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 June 23:

Date	Type	Event
1855		A sixty-five-year-old white enslaver named Robert Newsom tells Celia, an enslaved Black woman on his property, that he was “coming to her cabin” that night. Newsom had repeatedly raped Celia since she was 14 years old. When Newsom arrives that evening and lowers his face over hers, Celia strikes him in the head with a stick, killing him. Under Missouri law at the time, a woman who believed she was in “imminent danger of forced sexual intercourse” could be acquitted of murder based on a theory of self-defense. However, the judge in Celia’s case refused to give such an instruction to the jury because, in his view, an enslaved woman had no right to refuse her “master.” Celia was convicted of first-degree murder on October 10, 1855. On December 20, 1855, she was hanged. Learn more.
1940		American sprinter and world-record-holding Olympic champion Wilma Glodean Rudolph is born. Rudolph became an international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. Rudolph competed in the 200-meter dash and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. She also won three gold medals, in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 x 100-meter relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. Rudolph was acclaimed the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games. As an Olympic champion in the early 1960s, Rudolph was among the most highly visible Black women in America and abroad. She became a role model for Black and female athletes and her Olympic successes helped elevate women's track and field in the United States. Rudolph is also regarded as a civil rights and women's rights pioneer. In 1962 Rudolph retired from competition at the peak of her athletic career as the world record-holder in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 × 100-meter relays. After competing in the 1960 Summer Olympics, the 1963 graduate of Tennessee State University became an educator and coach. Learn more.
1972		Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds. The early legislative draft was authored by Representative Patsy Mink with the assistance of Representative Edith Green. It was then co-authored and introduced to Congress by Senator Birch Bayh in the U.S. Senate, and Congresswoman Patsy Mink in the House. It was later renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act following Mink's death in 2002. Learn more.