Alex Harris, Author at 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 June 17:

Date	Type	Event
1775		At a crucial point in the Battle of Bunker Hill, formerly-enslaved African American Peter Salem becomes one of the first military heroes of the American Revolutionary War when he fires the shot that kills British major John Pitcairn. Previously, Salem had fought in the war's first battles at Concord on April 19, 1775. About a dozen other free African Americans took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, including Phillip Abbot, Barzillai Lew, Salem Poor, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Cato Howe, and Seymour Burr. Learn more.
1871		James Weldon Johnson, writer, composer, educator, diplomat, social critic, and civil rights activist, is born in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1898, Johnson became one of the first African Americans admitted to the Florida bar, though he did not subsequently practice law. Johnson served as U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua for most of the period from 1906 to 1913. In 1920, Johnson became the first African American appointed to lead the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a writer, Johnson was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novels, and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of Black culture. He wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which later became known as the “Negro National Anthem”. In 1934 he was the first African-American professor to be hired at New York University. Later in life, he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University, a historically black university. Learn more.
1971		President Richard Nixon launches what becomes known as the “War on Drugs." Since Nixon’s announcement, the United States has had a 700 percent increase in the national prison population and become the world's most carceral nation. Although the country accounts for only five percent of the world's population, it confines 25 percent of the world's prisoners. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, nearly 50 percent of people in federal prisons are currently incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses. The drug war has been waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color. Though rates of drug use and sales are comparable across racial lines, people of color are far more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated for drug law violations when compared to white people. Learn more.
2015		In the Charleston Church Massacre, nine African Americans, including senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, are killed by a 21-year-old white supremacist during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The church is one of the oldest Black churches in the United States and has long been a center for civil rights organizing. The killer, Dylann Roof, targeted members of the church because of its history and stature. Learn more.