Tag Archives: June Peace Love Art Activism

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

June 2, 1924: Representative Homer P. Snyder (R) of New York proposed the Act, also known as the Snyder Act. It granted full U.S. citizenship to America’s indigenous peoples, called “Indians” in this Act. (The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to persons born in the U.S., but only if “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”; this latter clause excluded certain indigenous peoples.)[Nebraska Studies article] (see February 21, 1928)

Alcatraz Takeover

June 2, 1970: fires of unknown origin burned three buildings on Alcatraz. In August  California governor Ronald Reagan announced a $50,000 planning grant to the Bay Area Native American Council for programs addressing the needs of urban Indians in the San Francisco Bay Area. [NYT article]  (NA, see July 8; Alcatraz, see Aug 21)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Auto-Lite strike settled

June 2, 1934 (Saturday): two months after it had begun, Auto-Lite and FLU 18384 reached a tentative agreement settling the strike. The union won a 5 percent wage increase, and a minimum wage of 35 cents an hour. The union also won recognition (effectively freezing out the company union), provisions for arbitration of grievances and wage demands, and a system of re-employment which favored (respectively) workers who had crossed the picket line, workers who struck, and replacement workers. Although Muste and Budenz advocated that the union reject the agreement, workers ratified it on June 3. (see Toledo for expanded chronology)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

June 2, 1947: the US Supreme Court agreed to review the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision that religious education classes may lawfully be held in the public schools of Champaign, Il. (see Nov 16)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

McCarthyism

June 2, 1954: Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that communists had infiltrated the Central Intelligence Agency and the atomic weapons industry. Although McCarthy’s accusations created a momentary controversy, they were quickly dismissed as mere sensationalism. (see June 9)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

June 2 Music et al

Pachuko Hop

June 2, 1956:  some 200 teenagers in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium danced to the music of Chuck Higgins and his Orchestra, a Los Angeles group with a regional hit record called “Pachuko Hop.”

Santa Cruz police entered the auditorium just past midnight to check on the event, and what they found, according to Lieutenant Richard Overton, was a crowd “engaged in suggestive, stimulating and tantalizing motions induced by the provocative rhythms of an all-negro band.” Lt. Overton shut down the dance. (Next R of R, see June 3; see Pachuko for expanded story)

Jimi Hendrix

June 2, 1962: Sgt William R Bowman filed a report against Hendrix for sleeping on duty, masturbating in the latrine, and owning money for a laundry bill. (see Hendrix Military for expanded chronology)

I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You

June 2 – July 6, 1962: “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” by Ray Charles #1 Billboard Hot 100.

Road to Bethel
June 2, 1969
Lang/Roberts & Rosenman dispute
  • Just after midnight Michael Lang finally arrived for a meeting with John Roberts and Joel Rosenman. Roberts and Rosenman were upset with Lang’s lack of communication and his unfettered methods of organizing the festival. They are also upset with press releases never listing their names as primaries involved. Lang convinced Roberts and Rosenman that it was Artie Kornfeld they should upset with.
Kornfeld/Roberts & Rosenman dispute
  • That afternoon Joel Rosenman confronted Kornfeld with Lang’s complaints. Kornfeld stated that Lang told him that Rosenman and Roberts were the problems. 
Dispute “settled”
  • Later that afternoon all four of met. Roberts, Rosenman, and Kornfeld tried to confront Lang. Lang convinced the others that all was best if they all worked together toward the goal. (see Chronology for expanded story)
June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Segregated Courtrooms Upheld

June 2, 1961: after being forced to sit separately from white community members in the municipal court in Petersburg, Virginia, George Wells, Rev. R. G. Williams, and Rev. Dr. Milton H. Reid sought an injunction to prevent Judge Herbert H. Gilliam, the Chief Judge of Petersburg’s municipal court, from continuing to subject Black community members to segregated seating. The lawsuit asserted that there was “no moral or legal justification for courtroom segregation,” calling the practice “degrading and shameful.”

