Ridgefield Allies

Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for April 14:

Date	Type	Event
1875		Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer (she was one of the first African American women to be published in the United States), delivered an address in Philadelphia at the Centennial Anniversary of the nation’s oldest abolitionist society, the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery outlining the work yet to be done in the cause of African American freedom. Harper publicized the violence and intimidation in the South directed at the freedpeople. She argued African Americans must organize to complete the work of Reconstruction rather than relying on political parties or organizations, and that Black women must play an important role in these crucial efforts. Read her address.
1906		A white mob breaks into the Springfield, Missouri county jail, and lynches two black men, Horace Duncan and Fred Coker, for allegedly sexually assaulting Mina Edwards, a white woman. Later the mob returns to the jail, where other African-American prisoners are being held, and pull out Will Allen, who had been accused of murdering a white man. All three suspects were hanged from the Gottfried Tower, which held a replica of the Statue of Liberty, and burned in the courthouse square by the white mob of more than 2,000. No one was convicted of the lynchings. The proceedings were covered by national newspapers, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Duncan's and Coker's employer testified that they were at his business at the time of the crime against Edwards, Edwards gave a public statement saying they were *not* her attackers, and other evidence suggested that they and Allen were all innocent. Extrajudicial murders were part of a pattern of discrimination, repeated violence and intimidation of African Americans in Springfield and southwest Missouri from 1894 to 1909, in an attempt to expel them from the region. Whites in Lawrence County also lynched three African-American men in this period. After the mass lynching in Springfield, many African Americans left the area in a large exodus. There are at least 60 recorded African American victims of racial terror lynching in Missouri between 1877 and 1950. Learn more.
1938		Civic and educational leader Gloria Dean Randle Scott, the first African-American president of the Girl Scouts of America and the twelfth president of Bennett College, is born in Houston, Texas to Juanita Bell and Freeman Randle. Scott grew up in Houston, attending Blackshear Elementary and Jack Yates Secondary School. Acquiring a scholarship, she continued her education at Indiana University where she received a BA in 1959, an MA in Zoology in 1960, and a PhD in education in 1965. Scott has received numerous awards, including six honorary degrees, League of Women Voters prizes in 2008 and 2010, the Star of Texas Award in 2009 and the Urban League Star Award. She was noted as a History Maker in November 2010. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, has chaired the Corpus Christi Juneteenth Coalition for several years, and is an active member of the Corpus Christi Black Chamber of Commerce. She is also president of G. Randle Services, a consulting firm. Learn more.