Fort Wayne memories. The '60s / producer, Claudia Johnson ; a production of PBS39 WFWA Fort Wayne, 1999, "Through extensive interviews with many Fort Wayne area residents, old news footage, photographs and home movies, revisit this very significant time in Fort Wayne and American history, marked by new attitudes, technological advances and cultural change." VHS at Allen County Public Library.
50 years of candy bars! Which ones have you tried?
Still curious? Explore a 1960s clipping showing some of the candy sold in the U.S. at the time! Hooks Halloween full page advertisement in the The Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Indiana, Wednesday, Oct 24, 1962, Page 31
1960, May 9 - FDA, Food and Drug Administration, approves 1st commercially produced birth-control pill, Enovid-10, a synthetic blend of the female hormones progesterone and estrogen, known as oral contraceptives. See 50th anniversary of the Pill onSmithsonian National Museum of American History blog.
1960, September 12 - the Old Fort Well was dedicated in what was the Old Fort Park located on East Main Street at Clay Street along what is now railroad tracks.
1960, September 26 - the first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
1961
1961 - RCA commercial for color television programing shown during Walt Disney's The Wonderful World of Color on Sunday evenings during the days of black and white telelvision. The Wonderful World of Color is brought to you by RCA.mp4 uploaded November 27, 2010 by wwodtv.
1961, April 17 - Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and Fidel Castro.
1961, May 4 - a group of Freedom Riders leave Washington, D.C. for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses. They face challenges of attack and burning of a bus in Alabama. They were met with baseball bats and guns, brutal beatings and firebombs, prison cells and chain gangs. They never made it to New Orleans, but they persisted through the summer, until Attorney General Robert Kennedy petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission for tougher new laws against segregation. Paraphrased from May 4, 2013 Facebook post by The History Centerfrom Today's Writers Almanac. See videos on National Youth Summit - The Freedom Rides February 9, 2011Smithsonian National Museum of American History blog.
1961, May 5 - Alan Shepard became the first American in space when he commanded Freedom 7 on the first Mercury mission.
1961, May 20 - a busload of "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama were attacked by a white mob, prompting the federal government to send in United States marshals to restore order.
1961, May 25 - President Kennedy told Congress that the U.S. needed to commit to "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth" before the end of the decade. The speech inspired one of the most ambitious scientific projects in history. But to land on the moon, you need a map of the moon. Read more about maps & the space race:Maps: The (Bright) Side of the Moon by Neely Tucker posted September 14, 2021 shared on Facebook May 25, 2022 by The Library of Congress.
1961, July 2 - American author Ernest Hemingway committed suicide.
1961, August 13 - East Germany closed the border between East and West Germany when the Berlin Wall was completed.
1961, September 24 or thereabouts Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color was the first color television show on NBC.
1962, October 5 - the Beatles release their first song “Love Me Do,” forever changing modern music.
1962, October 14 - the Cuban Missle Crises brings the U.S. and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict when a U-2 spy plane offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads were in Cuba. See video Cuban Missle Crises Newsreel and Stock Footage uploaded March 27, 2011 on Public Domain Footage.com on YouTube. At 8:45 AM on October 16, 1962, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy alerted President Kennedy that a major international crisis was at hand. From WORLD ON THE BRINK JOHN F. KENNEDY AND THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS THIRTEEN DAYS IN OCTOBER 1962 at the John F.Kennedy Presidential Library. October 22, 1962 President Kennedy announces blockade of Cuba.
1962, November 20 - the Cuban Missile Crisis ends.
1963
1963 - the Indiana General Assembly gave legal sanction to the Indiana State Seal design and provided an official description (IC 1-2-4). Versions of this pioneer scene have been used on Indiana seals since territorial days. They are found on official papers as early as 1801. A seal was provided for in both the 1816 and 1851 state constitutions. The elements are a woodsman, buffalo, sycamore trees, hills and a setting sun; leaves of the state tree are in the border design. See Indiana State Seal by the Indiana Historical Bureau.
