December
Dec 1
1922

Guns, Threats Stop Union Meeting in Vintondale, PA

 
1926

NYC Police Brutalize Box Workers – ACLU Protests

 
1955

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

 
1961

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

 
1964

Tense J. Edgar Hoover – Martin Luther King Meeting

 
1968

Walker Report Finds “Police Riot” at Democratic Party Convention

Dec 2
1911

Harriet Pilpel, Reproductive Rights Pioneer, is Born

 
1917

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

 
1933

Tri-Faith Meeting Protests San Jose Lynching

 
1954

Senate Censures Joe McCarthy

 
1964

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

 
1975

Former FBI Undercover Agent Testifies About Infiltration, Illegal Actions Against Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)

Dec 3
1901

President Theodore Roosevelt: Exclude and Deport Anarchists

 
1947

Hollywood Blacklist Begins

 
1965

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

 
1982

United Nations Declares International Day of Disabled Persons

Dec 4
1942

Winfred Lynn’s Challenge to Segregated WW II Draft Rejected

 
1947

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

 
1961

Commodore Hotel Bars Bill of Rights Dinner in NYC

 
1969

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

 
1971

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

Dec 5
1916

Suffragists Protest at President Wilson’s Annual Message to Congress

 
1941

New Jersey “Race Hatred” Law Held Unconstitutional

 
1946

Truman Creates Historic President’s Committee on Civil Rights

 
1955

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

 
1957

New York City First in Nation to Pass Fair Housing Ordinance

 
1960

Supreme Court Rules Against Segregated Bus Terminals

 
1966

Supreme Court Orders Georgia Legislature to Seat Julian Bond

 
2012

Senate Fails to Ratify UN Convention on Rights of Disabled Persons

Dec 6
1865

Thirteenth Amendment Abolishing Slavery is Ratified

 
1920

Pennsylvania Bans Films Glorifying Crime, Criminals

 
1933

Classic Novel “Ulysses” Ruled Not Pornographic!

 
1935

National Council of Negro Women Formed

 
1937

Supreme Court Declares Poll Tax Constitutional

 
1951

TV Censorship – Television Broadcasters Adopt Code of Conduct

 
1962

OK to Lie to the American People Says Kennedy Administration Official

 
1973

NBC Reporter Carl Stern Reveals Secret FBI COINTELPRO Documents

 
1995

First-Ever White House Conference on HIV and AIDS

 
2001

AG Ashcroft: Criticisms of War on Terror Give “Ammunition” to the Enemy

Dec 7
1915

President Wilson Gives Inflammatory Anti-Immigration Speech

 
1936

OK to Import Japanese Diaphragms

 
1942

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

 
1956

ACLU Attorney A.L. Wirin Ejected From HUAC Hearing

 
1964

Florida Law Banning Interracial Co-Habitation Unconstitutional

 
1985

President Reagan Approves Illegal Iran-Contra Actions – Aides Joke About Prison

 
2006

Bush Administration Fires Seven U.S. Attorneys for Political Reasons

Dec 8
1913

President Wilson Declines to Endorse Women’s Suffrage

 
1922

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

 
1927

National Conference of Christians and Jews Holds First Meeting

 
1941

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

 
1941

Minneapolis Trotskyists Sentenced to Prison for Violating the Smith Act

 
1949

Geneva Conventions Adopted

 
1951

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

 
1952

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

 
1970

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

 
1982

Confidentiality of Political Campaign Contributors Upheld

Dec 9
1918

Socialist Victor Berger on Trial for Violating Espionage Act

 
1948

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

 
1948

UN General Assembly Adopts Convention Against Genocide

 
1958

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

 
1974

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

 
1983

FBI Ordered to Pay Jim Peck $25,000 for Assault as Freedom Rider

 
2013

Even Video Games – NSA Spying on Electronic Games on Internet Exposed

 
2014

Senate Intelligence Committee Releases Report on CIA Torture Program

Dec 10
1938

Pearl Buck First American Woman to Win Nobel Prize for Literature

 
1948

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

 
1948

Human Rights Day – Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted

 
1948

“Respectful Prostitute” Play Banned in Chicago Over Race Issues

 
1950

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

 
1984

UN Adopts Convention Against Torture

 
1986

Nobel Prize Winners’ Amicus Brief Opposes Creationism

Dec 11
1939

FDR Tells FBI to Ignore Supreme Court Decision Limiting Wiretapping

 
1956

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

 
1961

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

 
1964

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

 
1964

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Receives Nobel Peace Prize

 
1969

Nudity Bad for Communism!

Dec 12
1881

Arthur Garfield Hays, Noted Civil Libertarian, Is Born

 
1938

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

 
1941

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

 
1950

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

 
1967

NOW Holds Demonstrations at EEOC Field Offices Across the Country

 
1995

Flag Burning Amendment Falls 3 Votes Short in Senate

Dec 13
1920

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

 
1954

Civil Rights Activist Carl Braden Convicted of Sedition

 
1968

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

 
1969

Mississippi Governor to Aid School Desegregation Suits in North

 
1986

Civil Rights Activist Ella Baker Dies

Dec 14
1917

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

 
1947

ACLU Criticizes Hollywood Blacklist

 
1947

National Security Council Issues First Covert Action Order to CIA

 
1954

Arthur Garfield Hays, Noted ACLU Lawyer, Dies

 
1961

President Kennedy Creates Commission on the Status of Women

 
1964

Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds 1964 Civil Rights Act

Dec 15
1890

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

 
1918

American Jewish Congress Holds First Conference

 
1927

Authors League, Hollywood Reach Voluntary Censorship Agreement

 
1930

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

 
1941

FDR Establishes Bill of Rights Day

 
1955

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

 
1967

Congress Passes the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

 
1969

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

 
1973

American Psychiatric Association: Homosexuality Not a “Mental Illness”

Dec 16
1919

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

 
1950

Truman Declares National Emergency to Combat “Communist Imperialism”

 
1965

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

 
1967

LBJ Signs Age Discrimination Act

 
2005

NY Times Exposes Illegal NSA Spying on Americans by Bush Administration

 
2013

Judge Rules NSA Spying Program Unconstitutional

Dec 17
1924

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

 
1943

Chinese Exclusion Act Repealed

 
1944

Japanese-American Internment Officially Ends

 
1947

National Security Council Authorizes CIA Covert Actions

 
1948

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

 
1951

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

 
1956

Supreme Court Affirms Desegregation of Montgomery, Alabama, Buses

 
1970

Forced Maternity Leave for Pregnant Teacher

 
2012

Richard Adams, Gay Rights Pioneer, Dies

 
2014

President Obama Announces Plan To Normalize Relations With Cuba

Dec 18
1935

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

 
1944

Supreme Court Orders Japanese-Americans Released

 
1944

Civil Liberties Tragedy – Supreme Court Upholds Japanese-American Evacuation

 
1979

UN Adopts Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

 
2009

Washington, D.C. Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

 
2019

President Donald J. Trump Impeached by House of Representatives

Dec 19
1925

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

 
1930

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

 
1936

ACLU Charges Widespread Radio Censorship

 
1942

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

 
1975

John Paul Stevens Joins Supreme Court

Dec 20
1936

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

 
1937

Supreme Court Limits Wiretapping

 
1961

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

 
1964

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

 
1974

Dick Cheney to President Ford: Restore Authority of the President

 
1999

Vermont Supreme Court Affirms Rights of Same-Sex Couples

 
2005

Court Rules School District’s “Intelligent Design” Curriculum Unconstitutional

Dec 21
1919

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

 
1970

No Long Hair on New Jersey Turnpike!

