Tag Archives: March Peace Love Art Activism

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Anti-Labor Injunction

Mar 25, 1893: a federal court issued the first injunction against a union under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The case, brought against the Workingman’s Amalgamated Council of New Orleans for interfering with the movement of commerce, hands managers a potent legal weapon. (see June 20)

Coxey’s Army

March 25, 1894: during the depression of 1894, Coxey’s Army, a group of unemployed set out on a march to Washington, D.C. It was the only one of several groups that had set out for the U.S. capital to actually reach its destination. Led by Jacob S. Coxey, a businessman, it left Massillon, Ohio, on March 25, 1894, with about 100 men and arrived in Washington on May 1 with about 500. Coxey hoped to persuade Congress to authorize a vast program of public works, financed by a substantial increase of the money in circulation, to provide jobs for the unemployed, but, despite the publicity his group received, it had no impact on public policy. The venture came to an ignominious end when Coxey and some of his followers were arrested for trespassing on the lawns at the Capitol. (Ohio History Central article) (see May 11)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History & Feminism

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25, 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, more than one hundred shirtwaist makers (most of them young immigrant women) either died in the fire that broke out on the eighth floor of the factory or jumped to their deaths. Many of the workers were unable to escape because owners had locked the doors on their floors to prevent them from stealing or taking unauthorized breaks. Later, more than 100,000 people participated in the funeral march for the victims. (Cornell University article) (LH, see Apr 8; Feminism, see January > March 1912)

United Farm Workers

March 25, 1972: A New York Times article reported that “a well organized, well-financed campaign has been mounted against the United Farm Workers Union by a loose coalition that included the American Farm Bureau Federation, large corporate growers and shippers, right-to-work committees—and a variety of other conservative organizations. (see May 11 – June 4, 1972)

Pregnancy discrimination

March 25, 2015:  the Supreme Court revived a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against United Parcel Service, saying that lower courts had used the wrong standard to determine whether the company had discriminated against one of its drivers.

The case concerned Peggy Young, a UPS worker whose doctor recommended that she avoid lifting anything heavy after she became pregnant. The company refused to give her lighter duties to accommodate her and placed her on unpaid leave in 2006.

Ms. Young sued under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which required employers to treat “women affected by pregnancy” the same as “other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.”

Her lawsuit was dismissed, with a unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., saying the pregnancy law does not give pregnant women “a ‘most favored nation’ status.” “One may characterize the UPS policy as insufficiently charitable,” Judge Allyson Kay Duncan wrote for that court, “but a lack of charity does not amount to discriminatory animus directed at a protected class of employees.”

The Supreme Court, by a 6-to-3 vote, vacated that decision and said Ms. Young deserved another shot at trying to prove that the company had treated her differently from “a large percentage of nonpregnant workers” who may have been offered accommodations.

UPS had since changed its policy to offer light duty to pregnant women. (Labor, see Apr 1; Feminism, see Apr 30)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25, 1913: the home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened  in New York City. (see May 9, 1914)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Scottsboro Nine

March 25, 1931: nine black youths were “hoboing” on a freight train with several white males and two white women. A fight began between the white and black groups near the Lookout Mountain tunnel, and the whites were kicked off the train. The whites complained to authorities. A posse stopped the Southern Railroad train in Paint Rock, Alabama.  Police arrested them on charges of assault.  Rape charges were added against all nine boys after accusations were made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, the two girls on the train.

The youths arrested were Olen Montgomery (age 17), Clarence Norris (age 19), Haywood Patterson (age 18), Ozie Powell (age 16), Willie Roberson (age 16), Charlie Weems (age 16), Eugene Williams (age 13), and brothers Andy (age 19) and Roy Wright (age 12). (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

March to Montgomery

March 25, 1965:  following the end of the march by 25,000 civil rights supporters from Selma to Montgomery after four days and nights on the road under the protection of Army troops and federalized Alabama National Guardmen. They were refused permission to give a petition to Governor Wallace which said: “We have come not only five days and 50 miles but we have come from three centuries of suffering and hardship. We have come to you, the Governor of Alabama, to declare that we must have our freedom NOW. We must have the right to vote; we must have equal protection of the law and an end to police brutality.”

During the rally that followed the refusal by the Govenor of Alabama, Governor Wallace. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated “We are not about to turn around. We, are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us.”  The speech became known as the “How long? Not Long” speech or as, “Our God is Marching On.” (BH & March, see MM for expanded chronology; MLK, see Mar 30)

Viola Liuzzo and  Leroy Moton

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25, 1965: Detroit homemaker 39-year-old white Viola Liuzzo and  Leroy Moton, a 19-year-old Black had marched and assisted with the March to Montgomery. After the march, Liuzzo helped shuttle people from Montgomery back to Selma. Leroy Moton went with her. After dropping passengers in Selma, she and Moton headed back to Montgomery. On the way another car  pulled alongside and a passenger in that car shot directly at Liuzzo, hitting her twice in the head, and killing her instantly. Moton was uninjured. Within 24 hours President Lyndon Johnson appeared on national TV  to announce the arrest of Collie Wilkins (21), William Eaton (41) and Eugene Thomas (41) and an FBI informant Gary Rowe (34). Johnson stated, “Mrs. Liuzzo went to Alabama to serve the struggle for justice. She was murdered by the enemies of justice, who for decades have used the rope and the gun and the tar and feathers to terrorize their neighbors.” [Rowe was not indicted,and served as a witness.] (see Liuzzo for expanded chronology)

News Music: in 2008, Liuzzo’s story was memorialized in a song, “Color Blind Angel” by Robin Rogers. (next NM, see July 28)

George Whitmore, Jr.

