Index: ACLU

Dec 12,

1881

Arthur Garfield Hays, Noted Civil Libertarian, Is Born

Jan 21,

1884

Roger Baldwin, Founder of the ACLU, is Born

Jul 2,

1917

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

Jul 4,

1917

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

Oct 30,

1918

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

Jul 18,

1919

Party Held to Celebrate Roger Baldwin’s Release from Prison

Jan 19,

1920

ACLU Founded – Fight For Civil Liberties Begins

May 28,

1920

Prominent Lawyers Issue Report Condemning Palmer Raids

Jun 11,

1922

Joint Amnesty Committee Formed to Seek Release of Imprisoned WWI Dissidents

Dec 1,

1922

Guns, Threats Stop Union Meeting in Vintondale, PA

May 15,

1923

Upton Sinclair Arrested in LA for Reading the Bill of Rights

Oct 21,

1923

Boston Mayor Curley Bans KKK Meetings, ACLU Protests

Dec 17,

1924

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

May 1,

1925

ACLU to Seek Repeal of Espionage Act

Nov 28,

1925

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

Mar 15,

1926

ACLU Sees Threats to Civil Liberties in Six Bills Before Congress

May 21,

1926

ACLU Banned from New York City Schools

Oct 13,

1926

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

Feb 10,

1927

ACLU Loses Suit Over Right to Speak in NYC Schools

Feb 28,

1927

Britain Denies Visa to ACLU Leader Roger Baldwin

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

Apr 19,

1929

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

May 23,

1929

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

Aug 6,

1929

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

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 23,

1930

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

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 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

Mar 16,

1931

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

Nov 28,

1931

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

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

Feb 22,

1933

ACLU Urges President-elect Roosevelt to Protect Civil Liberties

Nov 27,

1933

California Governor Praises Lynch Mob – ACLU, NAACP Protest

Jan 23,

1934

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

Nov 29,

1936

State Senator Calls Cornell University “Center of Revolutionary Propaganda”

Dec 19,

1936

ACLU Charges Widespread Radio Censorship

Jan 11,

1937

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

Jan 31,

1937

ACLU Attorney Claims “Fundamental Right to Get Arrested”

Feb 20,

1937

National Lawyers Guild, Alternative to ABA, is Organized

May 19,

1938

ACLU Lawyer Arthur Garfield Hays Evicted From Jersey City

Jan 10,

1939

Hearings on Frankfurter Nomination for Supreme Court Degenerate into Farce

Feb 17,

1939

NYC Mayor La Guardia Allows Huge German-American Bund Rally

Sep 2,

1939

FBI Memo Launches Notorious Custodial Detention Index

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

Jul 31,

1940

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

Dec 5,

1941

New Jersey “Race Hatred” Law Held Unconstitutional

Dec 4,

1942

Winfred Lynn’s Challenge to Segregated WW II Draft Rejected

Apr 8,

1943

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

Feb 23,

1947

ACLU Urges NY Governor to Veto Film Censorship Bill

Mar 17,

1947

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

Jul 13,

1948

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

Dec 9,

1948

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

Dec 17,

1948

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

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

Apr 6,

1952

ACLU Report Blasts Cold War Blacklisting

Apr 8,

1952

ACLU Files FCC Complaint Over Radio & TV Blacklisting

Jul 1,

1952

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

Aug 9,

1953

ACLU Defends Federal Civil Rights Investigations

Mar 19,

1954

ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Condemns Senator Joe McCarthy

Aug 2,

1955

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

Jul 1,

1956

Report Condemns Blacklisting in Movies and Television

Nov 11,

1956

ACLU Releases Pioneering Report on Academic Freedom for Students

Dec 7,

1956

ACLU Attorney A.L. Wirin Ejected From HUAC Hearing

Jan 17,

1957

Defund HUAC Urges ACLU of Northern California

Apr 4,

1960

Anti-HUAC Demonstrations Planned

May 12,

1960

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

Jun 30,

1960

NYCLU to Defend Free Speech Rights of Top American Nazi

Dec 26,

1960

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

Oct 15,

1961

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

Nov 19,

1961

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

Mar 14,

1962

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

Feb 29,

1964

Chicago Loyola University Cancels George Wallace Speech; ACLU Protests

Feb 15,

1965

ACLU Criticizes Planned HUAC Investigation of KKK

Feb 29,

1968

Police Fingerprint New Jersey Students in High School Shop Class

Feb 10,

1969

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

Feb 26,

1970

Army to End Monitoring Peaceful Protests

Jun 3,

1970

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

Dec 8,

1970

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

Sep 3,

1971

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

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

Feb 12,

1972

Dorothy Kenyon, Feminist and Civil Libertarian, Dies

May 14,

1973

Equal Protection for Women: “Frontiero v. Richardson”

Aug 15,

1973

ACLU Backs Klan’s Right to Meet in Public Park

Feb 9,

1974

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

Feb 6,

1975

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

Mar 19,

1975

Supreme Court Strikes Down Sex Discrimination in Social Security Benefits

Feb 21,

1976

ACLU Launches Anti-Government Spying Campaign

May 21,

1976

Morris L. Ernst, Pioneering Civil Liberties Attorney, Dies

Sep 15,

1976

ACLU Sues Memphis over Destroyed Police Spying Files

Oct 4,

1976

Nazi Group Requests Skokie Demonstration Permit – National Controversy Erupts

Feb 4,

1978

A.L. Wirin, Pioneering ACLU Lawyer, Dies at Age 77

May 22,

1978

7th Circuit Affirms Nazi Free Speech Rights in Skokie

Jul 9,

1978

Nazis Skip Skokie – Demonstrate in Chicago Instead

Jan 16,

1981

ACLU’s Roger Baldwin and Earl Warren Awarded Medal of Freedom

May 18,

1981

A Prophetic Warning: ACLU Official Warns that Fear of “Terrorism” May Become Greatest Threat to Civil Liberties

Aug 26,

1981

Roger Baldwin, ACLU Founder, Dies

Aug 31,

1981

Final Testament: ACLU Founder Baldwin Says “Assert Your Rights or Lose Them”

Oct 25,

1981

ACLU Issues Handbook on “The Rights of Police Officers”

Nov 17,

1981

CBS Broadcasts Docudrama on Skokie Free Speech Controversy

Dec 25,

1981

Georgia School Board Allows Klan Meeting in Building – ACLU Applauds

Feb 13,

1982

ACLU Report: Voting Discrimination Continues in South

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

May 18,

1984

ACLU Issues “Free Trade in Ideas” Report; Condemns Reagan Administration Actions

Aug 26,

1988

Candidate George H.W. Bush Attacks Dukakis as “Card-Carrying” ACLU Member

Apr 23,

1991

Harriet Pilpel Dies; Civil Libertarian, Reproductive Rights Pioneer

May 12,

1996

Three Federal Judges Visit Internet Porn Sites in Communications Decency Case

Jan 29,

2001

President Bush Creates Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, Promotes Government-Supported Religion

Jun 3,

2013

ACLU Report Condemns “War on Marijuana”

Oct 24,

2015

Al Bronstein, Leader of ACLU Prisoners Rights Project, Dies at Age 87

Jul 1,

2017

Norman Dorsen, Civil Liberties Giant, ACLU Leader, Dies

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