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THIS WEEK IN PEOPLE’S HISTORY, MAR 12–18, 2025  
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_ A Protest that Congress Can’t Ignore (1990), ¡Breonna Taylor,
Presente! (2020), A McCarthy Victim’s Belated Vindication (1950),
Happy Sunshine Week!, Herbie Hancock’s Early Hit (1965), When a
Postal Strike Was a National Emergency (1970) _

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_A PROTEST THAT CONGRESS CAN’T IGNORE_

MARCH 12 IS THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY of the “Capitol Crawl,” an
attention-getting demonstration by people with physical disabilities
on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in support of the proposed Americans
With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The proposal that was to become the ADA had been pending in Congress
for more than a year. It had already passed the Senate by a large
majority, but it was stalled in the House by the well-organized
opposition of some employers, businesses engaged in public
accommodations and transportation companies – which expressed
concern about the cost of compliance – and by some conservative
evangelicals, who opposed the bill’s protection of the rights of
people with HIV, who, some evangelicals argued, were associated with
homosexuality.

When the Capitol Crawl took place, 60 people with physical
disabilities assembled at the base of the 83 granite stairs on the
Capitol’s West Front, where they abandoned their wheelchairs and
other assistive devices and began to ascend the steps as best they
could, while chanting “ADA now!” and “The people, united, will
never be defeated.”

One of the demonstrators was Jennifer Keelan, a second-grader with
cerebral palsy, who used her upper body to pull herself up the steps,
telling the crowd of reporters and photographers “I’ll take all
night if I have to.”

Ten days later, the bill passed the House.

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_¡BREONNA TAYLOR, PRESENTE!_

MARCH 13 IS THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY of the pre-dawn shooting death of
Breonna Taylor by Louisville, Kentucky, police. Taylor was asleep in
her apartment when three officers executing a fraudulently obtained
no-knock search warrant used a battering ram to break down her door.
Taylor’s boyfriend, who was a licensed gun owner, said that the
officers failed to identify themselves as police, so he thought they
were criminals and fired one shot in an effort to protect Taylor and
himself.  In response, the officers fired 32 shots, six of which
struck Taylor, killing her. 

In the aftermath of the fatal raid, which led to militant protests,
one of the officers was convicted of violating Taylor’s civil
rights, one of the officers was dismissed from the police force, and
an officer who was not present during the raid but helped to obtain
the no-knock warrant pled guilty to making false statements in the
warrant application. Taylor’s family sued the city, and won a $12
million settlement. [link removed]
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_VINDICATION AT LAST FOR A MCCARTHY VICTIM_

MARCH 15 IS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY of one of the high (or, more
accurately, low) points of the reign of political terror inflicted on
the body politic by Senator Joseph McCarthy and supporters. On this
day is 1950, the U.S. Department of State bowed to McCarthy’s demand
and recalled high-ranking Foreign Service Officer John Service from
his post in India in order to subject him to a so-called investigation
of what McCarthy alleged to be a subversive past.

By 1950 Service had already easily passed three annual “loyalty and
security” investigations, but McCarthy’s insistence that Service
was pro-communist was enough to compel the State Department to
investigate him again.  The hearing board found no reason to question
Service’s loyalty or his continued access to government secrets but
in 1951 yet another loyalty investigation found “reasonable doubt”
as to Service’s loyalty; not enough doubt to revoke his security
clearance, but doubt, nevertheless.  

That finding of “reasonable doubt” was not sufficient to revoke
Service’s security clearance but it gave Secretary of State Dean
Acheson grounds to placate MacCarthy by terminating Service’s State
Department employment. 

Service sued the State Department for wrongful termination. It took
six years, but in 1957 the Supreme Court unanimously determined that
Service had been the victim of a witch hunt and not a sincere effort
to protect government secrets. He returned to work for the State
Department until he retired in 1962. 

For a fascinating discussion in 1973 of the reasons for the State
Department’s persecution of Service, visit
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the down arrow to navigate Barbara Tuchman’s 4-page introduction to
John Service’s 3-page speech about his travail.

 

_HAPPY SUNSHINE WEEK!_

MARCH 16 IS THE FIRST DAY OF SUNSHINE WEEK, an annual event that is
the brainchild of the American Society of Newspaper Editors to
publicize and encourage the use of federal and state
Freedom-of-Information laws. 

Freedom of information is the principle that the work of government is
public work, paid for by tax dollars, and should be done in public to
the fullest extent possible. Official meetings should be held in
public and official records should be accessible to the public,
including news organizations, unless there is specific reason for the
meeting to be held behind closed doors or for the information to be
confidential.

The first federal Freedom of Information Act, which was enacted in
1966, establishes the principle that executive branch agencies have a
legal obligation to disclose information that is not specifically
exempt from disclosure, and also requires agencies to establish
regulations concerning how a member of the public can request
government information. 

Thanks to the public’s support of freedom-of-information laws, every
state now has its own, related, law, governing the public’s access
to meetings and to information under the control of state and local
government.  Sadly, the principle of freedom of information at the
federal level (and in several states) is under heavy attack now, but
reporters and members of the public should not be deterred from making
the best possible use of the legal right to know what public officials
are doing. Follow this link – [link removed]
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Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to learn more about using
and supporting Freedom of Information laws.

 

_HERBIE HANCOCK’S EARLY HIT_

MARCH 17 IS THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY of the recording session that
produced all five Herbie Hancock compositions that make up the album
“Maiden Voyage.” At least three of the tracks, “Maiden
Voyage,” “The Eye of the Hurricane,” and “Dolphin Dance” are
considered jazz standards. The personnel on the Blue Note recording
are Herbie Hancock (piano), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), George Coleman
(tenor saxophone), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums).
Hancock, who was 24 when the recording was made, considers “Maiden
Voyage” the favorite of all his musical compositions. You can listen
to the complete album, starting with Maiden Voyage, here:
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_WHEN A POSTAL STRIKE WAS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY_

MARCH 18 IS THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY of the beginning of an 8-day wildcat
strike by federal postal workers, which began in New York City and was
joined almost immediately by postal workers throughout greater New
York. It quickly spread to more than 30 major cities including Boston,
Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Paul, Denver,
San Francisco and Los Angeles. Before the strike was settled, more
than two hundred thousand postal workers joined it. 

The strike was memorable for many reasons.  It was the largest-ever
strike by federal workers and the first-ever national postal stoppage.
It was illegal, and every striker knew that striking might cost them
their jobs and their pensions. Almost every officer of the several
unions involved was strongly opposed to it. The strike quickly created
a financial crisis in the U.S., because in 1970, many if not most Wall
Street trades were finally settled by the exchange of documentation by
mail.  Trading on the stock exchanges was sharply curtailed and there
was a real possibility the New York Stock Exchange would be forced to
suspend operations. The situation was so dire that President Nixon
ordered more than twenty thousand military personnel to become mail
handlers in New York post offices. The arrival of the troops had
almost no impact on the enormous backlog of mail. 

None of the strikers ever went to jail and they won an 8 percent wage
increase and substantial improvements to their working conditions.
Follow this link to read more and to watch an 18-minute video about
the strike. [link removed]
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For more People's History, visit
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* American with Disabilities Act
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* Breonna Taylor
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* McCarthyism
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* freedom of information
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* Jazz
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* US Postal Strike 1970
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