March 25, 1965: DA Frank Hogan dismissed first-degree murder charges against two drifters — James Stewart, 24, and R. L. Douglas, 32 — who had been charged with the hammer-slaying of John Walshinsky, a derelict — a crime to which Stewart and Douglas confessed. The men said  that the confessions were beaten out of them.

A year later, on March 25, 1966, Whitmore was convicted for a second time in the Elba Borrero attmpted rape and assault case. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

Clarence David Stallworth

March 26, 1966: the Southern Courier, a newspaper documenting the civil rights movement, reported that, after driving in Beatrice, Alabama, Clarence David Stallworth was beaten and pistol-whipped by a group of whites that included the town mayor.

While  Stallworth, a black man, was driving through the town, a white man in another car signaled for him to stop, saying that the passenger in the white man’s car wanted to speak with him. When Stallworth stopped his car and walked around to the passenger side of the other vehicle, Mayor T.A. Black got out and hit him in the head with a pistol while the other men in the car exited and began kicking and beating Stallworth. After the attack, Stallworth was refused medical treatment from several different hospitals before finally being admitted to a hospital in Montgomery, more than eighty miles away.

Members of the black community rallied to force County Probate Judge David Nettles to sign the warrants for the arrest of the men involved in the attack. Nettles initially refused, but relented after organizers threatened to initiate a mass protest in support of Stallworth.

“I honestly feel that I am committing a wrong here,” Nettles said when contemplating authorizing the arrests of the men who had beaten Mr. Stallworth. “[But] I’ll sign that warrant tomorrow.” (see Mar 28)

Linda Brown

March 25, 2018: Linda Brown died. It was her father who objected when she was not allowed to attend an all-white school in her neighborhood and who thus came to symbolize one of the most transformative court proceedings in American history, the school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education  in Topeka, Kan. She was 75. (see Apr 12)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

“Lavender Scare”

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25, 1952: the U.S. State Department announced that it had removed 126 “perverts” from employment since the beginning of the year. The actions were part of a wave of homophobia that swept Washington, D.C. and the rest of the government in the 1950s, and has been labeled the “Lavender Scare.” Senator Joe McCarthy, in particular, charged there were many homosexuals in the State Department. The New York Times article on the story used the word “perverts” in the headline. President Dwight Eisenhower contributed to the panic by revising President Truman Federal Loyalty Program on April 27, 1953, to include “immoral” behavior and “sexual perversion.” (Out History site article)

Dale Jennings

In the spring 1952: police arrested Dale Jennings, a member of the Mattachine Society, for allegedly soliciting a police officer. (see April 1952)

Richard Adams & Anthony Sullivan

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25, 1975: in what some people regard as the first same-sex marriage in the U.S., Richard Adams, his partner Anthony Sullivan, and five other gay couples were granted marriage licenses in Boulder, Colorado, on this day. The licenses were  issued by County Clerk Clela Rorex, until the state attorney general ordered her to stop.

Later in 1975, Adams and his partner/spouse Tony Sullivan applied to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to obtain permanent resident status for Sullivan, who had immigrated to the U.S. The application was denied, and the letter from INS declared that they had “failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots.”  (2016 PBS article) (see Sept 16

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Beat Generation

Free Speech

March 25, 1957: U.S. Customs seized 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg’s  Howl

The publisher of the poem, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and a colleague, were arrested and prosecuted in San Francisco for publishing Howl (see June 3, 1957 for the arrest, and October 3, 1957 for the acquittal).

The offending line in the poem may have been,  “ . . . who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy . . . .”

Howl is now widely regarded as one of the great American poems, and the classic statement of the 1950s Beat Generation. Ginsburg first read Howl publicly on October 6, 1955.

Ferlinghetti was the founder/owner of City Lights Bookstore and the publisher of City Lights Books. City Lights Bookstore is still selling books in San Francisco, and has been designated a historical landmark in the city. Ferlinghetti, moreover, is himself an acclaimed Beat Generation poet. (BG/Howl, see Apr 3; FS, see June 3)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Teach-in

On March 24, 1965 the Students for a Democratic Society had organized the first Vietnam War teach-in at University of Michigan. Two hundred faculty members participated by holding special anti-war seminars. Regular classes were canceled, and rallies and speeches dominated for 12 hours. The next day, March 25, 1965,  there was a similar teach-in at Columbia University in New York City; this form of protest eventually spread to many colleges and universities.