1963, March 21 - Club Olympia Pool opened. One of only 4 Olympic size pools in Indiana. 1968 Olympic Gold medalist swimmer Sharon Wichman practiced at Club O. The pool was filled in April 28, 2009.
1963, June 5 - Dr. Martin Luther King visited Fort Wayne. On June 4, 2012 the newly rebuilt Clinton Street bridge was re-dedicated as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge. His visit was recalled in 2013 in the MLK enterprise ’63 50th anniversary including a video with Hana Stith and Jonathan Ray talking about Fort Wayne history by The Journal Gazette newspaper with links to many other articles but is no longer online.
June 5, 2023 dedication of the Pillars of Hope and Justice public art monument.
Today marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In 1963, he paid a visit to Fort Wayne. In the photo, “Dr. King is being met by Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy and other integrationist leaders at Baer Field. Second from left is Dr. Allen Wilson, President of the Frontiers Club, which sponsored a Freedom Rally. City Councilman John Nuckols is at left and Rev. Clyde Adams is third from left, who served as general chairman of the rally”. Dr. King received a standing ovation when he entered Scottish Rite Auditorium to begin his speech to the crowd. Lesley, Van (1963, June 6). Dr. King Welcomed by Ovation, Pickets). The News-Sentinel, p. 1D.
1963, June 11 - Governor George Wallace of Alabama confronted federal troops at the University of Alabama defying an order to allow black students to enroll. His inaugural promise was segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.
1963, July 1 - U.S. Post Office introduces 5-digit ZIP codes. IN became the official U.S. Post Office two-letter state code replacing Ind. in the new five-digit ZIP codes to keep up with the growing volume of mail. "ZIP" is "Zone Improvement Plan" The first three digits represent a part of the country, and the last two the post office. In 1983, "ZIP + 4," added a hyphen with first two digits a specific group of streets or cluster of large buildings, and the last two specify one side of the block or floor in a large building. ZIP codes start with zero in the Northeast and get bigger as one moves south and west with more than 42,000 ZIP codes. From When did Indiana change their abbreviation from IND on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. A June 18, 1963 newspaper map was shown in a July 6, 2022 post by Newspapers.com on Facebook.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, where more than 250,000 people came together in the nation's capital to draw attention to Black Americans' continued challenges and inequalities. The two dozen or so color photographs from that day are locked down under expensive licenses, inaccessible to the general public.
However, with the help of the team at the Library and visual historian Jordan Lloyd, we’ve assembled a set of images from the march with no known restrictions, sourced from the Library, the National Archives and the Seattle Municipal Archives. Lloyd has painstakingly restored and recolored the images, bringing these extraordinary scenes from the past into the present.
The National Archives has numerous records related to the “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” This archival video comes from a series of moving images from the U.S. Information Agency relating to the August 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. The video shows people walking on sidewalks and crowds gathering on the National Mall and singing We Shall Overcome.
The March on Washington uploaded September 24, 2015 by the US National Archives on YouTube
This archival video comes from a series of moving images relating to the August 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington from the U.S. Information Agency. The video shows people walking on sidewalks and crowds gathering on the National Mall and singing We Shall Overcome.
In March 2008, the Motion Picture Preservation Lab completed a full digital restoration of James Blue’s monumental film, “The March,” to mark the 50th anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom.
In 1963, the U.S. Government tasked Hearst Metrotone News with creating a documentary covering “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” James Blue went out with fourteen sound- and cameramen split into seven teams. They garnered footage from New York, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta, Texas, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Over the course of three days they shot 59,795 feet of film, resulting in more than 11 hours of material. Ultimately, the footage was edited down to 3,021 feet and a runtime of 33 minutes. In 1964, “The March” was screened at film festivals worldwide, including the Venice Film Festival and the Tours Film Festival. The film won grand prizes at the Bilbao Film Festival and Cannes. The March continues to impact audiences today.
