Archive

Jun 15, 
1215

The Magna Carta is Signed

Jun 1, 
1660

No Quakers Allowed in Massachusetts – Mary Dyer Hung for Her Religious Beliefs

Jun 10, 
1692

Bridget Bishop Hanged; First Victim of Salem Witch Trials

Oct 8, 
1692

Salem Witch Hunt Begins to End – Governor Bans Use of “Spectral Evidence”

Mar 16, 
1716

Happy Birthday James Madison!

Apr 13, 
1743

Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, is Born

Nov 11, 
1775

“They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”

Jul 4, 
1776

Declaration of Independence !

Sep 17, 
1787

Constitution Day: U.S. Constitution Signed, Sent to the States for Ratification

Mar 4, 
1789

U.S. Constitution Takes Effect; America’s Great Experiment in Democracy Begins

Sep 21, 
1789

Congress Agrees to Religion Clauses in the First Amendment

Sep 25, 
1789

Congress Passes the Bill of Rights; Sends it to the States for Ratification

Nov 20, 
1789

Congratulations New Jersey! First State to Ratify the Bill of Rights

Jul 14, 
1798

First Sedition Act Passed

Dec 28, 
1856

Woodrow Wilson is Born – As President Suppresses Free Speech, Segregates Federal Agencies

Mar 6, 
1857

“A Constitutional Evil:” The Dred Scott Decision

Nov 24, 
1859

Darwin Publishes “On the Origin of Species”– The Battle Over Science and Religion Begins

Jan 1, 
1863

President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation Takes Effect

Dec 6, 
1865

Thirteenth Amendment Abolishing Slavery is Ratified

Dec 24, 
1865

KKK Founded in Pulaski, Tennessee

Jul 9, 
1868

Fourteenth Amendment Ratified

Feb 3, 
1870

Fifteenth Amendment, Guaranteeing Right to Vote, is Ratified

Mar 3, 
1873

Comstock Act Passed – Era of Censorship Begins

Sep 14, 
1879

Margaret Sanger, Birth Control Pioneer, is Born

Nov 30, 
1880

Belva Ann Lockwood, First Woman to Argue Before the Supreme Court

Dec 12, 
1881

Arthur Garfield Hays, Noted Civil Libertarian, Is Born

May 6, 
1882

Chinese Exclusion Act Signed

Jan 4, 
1883

Max Eastman, Editor of Anti-World War I “Masses,” Born

Jan 21, 
1884

Roger Baldwin, Founder of the ACLU, is Born

Jan 11, 
1885

Alice Paul, Suffragist Leader, Equal Rights Advocate, is Born

Aug 23, 
1888

Morris L. Ernst, First Amendment and Reproductive Rights Pioneer, is Born

Apr 7, 
1890

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Writer, Environmentalist, Suffragist and Civil Libertarian, Born on This Day

Dec 15, 
1890

Louis Brandeis Co-Authors Pioneering Article, “The Right to Privacy”

Mar 19, 
1891

Happy Birthday Earl Warren!

Jun 7, 
1892

Homer Plessy Boards East Louisiana Railroad Car – Trip Ends at Supreme Court

Oct 8, 
1892

Don’t Tell Anyone, But . . . The Pledge of Allegiance Written by a Christian Socialist

Oct 26, 
1892

Ida B. Wells, Crusading African-American Journalist, Publishes Her First Report on Lynching

Jan 1, 
1895

J. Edgar Hoover, Longtime Head of FBI, is Born

May 18, 
1896

Plessy v. Ferguson – “Separate but Equal” Held Constitutional

Mar 28, 
1898

Supreme Court Rules That Child Born to Chinese Immigrants is U.S. Citizen

Dec 3, 
1901

President Theodore Roosevelt: Exclude and Deport Anarchists

Feb 1, 
1902

Langston Hughes, Noted African-American Poet, Social Critic, is Born

Apr 3, 
1902

New York Criminal Anarchy Law Signed

Feb 18, 
1903

“In Dahomey,” First All-African-American Musical, Opens on Broadway

Mar 3, 
1903

Anarchists Stay Out! : Restrictive Immigration Law Becomes A Model for Future Laws

Mar 13, 
1904

The First Victim of 1903 Anti-Anarchist Immigration Act

Jul 11, 
1905

Niagara Movement, Forerunner of NAACP, Founded

Apr 13, 
1906

The Brownsville Outrage: African-American Soldiers Framed, Discharged

Apr 25, 
1906

William J. Brennan, Jr., Future Supreme Court Justice, is Born

Mar 2, 
1907

Expatriation Act Strips Citizenship From Women Who Marry Foreigners

Nov 4, 
1907

Chicago Creates First Film Censorship Board in the U.S.

Jul 2, 
1908

Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights Giant, is Born

Aug 14, 
1908

Springfield, Illinois, Race Riot – Spurs Organization of NAACP

Dec 24, 
1908

Protect the City’s Morals! NYC Mayor Revokes All Movie Licenses

Feb 12, 
1909

NAACP Founded – Civil Rights Crusade Begins

Nov 22, 
1909

23 Year-Old Clara Lemlich Shavelson Inspires “Uprising of 20,000” Strike of Shirtwaist Workers

Jun 25, 
1910

Congress Passes Mann Act to Combat “White Slavery”

Aug 30, 
1910

Clarence Gideon, Plaintiff in Major Right to an Attorney Case, is Born

Sep 12, 
1910

Alice Stebbins Wells, First Policewoman in U.S., Sworn In

Nov 1, 
1910

W. E. B. Du Bois Begins Editing NAACP’s “The Crisis”

Nov 20, 
1910

Pauli Murray, Civil Rights and Feminist Activist, is Born

Apr 7, 
1911

Free Speech League Incorporated, First Free Speech Organization in U.S.

Oct 11, 
1911

Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan I, Author of Famous Dissent on Separate But Equal, Dies

Dec 2, 
1911

Harriet Pilpel, Reproductive Rights Pioneer, is Born

Mar 17, 
1912

Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights Activist, is Born

Mar 24, 
1912

Dorothy Height, Matriarch of the Civil Rights Movement, is Born

Apr 7, 
1912

Harry Hay, Gay Rights Pioneer, is Born

Feb 4, 
1913

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks!

Mar 3, 
1913

Suffragists March to Greet President Wilson

Mar 17, 
1913

Suffragists Meet With President Wilson in White House

Mar 29, 
1913

Theodore Roosevelt Warns That U.S. Threatened by “European Extremists” — Artists

Apr 4, 
1913

Racially Integrated Suffrage Conference Held in St. Louis

Apr 11, 
1913

President Wilson Segregates Federal Agencies

Apr 24, 
1913

Men Invited to Join Pro-Suffrage Parade in NYC

Sep 17, 
1913

Anti-Defamation League Formed

Oct 18, 
1913

British Suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst Barred from U.S. – Later Admitted

Nov 18, 
1913

Mass Suffrage Meeting In Washington Hears Noted British Suffragist

Dec 8, 
1913

President Wilson Declines to Endorse Women’s Suffrage

Feb 24, 
1914

Exclusionary Rule Applied to Federal Criminal Cases

Apr 2, 
1914

Post Office Bans Margaret Sanger’s “Woman Rebel”

May 16, 
1914

Judge Learned Hand Rebukes Anti-Obscenity Crusader Anthony Comstock

Aug 25, 
1914

Margaret Sanger Indicted for Three Issues of “Woman Rebel”

Nov 12, 
1914

Civil Rights Leader Monroe Trotter Confronts President Wilson in White House Over Segregation

Jan 6, 
1915

Don Edwards, “Rights Champion” in Congress, is Born

Feb 8, 
1915

“Birth of a Nation” Opens: A Century of Controversy Follows

Feb 18, 
1915

President Wilson Enjoys His First Movie: “Birth of a Nation”

Feb 23, 
1915

Supreme Court: Movies Not Protected by First Amendment

Mar 3, 
1915

Protests Greet “Birth of a Nation” Opening in New York City

Apr 28, 
1915

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Formed

Jun 16, 
1915

University of Pennsylvania Fires Scott Nearing Over Radical Economic Views

Jun 21, 
1915

“Grandfather” Clauses Unconstitutional

Aug 17, 
1915

Leo Frank Lynched – Anti-Semitism Rises

Sep 21, 
1915

Anthony Comstock Dies – Censorship Lives On

Oct 3, 
1915

John Sumner to Continue Comstock’s Censorship Work

Oct 23, 
1915

33,000 March in New York City Suffrage Parade

Nov 11, 
1915

Pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) Founded

Nov 15, 
1915

American Union Against Militarism, Forerunner of the ACLU, Founded

Nov 25, 
1915

Cross Burned on Stone Mountain, Georgia – KKK Revived

Dec 7, 
1915

President Wilson Gives Inflammatory Anti-Immigration Speech

Jan 29, 
1916

Louis Brandeis Nominated for Supreme Court

Feb 11, 
1916

Emma Goldman Arrested for Birth Control Speech in New York City

May 22, 
1916

Margaret Sanger Speech Cancelled in St. Louis

Jun 1, 
1916

Louis Brandeis, Civil Liberties Giant, Joins Supreme Court

Jul 6, 
1916

Army Announces Press Censorship Plans in Case of War

Aug 20, 
1916

Cincinnati Vice Commission Attacks Dreiser’s “The Genius”

Oct 16, 
1916

Margaret Sanger Opens First Birth Control Clinic in America

Oct 25, 
1916

Birth Control Pioneer Margaret Sanger Arrested For Opening First Birth Control Clinic in U.S.

Nov 7, 
1916

Jeannette Rankin Elected on This Day – First Woman Elected to Congress

Nov 25, 
1916

Inez Millholland, Extraordinary Suffragist Leader, Dies from Exhaustion

Dec 5, 
1916

Suffragists Protest at President Wilson’s Annual Message to Congress

Jan 10, 
1917

Alice Paul Begins Picketing White House Again for Women’s Suffrage

Feb 2, 
1917

Margaret Sanger Refuses to Obey New York Birth Control Law, Is Sentenced to Jail

Feb 10, 
1917

Columbia University Bans Tolstoy’s Son as “Persona Non Grata”

Feb 17, 
1917

Senators Denounce Proposed Espionage Bill as War Is Imminent

Feb 25, 
1917

“Modesty” Ordered for Atlantic City Cabarets

Mar 3, 
1917

National Woman’s Party Formed

Mar 4, 
1917

Jeannette Rankin Takes Seat as the First Woman in the U.S. Congress; Votes Against U.S. Entry in Both World Wars

Mar 4, 
1917

Suffragists Picket President Wilson’s Second Inauguration

Mar 6, 
1917

With War Imminent, Columbia University to Investigate “Loyalty” of Faculty

Apr 2, 
1917

President Wilson Seeks Declaration of War, To Make World Safe for Democracy – Warns of Repression

Apr 6, 
1917

Congress Declares War – Suppression of Civil Liberties Begins

Apr 7, 
1917

President Wilson Issues Secret Loyalty Order

Apr 12, 
1917

Free Speech League, Others, Criticize Proposed Espionage Act

Apr 13, 
1917

Committee on Public Information Created – Federal Propaganda Agency in WWI

Apr 13, 
1917

Socialist Party Opposes US Entry into European War – Swift Repression Folllows

Apr 28, 
1917

Origins of American Spying: Cipher Bureau, Forerunner of NSA, Created During World War I

Apr 30, 
1917

Quaker Action: American Friends Service Committee Founded

May 2, 
1917

War Opponents Tarred and Feathered in San Jose, CA

May 6, 
1917

Private — and Only — Showing of Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Film

May 11, 
1917

Bureau of Legal Advice Established to Aid World War I Opponents

May 18, 
1917

Anarchist Emma Goldman Denounces WW I Draft, Is Soon Arrested, Deported

May 18, 
1917

Congress Creates World War I Draft: Protests, Civil Liberties Violations Follow

Jun 4, 
1917

President Wilson, Cabinet Approve Vigilante American Protective League

Jun 10, 
1917

American Jewish Congress Founded

Jun 15, 
1917

Espionage Act Passes – Instrument of World War I Suppression of Dissent

Jul 2, 
1917

Civil Liberties Bureau to Defend Conscientious Objectors, Free Speech in World War I Crisis

Jul 2, 
1917

Huge East St. Louis Race Riot Erupts

Jul 3, 
1917

“Slacker Raids” Round Up Alleged Draft Evaders in WW I

Jul 4, 
1917

“Jails Are Waiting For Them” – New York Times Greets Civil Liberties Bureau

Jul 7, 
1917

Government Repression Hits Socialist Opponents of War

Jul 7, 
1917

Suppression of Dissent: “The Masses,” Anti-War Magazine, Held Non-Mailable

Jul 12, 
1917

Radical IWW Suppressed: 1,185 Workers Deported from Bisbee, Arizona

Jul 13, 
1917

Activists Protest Post Office Censorship of Anti-War Publications

Jul 16, 
1917

“War’s Heretics” – Norman Thomas Makes Historic Plea for the Value of Heresy, Dissent in a Democracy

Jul 24, 
1917

A Brief Halt to WW I Repression: “Masses v. Patten”

Jul 28, 
1917

NAACP Leads Silent March Down Fifth Avenue to Protest Racist Violence

Aug 9, 
1917

Suffragist Pickets Seek Exemption from Espionage Act Prosecution

Aug 11, 
1917

“Kaiser Wilson” – Suffragists Picket White House

Aug 13, 
1917

Socialist Party Authorizes Anti-War Leaflets – Leads to Landmark Supreme Court Case

Aug 23, 
1917

Socialist Mayor of Minneapolis Promises to Protect Rights of Anti-war People’s Council

Aug 31, 
1917

Anti-War Groups Can’t Find City for National Meeting

Sep 5, 
1917

DOJ Agents Raid I.W.W. Offices Around the Country – Complete Suppression of I.W.W. Begins

Sep 5, 
1917

Government Raids Socialist Party Offices; Publications Halted

Sep 11, 
1917

Emma Goldman Speech Banned in New York – Appears On Stage Gagged

Sep 16, 
1917

Pacifists Arrested for Protesting WW I, Celebrating the Constitution

Sep 26, 
1917

Post Office to Ban Emma Goldman’s “Mother Earth”

Oct 1, 
1917

Columbia University Fires Two “Disloyal” Faculty

Oct 6, 
1917

“Free Speech in Wartime” Defended by Senator Robert M. LaFollette

Oct 6, 
1917

Trading With the Enemy Act Passed – Used to Censor Foreign Language Press

Oct 9, 
1917

Noted Historian Charles Beard Quits Columbia University in Protest of Repression

Oct 20, 
1917

Suffragist Alice Paul Arrested For Picketing White House

Oct 28, 
1917

Anti-War Minister Kidnapped, Beaten Near Cincinnati

Nov 1, 
1917

National Civil Liberties Bureau Reports Sweeping Government Censorship

Nov 2, 
1917

Post Office Ban on Anti-War “The Masses” Upheld – Repression of Dissent Expands

Nov 5, 
1917

Louisville Racial Segregation Ordinance Held Unconstitutional

Nov 15, 
1917

“Night of Terror” – Suffragists Brutalized in Washington, D.C. Workhouse

Nov 18, 
1917

Suffragist Leader Alice Paul, in Hunger Strike, Transferred to Prison Hospital

Dec 2, 
1917

Dorothy Day, Seven Other Suffragists, to Sue for Treatment in Jail

Dec 14, 
1917

Kate Richards O’Hare Denounces World War I; Gets Five Years in Prison

Jan 1, 
1918

Condoms for Troops in WW I

Jan 7, 
1918

Supreme Court Rules Draft Does Not Violate 13th Amendment

Jan 9, 
1918

President Wilson Finally Supports Women’s Right to Vote

Jan 28, 
1918

Latino Lynching: Fifteen Latino Men and Boys Murdered in Rural Texas

Mar 6, 
1918

Military Burglarizes Civil Liberties Bureau Office

Apr 18, 
1918

Dyer Anti-lynching Bill Introduced in House

Apr 27, 
1918

Hung Jury: “The Masses” Editors Not Convicted

May 16, 
1918

Sedition Act Passed: World War I Repression Intensifies

May 19, 
1918

Wilson Administration Severs Contact with National Civil Liberties Bureau

Jun 16, 
1918

Eugene V. Debs Gives Anti-War Speech – Gets 10 Years in Prison

Jun 22, 
1918

Philosopher John Dewey Sees Social Benefits of War

Jul 21, 
1918

Eggs, Brawl End Meeting of Radical North Dakota Nonpartisan League

Jul 22, 
1918

City of Mt. Vernon, NY, Bans Hearst Papers, German Language Papers

Jul 26, 
1918

President Wilson Finally Denounces Mob Violence, Lynching

Aug 10, 
1918

A. Philip Randolph, Future Civil Rights Giant, Arrested for Distributing Anti-War Magazine in Cleveland

Aug 13, 
1918

First Woman Enlists in U.S. Marines

Aug 22, 
1918

Jacobs Abrams Distributes Radical Leaflets – Heads to First Amendment History

Aug 31, 
1918

DOJ Raids National Civil Liberties Bureau Office, Seizes Records

Sep 2, 
1918

Theodore Roosevelt: Men Who Loaf on Defense Jobs Are “Traitors”

Sep 3, 
1918

“Slacker Raids” in New York Round up 10,000

Sep 14, 
1918

“Civil Liberty Dead,” Laments The Nation Magazine

Sep 14, 
1918

Eugene Debs Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Anti-War Speech

Sep 14, 
1918

WW I Conscientious Objectors Chained in Solitary Confinement, Dark Unsanitary Cells

Sep 28, 
1918

Theodore Roosevelt Calls for Universal Service in Peacetime and War, Women and Men

Oct 11, 
1918

New York City Women Destroy German Language Phonograph Records

Oct 16, 
1918

Immigration Act Bars Entry of Anarchists to the U.S.

Oct 30, 
1918

Roger Baldwin, ACLU Founder, Sentenced to Prison – Delivers Famous Statement of Conscience

Nov 4, 
1918

“Disloyalists United” – Justice Department Slurs Anti-War Groups

Nov 5, 
1918

“As Natural as Breathing” – Women Vote for First Time in a New York Election

Nov 25, 
1918

“Patriotic” Mob Attacks Socialist Rand School of Social Science

Dec 9, 
1918

Socialist Victor Berger on Trial for Violating Espionage Act

Dec 15, 
1918

American Jewish Congress Holds First Conference

Dec 22, 
1918

Randolph Bourne, Fierce WW I Critic, Dies

Jan 1, 
1919

Suffragists Stage First “Watch Fire” Demonstration in Front of White House

Jan 15, 
1919

National Civil Liberties Bureau Condemns Deportation and Exclusion Laws

Jan 21, 
1919

NY Lusk Committee Seeks to Drive Out “Red Periodicals”

Jan 22, 
1919

Senate Investigation Attacks Liberals, Pacifists, Radicals

Feb 7, 
1919

Society Women Oppose “Indecent” Evening Gowns

Feb 9, 
1919

Suffragists Burn Effigy of President Wilson in Front of White House

Feb 20, 
1919

“As If I Were Being Tried for Witchcraft” – Louise Bryant, Radical and Wife of Radical and Author John Reed, Grilled by Senate

Mar 1, 
1919

National Civil Liberties Bureau Issues Comprehensive Report on WW I Rights Violations

Mar 3, 
1919

Supreme Court Creates “Clear and Present Danger” Test; Does Not Protect Dissent

Mar 5, 
1919

A. Mitchell Palmer Becomes Attorney General, Leads Notorious Palmer Raids

Mar 10, 
1919

Debs Conviction For Anti-War Speech Upheld by Supreme Court

Mar 26, 
1919

New York Lusk Committee to Investigate Alleged Radicals

Apr 4, 
1919

Government Drops Espionage Act Charges Against Radical, Author John Reed

Apr 9, 
1919

Nebraska Outlaws Teaching German

May 1, 
1919

California Criminal Syndicalism Law Takes Effect

May 5, 
1919

First-Ever National Conference on Lynching Held in New York City

Jun 2, 
1919

Anarchist Bombs in D.C. Provoke the Red Scare

Jul 4, 
1919

Police Threats Cancel Civil Liberties Bureau Meeting at Carnegie Hall

Jul 13, 
1919

WWI Over, But U.S. Still Prosecutes Draft Evaders

Jul 18, 
1919

Party Held to Celebrate Roger Baldwin’s Release from Prison

Jul 19, 
1919

Race Riot Erupts in Washington, DC

Jul 21, 
1919

NAACP Demands President Wilson Condemn Racial Violence

Jul 27, 
1919

Massive Chicago Race Riot Erupts

Aug 1, 
1919

J. Edgar Hoover Appointed Head of General Intelligence Division; Prepares for Palmer Raids

Aug 9, 
1919

Bill in Congress to Grant Native-Americans Full U.S. Citizenship

Sep 1, 
1919

First U.S. Communist Parties Founded; Greeted by Police, Repression

Sep 9, 
1919

Boston Police Strike Stirs Fears of Anarchy, Revolution

Sep 28, 
1919

Lynching, Riot in Omaha; Federal Troops Restore Order

Oct 17, 
1919

Striking Steel Workers Seek to Enjoin Police from Interfering with Meetings

Nov 7, 
1919

Repression! First Palmer Raids Seize Radicals in Twelve Cities

Nov 8, 
1919

Benjamin Gitlow Arrested – Makes Civil Liberties History in 1925

Nov 9, 
1919

WWI Veterans Told to “Put Down Enemies at Home”

Nov 10, 
1919

“Abrams” – Justice Holmes Delivers Landmark Dissent on Freedom of Speech

Nov 10, 
1919

American Legion Founded – Begins Anti-Civil Liberties Crusade

Nov 10, 
1919

Victor Berger Expelled From House of Representatives for Socialist, Anti-War Views

Nov 14, 
1919

Nebraska Governor Orders Arrest of All I.W.W. Members

Nov 28, 
1919

Charlotte Anita Whitney Arrested, Heads for Supreme Court

Nov 28, 
1919

Red Scare Proposal for Radicals: “Ship ‘Em or Shoot ‘Em”

Nov 30, 
1919

“Primitive” Delaware Still Has Whipping Post, Indenture

Dec 16, 
1919

Plan for “March in Manacles” to Protest WW I Political Prisoners

Dec 21, 
1919

“Red Ark” Sails – Anarchist Emma Goldman, 248 Others, Deported

Dec 31, 
1919

AG Palmer Promises “War on Reds,” Delivers Palmer Raids

Jan 2, 
1920

Red Scare: The Second and Larger “Palmer Raids” Brings Massive Violations of Civil Liberties

Jan 11, 
1920

German Officials Slander African-American Troops

Jan 16, 
1920

Prohibition Begins – Civil Liberties Abuses Follow

Jan 19, 
1920

ACLU Founded – Fight For Civil Liberties Begins

Jan 22, 
1920

Civil Liberties Bureau: WWI Conscientious Objectors Tortured in Military Prison

Jan 28, 
1920

Five Episcopal Bishops Denounce Repressive “Red Scare” Measures

Feb 14, 
1920

League of Women Voters Founded

Feb 29, 
1920

Fiorello La Guardia, NYC Alderman, Sharply Criticizes “Red Scare”

Mar 23, 
1920

Passaic, NJ, Police Disrupt Reading of New Jersey Constitution

Apr 1, 
1920

Red Scare in New York: Legislature Expels Socialist Party Members

Apr 15, 
1920

Congressman Calls for Impeachment of Secretary of Labor for Not Deportating Radicals

Apr 24, 
1920

“Revolutionary Radicalism” Report Slurs Pacifists, Civil Libertarians, Liberals

May 5, 
1920

Sacco and Vanzetti Arrested: Famous Controversial Case Begins

May 22, 
1920

Henry Ford’s Newspaper Publishes Notorious Forged Anti-Semitic Document

May 25, 
1920

You Can’t Teach German in Nebraska!

May 28, 
1920

Prominent Lawyers Issue Report Condemning Palmer Raids

Jun 2, 
1920

President Wilson Signs Smith-Fess Act; Early Disability Rights Victory

Jun 5, 
1920

Women’s Bureau is Created

Jul 27, 
1920

Vice Presidential Nominee Calvin Coolidge: Sedition Must Be Repressed

Jul 28, 
1920

Women May Wear One-Piece Swimsuits on Long Island, NY

Aug 18, 
1920

Women Get the Vote – 19th Amendment Ratified

Sep 13, 
1920

NAACP Leaders Have “Cordial” Meeting the GOP Presidential Candidate Harding

Oct 12, 
1920

ACLU Leader Arrested for Speaking from Her Car

Oct 12, 
1920

Arrested for Reading the Constitution

Nov 2, 
1920

Women Vote For First Time in Federal Elections

Dec 6, 
1920

Pennsylvania Bans Films Glorifying Crime, Criminals

Dec 13, 
1920

Brandies Dissents as Supreme Court Upholds Minnesota Conviction of Anti-War Leader

Jan 2, 
1921

California, Oregon Only States without “Sunday” Laws

Feb 14, 
1921

Obscenity Charges for Publishing “Ulysses”

Feb 15, 
1921

Detroit Jewish Groups Protest Anti-Semitism in Henry Ford’s Newspaper

Feb 24, 
1921

“Release Them All,” Says ACLU About WW I Political Prisoners

Mar 1, 
1921

Railroad Unions Seek Retention of WW I-Era Labor Agreements; Fear Return to Workers’ “Slavery”

Mar 5, 
1921

Will Hays Becomes Postmaster General; Ends Some, But Not All, Post Office Censorship

Mar 17, 
1921

Dr. Marie Stopes Opens First Birth Control Clinic in England

Apr 6, 
1921

President Harding Promises to Act on Women’s Equality

Apr 12, 
1921

President Harding Sends Civil Rights Message to Congress: Calls for End to “Barbaric Lynching”

May 17, 
1921

Women Should Keep their Own Names: Lucy Stone League Formed

May 31, 
1921

Tulsa Race Riot Devastates African-American Community

Jun 16, 
1921

Atlantic City Beach Scene Rejected by New York State Film Censors

Jul 5, 
1921

Garland Fund Established to Support Civil Liberties in 1920s

Jul 27, 
1921

President Harding Meets With WW I Amnesty Advocates

Jul 31, 
1921

Pennsylvania Censors Orders Cuts in Will Rogers Film for Glorifying Crime and Immorality

Aug 1, 
1921

New York Motion Picture Commission Begins Work – Censorship Ahead

Aug 14, 
1921

Postmaster General Hays Disavows Role of Censor

Aug 26, 
1921

Naomi Parker Fraley, The Real WWII “Rosie the Riveter,” Born

Sep 15, 
1921

War Department Removes 17 Alleged WW I “Slackers” From its List

Oct 26, 
1921

President Harding Gives Civil Rights Message in Segregated Birmingham, Alabama

Nov 1, 
1921

Margaret Sanger Founds American Birth Control League

Nov 11, 
1921

First American Birth Control Conference

Nov 13, 
1921

New York Police Halt Birth Control Meeting at Town Hall

Nov 18, 
1921

Margaret Sanger Gives Previously Banned Speech -“The Morality of Birth Control”

Dec 25, 
1921

President Harding Pardons Eugene V. Debs

Jan 14, 
1922

Academic Freedom Commission Advocates Restrictions on Professors’ Speech !!

Jan 26, 
1922

A Brief Moment of Hope for a Federal Anti-Lynching Bill

Feb 2, 
1922

James Joyce’s “Ulysses” Published, Faces Immediate Censorship

Feb 11, 
1922

“Indecency Flaunting as Art:” Censor Condemns Photograph

Feb 22, 
1922

National Bail Fund for Civil Liberties Cases Established

Feb 27, 
1922

Supreme Court Upholds 19th Amendment Granting Women the Right to Vote

Mar 15, 
1922

Anti-KKK Group Formed in Oklahoma

Apr 23, 
1922

Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes Calls for Religious Tolerance

Apr 29, 
1922

“Children’s Crusade:” Families of Political Prisoners Picket White House Seeking Amnesty

May 30, 
1922

Lincoln Memorial Dedicated; Audience Segregated

Jun 4, 
1922

Will Hays Tells Film Industry to “Purify” Itself

Jun 11, 
1922

Joint Amnesty Committee Formed to Seek Release of Imprisoned WWI Dissidents

Jun 14, 
1922

5,000 March Silently Past the White House to Protest Lynching

Aug 3, 
1922

“Plan to Censor All New Literature”

Aug 12, 
1922

Groups Launch “War on Censorship”

Aug 22, 
1922

DOJ Raids Communist Meeting in Bridgman, Michigan

Sep 1, 
1922

Sweeping Injunction Denies Railroad Workers First Amendment Rights

Sep 7, 
1922

Post Office Lifts Ban on Alexander Berkman’s “Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist”

Sep 22, 
1922

Cable Act Grants Women Citizenship Independent of Husband’s Status

Nov 7, 
1922

Oregon Passes KKK-Sponsored Anti-Catholic Education Law

Dec 1, 
1922

Guns, Threats Stop Union Meeting in Vintondale, PA

Dec 8, 
1922

“Birth of a Nation” Denied Permit in New York City

Feb 13, 
1923

Univ. Wisconsin Threatens Editors of “Unauthorized” Student Paper

Feb 15, 
1923

Chicago Judge Lifts Ban on KKK Newspaper; But Plans to “Review” Future Articles

Feb 20, 
1923

Minister: Obey Sunday Closing Law or Leave the Country

Mar 17, 
1923

Police Block Reading of Connecticut State Constitution

Apr 12, 
1923

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Protests Army “Spiderweb” Chart

May 3, 
1923

“No Woman Was Ever Ruined By a Book”

May 15, 
1923

Upton Sinclair Arrested in LA for Reading the Bill of Rights

May 23, 
1923

New York Law Makes it a Crime to “Loiter” and Solicit “A Crime Against Nature.”

