketing Law

On April 8, 1964 the Mississippi legislature had enacted the Mississippi Anti-Picketing Law, which, as amended, prohibited “picketing . . . in such a manner as to obstruct or unreasonably interfere with free ingress or egress to and from any county . . . courthouses. . . .” On April 9, 1964, the sheriff read the new law to the pickets, ordered them to disperse, and removed the barricades. (see Apr 10)

Riots following murder of Martin Luther King, Jr

April 9, 1968: riots in Kansas City, Missouri riot and Trenton, NJ (BH, see Apr 11; RR, see Apr 25)

Trayvon Martin Shooting

April 9, 2012: Florida State Attorney Angela Corey,  special prosecutor appointed to investigate the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, said that she had decided not to convene a grand jury in the case. The prosecutor said in a statement that her decision “should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case.” (see Apr 10)

137 Shots

April 9, 2015: on the third day of testimony, Cleveland police officer Michael Demchak refused to testify. Prosecutors had gotten through just a couple basic questions about the identity and work history of Demchak before he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the witness stand.

According to a report from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Demchak was one of the 13 officers that fired their guns on the night of November 2012, when the two unarmed suspects were killed. Investigators had concluded Demchak fired his gun four times. (see 137 for much expanded chronology)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

NASA Astronauts

April 9, 1959: the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration introduced the first seven astronauts to the world. Without yet performing a task, they are instantly hailed and embraced as heroes by the American public. (see May 28)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

see April 9 Music et al for more

FREE SPEECH

April 9, 1961: Greenwich Village folk song fans battled the police for two hours in Washington Square. Police arrested ten demonstrators. Several persons, including three policemen, were hurt. (see Ban for expanded story)

West Side Story

April 9, 1962: 1961 Oscars held. Bob Hope hosts. The Best Picture winner was West Side Story. The film had eleven nominations and ten Oscar wins (losing only its Screenplay nomination) – close to matching the record established by Ben-Hur (1959) with its twelve nominations and eleven Oscars.

(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration

April 9 – 29, 1966: “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” by The Righteous Brothers #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Nashville Skyline

April 9, 1969 Dylan released his last album of the 1960s: Nashville Skyline. Recorded Feb 12 – 21, 1969.

In August, although in his “backyard,” Dylan was never in serious negotiation to play at Woodstock. Instead, in mid-July, Dylan had signed to play the Isle of Wight Festival of Music.

Dylan set sail for England on Queen Elizabeth 2 on August 15, the day the Woodstock Festival started. His son was injured by a cabin door and the family disembarked. Dylan, with his wife Sara, flew to England the following week. (see Isle for that festival story)

“It Don’t Come Easy”

April 9, 1971: Ringo’s “It Don’t Come Easy”  released in UK. It will be released in US on April 16. (see Apr 15)

Phil Ochs

April 9, 1976: Phil Ochs committed suicide.

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

Astrodome

April 9, 1965:  (from the AP) HOUSTON, Tex. — There was a bomb scare but President Johnson showed no concern Friday night as he and 47,876 other fans watched air conditioned baseball. An anonymous report that a bomb had been placed in the $31.6 million Harris County Domed Stadium proved false but it caused the President and the first lady to be late for the opening of the all-weather structure. They saw 7 1/2 innings as the Houston Astros opened their astrodome by beating the New York Yankees 2-1 in 12 innings. The President told newsmen he was impressed with the stadium, which permits professional baseball to move indoors for the first time. Because of the bomb scare, the presidential party watched the game from the private suite of Roy Hofheinz and R.E. (Bob) Smith, owner of the Astros. The suite is 30 feet above the right field pavilion and the crowd saw the President and Mrs. Johnson only through its windows. They did not go down on the playing field. [ballparksofbaseball dot com article] (see Apr 27)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

STUDENT ACTIVISM

April 9, 1969: approximately 300 students seized the Harvard University Administration Building. They were mostly members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the takeover ended, 45 were injured and 184 arrested. (Vietnam, see Apr 23; Student Activism, see May 15)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS & Ryan White