The Motion Picture Preservation Lab conducted preservation on this film in 2008. To mark its 50th anniversary, a full digital restoration of “The March” was completed. The original negatives assembled by Blue were scanned and NARA specialists spent three months restoring defects in the image and enhancing the audio track. View the film on the National Archives YouTube page:
I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King .Jr HD (subtitled) November 7, 2017 RARE FACTS on YouTube
I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.
Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, through 2038.
On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators descended upon the nation’s capital to participate in the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” It was the largest demonstration for human rights in United States history.
The idea for the 1963 March on Washington was conceived by A. Philip Randolph, a long-time civil rights activist dedicated to improving the economic condition of Black Americans. He saw the March on Washington as a great opportunity to unify all of the major civil rights organizations and improve economic opportunities.
The event began with a rally at the Washington Monument featuring several celebrities and musicians. Participants then marched the mile-long National Mall to the Memorial. The three-hour-long program at the Lincoln Memorial included speeches from prominent civil rights and religious leaders. The last speaker of the day was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who delivered what became the most famous speech of the entire civil rights era, the “I Have a Dream” speech. The day ended with a meeting between the march leaders and President John F. Kennedy at the White House.
The March on Washington was among the most famous examples of nonviolent mass protests. Even though the march did not accomplish immediate change, it prompted many Americans to reconsider their perspective on the Civil Rights Movement and reaffirmed the strength of American liberal institutions.
On August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. There, he would give his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.
Jim Wallace, who later became director of the Smithsonian's Office of Printing and Photographic Services, captured this photo of the crowd that day.
Sixty years ago today, more than 250,000 people from around the country gathered for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Students, union members, unemployed people, and members of organizations such as the NAACP, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and Americans for Democratic Action (seen in this photo carrying the ADA sign) linked arms and raised their voices to sing "We Shall Overcome" and other civil rights songs. This photo by James P. Blair is in the collection of our Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In a publication distributed before the march, organizers described their demands, which included a call for civil rights legislation, desegregation of all schools, a national minimum wage act, and a broadening of the Labor Standards Act. Written by activists and civil rights leaders Bayard Rustin and Cleveland Robinson, the manual described what motivated the march in words that still resonate today: “We march to redress old grievances and to help resolve an American crisis. That crisis is born of the twin evils of racism and economic deprivation.”
1963, September 16 - the Ku Klux Klan killed 4 young girls when they detonated dynamite on Youth Day at the Birmingham 16th Street Baptist Church. September 16, 2017Internet Archiveon Facebook posted links to several items.
1963 November 22 - about 12:30 p.m. President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Although other presidents were highly decorated veterans, John F. Kennedy is the only president awarded a Purple Heart for wounds in combat. The Warren Commission published a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting the president, a conclusion that less than half of all Americans believe. School children, and everyone older, for the rest of their lives remember where they were when they heard the news. Black and white television or radio were the common methods to hear the latest news at designated times during the day. Day long news coverage 24/7 was still decades away in the future. See John F. Kennedy Assassinated on Today in History - November 22 at The Library of Congress. See November 17, 2013 post of front page of The Journal Gazette newspaper on Facebook. November 22, 2022 post showed the November 22, 1963 front page of The News-Sentinel on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. Read more in Life and Death in the White House on Smithsonian National Museum of American History blog. November 22, 2022 post by Newspapers.com on Facebook stated: These 4 front pages all come from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on November 22, 1963, capturing the unfolding events of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in nearby Dallas. The president had been in Fort Worth earlier that day. Explore more newspaper coverage of the Kennedy assassination on our Topic Page: Assassination of John F. Kennedy
1963, November 24 - newspapers announced most government agencies including the post office, business establishments and schools would close Monday November 25 in memory of John F. Kennedy. Grocery stores were closed 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and drug stores 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. From the front page of the November 24, 1963 The Journal Gazette newspaper.
1964, March 10 - The highest recorded March snowfall fell at 12.6 inches.
