November 10, 1898: The Wilmington Insurrection

November 10, 1898: The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 is carried out in Wilmington, North Carolina. The white press in Wilmington originally described the event as a race riot, caused by black people. Since the late 20th Century and further study, the event has been characterized as a violent overthrow of a duly elected government by a group of white supremacists.

The coup was the result of a group of the State's white Southern Democrats conspiring and leading a mob of 2,000 white men to overthrow the legitimately elected local Fusionist biracial government in Wilmington. They expelled opposition black and white political leaders from the city, destroyed the property and businesses of black citizens built up since the American Civil War, including the only black-owned newspaper in the city, and killed an estimated 60 to more than 300 people.

The Wilmington Insurrection is considered a turning point in Southern politics. It was part of an era of more severe racial segregation and effective disenfranchisement of African-Americans in the region, which had been underway since the passage of a new State Constitution in Mississippi in 1890, which raised barriers to the registration of black voters. Other States soon passed similar laws.

Historian Laura Edwards writes, "What happened in Wilmington became an affirmation of white supremacy not just in that one city, but in the South and in the nation as a whole," as it affirmed that invoking "whiteness" eclipsed the legal citizenship, individual rights, and equal protection under the law that black Americans were guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.

In other words, a State could nullify not just a federal law, but a human being’s federally-guaranteed rights. It has been just 33 years since there had literally been a war over it, and their side lost the war in 1865. But they “won the peace,” and it would take until 1965 for the right thing to be done.

*

November 10, 1898 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. Professional basketball and hockey did not exist. So there were no scores on this historic day.

August 6, 1966: The Beatles "Get Canceled" by America's Religious Right

The Beatles, on their 1966 World Tour,

looking uneasy, maybe even shellshocked.

Which would have been understandable.

August 6, 1966: What would later be called "cancel culture" hits the biggest act in world entertainment at the time: The Beatles.

On March 4, 1966, The Evening Standard, a London-based newspaper but, like many, serving Great Britain nationally, published an article titled "How Does a Beatle Live?" written by Maureen Cleave. She had interviewed all 4 group members regularly, and accompanied them on their 1st visit to America in February 1964. She is widely believed to have had an affair with John, and to have been the subject of his song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)."

In her latest interview with John Lennon, she portrayed him as restless and searching for meaning in his life. The year before, he had written the song "Help!" While most American teenagers thought it was just a great rock and roll song, it was more than that: John was physically and mentally exhausted from 2 years of nonstop Beatlemania, and all the money he'd made hadn't reduced his stress. So he really was looking for help and meaning.

He and bandmate George Harrison had been reading about religion. Unlike George, who found a connection with Eastern, especially Indian, faiths, John found no comfort in it. Cleave quoted him as saying:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first – rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.

People in Britain barely noticed: The article provoked no controversy there. Church attendance there was in decline, and Christian churches were attempting to transform their image, to make themselves more "relevant to modern times."

At first, that was also the case in America. Later in March, Newsweek printed the quote. In May, Detroit magazine printed the interview. On July 3, The New York Times Magazine printed it. Still, there was no reaction worth mentioning.

On July 29, Datebook magazine published the interview, and also Cleave's most recent interview with Paul McCartney, in its September 1966 "Shout-Out" issue, which was dedicated to controversial youth-orientated themes, including recreational drugs, sex, long hair, and the Vietnam War.

Although only Paul was shown on the cover, Art Unger, the magazine's editor, put a quote from Lennon's interview on the cover: "I don't know which will go first – rock 'n' roll or Christianity!" In author Robert Rodriguez's description, the editor had chosen what he thought would be Lennon's "most damning comment" for maximum effect.

Except that wasn't the quote that upset people: It was the line, "We're more popular than Jesus now."

And he was right. Granted, 2,000 years from now, if human civilization survives, there will likely be more Bibles sold than Beatle albums. But, at the time, kids were more interested in 4 young men from current Liverpool than in 1 young man from ancient Israel and his 12 disciples.

The people that freaked out over John's remarks shouldn't have asked, "How dare he say that?" They should have asked, "What can we do to make Jesus, once again, more popular than The Beatles?" (Disclaimer: I don't have an answer now, and I probably wouldn't have had an answer had I been around then.)

In Birmingham, Alabama, WAQY disc jockey Tommy Charles said, on the air, "That does it for me. I am not going to play The Beatles anymore." He destroyed their records on the air. Local UPI reporter Al Benn filed a news report in New York City, culminating in a major story in The New York Times on August 5. Radio stations all over the country, including in supposedly liberal cities like New York and Boston, announced that they would no longer play Beatle songs.

