Mamas and Papas

Today is William Tubman’s Day, a public holiday in Liberia. This holiday honors William Tubman, the longest-serving President in Liberia’s history on the anniversary of his birthday.

William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was born on November 29th 1895, in the coastal town of Harper. At birth he was one of 5 children who had grown up poor. He was also a descendant of early American slaves. Tubman’s grandfather, Alexander Tubman, was a stonemason, general in the Liberian army, and a former Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives, as well as a Methodist preacher. Alexander’s parents, Sylvia and William Shadrach Tubman, were freedmen, part of a group of 69 freed slaves whose transportation to Liberia in 1844 was paid by their former mistress Emily Thomas Tubman, a widow and philanthropist in Augusta, Georgia. She was instrumental in the manumission of enslaved African Americans and paying for their transportation to Liberia for “repatriation”.

William Tubman joined the True Whig party and in 1923, aged 28, he became the youngest senator in the history of Liberia. He became the 17th different President of Liberia in January 1944, aged 48, and went to on to serve for 27 years until his death on July 23rd 1971.

Regarded as the “father of modern Liberia”, he was responsible for enacting many reforms and social policies such as the enactment of suffrage and property rights for all adult females and the establishment of a nationwide public school system. Tubman also pushed a policy of national unification by improving the rights of all tribesmen and contributed to the emancipation of African colonial territories into statehood.

Tubman’s legacy also includes his economic “Open Door” policy which increased foreign investment in Liberia. By the time of his death, Liberia could boast the largest mercantile fleet in the world and the world’s largest rubber industry, making the country the envy of many other African nations.

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Today is the birthday, in 1941, of Denny Doherty, from American folk rock vocal group The Mamas & the Papas who had the 1965 hit ‘California Dreamin”, the 1966 US No.1 single ‘Monday Monday’ and the 1967 hit ‘Dedicated to the One I Love’. Doherty died on 19th Jan 2007 at the age of 66 after a short illness. Doherty started his musical career in 1956 with a band called the Hepsters and in 1963, established a friendship with Cass Elliot when she was with a band called The Big 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUr5_QVPCAI