1964, June 18 - The Civil Rights Act is passed by the Senate and outlaws discrimination and segregation in voting, education, and public facilities. Overturning Jim Crow laws. It was first proposed in 1963 by President Kennedy, LBJ - President Lyndon Johnson put forward a more robust version the following year outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and signed it July 2, 1964. See photo LBJ Signs the Civil Rights Act on The National Archives Presidential Libraries tumblr.
1964, July 2 - Civil Rights Act (1964)This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Copied from the Civil Rights Act (1964) at The National Archives.
#OTD in 1964, House Minority Leader Charles Halleck (R-IN), after a phone call with President Lyndon B. Johnson, marshalled 136 Republican representatives to join 153 Democrats to ensure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A few hours after House approval, President Johnson signed the historic act, which prohibited segregation in public areas like theaters, pools, and schools, and banned discriminatory employment practices. Learn more through this JFK Library oral history interview with Halleck: https://bit.ly/jfkhalleck
This 1974 portrait of Charles Halleck was painted by William Sabol and is courtesy of the U.S. House of Representatives.
1965, March 21 - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and followers begin their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.
1965, April 11 - Palm Sunday tornadoes. 137 people killed and more than 1,200 injured in Indiana from nearly 50 tornadoes. 50 years ago, Palm Sunday tornadoes devastated swaths of Indiana by Kevin Kilbane published April 10, 2015 in The News-Sentinel newspaper. Over a 12 hour span, 47 tornadoes in 6 states, 4 dozen counties, 1,500 people injured, and 271 lives lost. The Palm Sunday Story April 11, 1965 written by Tom Reaugh, edited by Sam Lashley/Todd Holsten by National Weather Service - Northern Indiana. May 30, 2013 discussion onthe original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook. Photos and discussion April 11, 2017 on Indiana Bicentennial Commission on Facebook.
1965, July 30 - President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act (1965) into law providing access to health care for millions of seniors and those with disabilities. This removed a heavy financial burden from families allowing more people to live longer, healthier more independent lives. On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, into law. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited income. In 1965, the passage of the Social Security Amendments, popularly known as Medicare and Medicaid, resulted in one basic program of health insurance for persons aged 65 and older, and another program providing health insurance for people with limited income funded by state and federal sources, respectively. It was funded by a tax on the earnings of employees, matched by contributions by employers, and was well received. In the first three years of the program, nearly 20 million beneficiaries enrolled in it. Copied from the Medicare and Medicaid Act (1965) at The National Archives.
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, making it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state, and local elections designed to deny the vote to Black Americans.
The Voting Rights Act had an immediate impact. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new Black voters had been registered, one-third by federal examiners. By 1966, only four out of 13 southern states had fewer than 50 percent of African Americans registered to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was readopted and strengthened in 1970, 1975, and 1982.
Learn more about the Voting Rights Act from our primary source documents:
1965, October 3 - at the base of the Statue of Liberty, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration Act of 1965 into law. It abolished the quota system of the National Origins Act of 1924 which barred Asian immigrants, limited Latin American immigrants, and established rigid immigration quotas for European countries. See Fifty Year Later: A Brief History of the Immigration Act of 1965 by Jessie Kratz post September 17, 2015 on The National Archives Prologue: Pieces of History blog.
The Pennsy depot was razed in 1966. In its final years it was owned by Grieger Chevrolet; its lot used to store used cars. From The Pennsy Shops by Kevin Leininger from the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.
1966, February 3 - Broadway Ave - natural gas explosion .
1966, April 13 - The Uniform Time Act of 1966 “to promote the observance of a uniform system of time throughout the United States” was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Before 1966, time was essentially anything governments or businesses wanted it to be. The History of Daylight Saving Time at National Geographic News. Uniform Time at Transportation.gov. Uniform Time Act on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Watch one hour CSPAN video on the book Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Savings Time by Michael Downing.