On August 6 came the kind of event that one would have expected in Nazi Germany: In Reno, Nevada, station KCBN announced a public bonfire for that night, where the band's albums would be burned.

Many stations in Southern cities followed. Paul compared it to what the Nazis did with books they didn't like, and called it "hysterical low-grade American thinking."

Brian Epstein, the group's manager, who was Jewish, shrugged it off at first. saying, "If they burn Beatles records, they've got to buy them first." But then the press office at the Vatican -- though not Pope Paul VI himself -- weighed in, issuing this statement: "Some subjects must not be dealt with profanely, not even in the world of beatniks." Now, it wasn't just a bunch of ignorant, bigoted, archconservative Southern Baptists that were angry at the Fab Four: It was, officially, the Roman Catholic Church.

What's more, there were death threats. Now, John was scared: He had put his bandmates, and even their loved ones -- by this point, all but Paul were married, and John and Ringo Starr each had one son -- at physical risk. And so, for what turned out to be the only time in his public life, John Lennon ate crow, and apologized for something he'd said or done.

On August 11, the Beatles flew from London to Chicago, where the North American leg of their World Tour was to begin. That night, at the Astor Tower Hotel, at a press conference in front of TV cameras, John said, "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have got away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better."

He stressed that he had been remarking on how other people viewed and popularized the band. He described his own view of God by quoting the Bishop of Woolwich, "not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us."

He was adamant that he was not comparing himself with Christ, but attempting to explain the decline of Christianity in the UK. He closed with what could be considered a halfhearted apology: "If you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then, okay, I'm sorry." (Shades of more recent "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" statements.)

Most American journalists accepted this. A New York Times editorial said that the matter was over. Even the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano (The Roman Observer), decided that the apology was sufficient.

But it wasn't over. On August 13, in South Carolina, the Ku Klux Klan "crucified" a Beatles record on a large wooden cross, which they burned. On the same night, radio station KLUE in Longview, Texas held a Beatles bonfire. The next day, a lightning bolt struck its transmission tower, briefly knocking it off the air. Maybe this was God confirming that He had accepted John's apology as well.

It still wasn't over. On August 15, The Beatles played District of Columbia Stadium in Washington (later renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium), and the KKK picketed the concert. On August 19, The Beatles played their only scheduled concert in the South, at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. The Klan picketed this show, too. During the concert, a spectator threw a firecracker onstage, and all 4 members later said that they thought someone had fired a gun.

(Memphis was, of course, the hometown of Elvis Presley. If anyone asked Elvis for his thoughts on the matter, they've never been made public.) 

To make matters worse, John couldn't keep his mouth shut. On August 17, before their concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, he gave his approval to Americans fleeing to Canada to avoid the military draft. At a press conference in New York before their concert at Shea Stadium on August 22, John said the Vietnam War was "wrong." The year before, they had filled all 55,000 available seats at the Flushing Meadow stadium. This time, "only" 40,000 showed up, with pickets both for and against them facing off against each other.

It was their most stressful tour ever, and George said he'd rather leave the band than ever go on another tour. They decided they wouldn't, and would be only a recording band from that point onward, although they did not publicly announce it yet. George agreed to stay -- for now.

The last concert on the tour was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on August 29. They were supported by The Ronettes, The Cyrkle, Bobby Hebb, and The Remains. (The Cyrkle were also managed by Epstein's company.) Attendance: 25,000, meaning about 17,000 empty seats. (In 1971, the NFL's San Francisco 49ers joined baseball's San Francisco Giants there, leading to an expansion to 69,000 seats.)

As usual, they roared through their set, playing 11 songs in 33 minutes, unable to hear themselves over all the screaming, partly due to the fact that, in spite of having a year pass since their first round of stadium concerts, no one had yet figured out how to stage a rock concert in a ballpark. (By the 1970s, that problem would be solved.) The last song they played was a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," sung by Paul.

While they'd decided not to tour again, even the four of them did not know that this would be their last paying concert together, ever. There would be the concert on the roof of the building where Apple Records was based, on January 30, 1969. And each of them would have notable solo gigs, with Paul and Ringo living and continuing to tour into the 2020s. But The Beatles would never have another official concert.

In 1970, for his solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, John recorded a song titled "God," in which he rattled off things and people he didn't believe in: Magic, the I-Ching, the Bible, tarot cards, Adolf Hitler, Jesus, John F. Kennedy, Buddha, mantras, Gita, yoga, kings, Elvis, Zimmerman (meaning Bob Dylan), and, finally, The Beatles. He said, "I just believe in me. Yoko and me. And that's reality." In 1971, for his album Imagine, he recorded a song of the same title, asking people to imagine there's no Heaven or Hell, "and no religion, too."

