Check out This Day in History for Nov. 13, in MainStream’s daily look at significant progressive, intersectional historical events.
1839: American’s first anti-slavery party, the Liberty Party, takes its first steps of formation when a group of abolitionists meet in Warsaw, N.Y.
1861: A Pennsylvania reverend’s letter triggers a process that eventually leads to “In God We Trust” appearing on all American coins. Rev. Mark R. Watkinson, seeking a way to credit God with the Union victory that eradicated slavery, initially asks the Treasury Department to “recognize Almighty God” on the coins to “relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism.” Three years later, “In God We Trust” was the chosen phrase and appears on all currency starting in 1938.
Above, the NoH8 campaign logo; dancer Janet Collins; baseball owner Kim Ng; “In God We Trust” on coins, and the logo for the Liberty Party.
1922: Mandated vaccinations are declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Zucht v. King. The case originated when a student in Texas was barred from school for not receiving a smallpox vaccination, which the court says is part of upholding public health.
1951: New Orleans native Janet Collins becomes the first-ever African-American dancer to appear at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She is the main dancer in a production of “Aida,” a story of lovers in war-torn ancient Egypt.
1956: Segregated public busing is officially declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Browder V. Gayle, a ruling that upheld a lower court’s ruling that the city of Montgomery, Ala., violated three women’s constitutional rights by requiring segregated buses. The three women had been arrested for riding public buses about nine months before Rosa Parks had the same experience and triggered the December boycott that Martin Luther King Jr. led.
1982: The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial is dedicated, triggering an era of reconciliation between those who had opposed the war, and those who fought in it. Listing more than 58,000 service members who died in the conflict, the Vietnam memorial is one of the most visited monuments in Washington, D.C.
1986: President Ronald Reagan admits to selling weapons to Iran in a secret deal, after denying the deal for 10 days. In what becomes known as the Iran-Contra Scandal, Reagan admits within a year that funds from the arms sales were funneled to anti-communist guerilla fighters in Nicaragua.
1987: Doctors are told by the American Medical Association that they have an ethical and professional obligation to treat people with AIDS. The statement helps to reduce years of stigma shown by medical professionals toward people with the disease, about which little was known in the mid 1980s.
2001: As part of ongoing reaction to the 9-11 terrorist attacks that claimed almost 3,000 Americans, President George W. Bush signs an executive order titled “Detention, Treatment and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens, in the War Against Terrorism.” The controversial order authorizes non-citizens to be held indefinitely without charges, and bars detainees from seeking relief in court, triggering objection from Amnesty International and other human rights groups.
2009: The NoH8 Campaign organization is founded. Originally a “photographic silent protest” in response to California banning same-sex marriage on Nov. 4, NoH8 continues to publish photos and host events against discrimination and bullying.
2017: Mattel releases the first-ever Barbie doll to wear a hijab. The doll is modeled after Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad.
2020: Kim Ng becomes the first female and first Asian manager of a major league baseball team when she is named general manager for the Miami Merlins. She later leads the Merlins to their first full appearance as a playoff team in 20 years in 2023.
Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons. Photo of Kim Ng courtesy AdWeek
