InnerBrenner

The Great Dissenter

October 3, 2023October 2, 2023Uncategorized, US HistoryLeave a Comment

On October 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court. Marshall was nominated to the position by President Lyndon B. Johnson following a storied legal career in which Marshall fought tirelessly for racial justice. During his 24 years on the bench, Marshall never gave up on his ultimate goal: equality for all.

Thurgood Marshall was born in Maryland in 1908. He was the son of a railroad porter and an elementary school teacher and the grandson of an enslaved person. He was incredibly bright and graduated from college with honors. When applying to law school, Marshall received a rejection from the University of Maryland based solely on his race. After earning his law degree at Howard University, Marshall came back to the University of Maryland, this time to sue the university for violating the Fourteenth Amendment by denying admission based on race. He won.

Marshall won several more high-profile cases, striking down laws and policies that allowed for racial discrimination in housing and schools. In 1938, Marshall became Chief Counsel of the NAACP. His most well-known legal victory is that of Brown v. Board of Education. Through this case, segregation in public schools was deemed unconstitutional. After winning this case, Marshall became a circuit judge and U.S. Solicitor General before becoming a Supreme Court Justice.

As a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Marshall championed affirmative action, the right to privacy, and a woman’s right to choose, the same rights that have been struck down by the Supreme Court in recent years. During his years on the court, Justice Marshall was often referred to as “The Great Dissenter,” and the necessity of dissension might be his greatest legacy. In a commencement address that Justice Marshall gave at the University of Virginia in 1978: “Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”

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The Birth of the U.S. Army

September 29, 2023September 27, 2023Uncategorized, US HistoryLeave a Comment

On September 29, 1789, the First Congress of the United States passed an act that allowed for the establishment of the United States Army. Though the Continental Army had fought during the revolution and was officially established under the Articles of Confederation, it wasn’t until 1789 that the Army of the United States of America as we know it existed.

During the course of the Revolutionary War, it is estimated that approximately 230,000 men served as members of the Continental Army. Once the war ended, the Framers of the Constitution thought it important that the U.S. have a standing army to protect it from any number of outside threats. When these men wrote the Constitution, they said, “The Congress shall have Power . . . To raise and support Armies.” This would be checked by the executive branch as the president would be the Commander in Chief of that army.

By September 29, 1789, the last day of their first session, the First Congress had still not written any legislation regarding the army. President George Washington was insistent that they do so. He wrote a letter to Congress saying, “I am particularly anxious it should receive an early attention as circumstances will admit; because it is now in our power to avail ourselves of the military knowledge disseminated throughout the several States by means of the many well instructed Officers and soldiers of the late Army.” Congress passed the act that day, writing: “An act to recognize and adapt to the Constitution of the United States, the establishment of the troops raised under the resolves of the United States in Congress assembled.”

At the time that the U.S. Army was established in 1789, it is estimated they had about 800 members. Now it is estimated that the U.S. Army has approximately 450,000 personnel. The U.S. Army also has the highest amount of military spending in the world: approximately 800 billion U.S. dollars each year.

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Here’s the Story: A Pop Culture Phenomenon

September 26, 2023September 26, 2023Uncategorized, US HistoryLeave a Comment

On September 26, 1969, the first episode of acclaimed television show “The Brady Bunch” appeared on ABC. While most of us now are familiar with the Bradys and can probably sing at least one verse of their iconic theme song, the show was actually not very popular during its original five seasons. It wasn’t until the late 70s, when the show was in reruns, that children and teens became infatuated with this ideal American family. What was it about the Bradys that drew such a dedicated fan base almost a decade after its original airing?

“The Brady Bunch” was created by Sherwood Schwartz, who was also the creator of the famous 1960s sitcom, “Gillian’s Island.” Apparently, Schwartz got the idea for the show when reading an article in the Los Angeles Times that said that in 1966, “30 percent of marriages involved children from a previous relationship.” Schwartz wrote the pilot and submitted it to several networks who weren’t sure about a television show with such an unfamiliar premise. Shortly after, however, the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda premiered and became a hit. After its success, ABC picked up Schwartz’s pilot with a similar premise and began filming the first season.

