In the early hours of Saturday, 28 June 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons began rioting in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 53 Christopher Street in New York City. This event and further riots and protests in the following nights were to be the defining moment in […]
In the early hours of Saturday, 28 June 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons began rioting in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 53 Christopher Street in New York City. This event and further riots and protests in the following nights were to be the defining moment in […]
This past weekend marked the 28th Anniversary of the tragic crackdown and massacre of protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Students calling for a more democratic government were met with Chinese troops and tanks in a brutal show of force. Although there is no officially reported death toll, estimates range from several hundred to thousands. At the National Museum … Continue reading Tiananmen Square Crackdown, 1989
New York's Easter Parade began as a religious and fashion spectacular in the 1880's, conceived in New York's ornate Gothic churches such as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity Episcopal Church, and St. Thomas' Episcopal Church. In the nineteenth century, the sanctuaries of these churches were decorated in abundance with Easter flowers, which inspired church members to … Continue reading The Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue
Next year will mark 40 years since New York officials declared a State of Emergency in Love Canal amid an environmental crisis less than a mile from the majestic Niagara Falls. The Environmental Protection Agency has called the situation in Love Canal "one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history." It was August 1978 … Continue reading Love Canal Disaster
After World War II, the United States entered into a frenzied period of demolition and clearance in the name of “Urban Renewal.” The policy was to clear a district of all slums at once in order to present large sites which would attract private developers. The term "urban renewal" originates from the Housing Act of … Continue reading Urban Renewal: The Rush to Clear
As the popularity of the automobile grew in America, so did a desire for many for bigger, faster, more direct roads. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1938 In the late 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed interest in construction of a network of three east-west and three north-south super-highways as a means of putting people … Continue reading The Federal-Aid Highway Acts
Let us revisit the 20th Century, perhaps the most momentous century in human history. I would like to do a piece on as many of the important, interesting events in the 20th Century as I possibly can, in no specific sequence whatsoever. In the meantime, here in chronological order are important moments in the last century in one state--New Jersey… In 1904, … Continue reading The 20th Century in New Jersey
Retrospective 