Narrative images: Singing freedom songs in 1963

Robert Fahsenfeldt, owner of a segregated lunchroom in the racially tense Eastern Shore community of Cambridge, Maryland, douses a white integrationist with water, on July 8, 1963. The integrationist, Edward Dickerson, was among three white and eight African American protesters who knelt on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant to sing freedom songs. A raw egg, which Fahsenfeldt had broken over Dickerson's head moments earlier, still is visible on the back of Dickerson's head. The protesters were later arrested (literally via).



photo via

3:37:07

“Now therefore, the City Council of the City of Culver City, Calif. hereby congratulates and commends Merry Lepper, a shining example of how one person can overcome tremendous hurdles to fulfill a dream and, in the process, pave the way for generations to come.” 
Jeffrey Cooper, Mayor of Culver City (via)

Merry Lepper, in 1963 a student at San Bernardino Valley College (via), is often referred to as the first woman who completed a marathon race (Culver City Marathon in December 1963 finished in 3:37:07). At that time, women were not allowed to run more than 880 meters, for their own good, since running longer distances "would hurt their ovaries". Her training partner Lyn Carman was warned that she would never have babies again. Lepper comments: "I really had to laugh about that because I was hearing the reason that men gave that women couldn't drive automobiles in Saudi Arabia was that it would hurt their ovaries. Whose ovaries are these?" (via)


20-year old Merry jogging accompanied bei training partner Lyn Carman, watched by two of Lyn's children.

Merry Lepper ran the marathon to show the world that "women can do this without dying or fainting or something." But the world did not pay much attention to her achievement (via). There were no retrospective stories, no tributes (via). Some sarcastically assume the world was still too focused on her ovaries (via). Her achievement, however, was an important one considering the fact that women "could legally vote in presidential elections long before they could officially enter a marathon." (via)

In March 1896, during the Summer Olympics, Stamata Revithi ran from Marathon to Athens, unofficially, since officially she was not allowed to compete (via). According to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the visionary of the modern Olympic Games, contact with women's athletics was bad for male athletes and a woman's greatest achievement would be "to encourage her sons to be distinguished in sports and to applaud a man's effort." (via). In September 1918, Marie-Louise Ledru completed the Tour de Paris Marathon (via). In October 1926, Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy became the first woman to be officially timed in a marathon. 37 years later Merry Lepper followed into these pioneers' footsteps (via). No matter who gets the credit for being the first woman, each made a great contribution.

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photo via 

follow up posting: Bobbi Gibb

Sharon's First Merry-Go-Round Ride

28 of August 1963 is the day of the March on Washington, the day Martin Luther King held his landmark speech "I Have a Dream". It is also the day 11-month-old Sharon Langley went on a ride on the merry-go-round at Gwynn Oak Amusement Park on the outskirts of Baltimore, the day the owners of the park agreed to end the segregation policy (via).



The Langley family had planned to go to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom but changed their mind because they could not find a baby-sitter for Sharon and thought that the civil rights rally would not be suitable for the toddler. They decided to go to Gwynn Oak instead (Nathan, 2011).



Sharon Langley became the first black child to go on a ride in Gwynn Oak. Her father, Charles C. Langley, Jr., stood by her side, two white children, a girl and a boy, sat on horses on either side of her. The girl's mother asked Charles Langley to keep an eye on her daughter. He was glad to help. The next day, newspapers covered stories about the March on Washington but also about Sharon's merry-go-round ride. The three children riding together and the parent-to-parent cooperation were examples of what Martin Luther King meant when he talked about his dream (via).



"As the merry-go-round's creaky wooden platform picked up speed, skin tones blended in a blur of happy faces." (Nathan, 2011)



A little girl in a pink dress made history. It was a huge step that she and her family could enter the amusement park at all without being beaten or arrested. Gwynn Oak Park had a centuries-old tradition of segregation. It opened in 1894 and was a whites-only park from the beginning (Nathan, 2011).



The owners' decision to finally put an end to segregation was a reaction to almost ten years of continuous prostests. Black and white activists, "collge students, teachers, professors, social workers, housewives, union members, lawyers, religious leaders, community organizers, journalists, teenagers, elementary school kids, and even some politicians" protested, wrote letters, carried signs, walked picket lines and tried to reason from 1955 to 1963. Some were assaulted, others arrested before the park finally opened up to all (Nathan, 2011).



Access to an amusement park was surely not the most serious problem black US-Americans were facing. Nevertheless, a great many people spent much time and energy to fight for the expansion of civil rights in recreational spaces. "It was symbolic." (Nathan, 2011).



"Gwynn Oak stood out as a symbol of all the evils inherent in the system of segregation ....It was a symbol that had to be faced and challenged."
Rev. Frank Williams, Letter to the Editor
The Sun, August 22, 1963
(taken from Nathan, 2011)



Years later, bankruptcy (after desegregation the park lost white customers) and Hurricane Agnes (in 1972) damaged Gwynn Oak Amusement Park (via). It closed. The merry-go-round was bought by a company and in 1981 it was moved to Washington's national Mall. It was renamed "Carousel on the Mall" and is located right in front of the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building (Nathan, 2011). Sharon Langley's name was engraved on a brass plate attached to the saddle of the horse she rode in 1963 (via).





- Nathan, A. (2011). Round and Round Together: Taking a Merry-Go-Round Ride into the Civil Rights Movement. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books
- photos via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via

"Holy Act of Congress!" Batgirl and the Equal Pay Act

"I've worked for you a long time, and I'm paid less than Robin! Same job, same employer means equal pay for men and women!"



The American Association of University Women and the Center for American Progress Action Fund produced a Public Service Announcement for the Equal Pay Act. The clip shows Batgirl coming to rescue Batman and Robin but before doing so explains them the concept of equal work, equal pay (via).



John F. Kennedy's remarks upon signing the Equal Pay Act on 10 June 1963: "I AM delighted today to approve the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits arbitrary discrimination against women in the payment of wages. This act represents many years of effort by labor, management, and several private organizations unassociated with labor or management, to call attention to the unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job. This measure adds to our laws another structure basic to democracy. It will add protection at the working place to the women, the same rights at the working place in a sense that they have enjoyed at the polling place. While much remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic opportunity--for the average woman worker earns only 60 percent of the average wage for men--this legislation is a significant step forward. Our economy today depends upon women in the labor force. One out of three workers is a woman. (...)" (via)



... and here it is, the clip:



Inspiration for this posting from Open Culture; photos via and via and via

Coming next: Catwoman