On this date, Federal Judge Oren R. Lewis dismissed the lawsuit and upheld racial segregation in courtrooms describing as “totally without merit” their allegation hat segregating courtrooms was degrading. [EJI article] (next BH, see June 12)

Oneal Moore and Creed Rogers

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

June 2, 1965: Oneal Moore and Creed Rogers made history in 1964 when they became the first black deputy sheriffs in Washington Parish, Louisiana, a notorious KKK stronghold.  On the night of June 2, 1965, the two men were driving in a patrol car to Moore’s home seven miles north of Bogalusa. The patrol car crossed the railroad tracks on Main Street, less than a mile from Moore’s home, when a pickup truck carrying at least three men drew near. A bullet from a hunting rifle ripped into the back of Moore’s head, killing him. Rogers survived wounds from shotgun pellets, but was blinded in his right eye.

Rogers radioed in a description of the pickup — black with a Confederate flag decal on the front bumper. About an hour later and an hour’s drive north in Tylertown, Miss., police stopped a truck fitting that description. They arrested the driver, Ernest Ray McElveen, a Bogalusa paper mill worker and part-time insurance salesman. McElveen was well regarded in town. He was also a member of the racist and anti-Semitic Citizens Councils of America and of the even more savagely bigoted National States Rights Party. Police found two pistols in his truck, but no hunting rifle or shotgun.

He said little, and was released on bond after a few days. He was never prosecuted, and no other arrests were made. [DoJ article] (see June 3)

Roxbury, Massachusetts riot

June 2, 1967:  Roxbury section of Boston. Mothers on welfare staged a sit-in. Boston PD officers began beating them after arresting them for trespassing on government property.  The ensuing riot, which lasted for 3 days, caused $500,000 worth of damage. [Boston Globe article] (BH, see June 8; RR, see June 11)

Viola Liuzzo

June 2, 1983: The previous week, Federal Judge Charles Joiner dismissed Viola Liuzzo family’s $2 million lawsuit against the Federal Government. The family maintained Gary Rowe, an informer for the FBI, either shot at Mrs. Liuzzo or could have prevented the shooting.

On this date, Viola Liuzzo’s children were ordered to pay the Government’s court costs. Judge Joiner said the exact amount would not be known until the Justice Department submitted its bill to the court. The Liuzzo family’s court costs alone were estimated at $60,000, according to Jeffrey Long, one of their lawyers. (BH, see June 16; see Liuzzo for expanded story)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

June 2, 1966: Surveyor 1, the U.S. space probe, landed on the moon and started sending photographs back to Earth of the Moon’s surface. It was the first soft landing on the Moon. [NASA article] (see November 11 – 15)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

June 2, 1967: after Luis Jose Monge died in the gas chamber at Colorado State Penitentiary, an unofficial moratorium on executions began. (see January 3, 1968)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

June 2, 1978: the United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, entered an order denying the Village of Skokie’s request for a stay of mandate. Application for Stay of Mandate, Harvey Schwartz & Gilbert Gordon, filed in the United States Supreme Court, No. 77-1736, on behalf of the Village of Skokie. (see June 5)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Oklahoma City Explosion

June 2, 1997: Denver. Timothy McVeigh was convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. [NYT article] (see June 13)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

June 2, 1998: The outspoken Bill Ginsburg is replaced as Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer with a team of experienced Washington litigators, Jacob Stein and Plato Cacheris. The split was said to be by “mutual agreement.” (see CI for expanded story)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

June 2, 2011: Alabama’s Republican-controlled state legislature passed House Bill 56, a controversial anti-immigration bill much tougher than a similar Arizona law passed the year before. One week later, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed the bill into law. Like Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, Alabama’s immigration law authorizes police officers, relying on racial profiling, to check the immigration status of anyone detained or arrested who they believe may be in the country illegally. HB 56 also bans undocumented immigrants from enrolling in any public college or university, mandates that parents reveal the immigration status of any child attending public school, and requires school districts to report the number of undocumented students to the state board of education.