Exactly 53 years ago today, on August 23, 1966 the work day began normally for the employees in the administration building of Phelps Dodge Copper Products. All of this normalcy ended at 12:05 PM when a gas explosion destroyed the building on New Haven Avenue. The force of the explosion caused the first and second floors of the center of the building to collapse into the basement. In total 7 (5 employees and 2 rescue workers) lost their lives and 19 employees were injured as a result of the explosion. The casualties would have been higher, except the lunch hour for the employees began at 11:40 AM, leaving most of the building empty at the time of the explosion. Today we remember and honor the victims one of the deadliest disasters in Allen County. #sociallyhistory
1966, October 15 - Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act. That same year, the DNR director became Indiana’s first State Historic Preservation Officer to carry out the Act’s liaison responsibilities. By 1969, Indiana’s first survey of historic sites and structures was conducted and the General Assembly authorized DNR to participate in the National Register Program. This authorization launched what would become the Indiana DNR Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology. In 1973, the Division of Museums and Memorials became the Division of Historic Preservation. In 1981, the General Assembly established the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology within the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to carry out the federal-state partnership of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. Learn more about the Indiana dhpa at dnr.IN.gov/historic-preservation. Copied from an October 15, 2022 post by Indiana Department of Natural Resources on Facebook. This act lead to the National Register of Historic Places.
National Historic Preservation Act National Historic Preservation Act at National Park Service. First two paragraphs: After World War II, the United States seemed poised at the edge of a limitless future, and its vision of progress was characterized by the sleek and the new. Urban renewal was seen as a way to clear out the slums, get rid of "obsolete" buildings, make space for an exploding population, and accommodate the burgeoning car culture. Wide swaths were demolished: entire blocks, neighborhoods, business districts, all razed to make way for the new. By the 1960s, urban renewal had altered the face of the nation's cities. But out of this wholesale erasure of the old grew the most important law governing how we treat those places that define our past: the National Historic Preservation Act. It was the first national policy governing preservation and it would shape the fate of many of our historic and cultural sites over the next half-century. There had been earlier measures to foster preservation—the Antiquities Act of 1906 and the Historic Sites Act of 1935—but none were as sweeping or as influential as the National Historic Preservation Act.
1966, December 26 - Kwanzaa first celebrated. An African-American and Pan-African cultural holiday. The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase meaning "first fruits," and the first-fruits celebration is recorded in African history from as far back as ancient Egyptian times. Kwanzaa is now a weeklong celebration of African culture and unity that started during the Black Freedom Movement in the United States. It is also celebrated in Africa, the Caribbean, South America, particularly in Brazil, and in African communities within Europe. Kwanzaa was founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga, who made the holiday cultural rather than religious so that people of all faiths could come together and celebrate.Copied from a December 26, 2012 post by The History Centeron Facebook.
1967, June 12 - a landmark civil rights ruling Loving v. Virginia the U.S. Supreme Court rules interracial marriages are legal, over ruling 16 states which outlawed marriage based on race. Indiana in 1965 became one of 14 states that repealed laws outlawing interracial marriage prior to the ruling. Read more on Marriage Across Racial Lines in Indiana on JSTOR, Wikipediaand photos on NPR.
1967, October 2 - Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice, becoming the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court.
1967, October 21 - nearly 100,000 people gather in D.C. to protest the war effort in Vietnam. October 21, 2014 Tweet by American History Museum on Twitter.