The show, in which Carol Martin and Mike Brady get married and bring their six children (her three girls: Marcia, Jan, and Cindy and his three boys: Greg, Peter, and Bobby) to live in a beautiful home in an LA suburb, revolved around the children and the pitfalls they faced in the process of growing up. During the years it originally aired (1969-1974), critics did not have great things to say about the show, claiming it was too cheesy. After its cancellation, ABC began rerunning the episodes on weekday afternoons. Children and teens who were just getting home from school gathered around the television set to watch. An article in Entertainment Weekly from the 90s suggests that the show resonated so deeply with this group because “the show was a picture of stability while Vietnam and the sexual revolution rocked the rest of the world. While our real-life parents were splitting up at an alarming rate, those goody-goody Bradys were telling us a shameless lie about family life. We desperately believed it. Most of all, this was the family that the latchkey kids came home to every day after school, the family we could always count on.”

In the 50 years since the Bradys appeared on television, many television shows featuring unique family structures have become national treasures, including “Full House,” “Modern Family,” “Gilmore Girls,” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” What television executives learned from the Bradys and then applied to these other shows is that we love to see a family that takes a difficult situation and makes it good and funny and wholesome.

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The Bill of Rights: Two Amendments That Didn’t Make the Cut

September 22, 2023September 21, 2023Uncategorized, US HistoryLeave a Comment

On September 25, 1789, the original draft of the Bill of Rights was proposed and accepted by Congress. The first draft, written by James Madison, contained 12 amendments, though only 10 were ratified by the states in the end. Do you know what the two unratified amendments were?

The original first amendment stipulated that a congressional district cannot have more than 50,000 residents. While this amendment was passed by the First Congress, it was not ratified by the states nor was it passed in the centuries since. If the amendment was passed today, the House of Representatives would have to have over 6,000 members (1).

The original second amendment outlined when Congress could change their pay. The amendment would require any pay change to happen after the election, essentially allowing citizens to approve or disapprove of any pay changes during the election. While this amendment was not originally ratified by the states, it finally became the 27^th Amendment in 1992.

The ability to make changes to the Constitution was important to founding father Thomas Jefferson. In a letter he wrote to James Madison on September 6, 1789 (who was at the time, in the process of penning the Bill of Rights), Jefferson said, “The question whether one generation of men has a right to bind another, seems never to have been started either on this or our side of the water . . . it may be proved that no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation. They may manage it then, and what proceeds from it, as they please, during their usufruct . . . every constitution then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right (4). While Jefferson’s suggestion was not incorporated, the founding fathers did allow Congress to add amendments to the Constitution beginning with the original 10.

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September History Hits: Battle of the Sexes

September 19, 2023September 18, 2023Uncategorized, US HistoryLeave a Comment

On September 20, 1973, tennis star Billie Jean King faced down retired tennis player Bobby Riggs in a high-profile match that would come to be known as the Battle of the Sexes. The match was and is the most watched tennis match in history, viewed by over 90 million people worldwide. The match is considered a major event in the feminist movement of the 70s, encouraging women to participate in sports, advocate for equal pay in the workplace, and never underestimate themselves.

In 1973, women were just barely starting to be included in major sporting events. 1972 was the first year women were allowed to run in the Boston Marathon. Title IX was passed the same year, which required schools to provide funding for female sports. During these years, women’s tennis was becoming a more popular sport, and female tennis players were participating in their own tournaments. Many male tennis players were unsettled by this but perhaps none so vocally as Bobby Riggs. By 1973, Bobby Riggs was retired, but he looked for a moment of fame by challenging the top female players of the time to matches. He wanted to prove that even a mediocre, retired tennis player could beat the best female players.

Billie Jean King, now considered a feminist icon, understood the impact that such a match would have on women’s sports and the feminist movement. She agreed to face Riggs at the Houston Astrodome with a prize of $100,000 up for grabs. The 30,000 people in attendance watched as Riggs took the court wearing a jacket that read in bright red letters, “Sugar Daddy.” King was carried onto the field atop a litter resting on the shoulders of four men. King beat Riggs in three straight sets. When the match ended, Riggs approached King and said, “I underestimated you.”

Following her landmark victory, King never stopped campaigning for equality. She demanded equal amounts of prize money in men and women’s tournaments. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation that provided women and girls with greater access to sports teams and defended Title IX in lawsuits. She founded the Billie Jean King Initiative, a non-profit that “address[es] the critical issues required to achieve diverse, inclusive leadership in the workforce.” She has also been a relentless advocate for LGBTQ rights. It turns out Riggs did severely underestimate Billie Jean King. In the Battle of the Sexes match and in the rest of her life, King showed the impact that one person can make in the fight for equality.