Civil rights organizations and religious groups mounted legal and political opposition to HB 56. Many complained the law prohibited acts of charity by criminalizing those who rent property or provide transportation to an undocumented immigrant with prior knowledge of that person’s immigration status. Opponents also feared the law would discourage school attendance by undocumented children and create a discriminatory school atmosphere. Indeed, in May 2012, the Department of Justice announced that HB 56 had “diminished access to and quality of education for many of Alabama’s Hispanic children” and found that more than 13% of Hispanic children had dropped out of school since the previous fall. Subsequent legal challenges succeeded in invalidating portions of the law. (see May 24, 2013)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Hate Crimes

June 2, 2012: the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, which began collecting data in 1998, reported that in 2011, 30 fatally violent hate crimes were committed against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender victims, 3 more than the previous year’s total. [NCAVP site] (see June 5)

Tennessee/Drag Shows

June 2, 2023: U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker found Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law designed to place strict limits on drag shows unconstitutional.

Parker said that the law was both “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad” and encouraged “discriminatory enforcement”

“There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law,” Parker said. [AP article] (next LGBTQ, see )

Transgender/Arkansas

June 20, 2023: Judge James M. Moody Jr. of Federal District Court in Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday struck down the state’s law forbidding medical treatments for children and teenagers seeking gender transitions, blocking what had been the first in a wave of such measures championed by conservative lawmakers across the country.

The case had been closely watched as an important test of whether bans or severe restrictions on transition care for minors, which have since been enacted by 19 other states, could withstand legal challenges being brought by activists and civil liberties groups. It is the first ruling to broadly block such a ban for an entire state, though judges have intervened to temporarily delay similar laws from going into effect.

In his 80-page ruling, Moody said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated the constitutional rights of doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its claims, including that the care was experimental or carelessly prescribed to teenagers.

“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by prohibiting it, the state undermined the interests it claims to be advancing,” wrote Moody. [NYT article]

Transgender/College of the Ozarks

June 20, 2023:  the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a Christian college in Missouri that sued the Biden administration over its decision to shield transgender people from housing discrimination.

At issue was a 2021 memo from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that interpreted a federal anti-discrimination law as protecting transgender individuals. The College of the Ozarks claimed that the guidance conflicted with its ability to make housing assignments for students on the basis of sex assigned at birth. [USA Today article] (next LGBTQ+, see )

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

June 2, 2017: the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda, also known as Climate Mayors, announced their intent to uphold the United States’ end of the Paris accords within their own jurisdictions, despite Trump’s exiting of the agreement. Their statement read in part:

As 186 US Mayors representing 52 million Americans, we will adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement. We will intensify efforts to meet each of our cities’ current climate goals, push for new action to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create a 21st century clean energy economy.

We will continue to lead. We are increasing investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. We will buy and create more demand for electric cars. (see June 14)

June 2 Peace Love Art Activism

June Peace Love Art Activism

June Peace Love Art Activism

As with previous months, there are events for which I cannot find a specific date. If anyone can document an exact date for the events listed below,  please comment or email.

Anarchism in the US

Emma Goldman

June 1925: discouraged by the public response to her lectures on Russia, Goldman focused on earning money by writing a new series of lectures on drama. (see Goldman for expanded chronology)

June Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh slips out of France

In June 1923: though the French government had had rescinded Ho Chi Minh’s passport to keep him under surveillance, he managed to slip out of the country disguised as a Chinese businessman and went to Moscow.

Revolutionary Youth League

In 1925: Nguyen Ai Quoc, now Ho Chi Minh (“He who enlightens”), traveled to China where he formed the Thanh Nien Cach Menh Dong Chi Hoi (“Revolutionary Youth League”), later known simply as Thanh Nien (“Youth”), an organization composed of Vietnamese exiles living in China and dedicated to revolution in Vietnam. As the Than Nien steadily grew in size, the organization began to establish connections with other Vietnamese nationalist and revolutionary groups residing in Vietnam. [book reference]

Ho Chi Minh leaves China

In 1927: Ho Chi Minh forced to leave China because Chaing Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist Party, instituted a crackdown on left-wing radicals, imprisoning and executing hundreds of communists and labor activists. Ho fled to the Soviet Union. He spent the next few years based in Russia, but made frequent trips to China to recruit members for Thanh Nien.

