December 12, 1870 Joseph H. Rainey (R-South Carolina) took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first African-American Member of Congress. More about Rainey |
| December 12, 1916 Dr. Ben Reitman was arrested in Cleveland for organizing volunteers to distribute birth control information at an Emma Goldman lecture on birth control. He was sentenced to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine plus court costs.  Dr. Ben Reitman |
| December 12, 1947 The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor over the AFL’s failure to organize workers in mass production industries such as textiles, automobiles, steel and rubber. |
| December 12, 1969 The Philippine Civic Action Group, a 1350-man contingent from the Army of the Philippines, left South Vietnam. The contingent had been part of the Free World Military Forces, an effort by President Lyndon Johnson to enlist allies for the United States and South Vietnam, similar to President George Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing,” the multi-national force in Iraq. |
| December 12, 1983 Seventy people were arrested in Boston outside a hotel where a “New Trends in Missiles” trade conference was being held. Inside the hotel, over 1,000 cockroaches were released to symbolize the likely survivors of nuclear war.  |
December 12, 1986 From a pershing plowshares action 1984 Plowshares activists disarmed a Pershing missile launcher in West Germany. In a statement of intent the four said, “With awareness of our responsibility we understand that we are the ones who make the arms race possible by not trying to stop it.” Details of their action in Pershing to Plowshares |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december12
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