1967, November 24 - on a Friday, the soon-to-be world famous rock band The Who played in Fort Wayne at the Swingin' Gate Teen Country Club, 224 West Berry Street. Listed as November 24, 1967 The Swinging Gate, Fort Wayne, IN, US on the official Who's Previous Gigs - 1967 web page. The address is from a Fort Wayne Sentinel Thursday, May 4, 1967 advertisement posted for the May 7th, 1967 appearance of the Electric Prunes at the Swinging Gate copied from The Electric Prunes Concerts & Performances web site. Before the show of the 24th at The Swinging Gate in Fort Wayne, Indiana The Who go to local booking agent Linda Wren's home for Thanksgiving dinner. Copied from November 1967 on The Who This Month web site. Mentioned in Rock n’ roll stories from Fort Wayne’s past Big names. Big events. Brushes with fame… by Michael Summers published February 6, 2011 on the Fort Wayne Reader. The Boys Decision was the warm-up band. Copied from a Sunday, June 9, 2013 post The Boys Decisions - 1967 Ft. Wayne with a band photo and advertisement for their Swingin' Gate appearance on the Indiana-bands-60s blog. Several Comments were posted to a discussion of this concert on November 24, 2017 on The Who Official Facebook page. The date Fri, 24 November 1967 was posted on The Who Concert Guide, and with the Electric Prunes May concert date is listed on setlist.fm.
1968 - Indiana Vocational and Technical College comes to Fort Wayne - was established on March 15, 1963 from Happy 50th, Ivy Tech published March 18, 2013 in The Journal Gazette newspaper Editorials.
1968, February 8 - Jefferson Public School, Fort Wayne, Indiana is where actor Charleton Heston claimed he learned to read and write in the movie Planet of the Apes.
1968, March 1 - U.S. Representative J. Edward Roush from nearby Huntington, Huntington County, who represented our area in Washington D.C., sponsored the federal legislation to establish a nationwide 911 emergency phone system. Various attempts for such a system had been around for some time. He made the first 911 call for AT & T from his hometown. Read A congressional salute for Rep. Roush, 911's driving force published February 17, 2018 in The Journal Gazette newspaper. By 1979, 26% of the U.S. population could dial 911. This increased to 50% by 1987 and 93% by 2000. As of December 2017, 98.9% of the U.S. population has access. See 9-1-1 on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Huntington became the first American city served by the AT&T-owned Bell System to receive 911 discussed in 9-1-1, born in Huntington, turns 50 years old published March 1, 2018 on CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15. June 3 2018 copies of a series of newspaper articles beginning with an article in the November 5, 1976 The News-Sentinel newspaperdiscussing 911 coming to Fort Wayne through the 1980 and 1990s were posted in You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.
1968, April 7 - Palm Sunday and more than 3,000 people gathered outside Allen County Courthouse after a six-block march from Pilgrim Baptist Church on Gay Street. The Journal Gazette’s story the next morning noted the peaceful procession was a contrast to rioting happening in many major cities such as Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Copied from Local tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Throwback Thursday published March 29, 2018 with photos in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
1968, April - Robert F. Kennedy's fledgling presidential campaign this month in 1968, one state loomed large--Indiana, where he tested his candidacy for the first time with voters and against fellow U.S. senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.
For Robert F. Kennedy's fledgling presidential campaign this month in 1968, one state loomed large--Indiana, where he tested his candidacy for the first time with voters and against fellow U.S. senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.
According to RFK adviser (and Hoosier) John Bartlow Martin, "everybody knew that Indiana was for him [Kennedy] the big one. It never had been important before, at least not in my time, but this year it was critical, since it produced the first contest between him and McCarthy.
In a discussion with his advisers, RFK said he thought the best argument he could make with Hoosier politicians was to say that "Indiana is my West Virginia," referring to his brother's important win in the West Virginia primary in 1960, showing JFK could win a Protestant state.
RFK noted that JFK had never forgotten that West Virginia went for him in the primary and after he was elected president he had given the state "handouts till hell would have it," Martin recalled.
"He went on to say that he ought to be saying that himself," said Martin. "I opposed. I argued that it was alright for others and even for him to say it privately to politicians whose support he needed but that he must not say it publicly because he might lose, especially in a three-cornered race with McCarthy and [Indiana governor Roger] Branigin, or at least not do well, and so he should not stake so much on this one primary."
