MAJOR HISTORY
LBJ sends federal troops to Alabama
March 20, 1965On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson notifies Alabama's Governor George Wallace that he will use federal authority to call up the Alabama National Guard in order to supervise a planned civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery.
Intimidation and discrimination had earlier prevented Selma's black population--over half the city--from registering and voting. On Sunday, March 7, 1965, a group of 600 demonstrators marched on the capital city of Montgomery to protest this disenfranchisement and the earlier killing of a black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by a state trooper. In brutal scenes that were later broadcast on television, state and local police attacked the marchers with billy clubs and tear gas. TV viewers far and wide were outraged by the images, and a protest march was organized just two days after "Bloody Sunday" by Martin Luther King, Jr. King turned the marchers around, however, rather than carry out the march without federal judicial approval.
After an Alabama federal judge ruled on March 18 that a third march could go ahead, President Johnson and his advisers worked quickly to find a way to ensure the safety of King and his demonstrators on their way from Selma to Montgomery. The most powerful obstacle in their way was Governor Wallace, an outspoken anti-integrationist who was reluctant to spend any state funds on protecting the demonstrators. Hours after promising Johnson--in telephone calls recorded by the White House--that he would call out the Alabama National Guard to maintain order, Wallace went on television and demanded that Johnson send in federal troops instead.
Furious, Johnson told Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach to write a press release stating that because Wallace refused to use the 10,000 available guardsmen to preserve order in his state, Johnson himself was calling the guard up and giving them all necessary support. Several days later, 50,000 marchers followed King some 54 miles, under the watchful eyes of state and federal troops. Arriving safely in Montgomery on March 25, they watched King deliver his famous "How Long, Not Long" speech from the steps of the Capitol building. The clash between Johnson and Wallace--and Johnson's decisive action--was an important turning point in the civil rights movement. Within five months, Congress had passed the Voting Rights Act, which Johnson proudly signed into law on August 6, 1965.
* And to think this man (Democrat) ran for President four times 1962, 1970, 1974, & 1982. I will say for this he is the single reason I registered Republican back in 1972
::insert southern accent here:: Thank goodness I have found the err of my ways
GASP!!!
When I checked my other web site I found this:
It was on this day in 1852 that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic book was published. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, subtitled Life Among the Lowly became an instant success, selling 300,000 copies in its first year.
1967 - Fashion model, Twiggy, arrived in the United States for a one-week stay. She quickly became the most sought-after subject of photographers due to her terrifically skinny-yet-wholesome good looks and the shortest dresses ever seen (to that time).
1969 - Beatle John Lennon married Yoko Ono at the Rock of Gibraltar on this day. Lennon called the location, “quiet, friendly and British.” He was the second Beatle to marry in eight days. Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman were wed a week earlier.
BIRTHDAYS
1904 - B.F. (Burrhus Frederic) Skinner
psychologist: behaviorism: developed the Skinner Box, an experimental, enclosed environment for laboratory animals; died Aug 18, 1990
1908 - Sir Michael (Scudamore) Redgrave, actor,died Mar 21, 1985
I have redone the PhotoBucket Slide Show formy sidebar. Does anyone know how to post? I haven't had much luck getting it to load today>
A couple of people have asked me what kind of camera I have.
I have 4 ~ My old a trusty 35mm Nikon, a SONY Mavica, a Canon OS Digital, and a HP point and shoot. I mainly use the point and shoot and the SONY because they are not as heavy as the other 2. The Nikon is used when I need telesopic lens, taking night photos and using 800 ASA film, or to to create special effects with the aperature sttings. Something you can't do with digital.
7 comments:
today in history i'm still here!
Thanks for the history lesson! Very interesting stuff. Linda
Don't you have to load photobucket slideshows through the video camera thingie? It may just be AOL acting up but I know they did change the way pictures were loading.
You use an HP Point and Shoot mostly? Wow, you are really talented. LOL...my daughter takes great pictures and always says it's the person taking the pictures more than the camera. Have a wonderful Friday! HUGS Chris
Thank you for retelling this history. It brings up many memories. As a young man I was involved, in a minor way, with the civil rights movement. I believe it's a cause for many people of many ethnic groups, the young, women, old people, the physically and mentally handicapped and anyone whose civil liberties are being deprived them, for whatever reason.
George Wallace and the southern democrats, Dixiecrats, were a thorny group back then. Living in New York City I subscribed to the Village Voice, until one day they published a front page article stating that George Wallace could never be President because he was confined to a wheelchair. I thought that was a cheap shot and displayed the same sort of bigotry that Wallace was capable of. So I cancelled my subscription and wrote a letter in which I said that I could give them a long list of reasons why Wallace shouldn't be President but that he was in a wheelchair wasn't one of them.
Thank you for the remembrance.
Thank you for retelling this history. It brings up many memories. As a young man I was involved, in a minor way, with the civil rights movement. I believe it's a cause for many people of many ethnic groups, the young, women, old people, the physically and mentally handicapped and anyone whose civil liberties are being deprived them, for whatever reason.
George Wallace and the southern democrats, Dixiecrats, were a thorny group back then. Living in New York City I subscribed to the Village Voice, until one day they published a front page article stating that George Wallace could never be President because he was confined to a wheelchair. I thought that was a cheap shot and displayed the same sort of bigotry that Wallace was capable of. So I cancelled my subscription and wrote a letter in which I said that I could give them a long list of reasons why Wallace shouldn't be President but that he was in a wheelchair wasn't one of them.
Thank you for the remembrance.
Enjoy your Easter!
Missie
I can't believe it was 1967 when Twiggy came to the States, she doesn't seem to be this old. She must be almost 60 (or older), I would never had guessed that.
Lisa
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