Hettie Ellen (Poe) Adams (born 1841)

In 1841, in the year that Hettie Ellen (Poe) Adams was born, on March 4th, William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as the ninth President of the United States. On April 4th, President Harrison died of pneumonia, becoming the first President who died in office - as well as the American president with the shortest term ever served. Vice-President John Tyler immediately became the tenth President of the United States.

In 1868, on July 9th, The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. The Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed African Americans full citizenship and equal protection under the law. It also gave all persons in the United States due process of law. The former Confederate states hotly contested the amendment but were forced to go along so that they could regain representation in Congress

In 1884, on August 5th, the cornerstone for the base of the Statue of Liberty - a gift from the people of France - was laid. 120,000 people - most donations were $1 - donated to the completion of the base. An 1883 poem by Emma Lazarus was also written to raise funds. That poem was included in the base of the statue and is well known today. The most famous phrase: "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

In 1896, on May 18th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. By a vote of 7 to 1, the Court upheld state racial segregation laws, introducing the idea of "separate but equal" facilities for races.

In 1907, the Monongah coal mining disaster occurred on December 6th, happening at the Fairmont Coal Company’s No. 6 and No. 8 mines.. Over 361 miners were killed. Because there was no breathing apparatus at the time to help rescuers, recovery efforts were greatly hampered. It is considered the worst mining disaster in American history and led to government oversight in mining practices.