September 25, 1957 - the Little Rock Nine is escorted into an all-white high school

On September 25, 1957, the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division was sent to escort nine African American students into an all-white Central High school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Three weeks prior, Governor Orval Faubus sent in the National Guard to surround the school to prevent the integration.[1] President Dwight Eisenhower sent in 1000 Paratroopers to Little Rock to enforce the integration that the Supreme Court had ordered.[2] In 1954 the Supreme Court unanimously decided against the previous decision it had made in Plessy vs. Ferguson in favor of Brown vs. the Board of Education, that segregating schools was unconstitutional. However, integration would not start until 1957.

In the fall of ‘57, 517 black students were eligible to attend the Central High school by living in the district. Only 80 of those black students were interested in attending the school, after an interview with those 80 students with the Little Rock School Board only 17 were selected to attend the school in the fall. Eight of the seventeen students decided to return to an all-black school leaving the last nine to be called the “Little Rock Nine”.[3] The nine students were Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford , Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals. These nine students had to be escorted by the 101st Airborne everyday due to a constant protest outside of Central High. They were constantly bombarded with threats and taunts from anti-integration adults, and students in the school. They were treated this way the entire year, although the protests tapered off the Nine still had to deal with other students. Most of the Nine remained non-violent against the students and acted passively against the white students. Minnijean Brown was the only student that fought back, eventually leading to her suspension and dismissal from the school.[4]

The Little Rock Nine were trailblazers in the desegregation movement. The nine students stood up to bigots, mobs, threats, beatings and more scrutiny. The others, including Earnest Green, continued on and were first black students to graduate from Central High.[6] The Little Rock Nine, were inspirational in the movement to desegregate the country. They helped spring the national civil rights movement into action, improving the lives of blacks everywhere.

- Sam K. and Justin Z.


[1] “Central High School integrated,” The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/central-high-school-integrated (accessed Sep 19, 2013).
[2] “Central High School Integrated”
[3] “Central High School Integrated”
[4] “Central High School Integrated”
[5] “Central High School Integrated”
[6] “Central High School Integrated”

September 21, 1981 - Sandra Day O'Connor appointed as the first female Supreme Court justice

Sandra Day O’Connor being sworn in as a 

Supreme Court Justice on Sept 25, 1981. 

Beside O’Connor is her husband,

 holding two family Bibles.

On this day in history, Sandra Day O’ Connor was elected as the first female Supreme Court Justice, a position she retained for the next twenty-four years. She is known as one of the great women in U.S. History for her work in helping to pave the way for women’s participation and advancement in government and politics. When she was elected, the Supreme Court building did not even have a separate bathroom for women. [1]

O’Connor was born on March 26, 1930 in El Paso, Texas to a family of ranchers. In recent years and after all her accomplishments, O’Connor has still referred to herself as simply a “retired cowgirl.” She attended Stanford University and graduated with a degree in economics in 1950 and then from its law school, from which she graduated in two years as number three in her class in 1952.[2]

Even with all of her academic accomplishments, she had difficulty finding a job as an attorney when she graduated because, at the time, women were not hired as attorneys at most law firms. Over the next few decades, O’Connor worked as a county attorney in California, a lawyer in Germany, at a private practice in Arizona, as Arizona’s assistant attorney general, and finally, in 1969, she was elected to fill an Arizona State Senate vacancy and was reelected for two terms. All of her years of working entry level positions eventually paid off and she became the judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, where she gains a reputation as a strong, fair, law-minded judge.[3]

It came as no surprise that O’Connor’s reputation and public service would soon catch the attention of President Reagan, who appointed her as the first female Supreme Court Justice. She was singlehandedly helping to change Americans’ views of women in politics often because she was relatable and understood the people and the changes they wanted to see. Sandra Day O’Connor was known as a “person for all seasons” meaning that she was able to adapt to America’s changing social, political and economic issues. [4]She often was the deciding vote on important issues because she was adept at reading the general consensus of the Supreme Court, acting as a mediator of sorts or “consensus builder.”[5] She fully believed that judges were not qualified to create laws or be involved in legislation, but that a judge’s job was to interpret the law and judge accordingly.