"He demurred, saying the press would play it that way anyway," Martin recalled. "In the end he did not say publicly 'This is my West Virginia' but he increasingly hammered the theme that this primary was important and that 'Indiana can help choose a President,' This was his own formulation; toward the end he used it in nearly every speech."
1968, April 10 - Robert F. Kennedy resumed his campaign to win Indiana's Democratic presidential primary with appearances at three cities--Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Terre Haute.
OTD in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy resumed his campaign to win Indiana's Democratic presidential primary with appearances at three cities--Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Terre Haute.
With the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., both Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy took some time to regroup, suspending their campaigns to attend King’s funeral in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kennedy’s staff realized just how critical the Indiana primary would be for the candidate’s chances for the Democratic nomination. “I remember when we moved out in Indiana the theory was, ‘God, well, you know, if we lose Indiana we lose everything,’” noted William Haddad.
RFK reiterated the importance of the Indiana primary for his campaign. “We can win it here in the state of Indiana,” he told a crowd in Fort Wayne. “If we can win it here, we can go on to win in Oregon, win in California and win at the convention because of your help.”
In Columbus RFK attempted to win over an older audience with jokes, telling them that in a poll of his ten children he had received only four votes. “Two votes went to my brother Teddy. Two went to my sister Pat. The others were reassessing their position,” said Kennedy.
During his three-hour stop in Columbus, RFK visited two farms located northeast of the city. "We had sandwiches and coffee available for everybody," said one farm wife, "but he [Kennedy] wanted milk."
While in Columbus, Kennedy had pronounced Indiana as “Indianer.” On a subsequent campaign later stops in the state, Kennedy noted that he was delighted to be in “In-dee-an-uh.“There was some fellow from Massachusetts that was here the other day that called it ‘Indian-er.’ That was my younger brother Teddy. He looks like me. But I call it Indian-uh! And we’re going to elect a President of the United States that knows how to pronounce the name of this state!”
Speaking in Terre Haute, Kennedy made a plea he repeated time and time again while in the state: "I need your help. I need your hand. With your assistance and your hand over the next four weeks we'll win in Indiana."
According to a report in the Terre Haute Tribune, about 5,000 people "hailed him at Hulman Field, lined along the streets for several miles, and jammed into the Courthouse square."
When he arrived at the local airport, RFK saw a sign with a picture of him on it bearing the words: "Help Beautify America: Get a Haircut." Kennedy grinned and said: "I'm so interested in winning in Indiana, I'm having my hair cut."
RFK stayed overnight at the Ramada Inn in Terre Haute, leaving at 11 a.m. April 11 after talking to a Housewives for Kennedy breakfast meeting. With Indiana governor Roger Branigin in mind, RFK said, "I would not like to see Indiana waste its votes. Make yours count."
To the Housewives for Kennedy Committee, RFK said that the two hardest tasks facing the country's social agenda were providing for jobs and housing for the nation's poor. Also, it was the country's duty to have jobs available for soldiers upon their return from Vietnam. "They have to have jobs when they come back. We can't ask a man to fight for us and not have a job for him when he comes back," said Kennedy. "We can do much better than we have in the past, and that's why I run for President of the United States. I think we can do much better."
In his remarks during his time in Terre Haute, Kennedy also addressed King's assassination. He called King's death "one of those huge events that signals a turning point in our country's history."
"It could be the beginning of a final successful effort to make one nation of all our people--equal in justice and equal in opportunity, or it could foretell a continuing civil strife which threatens to transform our cities into armed camps and our streets into passageways for violence and fear," Kennedy said.
"Leaders can explain and propose," Kennedy continued, "but this problem will not yield to any man--even the President of the United States. It will yield only to the moral energy and belief of a free people."
1968, April 11 - one week after the assination of Martin Luther King, Jr, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (protecting civil rights workers, expanding the rights of Native Americans and providing antidiscrimination measures in housing) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Did you know the U.S. had 3 presidents in the same year? Twice! In 1881, Chester A. Arthur became the third president that year when he was sworn in on September 20, 1881.
