Freedom Calendar 01/13/07 - 01/20/07

January 13, 2003, Jennette Bradley (R-OH) becomes first African-American woman to be Lt. Governor of a state.

January 14, 1975, Republican William T. Coleman nominated as first African-American to be U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

January 15, 1901, Republican Booker T. Washington protests Alabama Democratic Party’s refusal to permit voting by African-Americans.

January 16, 1954, Consuelo Bailey (R-VT) announces her ultimately successful candidacy to become nation’s first woman elected Lt. Governor of a state.

January 17, 1874, Armed Democrats seize Texas state government, ending Republican efforts to racially integrate government.

January 18, 1815, Birth of Republican Gov. Richard Yates (R-IL), who prevented Democrat-controlled legislature from withdrawing state troops from the Union Army.

January 19, 1818, Birth of anti-slavery activist Alvan Bovay, who organized first meeting of Republican Party in 1854, to oppose Democrats’ pro-slavery policies.

January 20, 2001, Mississippi Republican Rod Paige is confirmed as first African-American U.S. Secretary of Education; calls for school choice to allow poor and minority children to “throw off their chains”.

“It’s that expression of the individual and a willingness to put the educational opportunities before me that led to who I am. Who you are is who you are as an individual.”

Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State

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