February 14, 2014

What was in the news on Feb. 14, 1964?

Comprehensive civil rights bill up for a Senate vote, and The Beatles invading America viewed as a passing fad

Criterion logo from the 1960sBy Brandon A. Evans

This week, we continue to examine what was going on in the Church and the world 50 years ago as seen through the pages of The Criterion.

Here are some of the items found in the Feb. 14, 1964, issue of The Criterion:

  • Civil Rights measure up for Senate action
    • “WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives presented the nation with an early Lincoln’s birthday gift—passage of the biggest civil rights bill in history by an overwhelming vote of 290-130. The comprehensive measure, designed to obtain equal treatment for all Americans in voting, jobs, education, public accommodations, and federally assisted programs, now goes to the Senate. It faces a hard fight there, including the likelihood of a southern filibuster. The Senate is not expected to begin debate on the bill before the end of February. The bill bars discrimination on grounds of religion and national origin as well as race. It has been endorsed by many religious organizations and spokesmen.”
  • Aid needy, pope urges children
  • Rev. Thomas G. Fields dies at the age of 58
  • Limited aid to schools supported
  • Pope and patriarch exchange greetings
  • Propagation of the Faith drive opens
  • Liturgical Day set at Providence High
  • Lenten Forum scheduled at Chatard High School
  • Prelatial robes to be conferred on February 20th
  • Interview with Bishop Wright: The role of the laity
  • New Albany’s Catholic library moves to new quarters
  • Bishops veto plan for Catholic party
  • Editorial: The Beatles
    • “Fret not, parents. Despite 17 press agents in the entourage of the Beatles, the yeh-yeh-yeh too will pass. A nation that survived the marathon dance craze, Bonnie Baker, Ish Kabibble, two Sinatras and one Elvis Presley is durable. Given haircuts, the loose-jointed emissaries from Liverpool would look just like nice kids next door, which they probably are at heart. Dwell, then, on the loftier thought that these animated dust mops may do for us what 1776 did not. They may free us, at long last, from that lingering twinge of inferiority toward things British—the spurious ‘U’ accent, the faint awe of royalty, the snob appeal of the imported Mayfair secretary in the Indianapolis law office. Britannia today rules the waves of teenage goofiness. Welcome to the colonies, Beatles.”
  • Question Box: Why is the Church against ‘the pill’?
  • Two council bodies meet
  • Pope praises ideal of a united Europe
  • Science colloquium at Woods to deal with evolution
  • Lecture series set on Vatican Council
  • Set investiture of parish Scouts
  • Writing to be topic at Brebeuf meeting
  • Woods observes Brotherhood Month
  • Faculty-student ‘dialogue’ slated at the Woods
  • Parents blamed for marriage rise among teenagers
  • Much can be done now in lay participation
  • ND to honor astronaut
  • Unity body to study schema

(Read all of these stories from our Feb. 14, 1964, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †

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