Ho Chi Minh arrested

In 1931: British authorities arrested Ho Chi Minh in Hong Kong for his involvement in revolutionary activities. The British imprisoned him for two years. After he was released, Ho returned to Moscow where he would remain until 1938.

Japanese invade Vietnam

In early 1940: to hinder China from getting war supplies Japanese  troops invaded areas of Vietnam. [ipfs article](see Sept 22)

Pentagon Papers 

June 1967:  Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara assembled a team of analysts (many of whom previously worked for RAND, including Ellsberg), headed by Leslie Gelb and Morton Halperin to draft a full history of U.S. political involvement in Vietnam. The report was titled “History of U.S. Decision-making in Vietnam, 1945-68” and was finished in late 1968. By then, McNamara has resigned as secretary of defense and the study was never officially distributed or acted upon. (see DE/PP for expanded story)

June Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Scottsboro Nine

June 1938: The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Clarence Norris.

June 1946: Ozie Powell paroled. (see SB for expanded story)

Greensboro sit-ins continue

June 1960: When N.C. A&T and Bennett College students left Greensboro for the summer, Dudley High School students took up the charge. William Thomas led the students as the protests expanded to Meyers and Walgreens.  (BH, see July 11; TGF, see July 21)

1921 Tulsa Race Riot Reconciliation Act

The sound clip is Emory Associate Professor of African American Studies, Carol Anderson, discussing the Tulsa attack. From “THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE QUEST FOR CIVIL RIGHTS”.

June 2001: the Oklahoma state legislature passed the “1921 Tulsa Race Riot Reconciliation Act.” While falling short of the Commission’s recommendations, it provided for the following:

  • More than 300 college scholarships for descendants of Greenwood residents;
  • Creation of a memorial to those who died in the riot, which was dedicated on October 27, 2010; and
  • Economic development in Greenwood.

(BH, see July 17; RR, see April 28, 2015 )

June Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Reflex Alert

June 1952:  the Strategic Air Command began Reflex Alert deployments of long-range nuclear bombers to overseas bases like Nouasseur Air Base in French Morocco, placing them within unrefueled striking range of Moscow. (see July 5)

June Peace Love Art Activism

see June Music et al for more

Ornette Coleman

June, 1960: Ornette Coleman released “Change of the Century” album.

Ken Kesey

June Peace Love Art Activism

June 1961: Ken Kesey finished writing One Flew Over the Coocoo’s Nest and moved from California to his home in Oregon.

Kesey, at the instigation of Perry Lane neighbor and Stanford psychology graduate student, Vik Lovell (heretofore acquainted with Richard Alpert and Allen Ginsberg) had previously volunteered to take part in a CIA-financed study under the aegis of Project MKULTRA at the Menlo Park Veterans Hospital, where he worked as a night aide. The project had studied the effects of psychoactive drugs, particularly LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, cocaine, AMT, and DMT on people]

Kesey wrote many detailed accounts of his experiences with these drugs, both during the study and in the years of private experimentation that followed. Kesey’s role as a medical guinea pig, as well as his stint working at the state veterans’ hospital (where he had access to the cabinet where they kept LSD), inspired him to write One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In 1962  Congress passed new drug safety regulations and the FDA designated LSD an experimental drug and restricted research.