Alice Herz

On March 16, 1965 Quaker Alice Herz, 82, had immolated herself in Detroit in protest of the Vietnam war. On March 25, 1965, she died. (Vietnam, see April; see Immolation for other stories)

Protests

March 25, 1966: anti-Vietnam war protests in NY bring out 25,000 on 5th Ave. Other protests in 7 US cities and 7 foreign cities. (see Mar 31)

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

March 25, 1967:  King led a march of 5,000 antiwar demonstrators in Chicago. In an address to the demonstrators, King declared that the Vietnam War was “a blasphemy against all that America stands for.” King first began speaking out against American involvement in Vietnam in the summer of 1965. In addition to his moral objections to the war, he argued that the war diverted money and attention from domestic programs to aid the black poor. He was strongly criticized by other prominent civil rights leaders for attempting to link civil rights and the antiwar movement. (Vietnam, see Mar 28, MLK, see Apr 4)

Johnson’s “Wise Men”

March 25, 1968: after being told by Defense Secretary Clark Clifford that the Vietnam War is a “real loser,” President Johnson, still uncertain about his course of action, decided to convene a nine-man panel of retired presidential advisors. The group, which became known as the “Wise Men,” included the respected generals Omar Bradley and Matthew Ridgway, distinguished State Department figures like Dean Acheson and George Ball, and McGeorge Bundy, National Security advisor to both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. After two days of deliberation the group reached a consensus: they advised against any further troop increases and recommended that the administration seek a negotiated peace. Although Johnson was initially furious at their conclusions, he quickly came to believe that they were right.  (Politico article) (see Mar 31)

Hue Falls

March 25, 1975: Hue, South Vietnam’s third largest city fell to the North Vietnamese Army (see April 2)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 25 Music et al

LSD
Life magazine

March 25, 1966: Life magazine published cover article on LSD. “LSD: The Exploding Threat of the Mind Drug that Got Out of Control.” (shroomery dot org article) (see in April)

Acid Test

March 25, 1966:  Acid Test at the Troupers Club in Los Angeles. (see in April)

The Who and Cream

March 25, 1967: The Who and Cream made their US concert debuts at the same concert. New York DJ, Murray the K used to put on concerts. On this bill, which would run from March 25 to April 2, there were 5 shows a day, starting at 10am and going well past midnight.

The Who destroyed their instruments at each performance. Pete Townsend said: “We were smashing our instruments up five times a day. We did two songs – the act was twelve minutes long and we used to play “Substitute” and “My Generation” with the gear – smashing it at the end, and then we’d spend the twenty minutes between shows trying to rebuild everything so we could smash it up again.” (see June 10 – 11)

Happy Together

March 25 – April 14, 1967: “Happy Together” by the Turtles #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Bed-In”

March 25 – 31, 1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono host a “Bed-In” for peace in their room at the Amsterdam Hilton, turning their honeymoon into an antiwar event. (Beatles, see Mar 31; Lennon, see May 26; Vietnam, see Mar 26)

Jimi Hendrix

March 25, 1970: release of “Band of Gypsys” LP, It was a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. He recorded it at the Fillmore East in New York City with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums. This grouping is frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. It contained previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death. (see Aug 26)

Soul Train

March 25, 2006: TV show, Soul Train, ended after nearly a 35 year run. (see March 13, 2012)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Symbionese Liberation Army

March 25, 1974: Food given away to 30,000 people in P.I.N.’s fifth and final distribution. (see Patti Hearst for expanded story)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

March 25, 1998: Marcia Lewis, Monica Lewinsky’s mother, failed to persuade a federal judge to excuse her from a third day of testimony. Starr subpoenaed records from Kramerbooks & Afterwords on Monica Lewinsky’s purchases at the store. One of her purchases was reportedly Nicholson Baker’s “Vox,” a novel about phone sex. Jodie Torkelson testified. (see Clinton for expanded story)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Kandahar massacre

March 25, 2012: Afghan and American officials said that the US government had given $50,000 to each of the families of the 16 Afghan villagers killed by Staff Sgt. Rober. (see June 1)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

Alabama

March 25, 2015: the Supreme Court sided with black and Democratic lawmakers in Alabama who said the State Legislature had relied too heavily on race in its 2012 state redistricting by maintaining high concentrations of black voters in some districts.

The vote was 5 to 4, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joining the court’s four more liberal members to form a majority. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for the majority, said a lower court had erred in considering the case on a statewide basis rather than district by district. He added that the lower court had placed too much emphasis on making sure that districts had equal populations and had been “too mechanical” in maintaining existing percentages of black voters.

The Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s ruling and sent the two consolidated cases — Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama, No. 13-895, and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama, No. 13-1138 — back to it for reconsideration. (see Apr 6)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Affordable Care Act

American Health Care Act

March 25, 2017: President Donald Trump announced that the House of Representatives would postpone a planned vote on the American Health Care Act. The announcement came while a debate over the bill was still playing out in the House chamber, with GOP leaders realizing they lacked the votes to prevail. It was not clear when or if Congress planned to resume consideration of repeal. (see May 4)

Trump requests complete invalidation

March 25, 2019: the Trump told a federal appeals court that it now believed the entire Affordable Car Act should be invalidated.

In the letter, the Justice Department said the court should affirm a judgment (see December 14, 2018) by Judge Reed O’Connor of the Federal District Court in Fort Worth.

O’Connor said that the individual mandate requiring people to have health insurance “can no longer be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s tax power” because Congress had eliminated the tax penalty for people who go without health insurance.

Accordingly, O’Connor said, “the individual mandate is unconstitutional” and the remaining provisions of the Affordable Care Act are also invalid. (next Health-related, see Mar 27; next ACA, see Apr 1)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

March 25, 2019: NJ reform advocates experienced a setback after bill to legalize cannabis in New Jersey was pulled from the agenda due to a lack of votes to pass the legislation in the Senate.

The proposal would have allowed adults 21 and older to possess, consume and purchase marijuana from licensed retailers. It included a number of social equity provisions meant to encourage participation in the industry by individuals from communities most harmed by the war on drugs, and it also would’ve created a pathway for expedited expungements for prior cannabis convictions. (see Mar 27 or see CCC for expanded chronology)

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

NC law unconstitutionsal

March 25, 2019: U.S. District Judge William Osteen  ruled that a North Carolina law making it harder for women to get an abortion after 20 weeks was unconstitutional.

