Events - Month View

#On this day in 1944, the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) decision in Smith v. Allwright ruled the so-called "white primary" unconstitutional. The case originated in 1940 when Houston dentist Lonnie E. Smith attempted to vote in the Democratic primary in Harris County and was denied a ballot.

The number of African Americans registered to vote in Texas increased from 30,000 in 1940 to 100,000 in 1947.

Learn more:
-- @TSHA: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wdw01
-- NAACP: https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/landmark-smith-v-allwright
-- UT: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/vce/features/0503_01/smith.html
-- LOC: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep321/usrep321649/usrep321649.pdf

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was an American author, poet, dancer, actress and singer. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X. Prior to becoming a writer, Angelou spent much of her young life as a dancer, before turning to organizing and activism at the start of the 1960s. After spending three years as a journalist in Ghana, Angelou moved back to the United States in 1965 and collaborated closely with many of the leading civil rights figures of the time. Angelou‘s first breakthrough came in 1969 when she published her first autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which brought global acclaim. Angelou would go on to spend the next 45 years as an internationally renowned lecturer, teacher, writer, composer, performer, and director, becoming one of America‘s literary and artistic legends.

#OnThisDay, Jeannette Pickering Rankin was sworn in as the 1st woman elected to Congress. Rankin was an American politician and women‘s rights advocate, and the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916, and again in 1940.


A suffragist during the Progressive Era, Rankin organized and lobbied for legislation enfranchising women in several states including Montana, New York, and North Dakota. During her victory speech following her first election to the House of Representatives, she recognized the power she held as the only woman able to vote in Congress saying, "I am deeply conscious of the responsibility resting upon me".[1] While in Congress, she introduced legislation similar to what would eventually became the 19th Constitutional Amendment, granting unrestricted voting rights to women nationwide. She championed the causes of women‘s rights and civil rights throughout a career that spanned more than six decades.

Learn more:
PBS - @unladylike2020: https://unladylike2020.com/profile/jeannette-rankin/

#OnThisDay 1893, ten Texas women, mostly members of the Woman‘s Christian Temperance Union, issued a call for a statewide woman suffrage convention. The Texas Equal Rights Association, the first such statewide organization, was chartered at the ensuing three-day convention in Dallas. Internal dissension plagued the TERA, which had been organized as a branch of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and it ceased to operate by 1896. In 1903 Annette Finnigan helped organize a successor organization, the Texas Equal Suffrage Association, which helped lead the long and ultimately successful fight for woman suffrage. Texas women were finally granted the right to vote in primary elections in 1918, and in June 1919 Texas became the ninth state (and the first in the south) to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which extended full suffrage to women.

Learn more:
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vit02

#OnThisDay, congress overrode a veto by President Andrew Johnson and enacted into law the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1866, which defined citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. The CRA of 1866 was enacted post Civil War to protect the civil rights of persons of African descent born in or brought to the US. #CivilRights

Congress passed the act on March 13, 1866.
President Andrew Johnson vetoed the act on March 27, 1866
Congress overrode the veto and enacted the CRA on April 9, 1866

Congress passed the bill to support the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime.

Timeline:
-- 1866 Johnson vetos CRA of 1866, but veto is overridden by Congress (define citizenship and guaranteed citizens equal protection)
-- 1875 Grant signs CRA of 1875 (guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and prohibited their exclusion from jury service)
-- 1883 SCOTUS rules 7-1 that CRA of 1875 is unconstitutional
-- 1957 Eisenhower signs CRA of 1957 (forms the Civil Rights Commission)
-- 1960 Eisenhower signs CRA of 1960 (guaranteed qualified voters the right to register to vote
-- 1964 Johnson signs CRA of 1964 (prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and employment)
-- 1968 Johnson signs CRA of 1968 (guaranteed equal housing opportunities)
-- 1991 Bush signs the CRA of 1991 (expanded the rights of women and disabled persons)

Resources:
Johnson‘s Veto: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/march-27-1866-veto-message-civil-rights-legislation
Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/legal-events-timeline.html

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Fannie Coralie Perkins (Francis Perkins), born on this day in1880. Fannie was a workers-rights advocate and the first woman to serve in a US president‘s cabinet. She served as Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest-serving in that position. In addition, she was the first LGBTQ person to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

Learn more:

-- FPC: https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/

-- NPS: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lgbtqheritage/upload/lgbtqtheme-preservation.pdf

-- CU: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/nny/perkinsf/profile.html

-- NPR: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102959041

#OnThis Day, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin. #CivilRights #VotingRights

Timeline:

-- 1866 Johnson vetos CRA of 1866, but veto is overridden by Congress (define citizenship and guaranteed citizens equal protection)

-- 1875 Grant signs CRA of 1875 (guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and prohibited their exclusion from jury service)

-- 1883 SCOTUS rules 7-1 that CRA of 1875 is unconstitutional

-- 1957 Eisenhower signs CRA of 1957 (formed the Civil Rights Commission)

-- 1960 Eisenhower signs CRA of 1960 (guaranteed qualified voters the right to register to vote

-- 1964 Johnson signs CRA of 1964 (prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and employment)

-- 1968 Johnson signs CRA of 1968 (guaranteed equal housing opportunities)

-- 1991 Bush signs the CRA of 1991 (expanded the rights of women and disabled persons)



Resources:

-- Johnson Library: http://www.lbjlibrary.org/exhibits/civil-rights

-- National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/summer/civil-rights-act-1.html

-- Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era-timeline.html

Emancipation Day is an American holiday celebrated in the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) each year on April 16th. It marks the day US President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which granted freedom to more than 3,000 slaves in the nation‘s capital, nine months before Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation freeing 3.5 million slaves in the rebel-held American South. Three years later, the United States ratified the 13th Amendment, which formally outlawed slavery. In 2005, Washington DC Mayor Anthony Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday, which is also observed by the federal government.

An evening with the League of Women Voters of Texas, supporters, allies, and other civic advocates to celebrate the work of the League and partners in the community working toward the same goals. Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.

LWVSA is sponsoring a Forum with Congressman Joaquin Castro and the CEO of Catholic Charities Antonio Fernandez. It will be moderated by KLRN host of "On the Record", Randy Beamer.