#civil rights
Vocabulary: Latent Fingerprint
When deposits of oil and/or perspiration from a finger leaves a print on a surface it is known as a latent fingerprint. These fingerprints are not always visible to the naked eye, thus requiring a dusting technique with fine powders to make it visible. Once the power is on the oil/perspiration, it can be lifted with transparent tape for analyzing, protecting, and storing. Another technique for revealing latent fingerprints is to shine a laser at it, the laser will make the print(s) glow allowing for photographs to be taken.
Image Source: Daekow. Fingerprint-magnabrush. Wikimedia Commons.
Aluminium is the most common powder used to develop latent fingerprints. A magna brush is a great tool for applying magnetic-sensitive powders over a hard surface. The aluminium adheres to the residue left behind by the oil/perspiration of a finger/hand, and reveals the print(s).
Image Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Latent Fingerprints (6774265822). Wikimedia Commons.
Fingerprints have been used for various purposes throughout human history. Thumb prints were used on clay seals in ancient China, and the ancient Babylonians used fingerprints on clay tablets for transactions.
Image Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 6.13, 1963. Rifle that killed Medgar Evers. Located latent fingerprints on telescopic site. Medgar was shot off Delta Drive, Jackson, Miss. Wikimedia Commons.
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist in Mississippi, and a World War Two veteran. On June 12, 1963, Medgar was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith a member of the White Citizens’ Council, that was formed in Mississippi to resist the integration of schools, and civil rights activism. Medgar Wiley Evers was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In the 1960s, the all-white juries failed to reach verdicts for the first two trials of Beckwith causing civil rights protests over the murder of Evers, and its trials. In 1994, new evidence in a new state trial led to Beckwith’s conviction
Starting this month, in conjunction with the YWCA’s national program, Stand Against Racism, the JFK Library will share stories of people who took a stand against racism during the Kennedy administration.
In August 1963, more than 200,000 Americans of all races celebrated the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation by joining the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Key civil rights figures led the march, including A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Bayard Rustin, and Whitney Young.
When civil rights leaders announced plans for a march on Washington that summer, Kennedy initially opposed the idea, fearing a large demonstration in the capital could turn violent and jeopardize his proposed civil rights bill. After a meeting with the leaders, he was persuaded that the March was “in the great tradition” of American protest.
Starting this month, in conjunction with the YWCA’s national program, Stand Against Racism, the JFK Library will share stories of people who took a stand against racism during the Kennedy administration.
Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, calls Birmingham, Alabama “the worst big city in race relations in the United States.” He writes this on December 17, 1962 in a telegram to President Kennedy after the bombing of Birmingham’s Bethel Church. This is just one in over fifty bombings in fifteen years, in a city that has segregation written in its laws and a police department.
A major demonstration in Birmingham could bring a much-needed victory for the civil rights movement. King works with Wyatt Tee Walker, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth and other SCLC leaders to devise a plan. They call it Project C - ‘c’ for confrontation.
Starting on April 3, 1963, it will build in waves, first with sit-ins, then a boycott, and finally, non-violent protest marches on a daily basis, which are likely to provoke heavy-handed reactions from police, with mass arrests. The media will cover it, and everyone will see why black people are asking for justice in the South.
Original caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try bicycle riding near their quarters in Camp Columbia, Wacol, Brisbane.” 2nd Lts: L-R: Beulah Baldwin, Alberta Smith, and Joan Hamilton. 11/29/1943. NARA ID 178140880.
“First Negro WAVES to enter the Hospital Corps School at Nat'l Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD.” L-R Ruth C. Isaacs, Katherine Horton and Inez Patterson. 3/2/1945. NARA ID 520634.
BLACK (military) NURSES ROCK!
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
ForNational Nurses Day we highlight Black nurses who served with courage and distinction in WWII.
“In the European Theater… are the first units of Negro nurses and WACS to go overseas… They are described by their Commanding Officer as being the equals of any nurses in the area…”—Truman Gibson, Jr, chief adviser on racial affairs to Secretary of War Henry Stimson
Statement by Truman Gibson, Jr., Aide on Negro Affairs to Secretary of War Stimson, 4/9/1945. NARA ID 40019813 (full doc below). Gibson was the 1st Black awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit, for advocating for black soldiers during WWII.
