Pages past — May 20

On this date ...

1960: Eleven black airmen from Cannon Air Force Base staged a “sit down” at a Clovis cafe after two had been denied service.

Cannon band members had marched in an Armed Forces Day parade, then two of them attempted to eat at the restaurant. When they were denied service, they left but returned with nine others for the civil protest.

“They eventually were escorted back to the base by ... police on orders of Brig. Gen. Virgil Zoler, 832nd Air Division commander,” United Press International reported.

1960: Rural residents were being invaded by Miller moths. Residents reported they were leaving lights and television sets off at night in efforts to keep the Millers away.

1955: State officials declared a drought had ended after two days of heavy rains across eastern New Mexico.

Farmers said the rain was the most the region had received in five years, ending an eight-month spell of little moisture.

“Only the Portales Valley suffered damage — from hail the size of golf balls, which bombarded the vegetable crops there,” United Press reported.

Transitions ...

1939: Alice Faye Kent Hoppes, longtime president of the NAACP-Albuquerque Branch and one of New Mexico’s more active civil rights leaders, was born in Tucumcari.

She moved to Albuquerque with her family in 1967.

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

www.highplainsyesterdays.com