Jun 4, 
1923

Meyer: A Constitutional Right of Parents to Control their Children’s Education

Jul 21, 
1923

Alice Paul Drafts and Introduces Equal Rights Amendment for Women

Aug 12, 
1923

Report Condemns Violations of Rights of Miners in Coal Fields

Aug 21, 
1923

President Coolidge Defends Free Speech, Except When . . .

Oct 21, 
1923

Boston Mayor Curley Bans KKK Meetings, ACLU Protests

Oct 21, 
1923

National Woman’s Party to Meet with President Coolidge over Equal Rights Amendment

Feb 10, 
1924

Police in Wilkes-Barre, PA Block Radicals’ Meeting

Feb 14, 
1924

New Jersey Health Official Opposes Marriages of People With “Below Average Intelligence”

Apr 7, 
1924

Harlan Fiske Stone Becomes Attorney General; Ends Justice Department Abuses

May 10, 
1924

J. Edgar Hoover Appointed Head of Bureau of Investigation, Ordered to End Violations of Civil Liberties

May 13, 
1924

Attorney General Stone Orders J. Edgar Hoover to Clean up Bureau of Investigation

May 17, 
1924

Notre Dame Students Attack, Stop KKK Rally

May 26, 
1924

Discriminatory 1924 Immigration Act Passed

May 26, 
1924

Oriental Exclusion Act Passed

Jun 2, 
1924

Indian Citizenship Act Signed into Law

Jul 6, 
1924

KKK Issue Sharply Divides Democratic Party Convention

Jul 7, 
1924

Pacifists Denounce War Department Guilt-by-Association “Spider Web Chart”

Jul 14, 
1924

National Woman’s Party Announces Plan to Elect More Women to Congress

Aug 2, 
1924

Noted African-American Author James Baldwin is Born

Aug 15, 
1924

Phyllis Schlafly, Anti-Feminist Leader, Born

Aug 22, 
1924

Clarence Darrow Delivers Monumental Closing Argument Against the Death Penalty

Oct 17, 
1924

Democrats Accuse Republicans of Coercing Votes of Federal Employees

Nov 3, 
1924

Ralph Lazo, Hispanic Student Who Voluntarily Entered Japanese-American Internment Camps, Born

Nov 10, 
1924

Society for Human Rights, First Gay Rights Group, Founded

Nov 19, 
1924

Women’s Groups Recommend Appointment of Women to NY State Board of Regents

Nov 30, 
1924

Shirley Chisholm, First African-American Woman in Congress, Is Born in Brooklyn, NY

Dec 17, 
1924

ACLU Leader Baldwin Defends His Actions in “Unlawful Assembly” Case

Feb 4, 
1925

Congress Holds First-Ever Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for Women’s Rights

Feb 21, 
1925

Lord’s Day Alliance Seeks NY Sunday “Blue” Law

Mar 21, 
1925

Tennessee Governor Signs Anti-Evolution Law – Sets Stage for Famous Scopes Case

May 1, 
1925

ACLU to Seek Repeal of Espionage Act

May 5, 
1925

John T. Scopes Charged with Violating Tennessee Anti-Evolution Law

May 8, 
1925

A. Philip Randolph Organizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

May 12, 
1925

OK to Issue Passports in a Woman’s Maiden Name

May 19, 
1925

Malcolm [X] Little Is Born in Omaha, Nebraska

May 25, 
1925

John T. Scopes Indicted: Scopes Case Begins

Jun 1, 
1925

Supreme Court Strikes Down Anti-Catholic Oregon School Law

Jun 8, 
1925

“Gitlow:” Supreme Court Incorporates Free Speech Clause into 14th Amendment

Jul 10, 
1925

Historic Scopes Monkey Trial Begins

Jul 20, 
1925

Darrow Mercilessly Cross-Examines Bryan at Scopes Trial

Jul 21, 
1925

You Can’t Teach That! Scopes Convicted of Teaching Evolution

Aug 1, 
1925

African-American Lawyers Form National Bar Association

Aug 8, 
1925

KKK Stages Huge March of 35,000 in Washington, D.C.

Sep 9, 
1925

White Mob Attacks Ossian Sweet’s Home in Detroit; Famous Trial Results

Nov 19, 
1925

Columbia Univ. President, Congressman Blast KKK as Contrary to American Ideals

Nov 28, 
1925

American Legion Leader Says “Reds” Forfeit Right of Free Speech

Dec 19, 
1925

NYC Mayor-Elect Says “No Politics” in the Public Schools

Jan 19, 
1926

National Woman’s Party Protests Exclusion From Conference on Protective Legislation for Women

Feb 7, 
1926

“Negro History Week” First Celebrated

Feb 20, 
1926

“Blasphemer” Bimba to Speak Despite Bans

Mar 15, 
1926

ACLU Sees Threats to Civil Liberties in Six Bills Before Congress

Apr 5, 
1926

H. L. Mencken Arrested in Boston in Arranged Censorship Case

May 15, 
1926

Conservative Women’s Group Seeks to Ban Radical Magazines From the Mails

May 21, 
1926

ACLU Banned from New York City Schools

Jul 25, 
1926

Is He Kidding? Censorship Crusader Claims He Supports Free Speech, Is Not a Censor

Sep 1, 
1926

Virginia KKK Kidnap Catholic Priest for Teaching African-American Children

Oct 12, 
1926

Army General Calls ACLU “The Most Radical Organization in the Country”

Oct 13, 
1926

Right-Wing General Charges ACLU is “Moscow Controlled” – ACLU Demands Evidence

Oct 16, 
1926

NYC Workers Demand End to Labor Injunctions

Nov 20, 
1926

Protests Greet Planned Speech by Communist/Atheist Anthony Bimba in Boston

Dec 1, 
1926

NYC Police Brutalize Box Workers – ACLU Protests

Jan 13, 
1927

First Woman Seated on New York Stock Exchange

Jan 15, 
1927

Scopes Conviction is Overturned

Jan 30, 
1927

Professors, Scientists, and Fundamentalists Battle Over Evolution, Freedom to Teach

Feb 10, 
1927

ACLU Loses Suit Over Right to Speak in NYC Schools

Feb 28, 
1927

Britain Denies Visa to ACLU Leader Roger Baldwin

Mar 7, 
1927

Texas White Primary Held Unconstitutional (For a While, Anyway)

Mar 13, 
1927

NYC Mayor Jimmy Walker Promises “No Censorship” of Theaters

Mar 14, 
1927

Jazz on Sunday Night Radio Labelled “Degrading”

Mar 26, 
1927

Will Hays Asks for Constitutional Amendment to Protect Movies From Censorship

Apr 17, 
1927

WW I Veterans Charge Schools Teach “Radicalism”

Apr 18, 
1927

Al Smith Replies to Attacks on His Catholicism

Apr 30, 
1927

Authors Organize Group to Fight “Irresponsible Censorship”

May 2, 
1927

“Three Generations of Idiots is Enough:” Supreme Court Upholds Involuntary Sterilization

May 16, 
1927

First Amendment Breakthrough – Supreme Court Invalidates Kansas Criminal Syndicalism Law

May 16, 
1927

Historic Brandeis Opinion in “Whitney v. California”

Aug 14, 
1927

Boston Police Halt Sacco and Vanzetti Rally

Aug 21, 
1927

Hundreds of Writers, Activists Petition for Stay of Sacco-Vanzetti Execution

Aug 23, 
1927

Sacco and Vanzetti Executed

Sep 24, 
1927

Jay Near Publishes “Defamatory” Articles, Heads for Supreme Court

Oct 14, 
1927

Do Pajamas = Nudity? NYC DA Threatens Theater Prosecutions

Oct 14, 
1927

Irish-American Groups Seek Ban on Films That Offend Racial or Religious Groups

Oct 15, 
1927

“No Lustful Kissing:” Hollywood Producers Issue “Don’ts and Be Carefuls”

Oct 28, 
1927

New York Debates Censoring Offensive Racial or Religious Films

Dec 8, 
1927

National Conference of Christians and Jews Holds First Meeting

Dec 15, 
1927

Authors League, Hollywood Reach Voluntary Censorship Agreement

Dec 27, 
1927

“Show Boat” – First Racially Integrated Broadway Musical, And With Interracial Themes

Feb 1, 
1928

Post Office Bans “Protest Against the Marines in Nicaragua” Stickers on Envelopes

Feb 26, 
1928

Civil Liberties Have “Lost Ground” in U.S., Says ACLU Official

Mar 19, 
1928

Superintendent of NYC Schools Denounces ACLU

May 9, 
1928

“There is Nothing to Repress” – ACLU Leader Laments State of Civil Liberties

May 14, 
1928

Roger Baldwin’s Conviction Overturned by New Jersey High Court

Jun 4, 
1928

Historic Louis Brandeis Dissent on Privacy: “Olmstead v. United States”

Jul 8, 
1928

Crystal Eastman, Civil Liberties Pioneer, Dies

Jul 22, 
1928

ACLU: Pennsylvania Leads Nation in Civil Liberties Violations

Sep 18, 
1928

Anti-Catholic Attacks on Candidate Al Smith Continue

Oct 6, 
1928

New York Mayor Jimmy Walker Denounces Religious Intolerance

Oct 17, 
1928

Al Smith, Dem. Presidential Candidate, Promises to End Abuses of Native Americans

Oct 24, 
1928

African-American Doctor Demands Candidate Herbert Hoover Take a Stand on the Klan

Nov 16, 
1928

Rep. Fiorello LaGuardia Affirms Freedom of Speech

Nov 19, 
1928

Supreme Court Upholds NY Restrictions on KKK and Similar Groups

Nov 27, 
1928

ACLU Wins Right to Speak in NYC Schools

Dec 27, 
1928

Post Office Bans Anti-Fascist Italian Language Newspaper

Jan 15, 
1929

Martin Luther King, Jr. is Born

Mar 4, 
1929

Rep. Oscar De Priest Takes His Seat in the House; First African-American in the 20th Century

Apr 15, 
1929

NYC Birth Control Clinic Raided, Dr. Hannah Stone Arrested

Apr 16, 
1929

“An American Tragedy:” Obscenity Trial Opens in Boston

Apr 16, 
1929

Margaret Sanger Appears on Stage Gagged in Boston

Apr 19, 
1929

“The Well of Loneliness,” Famous Lesbian-theme Novel, Ruled Not Obscene

Apr 19, 
1929

Supt. of NYC Schools Bars Talk on “Free Speech” by ACLU’s Roger Baldwin

Apr 23, 
1929

Mary Ware Dennett, Sex Education and Birth Control Pioneer, Found Guilty of Obscenity

May 17, 
1929

First Convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

May 23, 
1929

ACLU Leaders Meet with NYC Police Commissioner, Demand Protection of Civil Liberties

May 27, 
1929

“Freedom for the Thought We Hate”

Jun 12, 
1929

First Lady Lou Henry Hoover Invites African-American to White House Tea – Racist Uproar Follows

Jul 12, 
1929

Pacifist Dorothy Detzer, Denied Passport, Then Granted Waiver

Jul 26, 
1929

Lesbian Themed “The Well of Loneliness” Held Not Obscene by U.S. Customs Court

Jul 30, 
1929

Post Office Bars Pamphlets on Tom Mooney Case

Aug 3, 
1929

Stromberg Arrested for Violating California Red Flag Law

Aug 6, 
1929

University of Pittsburgh Ordered to Reinstate Student Expelled for Membership in Liberal Club

Aug 29, 
1929

President Hoover Declines to Pardon WW I Political Prisoners

Oct 2, 
1929

Liberal Catholic Priest Opposes Equal Rights Amendment for Women

Oct 9, 
1929

National Woman’s Party Begins Radio Series on NBC

Oct 13, 
1929

Martial Law, Suppression of the Press in Oil-Boom Texas City

Dec 30, 
1929

ACLU Challenges “Political Lecturing” by Judges

Jan 12, 
1930

ACLU Demands Inquiry into Missing Files in Dismissed Birth Control and Censorship Cases

Jan 28, 
1930

ACLU to Sue NYC Police Over Brutality, Fatal Shooting of Communist Party Member in Demonstration

Feb 19, 
1930

Early Hollywood Censorship Code Adopted

Feb 22, 
1930

Principal Refuses to Hire Catholic as Teacher; Faces Charges

Feb 23, 
1930

ACLU Calls for End to Private, Anti-Union Police in Pennsylvania

Feb 26, 
1930

Communists, Police Clash on Wall Street

Mar 3, 
1930

Mary Ware Dennett, Birth Control, Sex Education Advocate, Is Vindicated

Mar 28, 
1930

DA Won’t Charge NYC Police Officers for Brutality in Communists’ Rally

Mar 31, 
1930

Hollywood Censorship: Early Production Code Adopted

May 7, 
1930

NAACP “Comes of Age:” Helps Senate Reject Supreme Court Nominee

Jul 15, 
1930

“Revolutionary Age” Challenges Post Office Ban

Jul 21, 
1930

ACLU Publicity Director “Wiggles Shoulders” in Newark, is Arrested

Aug 24, 
1930

Carrie Chapman Catt, Suffrage Leader, Reflects on First Ten Years of Women Voting

Sep 8, 
1930

Labor Educator Detained at Ellis Island – ACLU Protests

Oct 2, 
1930

Cleveland Police Club, Tear Gas 2,500 Protesting President Herbert Hoover

Oct 3, 
1930

Fish Committee Begins Hearings on Communism in Washington State

Nov 20, 
1930

Judge Accused of Denying Lawyer to 17 Year-Old Communist

Nov 24, 
1930

U.S. The “Most Lawless” Country in the World, Says Top ACLU Official

Nov 25, 
1930

Anti-Lynching Congress Delivers Protest to President Herbert Hoover

Nov 30, 
1930

Clarence Darrow, Jane Addams Attend Gala “Blacklist” Dinner in Chicago

Dec 15, 
1930

Fish Committee Hearings on Communist Propaganda in the U.S. – Targets ACLU

Dec 19, 
1930

Catholic Priest Tells Theaters to “Clean Up or Face Censorship”

Feb 2, 
1931

First Mass Deportations of Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles

Mar 16, 
1931

Rep. Hamilton Fish Denounces ACLU For Defending “All Revolutionary Elements” in the U.S.

Mar 25, 
1931

Scottsboro Case Begins: Nine Young African-Americans Arrested in Alabama

Apr 6, 
1931

U.S. versus Married Love . . . . Really?

May 18, 
1931

Supreme Court Declares California “Red Flag” Law Unconstitutional

Jun 1, 
1931

“Near v. Minnesota”: Landmark Freedom of the Press Decision

Jul 18, 
1931

“Contraception” Not Obscene

Aug 9, 
1931

Group Criticizes Lack of Asylum for Political Refugees

Aug 10, 
1931

Wickersham Commission: First-Ever Report on Police Brutality

Nov 28, 
1931

NYC Police Raid Anti-Fascist Newspaper’s Office – ACLU Protests

Mar 23, 
1932

Organized Labor Gains First Amendment Rights

Apr 17, 
1932

Kentucky Prosecutor: Suppress ACLU Like a “Mad Dog”

Apr 20, 
1932

Reed Harris Reinstated by Columbia University, But He Resigns

May 12, 
1932

Judge to Accompany ACLU Leaders in West Virginia Coal Area to Protect Them

May 29, 
1932

Bonus Army Arrives in Washington, D.C. – Freedom of Assembly Confrontation Ahead

Jun 2, 
1932

Military Intelligence Spies on Bonus Army – Agents Hear “Voices of Jewish Accent”

Jul 28, 
1932

Veterans’ “Bonus Army” Rousted by Army in D.C.

Jul 29, 
1932

Rep. La Guardia Protests Eviction of Bonus Army

Oct 2, 
1932

“Professional Patriot” Calls Colleges a “Hotbed of Radicalism”

Oct 2, 
1932

LA Police, American Legion Break Up Scottsboro Defense Meeting in Long Beach, CA

Nov 7, 
1932

Scottsboro Case Impact – Supreme Court Rules Lawyer Required in Capital Cases

Dec 22, 
1932

New Jersey Governor Refuses to Extradite Georgia Chain Gang Fugitive

Feb 15, 
1933

U.S. Customs Bars Vatican Art – Including Michelangelo Illustrations

Feb 22, 
1933

ACLU Urges President-elect Roosevelt to Protect Civil Liberties

Mar 4, 
1933

Frances Perkins: First Female Cabinet Member

May 8, 
1933

Interracial March in Washington Demands Justice for Scottsboro Defendants

May 9, 
1933

No Left-wing Murals in Rockefeller Center!

Aug 18, 
1933

Jewish Paper Protests American Publication of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”

Aug 29, 
1933

A Rabbi, A Priest, and a Minister: “Tolerance Trio” Begins Nationwide Tour

Sep 10, 
1933

ACLU to President Roosevelt: Admit Refugees from Nazi Germany

Sep 30, 
1933

Predecessor to “Strange Fruit” Introduced on Broadway

Nov 27, 
1933

California Governor Praises Lynch Mob – ACLU, NAACP Protest

Dec 2, 
1933

Tri-Faith Meeting Protests San Jose Lynching

Dec 6, 
1933

Classic Novel “Ulysses” Ruled Not Pornographic!

Dec 23, 
1933

President Roosevelt Pardons WW I Espionage Act Victims

Jan 23, 
1934

ACLU Attorney A. L. Wirin Kidnapped, Beaten in California

Feb 28, 
1934

“The Nudist” Magazine Banned by NYC License Commissioner

Mar 21, 
1934

Rep. Oscar De Priest Challenges Segregation at Capitol Building Restaurant

Apr 29, 
1934

First Brotherhood Day; Endorsed by FDR

Apr 30, 
1934

Free Speech for Nazis? ACLU Says Yes

May 26, 
1934

McCormack-Dickstein Committee Hearings Begin; Forerunner of HUAC

Jun 13, 
1934

Notorious Movie Censorship Code Adopted

Jul 14, 
1934

Catholic Legion of Decency, Protestant Churches, Launch “Clean Film” Drive

Jul 21, 
1934

FDR’s New Deal Has Mixed Civil Liberties Record, Says ACLU

Jul 27, 
1934

Dirk De Jonge, Oregon Communist, Arrested for Organizing Meeting – Heads to Supreme Court

Aug 7, 
1934

Americans Can Finally Read “Ulysses” – Court Ends Ban

Aug 11, 
1934

Prominent Lawyers Protest Vigilante Raids Against Alleged Radicals in San Francisco

Aug 21, 
1934

Forum Hears About Civil Liberties Violations in 1934 San Francisco General Strike

Sep 2, 
1934

Clara Shortridge Foltz Dies – First Female Lawyer in California

Sep 10, 
1934

New York City Relents, Opens Ten Parks to Public Meetings

Oct 13, 
1934

NYC Police Break Up Anti-Fascist Rally – NYCLU Demands Mayor Investigate

Oct 20, 
1934

University of Michigan Wins Game, Loses Integrity – Gerald Ford Embarrassed

Nov 15, 
1934

American Library of Nazi Banned (and Burned) Books Opens

Nov 27, 
1934

NYC Police Commissioner Tells Officers to “Muss Up” Known Criminals

Jan 5, 
1935

Customs Admits Some Birth Control Material, Bans Others

Feb 7, 
1935

Fingerprint Everyone! FBI Begins National Program

Mar 20, 
1935

NYC Mayor La Guardia Launches Investigation of Police Brutality in Harlem

Apr 1, 
1935

Scottsboro Case Conviction Overturned: African-Americans Excluded From Jury

Apr 22, 
1935

Rep. Hamilton Fish: No Free Speech for Alien Radicals

Jun 7, 
1935

Columbia University Medical Center Fires Six Pacifists; Univ. President Butler Declines Comment

Jun 8, 
1935

Young Nazi Guilty of Posting Inflammatory Sign; Hate Speech Controversy Ahead

Jul 5, 
1935

Wagner Act: Labor Gains First Amendment Rights, Right to Organize

Jul 16, 
1935

ACLU Condemns NYC Schools, Praises Police Commissioner

Jul 27, 
1935

“Ecstasy” is Burning!

Oct 16, 
1935

Right-Wing Group Offers Free Legal Defense to Protect Constitutional Rights

Nov 26, 
1935

NYC Burns “Tons” of Books

Dec 6, 
1935

National Council of Negro Women Formed

Dec 18, 
1935

“The Children’s Hour” Play Denounced as “Abhorrent” and “Revolting” by Mayor of Boston

Dec 27, 
1935

Scottsboro Defense Committee Organized

Dec 30, 
1935

“Patriotism Cannot be Legislated” – NYC Mayor La Guardia Vetoes Compulsory Flag Law

Jan 11, 
1936

Tulsa Bans Play “Tobacco Road”

Apr 12, 
1936

Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa Play First Racially Integrated Jazz Concert in Major Venue

Apr 26, 
1936

Hollywood Anti-Nazi League Organized

May 2, 
1936

YWCA to Include Sex Education in its Program

Jun 6, 
1936

Senate Launches Investigation of Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor

Jul 16, 
1936

Westchester County Continues Ban on Men’s Topless Swim Suits

Aug 24, 
1936

FDR Authorizes FBI to Resume Political Spying

Sep 12, 
1936

Communist Party Meeting Banned in Queens

Nov 3, 
1936

Dennis Chavez First Hispanic Elected to the U.S. Senate

Nov 29, 
1936

State Senator Calls Cornell University “Center of Revolutionary Propaganda”

Dec 7, 
1936

OK to Import Japanese Diaphragms

Dec 19, 
1936

ACLU Charges Widespread Radio Censorship

Dec 20, 
1936

Women’s Groups Secretly Meet to Create Common “Charter” on Women’s Rights

Dec 26, 
1936

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Volunteers Sail for Spain to Fight Fascism – Will Be Persecuted During the Cold War

Dec 30, 
1936

Courts Peril Democracy, Argues Former New Deal Official

Jan 4, 
1937

First Amendment Victory in “De Jonge v. Oregon”

Jan 11, 
1937

ACLU Sponsors Poster Contest to Mark 150th Anniversary of the Constitution

Jan 18, 
1937

Mary McLeod Bethune Delivers Report on Negro Youth to FDR

Jan 31, 
1937

ACLU Attorney Claims “Fundamental Right to Get Arrested”

Feb 5, 
1937

FDR Proposes Disastrous Court-Packing Plan

Feb 20, 
1937

National Lawyers Guild, Alternative to ABA, is Organized

Mar 26, 
1937

William H. Hastie Appointed First African-American Federal Judge

Mar 29, 
1937

Supreme Court Reverses Course; OK’s Government Regulation of the Economy: “West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish”

Apr 6, 
1937

Julia Sims First Woman Foreperson of a Federal Grand Jury

Apr 20, 
1937

From Internee to Star Trek to Same-Sex Activist: George Takei Born

May 3, 
1937

Flag Salute Controversy Begins: Gobitas Sues Minersville, PA, School Board

May 24, 
1937

New York Law Allows Women as Jurors

Jun 13, 
1937

“Cradle Will Rock” Defies Government Censorship, Opens in Different Theater

Jul 23, 
1937

La Follette Committee Report Condemns Police Actions in Chicago Strike

Jul 26, 
1937

Wife No Longer the First Fired: Congress Repeals 1933 Law

Aug 2, 
1937

Marijuana Tax Act Passed – War on Drugs Escalates

Aug 4, 
1937

Police Raids Force Closing of Massachusetts Birth Control Clinics

Aug 12, 
1937

Hugo Black Nominated for Supreme Court

Sep 5, 
1937

“Ladies of the Jury” Make First New York Appearance

Sep 14, 
1937

Hugo Black, New Supreme Court Justice, Attacked for Past KKK Membership

Sep 17, 
1937

FDR’s Constitution Day Speech: Extraordinary Claims of Presidential Power

Dec 6, 
1937

Supreme Court Declares Poll Tax Constitutional

Dec 20, 
1937

Supreme Court Limits Wiretapping

Mar 13, 
1938

“Attorney for the Damned,” Clarence Darrow, Dies

Apr 11, 
1938

“Birth of a Baby” Public Health Photographs Called Obscene

Apr 21, 
1938

FDR: “All Of Us . . . Are Descended From Immigrants”

Apr 25, 
1938

Supreme Court Footnote Outlines Future Protection of Civil Liberties

Apr 26, 
1938

Cantwell Family Arrested; Case Establishes Free Exercise of Religion

May 19, 
1938

ACLU Lawyer Arthur Garfield Hays Evicted From Jersey City

May 25, 
1938

FDR Signs Bill Providing $15 Million for Eradication of Venereal Disease

May 26, 
1938

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Established – 37 Years of Civil Liberties Violations Follow

Jun 4, 
1938

Socialist, Civil Libertarian Norman Thomas Forcibly Evicted From Jersey City

Aug 6, 
1938

Top Labor Union Lawyer Denounces American Bar Association

Aug 10, 
1938

Anti-Discrimination Clause Added to New York Constitution

Aug 11, 
1938

“Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?” First HUAC Hearings Begin – 37-Years of Inquisitions Follow

Aug 14, 
1938

ABA Creates Bill of Rights Committee

Aug 14, 
1938

HUAC: Communist Activities “Rampant” in Hollywood

Oct 7, 
1938

National Woman’s Party to Raise $1 Million for Equal Rights Campaign

Oct 8, 
1938

Birth Control Blamed For Low Citrus Prices – Seriously

Nov 19, 
1938

ACLU to Aid Nazi Groups on First Amendment Rights

Nov 21, 
1938

Library Bill of Rights Born at Des Moines Public Library

Nov 22, 
1938

Eleanor Roosevelt Integrates Birmingham, Alabama, Meeting

Nov 23, 
1938

Justice Hugo Black Sees Progress Toward “Equal Justice” in the South – Little Progress Evident, However

Dec 10, 
1938

Pearl Buck First American Woman to Win Nobel Prize for Literature

Dec 12, 
1938

Supreme Court: Missouri Must Provide Law School Opportunity for African-Americans

Dec 28, 
1938

“Wrong Place for the Right People:” Café Society Opens in NYC

Dec 31, 
1938

Unions Seek to Curb Use of National Guard in Strikes

Jan 2, 
1939

Frank Murphy, Civil Libertarian, Appointed Attorney General

Jan 3, 
1939

HUAC: ACLU A Communist “Front Organization”

Jan 10, 
1939

Hearings on Frankfurter Nomination for Supreme Court Degenerate into Farce

Jan 18, 
1939

Birth Control Federation Founded; Later Renamed Planned Parenthood

Jan 20, 
1939

Felix Frankfurter Joins Supreme Court

Jan 23, 
1939

Ed Roberts, Disability Rights Pioneer, is Born

Jan 26, 
1939

New York State Bar Association Creates Civil Liberties Committee

Feb 2, 
1939

Attorney General Frank Murphy Creates DOJ Civil Liberties Unit

Feb 6, 
1939

Einstein, Other Academic Leaders Call for Freedom in Teaching

Feb 17, 
1939

NYC Mayor La Guardia Allows Huge German-American Bund Rally

Feb 25, 
1939

Once-Banned Film Opens; “Near-Adolescent Riot” Ensues

Mar 2, 
1939

Massachusetts Ratifies Bill of Rights – 148 Years Late

Apr 9, 
1939

Marian Anderson Gives Historic Lincoln Memorial Concert

Apr 15, 
1939

William O. Douglas Joins Supreme Court

Apr 19, 
1939

AG Frank Murphy Urges U.S. Attorneys to Protect Civil Liberties

Apr 19, 
1939

Connecticut Ratifies the Bill of Rights – 148 Years Late

Apr 20, 
1939

Billie Holiday Records “Strange Fruit”

