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 July 22:

Date	Type	Event
1899		A white mob attack officers transporting Frank Embree to stand trial, seize Embree, drive him to the site of an alleged assault, and attempt to extract a confession by stripping him naked and whipping him in front of an assembled crowd of 1,000 onlookers in Fayette, Missouri. Mr. Embree steadfastly maintained his innocence despite this abuse. After withstanding more than 100 lashes to his body, Mr. Embree began screaming and told the men that he would confess. Rather than plead for his life, Mr. Embree begged his attackers to stop the torture and kill him swiftly. Covered in blood from the whipping, with no courtroom or legal system in sight, Mr. Embree offered a confession to the waiting lynch mob and was immediately hanged from a tree.Though published photographs of Mr. Embree’s lynching clearly depict the faces of many of his assailants, no one was ever arrested or tried for his death. Learn more.
1929		Donald Gayton Phelps, a dedicated and ground breaking educator, intellect, roll model, and social critic is born in Seattle, Washington. Phelps earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Seattle University and his doctorate in education from the University of Washington. In 1963, he was appointed principle at Robinswood Elementary, the first African American principal in Bellevue, Washington; for nearly all of his students, he was the first person of color that they knew. In 1967, Phelps became the first African American principal of Bellevue Junior High School which made him the first Black secondary school principal in the state. From 1968 to 1972, Phelps was also a regular commentator on community affairs for KOMO, a Seattle radio and television station. Subsequently, he served as interim superintendent of the Lake Washington School District, president and later chancellor of Seattle Central Community College. Phelps was next appointed chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest and most diverse community college system in the nation. In 1994, he moved to Austin, Texas to serve as the W. K. Kellogg Regents Professor at the University of Texas. Learn more.
1939		Jane Matilda Bolin is appointed as a judge of the Domestic Relations Court, the first Black woman to serve as a judge in the United States. Bolin had previously been the first Black woman to: (1) graduate from Yale Law School; (2) join the New York City Bar Association; and (3) join the New York City Law Department. For twenty years after her appointment to the bench, she was the only African American female judge in the country. She served on the bench for 40 years, until her mandatory retirement at age 70. During her career, Bolin worked to encourage racially integrated child services, ensuring that probation officers were assigned without regard to race or religion, and publicly funded childcare agencies accepted children without regard to ethnic background. Learn more.