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 August 06:

Date	Type	Event
1925		George W. Hickman, Jr. is born in St. Louis, Missouri. A grandson to slaves, he developed a passion for aviation as a child while looking up at passing planes in the sky. In 1943 during the Second World War, Hickman joined the Tuskegee pilot training program of the Army Air Corps in Alabama. After witnessing the maltreatment of a fellow black cadet, he voiced his opposition to his white superiors. As a result of his protest, he was barred from flying as a pilot in the Army despite being a cadet captain. He graduated from the airman program as a crewman in 1944 and served in the European Theater as a flight mechanic for the duration of the war. Following the war, Hickman moved to Amarillo, Texas. Despite being a war veteran, he constantly felt the brunt of Southern discrimination. Amarillo whites pushed him off sidewalks and spat on him even when he wore his army uniform. In 1955, seeking better opportunities and living conditions, Hickman moved to Seattle, Washington, where he made a career as a manager at Boeing and became a fixture at University of Washington sporting events. In 2007, Hickman received the Congressional Gold Medal with his fellow Tuskegee airmen. Two years later, in January 2009, he was invited to, and through efforts of a UW Athletic Department donation drive, was able to attend President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Learn more.
1941		The first in series of violent incidents between Black soldiers and white soldiers and between Black soldiers and white civilians in the run up to America’s entry into World War II occurs when a group of Black soldiers boards a bus in Fayetteville, N.C., headed to Ft. Bragg. The White driver complains they are being “rowdy” and asks for help from Military Police (MPs). White MPs arrive and began hitting the Black soldiers with nightsticks. One of the Black soldiers grabs an MP’s gun and begins shooting. Additional fighting and shooting break out. When the dust settled, one Black private and one white MP were dead and two white MPs and three Black soldiers had been wounded. Military police then staged a “Night of Terror”. According to the Pittsburgh Courier, a Black-owned newspaper, “Colored soldiers by the hundreds were rudely rounded up at gun point throughout the Fayetteville area, packed in trucks, and hustled off to camp without explanation.” They were thrown into the guardhouse, abused, beaten, and robbed. White military police were neither questioned nor interrogated about the incident, and Turman’s killer was acquitted. Learn more.
1942		Southern Railway, an interstate railroad company based in Washington, D.C., adopts a policy effectively denying dining service to Black passengers on its rail cars. Previously, the Southern Railway had mandated that trains serve white passengers and Black passengers meals at different times, which often resulted in the denial of meals to Black passengers. The new policy reserved 10 of the train’s 11 dining tables exclusively for white passengers at all times. The one remaining table in the dining car that was theoretically open to Black passengers was also available for use by white passengers and was to be given to white passengers upon request. If Black passengers requested service while white passengers were dining, “they should be advised that they will be served just as soon as those compartments are vacated.” Learn more.
1965		President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, prohibiting discrimination in voting, into law during the height of the civil rights movement. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act sought to secure the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country. It is also "one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history." The Act was effective in curbing the most naked and egregious efforts to suppress and deny African Americans’ voting rights, until the conservative-dominated Robert’s Court began systematically gutted it in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (2021). Learn more.