Apr 30, 
1939

Mayor LaGuardia Dedicates Plaza of Freedom at World’s Fair

Jun 5, 
1939

Freedom of Assembly! Supreme Court Rules in Famous “Hague” Case

Jun 19, 
1939

American Library Association Adopts Library Bill of Rights

Jul 8, 
1939

Jehovah’s Witnesses Parade in Manchester, NH – End in Supreme Court

Jul 17, 
1939

NY Times Endorses American Bar Association Civil Liberties Committee

Jul 22, 
1939

Jane Bolin, First African-American Female Judge in the U.S., Sworn In

Aug 18, 
1939

“The Grapes of Wrath” Banned in Kansas City, Kansas

Sep 2, 
1939

FBI Memo Launches Notorious Custodial Detention Index

Sep 6, 
1939

FDR Authorizes FBI to Investigate “Subversive” Activities

Sep 15, 
1939

Censor Ruling Reversed: OK to Show Film of Unmarried French Peasants

Oct 11, 
1939

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Organized

Nov 15, 
1939

“Grapes of Wrath” Ordered Burned in East St. Louis, IL

Dec 11, 
1939

FDR Tells FBI to Ignore Supreme Court Decision Limiting Wiretapping

Jan 9, 
1940

ABA House of Delegates Calls for Defense of Civil Liberties

Jan 18, 
1940

Frank Murphy, Civil Libertarian, Joins Supreme Court

Jan 20, 
1940

Mayor La Guardia: “Arrest Punks, Pimps, Racketeers and Gangsters on Vagrancy Charges”

Feb 21, 
1940

Civil Rights Leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis is Born in Troy, Alabama

Feb 25, 
1940

Prominent Liberals Ask HUAC to Change Procedures, and to Investigate Right-Wing Group

Feb 29, 
1940

Hattie McDaniel First African-American to Win Oscar – Forced to Sit at Segregated Table

Mar 14, 
1940

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt Endorses Civil Liberties

Apr 28, 
1940

Supreme Court Affirms Right to Picket

May 7, 
1940

ACLU Expels Elizabeth Gurley Flynn from Board of Directors

May 14, 
1940

Emma Goldman, Anarchist, Anti-WW I Activist, Feminist, Birth Control Advocate, Dies

May 20, 
1940

Free Exercise of Religion Affirmed: “Cantwell v. Connecticut”

May 21, 
1940

FDR Okays Continued FBI Wiretapping

Jun 3, 
1940

Supreme Court Upholds Compulsory Flag Salute – But Soon Reverses Itself

Jun 29, 
1940

Advocating an Idea is Illegal: Smith Act Passed

Jul 13, 
1940

Equal Rights Amendment Divides Women at Democratic Party Convention

Jul 15, 
1940

War Preparations Threaten Civil Liberties, Says ACLU

Jul 31, 
1940

ACLU Demands Federal Investigation of Barriers to the Ballot for Minority (i.e., Radical) Parties

Aug 17, 
1940

Rabbi Warns of Wartime Threat to American Liberties

Sep 11, 
1940

Lawyers Guild Report: Laws, Violence Keep “Reds” off the Ballot

Sep 16, 
1940

First Peacetime Draft in American History Enacted

Sep 22, 
1940

California Removes Communist Party From the Ballot

Sep 27, 
1940

A. Philip Randolph Confronts FDR In White House Over Segregated Military

Oct 9, 
1940

FDR White House Says Military Will Not “Intermingle” Different Races

Oct 13, 
1940

Ten States Bar Communist Party from the Ballot in November 1940 Elections

Oct 16, 
1940

First Peacetime Draft in American History Begins; Creates Two Civil Liberties Issues

Oct 19, 
1940

NYU Students Protest University Discrimination Against its Own Player

Nov 7, 
1940

Universities Agree to AAUP Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure

Jan 6, 
1941

FDR Delivers Famous Four Freedoms Speech

Jan 14, 
1941

A. Philip Randolph Calls For a March on Washington

Jan 16, 
1941

War Department Creates Tuskegee Airmen

Jan 27, 
1941

California Creates Un-American Activities Committee

Feb 12, 
1941

Duke Ellington: “We, Too, Sing America”

Mar 31, 
1941

Supreme Court Allows Time, Place and Manner Restrictions on Parades – But No Limits on Content

May 6, 
1941

Ernest Hemingway Denied Pulitzer Prize for “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

Jun 18, 
1941

Civil Rights Leader A. Philip Randolph Confronts FDR in the White House — Wins EEO Order

Jun 25, 
1941

FDR Signs First-Ever Equal Employment Opportunity Order

Jun 30, 
1941

AG Biddle Creates First List of “Subversive” Organizations

Jul 1, 
1941

March on Washington Cancelled After FDR Issues EEO Order

Jul 28, 
1941

California Un-American Activities Hearings Begin

Aug 22, 
1941

American Federation of Teachers Bars Three Local Chapters for Communist Associations

Nov 24, 
1941

Supreme Court: The Poor Can Come to California!

Dec 5, 
1941

New Jersey “Race Hatred” Law Held Unconstitutional

Dec 8, 
1941

Jeannette Rankin, First Woman Elected to Congress, Casts Only Vote Against U.S. Entry into WWW II

Dec 8, 
1941

Minneapolis Trotskyists Sentenced to Prison for Violating the Smith Act

Dec 12, 
1941

AG Biddle Directs U.S. Attorneys to Pursue Cases of Involuntary Servitude, Slavery, and Peonage

Dec 15, 
1941

FDR Establishes Bill of Rights Day

Jan 30, 
1942

Dr. Alan Guttmacher Issues Early Call for Legalized Abortion

Jan 31, 
1942

“Nothing Could Be More Hitlerian:” Pacifist Denounces Japanese-American Internment

Feb 6, 
1942

Attorney General Biddle Urges Lawyers to Defend Civil Liberties in Wartime

Feb 19, 
1942

Tragedy: FDR Authorizes Japanese-American Evacuation

Feb 20, 
1942

Linda Brown, Student in Landmark Brown v. Board of Education Case, Born on This Day

Mar 5, 
1942

American Birth Control Federation Changes Name to Planned Parenthood

Mar 7, 
1942

First Class of Tuskegee Airmen Graduates

Mar 9, 
1942

“Fighting Words” Doctrine Established by Supreme Court

Mar 9, 
1942

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Founded

Mar 18, 
1942

FDR Creates War Relocation Authority For Japanese American Evacuation

Mar 21, 
1942

Congress Enforces Japanese-American Evacuation, Makes it a Crime to Leave a Relocation Center

Mar 23, 
1942

Japanese-American Evacuation Begins; NY Times Reports “Pioneers” are “Vastly Impressed” with the “Courteous Treatment”

Apr 7, 
1942

What Do We Do With the Japanese-American Evacuees?

Apr 14, 
1942

Attorney General Biddle OKs Censoring Father Coughlin’s “Social Justice” Magazine

May 7, 
1942

NY Governor Signs Two Early Anti-Discrimination Bills into Law

May 16, 
1942

Gordon Hirabayashi Tells FBI He Won’t Register for Evacuation

May 30, 
1942

Fred Korematsu Arrested – Test of Japanese-American Evacuation Ahead

Jun 1, 
1942

Court Limits Sterilization of Offenders: “Skinner v. Oklahoma”

Jun 18, 
1942

WW II Internment: “If They Do That to One Group, They Can Do it to Other Groups”

Jul 31, 
1942

Supreme Court Upholds Military Commission – German Saboteurs to be Executed

Aug 3, 
1942

Military Tribunal Convicts German Saboteurs – Civil Liberties Problems Continue

Aug 8, 
1942

Six German Saboteurs Executed — Civil Liberties Questions Live On

Aug 14, 
1942

Justice Dept. to Investigate Beating of African-American Soldier by Texas Police

Sep 30, 
1942

FBI Creates “Obscene File,” Opens Crusade Against Pornography

Oct 12, 
1942

Supreme Court Opinion in “Ex Parte Quirin” — Ten Weeks Late

Oct 18, 
1942

Wartime Curfew and Travel Limits on Italian Aliens to be Lifted

Nov 22, 
1942

Council for Democracy Calls for End to WW II Restrictions on Aliens

Dec 4, 
1942

Winfred Lynn’s Challenge to Segregated WW II Draft Rejected

Dec 7, 
1942

“Native Son” Play, Temporarily Closed Under Catholic Pressure, Reopens in NYC

Dec 19, 
1942

WW II Civilian Public Service Camps Open, Alternative for Conscientious Objectors

Dec 28, 
1942

Congress Officially Adopts Pledge of Allegiance

Dec 30, 
1942

A. Philip Randolph Announces Plan for Civil Disobedience on Civil Rights

Jan 18, 
1943

William H. Hastie Resigns as War Dept. Aide Over Continued Segregation of Military

Feb 1, 
1943

HUAC Chair Places Names of 39 Alleged Communists in Congressional Record

Feb 1, 
1943

Supreme Court Upholds Connecticut Anti-Birth Control Law

Feb 20, 
1943

Saturday Evening Post Publishes Iconic Norman Rockwell Illustration: “Freedom of Speech”

Apr 8, 
1943

Arthur Garfield Hays, ACLU General Counsel, Quits ABA Over Exclusion of African-Americans

Apr 17, 
1943

First Sit-in Challenges Segregated Washington D.C. Restaurants

Apr 23, 
1943

Women in the Air Force; WASPS Unit Formed

May 8, 
1943

CORE Leads Early Sit-in in Chicago

Jun 3, 
1943

“Zoot Suit” Riots: Latinos, Sailors, Police Clash

Jun 14, 
1943

You Can’t Be Compelled to Salute the Flag: “West Virginia v. Barnette”

Jun 20, 
1943

Detroit Race Riot Paralyzes City, Threatens War Effort

Jun 21, 
1943

Hirabayashi: Supreme Court Upholds Japanese-American Curfew

Jul 16, 
1943

Attorney General Biddle Orders FBI to End Detention List – J. Edgar Hoover Ignores Order, Renames List

Aug 1, 
1943

Harlem Race Riot Signals Rising African-American Discontent

Aug 11, 
1943

Conscientious Objectors Begin Prison Hunger Strike to Protest Racial Segregation

Aug 27, 
1943

American Bar Association Admits First African-American in Three Decades

Sep 29, 
1943

Six Conscientious Objectors Begin Hunger Strike in Lewisburg Penitentiary over Censorship of Reading Materials

Oct 5, 
1943

Everson: Landmark Church-State Case Begins

Nov 18, 
1943

Liberal, Racial Minority, and Labor Groups Urge Post Office Ban on Hate Mail

Dec 17, 
1943

Chinese Exclusion Act Repealed

Dec 23, 
1943

Hunger Strike by COs Ends Racial Segregation at Danbury Prison

Jan 11, 
1944

FDR Calls for a Second Bill of Rights

Jan 28, 
1944

Teens Declare That Boogie-Woogie Does Not Cause Delinquency!

Jan 31, 
1944

Eleanor Roosevelt Supports Equality for Women, But Not the ERA

Feb 3, 
1944

Winfred Lynn’s Challenge to Segregated Draft Rejected

Mar 9, 
1944

Harry Weinberger, Major Civil Liberties Lawyer in WW I, Dies

Apr 3, 
1944

Supreme Court Declares All-White Primary Unconstitutional

Apr 4, 
1944

“Strange Fruit,” The Novel, Banned in Boston

Apr 14, 
1944

WW II “Great Sedition Trial” Begins

Apr 22, 
1944

Sit-in Challenges Restaurant Segregation in Washington, D.C.

May 21, 
1944

“Liberty Lies in the Hearts of Men and Women” — Judge Learned Hand

May 27, 
1944

First Television Censorship!

Jun 22, 
1944

FDR Signs GI Bill of Rights

Jul 16, 
1944

Irene Morgan Arrested for Challenging Segregation on Interstate Buses: Supreme Court Case Lies Ahead

Aug 20, 
1944

Navy Bans Japanese-American Citizens – ACLU Protests

Oct 5, 
1944

Poet Langston Hughes Tops HUAC Anti-Communist List with 49 “Affiliations”

Oct 18, 
1944

Irene Morgan Convicted of Integrating Virginia Bus – Inspires Later Freedom Rides

Nov 29, 
1944

Mistrial in Chaotic Right-Wing Sedition Trial

Dec 17, 
1944

Japanese-American Internment Officially Ends

Dec 18, 
1944

Civil Liberties Tragedy – Supreme Court Upholds Japanese-American Evacuation

Dec 18, 
1944

Supreme Court Orders Japanese-Americans Released

Jan 3, 
1945

HUAC Made a Permanent Committee – Assault on Freedom of Belief and Association Continues

Jan 8, 
1945

Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Restriction on Labor Union Organizing

Apr 12, 
1945

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Dies at Warm Springs, Georgia

Apr 16, 
1945

Los Angeles First Unitarian Church Labeled a “Communist Meeting Place”

Jul 17, 
1945

Congress Refuses to Extend Committee on Fair Employment Practices

Aug 8, 
1945

President Truman Signs United Nations Charter

Aug 17, 
1945

George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” Published; Savage Critique of Totalitarianism

Aug 24, 
1945

Spying on Americans: Project Shamrock Begins

Aug 25, 
1945

John Birch Dies – Right-Wing Group Named in His Honor

Oct 9, 
1945

White Residents Seek to Enforce Racially Restrictive Housing Covenants, but Fail

Nov 21, 
1945

Manzanar Relocation Center for Japanese-Americans Closed

Feb 12, 
1946

Isaac Woodard, African-American Veteran, Beaten, Blinded in South Carolina; Incident Provokes National Outrage

Feb 27, 
1946

Judge Urges System of Public Defenders

Apr 27, 
1946

Civil Rights Congress Formed

May 13, 
1946

U.S. Occupying Forces Destroy Books in Germany

Jun 3, 
1946

Irene Morgan Wins Historic Court Victory Against Interstate Travel Segregation

Jun 3, 
1946

Withholding Federal Salaries an Unconstitutional Bill of Attainder

Jun 11, 
1946

Official Secrecy: Administrative Procedure Act Exempts “Secrets” From Public Disclosure

Jun 21, 
1946

United Nations Establishes Commission on the Status of Women

Jul 2, 
1946

President Truman Signs Japanese-American Claims Act

Jul 17, 
1946

President Truman Authorizes FBI Wiretapping

Jul 29, 
1946

Marches in Washington, New York Protest Lynching of Four African-Americans in Georgia

Aug 18, 
1946

20,000 Attend Fundraiser for Isaac Woodard, Blinded in Racist Attack in South Carolina

Sep 19, 
1946

Truman Promises Presidential Civil Rights Committee

Sep 23, 
1946

Paul Robeson Confronts President Truman in Oval Office Over Lynching; Truman Ends Meeting

Oct 14, 
1946

Atlanta Officials Put “Negro” Designation After Coroner Candidate’s Name – Candidate Protests

Nov 5, 
1946

Joe McCarthy Elected to Senate – “McCarthyism” Lies Ahead

Nov 24, 
1946

Playwrights Force Issue of Racial Integration in Washington, D.C.

Dec 5, 
1946

Truman Creates Historic President’s Committee on Civil Rights

Feb 10, 
1947

The “Wall of Separation” Between Church and State is Born

Feb 21, 
1947

College Students Protest “Jim Crow” Barber

Feb 23, 
1947

ACLU Urges NY Governor to Veto Film Censorship Bill

Mar 12, 
1947

Cold War Begins: Truman Doctrine Announced

Mar 17, 
1947

General MacArthur Invites ACLU Head Roger Baldwin to Occupied Japan to Assist With Civil Liberties

Mar 21, 
1947

Guilt by Association: President Truman Launches Federal Loyalty Program

Apr 5, 
1947

White Girl Expelled from Segregated All-Black Washington, DC, School

Apr 9, 
1947

The First Freedom Ride: Journey of Reconciliation Begins

Apr 10, 
1947

Branch Rickey Acquires Jackie Robinson’s Contract

Apr 10, 
1947

Reagan “Names Names” to the FBI

Apr 14, 
1947

“I Am Not a Communist,” Says Charlie Chaplin

Apr 14, 
1947

Appeals Court Rules Segregated Mexican-American Schools in California Unconstitutional

Apr 15, 
1947

Jackie Robinson Breaks Baseball Color Line

May 8, 
1947

Syracuse University Integrates Football Stadium – Women and Men Can Now Sit Together!

May 26, 
1947

FBI Memo Attacks “It’s A Wonderful Life” As Subversive, Anti-Capitalist Propaganda

Jun 6, 
1947

Gary, Indiana, Schools to End Racial Segregation

Jun 23, 
1947

Congress Overrides Truman Veto, Passes Taft-Hartley “Slave-labor Bill”

Jun 23, 
1947

Justice Black Argues for Total Incorporation of the Bill of Rights

Jun 29, 
1947

Truman First President to Address NAACP

Jul 5, 
1947

Larry Doby Integrates American League in Baseball

Jul 25, 
1947

Mary Ware Dennett, Feminist, Birth Control Activist, and Civil Libertarian, Dies

Jul 26, 
1947

President Truman Signs National Security Act – Creates CIA

Sep 18, 
1947

National Security Act in Effect on This Day: Decades of Lawless Abuses Begin

Oct 19, 
1947

ACLU Attacks State Department “Gag” on Foreign Visitors

Oct 20, 
1947

HUAC Opens Hearings on Communists in Hollywood

Oct 23, 
1947

“An Appeal to the World” – NAACP Petition to the UN on Human Rights Violations in the U.S.

Oct 23, 
1947

Ronald Reagan Testifies Before HUAC as “Friendly” Witness

Oct 24, 
1947

Committee for the First Amendment Opposes HUAC Investigation of Hollywood

Oct 27, 
1947

“Hollywood Ten” HUAC Hearings Begin – Angry Confrontation Erupts

Oct 28, 
1947

Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo Defies HUAC, Is Blacklisted

Oct 29, 
1947

“To Secure These Rights:” Truman’s Civil Rights Committee Delivers Historic Report

Oct 30, 
1947

Famed Playwright Brecht Testifies Before HUAC – Immediately Leaves the U.S.

Oct 30, 
1947

Writer of M*A*S*H Refuses to Tell HUAC About His Beliefs and Associations – Is Blacklisted

Nov 16, 
1947

Ayn Rand Publishes Anti-Communist “Screen Guide for Americans”

Nov 20, 
1947

Americans United Launches Fight for Separation of Church and State

Nov 23, 
1947

Clergy Seek Amnesty for Imprisoned WW II Conscientious Objectors

Dec 3, 
1947

Hollywood Blacklist Begins

Dec 4, 
1947

Official Blacklist: Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations Published

Dec 14, 
1947

ACLU Criticizes Hollywood Blacklist

Dec 14, 
1947

National Security Council Issues First Covert Action Order to CIA

Dec 17, 
1947

National Security Council Authorizes CIA Covert Actions

Dec 24, 
1947

Truman Pardons 1,523 WW II Draft Resisters

Jan 5, 
1948

Kinsey Report on Male Sexual Behavior Published

Jan 7, 
1948

President Truman Promises Civil Rights Message

Jan 9, 
1948

Hollywood Ten Arraigned for Contempt of Congress

Jan 12, 
1948

Supreme Court Requires Oklahoma to Provide Equal Law School Opportunity for African-Americans

Feb 2, 
1948

President Truman Delivers Civil Rights Message to Congress

Feb 19, 
1948

Virginia Senator Byrd Compares President Truman’s Civil Rights Plan to Hitler and Stalin

Mar 19, 
1948

French Nobel Prize Winner, Mme. Joliot-Curie, Detained at Ellis Island for 24 Hours

Mar 22, 
1948

A. Philip Randolph Confronts Truman Over Segregated Military

Mar 26, 
1948

Philadelphia Police Seize 2,000 Books; Authors Protest

Mar 30, 
1948

A. Philip Randolph Threatens to Advise Young African-American Men Not to Register for a Segregated Draft

Apr 8, 
1948

Southern Leaders Attack President Truman’s 1948 Civil Rights Speech

May 1, 
1948

Senator Glen Taylor Arrested in Civil Rights Protest

May 3, 
1948

Supreme Court Rules Restrictive Racial Covenants in Housing Not Enforceable

Jun 12, 
1948

Women’s Armed Services Integration Act is Passed

Jun 18, 
1948

CIA Gets Covert Action Authority

Jul 7, 
1948

First Six Enlisted Women Sworn into the U.S. Navy

Jul 13, 
1948

Groups Protest NYC Public Schools Ban on “The Nation” Magazine

Jul 14, 
1948

Democratic Party Convention Adopts Historic Civil Rights Plank

Jul 14, 
1948

Segregationist Dixiecrats Walk Out of Democratic Party Convention, Create States’ Rights Party

Jul 18, 
1948

Meiklejohn: “Everything Worth Saying Should Be Said”

Jul 19, 
1948

Canwell Committee Begins Hearings on Communism in Washington State

Jul 20, 
1948

Communist Party Leaders Arrested – Test of Smith Act Ahead

Jul 22, 
1948

NYC Seeking New Rules to Govern Use of Sound Trucks, Loudspeakers

Jul 23, 
1948

An Early Voice for Young People: National Youth Organization Demands Vote for 18-Year-Olds

Jul 26, 
1948

President Truman Desegregates U. S. Military

Jul 28, 
1948

NY “Released Time” Law for Religious Instruction Challenged

Aug 14, 
1948

States’ Rights Party Adopts Pro-Segregation Platform

Aug 21, 
1948

ACLU Officials Roger Baldwin and Arthur Garfield Hays Invited to Advise U.S. Government on German Occupation

Sep 13, 
1948

Margaret Chase Smith First Woman Elected to Serve in Both Houses of Congress

Oct 1, 
1948

California Supreme Court Ends Ban on Interracial Marriages

Oct 1, 
1948

Guilty of Speaking in the Park

Oct 4, 
1948

First “First Monday” for African-Americans: William T. Coleman Becomes First African-American to Clerk for Supreme Court Justice

Nov 1, 
1948

Smith Act Trial Begins – First Amendment Test Lies Ahead

Nov 2, 
1948

President Truman Re-Elected – Two Civil Liberties Actions Play Major Role

Nov 16, 
1948

Anti-National Health Care “Thought Control in Medicine” Denounced

Dec 9, 
1948

ACLU Protests New York “Regents’ Prayer” For Public Schools

Dec 9, 
1948

UN General Assembly Adopts Convention Against Genocide

Dec 10, 
1948

“Respectful Prostitute” Play Banned in Chicago Over Race Issues

Dec 10, 
1948

Catholic Students in Binghamton, NY, Burn 10,000 Comic Books

Dec 10, 
1948

Human Rights Day – Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted

Dec 17, 
1948

ACLU Leader Urges U.S. to Grant Civil Liberties to Germans

Feb 5, 
1949

President Truman Calls for a Program of Civil Liberties for “All People”

Feb 12, 
1949

Pickets Protest White Male-Only American Bowling Congress

Mar 10, 
1949

New York Comics Censorship Bill Denounced

Apr 20, 
1949

African American Youth Told to Accept “Half a Loaf”

May 16, 
1949

Supreme Court: First Amendment Protects Provocative Speech

Jun 6, 
1949

An Ominous, Prophetic Vision: Orwell’s Novel “1984” Published

Jun 8, 
1949

Frank Sinatra Denounces Political Smears by California Un-American Activities Committee

Jun 20, 
1949

Congress Explicitly Grants Secrecy to the CIA

Jun 27, 
1949

Supreme Court Refuses to Apply Exclusionary Rule to the States

Jul 1, 
1949

Ohio House of Reps. Supports 16 Year-Old African-American Girl, Victim of American Legion Discrimination

Jul 18, 
1949

Baseball Great Jackie Robinson Testifies Before HUAC

Aug 27, 
1949

Peekskill, New York: Anti-Communist Riot Blocks Robeson Concert

Aug 30, 
1949

Gen. MacArthur Cancels Margaret Sanger Visit to Japan

Sep 4, 
1949

Rescheduled Peekskill, NY, Concert Held

Oct 14, 
1949

Communist Party Leaders Found Guilty in Major Smith Act Trial

Oct 21, 
1949

President Truman Nominates Burnita Shelton Matthews as First Woman District Court Judge

Nov 23, 
1949

New York County Bar Association Urges Ban on Wiretapping

Nov 30, 
1949

University of California Faculty Organize Opposition to Loyalty Oath

Dec 8, 
1949

Geneva Conventions Adopted

Jan 8, 
1950

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Organized

Jan 9, 
1950

Attorney General McGrath Defends FBI Wiretapping

Jan 21, 
1950

“Fear Obscures Reason,” Justice Hugo Black Warns of Cold War Hysteria

Jan 25, 
1950

Senate Approves Equal Rights Amendment for Women by Vote of 63-19

Feb 9, 
1950

“McCarthyism” is Born

Feb 20, 
1950

Senator Joe McCarthy Claims List of 81 Communists in Government

Feb 21, 
1950

Rep. FDR, Jr., Attacks State Department Over Visa Denials

Feb 28, 
1950

Gov. Earl Warren Opposes University of California Loyalty Oath

Mar 8, 
1950

Senator Joe McCarthy Names First Alleged “Communist” – She Wasn’t One

Mar 14, 
1950

Actress Ingrid Bergman’s Affair Provokes Scandal and a Civil Liberties Crisis

Mar 22, 
1950

University of California Faculty Votes Not to Employ Communists

Mar 29, 
1950

Cartoonist Herblock Labels “McCarthyism”

Mar 29, 
1950

Lavender Scare: Senator Claims “Thousands” of Homosexuals in Federal Government

Mar 31, 
1950

U.S. Seizes, Burns 3,000 Copies of “Scientific American”

Apr 4, 
1950

Burnita Matthews Confirmed as First Female U.S. District Court Judge

Apr 12, 
1950

U.S. Occupation Officials Allow Birth Control Magazine in Japan; Deny Margaret Sanger Permission to Visit

Apr 18, 
1950

No Political Test for Jury Duty

Apr 21, 
1950

University of California Regents Adopt Loyalty Oath

Apr 22, 
1950

Charles Hamilton Houston, Civil Rights Pioneer, Dies

May 1, 
1950

Mosinee, Wisconsin, (Pop. 1,400) Occupied by “Reds” in Mock Communist Takeover

May 12, 
1950

It’s a Strike for Equality! American Bowling Congress Abolishes All-White-Male Policy

May 19, 
1950

“The Lavender Scare:” Homophobic Panic Hits Washington

May 29, 
1950

Businessman: Civil Liberties “Best Defense Against ‘Isms’ ”

Jun 1, 
1950

Senator Margaret Chase Smith Denounces Joe McCarthy – And is Punished by GOP

Jun 5, 
1950

Supreme Court Holds Racially Segregated Railway Dining Cars Illegal

Jun 5, 
1950

Univ. Texas Law School Must Admit African-American: “Sweatt v. Painter”

Jun 22, 
1950

“Red Channels” Report Names Alleged Communists, Leads to Blacklisting

Jun 26, 
1950

Anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom Formed

Jun 29, 
1950

President Truman Calls U.S. Role in Korean War a “Police Action” – But No Such Concept Exists in International Law

Jul 29, 
1950

Cold War Victim: Hazel Scott TV Show Cancelled

Aug 2, 
1950

CIA Begins Covert, Secret and Corrupt Relationship With National Student Association

Aug 4, 
1950

Paul Robeson’s Passport Suspended; Trip Blocked

Aug 7, 
1950

Artist Rockwell Kent Denied Passport Extension

Aug 13, 
1950

NYC Police Ban Peace Rally – NYCLU Protests

Aug 20, 
1950

Grand Jury Criticizes ACLU Report on Peekskill Anti-Communist Riot

Aug 23, 
1950

U.S. Senate Brands Famous Italian Film Director Rossellini a “Fascist”

Aug 25, 
1950

31 University of California Faculty Fired in Loyalty Oath Controversy

Sep 1, 
1950

Folk Singer Josh White Reads Lyrics of “Strange Fruit” into the Congressional Record

Sep 3, 
1950

Into the Quagmire: First U.S. Military Assistance Group Arrives in Vietnam

Sep 17, 
1950

HUAC Calls National Lawyers Guild the “Legal Bulwark of the Communist Party”

Sep 20, 
1950

ABA Convention Calls for Loyalty Oath for All Lawyers

Sep 22, 
1950

Anti-Korean War Protester Waves “Peace” Flag; Gets Two Months in the Workhouse

Sep 22, 
1950

Congress Passes Emergency Detention Act

Sep 22, 
1950

Repressive McCarran Act Passed Over President Truman’s Veto

Oct 3, 
1950

Gov. Earl Warren Signs Levering Act, Loyalty Oath for All State Employees

Oct 31, 
1950

Earl Lloyd First African-American Player in NBA

Nov 11, 
1950

Mattachine Society Founded – First National Gay Men’s Rights Group

Nov 23, 
1950

Judge Orders End to Mexican-American School Segregation in Arizona

Nov 27, 
1950

Senate Report: “Homosexuals . . . Are Not Proper Persons to be Employed in Government”

Nov 30, 
1950

Author of Book Critical of the FBI Attacked, Smeared on the Floor of Congress

Dec 10, 
1950

Ralph J. Bunche First African-American to Win Nobel Peace Prize

Dec 12, 
1950

“The Miracle” Film Opens in New York City; Heads to Supreme Court

Dec 16, 
1950

Truman Declares National Emergency to Combat “Communist Imperialism”

Jan 16, 
1951

Hawaii Judge Acquits Three of Contempt of Congress for Claiming the Fifth Amendment Before HUAC

Jan 26, 
1951

No Liberal Magazines for Los Angeles Students

Feb 4, 
1951

Protestant, Jewish Religious Leaders Protest Film Censorship

Apr 11, 
1951

President Truman Fires Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Asserts Civilian Control Over Military

Apr 22, 
1951

NY Times Columnist Charges “Conspiracy of Silence” over Radio and Television Blacklisting

Apr 25, 
1951

Hollywood Director Edward Dmytryk “Rehabilitates” Himself: Gives HUAC 26 Names

May 14, 
1951

HUAC Publishes “Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications”

May 20, 
1951

NAACP Declares Today “Josephine Baker Day” in Harlem

Jun 4, 
1951

Smith Act Held Constitutional: Severe Blow to First Amendment

Jun 14, 
1951

Joe McCarthy Attacks American War Hero, Gen. George C. Marshall

Jul 4, 
1951

Cold War Reign of Fear: Madison, WI, Residents Afraid to Sign Petition with Excerpts from Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights

Jul 9, 
1951

Author Dashiell Hammett Refuses to Provide Names of Contributors to Left-Wing Bail Fund

Jul 11, 
1951

Cicero, Illinois, Race Riot – Whites Protest Racial Integration

Jul 29, 
1951

Loyalty Oaths Spread Fear, Charges ACLU

Aug 1, 
1951

Radio Artists Bar Communists from Membership – ACLU Protests

Aug 13, 
1951

ACLU Defends Right of NYC Police to Form a Union

Sep 4, 
1951

Ohio State Imposes Speaker Ban

Sep 5, 
1951

Only One Senator Supports President Truman’s Firing of General MacArthur

Sep 12, 
1951

LA Unitarian Minister Accused of “Aid and Comfort to the Communist Cause”

Sep 18, 
1951

Evasion of Hollywood Blacklist by Film Studios Exposed

Sep 19, 
1951

All-Time “Namer of Names,” Martin Berkeley, Names 150+ to HUAC

Oct 4, 
1951

Ford Foundation Gives Fund For the Republic $1 Million For Bill of Rights Studies

Oct 8, 
1951

Emergency Civil Liberties Committee Formed

Oct 15, 
1951

Corliss Lamont, Prominent Civil Libertarian, Denied Passport

Oct 20, 
1951

Protestant Church Leaders Protest Nomination of U.S. Envoy to the Vatican

Oct 30, 
1951

Photo League Disbands; Victim of the Cold War

Dec 6, 
1951

TV Censorship – Television Broadcasters Adopt Code of Conduct

Dec 8, 
1951

Bugs in the Bedroom – Police Place Listening Devices in Irvine’s Bedroom

Dec 17, 
1951

“We Charge Genocide:” Paul Robeson Presents Anti-lynching Petition to U. N.