The law, which had been on the books since 1973, banned abortion after 20 weeks with only certain exceptions to protect the life of the mother. A 2015 amendment tightened those exceptions, criminalizing abortion unless the woman’s life or a “major bodily function” were at immediate risk. Pro-abortion rights groups challenged the law, and Osteen sided with them.

The Supreme Court has clearly advised that a state legislature may never fix viability at a specific week but must instead leave this determination to doctors,” Osteen wrote. (see Apr 12)

Clinic burned

March 25, 2022:  Lorna Roxanne Green broke into Wellspring Health Access, poured gasoline on its floors,  and lit it on fire, causing an estimated $290,000 in damage. The clinic’s opening would be delayed until April 2 [WyoFile article] (next WH, see Oct 20; next Green, see September 28, 2023).

March 25 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

William Leddra

March 24, 1661: the Charter government of Massachusetts executed William Leddra for being a Quaker. He was the fourth and last Quaker hung with the approval of Governor John Endicott. Though the court did not find him “evil,” he had sympathized with the Quakers who were executed before him; he had refused to remove his hat, and he used the words “thee” and “thou,” which, to Quakers, implied the equality of all people. (dla.library article)  (see May 11, 1682)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Treaty of Cusseta

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24, 1832: the Creek Indians signed the Treaty of Cusseta with the United States, giving up all 5.2 million acres of their tribal lands in Alabama. Following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, this treaty was yet another step in the federal government’s plan to remove Indian tribes to west of the Mississippi River and acquire tribal lands for white settlement. Creek leaders had negotiated the treaty with the federal government in hopes of gaining security and protection from growing pressures and threats, as Alabama extended its laws over Creek territory and authorized white encroachment into Creek land.

Under the terms of the treaty, the federal government would survey the land, complete a census of the Creeks remaining in the region, and redistribute 2.1 million acres to Creek chiefs and male heads of household, leaving the remaining land available for white settlers. The treaty gave Creek landholders five years to decide whether to maintain ownership of their land or sell to white settlers and emigrate to the Western territory at the United States’ expense. Although the treaty stipulated that the provision regarding Creek emigration “shall not be construed so as to compel any Creek Indian to emigrate, but they shall be free to go or stay, as they please,” the federal government made clear it was “desirous that the Creeks should remove to the country west of the Mississippi, and join their countrymen there.”

The treaty purported to guarantee protection against intruders during the five-year decision period. However, intruders persisted and the United States succumbed to pressures to cease blocking and removing them. In addition to unlawful intruders overtaking Creek land, speculators defrauded, threatened, and undersold Creek landholders to deprive them of the land guaranteed under the Treaty. Growing resentment and hostility led to violent outbreaks and eventually erupted into the Second Creek War, leading the United States to forcibly remove the remaining Creeks on March 3, 1837. (Encyclopedia of Alabama article) (see February 24, 1835)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Wendell Phillips

March 24, 1862: abolitionist orator Wendell Phillips was booed while attempting to give a lecture in Cincinnati, Ohio. The angry crowd was opposed to fighting for the freedom of slaves, as Phillips advocated. He was pelted with rocks and eggs before friends whisked him awaywhen a small riot broke out. The incident demonstrated the fierce resistance that existed in the Northern states to the proposition of fighting a war to free the slaves. (NYT article) (see Mar 27)

Scottsboro Nine

March 24, 1932: Alabama Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1, affirmed the convictions of seven of the boys.  The conviction of Eugene Williams was reversed on the grounds that he was a juvenile under state law in 1931. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

George Stinney, Jr

March 24, 1944: on the afternoon of March 23, 1944, two white girls, Betty June Binnicker, age 11, and Mary Emma Thames, age 7, failed to return home in the rural town of Alcolu, South Carolina. The next morning, their bodies were discovered lying in a ditch. Both girls’ skulls had been crushed and one of the girls’ bicycle was lying on top of their bodies, its front wheel detached. George Stinney, Jr., a 14-year-old black boy, was taken into custody a few hours later, and confessed to murdering the girls within hours of his apprehension. (see George Stinney Jr for expanded story)

George Whitmore, Jr

March 24, 1966: Justice Aaron Goldstein held evidence of the Wylie-Hoffert confession inadmissible. Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben waived further examination of witnesses, declaring that George Whitmore, Jr. cannot receive a fair trial absent the Wylie-Hoffert evidence. Both sides rested. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

Halle Berry

 

March 24, 2002: Halle Berry became the first African American to win an Academy Award for best actress in a leading role. (see May 22)

Sean Bell incident

March 24, 2012: the NYC police detective who fired the first shots in the 50-bullet barrage that killed Sean Bell in 2006 were fired, and three others involved in the shooting were being forced to resign, law enforcement officials said. (see July 17, 2014)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

Rose Bowl

March 24, 1942: more than 600 Japanese aliens and Japanese-Americans from the Pacific Coast assembled at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl under military orders to evacuate to an internment camp in Manzanar, Calif.