LSD

In 1962: Congress will passed new drug safety regulations and the FDA designated LSD an experimental drug and restricted research. (see Feb 1)

Del Shannon

June, 1963: Del Shannon released his cover of “From Me to You.” Shannon’s version entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 29 becoming the first Lennon–McCartney composition to make the American charts. It spent four weeks on the chart and peaked at number 77. It was even more successful in Chicago where it reached 15 on the WLS “Silver Dollar Survey” (see August 3, 1963)

Future Woodstock Performers

June 1966: Incredible String Band (Robin Williamson, age 22 , and Mike Heron, age 22 ) released first album, The Incredible String Band. (see In July)

News Music/Pete Seeger

June 1966:  released Bring ‘em Home. (Vietnam, see June 4; NM, see June 27)

Ken Kesey jailed

June 1967: Ken Kesey began serving 6 months on work farm for marijuana conviction. (see July 17)

The Association

June 1967: The Association released their third album, Insight Out which contained the anti-war song,” Requiem for the Masses.” (see June 20)

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

June 1970: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young released Young’s song, “Ohio” Later, Young wrote: “It’s still hard to believe I had to write this song. It’s ironic that I capitalized on the death of these American students. Probably the most important lesson ever learned at an American place of learning.” (see June 9)

June Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

Early indication of Church and sexual abuse

In June 1985 journalist Jason Berry wrote a nationwide survey regarding the Catholic Church and sexual abuse for the National Catholic Reporter, drawing the secular media’s attention to it. (see June 17)

Sacramento Diocese settles

June 2005: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California, agrees to pay $35m to 33 victims. (see in August)

June Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

June 1995: Monica Lewinsky, 21, came to the White House as an unpaid intern in the office of Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. (see CI for expanded story)

June Peace Love Art Activism

Affordable Care Act

In June 2017: the US health department posted 23 video testimonials on YouTube from people who said they had been “burdened by Obamacare,” including families, health care professionals and small business owners. [NYT article] (see Aug 31)

June Peace Love Art Activism

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

The Treaty of Bosque Redondo

June 1, 1868: the Treaty of Bosque Redondo between the United States and many of the Navajo leaders was concluded at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Some of the provisions included establishing a reservation, restrictions on raiding, a resident Indian Agent and agency, compulsory education for children, the supply of seeds, agricultural implements and other provisions, rights of the Navajos to be protected, establishment of railroads and forts, compensation to tribal members, and arrangements for the return of Navajos to the reservation established by the treaty. The Navajo agreed for ten years to send their children to school and the U.S. government agreed to establish schools with teachers for every thirty Navajo children. The U.S. government also promised for ten years to make annual deliveries of things the Navajos could not make for themselves. [Bosque Redondo memorial article] (see June 18)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Tulsa Race Riot

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

May 31 and June 1, 1921: The Tulsa Race Riot was a large-scale racially motivated conflict in which whites attacked the Tulsa, Oklahoma black community of the Greenwood District, also known as ‘the Black Wall Street’ and the wealthiest African-American community in the United States. Whites burned it to the ground.

During the 16 hours of the assault, over 800 people were admitted to local hospitals with injuries, and more than 6,000 Greenwood residents were arrested and detained. An estimated 10,000 blacks were left homeless, and 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire. (next BH, see Oct 5; next RR, see March 19, 1935;  next lynching, see Oct 20;  additional Tulsa, see February 21, 2001)

Alabama’s NAACP ban overturned

June 1, 1964: the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned Alabama’s ban on the NAACP, allowing the NAACP to operate in the state for the first time since 1956. [King Institute article] (see June 7)

Death Penalty

June 1, 1965: NY Gov Nelson Rockefeller signed the abolition of death penalty bill. [Death Penalty Info article] (BH & DP, see June 2; see Whitmore for expanded story)

Rodney King

June 1, 1994: King  awarded nothing in punitive damages in a civil trial against the police officers. He had asked for $15 million.  [NYT article] (King, see April 2012)

Stand Your Ground/George Zimmerman

June 1, 2012: Seminole County Circuit Court judge, Kenneth R. Lester Jr., revoked George Zimmerman’s bond during a hearing on Friday and gave him 48 hours to surrender. In revoking the bond, Judge Lester found that Zimmerman had misled the court about his finances, with the help of his wife, during his April bond hearing. (see June 3)

Nelson Mandela

June 1, 2004: Mandela said he would severely reduce his public activities so he could spend his remaining years resting and writing. A month shy of 86, he was increasingly frail and had trouble walking. (see Mandela for expanded chronology)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

KKK TERRORISM

June 1, 1925: on November 7, 1922, the voters of Oregon approved a Ku Klux Klan-sponsored referendum that amended the state’s compulsory education law to eliminate an exception for private schools. The law required children between the ages of 8 and 16 to attend public schools. Both the intent and the effect of the law was to shut down private parochial schools, particularly Roman Catholic schools, in the state.

