On February 14, around the year 270 A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome
in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.

Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular
and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but
was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues.
Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because
of their strong attachment to their wives and families. 

To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements
in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius
and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put
to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome,
who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head
cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year
270.

Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the
jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your
Valentine.”For his great service, Valentine was named a saint after his death.

On February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, 
a group that included African American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois 
and Ida B. Wells-Barnett announced the formation of a new organization 
Called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
it would have a profound effect on the struggle for civil rights and the
course of 20th Century American history. The conference that led to
the NAACP’s founding had been called in response to a race riot in
Illinois.

A silent march in New York to protest the police treatment of blacks during riots in East St. Louis in 1917. They marched down Fifth
Avenue on that summer Saturday without saying a word.