The New York Times referred to the arrivals as “pioneers,” and said that “all” the evacuees “had been vastly impressed” with the “courteous treatment” they had received so far. (see Internment for expanded story)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

First oil drill rig

March 24, 1955: the first seagoing oil drill rig (for drilling in over 100 feet of water) was placed in service by the U.S. company C.G. Glasscock Drilling Co in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig, built by Bethlehem Steel at their Beaumont Yard, was able to drive piles with a force of 827 tons, and pull a pile with the force of 942 tons. (see January 29, 1958)

Exxon Valdez

March 24, 1989: the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and began leaking 11 million gallons of crude oil. (see Mar 31)

Keystone XL

March 24, 2017: TransCanada Corp said that President Trump’s administration had signed off on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, clearing a key hurdle for a polarizing endeavor that had rankled environmentalists and inspired hope for jobs among supporters.

TransCanada Corp. said it had received a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of State to build the project. The company said it would consequently withdraw the bankruptcy claim it filed through the North American Free Trade Agreement and end its legal fight over the constitutional nature of former President Obama administration’s rejection of the project.

Pipeline spill

March 24, 2017: a December oil pipeline spill in western North Dakota might have been three times larger than first estimated and among the biggest in state history, a state environmental expert said.

About 530,000 gallons of oil was now believed to have spilled from the Belle Fourche Pipeline that was likely ruptured by a slumping hillside about 16 miles northwest of Belfield in Billings County, Health Department environmental scientist Bill Seuss said. The earlier estimate was about 176,000 gallons. Wyoming-based True Cos operates the pipeline 

California Air Resources Board

March 24, 2017: the California Air Resources Board voted to push ahead with stricter emissions standards for cars and trucks, setting up a potential legal battle with the Trump administration over the state’s plan to reduce planet-warming gases.

The agency’s vote was the boldest indication yet of California’s plan to stand up to President Trump’s agenda. Leading politicians in the state, from the governor down to many mayors, promised to lead the resistance to Mr. Trump’s policies. (see Mar 28)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24 Music et al

Roots of Rock

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24, 1958: When Elvis Presley turned 18 on January 8, 1953, he registered with the Selective Service. The Korean War was still underway at the time, but as a student in good standing at L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, Elvis received a student deferment that kept him from facing conscription during that conflict’s final months. Elvis would receive another deferment four years later when his draft number came up, but for different reason: to complete the filming of his third Hollywood movie, King Creole.

With that obligation fulfilled, Uncle Sam would wait no longer. On this date, Elvis Presley was inducted as US Army as a private #53310761 and completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, before being posted to Friedberg, Germany with the 3rd Armored Division.. (RoR, see Mar 28; Elvis, see January 14, 1960)

The Beatles

March 24, 1961: Beatles return to Hamburg, Germany. (see June 22 & 23)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

March 24, 1965/Dean Rusk

Secretary of State Dean Rusk insisted at a news conference that the United States was “not embarking upon gas warfare,” but was merely employing “a gas which has been commonly adopted by the police forces of the world as riot-control agents.” 

March 24, 1965/Students for a Democratic Society

Students for a Democratic Society organized first Vietnam War teach-in at University of Michigan. Two hundred faculty members participated by holding special anti-war seminars. Regular classes were canceled, and rallies and speeches dominated for 12 hours. (see Mar 25)

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

March 24, 1975: the North Vietnamese “Ho Chi Minh Campaign” begins. President Richard Nixon had repeatedly promised South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu that the United States would come to the aid of South Vietnam if the North Vietnamese committed a major violation of the Peace Accords. However, by the time the communists had taken Phuoc Long, Nixon had resigned from office and Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon’s promises to Saigon. (see Mar 25)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections

March 24, 1966: with Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court found that Virginia’s poll tax was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Twenty-fourth Amendment (ratified by the states on January 23, 1964) had prohibited poll taxes in federal elections; five states continued to require poll taxes for voters in state elections. By this ruling, the Supreme Court banned the use of poll taxes in state elections. (Oyez article) (see June 22, 1970)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Feminism

March 24, 1974: The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) was founded, electing as their first president Olga Madar (a vice president of the United Auto Workers).

The convention adopted four goals: organize the unorganized; promote affirmative action; increase women’s participation in their unions; and increase women’s participation in political and legislative activities. (LH, see Apr 8; Feminism, see Oct 28)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

Cuba

March 24, 1977: for the first time since severing diplomatic relations in 1961, Cuba and the United States entered into direct negotiations when the two nations discuss fishing rights. (see December 15, 1978)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS

ACT UP

March 24, 1987: Larry Kramer helped establish the Gay Men’s Health Crisis on January 4, 1982, but was ousted from the group because he insisted on more militant actions regarding the AIDS crisis in America. He then helped to found ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) on March 10, 1987, and it held its first demonstration on the AIDS crisis on this day. The crisis was accentuated by the failure of President Ronald Reagan and his administration to recognize the AIDS epidemic and mobilize federal efforts to deal with it after it was first identified by the Centers for Disease Control June 5, 1981. (see Aug 28)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran–Contra Affair

March 24, 1988:  former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter and businessmen Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim plead innocent to Iran-Contra charges. (see May 4, 1989)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

School Shooting

Jonesboro, Arkansas

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24, 1998: Mitchell Johnson, 13,and Andrew Golden, 11, shot their classmates and teachers in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Golden, the younger of the two boys, asked to be excused from his class, pulled a fire alarm and then ran to join Johnson in a wooded area 100 yards away from the school’s gym. As the students streamed out of the building, Johnson and Golden opened fire and killed four students and a teacher. Ten other children were wounded. (see April 20, 1999)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of Yugoslavia

NATO

March 24, 1998: NATO launched air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which refused to sign a peace treaty. This marked the first time NATO attacked a sovereign country. (see Yugoslavia for expanded chronology)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Terri Schiavo

March 24, 2005: the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal from the parents of Terri Schiavo to have a feeding tube re-inserted into the severely brain-damaged woman. (see Mar 31)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Westboro Baptist Church

March 24, 2016: U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp upheld Nebraska’s funeral picketing law, ruling that it had not violated the free-speech rights of the Westboro Baptist Church. An appeal of the ruling was promised.