April 9, 1986: White’s case is presented in U.S. Circuit Court. (see Ryan White for expanded story)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

INDEPENDENCE DAY

April 9, 1991:  the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union. (NYT article) (see Aug 20)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

April 9, 1998: a second White House steward called to testify before the grand jury in a supposed effort to learn of meetings between the president and Monica Lewinsky.  (see Clinton for expanded story)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

April 9, 2003:  U.S. forces seized control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. (Washington Post article) (see May 1)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

Tulsa shootings

April 9, 2012: Judge William Hiddle set bail at $9.1 million each for Alvin Watts and Jacob C. England. (see Apr 13)

April 9 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

April 9, 2021: Amazon workers at a giant warehouse in Alabama voted decisively against forming a union, squashing the most significant organizing drive in the internet giant’s history and dealing a crushing blow to labor and Democrats when conditions appeared ripe for them to make advances.

Workers cast 1,798 votes against a union, giving Amazon enough to emphatically defeat the effort. Ballots in favor of a union trailed at 738, fewer than 30 percent of the votes tallied, according to federal officials.

The lopsided outcome at the 6,000-person warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., came even as the pandemic’s effect on the economy and the election of a pro-labor president had made the country more aware of the plight of essential workers. [NYT story] (next LH, see Apr 26)

Environmental Issues

April 9, 2024: the Biden administration announced that more than 200 chemical plants across the country would be required to curb the toxic pollutants they released into the air.

The regulation was aimed at reducing the risk of cancer for people living near industrial sites. It was the first time in nearly two decades that the government had tightened limits on pollution from chemical plants.

The new Environmental Protection Agency rule specifically targeted ethylene oxide, which was used to sterilize medical devices, and chloroprene, which was used to make rubber in footwear. [NYT article] (next EI, see April 10)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

US Labor History

April 8, 1911: the Banner Mine near Birmingham exploded, killing 128 convicts leased to the Pratt Consolidated Coal Company. A local newspaper listed the crimes of the victims next to their names: vagrancy, weapons violations, bootlegging, and gambling. A rural newspaper observed, “Several negroes from this section . . . were caught in the Banner mine explosion. That is a pretty tight penalty to pay for selling booze.”

By 1910, the State of Alabama had become the sixth largest coal producer in the United States. Between 1875 and 1900, Alabama’s coal production grew from 67,000 tons to 8.4 million tons. This growth was driven in large part by the expansion of convict leasing in the state; in Birmingham, the center of the state’s coal production, more than 25 percent of miners were leased convicts. In addition, more than 50 percent of all miners in the state had learned to mine while working as convicts.

State officials quickly learned how to use the convict leasing system to disproportionately exploit black people. In an average year, 97 percent of Alabama’s county convicts were black. When coal companies’ labor needs increased, local police swept small-town streets for vagrants, gamblers, drunks, and thieves, targeting hundreds of black Alabamians for arrest. These citizens were then tried and convicted, sentenced to sixty- or ninety-days hard labor plus court costs, and handed over to the mines. Employers frequently held and worked convicts well beyond their scheduled release dates since local officials had no incentive to intervene and prisoners lacked the resources and power to demand enforcement.

Conditions in the mines were deplorable. Convicts were often chained together in ankle-deep water, working 12- to 16-hour shifts with no breaks, and surviving on fistfuls of spoiled meat and cornbread stuffed into the rags they wore for uniforms. Describing the experience, a black former convict laborer recalled that the prisoners had slept in their chains, covered with “filth and vermin,” and the powder cans used as slop jars frequently overflowed and ran over into their beds.

Prisoner safety was not a priority for the mines’ owners and operators. (Encyclopedia of Alabama article). (next LH, see Apr 27; next BH, see  May 24)

Scottsboro Nine

April 8 – 9, 1931: Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

George Whitmore, Jr.