In March, Rutherford B. Hayes had finished up his term, but James A. Garfield, who succeeded him, was shot in July, and he passed away from complications on September 19. His vice president, Chester A. Arthur, then became president.
The other time 3 presidents served in a year was 1841, when William Henry Harrison died in office.
1968, October 24 - Sharon Wichman wins Fort Wayne's first olympic gold medal in the 200 breast stroke. See our Sharon Wichman page.
1968, June 28 - Public Law 90-363 H.R. 15951. Statement by the President Upon Signing the Uniform Holiday Bill. by Lyndon B. Johnson 36th President of the United States: 1963 ‐ 1969 on The American Presidency Project. Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which made Memorial Day a federal holiday that always landed on the last Monday of May starting in 1971. The act also created or moved three other federal holidays to be on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday (often referred to as Presidents Day), Columbus Day, and Veterans Day. Veterans Day was later returned to its original set date of November 11. The holidays were moved in part to allow workers in the country to enjoy long weekends. In signing the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, President Lyndon B. Johnson hoped to encourage Americans to use the time for leisure. Copied from Why Memorial Day was moved to always be on Monday by Jacque Porter May 30, 2022 in Nexstar Media Wire and CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15.
Fort Wayne in 1969 published July 19, 1969 by WANE 15 News on YouTube.
WANE 15 took a look back at what Fort Wayne was like in 1969, the year of the Moon Landing
1969, March 11 - Levi-Strauss starts selling bell-bottomed jeans
1969, March 28 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States and World War II hero, dies at age 78.
1969, July 12 - the first Three Rivers Festival begins. At the first Three Rivers Festival in 1969, an estimated 100,000 people enjoyed a grand parade, and 60 events on the Columbia Street Landing. Copied from Three Rivers Festival of Fort Wayne originally submitted by: Mark E. Souder, Representative (4th District) at Local Legacies at The Library of Congress. On the banks of the St. Joseph River, 10,000 people gathered to watch a river parade. Copied from TRF through the years by Corey McMaken published July 13, 2018 with photos in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
1969, July 17 - 36 year old patrolman Kenneth Stiverson died by gunfire during a distrubance call with 11 years service, the second police office killed while serving with the Fort Wayne police department. From Fallen officer added to national memorial by Rod Hissong published May 14, 2013 formerly on CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15. On the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
1969, July 19 - Apollo 11 and its astronauts orbit the moon.
1969, July 20 - July 20, 2022 post by US National Archives
on Facebook states: the “Eagle” landed on the Moon, and American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans to set foot there. The American effort to send astronauts to the Moon had its origins in an appeal President Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieve the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." The flight plan for Apollo 11 detailed the activities of the mission crew minute by minute. The flight launched on July 16, 1969, touching down on July 20, 1969. It took 102 hours, 47 minutes, and 11 seconds from launch to landing. The astronauts spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon and returned to Earth on July 24. Learn more about the Apolo 11 flight plan and discover additional resources: National Archives News Anniversary of Apollo 11, Image: Apollo 11 Flight Plan.
The Apollo 11 Moon Landing was televised worldwide and watched by 500-600 million, becoming a major cultural touchstone of the 1960s. See several videos from Today's Document on tumblr from the The National Archives. That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Astronaut Neil Armstrong uttered these now-famous words after descending from the Apollo 11 spacecraft and becoming the first person to walk on the moon! Armstrong went to Purdue University and was born near Wapakoneta, Ohio which honors their hometown hero at an annual Summer Moon Festival. See two minute video Apollo 11 Moonwalk Montage, from Smithsonian.com, when on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. The Women Who Brought Us the Moon by Nathalia Holt on PBS American Experience.
1969, October 29 - the beginning of ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet developed by the Department of Defense was the first connection when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute.
1969, December 1 - during the Vietnam war the U.S. government held the first draft lottery since WWII.
: Collection of our Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jim and Elise Blair, © Estate of James P. Blair