Painting of O’Connor, created by Danni Dawson in

 1999 - part of the Supreme Court Collection

Sandra Day O’Connor is a great woman in U.S. history, not only because of her amazing achievements as a Supreme Court Justice, but because she is a strong woman and a role model for younger generations of Americans, especially women. In 1988, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a full mastectomy and ultimately beat it, becoming a survivor. [6] In 2006, O’Connor retired as Supreme Court Justice in order to care for her husband, who eventually died of Alzheimer’s disease. [7]

Since her retirement in 2006, she has not slowed down. She actively promotes the removal of the elections of judges because she still feels that judges should not be loyal to anyone meaning that judges should be loyal to the Constitution. [8]She believes that being elected creates an illusion of integrity and justness, instead of judges being completely unbiased and law-minded. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 from President Barack Obama for her many years of public service.[9]She stated in a recent interview that she felt an immense responsibility to future generations of females, because “I felt a special responsibility… I could either do an adequate job so it would be possible for other women to be appointed without people saying, ‘Oh , see, a woman can’t do it’, so it became very important that I perform in a way that wouldn’t provide some reason or cause not to have more women in the future. That was very important to me.” [10]

- Amanda D., Jordan C., and Tony W.





[1] “'Out Of Order' At The Court: O'Connor On Being The First Female Justice.” The NPR Books, http://www.npr.org/2013/03/05/172982275/out-of-order-at-the-court-oconnor-on-being-the-first-female-justice (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[2] "Sandra Day O'Connor," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/sandra-day-oconnor-9426834 (accessed Sep 5, 2013); “Sandra Day O’Connor Fast Facts,” The CNN Library, http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/us/sandra-day-oconnor-fast-facts/index.html (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[3] “Sandra Day O’Connor Fast Facts,” The CNN Library, http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/us/sandra-day-oconnor-fast-facts/index.html (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[4] Hayes, Hannah. “Sandra Day O’Connor: The Center Vote that Counted.” Perspectives Magazine, Fall Issue 2005, Vol.14, N.2 http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/perspectives_magazine/women_perspectives_SandraDayOconnorFall2005.authcheckdam.pdf (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[5] Hayes, Hannah. “Sandra Day O’Connor: The Center Vote that Counted.” Perspectives Magazine, Fall Issue 2005, Vol.14, N.2 http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/perspectives_magazine/women_perspectives_SandraDayOconnorFall2005.authcheckdam.pdf (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[6] "Sandra Day O'Connor," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/sandra-day-oconnor-9426834 (accessed Sep 5, 2013); “Sandra Day O’Connor Fast Facts,” The CNN Library, http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/us/sandra-day-oconnor-fast-facts/index.html (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[7] “'Out Of Order' At The Court: O'Connor On Being The First Female Justice.” The NPR Books, http://www.npr.org/2013/03/05/172982275/out-of-order-at-the-court-oconnor-on-being-the-first-female-justice (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[8] "Sandra Day O'Connor," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/sandra-day-oconnor-9426834 (accessed Sep 5, 2013); “Sandra Day O’Connor Fast Facts,” The CNN Library, http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/us/sandra-day-oconnor-fast-facts/index.html (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[9] "Sandra Day O'Connor," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/sandra-day-oconnor-9426834 (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

[10] “'Out Of Order' At The Court: O'Connor On Being The First Female Justice.” The NPR Books, http://www.npr.org/2013/03/05/172982275/out-of-order-at-the-court-oconnor-on-being-the-first-female-justice (accessed Sep 5, 2013).