In contrast, in 1970, for his solo album All Things Must Pass, George recorded "My Sweet Lord," in which he seemed to want to get to know God better -- but the background singers, after chanting, "Hallelujah," began chanting, "Hare Krishna," and moved on to chanting the names of the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Maureen Cleave, who wrote the original article, died in 2021, at the age of 87.

*

August 6, 1966 was a Saturday. Back in Britain, a preseason exhibition game, or "friendly," was played between two of the most popular soccer teams in the country. Arsenal Football Club of North London traveled to Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, home of Rangers Football Club.

Arsenal were in a transition, having just survived relegation the season before, and had hired a new manager, Bertie Mee. He would build them into England's greatest team once again. But that would take 5 seasons. In contrast, Rangers were, as usual, one of the better teams in Scotland, and had won the Scottish Cup the last season. Rangers won this match, 2-0.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Jim Bouton and Sam McDowell started, but, in relief, it was Whitey Ford who was the winning pitcher, and Luis Tiant the losing pitcher. Clete Boyer and Horace Clarke hit home runs. Neither Mickey Mantle nor Roger Maris played.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-8 at Shea Stadium. The Cardinals led 5-0 after 3 innings, then the Mets led 8-4 after 4, but the Cards won. Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI. Ken Boyer hit a home run for the Mets over the team he had captained to a World Championship, and won a Most Valuable Player award for, just 2 years earlier.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-5 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Joe Torre went 2-for-5.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 4-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Dave McNally pitched a 7-hit shutout. Frank Robinson went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a bases-loaded walk. Willie Stargell did not play. Pete Rose went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Tony Conigliaro went 1-for-5. Al Kaline went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Robin Roberts started for the Cubs, but only pitched 3 innings, and made just 5 more major league appearances before retiring. Willie Mays went 2-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Jim "Mudcat" Grant pitched a 4-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Don Drysdale outpitched Mike Cuellar.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 7-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

July 11, 1960: Harper Lee Publishes "To Kill a Mockingbird"

July 11, 1960: Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is published. It becomes one of the most beloved, and one of the most controversial, novels of the 20th Century.

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was a lawyer, and later that year was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, serving 12 years. Through him, she was descended from Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Just as Nelle, who dropped her first name for her pen name, made herself the basis for the novel's protagonist, Jean Louise, a.k.a. "Scout," her father became the basis for Scout's father, Atticus. Her mother was born Frances Finch, and Finch became the family's name in the book. Monroeville was renamed Maycomb.

She had 2 much older sisters, and a brother 6 years older, Edwin, who died in 1951, only 31 years old. He became the basis for Scout's brother James, or "Jem." During the Summer, a boy named Truman Capote visited Monroeville. They remained friends for the rest of Capote's life. In the book, Capote becomes Charles Baker Harris, a.k.a. "Dill."

She attended the University of Alabama, and moved to New York, working as an airline reservation agent and writing in her spare time. At Christmas 1956, her friends gave her a gift of enough money to amount to a year's wages, so she could take a year off and concentrate on writing.

She wrote something she titled Go Set a Watchman. But while her would-be publisher, Tay Hofhoff of J.B. Lippincott & Co. (which was bought out by Harper & Row in 1978), saw talent, she also saw disorganization, a collection of anecdotes rather than a genuine novel. She provided professional assistance, and, in 1960, the book was ready to go, as To Kill a Mockingbird. The title comes from something Atticus tells Scout: "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird," because they simply sing their song, and never harm others.

The book takes place in rural Alabama, which would later be the case with the film Forrest Gump, and the parody film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. We know the climax takes place in 1935, because Atticus tells Scout that the National Recovery Act, a big part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program, had been "killed." When she asks who killed it, he says, "Nine old men," already a longtime epithet for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Lee's mother died when she was living in New York, but in the book, Scout's mother has already died by the time the book begins, and the Finch's black cook, Calpurnia, helps to raise Scout and Jem. The family's tolerance for black people -- at least, in comparison to most of the white people in Maycomb -- is shown when Atticus becomes the only lawyer in town willing to defend Tom Robinson, a black man indicted for the rape and assault & battery of Mayella Ewell.