Dec 25, 
1951

Harry T. Moore, Wife Killed By KKK Firebombing of Their Home

Dec 26, 
1951

Civil Rights Activist William Patterson, In Paris, Refuses to Surrender Passport

Jan 2, 
1952

It “Shocks the Conscience:” Police Forcibly Pump Suspect’s Stomach

Jan 13, 
1952

Cold War: “The Black Silence of Fear”

Feb 3, 
1952

Famed African American Singer Josephine Baker Returns from Paris to Protest St. Louis School Segregation

Feb 6, 
1952

Members of Weavers, Folksinging Group, Named as Communists Before HUAC

Feb 11, 
1952

Oklahoma City Burns Books for “Socialism and Sex”

Mar 10, 
1952

“Kill the Lawyers:” Smith Act Trial Attorneys Contempt Convictions Upheld

Mar 25, 
1952

Homophobic Scare: State Department Removes 126 “Perverts”

Apr 6, 
1952

ACLU Report Blasts Cold War Blacklisting

Apr 8, 
1952

ACLU Files FCC Complaint Over Radio & TV Blacklisting

Apr 8, 
1952

Truman Seizes Steel Mills – Begins Confrontation Over Presidential Power

Apr 10, 
1952

Naming Names: Famed Director Elia Kazan Names 8 People Before HUAC

Apr 23, 
1952

Mississippi Rep. John Rankin Slurs Jews on the House Floor

Apr 28, 
1952

Supreme Court Okays “Released Time” for Religious Instruction

Apr 28, 
1952

Supreme Court Upholds Illinois “Group Libel” Law

May 1, 
1952

Actor Edward G. Robinson Confesses to HUAC — “I Was a Sucker”

May 11, 
1952

Linus Pauling, Distinguished Scientist, Denied Passport For His Political Views

May 21, 
1952

Playwright Lillian Hellman Famously Rebukes HUAC

May 26, 
1952

“The Miracle!” Movies Protected by First Amendment

Jun 2, 
1952

Supreme Court Overrules Truman: Limits Presidential Power in Steel Seizure Case

Jun 27, 
1952

Subversives Out! Repressive McCarran-Walter Immigration Act Signed

Jul 1, 
1952

Eason Monroe, Fired For Refusing to Sign Loyalty Oath, Becomes Head of ACLU of Southern California

Jul 5, 
1952

Loyalty Oath Required for Public Housing

Jul 25, 
1952

Puerto Rico Constitution Ratified

Jul 30, 
1952

Classic Film “High Noon” Released – Co-Producer/Writer’s Name Deleted (Carl Foreman)

Aug 27, 
1952

U.S. Attorney in Cleveland Asks Court’s Okay to Burn Two Books

Aug 29, 
1952

Frank Wilkinson Declines to Answer Questions About Political Associations, Is Fired, Begins Civil Liberties Career

Sep 8, 
1952

ACLU Opens Washington, D.C., Lobbying Office

Sep 17, 
1952

Charlie Chaplin Sails for England – Visa Revoked

Sep 23, 
1952

Nixon: “I Am Not a Quitter” – 22 Years Later, He Quit

Oct 2, 
1952

Candidate Eisenhower Caves in to Joe McCarthy

Oct 17, 
1952

California Supreme Court Invalidates University of California Loyalty Oath

Oct 24, 
1952

Secret Truman Order Creates National Security Agency

Oct 28, 
1952

Attorney General: Charlie Chaplin Must “Prove His Worth” to Return to U.S.

Oct 28, 
1952

Frank Wilkinson Fired From LA Public Housing Job – Begins Long Civil Liberties Career

Nov 4, 
1952

National Security Agency (NSA) Begins Operation

Dec 8, 
1952

“I Love Lucy,” But Just Don’t Say She’s ‘Pregnant’

Dec 29, 
1952

Loyalty Oath May Force Legless WW II Veteran Out of Public Housing

Dec 31, 
1952

U.S. Ends First Year in 70 Years With No Lynchings

Jan 5, 
1953

“Whom Shall We Welcome?” President Truman Endorses Immigration Reform Report

Jan 17, 
1953

A Truly Free Press: First Issue of I.F. Stone’s Weekly Published

Jan 19, 
1953

“Lucy Goes to the Hospital” – Just Doesn’t Say Why

Jan 20, 
1953

Eisenhower Breaks Precedent: Begins Inaugural Address with a Prayer

Jan 20, 
1953

No “Leftist” Music at the Inaugural

Jan 21, 
1953

And When He was Good . . . . : Herbert Brownell, Jr., Becomes Attorney General

Jan 22, 
1953

“The Crucible” Opens in New York; Playwright Arthur Miller’s Cold War Statement

Feb 5, 
1953

President Eisenhower Speaks at First National Prayer Breakfast

Feb 10, 
1953

Theodore Schroeder, Early Free Speech Advocate, Dies

Feb 25, 
1953

President Eisenhower Warns: Communist Math Teachers May Sneak Marxism Into Math Problems

Mar 7, 
1953

“No Freud in Cleveland!” Purity Crusade Removes Books by Famed Psychologist

Mar 7, 
1953

Lewd Pictures, Movies, and Books Burned in Newark, NJ

Mar 9, 
1953

Supreme Court Creates “State Secrets” Doctrine

Mar 18, 
1953

Top New York Times Editor: Ban Communists as Teachers

Mar 19, 
1953

Howard Hughes Explains How to Make the Hollywood Blacklist Really Work

Mar 24, 
1953

Noted Poet Langston Hughes Grilled by Joe McCarthy, Bends But Does Not Break

Apr 5, 
1953

Joe McCarthy Aides Tour Europe, Purge Overseas U.S. Libraries

Apr 11, 
1953

Mattachine Society Draws 500 to Gay Rights Convention in LA

Apr 13, 
1953

CIA Launches MKULTRA – Secret Drug Experiments Project

Apr 27, 
1953

President Eisenhower Expands Loyalty Program to Cover Homosexuality

May 4, 
1953

FBI Opens File on Malcolm [X] Little — As a Communist !

May 5, 
1953

Famed Dancer Jerome Robbins “Names Names” Before HUAC

Jun 8, 
1953

Supreme Court Orders Desegregation of Washington, D.C. Restaurants

Jun 14, 
1953

“Don’t Join the Book Burners:” Ike Indirectly Criticizes Joe McCarthy, Then Quickly Backtracks

Jun 19, 
1953

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg Executed – Case Filled With Civil Liberties Problems

Jul 8, 
1953

Eeek! A Virgin! The Film “The Moon is Blue” Premiers in New York

Jul 9, 
1953

Joe McCarthy Aide Attacks “Reds in Our Churches”

Jul 14, 
1953

Chicago Ban on Film “The Miracle” Overturned

Jul 29, 
1953

Abraham Chasanow Suspended From Navy Job – Civil Liberties Nightmare Begins

Aug 1, 
1953

Native-American Tribal Termination Policy Begins

Aug 9, 
1953

ACLU Defends Federal Civil Rights Investigations

Aug 19, 
1953

CIA-engineered Coup Overthrows Government in Iran

Aug 20, 
1953

Kinsey Report on Sexual Behavior of Women to be Published

Aug 27, 
1953

A.G. Brownell Calls Lawyers Guild “Legal Mouthpiece” of the Communist Party

Sep 4, 
1953

HUAC Loves Lucy

Sep 23, 
1953

Army Bans Kinsey Report on Women From its Libraries – Claims Subject “Not Of Interest to G.I.s”

Sep 23, 
1953

CIA Expands Secret and Illegal Mail Opening Program

Oct 2, 
1953

Earl Warren Joins Supreme Court

Nov 4, 
1953

President Eisenhower Privately Admits Loyalty Program Problems – Does Not Act on Them

Dec 23, 
1953

AEC Suspends J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Security Clearance

Dec 27, 
1953

“Night Before Christmas” Comic Book Banned in Massachusetts

Jan 11, 
1954

First Latino Lawyers Argue Before Supreme Court

Feb 5, 
1954

Harvard Law Dean Defends Fifth Amendment

Feb 8, 
1954

No Police Eavesdropping in Your Bedroom!

Feb 18, 
1954

Cover-up: CIA Not Required to Report Criminal Conduct

Mar 1, 
1954

Earl Warren Finally Confirmed as Chief Justice

Mar 9, 
1954

Edward R. Murrow Exposes Sen. Joe McCarthy

Mar 14, 
1954

“Salt of the Earth” Film Released, Widely Banned for Left-Wing Perspective

Mar 19, 
1954

ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Condemns Senator Joe McCarthy

Apr 21, 
1954

Danger! Comic Books!

Apr 22, 
1954

Army-McCarthy Hearings Begin – McCarthy Destroys Himself

Apr 30, 
1954

History Teacher Fired for Taking the Fifth Amendment

May 3, 
1954

All Racial and Ethnic Groups Guaranteed Equal Protection: “Hernandez v. Texas”

May 17, 
1954

“Separate but Equal” Unconstitutional: Landmark “Brown v. Board of Education” Decision

May 17, 
1954

President Eisenhower Issues Executive Privilege Memo

May 17, 
1954

President Eisenhower: “Women: Where Are They Not Equal?”

May 19, 
1954

President Eisenhower Fails to Give Strong Endorsement of Historic “Brown v. Board of Education” Decision

May 20, 
1954

Attorney General Brownell Advises FBI to Evade Supreme Court Decision on Eavesdropping

May 27, 
1954

AEC Denies Noted Scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer Appeal Over Security Clearance

Jun 9, 
1954

“Have You No Decency?” Joseph N. Welch Rebukes Senator Joe McCarthy

Jun 14, 
1954

“Under God” Added to Pledge of Allegiance

Jun 17, 
1954

“Operation Wetback” Begins: Latinos Deported

Jun 24, 
1954

New York State Bar Association: Disbar Members of Subversive Organizations

Jul 11, 
1954

Segregationist White Citizens’ Council Formed to Fight Integration

Jul 27, 
1954

Soldier Given “Undesirable” Discharge for Urban League Membership

Jul 28, 
1954

Film “On the Waterfront” Premieres – Cold War Debate Energized

Jul 29, 
1954

ACLU Defends Dorothy Kenyon, Named by Joe McCarthy

Aug 6, 
1954

“Girl Scout Handbook” Subversive?

Aug 12, 
1954

New York Film Censors Okay Scene of Birth of a Calf in Disney Nature Movie

Aug 20, 
1954

Compelled Testimony: President Eisenhower Signs Bill to Limit Fifth Amendment

Aug 24, 
1954

Banned: Congress Outlaws Communist Party

Sep 24, 
1954

Billboard Magazine Calls for Censorship of R&B Songs

Sep 30, 
1954

Rationale for Secrecy and Lawlessness: The Cold War is “A Different Kind of War”

Oct 26, 
1954

Save the Children! Comic Book Code Adopted

Nov 30, 
1954

National Swimming Star Virginia Hopkins Watson Dies of Illegal Abortion

Dec 2, 
1954

Senate Censures Joe McCarthy

Dec 13, 
1954

Civil Rights Activist Carl Braden Convicted of Sedition

Dec 14, 
1954

Arthur Garfield Hays, Noted ACLU Lawyer, Dies

Jan 3, 
1955

Civil Service Reports on Impact of Federal Loyalty Program

Jan 20, 
1955

Sit-ins Integrate Baltimore Lunch Counters at Read’s Stores

Mar 2, 
1955

Nine Months Before Rosa Parks: Four African-American Women Challenge Discrimination on Montgomery, Alabama, Bus

Mar 2, 
1955

Screen Actors Guild to Expel Members Who Refuse to Testify About Political Associations

Mar 17, 
1955

John Marshall Harlan, II Joins Supreme Court

Mar 28, 
1955

“Blackboard Jungle” Banned in Memphis

Apr 15, 
1955

First Abortion Conference in the U.S.

Apr 21, 
1955

“Inherit the Wind” Opens on Broadway

Apr 27, 
1955

California Supreme Court Imposes Exclusionary Rule on Police

Apr 30, 
1955

Ruth Shipley Retires – “Queendom” of Passports Ends

May 17, 
1955

Rock Around the Quad! 1,000 Princeton Students “Riot” Over “Rock Around the Clock”

May 22, 
1955

Lock Up Your Teenagers! Fats is Coming

May 31, 
1955

“All Deliberate Speed:” Implementing “Brown v. Board of Education”

Jun 10, 
1955

Censorship Office: Film on Famous Scopes Trial “Unfair” to “Religious-Thinking People”

Jun 23, 
1955

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Rebuffs President Eisenhower Over Segregated National Guard

Jul 10, 
1955

E. Frederic Morrow Becomes First African-American Presidential Aide

Aug 2, 
1955

ACLU Wins Passports for Two Who Were Denied, One for No Reason and One for a Bad Reason

Aug 12, 
1955

A.D.A. Head Proclaims (Somewhat Prematurely) “End of the McCarthy Era”

Aug 18, 
1955

Pete Seeger Asserts First Amendment Right at HUAC Hearing

Aug 21, 
1955

Houston Claims Success in Anti-Rock and Roll Campaign

Aug 26, 
1955

“Blackboard Jungle” Removed as U.S. Entry in Venice Film Festival

Aug 28, 
1955

Emmett Till, 14, Murdered in Mississippi

Sep 1, 
1955

Blacklist Victim Philip Loeb Commits Suicide

Sep 1, 
1955

Huck Finn Whitewashed – No Slavery, No African-Americans in TV Movie

Sep 21, 
1955

Daughters of Bilitis Founded; First U.S. Lesbian Group

Oct 6, 
1955

Allen Ginsberg Reads “Howl” for the First Time

Oct 7, 
1955

ACLU Condemns Secret Recording of Juries

Oct 10, 
1955

“The Ladder:” First National lesbian Magazine Releases First Issue

Oct 15, 
1955

“Right to Travel” Art Exhibit Opens: Paintings by Rockwell Kent

Oct 19, 
1955

NAACP Called a “Threat” to Georgia

Oct 19, 
1955

Public Housing Residents Threatened with Eviction for Not Signing Loyalty Oath

Oct 22, 
1955

Future Civil Rights Hero Frank M. Johnson Appointed District Court Judge in Alabama

Oct 24, 
1955

Can We Say “Virgin”? Supreme Court Okays Film “The Moon is Blue”

Oct 25, 
1955

Paul Child, Husband of Famous Chef Julia Child, “Cleared” by FBI

Nov 7, 
1955

The Road to FOIA Begins – Rep. John Moss Opens Hearings on Government Secrecy

Nov 17, 
1955

Civil Rights Bloc Formed in Congress

Dec 1, 
1955

Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat to a White Person– Inspires Historic Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dec 5, 
1955

Rosa Parks Convicted for Refusing to Give Up Her Seat; Bus Boycott Begins

Dec 15, 
1955

“Man With the Golden Arm” Opens Without Hollywood Seal of Approval – Challenges Censorship Code

Dec 24, 
1955

Folk Group The Weavers’ Concert at Carnegie Hall Signals End to Blacklist and the Worst of the Cold War

Jan 4, 
1956

Senate Subcommittee Investigates The New York Times for Alleged Communist Influence

Jan 12, 
1956

Erotica Publisher Samuel Roth is Convicted of Obscenity, Heads to Supreme Court

Jan 19, 
1956

“Dragnet” Episode Attacks CA Supreme Court Exclusionary Rule Decision

Jan 19, 
1956

Estimates 750,000 Illegal Abortions a Year in U.S.

Jan 24, 
1956

Restrictive Hollywood Code, Under Attack, To Be Re-Examined

Jan 26, 
1956

Martin Luther King’s First Arrest

Feb 7, 
1956

Samuel Roth (“the Prometheus of the Unprintable”) is Convicted

Feb 16, 
1956

“Powell Amendment” Blocks Federal Education Bill Over Segregation Issue

Feb 17, 
1956

Willie Morris Pushes Freedom of the Press for Univ. Texas Student Paper

Feb 27, 
1956

Loyalty Oaths Cannot Be Required for Federal Housing

Feb 29, 
1956

Mississippi Votes for “Interposition” to Fight Civil Rights

Mar 8, 
1956

Notorious FBI COINTELPRO Program Approved

Mar 9, 
1956

J. Edgar Hoover Tells President Eisenhower “Brown” Decision to Blame for “Rising Tensions”

Mar 11, 
1956

Author Graham Greene Skewers CIA Mentality – U.S. Reviewers Denounce His Novel

Mar 12, 
1956

“Southern Manifesto:” Southern Congress Members Pledge to Defend Racial Segregation

Mar 14, 
1956

Liberal Senators Denounce “Southern Manifesto”

Mar 27, 
1956

Rev. Billy Graham Advises President Eisenhower to “Stay Out” of the Civil Rights Controversy

Mar 29, 
1956

Mississippi Creates State Sovereignty Commission to Fight Civil Rights

Apr 2, 
1956

Pennsylvania Sedition Law Unconstitutional Under Federal Preemption Doctrine

Apr 10, 
1956

Birmingham Racists Attack Nat King Cole on Stage

Apr 11, 
1956

CIA Narrowly Escapes Closer Senate Oversight

May 16, 
1956

Mississippi Hires Secret Spies to Fight Integration

Jun 11, 
1956

Federal Loyalty Program Ruled Not Applicable to Non-Sensitive Jobs

Jun 12, 
1956

“You Are the Un-Americans:” Paul Robeson Denounces HUAC

Jun 13, 
1956

Court Orders Montgomery, Alabama, Buses Desegregated

Jun 21, 
1956

Playwright Arthur Miller Testifies Before HUAC – Refuses to Name Names

Jun 26, 
1956

“One Pro-Communist Decision After Another:” Right-Wingers Attack Supreme Court

Jul 1, 
1956

Report Condemns Blacklisting in Movies and Television

Aug 23, 
1956

Stamp Out Orgasms! Government Seizes and Burns the Work of Dr. Wilhelm Reich

Sep 9, 
1956

From the Waist Up: Elvis Censored on Ed Sullivan Show

Sep 10, 
1956

Police Must be Impartial, NYC Police Commissioner Says

Sep 29, 
1956

Virginia Passes Five Repressive Anti-NAACP Laws

Oct 15, 
1956

William J. Brennan Joins Supreme Court

Oct 18, 
1956

Southern States Violating the Law, Charges ACLU

Oct 24, 
1956

J. Edgar Hoover Warns Eisenhower of Communist Infiltration of Civil Rights Movement

Nov 5, 
1956

Nat King Cole Show, First to Star an African-American, Debuts on NBC television

Nov 11, 
1956

ACLU Releases Pioneering Report on Academic Freedom for Students

Nov 25, 
1956

Oscar-Nominated Film . . . Has No Screenwriter!

Nov 26, 
1956

Three NY Times Employees Indicted for Contempt of Congress

Dec 7, 
1956

ACLU Attorney A.L. Wirin Ejected From HUAC Hearing

Dec 11, 
1956

Hollywood Production Code Lightens Up – Ends Ban on Miscegenation, Abortion, Illegal Drugs

Dec 17, 
1956

Supreme Court Affirms Desegregation of Montgomery, Alabama, Buses

Jan 15, 
1957

NYC Bar Association Urges Curbs on Wiretapping

Jan 17, 
1957

Defund HUAC Urges ACLU of Northern California

Feb 8, 
1957

Free Speech Scholar Zechariah Chafee, Jr. Dies

Feb 24, 
1957

Academy Awards Votes to Bar HUAC Witnesses

Feb 26, 
1957

Supreme Court Nominee William Brennan Gives Surprising Answers at Confirmation Hearings

Mar 25, 
1957

Stop that Poem! Customs Seizes Copies of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”

Mar 27, 
1957

And the Oscar Goes to . . . A Blacklisted Screenwriter – Dalton Trumbo

May 2, 
1957

Senator Joe McCarthy Dies – McCarthyism Lives On

May 17, 
1957

“Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom:” 1957 Civil Rights March on Washington

May 23, 
1957

Cleveland Police Raid Dolree Mapp’s House: Case Leads to Exclusionary Rule

May 26, 
1957

Paul Robeson Denied Passport – Gives London Concert by Phone

May 31, 
1957

Famed Playwright Arthur Miller Convicted of Contempt of Congress

Jun 3, 
1957

You Can’t Read “Howl”! Publisher of Now-Classic Poem Arrested

Jun 17, 
1957

“Red Monday” – Supreme Court Limits Anti-Communist Measures

Jun 18, 
1957

HUAC Chair to Supreme Court: “Bone Up on Communism”

Jun 24, 
1957

Obscenity Not Protected by the First Amendment: “Roth v. United States”

Jun 28, 
1957

President Eisenhower Marks Islamic Religious Freedom in America

Jul 3, 
1957

Memphis Bans Film “Island in the Sun” For Interracial Theme

Jul 14, 
1957

Fund for the Republic to Support Studies of Cold War Impact on Civil Liberties

Jul 15, 
1957

Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood Leader, 2006-2018, Born

Jul 15, 
1957

Daniel Seeger Claims CO Status – Begins Road to Supreme Court

Aug 10, 
1957

End of an Era in Censorship – Boston Watch and Ward Society Gives Up

Aug 13, 
1957

First African-American Family Moves into Levittown, PA – Is Greeted by Threats, Harassment & Cross Burnings

Aug 16, 
1957

Stamford, Connecticut, Launches Anti-Obscene Magazine Campaign

Aug 28, 
1957

Six Victims of 1692 Salem Witch Trials “Cleared” by Massachusetts Legislature

Sep 2, 
1957

Martin Luther King Speaks at Highlander Folk School – Is Falsely Accused of Attending a “Communist Training School”

Sep 4, 
1957

African-American Students Blocked From Entering Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas

Sep 4, 
1957

Wolfenden Report in UK Recommends De-criminalizing Private, Consensual Homosexual Behavior Between Adults

Sep 7, 
1957

First New York Meeting of the Daughters of Bilitis, First Lesbian Group in America

Sep 7, 
1957

Vatican Condemns Race Discrimination in the U.S.

Sep 9, 
1957

President Eisenhower (Reluctantly) Signs the Historic 1957 Civil Rights Act

Sep 23, 
1957

Segregationist Mob Blocks School Integration in Little Rock

Sep 25, 
1957

President Eisenhower Sends Troops to Little Rock to Enforce Integration

Oct 3, 
1957

You Can Now Read “Howl”– Publisher Acquitted of Obscenity Charges

Oct 11, 
1957

“Don’t Put the T*ilet Se*t On TV”

Nov 1, 
1957

Alfred Kinsey Wins Sex Research Censorship Case

Nov 16, 
1957

Catholic Bishops Adopt Plan to Fight Obscenity

Dec 5, 
1957

New York City First in Nation to Pass Fair Housing Ordinance

Dec 29, 
1957

Reporter William Worthy, Jr. Rejects Passport Restrictions

Jan 13, 
1958

Supreme Court Ends Post Office Ban on Homosexual Materials

Jan 17, 
1958

61 Chicago-area Notables Call for Abolition of HUAC

Jan 22, 
1958

Spy vs. Spy: FBI Stumbles Onto Illegal CIA Domestic Mail Cover Program

Mar 31, 
1958

Government Can’t Strip a Person of Citizenship as Punishment

May 13, 
1958

Jackie Robinson Denounces President Eisenhower’s Weak Leadership on Civil Rights

Jun 2, 
1958

Happy Anniversary! Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving Marry

Jun 16, 
1958

Supreme Court Affirms The Right to Travel

Jun 19, 
1958

Joe Papp, Future Theater Great, Takes the Fifth Before HUAC – Is Fired by CBS

Jun 23, 
1958

Eisenhower Meets with Four Civil Rights Leaders in the White House – Nothing Results

Jun 30, 
1958

Supreme Court Establishes Right of Freedom of Association

Jun 30, 
1958

Supreme Court: No Loyalty Oath for Veterans Benefits

Jul 11, 
1958

Mildred and Richard Loving Rousted Out of Bed, Arrested For Being Married

Jul 19, 
1958

1958 Wichita Sit-In Challenges Segregation

Jul 30, 
1958

Frank Wilkinson, Anti-HUAC Activist, Refuses to Answer HUAC Questions

Aug 7, 
1958

Playwright Arthur Miller’s HUAC Contempt Conviction Overturned

Aug 11, 
1958

Early Wichita Sit-in Successful

Aug 19, 
1958

NAACP Youth Council Conducts Early Sit-in in Oklahoma City

Sep 2, 
1958

National Defense Education Act Includes Loyalty Oath and Bar to Civil Rights Enforcement

Sep 11, 
1958

Justice Department Drops Effort to Designate Lawyers Guild a Subversive Organization

Sep 12, 
1958

“The Constitution is Supreme:” Cooper v. Aaron

Sep 18, 
1958

Cincinnati Public Library Bans “Lolita,” Acclaimed Novel

Oct 25, 
1958

Youth March for Integrated Schools in D.C. Draws More Than 10,000

Nov 12, 
1958

Joseph Papp, Fired and Blacklisted, Ordered Reinstated in Job at CBS

Dec 9, 
1958

John Birch Society, Hard-Line Anti-Communist Group, Founded

Feb 13, 
1959

Holyoke, Mass. Allows Rent-Free Catholic School Classes in its Public Schools

Mar 13, 
1959

Advocates for the Blind Demand New Federal Rules

Mar 31, 
1959

John Birch Society Head Denies Calling President Eisenhower a “Card-Carrying Communist”

Apr 16, 
1959

“Just Don’t Mention Gas Chambers;” CBS Censors TV Program on Nuremberg Trials

Apr 18, 
1959

Third Youth March for Integrated Schools

May 1, 
1959

Prince Edward County, Virginia, Closes Schools Rather Than Integrate

May 6, 
1959

California Ratifies 14th Amendment — 91 Years Late!

