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.
June 13| Date | Type | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1850 |  The American League of Colored Laborers (ALCL), the first African American labor union, assembled for its inaugural meeting in New York City as a collective for skilled free craftsmen. Frederick Douglass helped organize the union in response to the difficulty black laborers had in joining white unions. The ALCL sought to develop agricultural and industrial arts skills among its members, and to encourage African American business. Learn more. | |
| 1937 |  Eleanor Holmes Norton is born in Washington, D.C. In 1990, Eleanor Holmes Norton was elected as a delegate to the US Congress representing the District of Columbia. During her three decades serving as DC delegate to Congress, Holmes has fought for full voting rights for District of Columbia residents. She also engineered passage of a bill that allows District of Columbia residents to attend any public college or university in the nation at in-state tuition rates or to attend any private university with a subsidy of up to $2,500 per year. While serving in Congress Norton teaches part-time in the Georgetown University Law School. Learn more. | |
| 1967 |  President Lyndon Johnson nominates sitting US Solicitor General, former justice of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and former Chief Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court, saying this is "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place." Marshall was confirmed as an Associate Justice by a Senate vote of 69–11 on August 30, 1967 (32–1 in the Senate Republican Conference and 37–10 in the Senate Democratic Caucus) with 20 members voting present or abstaining. He was the first African American to hold the position. Learn more. | |
| 2005 |  The United States Senate formally apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching legislation. The senate resolution had nearly eighty co-sponsors. Between 1877 and 1950, more than 4,400 African American men, women, and children were killed in racial terror lynchings throughout the United States. During that period, seven U.S. presidents exhorted Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation and 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced; however, only three bills passed the House of Representatives and none passed the Senate, where Southern conservative Congressmen successfully filibustered the bills to avoid a floor vote. In the absence of federal protection, and amidst the inaction of local state courts, lynchings persisted for decades, killing thousands and traumatizing many, many more. Learn more. |
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