In Pierce v. Society of Sisters, decided on this day, the Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional because it interfered with the right of parents to control the education of their children. (see Aug 8)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Judicial Milestone

June 1, 1942:  the case involved a man whom Maryland had denied counsel though he could not afford one and was forced to represent himself.

Previously, in  Johnson v. Zerbst [decided May 23, 1938] the Supreme Court had held that defendants in federal courts had a right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. In Powell v. Alabama [decided November 7, 1932, Scottsboro Nine case], the Court had held that state defendants in capital cases were entitled to counsel, even when they could not afford it; however, the right to an attorney in trials in the states was not yet obligatory in all cases as it was in federal courts under Johnson v. Zerbst.

In Betts v. Brady, Betts was indicted for robbery and upon his request for counsel, the trial judge refused, forcing Betts to represent himself. He was convicted of robbery, a conviction he eventually appealed to the Supreme Court on the basis that he was being held unlawfully because he had been denied counsel.

Betts filed writ of habeas corpus at the Circuit Court for Washington County, Maryland claiming he had been denied counsel and then filed a writ to Court of Appeals of Maryland. His petitions were all denied and he finally filed for certiorari to the Supreme Court. In a six to three decision, the Court found that Betts did not have the right to be appointed counsel  [Oyez article] (see May 3, 1954)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

McCarthyism

June 1, 1950: seven Republican Senators denounced and repudiated the tactics of Joe McCarthy, their party colleague, in his campaign to try to prove Communist penetration of the State Department. The Senators issued a “Declaration of Conscience” that accused “certain elements” of a design for “riding the Republican party to victory through the selfish political exploitation of fear, bigotry, ignorance, and intolerance.” The group also criticized President Truman for a lack of leadership. [Senate dot gov article] (see June 17, 1950)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

see June 1 Music et al for more

FM stereo

June 1, 1961: regular FM stereo radio broadcasting with a multiplexed signal began in the U.S. In Schenectady, NY, WGFM (owned by G.E.) was first on the air, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time. Zenith’s WEFM in Chicago, IL, followed and KMLA in Los Angeles, CA. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval specified the starting day. Field tests for stereo FM had begun in Mar 1959 to evaluate various competing systems. (see “in July 1964”)

Jimi Hendrix

June 1, 1962: supply officer Lyndon D Williams filed a report against Hendrix for lack of interest and inability to concentrate. (see Hendrix military for expanded chronology)

It’s My Party

June 1 – 14, 1963,  “It’s My Party” by Leslie Gore #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Let’s Get Together

June 1, 1964: The Kingston Trio released their album Back In Town. On the album was their version of “Let’s Get Together.” This version was the first to bring the song to the attention of the general public. Dino Valenti wrote the song which would later become well known when sung by the Youngbloods in 1967. (see Nov 1)

see Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for more

June 1, 1967: Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” released simultaneously in UK and US. It became a cultural benchmark and won the Grammy for “Album Of The Year”, the first rock record given that award. (see June 4)

  • Label: Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)
  • Recorded: 6 December 1966 – 21 April 1967, EMI and Regent Sound studios, London
Mrs Robinson

June 1 – June 21, 1968: “Mrs Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Give Peace a Chance

June 1, 1969:  John and Yoko recorded “Give Peace a Chance” during their Bed-In. The recording session was attended by dozens of journalists and various celebrities, including Timothy Leary, Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, Joseph Schwartz, Allan Rock, Rosemary Woodruff Leary, Petula Clark, Dick Gregory, Allen Ginsberg, Murray the K and Derek Taylor, many of whom are mentioned in the lyrics. Lennon played acoustic guitar and was joined by Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers, also on acoustic guitar. (Beatles, see June 13; Lennon, see July 1; Vietnam, see June 5)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

United Farm Workers

June 1, 1966: farm workers under the banner of the new United Farm Workers Organizing Committee strike at Texas’s La Casita Farms, demand $1.25 as a minimum hourly wage. (see June 20)

Abercrombie & Fitch

June 1, 2015: the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that retailer Abercrombie & Fitch may have violated workplace discrimination law when it turned down a Muslim job applicant because she wore a hijab, even though her religious beliefs never came up in the interview.