May 6, 
1959

New York Post Office Seizes “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”

May 21, 
1959

A First Step: American Law Institute Proposes Abortion Law Reform

May 25, 
1959

Three Segregationists Voted Off Little Rock, Arkansas, School Board; Integration Struggle Continues

Jun 11, 
1959

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” Banned From the Mails

Jul 9, 
1959

Massachusetts Unveils Statue Honoring Mary Dyer, Executed for Being a Quaker in 1690

Jul 21, 
1959

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” Declared Not Obscene

Aug 25, 
1959

Jazz Great Miles Davis Beaten by NYC Police

Sep 5, 
1959

South Carolina Congressman Wants to “Kick Out” U.S. Civil Rights Commission

Sep 7, 
1959

Post Office to Stop Circulating Christian Pro-Censorship Editorial

Nov 13, 
1959

“The Lovers” Opens in Cleveland, Heads for Supreme Court

Jan 6, 
1959

Mildred and Richard Loving Plead Guilty – To Being Married

Jan 16, 
1960

Justice Department: Nazi “Hate Speech” Protected by First Amendment

Jan 20, 
1960

Danny Escobedo Arrested for Murder

Jan 20, 
1960

Hollywood Blacklist Broken – Producer Otto Preminger Credits Dalton Trumbo for “Exodus” Script

Jan 24, 
1960

A. Philip Randolph Calls for Mass Movement; Sit-Ins Begin a Week Later

Feb 1, 
1960

Greensboro, NC Sit-In — Civil Rights Struggle Enters Historic New Phase

Feb 13, 
1960

Nashville Students Begin Sit-ins

Feb 22, 
1960

Groups Criticize President Eisenhower’s New Security Order for Defense Workers

Feb 25, 
1960

“The Negroes Are Here!” First-Ever Sit-in in Alabama

Feb 27, 
1960

GOP Leader Senator Dirksen Supports “Good” Civil Rights Bill

Mar 15, 
1960

Julian Bond Leads Atlanta’s First Sit-In

Mar 29, 
1960

The Ad That Produced a Landmark First Amendment Case

Apr 4, 
1960

Anti-HUAC Demonstrations Planned

Apr 15, 
1960

SNCC Founded by Sit-In Leaders

Apr 24, 
1960

Biloxi “Wade-In” Challenges Segregated Beaches

Apr 25, 
1960

“Dragonslayers” Speech: Rep. Jimmy Roosevelt Calls for Abolition of HUAC

Apr 28, 
1960

Newly Formed SDS Holds “Act Now” Conference on Human Rights in the North

May 6, 
1960

Weak 1960 Civil Rights Act Signed Into Law

May 10, 
1960

Nashville Becomes First Major Southern City to Desegregate Public Facilities

May 11, 
1960

FDA Approves First Birth Control Pill, Sexual Revolution Begins

May 12, 
1960

Major Anti-HUAC Protest Begins in San Francisco; Police Brutality the Next Day

Jun 24, 
1960

Senator John F. Kennedy Praises Sit-Ins

Jun 30, 
1960

NYCLU to Defend Free Speech Rights of Top American Nazi

Jul 25, 
1960

Greensboro, North Carolina, Lunch Counters Integrated

Aug 4, 
1960

FBI COINTELPRO Memo Orders Disruption of Puerto Rican Independence Organizations

Aug 6, 
1960

Candidate John F. Kennedy Calls for Immigration Reform

Sep 7, 
1960

Protestant Group Attacks John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism

Sep 12, 
1960

John F. Kennedy Gives Historic Speech on Religious Liberty

Oct 6, 
1960

“Spartacus” Premiers in NYC – First Hollywood Film With Credit for Blacklisted Writer

Oct 10, 
1960

Committee to Abolish HUAC Holds First National Convention

Oct 17, 
1960

Major Sit-in Victory: Four Chain Stores Desegregate 150 Lunch Counters in 112 Cities

Oct 19, 
1960

Martin Luther King Arrested in Georgia – Leads to Famous JFK Phone Call

Oct 26, 
1960

John F. Kennedy Calls Coretta Scott King About Husband’s Imprisonment in Georgia

Oct 27, 
1960

Martin Luther King Released From Reidsville, Georgia Prison; RFK’s Phone Call Helped

Nov 14, 
1960

Tuskegee, Alabama,Voting District Violates the 15th Amendment

Dec 5, 
1960

Supreme Court Rules Against Segregated Bus Terminals

Dec 26, 
1960

ACLU Asks President-Elect Kennedy to Protect Native-American Rights

Jan 9, 
1961

Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, First African-Americans to Enroll at University of Georgia

Jan 25, 
1961

Controversy Sparked Over “Managed News” by the Kennedy Administration

Jan 26, 
1961

California Loyalty Oath for Organizations Using School Facilities Struck Down

Jan 27, 
1961

Activist Frank Kameny Brings First Gay Rights Case to the Supreme Court

Feb 2, 
1961

Civil Rights “Jail-in” in Rock Hill, South Carolina

Feb 9, 
1961

Sit-in Arrestees Refuse Bail in Georgia, Choose “Jail-In”

Feb 23, 
1961

National Council of Churches Endorses Birth Control

Mar 6, 
1961

President Kennedy Issues Equal Employment Opportunity Order

Mar 7, 
1961

Sit-In Victory: Atlanta Stores Desegregate Lunch Counters

Mar 27, 
1961

ACLU Opposes Legislative Investigation of Right-Wing John Birch Society

Mar 28, 
1961

Senate Committee Examines Rights of the Mentally Ill

Mar 29, 
1961

23rd Amendment Ratified, District of Columbia Residents Get to Vote in Presidential Elections

Apr 6, 
1961

Highlander Center, Labor, Civil Rights Advocate, Loses License Revocation Case

Apr 11, 
1961

No Folk Singing Allowed in the Park!

Apr 27, 
1961

President Kennedy Asks Press to Self-Censor National Security News: Uproar Follows

May 1, 
1961

Frank Wilkinson, Anti-HUAC Activist, Sent to Prison for Contempt of Congress

May 3, 
1961

Harvard Bans Pete Seeger From Singing – Faculty Protest

May 4, 
1961

Freedom Ride Begins, Challenges Segregation in Interstate Travel

May 9, 
1961

Freedom Rider John Lewis Beaten in Rock Hill, South Carolina

May 14, 
1961

Burning Buses in Alabama – Racists Attack Freedom Riders

May 14, 
1961

Folk Singing Returns to NYC Washington Square Park

May 14, 
1961

Jim Peck, Freedom Rider, Assaulted in Alabama

May 19, 
1961

President Kennedy to Seek “Men and Women of Unquestioned Ability” as Judges

May 19, 
1961

Supreme Court Rules Sunday “Blue” Laws Constitutional

May 20, 
1961

President Kennedy Fails to Support Freedom Ride

May 23, 
1961

Emergency Civil Liberties Committee Denounces HUAC Investigation

May 24, 
1961

Freedom Riders Immediately Arrested in Jackson, MS – Secret Deal by AG Robert Kennedy

May 28, 
1961

Amnesty International Founded

May 30, 
1961

“We’ve Been ‘Cooling Off’ for 350 Years!” Civil Rights Leader Rebukes AG Kennedy’s Call for Halting the 1961 Freedom Ride

Jun 6, 
1961

Notre Dame President Hesburgh: Civil Rights More Important Than Anti-Communism

Jun 9, 
1961

Berkeley Bans Activist Student Organization — Free Speech Movement Ahead

Jun 16, 
1961

Freedom Ride Leader Diane Nash Rebuffs AG Robert Kennedy

Jun 19, 
1961

Exclusionary Rule for the Police: “Mapp v. Ohio”

Jun 19, 
1961

Justice Harlan II’s Historic Dissent on a Right to Privacy

Jun 19, 
1961

Religious Test For Political Office Ruled Unconstitutional

Jul 1, 
1961

New York Civil Liberties Union Fights NY “English Only” Voting Requirement

Jul 11, 
1961

Maryland Apologizes to African Envoys Denied Service at Segregated Restaurants

Jul 25, 
1961

National Police Association Warns of ACLU’s “Subversive Activities”

Aug 4, 
1961

Clarence Gideon Convicted – Begins Road to Supreme Court

Aug 11, 
1961

Justice Department Lifts 30-Year Customs Ban on “Tropic of Cancer”

Aug 18, 
1961

Learned Hand, Judge in Rare World War I Free Speech Victory, Dies at Age 89

Sep 22, 
1961

ICC Bans Segregation in Interstate Travel Facilities

Oct 1, 
1961

Christian Broadcast Network Begins Broadcasting

Oct 4, 
1961

Lenny Bruce, Pioneering Comedian, Arrested for Obscenity in San Francisco

Oct 11, 
1961

Student Activist Tom Hayden Beaten in McComb, Mississippi

Oct 15, 
1961

Hunter College Denies Permit to Conservative “National Review” – ACLU to Defend Magazine

Nov 10, 
1961

Estelle Griswold Arrested – Road to a Right to Privacy Begins

Nov 11, 
1961

CORE “Freedom Motorcade” in Maryland Cancelled

Nov 11, 
1961

Rep. Moss Charges Government Agencies Hide More Information Than They Release

Nov 17, 
1961

Albany, Georgia, Civil Rights Campaign Begins – Kennedy Administration Fails to Support

Nov 17, 
1961

U.S. Civil Rights Commission Finds Police Brutality “A Serious Problem” Nationwide

Nov 19, 
1961

Rash of Speaker Bans at City University in New York City, Hits Left, Right Speakers

Nov 20, 
1961

Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Exclusion of Women From Juries

Nov 29, 
1961

JFK Press Conference Remarks Prompt IRS Investigation of Right-wing Groups

Dec 1, 
1961

Northern California ACLU Releases “Operation Correction” Film Rebutting Distorted HUAC Film

Dec 4, 
1961

Commodore Hotel Bars Bill of Rights Dinner in NYC

Dec 11, 
1961

“Garner v. Louisiana” – Early Sit-In Victory

Dec 14, 
1961

President Kennedy Creates Commission on the Status of Women

Dec 20, 
1961

Justice Department Orders IRS to Investigate 18 Right-Wing Political Groups

Dec 27, 
1961

Chicago Revises its Film Censorship Procedure

Jan 1, 
1962

Illinois Repeals Sodomy Law

Jan 2, 
1962

Weavers Refuse to Sign Loyalty Oath – Are Banned by NBC

Jan 19, 
1962

RFK Memo on Cuba Demands Action to Remove Castro

Jan 26, 
1962

Catholic Bishop Bans The Twist

Feb 3, 
1962

President Kennedy Imposes Embargo on Trade With Cuba

Feb 9, 
1962

Police Chiefs Hold 5-day Closed Meeting on Desegregation; Agree that Federal Law is Supreme

Feb 22, 
1962

Mississippi Editor Wins Civil Liberties Award

Mar 5, 
1962

Native-American Tribes Plan Rights Campaign

Mar 6, 
1962

FBI Alert: Marilyn Monroe Visits Mexico!

Mar 13, 
1962

Joint Chiefs Recommend Outrageous Anti-Castro Terrorist Acts

Mar 14, 
1962

Bridgeport, CT, Police Chief Bans Novel, “The Carpetbaggers” – Connecticut ACLU to Sue

Mar 19, 
1962

ACLU to Aid Anti-Nuclear Bomb Testing Protesters

Mar 26, 
1962

Legislative Apportionment a “Justiciable” Issue

Apr 3, 
1962

Defense Dept. Orders Racial Integration of all Military Reserves – But Not the National Guard

Jun 25, 
1962

Prayer in Public School Unconstitutional: “Engel v. Vitale”

Jun 27, 
1962

President Kennedy Supports Court Ban on Prayer in Schools

Jun 28, 
1962

John Henry Faulk Wins $3.5 Million Damages Award for Being Blacklisted

Aug 18, 
1962

Sherrie Finkbein Has Abortion in Sweden – Case Forces National Attention on Abortion Rights

Sep 11, 
1962

Four Clergy Sue Mississippi Police Over Civil Rights Arrests

Sep 20, 
1962

James Meredith Denied Registration at University of Mississippi

Sep 28, 
1962

Arthur Goldberg Joins Supreme Court

Oct 1, 
1962

Riot, Federal Troops at University of Mississippi Over Integration

Oct 11, 
1962

American Legion Calls for Investigation of the ACLU

Oct 18, 
1962

“The Connection,” Powerful Play and Film About Drug Addicts, Banned in NYC

Nov 20, 
1962

“Stroke of the Pen” – JFK Finally Issues Ban on Housing Discrimination

Nov 23, 
1962

Son of Supreme Court Justice Douglas Spends Night in Jail to Assert His Rights

Nov 24, 
1962

Justice Brennan Warns of Government “Whittling Away” Individual Rights

Dec 6, 
1962

OK to Lie to the American People Says Kennedy Administration Official

Jan 7, 
1963

ACLU Protests Senate Investigation of Pacifica Radio

Jan 14, 
1963

Governor George Wallace: “Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever”

Jan 31, 
1963

Folk Singer Josh White Performs for JFK at “Dinner with the President” on CBS TV

Feb 12, 
1963

President Kennedy Tries Lavish PR Move on Civil Rights – Fails

Feb 24, 
1963

A. Philip Randolph Announces Plan for “Pilgrimage” to Washington

Feb 27, 
1963

Madalyn Murray Sues to Ban Bible Reading, Lord’s Prayer, in Baltimore Schools

Mar 13, 
1963

Ernesto Miranda Arrested

Mar 18, 
1963

Gideon’s Trumpet: The Right to an Attorney at Trial

Mar 20, 
1963

Joan Baez Boycotts “Hootenanny” Over Blacklist

Mar 25, 
1963

Supreme Court Limits Legislative Investigations of Political Beliefs and Associations

Apr 2, 
1963

Supreme Court Invalidates Virginia Anti-NAACP Laws, Upholds Lawyers’ Activism

Apr 3, 
1963

“B” Day – Rev. Martin Luther King Launches Birmingham Demonstrations

Apr 7, 
1963

NY Times Reviewer Blasts Friedan’s Classic “Feminine Mystique:” Blames Women for Their Own Problems

Apr 12, 
1963

Martin Luther King Arrested in Birmingham Demonstration: Writes Famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Apr 16, 
1963

Martin Luther King, Jr., Writes Famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Apr 17, 
1963

Forced Retirement at Age 32? Stewardesses Challenge American Airlines Rule

May 2, 
1963

“D” Day in Birmingham – Martin Luther King Mobilizes Children for Demonstrations

May 3, 
1963

Fire Hoses and Police Dogs Attack Birmingham Civil Right Demonstrators

May 10, 
1963

“Bombingham:” Racists Bomb Birmingham Motel

May 24, 
1963

AG Robert Kennedy-James Baldwin Meeting: Kennedy Gets Earful

May 30, 
1963

VP Lyndon Johnson Gives Powerful Civil Rights Speech at Gettysburg

Jun 9, 
1963

Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Activist, Savagely Beaten in Mississippi Jail

Jun 10, 
1963

President Kennedy Signs Equal Pay Act

Jun 11, 
1963

George Wallace “Stands in the Schoolhouse Door” to Block Integration; Then Steps Aside

Jun 11, 
1963

President Kennedy Calls for Immigration Law Reform

Jun 11, 
1963

President Kennedy Gives Historic Civil Rights Speech on National Television

Jun 12, 
1963

Mississippi Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers Shot and Killed

Jun 17, 
1963

Bible Reading in Public Schools Ruled Unconstitutional

Jun 21, 
1963

University of California Repeals Decades-Old Speaker Ban

Jun 22, 
1963

President Kennedy Pressures Dr. Martin Luther King to Fire Alleged Communist Associates, Fails

Jun 22, 
1963

President Kennedy Tries, Fails to Get Civil Rights Leaders to Cancel March on Washington

Jun 25, 
1963

North Carolina Passes Campus Speaker Ban

Jul 10, 
1963

“Stall-in” Proposed as Civil Rights Protest for 1964 World’s Fair

Jul 23, 
1963

President Kennedy Sends Congress Immigration Reform Proposal

Jul 26, 
1963

President Kennedy Urges “Aggressive” IRS Investigation of Political Groups

Aug 1, 
1963

President Kennedy Denounces U.S. Travelers to Cuba as “Communists”

Aug 26, 
1963

First Unauthorized Traveler to Cuba Returns, Faces Federal Charges

Aug 27, 
1963

W. E. B. Du Bois, African-American Intellectual Giant, Dies

Aug 28, 
1963

“I Have a Dream”: King Delivers Historic Speech at March on Washington

Aug 28, 
1963

John Lewis’ Speech at March on Washington Censored

Aug 31, 
1963

Robert Bork, Yale Law Professor, Opposes Civil Rights Bill

Sep 9, 
1963

Alabama Gov. George Wallace Defends “Rights of Whites”

Sep 10, 
1963

Alabama Fights School Integration – JFK Mobilizes National Guard

Sep 10, 
1963

Trashy Novels “Have a Place in Our Society,” Judge Rules

Sep 14, 
1963

Pete Seeger Refuses to Sign Loyalty Oath, Is Barred from “Hootenanny” TV Show

Sep 15, 
1963

“Bombingham” – Birmingham Church Bomb Kills Four African American Girls

Sep 16, 
1963

“A Time to Speak:” Chuck Morgan, White Birmingham Resident, Denounces Racist Bombing

Oct 10, 
1963

AG Robert Kennedy Approves FBI Wiretaps on Martin Luther King

Oct 11, 
1963

President Kennedy’s Commission on Status of Women Releases Report

Oct 15, 
1963

FBI Distributes Vicious Report on Martin Luther King’s Alleged Communist Ties

Oct 21, 
1963

Supreme Court Justice Goldberg Invites Constitutional Challenges to the Death Penalty

Oct 22, 
1963

President Kennedy Asks NY Times Publisher to Transfer Reporter David Halberstam from Vietnam

Nov 1, 
1963

“Freedom Vote” in Mississippi Begins

Nov 26, 
1963

LBJ: “What the Hell’s the Presidency For?”

Dec 23, 
1963

“No Salmon, No Santa” – Native-Americans Protest Loss of Fishing Rights in State of Washington

Dec 23, 
1963

FBI Develops Infamous Plan to “Neutralize” Dr. Martin Luther King

Dec 31, 
1963

LBJ Integrates University of Texas Faculty Club

Jan 5, 
1964

FBI Installs First “Bug” in Martin Luther King’s Hotel Room

Jan 8, 
1964

FBI’s William C. Sullivan Proposes Bureau Promote “A New Negro Leader”

Jan 23, 
1964

The Federal Poll Tax Is Abolished

Feb 8, 
1964

House Debates Adding Sex Discrimination to Title VII of 1964 Civil Rights Act

Feb 22, 
1964

California Teacher Fights Attacks by American Legion

Feb 29, 
1964

Chicago Loyola University Cancels George Wallace Speech; ACLU Protests

Mar 2, 
1964

“Fish-In” Challenges Limits on Native-American Fishing Rights

Mar 4, 
1964

Frank Wilkinson Assassination Plot: FBI Stands By, Does Nothing

Mar 9, 
1964

“Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open:” The Meaning of the First Amendment

Mar 12, 
1964

15,000 White Parents March in NYC to Protest Busing of Students to Achieve Racial Balance

Mar 25, 
1964

LBJ Lectures Southern Ministers on Need for Civil Rights Bill

Mar 30, 
1964

Filibuster Against 1964 Civil Rights Bill Begins

Apr 3, 
1964

Malcolm X Gives Famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” Speech in Cleveland

Apr 20, 
1964

Mississippi Passes Package of Anti-Civil Rights Activity Laws

Apr 26, 
1964

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Founded

May 20, 
1964

FBI Can’t Decode “Louie Louie” Lyrics; U.S. Will Not Prosecute

May 25, 
1964

Supreme Court Orders Virginia County to Reopen Public Schools

May 27, 
1964

AG Kennedy Opens National Conference on Bail: Reform Soon Follows

Jun 9, 
1964

CIA Pressures Publisher of Second-Ever Book on Agency

Jun 10, 
1964

Historic Filibuster Ends – Path Cleared for 1964 Civil Rights Act

Jun 15, 
1964

Supreme Court Establishes “One Man, One Vote” Rule

Jun 20, 
1964

Lesbian Conference Hears Two Drs. Challenge Idea that Homosexuality is a Disease

Jun 21, 
1964

Mississippi Freedom Summer Project Begins – Three Civil Rights Workers Murdered

Jun 22, 
1964

“Tropic of Cancer” Ruled Not Obscene

Jun 22, 
1964

Escobedo: A Right to Counsel During Police Interrogations

Jun 22, 
1964

Pornography? Justice Stewart Knows It When He Sees It

Jul 2, 
1964

President Johnson Signs Historic 1964 Civil Rights Act

Jul 16, 
1964

Police Shooting Sparks Harlem Riot – Four Years of “Long Hot Summers” Begin

Jul 29, 
1964

Civil Rights Groups Split on Suspending Protests Because of Riots

Jul 30, 
1964

FBI Adds KKK to Notorious COINTELPRO Program

Aug 2, 
1964

First Gulf of Tonkin Incident — Government Lies to Justify Vietnam Escalation

Aug 4, 
1964

Bodies of Murdered Civil Rights Workers Found

Aug 7, 
1964

Congress Passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – False Claims Justify Vietnam Escalation

Aug 19, 
1964

U.S. Group Returns from Illegal Visit to Cuba

Aug 22, 
1964

Fannie Lou Hamer Delivers Historic Speech at Democratic Party Convention

Aug 25, 
1964

FBI Spies on Civil Rights Groups at Democrats’ Convention — Under Orders from President Johnson

Sep 3, 
1964

Secret CIA Funding of Private Foundations Revealed, But No Outrage Follows

Sep 16, 
1964

Berkeley Bans Off-Campus Political Advocacy on Campus, Sparks Free Speech Movement

Sep 19, 
1964

Nation’s First Gay Rights Demonstration Held

Oct 1, 
1964

Jack Weinberg Arrested; Berkeley Free Speech Movement Escalates

Oct 14, 
1964

Martin Luther King to Receive Nobel Peace Prize

Oct 21, 
1964

American Mental Health Association Denounces “Hysteria” Over Homosexuality

Nov 3, 
1964

First Washington, D.C., Vote for President

Nov 4, 
1964

Lenny Bruce, Radical Comedian, Convicted of Obscenity in New York City

Nov 6, 
1964

Conflict Arises Over Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement

Nov 9, 
1964

Marxist Folk Music Critic Famously Criticizes Bob Dylan for Abandoning Protest Music

Nov 18, 
1964

FBI Director Hoover Calls Martin Luther King the “Most Notorious Liar”

Nov 21, 
1964

FBI Sends Infamous Blackmail Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King

Dec 1, 
1964

Tense J. Edgar Hoover – Martin Luther King Meeting

Dec 2, 
1964

Free Speech Movement Historic Moment – Mario Savio Denounces “The System”

Dec 7, 
1964

Florida Law Banning Interracial Co-Habitation Unconstitutional

Dec 11, 
1964

Post Office to End “Observation Stations” in Men’s Restrooms

Dec 11, 
1964

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Receives Nobel Peace Prize

Dec 14, 
1964

Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds 1964 Civil Rights Act

Dec 20, 
1964

Fannie Lou Hamer: “I’m Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired”

Dec 26, 
1964

Philadelphia Bar to Vote on Crime News Censorship Proposal

Jan 4, 
1965

Free Speech Movement Hold First “Legal” Rally

Jan 15, 
1965

LBJ Calls Martin Luther King – Plan Voting Rights Strategy

Feb 10, 
1965

Man Convicted for Distributing Anonymous Political Leaflet; NYCLU to Challenge NY Law

Feb 15, 
1965

ACLU Criticizes Planned HUAC Investigation of KKK

Feb 21, 
1965

Malcolm X Assassinated in New York City

Feb 26, 
1965

Stewardesses Demand End to Forced Retirement at Age 35

Mar 5, 
1965

National Wildlife Federation Opposes Native-American Fishing Rights

Mar 7, 
1965

“Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama: John Lewis, Other Marchers Beaten and Tear Gassed

Mar 8, 
1965

LBJ Affirms Rights of Criminal Suspects

Mar 8, 
1965

Supreme Court Expands the Right of Conscientious Objection to War

Mar 11, 
1965

Boston Minister James Reeb Beating to Death by White Racists in Selma

Mar 15, 
1965

“We . . . Shall . . . Overcome:” LBJ Gives Historic Voting Rights Speech

Mar 16, 
1965

LBJ Sends Federal Troops to Guard Selma Voting Rights March

Mar 21, 
1965

Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March Begins Again

Mar 24, 
1965

First Vietnam War Teach-in at University of Michigan

Mar 25, 
1965

1965 Voting Rights March Reaches Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery

Mar 25, 
1965

Civil Rights Volunteer Viola Liuzzo Murdered in Alabama

Apr 8, 
1965

Senate to Investigate Invasions of Privacy by Post Office

Apr 17, 
1965

First Big Anti-Vietnam War March on Washington

Apr 17, 
1965

Mattachine Society Pickets White House to Demand Equal Rights for Homosexuals

Apr 21, 
1965

Ohio State Bans Marxist Speaker, Herbert Aptheker

Apr 26, 
1965

Supreme Court Limits Seizure of Organization’s Records: Dombrowski v. Pfister

Apr 27, 
1965

SCOPE Voter Registration Drive Launched

May 5, 
1965

Music Giant Duke Ellington Denied Pulitzer Special Citation

May 24, 
1965

Supreme Court Strikes Down Postal Censorship Law

May 26, 
1965

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., Becomes First Chair of New EEOC

May 28, 
1965

FBI Investigates Actor Rock Hudson for “Homosexual Tendencies”

Jun 4, 
1965

President Johnson Outlines New Civil Rights Challenges

Jun 7, 
1965

A Constitutional Right to Privacy: “Griswold v. Connecticut”

Jun 30, 
1965

President Johnson Bans Wiretapping – Sort Of

Jul 2, 
1965

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Established

Jul 4, 
1965

“Annual Reminder:” First in a Series of Annual Gay Rights Protests

Jul 15, 
1965

New York Abolishes Elite “Blue Ribbon” Juries

Jul 20, 
1965

All in a Day’s Work: New York Repeals, Reinstates Sodomy Law on the Same Day

Jul 20, 
1965

New York Criminal Anarchy Law Repealed

Aug 6, 
1965

LBJ Signs Historic Voting Rights Act

Aug 12, 
1965

Dr. Martin Luther King Opposes Vietnam War

Aug 16, 
1965

LA Rioters Granted the “Precious Right” to Bail

Aug 30, 
1965

LBJ Signs Draft Card-Burning Law

Sep 10, 
1965

NYC Police Commissioner: Supreme Court Makes Law Enforcement “More Difficult”

Sep 14, 
1965

Stewardesses Win Grievance on Airline No Marriage Policy

Sep 24, 
1965

President Johnson Orders Affirmative Action

Oct 3, 
1965

LBJ Signs Historic Immigration Reform Law in Ceremony at the Statue of Liberty

Oct 4, 
1965

Abe Fortas, Great Civil Libertarian, Joins Supreme Court

Oct 12, 
1965

Pauli Murray Calls for Women’s March on Washington – No March But Call Leads to Founding of NOW