The law prohibited protests within 500 feet of a funeral service, starting one hour before the rites began and ending two hours after.

Passed in 2006 and amended in 2011, the law was a response to picketing by church members at the funerals of U.S. soldiers.

Camp ruled that Nebraska’s law did not restrict free speech “more than necessary” and that protesters had “ample alternative channels” to communicate their message, including via social media and news coverage of their demonstrations.

“The First Amendment does not guarantee the right to communicate one’s views at all times and places or in any manner that may be desired,” the judge said, quoting from a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court opinion. (Free speech, see Aug 14)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

March 24, 2020: the NY Times reported that with the coronavirus pandemic spreading rapidly across the country, millions of Americans were being told by state and county officials to take refuge at home, and only venture out to get things they really need. Groceries, naturally. Prescription drugs, of course. Gas for the car. Urgent medical care.

And in many places, marijuana made the list.

Over the past week, more than a dozen states had agreed that while “nonessential” stores had to close, pot shops and medical marijuana dispensaries could remain open —  official recognition that for some Americans, cannabis is as necessary as milk and bread. (next Cannabis, see  or see CCC for expanded Cannabis story)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

March 24, 2021:  the Senate voted  to confirm Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services. The vote was a history-making one: Levine was the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate The vote was 52-48 in favor of her confirmation.

Levine was previously Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, where she led the commonwealth’s COVID-19 response. [NPR article] (next LGBTQ, see May 10)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

March 24, 2021: more than 400 years after the first execution in Virginia — of Captain George Kendall, accused in 1608 of spying for Spain — the State became the 23rd to abolish the death penalty after Gov. Ralph Northam signed historic legislation into law that ended capital punishment in the commonwealth.

“We can’t give out the ultimate punishment without being 100% sure that we’re right. And we can’t sentence people to that ultimate punishment knowing that the system doesn’t work the same for everyone,” Northam, a Democrat, said ahead of signing the legislation at the Greensville Correctional Center, which houses Virginia’s death chamber.

With Northam’s signature, Virginia became the first Southern state to repeal the death penalty since the US Supreme Court reinstated the punishment in 1976. The new law, set to go into effect in July, came as a major shift for Virginia, which had put to death more people in its history than any other state. [CNN article] (next DP, see June 16)

Spiritual Advisors Permitted

March 24, 2022: the Supreme Court ruled that John Henry Ramirez, a Texas death row inmate, could have his spiritual adviser pray aloud and “lay hands” on him during his execution, establishing new guidelines that will govern similar requests in other prisons across the country.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 8-1 decision. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissent. [CNN article] (next DP, see Apr 25)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

March 24, 2022: the Biden administration announced that it would release a federal regulation that overhauled the US asylum system to settle claims at a faster pace and help alleviate the immigration court backlog.

The new rule gave asylum officers more authority by allowing them to hear and decide asylum claims — cases that were usually assigned to immigration judges — when migrants present at the US southern border. The regulation applied to migrants who were subject to expedited removal. Unaccompanied children were exempt. [CNN article] (next IH, see June 30, 2023)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural and Technological Milestones

OK

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

March 23, 1839: during the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice in younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them, and use them as slang when talking to one another. There were many  slang terms they abbreviated: “KY” for “No use” (“know yuse”), “KG” for “No go” (“Know go”), and “OW” for all right (“oll wright”).

On this day in 1839, the initials “O.K.” were first published in The Boston Morning Post as an abbreviation for “oll correct,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans. (see April 20, 1841)

Long-distance telephone service

March 23, 1883: long-distance telephone service was inaugurated between Chicago and New York City. (see January 8, 1889)

Artificial heart

March 23, 1983:  Barney B. Clark, the first recipient of an artificial heart, died. (January 24, 1984)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Civil Rights Act of 1875

March 23, 1875: twenty-two days after the passage of the Civil Rights Act (Mar 1), the Tennessee legislature defiantly approved House Bill 527, which permitted hotels, inns, public transportation, and amusement parks to refuse admission and service to any person for any reason. The state had authorized the very discrimination the federal law prohibited.

On October 13 1883, the United States Supreme Court will declare the Civil Rights Act an unconstitutional exercise of Thirteenth Amendment powers, empowering Tennessee and other discriminatory states and clearing the way for several more generations of Jim Crow rule. (see June 7)

Marcus Garvey

March 23, 1916: Garvey arrived in America penniless, moved in with a Jamaican family in Harlem, New York City, and found work as a printer. He gained a following for his movement by speaking nightly as a soapbox orator on a Harlem street corner. (see Garvey for expanded story)

Johnnie Mae Chappell

March 23, 1964: having made dinner for her 10 children, Johnnie Mae Chappell of Jacksonville, Florida, walked to a nearby store to buy some ice cream for dessert. On the way home, the paper sack she carried became soggy and broke. At home, Chappell realized she’d dropped her wallet. She went back out to search the side of the road and a couple of neighbors joined to help.