September 19, 1881 - President James A. Garfield dies from an assassin's bullet

On this day in 1881, President James A Garfield died. He was the 20th president of the United States, in the year of 1881. President Garfield attended two colleges Hiram and Williams College; he graduated in1856 Garfield was married to Lucretia Rudolph from the year 1858 till his death; also they had seven children together. President Garfield before becoming president was a teacher. This is significant because he was an average man, he had a wife and a family and before becoming president he was a schoolteacher. [1]

During Garfield’s term he created two policies theses policies was one of his short-term accomplishments. The domestic policy which was “Garfield’s federal appointments suggested an independent reformist leader, James went head to head with New York senator Roscoe Conkling who had expected to name the federal jobs available in his state. Boss Conkling resigned in protest over Garfield’s choices to run the customhouse, fully expecting that his state legislature would re-instate him; they did not. [2] Another policy that he has tried to accomplish was the foreign policy was Garfield’s second policy. Garfield’s organized, with his Secretary of State James Blaine, Pan-American conference. His untimely death precluded any such meeting until 1889.

James A. Garfield died at the age of 49, he was assassinated by Charles j. Guiteau. On July 2,1881 Garfield was going to take a brake from the conflicts of the presidency so he took a vacation.[3] Since when does a president get to take a brake? He was in a good mood that morning. As Garfield went to the train station every thing seemed fine an observer in the station would haven’t notice any thing unusual. It was a normal day people reading newspapers waiting for there train people buying tickets, Then from out of the crowd, a small man approached Garfield from behind and quickly fired two shots at the president. The bullet hit him shattering bones and punching threw vessels, and arteries before coming to rest somewhere deep inside the internal organs. Garfield body dropped to the floor the shooter scattered back into the crowds of witnesses. Everyone started running and shouting for help, as people got close to see what the commotion was all about. The short man that had shoot Garfield was seen by one of the guards, and grab him, and the guard was surprised the man didn’t put up a fight. Garfield was carried out of the station, and the shooter was sent to jail. Garfield spent 2 and half months in the hospital, and died on September 19, 1881.[4]

Charles Julius Guiteau was a murderer, he had an illness of insanity. His only murder occurred on July 2nd 1881, his victim was the 20th president James Garfield.His method for killing president Garfield was shooting him with a .44 Webley British Bulldog revolver. Charles was arrested the same day as his first murder, he was held in the Washington District of Columbia, USA. So what proved that he was truly insane was he had a delusional thought that if he killed the president then he would become president himself. Charles believed that god was commanding him to kill the president so he got fifteen dollars bought 44 Webley British Bulldog revolver and then attended target practice to ensure his plan to kill the president. Not only did he believe god wanted him to do this he had the thought of becoming famous, Charles said he wanted the gun to look nice in a museum. His plan for the revolver being in a museum wasn’t successful in the end because the revolver has been lost. President Garfield lived after Charles shot him, but became very ill due to the doctor DW Bliss’s mistake of getting the medal prop stuck between his 11th rib and the bullet fragment. Doctor DW Bliss then messed up again by sticking his fingers into the wound, which widened the wound , come to find out the doctor never found the bullet and it ended up traveling to his spinal cord. This caused the president to have numbness in his legs and feet. Over time his temperature began to elevate so the doctors reopened the wound hoping to find the bullet. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful, they turned a 3 inch harmless wound into a 20 inch long infected gash. The night of September 19th gripping his chest he muttered this pain , this pain while suffering from a major heart attack that only lasted a few minutes causing his death.[5]

- Devon T. and Ezekiel V.



[1] “American president, James a. Garfeild”, Miller Center University of Virginia , September 13 2013, http://millercenter.org/president/garfield.

[2] “President James Garfield dies”, History, September 13 2013, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-james-garfield-dies.

[3] “President James a. Garfield”, Find the Data, September 13 2013, http://us-http://presidents.findthedata.org/l/28/James-A-Garfield.

[4] “Charles J Guiteau”, Crime library, September 13 2013, http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/assassins/charles_guiteau/index.html.

[5] “Charles Julius Guiteau”, Murderpedia, Septemeber 18 2013, http://murderpedia.org/male.G/g/guiteau-charles.htm.