Atticus' cross-examination of Mayella's father Bob reveals that he had caused her facial bruises, beating her after she made advances on Tom. The people of the town referred to the Ewells as "white trash" and didn't trust them. Nevertheless, this was 1935 Alabama, and the jury was all white men, and Tom was convicted. Shortly thereafter, Tom is shot and killed, allegedly while trying to escape from jail. In essence, it was a lynching without the actual hanging.

Bob swears revenge on Atticus, first spitting tobacco in his face, then, after the school Halloween pageant, attacking the Finch children. They are saved by the mysterious Arthur "Boo" Radley, and the police cover up for him by saying that Bob fell on his own knife.

Atticus sums up Bob, and so many others among his fellow white Southern men, by saying, "Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who -- who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results."

Outside the South, the book was hailed as an instant classic. It routinely makes best-ever lists. Inside the South, it was condemned. To this day, people try to ban it from school libraries -- conservatives because it makes racism look bad, and liberals because, in keeping with the language of the time, the book includes words that would be considered unacceptable today.

Amasa Coleman Lee died in 1962, a few months before the premiere of the film based on the book. Gregory Peck played Atticus, Mary Badham (sister of film director John) played Scout, Phillip Alford played Jem, John Megna played Jem, Brock Peters played Tom, James Anderson played Bob, and a young Robert Duvall played Boo.

The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and won 3, impressive considering it was up against Lawrence of Arabia, Birdman of Alcatraz, Days of Wine and Roses, The Miracle Worker, The Music Man, Mutiny On the Bounty, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Peck won Best Actor, beating out Peter O'Toole for Lawrence, Burt Lancaster for Birdman, Jack Lemmon for Days of Wine and Roses, and Marcello Mastroianni for Divorce Italian Style.

Lee never wrote another book, and rarely granted interviews. In one, in 2011, she explained why she never wrote another book: "Two reasons: one, I wouldn't go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say, and I will not say it again." In 2007, President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential medal of Freedom.

In 2014, Lee's lawyer found the original manuscript for Go Set a Watchman in a safe-deposit box. With her permission, it was re-submitted, 58 years after its 1st attempt. It was published the next year, and takes place in the 1950s, when Scout returns as an adult from New York to visit Maycomb, following Jem's death (reflecting the death of Lee's real brother).

She considers her father to be the moral compass, or "watchman," of the town, but is shocked to see him embracing racists and their views. Like many Southern politicians of the 1950s and '60s, he tries to justify it by saying he's trying to slow down federal government intervention into State politics. Her idol is shattered, reduced to the level of a man. Many readers felt the same way, and suggested that Lee, now elderly and infirm, had done the same to their Atticus, whom they could only see as the kindly Gregory Peck.

Harper Lee died less than a year later, on February 19, 2016, at the age of 89.

*

July 11, 1960 was a Monday. There was only one score on this historic day. From 1958 to 1962, Major League Baseball held 2 All-Star Games every season. This was the 1st, at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, and the National League beat the American League, 5-3.

The starting pitchers were Bob Friend of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who became the winning pitcher; and Bill Monbouquette of the Boston Red Sox, who became the losing pitcher. Home runs were hit by Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs, Del Crandall of the Milwaukee Braves, and Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers.

Two days later, another All-Star Game was played, at Yankee Stadium. The NL won that one, too, 6-0.

April 10, 1962: The 1st Major League Baseball Game In the South

April 10, 1962: For the 1st time, a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played in the Southern United States -- or, to put it another way, in a city that had once been a part of the Confederate States of America.

The expansion Houston Colt .45s make their debut at Colt Stadium in Houston, and beat the Chicago Cubs, 11-2. Román Mejías hit Houston's home run, and hit a 2nd homer later in the game. Hal Smith also hit one out for the Colt .45s (often listed as simply the Colts), while Ernie Banks homered for the Cubs. Former Philadelphia Athletics MVP Bobby Shantz went the distance for the Colts to be the winning pitcher.

Colt Stadium, which seated 32,000, was basically an oversized high school football stadium, and was never going to be more than a stopgap facility for a real stadium. It was completely exposed to the elements: Not just the heat, but mosquitoes. As Sandy Koufax said, "Some of those mosquitoes were twin-engine jobs."

Three years later, the Astrodome will open, and the home team will be renamed the Houston Astros. Colt Stadium remained as a practice facility for a few years, and NRG Stadium, current home of the NFL's Houston Texans, was built on the site.

*

April 10, 1962 was a Tuesday. There were 7 other MLB games played on this day:

* This was also the day that Dodger Stadium opened in Los Angeles. I have a separate entry for this event. The Cincinnati Reds spoil the party, winning 6-3. Wally Post hit the 1st home run, off 1955 World Series hero Johnny Podres. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 for the Reds. Maury Wills went 0-for-3 for the Dodgers. No one knew yet, but he would steal a new record of 104 bases this season.

