Events - Month View

#OnThisDay in 1965, Johnson signed the Voter Rights Act (VRA). In addition on this same day in 1975, Ford signs a 7-yr renewal. The #VRA is a landmark federal law enacted in 1965 to remove race-based restrictions on voting.

** UPDATE: The VRA was successfully challenged in June 2013 (Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder). The Supreme Court struck down (in a 5-4 ruling) Section 4(b) as outdated and not “grounded in current conditions.” Consequently, Section 5 is intact, but inoperable, unless or until Congress prescribes a new Section 4 formula. **

Timeline:

1965 - Johnson signs VRA

1970 - Nixon signs 5-yr renewal

1975 - Ford signs 7-yr renewal

1982 - Reagan signs 25-yr renewal

2006 - Bush signs 25-yr renewal

2013 - Shelby v. Holder challenges VRA

Learn more: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43626.pdf

Resources:

Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNjlwwf2K9g&feature=youtu.be

Nixon: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-signing-the-voting-rights-act-amendments-1970

Ford: https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0005/1561605.pdf

Reagan: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/62982b

Bush: https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060727.html

Shelby v. Holder: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf

VRA Timeline: https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights-act-major-dates-history

Prior challenges: https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/msdelta/ch3.htm

Current status: https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/Minority_Voting_Access_2018.pdf

#OnThisDay in 1965, Johnson signed the Voter Rights Act (VRA). The #VRA is a landmark federal law enacted in 1965 to remove race-based restrictions on voting.

** UPDATE: The VRA was successfully challenged in June 2013 (Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder). The Supreme Court struck down (in a 5-4 ruling) Section 4(b) as outdated and not “grounded in current conditions.” Consequently, Section 5 is intact, but inoperable, unless or until Congress prescribes a new Section 4 formula. **

1965 - Johnson signs VRA

1970 - Nixon signs 5-yr renewal

1975 - Ford signs 7-yr renewal

1982 - Reagan signs 25-yr renewal

2006 - Bush signs 25-yr renewal

2013 - Shelby v. Holder challenges VRA

Learn more: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43626.pdf

Resources:

Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNjlwwf2K9g&feature=youtu.be

Nixon: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-signing-the-voting-rights-act-amendments-1970

Ford: https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0005/1561605.pdf

Reagan: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/62982b

Bush: https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060727.html

Shelby v. Holder: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf

VRA Timeline: https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights-act-major-dates-history

Prior challenges: https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/msdelta/ch3.htm

Current status: https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/Minority_Voting_Access_2018.pdf


History: https://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA87JWa0bEw
Video: https://storycorps.org/stories/ellie-dahmer-and-bettie-dahmer-170113/

Aug 6, 1965: Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement on August 6, 1965, and

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Lucy Stone. Lucy was a leading suffragist who dedicated her life to fighting inequality. She was the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree. Lucy organized the first National Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts, and she was a founding member of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which would later merge with the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890. After the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the NAWSA evolved into the League of Women Voters (LWV) in 1920.

Learn more:

-- NWHM: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lucy-stone

-- Video: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vote-part-1-3kph5d

-- History: https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbnawsa.n8361/?sp=7 (p. 7)

Join us for an informal conversation about the League and about your part in the organization. This is an opportunity to ask questions and engage in open discussion with board members and other new and prospective members.

All attendees must be fully vaccinated.

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Charlotte Forten Grimké. Charlotte was a 3rd-generation suffragist and equal rights advocate. She is a reminder that we make progress by standing on the shoulders of others, and that it can take multiple generations to right wrongs.

** Granddaughter of Charlotte Vandine Forten **

** Daughter of Robert Bridges Forten **

** Niece of Margaret, Harriet, and Sarah Forten **

Learn more:

-- National History Center: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/identity/text3/charlottefortenjournal.pdf

-- Suffragist Memorial: https://suffragistmemorial.org/african-american-women-leaders-in-the-suffrage-movement

-- PBS: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p477.html

-- NPS (19th Amendment): https://www.nps.gov/articles/african-american-women-and-the-nineteenth-amendment.htm

-- NPS (Voting Rights): https://www.nps.gov/articles/black-women-and-the-fight-for-voting-rights.htm
-- Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimke: https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/3uHylBU24jMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP1

-- Muse: https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1945821

-- Beltway Poetry: http://www.beltwaypoetry.com/poetry/poets/names/grimke-charlotte-forten/

#OnThisDay, 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. This amendment prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. The ratification was the culmination of the women‘s suffrage movement in the United States, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote.

The amendment was passed by Congress (proposed) on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920.

Learn more:

-- National Women’s History Museum: http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/19-amendment

-- National Archive: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Annie Webb Blanton, teacher, suffragist, and the first woman in Texas elected to statewide office, was born Aug 19, 1870, in Houston.

In the July 1918 primary, when Texas women exercised their voting rights for the first time, Blanton defeated incumbent Walter F. Doughty and Brandon Trussell by a large margin. In November, her victory in the general election made her the first woman in Texas elected to statewide office. She served as state superintendent through 1922.

Learn more:
-- TSHA: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbl16
-- Humanities Texas https://www.humanitiestexas.org/programs/tx-originals/list/annie-webb-blanton

FREE Inflatable Games & Carnival Rides, Drag Queen Story Time under the Big Tree in the Family Zone 12pm-1pm, 140+ Vendor Booths, Drinks & Food, and more!

The 30th Annual, twice postponed, Austin PRIDE Festival and Parade take over Austin Saturday, August 20th with over 400,000 projected attendees! You have come to expect amazing entertainment from Austin PRIDE and this year is no exception!!