Samantha Elauf, the job seeker at the center of the case, applied for a sales position at an Abercrombie children’s store in Oklahoma in 2008. Despite her high marks in the interview, Elauf didn’t land the job because her headscarf ran afoul of Abercrombie’s employee “look policy,” which bars hats and promotes the retailer’s preppy brand. Elauf sued with the help of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Civil rights law required that employers accommodate workers’ religious beliefs in the workplace, and forbid them from firing or not hiring someone because of those beliefs. But Abercrombie argued that it couldn’t have known to make such an accommodation because Elauf, who was 17 at the time, never requested one. [NYT article] (see Aug 17)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone

CNN

June 1 Peace Love Activism

June 1, 1980: CNN (Cable News Network), the world’s first 24-hour television news network, made its debut. The network signed on at 6 p.m. EST from its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, with a lead story about the attempted assassination of civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. CNN went on to change the notion that news could only be reported at fixed times throughout the day. At the time of CNN’s launch, TV news was dominated by three major networks–ABC, CBS and NBC–and their nightly 30-minute broadcasts. [National Geographic article]  (see March 6, 1981)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Bush/Gorbachev

June 1, 1990: U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty to end chemical weapon production and begin destroying their respective stocks. [Politico article] (see January 26, 1992)

North Korea

June 1, 2018: eight days after abruptly canceling the June 12 meeting citing North Korea’s “open hostility,” Trump just as abruptly announced that it was back on, the latest head-spinning twist in a diplomatic drama that has captivated and confused much of the world. After complaining of North Korean bad faith, he said, in effect, never mind.

“We’re over that, totally over that, and now we’re going to deal and we’re going to really start a process,” Mr. Trump told reporters after meeting at the White House with a high-ranking North Korean envoy who delivered a personal letter from Mr. Kim. “We’re meeting with the chairman on June 12, and I think it’s probably going to be a very successful — ultimately, a successful process.” (see June 12)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

June 1, 1998: Clinton’s defense team decides to drop the appeal on the executive privilege ruling. But his lawyers will continue to argue for attorney-client privilege to prevent close friend and aide Bruce Lindsey from answering all of Ken Starr’s questions. (see Clinton for expanded story)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Oklahoma City Explosion

June 1, 2004: the penalty phase of Terry Nichols trial began. The jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty. Judge Taylor called Nichols a terrorist and said “No American citizen has ever brought this kind of devastation; you are in U.S. history the No. 1 mass murderer in all of U.S. history” and sentenced Nichols to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. Nichols was returned to the federal prison in Colorado. (see May 26, 2004)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Jack Kevorkian

June 1, 2007: paroled for good behavior. He had spent eight years and two and a half months in prison. (see JK for expanded story)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

June 1, 2010: oil began washing up on the beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore. (see June 5)

June 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Luis Ramirez

June 1, 2011: Matthew Nestor, the former police chief of Shenandoah, PA, who convicted of impeding a federal investigation into the beating death of Luis Ramirez was sentenced to 13 months in prison, a lower-than-expected term.