Oct 15, 
1965

David Miller First to Publicly Burn His Draft Card in Vietnam War Protest

Oct 22, 
1965

225,000 Students Boycott Chicago Schools to Protest De Facto Segregation

Oct 27, 
1965

LBJ Caves on De Facto School Desegregation in the North

Nov 2, 
1965

First Federally Supported Birth Control Clinic Opens

Nov 8, 
1965

Wall of Separation Breached – Limited Federal Aid to Parochial Schools Approved

Nov 9, 
1965

Vietnam War Protester Sets Himself On Fire

Nov 24, 
1965

Sharp Racial Divisions Mar White House Civil Rights Conference

Nov 27, 
1965

Tens of Thousands of Vietnam War Protesters Picket the White House

Dec 3, 
1965

All-White Jury Convicts KKK Members for Murder of Viola Liuzzo

Dec 16, 
1965

Mary Beth Tinker, 8th Grader, Suspended for Wearing Protest Arm Band to School

Jan 18, 
1966

Robert C. Weaver Sworn in as First African-American Cabinet Member

Jan 20, 
1966

Stewardess Judith Evenson Challenges Northwest Airlines’ “No Marriage” Policy

Feb 7, 
1966

Univ. North Carolina Bans Communist Scholar Herbert Aptheker From Speaking

Feb 9, 
1966

NYC Police Commissioner Opposes Civilian Review of the Police in Letter to Mayor

Feb 19, 
1966

National Planning Conference of Homophile Organizations Held

Mar 1, 
1966

President Johnson Endorses Federal Aid for Family Planning

Mar 7, 
1966

Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of 1965 Voting Rights Act

Mar 9, 
1966

Other Side of the Wall: Speakers Defy North Carolina Speaker Ban

Mar 21, 
1966

Due Process for Kids: Supreme Court Reins in District of Columbia Juvenile Court

Mar 24, 
1966

All Poll Taxes Declared Unconstitutional

Mar 31, 
1966

Anti-Vietnam War Protesters Burn Draft Cards, Head to Supreme Court

Apr 21, 
1966

Gay Rights “Sip-In” at Julius’ Bar, NYC

Apr 23, 
1966

Famed Boxer Muhammad Ali Refuses Induction; Applies for CO Status

May 13, 
1966

Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement Generates Conflict, Controversy

May 20, 
1966

“The Big Snoop:” Life Magazine Cover Story Exposes Government Spying

Jun 6, 
1966

“March Against Fear” in Mississippi Begins; James Meredith Shot and Wounded

Jun 13, 
1966

“You Have a Right to Remain Silent:” The Famous Miranda Decision

Jun 16, 
1966

“Black Power!” A Slogan is Born

Jun 20, 
1966

Republican Rep. Donald Rumsfeld Declares Support for FOIA Bill

Jun 22, 
1966

LBJ Signs Bail Reform Act – Affirms Rights of Criminal Suspects

Jun 30, 
1966

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is Founded

Jul 4, 
1966

LBJ Signs Historic Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Jul 19, 
1966

FBI Admits (to itself) That “Black Bag” Jobs (Burglaries) Are Illegal

Aug 16, 
1966

Disorder Erupts as HUAC Investigates Anti-Vietnam War Movement

Aug 17, 
1966

“Riotous” HUAC Hearings – Witnesses’ Lawyer Evicted

Aug 30, 
1966

Constance Baker Motley: First African-American Woman as District Court Judge

Sep 2, 
1966

Gov. George Wallace Signs Law Declaring Federal School Desegregation Regulations “Null and Void”

Sep 6, 
1966

Margaret Sanger, Birth Control Pioneer, Dies at Age 86

Oct 29, 
1966

NOW Formally Chartered

Nov 8, 
1966

Edward W. Brooke First African-American Popularly Elected to U. S. Senate

Nov 8, 
1966

NYC Voters Abolish Civilian Complaint Review Board for the Police

Dec 5, 
1966

Supreme Court Orders Georgia Legislature to Seat Julian Bond

Dec 25, 
1966

“Four-Letter Oaths” Are Protected Free Expression, ACLU Argues

Dec 29, 
1966

Dr. Howard Levy Refuses Orders Over Vietnam War – Charges U.S. With War Crimes

Jan 1, 
1967

Before Stonewall: LA Police Raid Black Cat, Gay Bar

Jan 9, 
1967

Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond Sworn in as Georgia State Legislator

Jan 15, 
1967

Let’s Spend “Some Time” Together – Rolling Stones Censor Themselves on Ed Sullivan Show

Jan 23, 
1967

Georgia’s Jury System Declared Discriminatory

Jan 23, 
1967

Members of Allegedly “Seditious” Groups Can Teach in New York

Feb 13, 
1967

No Loyalty Oath for Medicare

Feb 15, 
1967

“Ramparts” Magazine Exposes Secret CIA Funding of U.S. Student Group

Feb 21, 
1967

FBI Intensifies Use of Informants on College Campuses

Feb 23, 
1967

“The Responsibility of Intellectuals:” Noam Chomsky Criticizes Pro-Vietnam War Intellectuals

Mar 29, 
1967

Court Ends Philadelphia Police Advisory Board

Mar 29, 
1967

LBJ Bars Secret CIA Funding of Private Groups

Apr 6, 
1967

Bill Baird Arrested for Giving Contraceptive to Unmarried Woman

Apr 24, 
1967

Gen. Westmoreland Blames War Protesters for Lack of Progress in Vietnam War

Apr 25, 
1967

Colorado Passes Nation’s First Abortion Reform Law

May 8, 
1967

“Redrup:” Supreme Court Gives Up Trying to Define Obscenity

May 13, 
1967

Mexican-American Students Protest in LA

May 15, 
1967

Supreme Court Declares State Juvenile Court Procedures Unconstitutional

May 17, 
1967

Tennessee Repeals Anti-Evolution Law — 42 Years After the Scopes Case

May 29, 
1967

Cleveland Bar Association Criticizes Mayor for Not Meeting with Martin Luther King

Jun 12, 
1967

A Loving Victory: Supreme Court Rules Ban on Interracial Marriage Unconstitutional

Jun 15, 
1967

Governor Reagan Signs Liberal California Abortion Law – Then Regrets It

Jun 16, 
1967

LBJ Orders No Wiretapping — Sort Of

Jun 17, 
1967

Secretary of Defense McNamara Authorizes Pentagon Papers

Aug 15, 
1967

CIA Begins Spying on Anti-Vietnam War Movement – Under LBJ’s Orders

Aug 25, 
1967

J. Edgar Hoover Authorizes COINTELPRO Action Against Black Panther Party

Aug 30, 
1967

NOW Pickets New York Times to Protest Sex-Segregated Job Ads

Sep 11, 
1967

Kansas Loyalty Oath Declared Unconstitutional

Sep 27, 
1967

“A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority,” Key Anti-Vietnam War Protest, Published

Oct 2, 
1967

Thurgood Marshall Joins Supreme Court – First African-American Justice

Oct 3, 
1967

Yes, This Land Really IS Your Land: Woody Guthrie Dies

Oct 13, 
1967

LBJ, Under Pressure, Adds Women to Affirmative Action Order

Oct 20, 
1967

1,000 Draft Cards Turned in to Justice Department in Vietnam War Protest

Oct 20, 
1967

Seven Convicted for 1964 Mississippi Civil Rights Murders

Oct 21, 
1967

100,000 March on Pentagon to Protest Vietnam War

Oct 21, 
1967

Yippies Try to Levitate Pentagon – Pentagon Stays Put

Nov 7, 
1967

Real Black Power Arrives: The New Elected Black Mayors

Nov 8, 
1967

President Johnson Ends Barriers to Promoting Women in Military

Nov 15, 
1967

CIA Delivers LBJ-Ordered Report on U.S. Peace Groups

Nov 27, 
1967

First Gay Book Store Opens in New York City

Dec 12, 
1967

NOW Holds Demonstrations at EEOC Field Offices Across the Country

Dec 15, 
1967

Congress Passes the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Dec 16, 
1967

LBJ Signs Age Discrimination Act

Dec 22, 
1967

CIA Delivers Second Report on Anti-War Dissent

Jan 5, 
1968

CIA Sends President Johnson Third Report on Student Dissent

Jan 5, 
1968

Dr. Spock, Four Others, Indicted for Anti-War Conspiracy

Jan 15, 
1968

“Sisterhood is Powerful”: Women’s March for Equality Led by 87-year old Jeannette Rankin

Jan 18, 
1968

African-American Jazz Singer Eartha Kitt Confronts LBJ at White House Over Vietnam

Jan 27, 
1968

Chicago Subways and Elevated to Carry Anti-Vietnam War Ads

Feb 8, 
1968

“Planet of the Un-Americans:” Film Parodies HUAC

Feb 25, 
1968

Pete Seeger Performs “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” on Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Feb 29, 
1968

Kerner Commission Report on 1960s Riots Warns: “Two Societies, One Black, One White”

Feb 29, 
1968

Police Fingerprint New Jersey Students in High School Shop Class

Apr 3, 
1968

King’s Final Speech: “I Have Been to the Mountaintop”

Apr 4, 
1968

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated

Apr 11, 
1968

Congress Passes Anti-Riot Act

Apr 11, 
1968

Congress Passes Fair Housing Act

Apr 11, 
1968

Congress Passes Indian Civil Rights Act

Apr 18, 
1968

Attorney General Ramsey Clark Criticizes Chicago Mayor Daley’s “Shoot to Kill” Order

Apr 26, 
1968

“Fuck the Draft” – Robert Paul Cohen Arrested

May 9, 
1968

J. Edgar Hoover Orders FBI COINTELPRO Action Against New Left Organizations

May 20, 
1968

Supreme Court: “Illegitimate” Children Are Persons with Rights

May 27, 
1968

First Amendment Does Not Protect Burning Draft Card Rules Supreme Court

May 28, 
1968

NYCLU Supports Eight Civil Liberties Bills in NY State Legislature

Jun 10, 
1968

Supreme Court Okays Police Stops and Frisks

Jun 10, 
1968

Taxpayers Can Sue the Government Over Unconstitutional Practices

Jun 14, 
1968

Dr. Spock, Three Others Convicted of Conspiracy to Obstruct the Draft

Jun 19, 
1968

First Federal Wiretapping Law Enacted; President Johnson Objects in Signing Statement

Jul 5, 
1968

Congress Passes Flag Protection Act

Jul 11, 
1968

American Indian Movement (AIM) Founded

Aug 5, 
1968

CIA Memo Explains Co-opting Universities, Professors

Aug 17, 
1968

Aspen, Colorado, Hippies Charge Police Harassment

Aug 28, 
1968

“Police Riot” at Democratic Party Convention

Sep 4, 
1968

CIA Delivers “Restless Youth” Report on U.S. Peace Groups

Sep 7, 
1968

Feminists Protest Miss America Pageant – But Do NOT Burn Bras

Sep 30, 
1968

Real Freedom for the Thought We Hate: ACLU’s Eleanor Holmes Norton Defends Free Speech for George Wallace

Oct 1, 
1968

Yippies Disrupt HUAC Hearing in Chicago

Oct 16, 
1968

Black U.S. Athletes Stage Political Protest at Olympics Award Ceremony – Inspiration for a Later Generation of Athletes

Nov 1, 
1968

Rated “X” – New Movie Ratings System Goes Into Effect

Nov 5, 
1968

Shirley Chisholm First African-American Woman Elected to the House of Representatives

Nov 12, 
1968

Freedom to Teach – Scopes Finally Vindicated in Epperson Case

Nov 22, 
1968

First Interracial Kiss on National TV

Dec 1, 
1968

Walker Report Finds “Police Riot” at Democratic Party Convention

Dec 13, 
1968

Robert G. Thompson, Cold War Victim, Wins Posthumous Right to Burial at Arlington National Cemetery

Jan 7, 
1969

Governor Reagan: Drive “Anarchists” and “Latter Day Fascists” Off California Campuses

Jan 8, 
1969

Girls Can Wear Pants to School !

Jan 24, 
1969

New Jersey Prosecutor Threatens Arrests Over John Lennon/Yoko One Album “Two Virgins”

Jan 28, 
1969

High School Principals “Worried” About Student Activism

Jan 31, 
1969

Nixon Endorses Preventive Detention – No Bail for “Dangerous” Offenders

Feb 5, 
1969

“Nude-In:” Grinnell College Students Protest Playboy Magazine

Feb 10, 
1969

Federal Judge Finds City of Chicago Guilty of Discrimination in Public Housing

Feb 14, 
1969

NARAL, Abortion Rights Group, Founded

Feb 24, 
1969

Mary Beth Tinker Wins Landmark Case on Students’ First Amendment Rights

Mar 10, 
1969

Civil Rights Demonstrations Upheld: “Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham”

Mar 15, 
1969

The Real Beginning of the Watergate Scandal: President Nixon Receives OK for Secret Bombing of Cambodia

Mar 27, 
1969

First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference Held

Apr 4, 
1969

CBS Cancels Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

May 7, 
1969

Women Picket White House – FBI Sees National Security Threat!

May 9, 
1969

The Road to Watergate Begins: NY Times Exposes Secret Bombing of Cambodia; President Nixon Orders Illegal Wiretapping

May 28, 
1969

FBI Informant: Women’s Rights Activists Feel U.S. is “Oppressive Society”

Jun 9, 
1969

Brandenburg: First Amendment Protects Advocacy of Violence – But Not Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action

Jun 28, 
1969

Stonewall Inn Riots – Lesbian, Gay Rights Movement Born

Jul 11, 
1969

Dr. Spock’s Conviction for Conspiracy to Oppose Vietnam War Draft Overturned

Jul 18, 
1969

President Nixon Discusses Population Issues, Endorses Family Planning

Aug 8, 
1969

President Nixon Extends Affirmative Action in Federal Employment

Aug 17, 
1969

Activist Lawyers Establish “Unconventional” Law Firm

Sep 24, 
1969

Chicago 8 (7) Trial Opens; Anti-Riot Act Tested

Oct 1, 
1969

Daniel Ellsberg Begins Illegal Copying of the “Pentagon Papers”

Oct 15, 
1969

First Vietnam War Moratorium – Massive Protests Across the Country

Oct 29, 
1969

Black Panther Bobby Seale Bound and Gagged in Court at Trial of the Chicago 8

Oct 31, 
1969

Two 12-Year-Old Girls in Court For Refusing to Recite Pledge of Allegiance

Nov 2, 
1969

First Gay Pride March Proposed

Nov 9, 
1969

Fourteen Native-Americans Occupy Alcatraz

Nov 13, 
1969

“Impudent Snobs” – Vice President Agnew Attacks News Media

Nov 15, 
1969

Second Anti-Vietnam War Moratorium – Massive Protests

Nov 19, 
1969

Nixon White House Tries to Explain Phone Calls to TV Stations

Nov 20, 
1969

79 Native-Americans Occupy Alcatraz Island

Dec 4, 
1969

President Nixon, Vice-President Agnew Ponder Causes of “Generation Gap”

Dec 11, 
1969

Nudity Bad for Communism!

Dec 13, 
1969

Mississippi Governor to Aid School Desegregation Suits in North

Dec 15, 
1969

“A Matter of Simple Justice” – Nixon Administration Report on Women’s Equity

Dec 22, 
1969

Native-American Protest: Radio Free Alcatraz Broadcasts

Jul 1, 
1970

New York Abortion-Reform Law Takes Effect

Jan 2, 
1970

Court Rules Punitive Draft Reclassification of Vietnam War Protesters Illegal

Jan 15, 
1970

Army Spying on Americans Exposed

Feb 15, 
1970

Chicago Seven Lawyers Cited for Contempt

Feb 18, 
1970

The Chicago Eight (Seven): 1968 Chicago Protesters Convicted of Inciting to Riot

Feb 26, 
1970

Army to End Monitoring Peaceful Protests

Mar 18, 
1970

Feminists Stage Sit-In at “Ladies Home Journal,” Demand Liberation of Magazine

Mar 23, 
1970

Eleanor Holmes Norton Named Head of NYC Commission on Human Rights

Apr 1, 
1970

Grateful Dead Provokes First-Ever FCC Indecency Fine

Apr 2, 
1970

Massachusetts Declares Vietnam War Unconstitutional

Apr 11, 
1970

Governor Rockefeller Signs NY Abortion Reform Law

Apr 13, 
1970

Nine Women’s Liberation Activists Arrested for Sit-in at Grove Press, Pioneering Anti-Censorship Publisher

May 1, 
1970

Massive Nationwide Student Strike Protests Cambodian Invasion in Vietnam War

May 4, 
1970

Kent State: Ohio National Guard Shoots and Kills Four Anti-Vietnam War Protesters

May 4, 
1970

Tax Exemptions for Churches Held Constitutional

May 8, 
1970

“Hard Hat Riot:” Union Workers Attack Anti-War Demonstrators in NYC

May 10, 
1970

Protester Hangs American Flag Upside Down, With Peace Symbol, Heads to Supreme Court

May 18, 
1970

First Same-Sex Marriage Test Case Begins

Jun 3, 
1970

ACLU Calls Vietnam War Unconstitutional — Cites Lack of Declaration of War

Jun 5, 
1970

President Nixon Demands Action on Anti-War Protests: Abuses Follow

Jun 11, 
1970

Rep. Martha Griffiths Forces Proposed ERA Amendment Out of Committee

Jun 19, 
1970

2nd Circuit: Legality of Vietnam War a “Political Question,” Not a Constitutional Issue

Jun 22, 
1970

18-Year-Olds Get Right to Vote– But Not Quite Yet

Jun 27, 
1970

First Gay Pride Parade Held in Chicago

Jun 28, 
1970

First Gay Liberation Day (Gay Pride March) in New York City

Jul 8, 
1970

Native-American Tribal Termination “Is Wrong” – President Nixon

Jul 14, 
1970

President Nixon Approves Huston Plan for Violations of Americans’ Rights

Jul 20, 
1970

ATF Agents No Longer Allowed to Snoop on Libraries

Jul 27, 
1970

President Nixon Withdraws Approval of Huston Plan For Spying, Illegal Actions Against Americans

Aug 10, 
1970

Rep. Shirley Chisholm Speaks Out For the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Aug 26, 
1970

March Commemorates Women’s Suffrage

Aug 29, 
1970

Chicano Leader Ruben Salazar Shot and Killed at Protest Rally

Sep 15, 
1970

VP Spiro Agnew: Rock Music Destroying America’s Youth!

Sep 30, 
1970

“A Rock Group of Some Sort:” FBI Investigates The Grateful Dead

Oct 10, 
1970

Your Right to Eat German Food: ACLU Chapter Chairwoman Denied Service at German Restaurant, Sues

Oct 13, 
1970

Cops Blame ACLU, Supreme Court for Violent Crime

Oct 21, 
1970

John T. Scopes, of Famous Monkey Trial, Dies

Oct 24, 
1970

Too Much Sex! President Nixon Denounces Obscenity Commission Report

Oct 30, 
1970

Secret Oklahoma “Blacklist” of “Troublemakers” Challenged in Lawsuit

Oct 31, 
1970

Former Chief Justice Earl Warren Speaks Out Against Discrimination

Nov 9, 
1970

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Constitutionality of Vietnam War

Nov 26, 
1970

Native-Americans Protest at Plymouth Rock

Dec 8, 
1970

ACLU Marks 50th Anniversary – Earl Warren is Guest of Honor

Dec 17, 
1970

Forced Maternity Leave for Pregnant Teacher

Dec 21, 
1970

No Long Hair on New Jersey Turnpike!

Dec 21, 
1970

Supreme Court Overturns 18-Year-Olds’ Right to Vote

Dec 24, 
1970

Congress Passes Family Planning Services Act

Dec 26, 
1970

President Nixon Signs Public Health Services Act – Federal Support for Family Planning

Jan 3, 
1971

“A Woman’s Place is in the House — The House of Representatives”

Jan 12, 
1971

First Abortion Case Is Argued Before U.S. Supreme Court

Jan 15, 
1971

National Press Club Admits Women Reporters

Jan 22, 
1971

Congressional Black Caucus Boycotts President Nixon’s State of the Union Address

Feb 24, 
1971

Christopher Pyle Delivers 76-Page Report on Military Spying on Americans

Mar 2, 
1971

Daniel Ellsberg Meets with NY Times, Discusses Giving Them The Pentagon Papers

Mar 8, 
1971

Activists Raid FBI Office in Media, PA; Steal Documents, Expose Notorious COINTELPRO Program

Mar 9, 
1971

Want Government Secrets? Read The New York Times, Say Ex-National Security Expert

Mar 16, 
1971

IRS Targets Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Library

Mar 23, 
1971

Frank Kameny First Openly Gay Candidate for Congress

Mar 30, 
1971

Congressional Black Caucus Organized

Apr 5, 
1971

Senator Hatfield Places Vietnam War Crimes Testimony in Congressional Record

Apr 20, 
1971

Supreme Court Upholds Busing to Achieve School Integration

Apr 21, 
1971

Vuitch: Supreme Court Rules in First-Ever Abortion Case

Apr 25, 
1971

Rep. Ron Dellums Holds Hearings on U. S. War Crimes in Vietnam

Apr 28, 
1971

FBI Director Hoover Terminates Illegal COINTELPRO Program

Jun 7, 
1971

“Fuck the Draft” Ruled Protected Speech

Jun 13, 
1971

Vietnam War Secrets Revealed: New York Times Publishes the Pentagon Papers

Jun 15, 
1971

Injunction Stops Publication of Pentagon Papers – Landmark Court Case Ahead

Jun 17, 
1971

Jeanne M. Holm Promoted, First Woman Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force

Jun 28, 
1971

Supreme Court Invalidates State “Parochaid” to Religious Schools

Jun 28, 
1971

Supreme Court Upholds Muhammad Ali’s Conscientious Objector Claim

Jun 30, 
1971

Landmark Freedom of the Press Victory: Supreme Court Strikes Down Pentagon Papers Injunction

Jul 5, 
1971

18-Year-Olds Finally Get the Right to Vote

Jul 10, 
1971

National Women’s Political Caucus Formed

Jul 24, 
1971

Nixon “Plumbers” Unit Created, Illegal Actions Follow

Aug 16, 
1971

“To Screw Our Enemies” – Memo to President Nixon Leads to Infamous “Enemies List”

Aug 19, 
1971

Nixon White House Requests Bogus FBI Investigation of Daniel Schorr

Sep 3, 
1971

FBI to Investigate Police Violence Against Latinos, African-Americans in Bridgeport, CT

Sep 9, 
1971

Attica Prison Rebellion Begins

Sep 9, 
1971

President Nixon’s “Plumbers” Burglarize Ellsberg’s Psychiatrist’s Office

Sep 13, 
1971

Massacre at Attica Prison, New York

Sep 17, 
1971

Justice Hugo Black, Civil Liberties Giant, Retires from the Supreme Court

Sep 25, 
1971

Emergency Detention Act Repealed

Oct 22, 
1971

“A Civil Liberties Disaster” – New York Civil Liberties Union Attacks Procedures in Police Corruption Probe

Oct 29, 
1971

First-Ever Conference on the FBI

Nov 22, 
1971

Breakthrough: Women Covered by Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment

Dec 4, 
1971

ACLU Creates Pioneering Women’s Rights Project –With Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Director

Dec 29, 
1971

Ellsberg, Russo Indicted for Stealing Pentagon Papers

Jan 17, 
1972

Surgeon General Report Cites Danger of TV Violence

Jan 25, 
1972

Shirley Chisholm: First African-American Woman to Campaign for Presidential Nomination

Jan 27, 
1972

Notorious GEMSTONE Meeting in Attorney General’s Office: Illegal Activities Planned

Feb 1, 
1972

New Jersey Girl Sues for Right to Join High School Tennis Team; Ruth Bader Ginsburg Handles the Case

Feb 2, 
1972

Willowbrook Hospital Abuses of Mentally Disabled Children Exposed

Feb 12, 
1972

Dorothy Kenyon, Feminist and Civil Libertarian, Dies

Feb 28, 
1972

NYC School Principals Oppose Release of Student Files to Parents

Mar 18, 
1972

President Nixon Endorses Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for Women

Mar 22, 
1972

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Goes to the States for Ratification

Mar 22, 
1972

Unmarried Women Win Right to Contraceptives in Massachusetts

Mar 24, 
1972

White House Operatives Ask CIA for “LSD-Type Drug”

Apr 2, 
1972

Charlie Chaplin, Excluded in 1952, Returns to U.S. After 20 Years

Apr 10, 
1972

Charlie Chaplin Receives Honorary Oscar, 20 Years After Being Excluded From U.S.

May 2, 
1972

J. Edgar Hoover, Long-Time FBI Director, Dies

May 5, 
1972

Groups Fight Corporal Punishment in Schools

May 15, 
1972

Free Exercise of Religion Protects Parents’ Right to Control of Children’s Education

Jun 17, 
1972

Watergate Break-in, Arrests – Famous Scandal Begins

Jun 19, 
1972

Supreme Court: Fourth Amendment Applies to Domestic Surveillance

Jun 23, 
1972

Nixon White House “Smoking Gun” Meeting; Nixon Obstructs Justice

Jun 23, 
1972

Women’s Sports Boosted – Title IX Signed Into Law

Jun 29, 
1972

Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty as Applied is Unconstitutional

Jul 26, 
1972

New York Times Exposes Racist Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

Aug 3, 
1972

Long Island Community Blocked from Enforcing Ban on Multiple Occupancy of Rental House

Aug 5, 
1972

Lawyers Group Accuses Nixon Justice Department of Failing to Enforce Equal Protection Clause

Aug 24, 
1972

Hippies in the Bureau? FBI Ordered to Allow Agents to Have Long Hair

Sep 26, 
1972

ACLU of Northern California Sues San Francisco Press Club Over Exclusion of Women

Oct 10, 
1972

First Supreme Court Case on Same-Sex Marriage – No Substantial Federal Question

Oct 31, 
1972

“Trail of Broken Treaties:” Native American Manifesto for Reparations

Nov 2, 
1972

“Trail of Broken Treaties” – 500 Native-Americans Occupy BIA Offices

Nov 14, 
1972

“Maude’s Dilemma” – An Abortion Mentioned on a TV Sitcom

Nov 19, 
1972

Free Speech Protects Right to Warn Drivers About Police Radar

Nov 21, 
1972

Maude Has An Abortion, Part 2 – No Controversy Results

Jan 17, 
1973

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Argues Her First Case Before Supreme Court

Jan 22, 
1973

A Constitutional Right to an Abortion: “Roe v. Wade”

Jan 29, 
1973

Emily Howell Warner: First Female Pilot for a Commercial Airline

Jan 30, 
1973

Watergate Burglary Leaders Convicted; Scandal Deepens

Feb 1, 
1973

“Civil Liberties for Children:” NYCLU Sues NY State Over Detention of Children

Feb 4, 
1973

“Women’s Lobby” Adjusts Lobbying Priorities in the Wake of “Roe”

Mar 2, 
1973

George Carlin Records Famous “Seven Dirty Words” Monologue

Mar 10, 
1973

Stewardesses for Women’s Rights Hold 2-Day Conference

Mar 20, 
1973

Roberto Clemente First Latino Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Mar 21, 
1973

“A Cancer on the Presidency:” John Dean Warns President Nixon of Growing Watergate Scandal

Mar 23, 
1973

U.S. Orders Beatle John Lennon Out of U.S. Within 60 Days

Mar 27, 
1973

Marlon Brando Refuses Oscar; Supports Native-American Rights

May 7, 
1973

The “Family Jewels:” CIA Director Orders Full Report on CIA Misdeeds

May 8, 
1973

War on Drugs Really Begins: NY Rockefeller Drug Laws Enacted

May 11, 
1973

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo Because of Government Misconduct

May 14, 
1973

Equal Protection for Women: “Frontiero v. Richardson”

May 16, 
1973

“Anything the NSA Did is Totally Defensible” — President Nixon

May 18, 
1973

Jeanette Rankin, First Woman Elected to Congress, Voted Against Both WWI and WWII, Dies at Age 93

Jun 21, 
1973

Help Wanted: Sex-Segregated Want Ads Unconstitutional

Jun 21, 
1973

Supreme Court Develops “Miller Test” on Obscenity

Jun 27, 
1973

Reporter Daniel Schorr Reads Nixon’s “Enemies List” on National TV – Finds His Own Name on It

Jul 16, 
1973

Secret White House Taping System Revealed – Tapes Lead to Nixon’s Resignation

Jul 25, 
1973

Federal Judge Orders Halt to U.S. Military Actions in Cambodia

Aug 4, 
1973

Supreme Court Refuses to Halt U.S. Military Operations in Cambodia

Aug 15, 
1973

ACLU Backs Klan’s Right to Meet in Public Park

Sep 26, 
1973

Rights of the Disabled: Congress Passes Rehabilitation Act

Oct 20, 
1973

“Saturday Night Massacre” – Watergate Scandal Deepens

Oct 30, 
1973

Cover Your Ears! George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words Broadcast

Nov 7, 
1973

Congress Overrides Nixon Veto – Passes War Powers Resolution

Nov 7, 
1973

New Jersey Civil Rights Division Rules Little League Must Admit Girls

Nov 10, 
1973

Lambda Legal Defense Fund Holds First Formal Meeting

Nov 10, 
1973

North Dakota School Burns Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”

Nov 12, 
1973

Airline Stewardesses Win Sweeping Discrimination Suit

Nov 17, 
1973

President Nixon: “I Am Not a Crook”

Dec 6, 
1973

NBC Reporter Carl Stern Reveals Secret FBI COINTELPRO Documents

Dec 15, 
1973

American Psychiatric Association: Homosexuality Not a “Mental Illness”

Dec 24, 
1973

Democracy for DC! Washington, D.C. Home Rule Act Passed

Jan 7, 
1974

Free Exercise of Religion Protects Sikh Solider Wearing Turban

Feb 6, 
1974

U.S. Bureau of Prisons Drops Repressive “Behavior Modification” Program

Feb 9, 
1974

Chicago Bans “Impeach Nixon” Signs From Buses, Trains; ACLU Sues

Apr 14, 
1974

Texas Labels Evolution a Theory, Not a Fact

Apr 29, 
1974

“Expletive Deleted:” Nixon Releases Edited White House Watergate Tapes

Jun 4, 
1974

“The List” is Ended: President Nixon Abolishes the Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations

Jun 25, 
1974

Supreme Court Rejects Taxpayer Challenge to CIA Secrecy

Jun 25, 
1974

U.S. Flag with Peace Symbol is Protected Speech

Jul 3, 
1974

“Notorious” Publisher Samuel Roth Dies

Jul 9, 
1974

Earl Warren, Chief Justice, Civil Liberties Giant, Dies

Jul 10, 
1974

Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Statue Dedicated

Jul 12, 
1974

National Research Act Protects Human Research Subjects

Jul 24, 
1974

Supreme Court Orders President Nixon to Turn Over Tapes – Resignation Soon Follows

Jul 27, 
1974

President Richard Nixon Impeached by House

Aug 5, 
1974

White House Releases Incriminating “Smoking Gun” Tape Recordings – Nixon Resigns Four Days Later

Aug 9, 
1974

President Nixon Resigns in Disgrace

Sep 6, 
1974

First Lady Betty Ford Supports Equal Rights Amendment

Sep 8, 
1974

President Gerald Ford Pardons Richard Nixon

Sep 10, 
1974

ACLU Argues for Non-Disclosure of Political Party’s Contributor’s List

Sep 12, 
1974

Newark Mayor Bans All Demonstrations – New Jersey ACLU Sues

Sep 14, 
1974

First Lady Betty Ford Endorses Equality For Women and African-Americans

Sep 16, 
1974

President Ford Offers Conditional Amnesty to Vietnam War Protesters

Oct 3, 
1974

Edward Garner Shot and Killed by Memphis Police; Case Reaches Supreme Court

Oct 28, 
1974

President Ford Signs Equal Credit Opportunity Act

Dec 9, 
1974

Alan Spear, Minnesota State Senator, Comes Out of the Closet

Dec 20, 
1974

Dick Cheney to President Ford: Restore Authority of the President

Dec 22, 
1974

New York Times Exposes Massive CIA Spying on Americans

Dec 30, 
1974

Hughes-Ryan Amendment Limits CIA Covert Actions – But Not Effectively

Dec 31, 
1974

Congress Passes Federal Privacy Act

Jan 1, 
1975

President Ford Signs Privacy Act

Jan 1, 
1975

Top Nixon Administration Officials Convicted of Watergate Conspiracy

Jan 2, 
1975

Walter Washington Sworn in as First Popularly Elected Mayor of Washington, D.C.