As she retraced her steps along a road, four white men spotted her, and one of them killed her. They had been looking for an African American to shoot following a day of racist unrest. (BH, see Mar 26; Chappell, see Aug 11)

George Whitmore, Jr

March 23, 1966: after Detective Richard Aidala testified that Whitmore’s confession to the Elba Borrero crime was voluntary, Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben asked, “Did anyone coerce or force him into making the Wylie-Hoffert confession?” Justice Aaron Goldstein immediately dismissed the jury and then upbraided Reiben for his “intemperate question.”

Out of the jury’s presence, Reiben labeled Aidala “the world’s biggest liar,” and asked Goldstein, “How can I achieve justice unless I can establish this?” Goldstein said he would reserve ruling on the admissibility of the evidence resulting to Whitmore’s confession in the Wylie-Hoffert case. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

137 SHOTS

March 23, 2015: attorneys for the Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo charged in the November 2012 deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams filed a motion asking to waive a jury trial. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John P. O’Donnell would consider the motion at a hearing Jury selection was scheduled to begin April 2. (see 137 Shots for expanded story)

Laquan McDonald

March 23, 2017: besides six counts of first-degree murder and one count of misconduct, officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with 16 counts of aggravated battery — one for each shot fired at Laquan McDonald — in a new indictment. (B & S, see Mar 26; McDonald, see June 27)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Wobblies trial

March 23, 1918: 101 leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World union (“The Wobblies“) were put on trial in Chicago for conspiracy to obstruct America’s participation in World War I. (LH, see June 3; Wobblie trial, see Aug 17)

FREE SPEECH/Norman Thomas

March 23, 1920: Passaic, New Jersey, police disrupted a textile union meeting while leaders of the ACLU attempted to read the New Jersey State Constitution. ACLU leader Norman Thomas read the Constitution for about 15 minutes before the police arrived and was then ordered him to stop. When he did not, the police ordered the owner of the hall to turn out the lights. They then forced the crowd outside, where the Constitution reading continued by candlelight.  Textile worker union organizer Frank Laitovick read the state Constitution in Polish while an interpreter for the police department watched closely to ensure that he did not insert any “Red doctrines” into his reading. (Ohio History site bio)  (Labor, see May 22; FS, see August 3, 1922)

FREE SPEECH/Johnny Wilson

March 23, 1972:  a Georgia state court had convicted a Johnny Wilson of violating a state statute. The statute provided that “[a]ny person who shall, without provocation, use to or of another, and in his presence . . . opprobrious words or abusive language, tending to cause a breach of the peace . . . shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.” On appeal, Mr. Wilson argued that the statute violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Georgia Supreme Court rejected the argument. Mr. Wilson successfully sought habeas corpus relief from a Georgia federal district court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed.

In a 5 – 2 decision , the Supreme Court held that the Georgia statute was unconstitutional. With Justice William J. Brennan writing for the majority, the Court reasoned that the statute was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Quoting Speiser v. Randall, the Court noted that “the separation of legitimate from illegitimate speech calls for more sensitive tools than (Georgia) has supplied.” (see Apr 28)

Postal worker strike

March 23, 1970: five days into the Post Office’s first mass work stoppage in 195 years, President Nixon declared a national emergency and ordered 30,000 troops to New York City to break the strike. The troops didn’t have a clue how to sort and deliver mail: a settlement came a few days later, (USPS site article) (see Apr 28)

BP’s Texas City refinery explosion

March 23, 2005: fifteen workers died, another 170 were injured when a series of explosions rip through BP’s Texas City refinery. Investigators blamed a poor safety culture at the plant and found BP management gave priority to cost savings over worker safety (US Chemical Safety Board article) (see Sept 22)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

see March 23 Music et al for more

Our Day Will Come

March 23 – 29, 1963: “Our Day Will Come” by Ruby & the Romantics #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In His Own Write

March 23, 1964, The Beatles: release of John’s first book, In His Own Write. (see Apr 4)

Elvis sings Michelle

March 23, 1967: at a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles were awarded three Ivor Novello awards for 1966: Best-selling British single ‘Yellow Submarine’, most-performed song ‘Michelle’, and next-most-performed song ‘Yesterday’. None of the Beatles attended and the winning songs were played by Joe Loss and his Orchestra. The lead vocal for ‘Michelle’ was sung by Ross MacManus, whose son would go on to become the professional musician Elvis Costello. (see Mar 30)

Fear of Rock

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

After the Jim Morrison incident in Miami on March 1,1969 where he supposedly exposed himself’ while onstage (very likely did not) a group of kids from a local church decided to hold a ‘Decency Rally’ to show the world that the youth of Florida was not corrupted by the evils of Rock and Roll.

March 23, 1969, the “Rally For Decency” (or ‘Decency Rally) was held at the Orange Bowl in Miami. The rally featured top name entertainers including Jackie Gleason, The Lettermen, Kate Smith, and Anita Bryant and promising that the crowd of 30,000 will contain no “longhairs and weird dressers.”  (see September 15, 1970)

Concert For Bangladesh

March 23, 1972: the film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premiered in New York. The event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history. The concert raised $243,418.51 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. (see Mar 31)

John Lennon v Immigration

March 23, 1973: purportedly because of a disputed conviction for possession of hashish in England in 1968 and as part of a three-and-a-half-year-long campaign by the U.S. government to deport former Beatle John Lennon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) ordered him to leave the country within 60 days.

