Ridgefield Allies

Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for September 02:

Date	Type	Event
1766		James Forten, an African-American abolitionist and wealthy businessman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is born free in that city. Forten became a sailmaker after the Revolutionary War. Following an apprenticeship, he became the foreman and bought the sail loft when his boss retired. Based on equipment he himself had developed, he established a highly profitable business. It was located on the busy waterfront of the Delaware River, in an area now called Penn's Landing. James Forten used his wealth and social standing to work for civil rights for African Americans in both the city and nationwide. Beginning in 1817, he opposed the colonization movements, particularly that of the American Colonization Society. He affirmed African Americans' claim to a stake in the United States of America. He persuaded William Lloyd Garrison to adopt an anti-colonization position and helped fund his newspaper The Liberator (1831–65), frequently publishing letters on public issues. He became vice-president of the biracial American Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1833, and worked for national abolition of slavery. His large family was also devoted to these causes, and two daughters married the Purvis brothers, who used their wealth as leaders for abolition. Learn more.
1884		Abolitionist, inventor, iron moulder and industrialist John P. Parker patents the "Parker Pulverizer", a follower-screw for tobacco-presses, US patent number 304,552. Parker was one of the few Black people to patent inventions before 1900. Prior to emancipation and the ending of slavery in the United States, Parker had over a period of fifteen years rescued and helped hundreds of enslaved African Americans to freedom in the Underground Railroad resistance movement based in Ripley, Ohio. Parker's home in Ripley has been designated a National Historic Landmark and restored. Learn more.
1885		White miners, angry that the Union Pacific Railroad was hiring Chinese miners, violently attack and attempt to drive Chinese people out of Rock Springs, Wyoming, after a dispute breaks out between white and Chinese miners when both groups wanted to work in the same part of the mine. Later that day, 100 white miners gathered with guns, hatchets, and knives and marched toward “Chinatown,” where the Chinese miners lived, to stage a brutal attack. When the Chinese residents attempted to flee, the white miners fired at them while they ran. Twenty-eight Chinese people were killed in the massacre and another 15 were badly wounded. The white miners also looted and burned all 79 houses belonging to Chinese residents, leaving "Chinatown" demolished. Although 14 miners were arrested in connection with the riot and murders, none were ever convicted of any crime. Learn more.
1914		Walter Samuel McAfee, theoretical physicist, professor, and civil servant who was responsible for the first successful reception of echoing signals between earth and the moon, is born in Ore City, Texas to Susie (an educator) and Luther McAfee (a mechanic and carpenter). Dr. McAfee earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1934 from Wiley College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Marshall, Texas. In 1937, he earned a Master’s of Science degree from Ohio State University. McAfee then taught mathematics and biological sciences at a junior high school in Columbus, Ohio. In 1942, McAfee joined the United States Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth in Belmar, New Jersey. His knowledge and mathematical skillset propelled him onto the Project Diana team, a scientific collaboration of engineers and physicists to study the Earth’s relationship to the moon via radar signal echoing. McAfee contributed the necessary theoretical calculations including a radar cross-section of the moon, radar coverage pattern, and the distance to the moon, all of which were crucial to the project’s success. On January 10, 1946, the team successfully received the echoing signals between the Earth and the moon. This success is in no small part due to McAfee’s work, yet he did not immediately receive recognition. Months later, McAfee was recognized for his contribution to Project Diana. After the success of the signal echoing project, he received the Rosenwald Fellowship to continue his doctoral degree at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. McAfee earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 1949, focusing on nuclear collisions. Learn more.