Jan 3, 
1975

Japanese-American Internment Victim Elected to Congress

Jan 4, 
1975

Native-American Tribal Self-Determination Reaffirmed

Jan 4, 
1975

President Ford Appoints Rockefeller Commission to Investigate CIA Abuses

Jan 9, 
1975

President Ford Creates National Commission for International Women’s Year

Jan 14, 
1975

Edward Levi Named Attorney General – Will Chart Independent Course

Jan 14, 
1975

HUAC Abolished; 37 Years of Civil Liberties Violations Finally Ends

Jan 21, 
1975

Women Cannot be Excluded From Jury Duty: “Taylor v. Louisiana”

Jan 27, 
1975

Edward Levi Promises to be Independent U.S. Attorney General

Jan 27, 
1975

Senate Creates Church Committee to Investigate Abuses by Intelligence Agencies

Feb 6, 
1975

Government Spying “Almost Beyond Control,” Charge Two ACLU Lawyers

Feb 19, 
1975

House Creates Pike Committee to Investigate Abuses by the CIA, other Agencies

Feb 21, 
1975

AG Mitchell, Nixon Aides Haldeman, Ehrlichman Sentenced to Prison for Watergate Crimes

Mar 6, 
1975

Leonard Matlovich Comes Out; Is Dismissed from the Air Force For Being Gay

Mar 19, 
1975

Supreme Court Strikes Down Sex Discrimination in Social Security Benefits

Mar 25, 
1975

First Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S.?

Apr 28, 
1975

Daniel Schorr Reveals CIA Assassination Plots on National TV

May 2, 
1975

Eighteen Years Late, Blacklisted Dalton Trumbo Receives His Oscar

May 7, 
1975

Betty Ford Takes Credit for a Woman in President Ford’s Cabinet

May 26, 
1975

President Ford Puts Foot in Mouth on “Brown”

Jun 8, 
1975

Attorney General Levi: Presidents Have No Authority to Order Assassinations

Jun 26, 
1975

You Can’t Detain Non-Dangerous Mentally Ill People: “O’Connor v. Donaldson”

Jul 1, 
1975

David Saxon, Fired For Not Signing Loyalty Oath in 1950, Becomes President of University of California

Jul 14, 
1975

FBI Director Admits to History of Illegal “Black Bag” (Burglary) Jobs

Jul 18, 
1975

Senator Church Calls CIA “Rogue Elephant”

Aug 4, 
1975

NJ Supreme Court Rules Non-Dangerous Criminally Insane Cannot be Detained

Aug 31, 
1975

Long Island Communities Fight “Groupers,” Limit Number of Unrelated Individuals in Households

Sep 24, 
1975

CIA Spy Chief: “Certain Individual Rights Have to be Sacrificed for the National Security”

Oct 7, 
1975

John Lennon Can Stay in U.S. – Court Ends Government Deportation Effort

Oct 22, 
1975

Nebraska Judge Bars Press Coverage – Overruled by Supreme Court

Oct 29, 
1975

First Time Ever: Head of National Security Agency (NSA) Testifies Before Congress

Nov 12, 
1975

William O. Douglas Resigns from Supreme Court

Dec 2, 
1975

Former FBI Undercover Agent Testifies About Infiltration, Illegal Actions Against Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)

Dec 19, 
1975

John Paul Stevens Joins Supreme Court

Jan 22, 
1976

Supreme Court Rejects Injunctions Against Police Misconduct

Jan 29, 
1976

House Suppresses Pike Committee Report on CIA Abuses

Jan 31, 
1976

Ernesto Miranda, of “Miranda Warning” Fame, Dies

Feb 16, 
1976

“The CIA Report the President Doesn’t Want You to Read”

Feb 18, 
1976

Cover-up Ends: CIA Required to Report Criminal Actions By Agents to DOJ

Feb 18, 
1976

President Ford Bans Assassinations by CIA

Feb 19, 
1976

Daniel Schorr Faces Charges for Leaking Pike Committee Report

Feb 19, 
1976

President Ford Officially Rescinds Japanese-American Evacuation Order

Feb 21, 
1976

ACLU Launches Anti-Government Spying Campaign

Mar 10, 
1976

Attorney General Levi Issues FBI Domestic Security Investigation Guidelines

Mar 18, 
1976

Kentucky Finally Ratifies the 14th Amendment

Apr 6, 
1976

“Ethnic Purity”: Candidate Jimmy Carter Puts Foot in Mouth on Housing Discrimination

May 9, 
1976

World Press Freedom Committee Formed

May 21, 
1976

Candidate Jimmy Carter Opposes Discrimination Against Homosexuals

May 21, 
1976

Morris L. Ernst, Pioneering Civil Liberties Attorney, Dies

May 24, 
1976

“Hollywood on Trial” Shown at Cannes Film Festival

Jun 30, 
1976

Freedom of the Press: Courts Can’t Suppress Trial News Coverage

Jul 2, 
1976

Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of the Death Penalty

Jul 6, 
1976

First Women Enroll at Annapolis

Jul 7, 
1976

First Women Cadets Enroll at West Point

Jul 12, 
1976

Barbara Jordan Delivers Fiery Keynote Address at Democratic Convention

Sep 9, 
1976

U.S. Civil Service Commission Drops Loyalty Questions from Job Applications

Sep 14, 
1976

National Emergencies Act Limits Presidential Power

Sep 15, 
1976

ACLU Sues Memphis over Destroyed Police Spying Files

Sep 29, 
1976

Hyde Amendment Bars Federal Funds for Abortion

Oct 4, 
1976

Nazi Group Requests Skokie Demonstration Permit – National Controversy Erupts

Jan 18, 
1977

Indiana the Last State to Ratify the ERA for Women’s Rights

Jan 21, 
1977

President Carter Pardons Vietnam War Protesters

Jan 30, 
1977

Andrew Young Sworn in as Ambassador to the United Nations

Mar 5, 
1977

President Carter Names Patricia Derian Coordinator for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs

Mar 26, 
1977

Lesbian and Gay Activists Meet in White House, First Time Ever

Apr 5, 
1977

“504” Sit-in at HEW by Disability Rights Activists

May 27, 
1977

Eleanor Holmes Norton Becomes First Female Chair of EEOC

May 27, 
1977

Senator Proxmire Gives One of 3,000 Speeches Urging Adoption of the Genocide Convention

Jun 7, 
1977

Miami Gay Rights Ordinance Repealed

Jun 18, 
1977

President Carter Puts Foot in Mouth – Calls Same-Sex Relationships “Not Normal”

Jul 9, 
1977

Alice Paul, Force Behind Women’s Suffrage Amendment and Author of the Equal Rights Amendment, Dies

Jul 14, 
1977

House Creates Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Jul 15, 
1977

CIA Director Admits Documents on Secret Drug Experiments Were Destroyed

Jul 20, 
1977

ACLU Faults President Carter’s Civil Liberties Record During His First Six Months

Aug 16, 
1977

President Carter Names Frank Johnson, Famed Civil Rights Judge, to Head FBI

Aug 23, 
1977

Massachusetts Governor Dukakis Declares Sacco and Vanzetti Day

Aug 26, 
1977

Alice Paul Memorial March for Women’s Rights

Sep 6, 
1977

President Carter Okays Affirmative Action, Opposes Quotas

Sep 12, 
1977

African-American Students Boycott Sex-Segregated Mississippi Schools

Nov 7, 
1977

Harvey Milk, Openly Gay Man, Elected San Francisco Supervisor

Nov 18, 
1977

KKK Member Convicted in 1963 Birmingham, AL, Church Bombing

Nov 23, 
1977

WASPS, WWII Women Pilots, Get Retroactive Military Status

Jan 24, 
1978

President Carter Imposes Stricter Controls on CIA

Feb 4, 
1978

A.L. Wirin, Pioneering ACLU Lawyer, Dies at Age 77

Feb 11, 
1978

Survey: Workplace Privacy “A Matter of Considerable Importance”

Feb 14, 
1978

Celebrate National Condom Week!

Mar 15, 
1978

NYC Schools Frisk, Strip-Search Students; NYCLU to Sue

Mar 20, 
1978

Florida Supreme Court Rules Homosexuals Can Practice Law

May 22, 
1978

7th Circuit Affirms Nazi Free Speech Rights in Skokie

Jun 28, 
1978

“Bakke:” Supreme Court OKs Affirmative Action, But Not Rigid Quotas

Jul 3, 
1978

Supreme Court Bans Comedian George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words

Jul 9, 
1978

Nazis Skip Skokie – Demonstrate in Chicago Instead

Aug 1, 
1978

Midge Costanza, Carter Administration Rights Advocate, Resigns

Sep 30, 
1978

Belmont Report: Protection of Human Subjects in Research

Oct 12, 
1978

Inspector General Act Passed – A New Approach to Government Accountability

Oct 25, 
1978

FISA Enacted – Special Court to Regulate National Security Spying

Nov 4, 
1978

President Jimmy Carter Signs Presidential Records Act

Nov 6, 
1978

Sarah Weddington, “Roe” Lawyer, Appointed Counsel to President Carter

Nov 7, 
1978

California Voters Reject Ban on Lesbians, Gays Teaching in Public Schools

Nov 17, 
1978

Women Against Pornography Conference Poses Challenge to First Amendment

Nov 27, 
1978

Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone Assassinated in San Francisco

Mar 9, 
1979

“The Secret That Exploded” — The Progressive Magazine Enjoined from Publishing Article on Making an H-Bomb

Jun 20, 
1979

“Pen Registers” Not a Search: “Smith v. Maryland”

Jul 2, 
1979

Supreme Court: No Parental Consent Needed for Abortion

Jul 14, 
1979

Columbus, Ohio, Ordered to Desegregate its Jail, End Abusive Treatment

Jul 31, 
1979

President Carter Proposes Charter for the F.B.I.

Oct 1, 
1979

H-Bomb “Secret” Explodes – But Published Article Contains No Actual Secrets

Oct 14, 
1979

National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights

Oct 20, 
1979

Women Against Pornography March on Times Square

Dec 18, 
1979

UN Adopts Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Feb 8, 
1980

President Carter Recommends Women Register for Draft

May 4, 
1980

Pope John Paul II Bars Priests from Elective Office; Liberal Rev. Drinan Forced to Leave U.S. Congress

May 28, 
1980

First Women Graduate From West Point

Jun 6, 
1980

Conflict Sinks Carter White House Conference on the Family

Jun 30, 
1980

No Federal Funding of Abortion: Harris v. McRea

Aug 11, 
1980

Democratic Party Platform Supports Homosexual Rights For the First Time

Jan 16, 
1981

ACLU’s Roger Baldwin and Earl Warren Awarded Medal of Freedom

Mar 8, 
1981

Groups Organize to Combat Reagan Administration Attacks on Civil Liberties

Mar 26, 
1981

TV Producer Norman Lear Warns of New Right Threat to the “Spirit of Liberty”

May 18, 
1981

A Prophetic Warning: ACLU Official Warns that Fear of “Terrorism” May Become Greatest Threat to Civil Liberties

Jun 5, 
1981

CDC Releases First Report on HIV / AIDS

Jul 3, 
1981

First New York Times Article on HIV/AIDS

Jul 7, 
1981

President Reagan Nominates Sandra Day O’Connor as First Woman For the Supreme Court

Jul 8, 
1981

Women Golfers Unite! Women Challenge Ban on Mixed Foursomes on Long Island, NY

Aug 11, 
1981

80 Gay Men Discuss AIDS Crisis in Larry Kramer’s Living Room

Aug 13, 
1981

“Heckler’s Veto” – NYC Mayor Koch Bans Rugby Match by South African Team

Aug 26, 
1981

Roger Baldwin, ACLU Founder, Dies

Aug 31, 
1981

Final Testament: ACLU Founder Baldwin Says “Assert Your Rights or Lose Them”

Sep 8, 
1981

Iowa School District Voters Reject Bible as Textbook

Sep 25, 
1981

First Woman on the Supreme Court: Sandra Day O’Connor

Oct 25, 
1981

ACLU Issues Handbook on “The Rights of Police Officers”

Nov 17, 
1981

CBS Broadcasts Docudrama on Skokie Free Speech Controversy

Nov 23, 
1981

President Reagan Signs Secret Directive Authorizing Illegal Aid to Contras

Dec 25, 
1981

Georgia School Board Allows Klan Meeting in Building – ACLU Applauds

Jan 4, 
1982

“Gay Men Certainly Have a Health Crisis.” Larry Kramer: “That’s Our Name!”

Jan 5, 
1982

Coalition Challenges Arkansas Creation Science Law

Feb 13, 
1982

ACLU Report: Voting Discrimination Continues in South

Mar 2, 
1982

Wisconsin First State to Ban Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Apr 19, 
1982

NASA Names Sally Ride First Woman Astronaut

May 15, 
1982

International Conscientious Objection Day

May 28, 
1982

Ishmael Jaffree Objects to Alabama Schools’ “Moment of Silence”

Jun 25, 
1982

Public School Library Censorship: “Island Trees v. Pico”

Jun 30, 
1982

President Reagan Signs 25-Year Extension of Voting Rights Act

Aug 3, 
1982

Michael Hardwick Arrested in Bed for Sodomy Law Violation – Heads to Supreme Court

Aug 12, 
1982

Long Island, NY, School Board Voluntarily Returns Banned Books to School Library

Sep 9, 
1982

Senate Rejects Federal Ban on Abortion

Sep 24, 
1982

Banned Books Week Begins – Last Week of September

Sep 25, 
1982

Reagan Attacks “Twisted Logic” of Separation of Church and State

Sep 28, 
1982

Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues Protests Low Number of Women at IRS

Dec 3, 
1982

United Nations Declares International Day of Disabled Persons

Dec 8, 
1982

Confidentiality of Political Campaign Contributors Upheld

Dec 21, 
1982

Road to the Iran-Contra Scandal – First Boland Amendment Passed

Jan 6, 
1983

“Moment of Silence” Causes Uproar in New Jersey Schools

Feb 3, 
1983

President Reagan Proclaims “Year of the Bible”

Mar 26, 
1983

Bob Dole: “Hear No Evil, See No Evil . . . And Evil (Richard Nixon)”

May 24, 
1983

No Tax Exemptions for Universities that Discriminate

Aug 5, 
1983

Women’s Groups Criticize Reagan Administration Interpretation of Title IX

Nov 2, 
1983

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Established as National Holiday

Dec 9, 
1983

FBI Ordered to Pay Jim Peck $25,000 for Assault as Freedom Rider

Dec 30, 
1983

Minneapolis Mayor Vetoes Anti-pornography Ordinance

Jan 30, 
1984

Reagan Attacks ACLU: “I Wear Their Indictment Like a Badge of Honor”

Mar 1, 
1984

Long Island School Drops Mandatory 30 Second Meditation or Prayer Period

Mar 22, 
1984

Mississippi Finally Ratifies 19th Amendment on Women’s Suffrage

Apr 9, 
1984

U.S. Begins Ambassadorship to the Vatican – Church-State Controversy Results

May 1, 
1984

Indianapolis Anti-Pornography Ordinance Signed

May 18, 
1984

ACLU Issues “Free Trade in Ideas” Report; Condemns Reagan Administration Actions

Jul 12, 
1984

First Woman Vice Presidential Candidate: Geraldine Ferraro

Jul 19, 
1984

Geraldine Ferraro Delivers Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech

Aug 4, 
1984

A Bizarre Warning: NSA Warns of “Peril” of Electronic Surveillance

Aug 8, 
1984

President Reagan’s “Mexico City Policy” Bans Abortion Aid Overseas

Aug 11, 
1984

Equal Access Act Becomes Law; Gives Religious Groups Equal Access to Public School Facilities

Aug 21, 
1984

First Girl Plays in Little League World Series

Sep 7, 
1984

Chicago Bans Break Dancers, Jugglers, Mimes, Singers; ACLU Sues

Dec 10, 
1984

UN Adopts Convention Against Torture

Feb 25, 
1985

Ed Meese Becomes Attorney General; Leads Assault on Civil Liberties

Mar 27, 
1985

Supreme Court Limits Police Use of Deadly Force

Apr 21, 
1985

“The Normal Heart,” By Gay Rights Activist Larry Kramer, Opens Off-Broadway

Apr 23, 
1985

Farley Mowat, Canadian Author, Denied Entry into U.S.

Jun 4, 
1985

Alabama “Moment of Silence” Law Unconstitutional

Jul 1, 
1985

Pauli Murray, Civil Rights Pioneer, Feminist, Civil Libertarian, Dies

Jul 9, 
1985

Attorney General Ed Meese Launches “Original Intent” Crusade

Jul 22, 
1985

Arrest Warrant Issued for Attorney General Ed Meese – For Jaywalking

Aug 27, 
1985

Indianapolis Anti-Pornography Law Struck Down

Sep 17, 
1985

President Reagan Finally Breaks Silence on HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Sep 19, 
1985

Frank Zappa Zaps Music Censorship Idea

Oct 1, 
1985

Annual Free Speech Day in California: Commemorates Free Speech Movement

Nov 14, 
1985

Gay Rights Town Hall Meeting, GLAAD Formed

Dec 7, 
1985

President Reagan Approves Illegal Iran-Contra Actions – Aides Joke About Prison

Jan 17, 
1986

President Reagan Signs Secret “Finding,” Authorizing Illegal Arms Sale to Iran

Mar 18, 
1986

Conservative William Buckley Says Tattoo Gay Men on Their Buttocks

Jun 19, 
1986

Supreme Court Recognizes Sexual Harassment as Violation of Title VII

Jun 30, 
1986

Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Sodomy Laws

Jul 7, 
1986

Presidential Power Asserted: The Rise of Signing Statements

Jul 8, 
1986

Attorney General Meese Releases Porn Commission Report

Sep 26, 
1986

William Rehnquist Becomes Chief Justice

Oct 5, 
1986

Iran-Contra Affair Unravels – Scandal Embroils President Reagan

Nov 3, 
1986

Iran-Contra Scandal Exposed

Nov 19, 
1986

Reagan Fumbles Truth at Iran-Contra Scandal Press Conference

Nov 21, 
1986

Oliver North’s Iran-Contra “Shredding Party” Begins

Dec 10, 
1986

Nobel Prize Winners’ Amicus Brief Opposes Creationism

Dec 13, 
1986

Civil Rights Activist Ella Baker Dies

Jan 6, 
1987

“Visa War:” Documentary Film Attacks Reagan Administration on Free Trade in Ideas

Feb 11, 
1987

California Debates AIDS Privacy Issues

Mar 10, 
1987

ACT UP, HIV/AIDS Advocacy Group, Founded

Mar 24, 
1987

First AIDS Demonstration by ACT UP

May 4, 
1987

ACT UP Demands Action on HIV / AIDS Crisis

May 26, 
1987

Preventive Detention: “Dangerous” Offenders Have No Right to Bail

May 30, 
1987

Rep. Barney Frank Comes Out

Jun 19, 
1987

“Creationism” Violates Separation of Church and State

Jul 7, 
1987

Oliver North’s Iran-Contra Testimony Begins; Defends Violations of the Law

Jul 20, 
1987

Scopes Festival Launched in Dayton, Tennessee

Aug 28, 
1987

Reagan Administration Bars Visas to People with HIV

Sep 18, 
1987

New York Times Exposes FBI Library Awareness Program

Oct 11, 
1987

National Coming Out Day – March in Washington

Oct 23, 
1987

Senate Rejects Supreme Court Nominee Robert H. Bork

Nov 17, 
1987

Dick Cheney Gives Early Warning – Asserts Presidential Power in Iran-Contra Report

Jan 6, 
1988

Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” Will Not Be Broadcast

Jan 13, 
1988

Supreme Court Denies High School Newspapers Full First Amendment Rights

Feb 24, 
1988

Hustler Magazine Hits the Supreme Court, Wins

Apr 18, 
1988

U.S. Signs UN Convention Against Torture (But Takes Six Years to Ratify It)

Aug 10, 
1988

Justice for Japanese-Americans: The Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Aug 26, 
1988

Candidate George H.W. Bush Attacks Dukakis as “Card-Carrying” ACLU Member

Sep 22, 
1988

Attorney General Richard Thornburgh Attacks ACLU for “Political Agenda”

Oct 11, 
1988

Lesbian and Gay Rights Group ACT UP Shuts Down FDA for a Day

Nov 4, 
1988

U.S. Finally Ratifies UN Genocide Convention

Dec 23, 
1988

FCC Bans All “Indecency” on Radio and Television

Mar 21, 
1989

Mandatory Drug Testing for Federal Employees Held Constitutional

May 4, 
1989

Oliver North Convicted of Iran-Contra Crimes

Jun 21, 
1989

Supreme Court Rules Texas Flag-Burning Law Unconstitutional

Sep 22, 
1989

Univ. of Michigan Campus Speech Code Declared Unconstitutional

Oct 28, 
1989

Flag Protection Act Become Law – Protests Erupt in Seattle

Nov 8, 
1989

Douglas Wilder Elected First African-American Governor of Virginia

Jan 7, 
1990

Ed Ennis Dies; Fought Japanese-American Evacuation

Jan 13, 
1990

Douglas Wilder Becomes First Elected African-American Governor

Feb 5, 
1990

“Fetal Harm” Issue in the Courts

Mar 12, 
1990

Famous “Capitol Crawl:” Disabled People Lobby for Passage of Americans with Disabilities Act

Apr 17, 
1990

Religious Use of Peyote Not Constitutionally Protected

Jun 11, 
1990

Supreme Court Declares Federal Flag Burning Law Unconstitutional: U.S. v. Eichman

Jun 21, 
1990

Teens Burn Cross; Hate Crime Case Goes to Supreme Court

Jul 26, 
1990

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Signed Into Law

Oct 6, 
1990

Robert Mapplethorpe and Gallery Curator Indicted for Obscenity in Cincinnati

Oct 9, 
1990

“A Grave Injustice Was Done” – First Japanese-American Reparations Paid

Nov 6, 
1990

Seattle Voters Reject Repeal of Domestic Partnership Ordinance

Nov 29, 
1990

Homosexuality No Longer a Bar to Immigration

Jan 3, 
1991

Eleanor Holmes Norton Becomes Member of the House as Delegate For the District of Columbia

Jan 10, 
1991

Forced Contraception Challenged

Feb 2, 
1991

Pentagon Bans Media Coverage of Military Casualties Returning to U.S.

Mar 3, 
1991

L.A. Police Beat Rodney King; Video Tape Provokes National Outrage

Apr 23, 
1991

Harriet Pilpel Dies; Civil Libertarian, Reproductive Rights Pioneer

Feb 5, 
1992

“Free Speech and the Right to Hate”

Mar 3, 
1992

Former Manzanar Relocation Center Becomes National Historic Site

Apr 5, 
1992

March for Women’s Lives in Washington

Apr 29, 
1992

LAPD Officers Acquitted in Rodney King Beating: Los Angeles Erupts in Riots

Jun 8, 
1992

Court Upholds Professor’s Free Speech Rights on African-American Inferiority

Jun 29, 
1992

Supreme Court Preserves Right to Abortion; Defines “Undue Burden” Standard

Jul 13, 
1992

Roberta Achtenberg, First Openly Lesbian Woman to Address National Political Convention

Dec 24, 
1992

President G. H. W. Bush Pardons Six Reagan Administration Figures in Iran-Contra Scandal

Jan 8, 
1993

Gay Group Gets Permit for St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Jan 22, 
1993

President Bill Clinton Rescinds Anti-Abortion “Mexico City Policy”

Jan 24, 
1993

Civil Rights Giant Thurgood Marshall Dies

Feb 6, 
1993

“God Pod:” Texas Jail Considers All-Christian Unit

Mar 10, 
1993

Dr. David Gunn, Abortion Provider, Murdered

Mar 11, 
1993

Janet Reno Confirmed as First Female Attorney General

Apr 25, 
1993

Huge Gay Rights March in Washington, D.C.

May 3, 
1993

United Nations World Press Freedom Day

Jun 14, 
1993

President Clinton Nominates Ruth Bader Ginsburg for Supreme Court

Aug 10, 
1993

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Civil Libertarian, Feminist, Joins Supreme Court

Sep 8, 
1993

Freedom for the Thought We Hate – African American ACLU Lawyer Defends KKK First Amendment Rights; Criticized by NAACP

Nov 16, 
1993

Congress Passes Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

Dec 21, 
1993

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy on Homosexuals in the Military Formally Adopted

Feb 17, 
1994

Randy Shilts, Journalist and AIDS Activist, Dies

May 12, 
1994

Abortion Clinic Access Law (FACE) Passes in Congress

Sep 13, 
1994

Violence Against Women Act Passed

Sep 13, 
1994

Violent Crime Control Act Addresses Police Abuse, Violence Against Women

Oct 21, 
1994

U.S. Ratifies UN Convention Against Racial Discrimination

Oct 21, 
1994

U.S. Ratifies UN Convention Against Torture

Nov 8, 
1994

Oregon Voters Approve Death with Dignity Act

Feb 3, 
1995

Pilloried by a List: Sheriff Posts List of Crime Suspects

Feb 16, 
1995

U.S. Signs – But Does Not Ratify – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Mar 16, 
1995

Mississippi Ratifies 13th Amendment, 130 Years Late – But It’s Not Official

Jul 19, 
1995

President Clinton on Affirmative Action: “Mend it, Don’t End It”

Sep 5, 
1995

“Women’s Rights are Human Rights” – Hillary Clinton Speaks In Beijing

Dec 6, 
1995

First-Ever White House Conference on HIV and AIDS

Dec 12, 
1995

Flag Burning Amendment Falls 3 Votes Short in Senate

Jan 9, 
1996

Group Urges Ban on Internet “Hate Speech”

Jan 17, 
1996

Barbara Jordan Dies; Feminist, Texas Civil Rights Advocate

Feb 8, 
1996

President Clinton Signs Communications Decency Act; ACLU Immediately Sues

May 12, 
1996

Three Federal Judges Visit Internet Porn Sites in Communications Decency Case

May 20, 
1996

Victory for Lesbian and Gay Rights in the Supreme Court: “Romer v. Evans”

Jun 26, 
1996

VMI Ordered to Admit Women

Sep 21, 
1996

President Clinton Signs Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Feb 12, 
1997

Thomas Stoddard, Pioneering Gay Rights Lawyer, Dies

Mar 30, 
1997

“Clinton vs. First Amendment,” Writes Top Legal Scholar

Apr 8, 
1997

Tennessee Becomes Last State to Ratify 15th Amendment — 127 Years Late!