And this was Doug Harvey's 1st game as a major league umpire. In a career that lasted until 1993, he was so admired for his accuracy and fairness that the players nicknamed him "God."

Hard to believe, but Dodger Stadium has not only lasted longer than Ebbets Field did, but it is the 3rd-oldest park in MLB, behind Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. Johnny Temple hit a home run off Whitey Ford, but Bill "Moose" Skowron and Roger Maris both hit them off Billy Hoeft, and, in the 8th inning, Mickey Mantle won the game with a home run off Hal Brown, to make Ralph Terry the winning pitcher, for the 1st of 23 times that season.

Mantle finished 1-for-3 with that homer and RBI, Maris 1-for-4 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Yogi Berra did not play. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 for the Birds.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dick Donovan pitched a 5-hit shutout, with Carl Yastrzemski getting 2 of the hits.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Friend pitched a 5-hit shutout. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3, and his hit was a grand slam home run.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves, 6-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Juan Marichal pitched a 3-hit shutout, striking out 10, while Warren Spahn was knocked out of the box in the 4th inning. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, while Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

Four MLB teams opened their seasons the day before. The Phillies beat the Reds, 12-4. And the Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 in the 1st MLB game at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. President John F. Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first ball at the stadium that would later be named for his brother, Robert F. Kennedy.

Two MLB teams started their season the next day: The St. Louis Cardinals and the other expansion team, the New York Mets.

April 10 was also the day the 1962 Stanley Cup Finals got underway. The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the defending Champion Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Leafs would win the Cup in 6 games.

And Game 3 of the NBA Finals was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics, 117-115. Elgin Baylor had 39 points and 23 rebounds for the Lakers, Bill Russell 26 points and 32 rebounds for the Celtics. The Lakers led 2 games to 1, but the Celtics would win the title in Game 7.

March 12, 1956: The Southern Manifesto

Southern Senators, led by Strom Thurmond of South Carolina

March 12, 1956: The Declaration of Constitutional Principles is signed, by 19 members of the U.S. Senate and 82 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, all from States that had been in the Confederate States of America.

Since there was not a goddamned thing about it that was constitutional, it became known as the Southern Manifesto, allowing people on the right side of the struggle for civil rights to do what these rednecks had been doing to them for years: Comparing them to Communists.

The main author was Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. In 1948, as his State's Governor, he had briefly left the Democratic Party to run as the nominee for President of the States' Rights Party. From that point onward, Southern Democrats who opposed civil rights were known as "Dixiecrats."

It was written in response to the unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, 2 years earlier, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, declaring that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

The Declaration included these words: "The unwarranted decision of the Supreme Court in the public school cases is now bearing the fruit always produced when men substitute naked power for established law."

This was a bald-faced lie: The decision was warranted, and it was a strike against naked power, in the form of "Jim Crow" laws that overturned established law.

It also said: "The original Constitution does not mention education. Neither does the 14th Amendment nor any other amendment. The debates preceding the submission of the 14th Amendment clearly show that there was no intent that it should affect the system of education maintained by the States."

This was true, but it covered up the text of the 14th Amendment: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This is known as the Equal Protection Clause.

It also said: "This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the States principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through 90 years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding."

This was a lie: There had not been friendship. And the Court's decision didn't create confusion; it clarified the law.

Three Democratic Senators from Southern States did not sign: Albert Gore and Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, and the Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson of Texas. In the House, 16 of 21 Democrats from Texas refused to sign it, including the Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, and a future Speaker, Jim Wright. Also refusing to sign were 3 of the 11 Democrats from North Carolina; and 1 of the 7 from Florida, Dante Fascell.

The following year, Thurmond launched the longest filibuster the Senate had yet seen, in a vain attempt to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, he became the 1st Dixiecrat to switch to the Republican Party. There would be many more.

Thurmond turned out to be the last-serving member who signed the Southern Manifesto, serving until 2003, shortly after his 100th birthday, and dying a few months later. The last surviving signer was Richard Poff of Virginia, who died in 2011.

The last-serving member who refused to sign was Jack Brooks of Texas, who served until 1994. The last surviving refuser was the aforementioned Jim Wright, who died in 2015.

*

March 12, 1956 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. No games were scheduled for the NHL. There was 1 game played in the NBA: The Syracuse Nationals beat the St. Louis Hawks, 97-92 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.