February 10
1961
The Voice of Nuclear Disarmament, a pirate radio station, begins operation offshore of Britain.
Pirate radio ship
February 9
1780
Capt. Paul Cuffee and six other African-American residents of Massachussetts petition the state legislature for the right to vote; the court awards them equal rights.
1950
United States Senator Joe McCarthy accused more than 200 staff in the State Department of being Communist, launching his anti-red crusade.
February 8
1631
Roger Williams, defender of religious liberty and founder of Rhode Island, arrived in Boston.
1826
New Harmony Community of Equality founded in Indiana.
1962
More than 20,000 attended a demonstration in Paris against the Secret Army Organization (OAS) which wanted Algeria to remain a French colony. At least eight people were killed and 240 injured.
February 7
1812
Lord Byron, in his first speech before the House of Lords, denounces a death penalty measure for rebellious laborers.
1926
“Negro History Week” was observed for the first time. Harvard Scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson established “Negro History Week” to study the important things Blacks had accomplished. Today it has been lengthened, and is known as Black History month.
“Freedom is never given; it is won.”- A. Philip Randolph
February 6
1943
US government requires the 110,000 Japanese-Americans imprisoned in internment camps to answer loyalty surveys.
1956
Autherine Lucy became the first black person to attend the University of Alabama on February 3rd. She was suspended on this day after three days of riots following her court-ordered enrollment. It is unclear why the University did not elect to suspend the rioters.
Autherine J. Lucy and her attorney Thurgood Marshall
Februrary 5
1631
Roger Williams, defender of religious liberty and founder of Rhode Island, arrived in Boston.
1826
New Harmony Community of Equality founded in Indiana.
1985
Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke refuses to allow the US to use bases to monitor an MX missile test.
1991
49 German troops conscientiously objected to serving in Turkey during the Gulf War. The German peace movement actively supported U.S. soldiers stationed there by helping them file for conscientious objector status.
February 4
1822
The American Colonization Society founded the African state of Liberia in West Africa as a home for freed U.S. slaves.
American Colonization Society ship leaving New York City bound for Liberia
1913
Birth of civil rights leader Rosa Parks
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February 3
1870
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified and takes effect on March 30. It grants all citizens the right to vote regardless of race or color.
1893
Abigail Ashbrook of New Jersey refuses to pay taxes because she is denied the right to vote.
1964
In New York City, more than 450,000 students, mostly black and Puerto Rican and nearly half the citywide enrollment, boycotted the New York City schools to protest segregation.
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Februrary 2
Groundhog Day
1779
Anthony Benezet refuses to pay taxes to support Revolutionary War.
1931
The first of well over 400,000 Mexican-Americans, many US citizens living here as long as 40 years, are “repatriated” from the nation as Los Angeles Chicanos are deported to Mexico.
1932
First world disarmament convention opens, Geneva, Switzerland.
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February 1
African-American Heritage Month
1960
Four black college students sat in at Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they’d been refused service, to protest segregation. Similar protests subsequently took place all over the South and in some northern communities. By September 1961, more than 70,000 students, whites and blacks, had participated, and many were arrested, during sit-ins.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 