Sunday, June 1, 2008

Dead Page-- Bet Your Sweet Bippy-- Brown vs. Board of Education

DICK MARTIN

Played the crazy guy in Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

The 1960s "Laugh-In TV show made stars out of Goldie Hawn and Gilda Radner as well as the phrases "Sock it to Me" and "You Bet Your Sweet Bippy."

Laugh-In Debuted in January 1968 and had great satire. Other stars it made were Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Ann Worley, and announcer Gary Owens.

Dan Rowan was the straight man, the voice of reason, always trying to correct Martin's absurdities.

When Richard Nixon was running for president, he appeared saying "Sock it to me?" with that great inflection that remains to me one of the funniest-ever TV moments.

And "You can look that up in your Funk & Wagnall's." Hey, I have a grocery-store-bought set of these.



ZELMA HENDERSON, 88

The Last-surviving plaintiff in the Brown vs. School Board historic 1954 Supreme Court Decision.

In 1950, she signed onto litigation on behalf of her children challenging the Topeka, Kansas, School Board's segregation policy. She was among thirteen black parents who did, including Reverend Oliver Brown, whose name became that of the plaintiffs.

They lost in the US District Court, but appealed to the US Supreme Court where it was overturned. This opened the way for blacks to receive the same education as whites.

In the 1920s and 30s, she had attended desegregated schools in western Kansas and wanted the same opportunity for her children.


Some People You Should Know.

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