"The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote nationally on August 18, 1920, so why is Women’s Equality Day on August 26th each year?

The simple answer is that even when a constitutional amendment has been ratified it’s not official until it has been certified by the correct government official. In 1920, that official was U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. On August 26, 1920, Colby signed a proclamation behind closed doors at 8 a.m. at his own house in Washington, D.C, ending a struggle for the vote that started a century earlier." -- Constitution Center

The first executive secretary of the League of Women Voters, Minnie Fisher Cunningham, was a Texan who, among many other notable achievements, worked for the passage of the 19th Amendment in Texas and nationally.

Learn more:

-- Alice Paul Org: https://www.alicepaul.org/2020-exhibition/

-- Constitution Center: https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/why-august-26-is-known-as-womans-equality-day

-- LOC: https://www.loc.gov/collections/women-of-protest/articles-and-essays/tactics-and-techniques-of-the-national-womans-party-suffrage-campaign/

-- NCSL: https://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/amending-the-u-s-constitution.aspx

Image: https://www.alicepaul.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/5_Suffragist_Cover_1920.pdf

#OnThisDay in 1962, the 24th Amendment, which prohibited the use or a poll tax as a condition for voting in federal elections, was passed by Congress. #SystemicRacism

The amendment was passed by Congress (proposed) to the states on August 27, 1962, and ratified on January 23, 1964.

“After nearly disappearing in the states, a repurposed poll tax returned as part of a successful effort to undermine the Fifteenth Amendment and reestablish limits on the franchise. Beginning in Florida in 1889, all the former Confederate States, and a few others, instituted a suite of changes to voting laws as a part of this effort. They introduced literacy tests and disqualified convicted felons from voting. They also resurrected poll taxes. The historical record is filled with racially derogatory statements from delegates at State constitutional conventions who believed poll taxes and other devices would suppress Black voter registration and turnout.”

“The Supreme Court repeatedly affirmed the constitutionality of poll taxes. In its 1937 opinion in Breedlove v. Suttles, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected a claim from a white Georgia voter that the poll tax violated the Equal Protection Clause. In 1951, it rejected a similar claim challenging Virginia’s poll tax in Butler v. Thompson.” -- Constitution Center #CheckAndBalances #3Branches

Resources:

-- Constitution Center: https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xxiv

-- National Archive: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27

-- US House: https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37045

-- Breedlove v. Suttles: https://perma.cc/6G6H-6U4T

-- Butler v. Thompson: https://perma.cc/V4JP-TYHY

#OnThisDay in 1963, approximately 250,000 people took part in The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Martin Luther King gave the closing address in front of the Lincoln Memorial:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

Learn more:

-- King Institute: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-dream-address-delivered-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom

-- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=173&v=smEqnnklfYs&feature=emb_logo

-- Constitution Center: https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-i-have-a-dream-speech

-- Civil Rights Library: http://crdl.usg.edu/events/march_on_washington

#OnThisDay in 1983, the 68th Texas legislature passed HB718, which abolished the life-time voting ban on ex-felons, but included a 5-yr waiting period before ex-felons would become eligible to vote.

On Sept 1, 1997, the 75th Texas legislature passed HB1001 eliminated the 5-yr waiting period.

Learn more:

-- TSLL: https://guides.sll.texas.gov/reentry-resources/voting

-- 75th #TXLege Summary: https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/Sessionoverviews/summary/75soe.pdf#page=114 (pg. 114)

-- 68th #TXLege Summary: https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/sessionOverviews/summary/soe68.pdf#page=82 (pg. 77)

-- HB1001 Text: https://lrl.texas.gov/LASDOCS/75R/HB1001/HB1001_75R.pdf

-- HB718 Text: https://lrl.texas.gov/LASDOCS/68R/HB718/HB718_68R.pdf#page=23 (pg. 23)

-- HB718 Election Law Opinion: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/elo/jwf20.pdf

-- JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/29768353?read-now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents (pg. 82)

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Myra Davis Hemmings. Hemmings was born in Gonzales, Texas. She was one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as well as its first president. The sorority was founded at Howard University in Jan 1913 and its 1st public act was to participate in the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C. in Mar of 1913.

Suffragist Mary Church Terrell lobbied on behalf of the Deltas to win them a place in the parade, where they were the only African American organization represented. #HiddenFigures

A Texas Historical Marker dedicated to Myra resides at the Myra Davis Hemmings Resource Center in Bexar County, TX.

Photo credit: San Antonio Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Learn More:

-- @usgpo: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2013-01-24/html/CREC-2013-01-24-pt1-PgS292.htm

-- @TxHistComm: https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/5507017358/print

-- @TxStHistAssoc: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhe64

-- @dstinc1913: https://www.deltasigmatheta.org

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Lulu Belle Madison White. Lulu Belle was a civil rights activist who worked to eliminate the white primary in the 1930s. In 1939, she became the president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP. After the SCOTUS ruling in 1944 that outlawed the white primary (Smith v. Allwright), she worked tirelessly to encourage voting and educate voters.

Learn more:

-- TSHA Handbook: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwh75

-- TSHA Honest Past (p. 337): https://join.tshaonline.org/ebook-offers/honest-past/SHQ-An-Honest-Past.pdf

-- WTH: https://www.womenintexashistory.org/audio/lulu-belle-madison-white

-- Humanities of TX: https://www.humanitiestexas.org/news/articles/craft-civil-rights