Apr 16, 
1997

Consent Degree to End “Pattern or Practice” of Abuse by Pittsburgh Police

May 16, 
1997

President Clinton Apologizes for Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

May 27, 
1997

The President is Not Above the Law: Bill Clinton Edition

Jun 14, 
1997

President Clinton Launches Initiative on Race – Effort Fails

Jun 25, 
1997

Religious Freedom Restoration Act Held Unconstitutional

Jun 26, 
1997

Communications Decency Act Held Unconstitutional

Jun 26, 
1997

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Jul 5, 
1997

“The Tin Drum” Film Seized as “Obscene” in Oklahoma City

Jul 24, 
1997

Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Dies

Aug 18, 
1997

First Women Enroll at Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

Sep 27, 
1997

President Clinton Honors “Little Rock Nine” on 40th Anniversary of the Integration Crisis

Oct 27, 
1997

Oregon’s “Death with Dignity” Law Takes Effect

Jan 10, 
1998

New Jersey “Taking [the] Lead” in Providing Court Translators

Mar 15, 
1998

Groups Oppose Public School Uniforms

Jun 4, 
1998

“Driving While Black” – Racial Profiling Crisis Erupts

Jul 4, 
1998

“Civil Liberties Line: Do Not Cross” – NYCLU Protests Mayor Giuliani’s Assault on Civil Liberties

Oct 7, 
1998

Matthew Shepard, Gay Student, Beaten, Robbed, Left to Die

Oct 23, 
1998

Dr. Barnett Slepian, Abortion Provider, Murdered by Anti-Abortion Fanatics

Dec 25, 
1998

Go to Church, Get Discount at the Ball Game

Mar 21, 
1999

Elia Kazan Given Honorary Oscar – Award Protested Because He “Named Names” to HUAC

Jun 10, 
1999

Supreme Court Declares Chicago Anti-Gang Law Unconstitutional

Jul 23, 
1999

Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., Civil Rights Hero, Dies

Jul 23, 
1999

Racist Outrage in Tulia, Texas – 10% of African-American Population Arrested

Aug 8, 
1999

Former President Ford Endorses Affirmative Action

Oct 8, 
1999

“Giuliani Time” – NYCLU Sues NYC Mayor Over Brooklyn Museum Censorship

Dec 20, 
1999

Vermont Supreme Court Affirms Rights of Same-Sex Couples

Mar 28, 
2000

Suits Challenging NYC Mayor Giuliani’s Free Speech Violations “Burden” Courts, Says 2nd Circuit Court Judge

Apr 26, 
2000

Vermont Legalizes Civil Unions

Jul 1, 
2000

Vermont Civil Union Law Takes Effect

Aug 11, 
2000

President Clinton Orders Services for People With Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

Sep 27, 
2000

Frank Wills, Watergate Scandal Hero, Dies

Oct 19, 
2000

Jimmy Carter Breaks with Southern Baptist Convention

Nov 7, 
2000

Congress Passes “Wartime Violations of Italian-Americans Act”

Nov 25, 
2000

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Jan 22, 
2001

President George W. Bush Restores Mexico City Policy

Jan 29, 
2001

President Bush Creates Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, Promotes Government-Supported Religion

Feb 2, 
2001

John Ashcroft, Hostile to Civil Liberties, Becomes Attorney General

May 19, 
2001

First Women Graduate From VMI

Jul 31, 
2001

Ten Commandments Installed in Alabama Court House

Sep 11, 
2001

Terrorists Attack U.S. – War on Terrorism, Violations of Civil Liberties Escalate

Sep 13, 
2001

Jerry Falwell Blames 9/11 Attacks on ACLU, Secularism

Sep 14, 
2001

President Bush Declares National Emergency on Terrorism

Sep 14, 
2001

War on Terror: Congress Passes Joint Resolution on Use of Force

Sep 16, 
2001

Bush Promises “Wrathful, Shadowy and Inventive War” – Delivers on Promise

Sep 16, 
2001

Cheney Say U.S. Will Work “The Dark Side” in War on Terror – Delivers on Promise

Sep 17, 
2001

Authority to Torture: President Bush Signs Secret Directive Giving CIA Authority to Capture and Interrogate Terrorists

Sep 25, 
2001

Memo to President Bush Says Congress Has No Authority to Limit His Powers on Terrorism

Oct 4, 
2001

President Bush Orders Illegal NSA Spying

Oct 26, 
2001

Congress Passes the USA PATRIOT Act – Civil Liberties Violations Follow

Oct 31, 
2001

Massachusetts Exonerates Five Salem Witch Trial Victims – On Halloween !

Nov 1, 
2001

President Bush Limits Access to Past Presidents’ Papers

Nov 10, 
2001

Sikhs Allege Harassment Following 9/11 Attacks

Nov 13, 
2001

Bush Orders Military Tribunals, Filled With Civil Liberties Problems

Nov 14, 
2001

Vice President Cheney: “Terrorists Don’t Deserve to be Treated as Prisoners of War”

Dec 6, 
2001

AG Ashcroft: Criticisms of War on Terror Give “Ammunition” to the Enemy

Dec 28, 
2001

John Yoo to President Bush: Courts Cannot Hear Terrorists’ Habeas Corpus Petitions

Jan 7, 
2002

Amnesty International Warns Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld About “Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading” Punishments

Jan 9, 
2002

John Yoo: Bush Administration Can Ignore Geneva Conventions

Jan 11, 
2002

Guantanamo Bay Detention Center Opens – Abuses Follow

Jan 11, 
2002

State Department Lawyer Protests Bush Administration War on Terror Policies

Jan 18, 
2002

President Bush Declares Guantanamo Bay Detainees Not Prisoners of War

Jan 25, 
2002

White House Counsel To Bush: Geneva Conventions Do Not Apply

Mar 13, 
2002

Denver Police Maintain Files on 3,200 People; ACLU Challenges the Practice

Jun 20, 
2002

Executing Mentally Retarded People Unconstitutional

Jun 27, 
2002

Court Upholds Mandatory Drug Testing for Students

Aug 1, 
2002

Infamous “Torture Memo” Drafted by Bush Administration

Oct 16, 
2002

Iraq War Disaster Begins – Congress Authorizes Use of Military Force Against Iraq

Nov 2, 
2002

“Oh My G*D!” – Godless Americans March on Washington

Nov 3, 
2002

Secular Coalition for America Organized

Dec 26, 
2002

Washington Post Exposes CIA “Extraordinary Renditions”

Jan 23, 
2003

American Library Association Adopts Advisory on Government Snooping

Mar 12, 
2003

California Libraries Warn of Government Snooping

Jun 23, 
2003

Supreme Court Issues Mixed Decisions on Univ. Michigan Affirmative Action Plans

Jun 26, 
2003

Anti-Sodomy Laws Unconstitutional: “Lawrence v. Texas”

Sep 17, 
2003

Ohio Re-ratifies 14th Amendment

Sep 24, 
2003

New York City Police “Stop and Frisk” Practices Unconstitutional — But Practices Continue

Sep 28, 
2003

International Right to Know Day

Nov 18, 
2003

Massachusetts State Court Establishes Right to Same-Sex Marriage

Dec 23, 
2003

Lenny Bruce Pardoned, Thirty-Nine Years Later

Jan 13, 
2004

Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal Begins

Mar 10, 
2004

Attorney General Ashcroft Upholds the Rule of Law in Famous Hospital Confrontation

Apr 20, 
2004

President Bush Lies About Warrantless Wiretapping

Apr 24, 
2004

Manzanar Historic Site Interpretive Center Opens

Apr 28, 
2004

“60 Minutes II” Broadcasts Exposé of Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse

May 2, 
2004

Taguba Report Confirms Abuse by U.S. Military at Abu Ghraib Prison

May 17, 
2004

Same-Sex Marriages Begin in Massachusetts

Jun 28, 
2004

“Rasul:” Supreme Court Limits Bush’s War on Terror

Jun 28, 
2004

“War Is Not a Blank Check for the President”: Supreme Court Rebukes Bush Administration

Jul 28, 
2004

Tariq Ramadan, Noted Islamic Scholar, Denied Entry into U.S.

Aug 19, 
2004

Sen. Ted Kennedy Caught by “No-Fly” List

Mar 16, 
2005

Annual Sunshine Week: Celebrate Freedom of Information

Jun 13, 
2005

Senate Apologizes for Never Passing Anti-Lynching Law

Jun 21, 
2005

Klan Member Convicted for 1964 Murder of Three Civil Rights Workers in Mississippi

Oct 24, 
2005

Rosa Parks, Hero of Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies

Nov 2, 
2005

“Black Sites” – Washington Post Exposes Secret CIA Prisons

Dec 16, 
2005

NY Times Exposes Illegal NSA Spying on Americans by Bush Administration

Dec 20, 
2005

Court Rules School District’s “Intelligent Design” Curriculum Unconstitutional

Jan 2, 
2006

Frank Wilkinson, Anti-HUAC Activist, Dies

Feb 17, 
2006

Tule Lake WW II Internment Center Designated a National Historic Landmark

Apr 30, 
2006

Boston Globe Exposes President Bush’s Abuse of Signing Statements

May 3, 
2006

Victims of WW I Repression Pardoned in Montana

Jun 29, 
2006

“Hamdan:” Bush Military Commissions Violate Laws of War

Jul 27, 
2006

President George W. Bush Signs 25-Year Extension of 1965 Voting Rights Act

Aug 25, 
2006

Selma-to-Montgomery Historic Trail Opens

Sep 6, 
2006

President Bush Lies – Says U.S. Does Not Torture

Sep 20, 
2006

Heart Mountain Relocation Center Designated a Historic Landmark

Oct 17, 
2006

President George W. Bush Signs Military Commissions Law

Oct 23, 
2006

“The CIA’s Travel Agent” – New Yorker Magazine Details CIA Use of Private Charter Airlines for Renditions

Dec 7, 
2006

Bush Administration Fires Seven U.S. Attorneys for Political Reasons

Feb 14, 
2007

European Parliament Condemns CIA Extraordinary Renditions

Mar 30, 
2007

UN Signs Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

May 10, 
2007

Compulsory Patriotism at Yankee Stadium

May 22, 
2007

Edie Windsor and Thea Speyer Marry – Then Make History in 2013

May 29, 
2007

Supreme Court Denies Lily Ledbetter Remedy for Unequal Pay

Jun 26, 
2007

Full CIA “Family Jewels” Report Released

Jun 28, 
2007

Supreme Court Guts Race-Based School Integration Plans

Aug 1, 
2007

Candidate Obama Endorses Civil Liberties in the War on Terrorism – As President, Ignores His Earlier Speech

Oct 12, 
2007

California Governor Signs Name Equality Act

Jan 21, 
2008

John Lewis Returns to Scene of 1961 Freedom Ride Beating; Reconciles with Attacker

Mar 18, 
2008

“A More Perfect Union:” Obama’s 2008 Great Speech on Race at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia

Jun 12, 
2008

“Boumediene v. Bush”: Habeas Corpus Extends to Foreign Nationals

Jul 9, 
2008

FISA Extension Act Expands Government Surveillance Powers

Sep 14, 
2008

George Takei, Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu, Marries His Same-Sex Partner

Nov 4, 
2008

First African-American Elected President – Barack Obama

Nov 4, 
2008

Proposition 8 – California Bans Same-Sex Marriage

Jan 22, 
2009

President Obama Bans Torture

Jan 22, 
2009

President Obama Orders Closing of Guantanamo Bay

Jan 29, 
2009

President Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into Law

Feb 3, 
2009

Eric Holder Becomes First African-American Attorney General

Feb 26, 
2009

Defense Department Ends Ban on Coverage of Returning U.S. War Dead

Apr 3, 
2009

Iowa Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Apr 7, 
2009

Vermont Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

May 6, 
2009

Maine (Temporarily) Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

May 31, 
2009

Dr. George Tiller, Abortion Provider, Shot and Killed

Jun 3, 
2009

New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Jun 25, 
2009

No Strip Searches of Middle School Students!

Jul 10, 
2009

Five Federal Inspectors General Criticize Bush Administration Terrorism Policies

Aug 8, 
2009

Sonia Sotomayor Joins Supreme Court; First Hispanic Justice

Aug 10, 
2009

Illinois Creates Torture Commission To Provide Reparations for Chicago Police Brutality Victims

Sep 30, 
2009

International Blasphemy Day Founded

Oct 28, 
2009

Matthew Shepard And James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Act Signed Into Law

Dec 18, 
2009

Washington, D.C. Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Dec 4, 
2010

California Proposition 8, Ban on Same-Sex Marriage, Declared Unconstitutional

Jan 5, 
2010

HHS, CDC Remove HIV from List that Bars Visas

Jan 29, 
2010

Too Much Anne Frank Sexuality! Virginia Parents Object

Apr 29, 
2010

Women Allowed to Serve on Navy Submarines

Jul 19, 
2010

Washington Post Begins “Top Secret America” Series

Jul 23, 
2010

Journalist Daniel Schorr, Famous in Watergate, Other Crises, Dies

Jul 29, 
2010

Establishing A “New Normal:” ACLU Issues Critique of the Obama Administration

Nov 2, 
2010

Three Judges Removed From Iowa Supreme Court – Voted For Same-Sex Marriage

Jan 7, 
2011

Congress Blocks Closing of Guantanamo Bay Detention Center

Jan 30, 
2011

First Annual Fred Korematsu Day

Feb 23, 
2011

Obama Administration Stops Defending Defense of Marriage Act

Jun 24, 
2011

New York State Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Jun 27, 
2011

Supreme Court Invalidates California Video Games Censorship Law

Jul 18, 
2011

Paul Oetken Confirmed as First Openly Gay Man to be Federal Judge

Aug 17, 
2011

Melvin Dwork’s Navy Discharge for Being Gay, Changed to “Honorable” — 68 Years Later

Aug 28, 
2011

Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Dedicated

Sep 11, 
2011

ACLU Report, “A Call to Courage,” on Civil Liberties in the Years After “9/11”

Sep 20, 
2011

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy Ends

Sep 29, 
2011

Log Cabin Republicans Challenge “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy

Sep 30, 
2011

Can the U.S. Kill American Citizens Without Due Process? – Anwar Al-Awlaki Killing Raises Troubling Questions

Nov 21, 
2011

GOP Candidate Rick Santorum Wants U.S. Under “God’s Law”

Dec 31, 
2011

President Obama Signs Law Allowing Indefinite Detention, Anywhere in the World

Jan 2, 
2012

Gordon Hirabayashi, Japanese-American Hero, Dies at 93

Feb 18, 
2012

Don’t Eat the Thin Mints! Congressman Warns Girl Scouts Are Dangerous!

Feb 21, 
2012

Censorship Foe Barney Rosset Dies

May 9, 
2012

President Obama Endorses Same-Sex Marriage

Jun 15, 
2012

DACA Begins: President Obama Signs Deferred Action Memorandum

Jun 15, 
2012

Obama Hosts First-Ever Gay Pride Reception at White House

Jun 17, 
2012

Silent Marches Protest Police “Stop and Frisk” Policies

Jul 7, 
2012

Rep. Barney Frank Marries Longtime Partner

Aug 10, 
2012

First Lesbian/Gay Brigadier General in U. S. Military

Oct 2, 
2012

NY Civil Liberties Union Report Blasts Inhumane Use of Solitary Confinement

Oct 5, 
2012

Fanny Lou Hamer Statue Dedicated in Ruleville, Mississippi

Oct 24, 
2012

Four Freedoms Park Opens in NYC, Honors FDR’s Famous Speech

Nov 6, 
2012

Quadruple Electoral Win for Same-Sex Marriage

Nov 6, 
2012

Tammy Baldwin Elected First Openly Lesbian/Gay U.S. Senator

Dec 5, 
2012

Senate Fails to Ratify UN Convention on Rights of Disabled Persons

Dec 17, 
2012

Richard Adams, Gay Rights Pioneer, Dies

Jan 24, 
2013

Pentagon Approves Women in Combat

Mar 2, 
2013

Montgomery, Alabama, Police Chief Apologizes to John Lewis for 1961 Beating, Gives Lewis His Badge

Mar 12, 
2013

Director of National Intelligence Lies to Senate About NSA Spying

Mar 25, 
2013

Anthony Lewis Dies; Won Two Pulitzers for Civil Liberties Stories

Apr 27, 
2013

Georgia High School Holds Its First Integrated Prom

May 13, 
2013

Associated Press Denounces Obama Justice Department Demand for Records

May 23, 
2013

Boy Scouts Drop Ban on Homosexuality

Jun 3, 
2013

ACLU Report Condemns “War on Marijuana”

Jun 5, 
2013

First Snowden-Related Stories Published: Massive NSA Spying Exposed

Jun 6, 
2013

Washington Post Exposes Secret NSA PRISM Spying Program

Jun 13, 
2013

Supreme Court: You Can’t Patent Our Genes!

Jun 18, 
2013

We Want “The Whole Haystack” – Administration Official Explains Surveillance Philosophy

Jun 25, 
2013

Supreme Court Guts Voting Rights Act: “Shelby County v. Holder”

Jun 26, 
2013

Same-Sex Marriage Victory: Supreme Court Declares DOMA Unconstitutional

Jun 27, 
2013

“Stellar Wind:” NSA Spied on Americans Illegally from 2001 to 2011

Aug 12, 
2013

NYC Police’s Stop and Frisk Practices Ruled Unconstitutional

Aug 15, 
2013

NSA Broke its Own Rules “Thousands of Times a Year”

Aug 29, 
2013

$52.6 Billion: U.S. Secret “Black Budget” for 16 Intelligence Agencies Exposed

Oct 23, 
2013

Spying on Our Friends: German Chancellor Merkel Protests NSA Tapping Her Cell Phone

Nov 2, 
2013

“No Bit of Information Too Minuscule” – NSA Spying Philosophy Revealed

Nov 5, 
2013

Conservatives Block Ratification of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Nov 21, 
2013

Alabama Pardons Last Three Scottsboro Defendants; Historic Civil Rights Case Finally Ends

Dec 9, 
2013

Even Video Games – NSA Spying on Electronic Games on Internet Exposed

Dec 16, 
2013

Judge Rules NSA Spying Program Unconstitutional

Dec 25, 
2013

NSA Spying “Worse Than Anything Orwell Imagined” – Edward Snowden

Dec 31, 
2013

Florida Drug Tests For Public Assistance Ruled Unconstitutional

Jan 27, 
2014

Folk Singing Great Pete Seeger Dies

Feb 16, 
2014

“Snowden Document” Reporters Win Prestigious Polk Award

Mar 5, 
2014

The Same Old Song: NSA Head Claims Snowden Leaks Harm National Security

Mar 11, 
2014

Senator Feinstein Accuses CIA of Breaking the Law, Violating the Constitution

Mar 11, 
2014

West Virginia Officials Back Off From Attempt to Censor Poem on Mine Disaster

Mar 12, 
2014

Shoot All Left-Wing Professors, Says Right-Wing Catholic Leader

Mar 13, 
2014

Facebook Founder Zuckerberg Calls President Obama, Condemns NSA Spying

Mar 22, 
2014

First Lady Michelle Obama, in China, Declares Free Speech and Access to Internet Are Human Rights

Mar 27, 
2014

UN Comittee on Human Rights Blasts US Human Rights Record

Apr 3, 
2014

Senate Intelligence Committee Votes to Release Report on CIA Torture

Apr 8, 
2014

NSA Spied on Human Rights Watch, Other Activist Groups

Apr 9, 
2014

Pat Robertson Asks God to “Deliver” U.S. from Obama

Apr 10, 
2014

Senate Report on Torture: CIA “Harsh Interrogations” Exceeded Legal Authority

Apr 14, 
2014

Pulitzer Prizes for Snowden-Related NSA Stories

Apr 22, 
2014

Supreme Court Upholds Michigan Constitutional Ban on Affirmative Action

Jun 27, 
2014

NSA Head Admits “Sky Isn’t Falling” Because of Snowden-related Leaks

Jun 30, 
2014

Hobby Lobby: Corporations Have Religious Rights

Jul 9, 
2014

NSA Spied on Muslim-Americans

Jul 17, 
2014

“I Can’t Breathe:” Eric Garner Choked to Death by NYPD Police Officers

Aug 9, 
2014

Unarmed Michael Brown Shot and Killed by Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer – Nationwide Protests Follow

Dec 9, 
2014

Senate Intelligence Committee Releases Report on CIA Torture Program

Dec 17, 
2014

President Obama Announces Plan To Normalize Relations With Cuba

Dec 31, 
2014

Acclaimed Film “Selma” Provokes Controversy over President Johnson, Other Issues

Feb 17, 
2015

New Report Finds More African-Americans Lynched in U.S. Than Previously Believed

Mar 4, 
2015

DOJ Issues Blistering Report on Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department

Mar 4, 
2015

President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing Releases Interim Report

Mar 16, 
2015

California Supreme Court Grants Law License to Hong Yen Chang, Denied License in 1890

Mar 26, 
2015

Indiana Passes Anti-Gay “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” – Backs Off a Week Later

May 2, 
2015

Folk Singer Guy Carawan Dies; Taught “We Shall Overcome” to Sit-In Leaders

May 6, 
2015

Nebraska Woman Sues All Gay People on Earth !

May 7, 
2015

Second Ciruit Court of Appeals Rules NSA “Bulk Mail” Collection Illegal

May 20, 
2015

Edward Snowden, in Exile, Savors Recognition, Victories

Jun 2, 
2015

A First Step: Congress Curbs NSA Spying

Jun 2, 
2015

African-American Soldier Awarded Medal of Honor – 97 Years Late

Jun 23, 
2015

Stonewall Inn, Center of Birth of Lesbian and Gay Rights Movement, Gains Landmark Status

Jun 25, 
2015

Supreme Court Affirms Federal Fair Housing Law

Jun 26, 
2015

Same-Sex Marriage Constitutional ! – Supreme Court Rules

Jun 29, 
2015

Justices Breyer and Ginsburg Question Constitutionality of the Death Penalty

Jul 10, 
2015

American Psychological Association Aided CIA/Military Torture Program

Jul 20, 
2015

President Obama Normalizes U.S. and Cuba Relations

Aug 24, 
2015

Televangelist Pat Robertson Blames Planned Parenthood for Stock Market Crash

Sep 29, 
2015

Planned Parenthood President Rebuts Faked Attack Videos

Oct 6, 
2015

Justice Department to Release 6,000 Prisoners –Beginning of the End of the War on Crime?

Oct 10, 
2015

CIA Documents Reveal Role of Chile in 1976 Assassination on U.S Soil and CIA Role in Cover-Up

Oct 23, 
2015

FBI Director James Comey Blames Police Critics For Recent Rise in Violent Crime

Oct 24, 
2015

Al Bronstein, Leader of ACLU Prisoners Rights Project, Dies at Age 87

Oct 26, 
2015

Televangelist Pat Robertson Calls Same-Sex Marriage Still Illegal – Says Supreme Court Decision Only an “Opinion”

Oct 28, 
2015

Professor Larry Gara, Fired in 1962 for Political Views, Gets Apology 53 Years Later

Nov 29, 
2015

NSA Ends Bulk Collection of Americans’ Telecommunications Data

Jan 26, 
2016

TEST Supreme Court Strikes Down Extreme Texas Abortion Law; Finds “Undue Burden” on Women

Jan 6, 
2016

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended – Told Lower State Courts to Disregard U.S Supreme Court on Same-Sex Marriages

Jan 25, 
2016

Longest-Ever Picket of White House (30+ Years) Ends; Concepcion Picciotto Dies

Apr 12, 
2016

Sewall-Belmont House, Center of Women’s Rights Activity in Washington, Designated National Monument

Apr 16, 
2016

Washington Post Wins Pulitzer for Path-Breaking Reporting on People Shot by the Police

Apr 22, 
2016

Virginia Governor Restores Voting Rights to 200,000 Convicted Felons

May 11, 
2016

Michael Ratner, Civil Liberties Attorney, Dies

Jun 17, 
2016

Lost NYC Police Spying Files Found in Queens

Jun 23, 
2016

Supreme Court Upholds University of Texas Affirmative Action Plan

Jun 27, 
2016

Supreme Court Strikes Down Extreme Texas Abortion Law; Finds “Undue Burden” on Women

Aug 26, 
2016

NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick Refuses to Stand During National Anthem, Inspires a Movement

Sep 7, 
2016

Woman WW II Veteran Wins Right to Burial at Arlington Cemetary

Nov 8, 
2016

Donald Trump Elected President — Assault of Democracy Begins

Jan 12, 
2017

President Obama Creates Two New Civil Rights National Monuments

Jan 21, 
2017

Women’s March Draws Millions World-Wide to Protest Trump

Jan 26, 
2017

Sales of Orwell’s “1984” Soar in Response to Trump Presidency

Jan 27, 
2017

Trump Immigration Ban Sparks Massive Protests at U.S. Airports

Mar 31, 
2017

AG Sessions Suspends DOJ “Pattern or Practice” Program – Stalls Federal Police Accountability Effort

Apr 3, 
2017

Attorney General Sessions Suspends DOJ Police Reform Program

May 9, 
2017

President Trump Fires FBI Director James Comey, Firestorm Erupts

Jul 1, 
2017

Norman Dorsen, Civil Liberties Giant, ACLU Leader, Dies

Jul 13, 
2017

Dayton, TN, Erects Statue of Clarence Darrow, Attorney for John T. Scopes

Oct 5, 
2017

Harvey Weinstein Sexual Harassment Scandal Sparks Anti-Sexual Harassment “Me Too” Movement

Jan 20, 
2018

Second Annual Women’s March Draws Crowds in U.S., Around the World

Jan 23, 
2018

North Carolina Prisons End Ban on Best-Selling “Mass Incarceration” Book

Mar 14, 
2018

One Million Students Protest to Demand Gun Control

Mar 24, 
2018

Up to 2 Million People “March for Our Lives” in Nationwide Protest for Gun Control

Apr 14, 
2018

Tens of Thousands Hold March for Science in U.S., Around the World

Apr 19, 
2018

Sen. Tammy Duckworth Breaks Glass Door: Allowed to Bring Her Newborn and Breastfeed on Senate Floor

May 23, 
2018

“No President is Above the Law:” Judge Rules that President Trump Illegally Blocked Critics Access to His Twitter Account

Jun 26, 
2018

Chief Justice Roberts Condemns Notorious Korematsu Decision, But Does Not Overrule It

Aug 16, 
2018

News Media Fight Back Against Trump: Celebrate Freedom of the Press

Sep 5, 
2018

President Trump Attacks Right to Protest – Again

Nov 3, 
2018

Ramona Ripston, Long-Time ACLU-Southern California Leader, Dies at Age 91

Nov 14, 
2018

African-American Artists Re-Imagine Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms;” Create an Inclusive Image of America

Nov 21, 
2018

Chief Justice Roberts Delivers Historic Rebuke to President Trump

Mar 24, 
2019

San Francisco Declares “Lawrence Ferlinghetti Day” on Poet’s 100th Birthday

Apr 18, 
2019

Justice Department Releases Mueller Report on President Trump — Stirs More Controversies

Apr 20, 
2019

NY Yankees, Philadelphia Flyers Stop Honoring Kate Smith and “God Bless America” Over Racism

Nov 19, 
2019

Walter J. Minton, Publisher of “Lolita” and Other Controversial Books, Dies

Nov 29, 
2019

Edna Smith Primus, Lawyer and Plaintiff in Landmark Supreme Court Case on Right of Advocacy on Reproductive Rights, Dies

Dec 18, 
2019

President Donald J. Trump Impeached by House of Representatives

Dec 31, 
2019

President Trump Escalates War on the News Media in 2019

Jan 19, 
2020

ACLU Celebrates 100th Birthday !!

May 25, 
2020

George Floyd Murdered by Minneapolis Police; Massive Protests Sweep the Nation

Jun 7, 
2020

Massive Protests of Police Killings Marked by Attacks on News Media

Jul 17, 
2020

John Lewis, Civil Right Icon and Respected Leader in Congress, Dies

Jul 30, 
2020

John Lewis’ Last Words — To Us

Sep 18, 
2020

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Feminist and Civil Liberties Hero, Dies

Jan 11, 
2021

Police Reform Works ! Newark Police Officers Fire No Shots in 2020

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