In reality, the government sought to deport Lennon because of his anti-Vietnam War activities and other criticisms of the U.S. government. The deportation campaign finally ended on October 7, 1975, when a federal appeals court reversed his deportation, ruling that the government could not selectively deport someone because of his or her political views. (see April 3 ; see JL for more on John’s immigration issues)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

Gemini 3

March 23, 1965: Gus Grissom and John Young pilot the first two-man Gemini spacecraft, Gemini 3, named the Molly Brown in recognition of Grissom’s Mercury splashdown (The Unsinkable Molly Brown was a 1960 musical production.) (NASA article) (see June 3 – 7)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

26th Amendment

March 23, 1971:  with the Vietnam War and its drafting of 18 year olds in mind,  the Congress passed the text of the 26th Amendment, specifically setting a national voting age, in both state and national elections, to 18. In just 100 days, on July 1, 1971, the amendment was ratified. (V, see Mar 29, VR, see July 5, 1971)

Voter identification

March 23, 2015: the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Wisconsin’s voter identification law, restoring the measure it had blocked ahead of last November’s election but not in time for the April 7 ballot. The decision by the justices means that the state will eventually require voters to show identification in all elections, but the action — made without comment — likely did not give Wisconsin the kind of advance notice needed to reinstate the law for the nonpartisan spring election. (see Mar 25)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

James W. McCord Jr

March 23, 1973: in a letter to Judge John Sirica, Watergate burglar James W. McCord Jr. admitted that he and other defendants had been pressured to remain silent about the case. He named former Attorney General John Mitchell as ‘overall boss’ of the operation. (see Watergate for expanded story)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

H. L. v. Matheson

March 23, 1981: in H. L. v. Matheson,  the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions. (see Dec 28)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

March 23, 2003: a U.S. Army maintenance convoy was ambushed in Iraq; 11 soldiers were killed and seven were captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch. (see Mar 30)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Affordable Care Act

Obama signs into law

March 23, 2010: President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law aiming to insure 95% of Americans. 14 states (Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota) announced plans to sue the federal government over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (see March 26, 2012)

Republicans attempt to repeal

March 23, 2017: House Republican leaders postponed a planned vote in the full House on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act as President Trump and his allies struggled to round up votes amid a tide of defections from the proposed replacement bill.

Later the  President threatened to keep the so-called Obama-Care should the Republicans not vote for his repeal/replace plan. (see Mar 24)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Kandahar massacre

March 23, 2012: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was charged with 17 counts of murder and various other charges, including attempted murder, in connection with the March 11 attack on Afghan civilians. Sergeant Bales, who is 38 and had been serving his fourth combat tour overseas, was being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. A senior Afghan police official said that the 17th count was for the death of the victim’s unborn baby. (see Mar 25)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Utah firing squads

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

March 23, 2015: Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) signed a law that established firing squads as a secondary execution method in the event the Department of Corrections could not obtain drugs for lethal injection. Lethal injection remained the primary execution method for Utah and the 31 other U.S. states that allowed the death penalty as a punishment for certain murders. (see Apr 3)

Colorado

March 23, 2020: Colorado abolished its seldom-used death penalty..

Gov. Jared S. Polis, a Democrat, signed the repeal into law after it had reached his desk from the state legislature. It had passed the Senate in January and the House in February after several failed attempts to end capital punishment in the state.

Colorado had executed just one person since reinstating the death penalty in the mid-1970s: Gary Davis, who had been convicted of the rape and murder of Virginia May, was given a lethal injection in 1997.

Polis also commuted the sentences of three men on death row — Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens and Nathan Dunlap — to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said in a statement that he wanted the law to be applied consistently. [NYT article] (next DP, see June 29)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

House Bill 2

March 23, 2016: North Carolina’s governor Pat McCrory signed a controversial bill blocking cities from allowing transgender individuals to use public bathrooms for the sex they identify as — as well as restricting cities from passing nondiscrimination laws more broadly.

House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, put in place a statewide policy that bans individuals from using public bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex. The bill also reserved the right to pass nondiscrimination legislation to the state government, saying state laws preempt any local ordinances. (see Apr 5; North Carolina, see July 21)

Transgender troops

March 23, 2018: President Trump announced that transgender troops who were currently in the military could remain, but the Pentagon could require them to serve according to their gender at birth.

The policy recommendation stated that “transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from military service.” But it also gave the Pentagon the ability to make exceptions where it sees fit.

The policy adopts recommendations that Mr. Trump received last month from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. It comes after court rulings froze the president’s initial ban on transgender troops — issued in July — as potentially unconstitutional. (LGTBQ & transgender/military, see Apr 13)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

March 23, 2020: the U.S. Sentencing Commission published a report regarding drug possession. The report indicated that federal prosecutions for marijuana trafficking declined again in 2019, and drug possession cases overall saw an even more dramatic decline.

While drug cases still represented the second most common category of crimes in the federal criminal justice system, the data indicated that the bulk of those instances were related to methamphetamine trafficking, which had steadily increased over the past decade.

But for marijuana, a different kind of trend emerged. As more states had moved to legalize cannabis, federal prosecutions had consistently declined since 2012. To illustrate the shift, marijuana trafficking cases represented the most common drug type that was pursued in 2012, with about 7,000 cases. As of fiscal year 2019, those cases were the second least common, with fewer than 2,000 cases. [Marijuana Moment article] (next Cannabis, see Mar 24 or see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism