1939
Jan 2

Frank Murphy, Civil Libertarian, Appointed Attorney General

Jan 3

HUAC: ACLU A Communist “Front Organization”

Jan 10

Hearings on Frankfurter Nomination for Supreme Court Degenerate into Farce

Jan 18

Birth Control Federation Founded; Later Renamed Planned Parenthood

Jan 20

Felix Frankfurter Joins Supreme Court

Jan 23

Ed Roberts, Disability Rights Pioneer, is Born

Jan 26

New York State Bar Association Creates Civil Liberties Committee

Feb 2

Attorney General Frank Murphy Creates DOJ Civil Liberties Unit

Feb 6

Einstein, Other Academic Leaders Call for Freedom in Teaching

Feb 17

NYC Mayor La Guardia Allows Huge German-American Bund Rally

Feb 25

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

Mar 2

Massachusetts Ratifies Bill of Rights – 148 Years Late

Apr 9

Marian Anderson Gives Historic Lincoln Memorial Concert

Apr 15

William O. Douglas Joins Supreme Court

Apr 19

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

Apr 19

Connecticut Ratifies the Bill of Rights – 148 Years Late

Apr 20

Billie Holiday Records “Strange Fruit”

Apr 30

Mayor LaGuardia Dedicates Plaza of Freedom at World’s Fair

Jun 5

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

Jun 19

American Library Association Adopts Library Bill of Rights

Jul 8

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

Jul 17

NY Times Endorses American Bar Association Civil Liberties Committee

Jul 22

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

Aug 18

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

Sep 2

FBI Memo Launches Notorious Custodial Detention Index

Sep 6

FDR Authorizes FBI to Investigate “Subversive” Activities

Sep 15

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

Oct 11

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Organized

Nov 15

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

Dec 11

FDR Tells FBI to Ignore Supreme Court Decision Limiting Wiretapping

1939

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