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 May 21:

Date	Type	Event
1856		Pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attack and ransack Lawrence, Kansas, a town founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state. The incident, which became known as the Sacking of Lawrence, fueled the irregular conflict in Kansas Territory that later became known as Bleeding Kansas. The human cost of the attack was low: only one person—a member of the proslavery gang—was killed, and his death was accidental. However, Jones and his men halted production of the Free-State newspapers the Kansas Free State and the Herald of Freedom (with the former ceasing publication altogether and the latter taking months to once again start up). The pro-slavery men also destroyed the Free State Hotel and Charles L. Robinson's (first governor of Kansas) house. Learn more.
1904		Legendary jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller is born. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy". In 1938, Waller was one of the first African Americans to purchase a home in the Addisleigh Park section of St. Albans, Queens, a New York City community with racially restrictive covenants. After his purchase, and litigation in the New York State courts, many prosperous African Americans followed, including many jazz artists, such as Count Basie, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, and Milt Hinton. Learn more.
1961		In the evening, a white mob terrorizes 1,000 Black worshippers inside a church in Montgomery, AL. The white rioters began by surrounding the church and vandalizing parked cars, but ramped up the violence as their numbers grew, pelting US Marshalls with bricks and bottles, overturning cars, attacking Black homes with bullets and firebombs, and assaulting Black people in the streets. Learn more.