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Read more about Billie Jean King’s exceptional career and life in her autobiography:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/all-in-an-autobiography-billie-jean-king/8605037

On This Day: Lehman Brothers Files for Bankruptcy

September 15, 2023September 18, 2023US HistoryLeave a Comment

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a large investment firm based in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy. The Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy is one of the major events of the 2008 financial crisis. It was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and had lasting effects on the world economy.

In the early 2000s, Lehman Brothers became involved in loan origination, acquiring thousands of mortgages, many of which were considered “subprime,” because they were mortgages given to borrowers with high debt-to-income ratios and low credit scores. These mortgages were often given with variable interest rates, meaning the interest rate on the mortgage would change as the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised and lowered it. Banks all over the U.S., including Lehman Brothers were offering these subprime mortgages, creating a false sense of prosperity in the housing market. After obtaining these subprime mortgages, the banks would bundle them with better mortgages and sell them as bonds (called mortgage-backed securities) to other banks and investment firms.

From 2004-2006, the Fed raised the interest rate four points, leaving the borrowers of the subprime mortgages unable to make their mortgage payments. At the same time, home prices were falling, leaving the mortgagees unable to refinance or sell their homes to make their payments. By 2007, the default rate on variable rate mortgages was 29%. The more mortgages that defaulted, the less the mortgage-backed securities were worth, causing banks and investment firms to lose billions of dollars very quickly. Lehman Brothers was one such firm. When their losses were reported, their stock price plummeted. They declared bankruptcy and accounted for over $600 billion in debt.

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was a landmark event in the 2008 financial crisis. It is estimated that American households lost about 26% of their wealth during the crisis. While many of these households never recovered from that loss, unlike the bankers and financial executives that caused the crisis. Richard Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers at the time of its collapse, made almost $500 million in the eight years leading up to the bankruptcy.

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September History Hits: Famous September Birthdays

September 12, 2023September 16, 2023Birthdays, US History, World HistoryLeave a Comment

According to the U.S. Social Security Administrations, of the 10 most popular birthdays among Americans, 9 of them are in the month of September. If you have a September birthday, you are in good company. This month has seen the births of hosts of famous figures throughout history, including politicians, artists, and innovators.

Here are a few influential people born in the month of September:

Marquis de Lafayette was born September 6, 1757 to a noble family in France. At the young age of 19, Lafayette traveled to America to fight with the colonists in the American Revolution. He was a close friend of George Washington and convinced the French to send aid to the colonists, leading to the defeat of the British army. He was also an influential figure in the French Revolution and composed the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” the credo adopted by the revolutionary National Assembly.

Jane Addams was born September 6, 1860. The second woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, Addams is seen as a pioneer in the field of social work. She opened Hull House in Chicago which was part childcare center, part night school, public kitchen, gymnasium, and library. She worked with boards and charities in the Chicago area to educate people about childbirth and proper hygiene and sanitation.

Agatha Christie, born September 15, 1890, is considered the best-selling novelist of all time. Christie wrote 74 novels, most of them detective novels. Some of her most notable were The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and Murder on the Orient Express, each featuring her iconic main character, Hercule Poirot. Her personal life was almost as mysterious as her books—Agatha Christie famously disappeared for 10 days in 1926, though nobody knows exactly where she went or why. Christie’s novels and characters have been adapted in television, movies, books, and plays. Known as the “Queen of Crime,” she helped to pioneer the detective trope that is so popular today.

Jim Henson was born on September 24, 1936. Henson became interested in puppetry while in college. He and his wife, Jane, created a show called Sam and Friends that appeared on a local television channel. It was as part of this show that Henson first created the iconic character Kermit the Frog. His characters became more and more popular, appearing on commercials and other nationally famous television shows. In 1969, Henson signed with Children’s Television Workshop, and they created the still-running children’s television show, Sesame Street. Here, Henson created characters recognized throughout the world, like Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch. In the 1970s, Henson created The Muppet Show. Kermit, Miss. Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo won Henson worldwide renown and several major entertainment awards.

These are just a few of the many notable people born in the month of September who have left great legacies across the world. What other famous figures born in September can you think of?

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The Deadliest Natural Disaster in U.S. History

September 8, 2023September 16, 202320th Century, US HistoryLeave a Comment

On September 8, 1900, a hurricane hit Galveston, an island just off the coast of Texas. To this day, that hurricane remains the deadliest natural disaster in our nation’s history, with an estimated 8,000 deaths and an almost complete destruction of the city itself. The effect of the Great Galveston Hurricane lasted long after the city was rebuilt. Galveston, which had previously been the largest port city in Texas lost that designation to nearby Houston, and the people and money went with it.

