This Day in History: 0000-08-20
August 10, 1988- “Reparations for Japanese American Internees” “U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 442 was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, which provided for a payment of $20,000 to each surviving Japanese American who was interned at American camps during the Second World War. It also provided for a $1.25 billion education fund, among other provisions. It sought to address the injuries caused to Japanese Americans by the internment of those citizens during the Second World War. Approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans had to liquidate their assets on three days’ notice and relocate to remote prison camps.”
1963 - “First African-American Woman to Hold a Cabinet Position and Serve as a U.S. Ambassador” Advocate of women’s rights, Patricia Roberts Harris was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to co-chair the National Women’s Committee for Civil Rights. In 1965, one year after the civil rights act, Patricia R. Harris made history under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the first black female U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. She broke another barrier two years later as the first Dean of Law at her alma mater, Howard University; she became the first black woman to head a law school in the U.S.