Enlisted as a private for 90 days on June 14, 1861, and was mustered into Co. H, 15th Indiana Infantry. He was mustered out at Huttonville, Virginia, October 17, 1861. Henry then traveled to Chicago, Illinois, where he re-enlisted as a private November 30, 1861, and was mustered into Co. C, 1st New York Marine Artillery. The 1NY Marine Art was disbanded on Mar. 31, 1863. He was promoted to corporal February 18, 1863, and enlisted with, Co. G, 14th New York Cavalry, March 14, 1863. Corporal Dibble was wounded in action at Port Hudson, Louisiana, in June 1863, and his leg was amputated. He was discharged for disability at New Orleans September 24, 1863, and remained in New Orleans for several years working first as a lawyer and later as a U.S. District Court judge. He married Caroline (surname unknown) at New Orleans in 1875 and moved to Tombstone, AZ, in late 1880. Henry was a charter member of Tombstone's Burnside Post, GAR, in 1881. He left Tombstone in February 1883 for San Francisco, where he was elected to the California State Assembly. Henry was a long-time member of San Francisco's Lincoln Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Elected to the California Assembly in 1888, Dibble was dubbed "the brainiest lawyer" in the legislature by the Los Angeles Times, and introduced legislation for women's suffrage and political reform.
But his greatest achievement was the Dibble Civil Rights Act of 1897.
For decades, African American organizations in California had organized and lobbied in Sacramento for the right to vote, desegregation of the schools and equal access to transportation and public accommodations.
When Dibble proposed his bill, representatives of African American organizations from San Francisco and Oakland traveled to Sacramento to testify in support.
The bill passed by a wide margin and was signed into law by Gov. James Budd on March 13, 1897. The Dibble Act was California's first civil rights law. It mandated that all citizens "of every color or race whatsoever" would be entitled to full and equal facilities of all shared places of public accommodation and amusement.
At a Memorial Day parade in 1897--just a few months after the passage of his Civil Rights Act--Dibble declared that because of the Union victory in the Civil War, "the curse of slavery was swept away ... and the republic was firmly established upon the enduring basis of universal freedom and equal rights." He had put these deeply held beliefs in practice with the Dibble Act.
Unfortunately, after an initial spate of cases brought to the courts around the state, the Dibble Act faded in memory for about 50 years, as it became the target of vicious newspaper editorials.
The Dibble Act records remained in Sacramento until they were rediscovered by the staff of California Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh in the 1950s.
As the Civil Rights movement gained momentum with Rosa Parks and the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, Unruh championed the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which passed in 1959.
The Unruh Act was recognized as the state's first civil rights act, and became the model for other states' laws—and for the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. In reality, however, it was simply an amendment of Dibble's 1897 Act.
--Excepts from: "Testing the Water: Sutro Baths Case Set Precedent for Civil Rights Laws", by Veda Banerjee; July 10, 2018 [https://www.parksconservancy.org/] and "Sutro Baths was test case for blacks' civil rights", by Elaine Elinson; May 27, 2012
3 man picture - From left to right, Private Sylvester Setley of Co. F, 58th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment; Private Bernard Berren (Berran) of Co. K, 160th New York Infantry Regiment and Corporal Henry Dibble of Co. G, 14th New York Cavalry Regiment in civilian dress, with amputated left legs.
(LOC)
Enlisted as a private for 90 days on June 14, 1861, and was mustered into Co. H, 15th Indiana Infantry. He was mustered out at Huttonville, Virginia, October 17, 1861. Henry then traveled to Chicago, Illinois, where he re-enlisted as a private November 30, 1861, and was mustered into Co. C, 1st New York Marine Artillery. The 1NY Marine Art was disbanded on Mar. 31, 1863. He was promoted to corporal February 18, 1863, and enlisted with, Co. G, 14th New York Cavalry, March 14, 1863. Corporal Dibble was wounded in action at Port Hudson, Louisiana, in June 1863, and his leg was amputated. He was discharged for disability at New Orleans September 24, 1863, and remained in New Orleans for several years working first as a lawyer and later as a U.S. District Court judge. He married Caroline (surname unknown) at New Orleans in 1875 and moved to Tombstone, AZ, in late 1880. Henry was a charter member of Tombstone's Burnside Post, GAR, in 1881. He left Tombstone in February 1883 for San Francisco, where he was elected to the California State Assembly. Henry was a long-time member of San Francisco's Lincoln Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Elected to the California Assembly in 1888, Dibble was dubbed "the brainiest lawyer" in the legislature by the Los Angeles Times, and introduced legislation for women's suffrage and political reform.
But his greatest achievement was the Dibble Civil Rights Act of 1897.
For decades, African American organizations in California had organized and lobbied in Sacramento for the right to vote, desegregation of the schools and equal access to transportation and public accommodations.
When Dibble proposed his bill, representatives of African American organizations from San Francisco and Oakland traveled to Sacramento to testify in support.
The bill passed by a wide margin and was signed into law by Gov. James Budd on March 13, 1897. The Dibble Act was California's first civil rights law. It mandated that all citizens "of every color or race whatsoever" would be entitled to full and equal facilities of all shared places of public accommodation and amusement.
At a Memorial Day parade in 1897--just a few months after the passage of his Civil Rights Act--Dibble declared that because of the Union victory in the Civil War, "the curse of slavery was swept away ... and the republic was firmly established upon the enduring basis of universal freedom and equal rights." He had put these deeply held beliefs in practice with the Dibble Act.
Unfortunately, after an initial spate of cases brought to the courts around the state, the Dibble Act faded in memory for about 50 years, as it became the target of vicious newspaper editorials.
The Dibble Act records remained in Sacramento until they were rediscovered by the staff of California Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh in the 1950s.
As the Civil Rights movement gained momentum with Rosa Parks and the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, Unruh championed the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which passed in 1959.
The Unruh Act was recognized as the state's first civil rights act, and became the model for other states' laws—and for the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. In reality, however, it was simply an amendment of Dibble's 1897 Act.
--Excepts from: "Testing the Water: Sutro Baths Case Set Precedent for Civil Rights Laws", by Veda Banerjee; July 10, 2018 [https://www.parksconservancy.org/] and "Sutro Baths was test case for blacks' civil rights", by Elaine Elinson; May 27, 2012
3 man picture - From left to right, Private Sylvester Setley of Co. F, 58th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment; Private Bernard Berren (Berran) of Co. K, 160th New York Infantry Regiment and Corporal Henry Dibble of Co. G, 14th New York Cavalry Regiment in civilian dress, with amputated left legs.
(LOC)
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