In September 1900, Galveston and its 40,000 residents enjoyed the growth and prosperity of being the leading port city in Texas. While the US Weather Bureau were aware of the storm brewing in the Gulf Coast at the beginning of the month, the hurricane veered last minute toward the Texas coast. They did not have the advanced tracking or communication systems of today, so they were unable to say where the storm might head. Unfortunately, the hurricane proved more violent than anyone had predicted. Winds swirled at 130 mph and a storm surge of over 15 feet swept over the city. As the city flooded, residents sought refuge in the tallest and sturdiest buildings in the city, including the Tremont Hotel and St. Mary’s Infirmary.

The next day, the New York Times reported, “All Texas is in the keenest state of doubt and uncertainty to-night concerning the fate of Galveston Island and city. There is a suspicion that an awful calamity rests behind the lack of information from the Gulf coast. . . bridges leading from the mainland to the island have been swept away by the terrible force of the wind . . . not a wire is working into Galveston, either telegraph or telephone.” Those who were on the island the next day painted a gruesome picture of the state of the city. One such account reads, “On Sunday morning, after the storm was all over, I went out into the streets and the most horrible sights that you can ever imagine. I gazed upon dead bodies lying here and there. The houses all blown to pieces; women, men, and children all walking the streets in a weak condition with bleeding heads and bodies and feet all torn to pieces with glass where they had been treading through the debris of fallen buildings.”

After dealing with the initial devastation, the residents of Galveston Island mustered the strength and courage to rebuild. They raised the entire city, including utilities, businesses, and homes almost 10 feet. They built an impressive 17-foot-tall seawall that stretches now for 10 miles. Despite the resilience shown by the people of Galveston, the city never returned to its former glory. People chose to build their lives and businesses on the mainland, where they felt safer, and Galveston lost its position as main shipping port of Texas to the city of Houston.

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Jesse James: Legend or Myth?

September 5, 2023September 16, 2023Civil War, US History1 Comment

On September 5, 1847, Jesse James was born in Clay County, Missouri. His name and life would go on to be memorialized in dime novels, western movies, and stage productions. But how accurate are these depictions? Was Jesse James really the Robin Hood type that he built himself up to be? Or was he a disenfranchised young man bitter about the Confederate loss of the Civil War intent on taking as many lives as he could for revenge?

At the time of the Civil War, Jesse James and his family were slaveowners who lived on a hemp farm in Western Missouri. Jesse watched his older brother, Frank, go off to fight for the Confederates and soon left home himself, joining a guerilla group of Confederates at the age of 16. This group, led by “Bloody Bill” Anderson, committed many atrocities, including the massacre of unarmed Union sympathizers.

After the war ended, Jesse and his brother Frank weren’t ready to give up fighting. The brothers were angry at the Confederate loss and felt at odds with the efforts of Reconstruction. They began robbing banks, stores, and stagecoaches all over the state. Jesse loved the notoriety of committing these crimes and began leaving press releases behind at the locations of his robberies. He wanted to paint himself as a Robin Hood character who was stealing from the rich Union government to give back to poor Missourians who had been left with nothing after the war. In truth, there is no evidence that Jesse ever gave away any of his ill-gotten gains.

Interestingly enough, despite the dearth of evidence that Jesse James actually was any kind of hero during his life, he has become a western legend. American history has romanticized the life of the Reconstruction-era outlaw, dedicating ballads and films to their adventures. This is true of Jesse James, whose story has been told by musicians like Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen and portrayed by Rob Lowe and Brad Pitt. So, the question is, how did Jesse James earn himself the hero trope?

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Labor Day: Honoring the American Work Ethic

September 3, 2023Uncategorized, US HistoryLeave a Comment

It may surprise you that the United States was a nation for 106 years before the first Labor Day celebration was held. The holiday, which was the result of labor activists pushing for a national holiday to honor the contributions of American workers, did not evolve until 1882 when the first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on September 5th.

It took another 12 years before it was signed into law in 1894 as a federal holiday by President Grover Cleveland, but in the intervening years, laws were passed in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania recognizing the holiday.

According to the US Department of Labor, Alderman Matthew Maguire, proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

Peter J. McGuire, another Labor Day advocate and general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor wanted the holiday to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

That feels like a fitting characterization.

So as we grill and swim and enjoy the last remnants of summer this Labor Day, let us not forget those who through incredibly hard work have “delved and carved” the grandeur of the US.

Learn More Here:

https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history