Capt. Della H. Raney, Army Nurse Corps, head of nursing at hospital at Camp Beale, CA, “has the distinction of being the first Negro nurse to report to duty in the present war…” NARA ID 535942.
“American Negro nurses, commissioned second lieutenants in the U.S. Army Nurses Corps, limber up their muscles in an early-morning workout during an advanced training course at a camp in Australia. The nurses will be assigned to Allied hospitals in the southwest Pacific theater.” 2/1944. NARA ID 535782.
Commissioning ceremony: Phyllis Dailey, 2nd from right, became the 1st Black nurse in the Navy Nursing Corps 3/8/1945. NAID 520618.
See also:
- We honor WW2’s #InvisibleWarriors! Black Women in WWII
- Pictorial History of Black Women in the US Navy during World War II and Beyond, by Dr. Tina Ligon, Rediscovering Black History.
- The Closed Door of Justice: African American Nurses and the Fight for Naval Service, by Alicia Henneberry, The Text Message.
- Black Female WWII Unit Gets (Congressional) GOLD! WWII’s 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
- Their War Too: US Women in the Military During WWII, The Text Message
- Pictures of African Americans During World War II
- African American Women in the Military During WWII
- African American Activities in Industry, Government, and the Armed Forces, 1941-1945).
- African Americans and the War Industry by Alexis Hill, The Unwritten Record blog
- I too, am Rosie by Dr. Tina Ligon, Rediscovering Black History
- Women’s History Month and African American History National Archives News special topics pages.
- Mary McLeod Bethune to Return to Capitol Hill
Ella Fitzgerald et al v. Pan American
Racism or “honest mistake”?
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
Born 105 years ago today, April 25, 1917, jazz singer extraordinaire Ella Fitzgerald faced discrimination on tour in 1954. En route to a concert in Australia she was denied the right to board a Pan American flight. She had to spend three days in Hawaii before other transportation to Australia could be secured, and she missed her concert dates.
She sued Pan Am claiming racism and seeking financial compensation. Pan Am claimed it was “an honest mistake” due to a reservation mix-up. The district judge dismissed the complaint, but the plaintiffs appealed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed that decision, ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
New York Times, 12/31/1954.
Complaint, Ella Fitzgerald, John Lewis, Georgiana Henry, and Norman Granz v. Pan American, Inc., 12/23/1954 Records of U.S. District Courts (NARA ID 2641486)
President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford with Ella Fitzgerald at White House Bicentennial concert 6/20/1976, Ford Library, NARA ID 7840021.
Ella Fitzgerald Performs at the White House State Dinner for King Juan Carlos I of Spain, 10/13/1981, Reagan Library, NARA ID 75855955.
More online:
- DocsTeach: Complaint in the Case of Fitzgerald v. Pan American Airways, 12/23/1954
- DocsTeach: Judgment in the Case of Fitzgerald v. Pan American World Airways, 1/26/1956
- Hear Fitzgerald discuss this incident, the lawsuit, and her legal victory: Ella Fitzgerald kicked off a plane because of her race: CBC Archives.
Marian Anderson singing from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000 people, 4/9/1939. (NARA ID 595378)
Marian Anderson’s 1939 EASTERConcert
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
Marian Anderson was the Beyoncé of the opera world when she was invited to perform in DC at a concert planned for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall. The DAR’s decision to bar her from doing so due to its “all-white performer policy” led to a turning point in civil rights history - her historic Easter concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000 admirers. Listen to this incredible concert online and discover through our records:
- Did the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) reallyhave an “all-white performer policy”?
- How was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt involved, and did she really resign from DAR?
- What was the role of Howard University and its Omega Psi Phi Fraternity?
Eleanor Roosevelt to John Lovell, Jr. of Howard University, 2/26/1939.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson in Japan, 5/22/1953, NARA ID 195989.
Petition from Omega Psi Phi, April 1939. (Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives).
Marian Anderson Poster, 8/26/1957, NARA ID 6948897.
President John F. Kennedy with Singer Marian Anderson and her accompanist Franz Rupp in the Oval Office 3/22/1962. JFK Library ID AR7113-A.