September 17, 1911 - Calbraith Rodgers began the first successfully completed transcontinental flight across the United States

The plane Rodgers flew on his transcontinental flight

On September 17, 1911, pilot Calbraith Rodgers began the first transcontinental flight across the United States. He only took a 90-minute flying instruction class before he flew this plane.[i] When he flew the plane, he was only 32 years old. Cal Rodgers only started to learn how to fly an airplane in June of 1911 at Wright School at Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio. He was a great motorcycle and an automobile racer all before becoming a pilot. Rodgers became deaf in one ear after a childhood accident. Although he couldn’t hear well, he was still able to fly a plane. Rodgers didn’t live too long after his flight made history. Rodgers was only flying airplanes for eight years. In April of 1912, he took flight in Long Beach, Long Island, New York and he encountered a bird, which caused him to crash into the water. When he crashed into the water he broke his neck causing his death. Rodgers was only 33 years old when he passed away.[ii]

Rodgers took off from New York City to start his first flight across the United States on September 17, 1911. A newspaper editor named William Randolph Hearst offered Rodgers a $50,000 prize by finishing the trip in less than 30 days.[iii] As Rodger flies the plane, he snagged a tree and crashed to the ground. He crashed the plane over 15 times.[iv] Rodgers made multiple visits to various hospitals around the United States because he was injured from crashing the plane. He finally reached his destination in Pasadena, California.[v] When he arrived on the West coast, he had to repair his plane so many times so he was able continue his journey. Rodgers was very determined to finish his journey around the United States.

This event in history was very important because it was the first transcontinental flight. Rodgers hoped to win the $50,000. Because he crashed his plane so many times, he lost out on the prize. Even though he didn’t win the prize, he still persevered to make history. According to people Rodger’s trip from coast to coast is one of the most memorable airplane journeys ever taken in history. [vi]

- Tiffany C. and Kara R. G.




[i] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[ii] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[iii] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[iv] "First Transcontinental Flight." First Transcontinental Flight. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.firstflightcentennial.org/first-transcontinental-flight/>.

[v] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[vi] "First Transcontinental Flight." First Transcontinental Flight. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.firstflightcentennial.org/first-transcontinental-flight/>.

September 12, 1910 - Alice Stebbins Wells is appointed as the first policewoman in the United States

Alice Stebbins Wells was 37 years old when she was
appointed to the LAPD, and served for 30 years before retiring.

On this day, 103 years ago, one woman took a stand that led her entire gender one step closer to equality. On September 12, 1910, Mrs. Alice Stebbins Wells was recruited by the Los Angeles Police department, becoming our nation's very first police woman.

The fact that this groundbreaking event had taken place does not imply that the idea of women police was a socially acceptable concept. It took nearly one year after Wells petitioned her local government in 1909 to create an ordinance allowing women to be hired as officers within the cities’ police department. Just as the slaves' first freedoms were limited and frowned upon during the 1800s, so was this twentieth century attempt at gender equality undeniably hindered by the closed-minded public. Wells constantly struggled to gain the acceptance of her fellow Americans, and was often rudely reminded of their disapproval publicly, even having once been once accused of “misusing her husband's badge”. After this particular incident, Alice Wells was presented a “Policewoman Badge Number 1”, to avoid future false accusations.[1]

Wells, along with the several other women who would become officers soon after her, were not allowed to occupy any job within the force that may be deemed “high risk”, and were therefore, more often than not assigned clerical office work. Alice Wells' main duties consisted mostly of cases involving women and children, centering her patrols around places like arcades, picture shows, and skating rinks.[2]

Not surprisingly, Alice Wells' appointment to the Los Angeles Police Department gained widespread publicity. She traveled, advertising her cause to various cities in hopes of encouraging them to adopt similar ordinances for female involvement within their police departments. By the end of 1915, women were employed within at least twenty five different police departments, including San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and Chicago.[3]

After serving her department for nearly thirty years, Alice Wells did not live to see the sort of equality between police men and women that we see today. In her day, women were still treated as inferior officers, often receiving significantly lower salaries and were required a much higher level education than their fellow male officers.[3] Since then, our country has passed several laws to assist in dissolving certain acts of discrimination against women in the workplace. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 ruled that all employers are required to provide “equal pay for equal work” regardless of gender.[4] The 1972 amendment to the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964, initiated the Equal Opportunity Act, prohibiting employment discrimination because of race, religion, or gender.[5] This is not to say that sexism and discrimination within the field are nonexistent, just less predominant than in the past.