Judge A. Richard Caputo of Federal District Court in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said the sentencing guidelines were too harsh for Nestor. A presentencing report by probation officials had recommended 57 to 71 months. Another officer, William Moyer, a lieutenant who was convicted of lying to federal investigators, was sentenced to three months. (IH, see June 2; see Ramirez for expanded story)

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Kandahar massacre

June 1, 2012: the government dropped one of the murder charges against Bales, because one victim had been double counted. Simultaneously, other charges were filed including abuse of steroids, alcohol consumption, and attempting to destroy evidence. Assault charges were increased from six to seven. (see May 29, 2013)

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Cannabis

June 1, 2015:  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill  legalizing the limited use of marijuana extracts for severe forms of epilepsy. The law allowed the use of cannabis oils that are high in CBD, or cannabidiol, a non-euphoric compound found in the marijuana plant, and low in THC — the main psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana associated with the “high” sensation — to treat intractable epilepsy. (see June 15) or see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

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FREE SPEECH

Elonis v. United States

June 1, 2015: the US Supreme Court, in a 7 – 2 ruling, reversed a lower court’s judgment against Anthony Elonis who posted violent messages on Facebook. The Court steered clear of discussing when exactly protected speech becomes an unprotected threat.

Elonis was previously found guilty of four counts of transmitting threats. After his wife left him, Elonis wrote a series of Facebook posts fantasizing about killing her and others. He claimed that the posts, made in the style of free-form rap lyrics, were therapeutic and a form of constitutionally protected free speech, pointing to similar wife-killing fantasies by performer Eminem. His estranged wife, however, said she was afraid for her life after seeing them, going as far as to get a restraining order. A post about shooting children at an elementary school, then one about killing an FBI agent who questioned him about it, also ended up on the list of charges.

Elonis argued that unless he intended to threaten his wife or anyone else with the posts, they couldn’t be taken as “true” threats. Prosecutors, though, said that intent shouldn’t matter — the real test was whether a “reasonable person” would find them threatening. While the Third Circuit federal court agreed with the “reasonable person” test, the Supreme Court now said that’s not enough. In a majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the law must consider someone’s mental state when deciding threat cases. [US Courts article] (see June 18)

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Environmental Issues/June 1, 2017

Paris climate accord

June 1, 2017: President Trump announced that he would withdraw the United States from participation in the Paris climate accord, weakening global efforts to combat climate change and siding with conservatives who argued that the landmark 2015 agreement was harming the economy. He would stick to the withdrawal process laid out in the Paris agreement, which President Barack Obama joined and most of the world had already ratified. That could take nearly four years to complete, meaning a final decision would be up to the American voters in the next presidential election. [NYT article] (next climate accord, see November 4, 2019)

Michael Bloomberg

June 1, 2017: Bloomberg founder and CEO Michael Bloomberg offered to make up the $15 million in funding that the United Nations stood to lose from President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Under the agreement, the U.S. would have been expected to contribute that amount to the operating budget of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the accord’s coordinating agency.

Americans are not walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement,” the billionaire philanthropist and former New York City mayor said. “Just the opposite — we are forging ahead.” (see June 2)

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

June 1, 2021: the Biden administration said it would suspend oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were issued in the waning days of the Trump presidency.

The decision could ultimately end any plans to drill in one of the largest tracts of untouched wilderness in the United States, delicate tundra that is home to migrating waterfowl, caribou and polar bears. Democrats and Republicans have fought over whether to allow oil and gas drilling there for more than four decades, and issuing the leases was a signature achievement of the Trump White House.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Tuesday published a secretarial order formally suspending the leases until the agency has completed an environmental analysis of their impact and a legal review of the Trump administration’s decision to grant them. [NYT article] (next EI, see June 7)

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Fair Housing

June 1, 2021:  President Biden announced:

  1. The creation of a new interagency initiative to address inequity in home appraisals, led by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge. “Homes and majority Black neighborhoods are often valued at tens of thousands of dollars less than comparable homes in similar, majority white communities,” said White House officials. “This effort will seek to utilize, very quickly, the many levers at the federal government’s disposal…to root out discrimination in the appraisal and home buying process.”
  2. HUD will issue two Fair Housing Act rules that reverse efforts made by HUD during the Trump administration to weaken protections afforded by the law. “In both cases, HUD is moving to return to traditional interpretations of the Fair Housing Act,” officials said Monday. The new rules are intended to “clear the way for HUD to more vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act,” they said. [CNBC article] (next FH, see Oct 22)
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