Related upcoming program for kids!
Meet Marian Anderson!National Archives Comes Alive Young Learners Program
Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 11 am EDT, View on YouTube.
See online:
- Pieces of Historypost by Adam Berenbak, Center for Legislative Archives.
- ReDiscovering Black History post by Alexis Hill, Special Media divisione
- Marian Anderson Performs at the Lincoln Memorial, DocsTeach
- Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson, FDR Library
- Eleanor Roosevelt Resigns from the Daughters of the American Revolution, FDR Library
Jackie Robinson in his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, 1950. NARA ID 6802718.
JACKIE ROBINSON BROKE COLORBARRIER#OTD 1947
Athlete and Civil Rights Advocate
“Life is not a spectator sport… . If you’re going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you’re escaping your life.” – Jackie Robinson, 1964
Jack Roosevelt Robinson broke the MLB color barrier 74 years ago today. As the first Black to play in the major leagues, he became the target of vicious racial abuse. He established a “reputation as a black man who never tolerated affronts to his dignity,” but found it increasingly challenging not to respond. In the ballpark, he answered the people he called “haters” with the perfect eloquence of a base hit. In 1949, his best year, Robinson was named the MLB’s MVP, and in 1962 was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He continued to champion the cause of civil rights after he retired from baseball. He believed that racial integration in every facet of American society would enrich the nation, just as surely as it had enriched baseball. Every American President who held office between 1956 and 1972 received letters from Jackie Robinson expressing varying levels of rebuke for not going far enough to advance the cause of civil rights.
Letterto Eisenhower about ittle Rock, 5/13/1958. NARA ID 186627.
Telegramto LBJ about the horrific events in Selma, 3/9/1965.
Letter from Jackie Robinson to Nixon Deputy Special Assistant Roland Elliott, 4/20/1972.
More online:
- Teaching with Documents, Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate
- Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate
- Prologue Magazine story: Jim Crow, Meet Lieutenant Robinson
- Pieces of History blog post:Jackie Robinson’s 100th
- Teaching Activities on DocsTeach: Analyzing Jackie Robinson’s White House Letter,Analyzing a Photograph of Jackie Robinson,Analyzing a Letter from Jackie Robinson: “Fair Play and Justice”
- Special Topics page: Baseball at the National Archives
- eBook:Baseball: The National Pastime in the National Archives
- Online Exhibit:Letter from Jackie Robinson to IKE about the Little Rock 9
See also:
Jackie Robinson—Freedom Fighter
Featured Document display, East Rotunda Gallery, National Archives Museum, DC, through April 20, 2022.
Jackie Robinson refused to move to the back of the bus
Drafted into the Army during World War II, 2nd Lt. Jack R. Robinson was stationed at Camp Hood, Texas, in 1944. Riding a military shuttle, Lieutenant Robinson was ordered to move to the rear by the civilian driver. Robinson explained that the War Department had recently desegregated military buses. But this was the Jim Crow South. The driver called the military police. A crowd gathered. Things escalated. Robinson was charged with insubordination and conduct disrespectful to his superior officer.
See Letter from Lt. Jack Robinson to Truman K. Gibson, NARA ID 159703346.
So I’m currently watching Crip Camp and the only thing I can think of is why the fuck aren’t what these people did being taught in schools. We learn all about the fight for gender and racial equality and I literally had one teacher say that they do this so kids to today can remember and look up to the people who fought for their rights. What about the people who fought for my rights? The history books only ever cover the ADA signing they show the picture sitting with two disabled individuals signing the bill. And they act like their was no fight to get that I honestly thought the protesting was so minimal that their was no need to cover it cause it wasn’t a huge fight like the fight for racial equality. I didn’t know that there were marches and people going hunger strikes so and other disabled people can access the world. So thank you to the people that fought so I could live thank you.
That uniquely American feeling of knowing your human rights depend on the way a committee of nine people, two of whom are unrepentant sexual assailants, interprets a document drafted by slavers and their allies.
~ @adamkotsko
#myasu ☺️
Day 15 of Black History Month and I’m honoring Gordon Parks. He was an American photographer, musician, writer and film director, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s particularly in issues of civil rights, poverty and African-Americans, and in glamour photography.