April 8, 1969: Justice Julius Helf upheld the validity of the identification, saying there was “an unmistakable ring of truth to her testimony.” (next BH, see Apr 19; see Whitmore for expanded story)

FREE SPEECH blocked

April 8, 1964: the Mississippi legislature enacted the Mississippi Anti-Picketing Law, which, as amended, prohibited “picketing . . . in such a manner as to obstruct or unreasonably interfere with free ingress or egress to and from any county . . . courthouses. . . .” (text of law) (see Apr 9)

Black & Shot

April 8, 2015: North Charleston, S.C. officer, Michael T. Slager, who was arrested after shooting and killing an unarmed Walter Scott, was fired from the department and the police chief said that he was appalled by what a video of the encounter revealed.

“I have watched the video and I was sickened by what I saw,” Eddie Driggers, the North Charleston police chief, told reporters, at an emotional and often chaotic news conference, with protesters repeatedly shouting and interrupting. “And I have not watched it since.” Asked whether the proper protocols were followed after the shooting, Chief Driggers said, “Obviously not.” (2017 NYT story) (B & S, see Apr 13; Scott, see June 8)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

April 8, 1914:  the 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified. (see May 2)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Works Progress Administration

April 8, 1935: Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, the work relief bill that funded the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Created by President Franklin Roosevelt to relieve the economic hardship of the Great Depression, this national works program (renamed the Work Projects Administration beginning in 1939) employed more than 8.5 million people on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943. The WPA employed skilled and unskilled workers in a great variety of work projects—many of which were public works projects such as creating parks, and building roads and bridges, and schools and other public structures. (see July 27)

Steel strike

April 8, 1952: President Harry S. Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize the nation’s steel mills to avert a strike. (see February 18, 1953)

Joseph A. Yablonski

April 8, 1974: the prosecution closed its case in the murder trial of W. A. Boyle, the former head of the United Mine Workers of America, after the state’s key witness testified that he had heard Mr. Boyle give the orders in 1969 to “take care of” Joseph A. Yablonski. (see Apr 11)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

April 8 Music et al

Soldier Boy

April 8, 1960: Elvis records “Soldier Boy” as part of his first post-military service album. (see Apr 20)

Julian Lennon

April 8, 1963: Julian Lennon born to John and Cynthia. (see Apr 13)

Lawrence of Arabia

April 8, 1963, 1962 Oscars held.  Frank Sinatra hosts. Lawrence of Arabia, with ten nominations and seven Oscars, was the Best Film winner.  This was the first of four British-made films that won the top Best Picture Oscar in the decade of the 1960s. The other three were Tom Jones (1963),  A Man For All Seasons (1966), and Oliver! (1968).

John Lennon’s Rolls Royce

April 8, 1967: John Lennon took his Rolls Royce to coachbuilders J.P. Fallon Ltd in Surrey to inquire if they could paint his car in psychedelic colors. This was based on an idea by Marijke Koger (“The Fool” who was a member of Dutch team of gypsy artists). J.P. Fallon commissioned Steve Weaver’s pattern of scroll and flowers for the Phantom V. The cost for having the work done came in at £2,000. A custom interior/exterior sound system was also installed as well as a Sony television; telephone (WEYBRIDGE 46676) and a portable refrigerator. (see Apr 19)

Cannabis

April 8, 1968:  Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs established by President Johnson. (see May 19, 1969 or see CCC for expanded chronology)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Operation Pegasus

April 8, 1968: U.S. forces in Operation Pegasus finally retake Route 9, ending the siege of Khe Sanh. A 77 day battle, Khe Sanh had been the biggest single battle of the Vietnam War to that point. The official assessment of the North Vietnamese Army dead is just over 1,600 killed, with two divisions all but annihilated. But thousands more were probably killed by American bombing. (2014 Time/Life article) (see Apr 11)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

