On this day, February 23, 1868, civil rights activist, author and scholar W. E. B. Du Bois was born.

Du Bois was a public supporter of the effort to save Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. He spoke at the "Save the Rosenbergs Rally" (1952) in NYC and read a prayer at their funeral after efforts to stop the execution proved unsuccessful.

The young sons of the Rosenbergs, Robert and Michael, met their soon-to-be adoptive parents, Abel and Anne Meeropol, for the first time at a holiday party thrown by the Du Bois’s in their Brooklyn brownstone in December of 1953.

#StrangeFruit Mention of the Day: A news segment discusses the origin of the anti-lynching protest song, "Strange Fruit," written by Abel Meeropol and performed by Billie Holiday. The segment includes interviews with Abel's sons, RFC Founder Robert Meeropol and his brother Michael Meeropol.