New Jersey & Lincoln -- and Lincoln's promise.

Today in New Jersey history:

February 12, 1867: The Lincoln Association of Jersey City was founded at the Union House. It remains the oldest continuous Lincoln study group in the United States.

February 12, 1948: The New Jersey adjutant general’s office published General Order No. 4, specifying that “no qualified person shall be denied any military rights, nor be discriminated against in exercis...e of any military rights, nor be segregated in the militia because of religious principles, race, color, ancestry or national origin” thus officially desegregating the state’s National Guard, despite opposition from the United States Department of War. New Jersey was the first state to desegregate its National Guard.