 
1970

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

 
1982

Road to the Iran-Contra Scandal – First Boland Amendment Passed

 
1993

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy on Homosexuals in the Military Formally Adopted

Dec 22
1918

Randolph Bourne, Fierce WW I Critic, Dies

 
1932

New Jersey Governor Refuses to Extradite Georgia Chain Gang Fugitive

 
1967

CIA Delivers Second Report on Anti-War Dissent

 
1969

Native-American Protest: Radio Free Alcatraz Broadcasts

 
1974

New York Times Exposes Massive CIA Spying on Americans

Dec 23
1933

President Roosevelt Pardons WW I Espionage Act Victims

 
1943

Hunger Strike by COs Ends Racial Segregation at Danbury Prison

 
1953

AEC Suspends J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Security Clearance

 
1963

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

 
1963

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

 
1988

FCC Bans All “Indecency” on Radio and Television

 
2003

Lenny Bruce Pardoned, Thirty-Nine Years Later

Dec 24
1865

KKK Founded in Pulaski, Tennessee

 
1908

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

 
1947

Truman Pardons 1,523 WW II Draft Resisters

 
1955

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

 
1970

Congress Passes Family Planning Services Act

 
1973

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

 
1992

President G. H. W. Bush Pardons Six Reagan Administration Figures in Iran-Contra Scandal

Dec 25
1921

President Harding Pardons Eugene V. Debs

 
1951

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

 
1966

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

 
1981

Georgia School Board Allows Klan Meeting in Building – ACLU Applauds

 
1998

Go to Church, Get Discount at the Ball Game

 
2013

NSA Spying “Worse Than Anything Orwell Imagined” – Edward Snowden

Dec 26
1936

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

 
1951

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

 
1960

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

 
1964

Philadelphia Bar to Vote on Crime News Censorship Proposal

 
1970

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

 
2002

Washington Post Exposes CIA “Extraordinary Renditions”

Dec 27
1927

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

 
1928

Post Office Bans Anti-Fascist Italian Language Newspaper

 
1935

Scottsboro Defense Committee Organized

 
1953

“Night Before Christmas” Comic Book Banned in Massachusetts

 
1961

Chicago Revises its Film Censorship Procedure

Dec 28
1856

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

 
1938

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

 
1942

Congress Officially Adopts Pledge of Allegiance

 
2001

John Yoo to President Bush: Courts Cannot Hear Terrorists’ Habeas Corpus Petitions

Dec 29
1952

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

 
1957

Reporter William Worthy, Jr. Rejects Passport Restrictions

 
1966

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

 
1971

Ellsberg, Russo Indicted for Stealing Pentagon Papers

Dec 30
1929

ACLU Challenges “Political Lecturing” by Judges

 
1935

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

 
1936

Courts Peril Democracy, Argues Former New Deal Official

 
1942

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

 
1974

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

 
1983

Minneapolis Mayor Vetoes Anti-pornography Ordinance

Dec 31
1919

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

 
1938

Unions Seek to Curb Use of National Guard in Strikes

 
1952

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

 
1963

LBJ Integrates University of Texas Faculty Club

 
1974

Congress Passes Federal Privacy Act

 
2011

President Obama Signs Law Allowing Indefinite Detention, Anywhere in the World

 
2013

Florida Drug Tests For Public Assistance Ruled Unconstitutional

 
2014

Acclaimed Film “Selma” Provokes Controversy over President Johnson, Other Issues

 
2019

President Trump Escalates War on the News Media in 2019

Index

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Abortion Rights ACLU african-americans Alice Paul anti-communism Anti-Communist Hysteria Birth Control Brown v. Board of Education Censorship CIA Civil Rights Civil Rights Act of 1964 Cold War Espionage Act FBI First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment freedom of speech Free Speech Gay Rights Hate Speech homosexuality Hoover, J. Edgar HUAC Japanese American Internment King, Dr. Martin Luther Ku Klux Klan Labor Unions Lesbian and Gay Rights Loyalty Oaths McCarthy, Sen. Joe New York Times Obscenity Police Misconduct Same-Sex Marriage Separation of Church and State Sex Discrimination Smith Act Spying Spying on Americans Vietnam War Voting Rights Voting Rights Act of 1965 War on Terror Watergate White House Women's Rights Women's Suffrage World War I World War II Relocation Camps

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