May 2, 1967

Jefferson County native Bobby Hutton was present when several Black Panther Party members made national headlines by appearing armed at the California State Capitol in Sacramento to protest the Mulford Act, which prohibited the carrying of firearms in any public place. Hutton and several others were later arrested several blocks away at a gas station. At the age of sixteen, Hutton had been the first recruit of the Black Panther Party. His death in a shootout with police in 1968 became a rallying cry for the Black Panther movement. A literacy campaign was later started in his honor.