April 8, 1970: in a 51 – 45 vote, the US Senate voted down G Harrold Carswell’s Supreme Court nomination. Seventeen Democrats and twenty-eight Republicans voted for Carswell. Thirty-eight Democrats and thirteen Republicans voted against him. President Nixon accused Democrats of having an anti-Southern bias as a result saying, “After the Senate’s action yesterday in rejecting Judge Carswell, I have reluctantly concluded that it is not possible to get confirmation for the judge on the Supreme Court of any man who believes in the strict construction of the Constitution as I do, if he happens to come from the South.” (see Apr 14)

Eric Rudolph

April 8, 2005: the Dept of Justice announced that Eric Rudolph (see January 16) had agreed to a plea bargain under which he would plead guilty to all charges he was accused of in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. The deal was confirmed after the FBI found 250 pounds of dynamite he hid in the forests of North Carolina. His revealing the hiding places of the dynamite was a condition of his plea agreement. He made his pleas in person in Birmingham and Atlanta courts on April 13. (see July 18)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS & Ryan White

April 8, 1990: Ryan White died. He is buried in Cicero, close to the home of his mother. In the year following his death, his grave was vandalized on four occasions. (AIDS, see July 26; see White for expanded story)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

Rev Paul Shanley

April 8, 2002:  file released on the Rev Paul Shanley, alleging he publicly advocated sex between men and boys and still received the backing of the archdiocese for his ministry. (see Apr 23)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Luis Ramirez

April 8, 2009: Colin Walsh pleaded guilty to one felony violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act for his role in aiding and abetting Brandon Piekarsky, 19, and Derrick Donchak, 21, in the beating death of Louis Ramirez. (see Ramirez for expanded chronology)

Asylum seekers

April 8, 2019: Judge Richard Seeborg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California blocked President Trump’s efforts to force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases were adjudicated by the immigration courts — a practice that immigration advocates called inhumane and illegal.

Seeborg found that existing law did not give the Trump administration the power to enforce the policy, known as “migrant protection protocols,” which were introduced in San Diego and expanded to other parts of California and Texas.

The judge said in his ruling that in addition to violating immigration laws, the protocols did not include “sufficient safeguards” to comply with the Department of Homeland Security’s obligation against returning migrants to places where their “life or freedom would be threatened.” (next IH, see Apr 12)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Tulsa shootings

April 8, 2012: Police arrested two men  — 19-year-old Jake England and 32-year-old Alvin Watts — in connections with shootings that left three people dead (two men and a women: Bobby Clark, 54; William Allen, 31; and Dannaer Fields, 49.

The two people who were wounded did not sustain life-threatening injuries and were released from the hospital). (see Apr 9)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Anti-Muslim Terry Jones

April 8, 2014: Terry Jones’s lawyer announced that Jones would take a plea deal that would drop the felony charge. Jones said he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge. His goal was to be able to continue to carry a gun legally. Jones said he receives so many death threats, he must be able to continue to carry a weapon. If he were a convicted felon, he would lose that right.

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

April 8, 2015: a Boston jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 21-year-old who admitted he and his brother bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon, guilty on all 30 counts against him, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and bombing of a public place.

The jury of five men and seven women deliberated for roughly 11 hours over two days before reaching a verdict. It took more than 20 minutes for a court clerk to read the entire verdict. Tsarnaev stood, but displayed no reaction as it was announced. (see May 15)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues & Nuclear/Chemical News

April 8, 2019: an article published in the Geophysical Research Letters found that shrimp-like critters from three West Pacific ocean trenches were found to munch on food that sinks down from the surface, leaving a unique chemical signature from decades-old nuclear bomb tests in the bodies of the deep-sea crustaceans.

Weidong Sun, a geochemist at the Institute of Oceanology in China and coauthor of the study, found elevated levels of carbon-14, a heavy variant of carbon, in the amphipods’ muscle tissue and gut contents.

The levels closely matched abundances found near the surface of the ocean, where the amount of carbon-14 is higher than usual thanks to nuclear bomb tests conducted more than half a century ago. [Smithsonian Magazine article] (next EI, see Apr 19; next N/C, see June 30)

April 8 Peace Love Art Activism