There has been a steady incline in percentages of women employed as police over the last several decades. In the 1970s, less than 1% of all police were women; that number rose to 9% in the 1990s, and today women make up approximately 17% of our nation’s police officers. In comparison to the 1990s percentage, 9% of all supervisory and command positions now belong to women.[6] Though these percentages may seem slightly low to some, it should be considered a great achievement for our nation to have come so far in just 100 years, all thanks to one woman’s stand for equal opportunity.

-Brittany W. and Sarah O.

1 “LAPD had the Nation’s First Police Woman,” Los Angeles Almanac, accessed September 2, 2013, www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr73b.htm
2 “LAPD had the Nation's First Police woman,” The Los Angeles Police Department, accessed September 2, 2013, http://www.lapdonline.org/history_of_the_lapd/content _basic_view/833
3 “Adam Eisenberg: LAPD hired nation's first policewoman,” Los Angeles Daily News, accessed September 2, 2013, www.dailynews.com/opinion/20100910/adam-eisenberg-lapd-hired-nations-first-policewoman
4 “The Equal Pay Act of 1963,” US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed September 2, 2013, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm
5 “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed September 2, 2013, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevi i.cfm
6 “Police Woman Statistics,” Police-OfficerPages.com, accessed September 2, 2013,
http://www.police-officer-pages.com/policewomanstatistics.html#axzz2eWjRS4p1

August 26, 1873 – The St. Louis school board authorizes the first public kindergarten

 A woman’s trip to Germany transformed education for American children. Susan Blow, an educated woman from Missouri, traveled to Europe on the grand tour in 1871 and, while there, Blow became interested in the work of Friedrich Froebel, a leader in early education who also coined the term “kindergarten” or “children’s garden.” Froebel thought education should start early, through play activities and creative expression.[1]

Susan Elizabeth Blow - image from womenscouncil.org

Though her father offered to fund a private kindergarten, Blow wanted to work in the public school system. With the support of the St. Louis superintendent of schools, William Torrey Harris, Blow studied Froebel’s methods under his disciple, Maria Kraus-Boelte, in New York City for a year. Harris’ reasons for support were slightly less altruistic, as he wanted to keep poor children off the streets of St. Louis and to teach them “habits of cleanliness,” in addition to providing a little education for them.[2] When Blow returned from New York City, the St. Louis school board accepted her offer to direct the first public kindergarten in the United States.

The Des Peres elementary school: home of Blow's kindergarten - image from carondolethisoricalsociety.org

Using Froebel’s methods, Blow’s kindergarten program was so successful that the number of kindergarteners grew from 68 in 1873 to almost 9,000 throughout St. Louis by 1884.[3] There were 53 kindergarten classrooms in St. Louis by 1879.[4]

Des Peres kindergarten classroom - image from historyhappenshere.org

Blow trained other kindergarten teachers, lectured throughout the country, and translated many of Froebel’s works into English. As her obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said, Susan Blow’s “name will live as a leader in the mental development of the young.”[5]

Blow’s and Froebel’s methods became the standard in the American public school system.[6] The importance of early childhood education continues to be recognized today. In his most recent State of the Union address, President Obama said, “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own.  We know this works.  So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.”[7]

- Jodi C.

---

[1] “Women in History: Susan Blow, Founder of U.S. Kindergartens,” History Happens Here!: The Missouri History Museum’s Blog, accessed August 23, 2013, http://www.historyhappenshere.org/node/6931.

[2] “Women in History: Susan Blow, Founder of U.S. Kindergartens.”

[3] “Women in History: Susan Blow, Founder of U.S. Kindergartens.”

[4] “Susan Blow,” The State Historical Society of Missouri Historic Missourians, accessed August 23, 2013, http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/b/blow/index.html

[5] “Susan E. Blow.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, MO. March 28, 1916. p. 14, col. 3.

[6] ‘Miss Blow Who Put Kindergartens Here, Dies in East’ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 27, 1916, p. 3.

[7] “Obama’s 2013 State of the Union Address,” The New York Times, accessed August 25, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/obamas-2013-state-of-the-union-address.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.