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Patsy Mink (1927-2002)
-The first woman of color in the US Congress
-The first Asian American to run for president (1972 Democratic primaries)
-Represented Hawaii for 12 terms
-Authored Title IX
-Served as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs under Carter
-As a student at the University of Nebraska, mobilized a coalition to end segregated student housing
-Mother of social justice advocate Gwendolyn (Wendy) Mink
December 1961. JFK visits Bermuda, and as on his visit to Texas, he refuses to put on a hat.
Photo by UK National Archives via Flickr.
Our real first gay president
The new issue of Newsweek features a cover photo of President Obama topped by a rainbow-colored halo and captioned “The First Gay President.” The halo and caption strike me as cheap sensationalism. I realize airport travelers look at a magazine for 2.2 seconds before moving on to the next one. I grant that this cover will probably get Newsweek a 4.4 second glance. I also understand that Newsweek is desperate for sales. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Newsweek of old, before it was sold for a dollar, would have pandered as shallowly.
The caption is a superficial way to characterize an important development of thought that the president — along with the country — has been making over recent years. It is also entirely wrong. Like the mini-furor a couple of months back about the claim that Richard Nixon was our first gay president, the story simply ignores that the U.S. already had a gay president more than a century ago.
There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too — he was not far into the closet.
Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual. Fifteen years ago, historian John Howard, author of “Men Like That,” a pioneering study of queer culture in Mississippi, shared with me the key documents, including Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote:
I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.
life:
Unpublished: An American Marine readies to land on Guadalcanal during the five-month struggle for the island between late 1942 and early 1943. Three thousand miles south of Tokyo, Guadalcanal was a major shipping point for military supplies. The Allied victory there in February, 1943, marked a major turning point in the war after a string of Japanese victories in the Pacific. (Joe Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
See more photos here.
shortformblog:pbsthisdayinhistory:
May 10, 1994: Nelson Mandela Becomes President of South Africa
On this day in 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president. Mandela had spent 27 years imprisoned for working in the anti-apartheid movement.
FRONTLINE’s “The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela” site takes an inside look at his childhood, revolutionary years, imprisonment, and personal life.The journey of one of the world’s great elder statesmen.
President Harry S. Truman, radio address. May 8, 1945
On President Truman’s 61st birthday he announced the surrender of Germany and Victory in Europe, V-E Day.
(via ourpresidents)
May 7, 1915: A German U-boat sinks the RMS Lusitania.
Before Lusitania left New York for Ireland on May 1, 1915, a message from the German Embassy was printed in dozens of American newspapers, warning any who boarded the British liner that they were risking their lives in doing so:
…in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.
Despite this warning, 1,265 people boarded the ship as passengers, including over a hundred American citizens. Ships sailing through war zones constantly ran the risk of attack, but Lusitania’s voyage (despite some submarine warnings) went fairly smoothly. However, as Lusitania neared the coast of Ireland on May 7, the SM U-20, a U-boat that happened to be in the right place at the right time, fired a single torpedo at the ship. She sunk in only eighteen minutes. Unlike Titanic, Lusitania reportedly had more than enough lifeboats for all its passengers to evacuate to safety - yet 1,195 people died of the 1,959 aboard, including 128 Americans.
The British and Americans were understandably outraged; some condemned the attack as a war crime. German officials countered that the sinking was justified, because Lusitania had (according to their official statement) been carrying “large quantities of war material in her cargo” at the time of her sinking. Stubbornly upstanding President Wilson declared that “there is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right”, affirming his intention to keep his country neutral. Even so, the sinking of Lusitania had permanently turned the opinion of the American public against Germany, although it would take strikes against their own ships to push the United States to enter the war.
“Republican Convention. L-R: Mrs. James Rector, Ohio, Mary Dubrow, N.J., Alice Paul, N.J.”
May 7, 1945 - Celebrating Germany’s Surrender:
Jubilant American soldier hugs motherly English woman and victory smiles light the faces of happy service men and civilians at Piccadilly Circus, London, celebrating Germany’s unconditional surrender. England, May 7, 1945.
From the Univision vaults: Jorge Ramos interviews Hugo Chavez in 1998
By UNIVISION NEWS
Fourteen years ago, Univision’s anchor Jorge Ramos interviewed newly elected Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and asked him three crucial questions. Visibly skinnier, younger and without his now customary military uniform, Chavez’s answers during that first Univision interview sharply contradict what his track record in office has demonstrated.Chavez granted Univision three more interviews after this one, the last one being in 2002.
Venezuela holds general elections this October, with Chavez running again. However, his health has caused concerns over his ability to govern.
If elected, Chavez would be in office until 2019.
Alan Shepard - First American in Space
On May 5, 1961, NASA launched the first American into space. Alan Shepard took his historic ride in a Freedom 7 capsule, powered by a Redstone missile rocket. Shepard traveled to an altitude of 116 miles and returned to Earth in 15 minutes. From his capsule, Shepard saw the curvature of the Earth, and described a view never seen by any American before.
On May 8, Shepard traveled to the White House to receive a NASA Distinguished Service Medal from President John F. Kennedy. Three weeks later, JFK would announce to a joint session of Congress the goal of sending an American safely to the Moon by the end of the decade.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Mercury-Redstone 3 flight, so as you enjoy your first Saturday in May, look up to the skies and raise your glass to Alan Shepard - first American in space. Happy weekend!
Who Killed Mens’ Hats? Think Of A Three Letter Word Beginning With “I”
A hundred years ago — and that’s when this picture was taken, in 1912 — men didn’t leave home without a hat. Boys wore caps. This is a socialist political rally in Union Square in Manhattan. There may be a bare head or two in this crowd, but I think those heads are women.
So what happened? Why did guys stop wearing headgear in mid-century America?
The turning point, most people say, was John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. Before Kennedy, all presidents wore top hats on their first day at work. Kennedy brought one, but hardly ever put it on. Fashionistas say Kennedy, one of our most charismatic presidents, made hats un-happen. And, chronologically speaking, after JFK, guys everywhere, even balding ones like astronaut John Glenn, went topless. -Robert Krulwich
(Photo credit: The Library of Congress/via flickr)
Here’s a photo of JFK and Eisenhower, hats in hands.
Image description: The Magna Carta rests in its argon-filled encasement at the Archives Conservation lab. Engineers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology designed and built a state-of-the-art encasement and transport cart to protect the National Archive’s prized copy of the 1297 Magna Carta.
The first Magna Carta was signed in 1215 by King John of England. He was forced by an assembly of barons to put in writing, for the first time, the traditional rights and liberties of the country’s free persons. After another confrontation with barons, Edward I not only reissued the Magna Carta in 1297, but for the first time, it was entered into the official Statute Rolls of England and became the foundation of English law.
Learn more about the science behind the Magna Carta encasement.
Photo by Hill, National Archives
Brooklyn Back in the Day
Demonstrators march across the Brooklyn Bridge on their way to the Board of Education Offices, Brooklyn, to press their demands for improved educational facilities for Puerto Ricans in New York City, March 1, 1964. The marchers estimated at more than 2,000, rallied outside City Hall, Manhattan, and staged a demonstration before setting out for Brooklyn. (AP Photo)
