Freedom Calendar 06/30/07 - 07/07/07

June 30, 1910, Estelle Reel (R-WY), first woman in nation elected to statewide office and first woman confirmed by U.S. Senate to a federal post, retires after 12 years as U.S. Superintendent of Indian Schools.

July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush appoints Clarence Thomas to U.S.Supreme Court; previously served on U.S. Court of Appeals and as Chairman of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

July 2, 1862, U.S. Rep. Justin Morrill (R-VT) wins passage of Land Grant Act, establishing colleges open to African-Americans, including such students as George Washington Carver.

July 3, 1986. At ceremony rededicating the Statue of Liberty, President Ronald Reagan honors immigrants from all nations who come “to build a new world of peace and freedom and hope”.

July 4, 1867, Republican Party is established in Georgia with racially-integrated state convention.

July 5, 1801, Birth of David Farragut, Tennessee-born Hispanic appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as first U.S. Navy Admiral.

July 6, 1854, First state Republican Party officially organized in Jackson, Michigan, to oppose Democrats’ pro-slavery policies.

July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan appoints first woman to U.S. Supreme Court, former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; as Republican legislator in Arizona, she was first woman to serve as Majority Leader in any state.

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

From section 1 of the 14th Amendment, written in 1866 by Rep. John Bingham (R-OH), one of the founders of the Republican Party.

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