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 September 23:

Date	Type	Event
1884		Judy Woodruff Reed secures U.S. patent number 305,474 for her invention of a Dough Kneader and Roller", an improved design of existing rollers with dough mixing more evenly while being kept covered and protected. This is the earliest known patent by an African American woman. Learn more.
1931		Charles Harrison, one of the most prolific industrial designers of the twentieth century, is born in Shreveport, Louisiana. One of only a handful of early African American industrial designers, he specialized in creating a variety of practical household goods emphasizing form and function. Harrison’s output of innovative consumer products was so prodigious that today it would be difficult to find a household in America without items exemplifying his utilitarian designs. In 1961 Harrison became the first black executive that Sears, Roebuck & Company ever hired at its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. After Harrison retired from Sears in 1993, he taught industrial design at the University of Illinois and at Columbia College Chicago. His biography, A Life’s Design, was published in 2005. Learn more.
1954		Celebrated playwright and theater and film director George Costello Wolfe is born in Frankfort, Kentucky to Anna Lindsey-Wolfe, a librarian and principal at the all-black Rosenwald Laboratory School in Frankfort, Kentucky, and Castello Wolfe, a clerk for the Kentucky Department of Corrections. In 1992 Wolfe produced and directed Jelly’s Last Jam and in 1993 his Angels in America won a Tony award. Wolfe presented the musical Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk in 1996, which used tap dancing to explore Black history. Later that year he directed Suzan Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog. Wolfe made his film directing debut in 2004, with HBO’s Lackawanna Blues which earned numerous awards including the 2006 Directors Guild Award for Best Directorial Achievement. Wolfe also directed the film Nights in Rodanthe which premiered in September 2008. Wolfe’s more recent Broadway productions include A Free Man of Color (2010), The Normal Heart (2011), Lucky Guy (2013) and in 2016, Shuffle Along, a remake of the first Black musical on Broadway in 1921. In 2017, Wolfe, a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, resigned to protest the comments of President Donald Trump following a Neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where one person died. In 2018 Wolfe directed The Iceman Cometh starring Denzel Washington and in 2020 he directed Overcoming, a play he described as “unapologetically Black and Gay.” Learn more.
1955		An all-white jury in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, acquitted Roy Bryant and John Milam, the two white men who murdered Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy. The murder victim, was accused of acting "familiar" with Carolyn Bryant, Roy Bryant's wife. At that time Black citizens comprised over 63% of Tallahatchie County’s population, but were indelible to serve on juries because not one Black person in the county had been permitted to register (or vote). The jury only deliberated 67 minutes before returning a verdict of not guilty. One juror later said: "We wouldn't have taken so long if we hadn't stopped to drink pop." A few months later, Look Magazine reportedly paid $4,000 to Mr. Milam and Mr. Bryant for their confessions. In a story published by the magazine on January 24, 1956, Mr. Milam and Mr. Bryant graphically described their abduction of Emmett Till from his uncle's home, admitting that they pistol-whipped him, forced him to disrobe, tied a heavy cotton-gin fan around his neck with barbed wire, shot him, and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. Decades later, Mrs. Bryant would also admit that she lied on the stand. Learn more.