April 14
1775
The first American society for the abolition of slavery is organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1930
Police arrest over 100 Chicano farm workers for their union activities in Imperial Valley, California. Eight will be convicted of so-called “criminal syndicalism.”
1937
Bruderhof, a Christian peace church, raided by the Gestapo in Frankfurt.
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April 13
1775
The first American society for the abolition of slavery is organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1919
Socialist, pacifist, and labor leader Eugene Debs was imprisoned for opposing U.S. entry into World War I. While in prison, he received nearly one million votes for President in 1920 (as he had in 1912).
April 12
1898
Novelist Emile Zolaexposes rampant French anti-Semitism & a military cover up in the Dreyfus Affair with publication of J’accuse!
1898
Birthday of Danish playwright & priest Kaj Munk, whose outspoken sermons & plays during World War II led to his execution by the Nazis.
1937
60,000 students across the U.S. took part in the first nationwide student strike. The protest was against participation in any war.
Posters from the anti-war movement of the 1930’s
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April 11
Mawlid al-Nabi (Muhammad’s Birthday)
1961
The trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann began in Israel. The man accused of leading Hitler’s effort to exterminate the Jewish people and others faced 15 charges, including crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and war crimes.
April 10
1516
In what was the first ghetto*, Jews in Venice, Italy, were forced to live in a specific, restricted area of the city.
The word “ghetto” comes from the Venetian word “geto”, meaning foundry. Prior to becoming an exclusively Jewish neighborhood, the Venice ghetto was the site of two foundries.
1866
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is incorporated.
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April 9
1947
First freedom ride, the “Journey of Reconciliation,” left Washington, D.C. to travel through four southern states. The integrated bus tour was sponsored by CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) and FOR (Fellowship of Reconciliation).
April 8
1898
Paul Robeson born.
1939
Marian Anderson performs a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington after she is denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
1993
Women in Black demonstrated in solidarity with their Serbian sisters in Lund, Sweden.
April 7
World Health Day
1994
Genocide in Rwanda began. Over the next 90 days at least a half million people were killed by their countrymen. This day is commemorated annually with prayer vigils in Rwanda.
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April 6
1712
The first major slave rebellion in the North American colonies took place in New York.
1953
Hot Springs, Arkansas professional baseball team is voted out of the Class C Cotton States League after the club refuses to cancel contracts with two black pitchers whose services it had obtained.
1967
Tens of thousands protesting Vietnam War jeer Vice President Humphrey in West Berlin, West Germany.
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April 5
1972
The Harrisburg Seven case ended in mistrial after 11 weeks. The Seven were charged with plotting to kidnap Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, among other alleged crimes. Only Phil Berrigan and Sister Elizabeth McAllister were declared guilty — of smuggling letters in and out of prison. They later married, co-founding Baltimore’s venerable Jonah House.
1982
Nuclear free zone declared by Dublin City Council.
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Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 