| July 19, 1848 The first Women’s Rights Convention in the U.S. was held at Seneca Falls, New York. Its “Declaration of Sentiments” launched the movement of women to be included in the constitution.The Declaration used as a model the U.S. Declaration of Independence, demanding that the rights of women as individuals be acknowledged and respected by society. It was signed by sixty-eight women and thirty-two men. The impetus came from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, both of whom had been excluded, along with all the other female American delegates, from the World Anti-Slavery Convention (London, 1840) because of their sex.  Frederick Douglass, the former slave and abolitionist leader attended the convention and supported the resolution for women’s suffrage.When suffrage finally became a reality in 1920, seventy-two years after this first organized demand in 1848, only one signer of the Seneca Falls Declaration, Charlotte Woodward, then a young worker in a glove manufactory, had lived long enough to cast her first ballot.The Seneca Falls Convention and the Early Suffrage Movement https://www.gilderlehrman.org/ap-us-history/period-4?modal=/history-resources/essays/seneca-falls-convention-setting-national-stage-womens-suffrage |
July 19, 1958 Several black teenagers, members of the local NAACP chapter (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), entered downtown Wichita’s Dockum Drug Store (then the largest drugstore chain in Kansas) and sat down at the lunch counter.  Wichita sit-in sculptureThe store refused to serve them because of their race. They returned at least twice a week for the next several weeks. They sat quietly all afternoon, creating no disturbance, but refused to leave without being served. Though the police once chased them away, they were breaking no law, only asking to make a purchase, a violation of store policy.This was the first instance of a sit-in to protest segregationist policies. Less than a month later, a white man around 40 walked in and lookedat those sitting in for several minutes. Then he looked at the store manager, and said, “Serve them. I’m losing too much money.” That man was the owner of the Dockum drug store chain. That day the lawyer for the local NAACP branch called the store’s state offices, and was toldby the chain’s vice president that “he had instructed all of his managers, clerks, etc. (statewide), to serve all people without regard to race, creed or color.” |
July 19, 1974 Martha Tranquill of Sacramento, California, was sentenced to nine months’ prison time for refusing to pay her federal taxes as a protest against the Vietnam War. |
July 19, 1993 President Bill Clinton announced regulations to implement his “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gays in the military, saying that the armed services should put an end to “witch hunts.” The policy was developed by General Colin Powell, then Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and eventually summarized as “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue, don’t harass.” |
July 19, 2000 A federal administrative law judge ordered white supremacist Ryan Wilson to pay $1.1 million in damages to fair housing advocate Bonnie Jouhari and her daughter, Dani. The decision stemmed from threats made against Jouhari by Wilson and his Philadelphia neo-Nazi group, ALPA HQ.  Bonnie and Dani Jouhari |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjuly.htm#july191848
Scottie's Playtime 
Hi. The courage and fortitude of those young black teenagers. I am so glad they were not Emit Till like victims of hate. As for don’t ask don’t tell. I served in the 1980s. Many units allowed gay people to stay as long as they did not get complaints against them. Many units that were technical or intel based allowed openly gay members. My boyfriend and I were known to our unit and accepted. It was not until an infantry mortar major took over the satellite site that things got bad for the gay guys in the unit. I left before it came to a problem. Gays have been in the service forever. Think about it, if you are gay or a lesbian where would you go to be around the gender you are attracted to? Hugs. Scottie
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Heh! That would not have occurred to me, unless I was gay, I guess! I used to read about women who joined the service to meet men. Didn’t seem constructive, to me. But it’s ingenious for gays!
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Hi Ali. I can attest that the young men in the military are both horny and don’t mind going both ways. Many of the guys I spent four day passes with claimed to be straight … but they enjoyed everything as much as I did. And asked me to take them again and again when we got passes. And I do mean everything. It was refreshing to see after my childhood. Guys having sex without fear, without force or pain, and enjoying it. Hugs. Scottie
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