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Person.
On March 8, 1884, Susan B Anthony addressed the US House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. The first such amendment had been introduced in 1868.
Anthony (1820-1906) was born in Massachusetts. She and her sisters added middle initials to their names because she said it was "a great craze" in her youth. She chose B in honor of her namesake Aunt Susan who had married a Mr. Brownell, but she never used Brownell, just B.
Quakers, her family was extremely active in social reform, particularly abolition and temperance. However, even quakerism was a bit too strict for Anthony's liking.
After schooling, she went to work and was dismayed by the inequalities of women in the workplace. She was drawn to "radicals" of the day like William Lloyd Garrison, Amelia Bloomer, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. After meeting Stanton, the two began a lifelong friendship and partnership. The two made a great team with Anthony excelling at organization and Stanton at writing. Anthony also forged a four decades long friendship with Frederick Douglass that was sometimes strained after black men received the right to vote before women did.
In 2017, Mat Smart wrote a two character play based on Anthony and Douglass' friendship called The Agitators. We saw an excellent production of ot locally last month and highly recommend it. The play was also adapted into a podcast of the same name.
Place.
On March 8, 1884, Susan B Anthony addressed the US House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. The first such amendment had been introduced in 1868.
In 1851, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton met and forged an important partnership. Stanton had organized America's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls New York in 1848. Over 2 days in July, some 300 people, including about 40 men who were admitted to the first session only after being told to remain quiet, met and eventually agreed on a Declaration of Sentinents listing grievances and demands, including suffrage. Among the male attendees was abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and he and Anthony maintained a friendship over 4 decades.
In 2017, Mat Smart wrote a two character play based on Anthony and Douglass' friendship called The Agitators. We saw an excellent production of ot locally last month and highly recommend it. The play was also adapted into a podcast of the same name.
On March 8, 1884, Susan B Anthony addressed the US House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. The first such amendment had been introduced in 1868.
In 1851, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton met and forged an important partnership. Stanton had organized America's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls New York in 1848. Over 2 days in July, some 300 people, including about 40 men who were admitted to the first session only after being told to remain quiet, met and eventually agreed on a Declaration of Sentinents listing grievances and demands, including suffrage. Among the male attendees was abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and he and Anthony maintained a friendship over 4 decades.
In 2017, Mat Smart wrote a two character play based on Anthony and Douglass' friendship called The Agitators. We saw an excellent production of ot locally last month and highly recommend it. The play was also adapted into a podcast of the same name.
Thing.
On March 8, 1884, Susan B Anthony addressed the US House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. The first such amendment had been introduced in 1868.
Anthony is commemorated along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott in the Portrait Monument sculpture by Adelaide Johnson at the United States Capitol, unveiled in 1921. Originally kept on display in the crypt of the US Capitol, the sculpture was moved to its current location and more prominently displayed in the rotunda in 1997.
On March 8, 1884, Susan B Anthony addressed the US House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. The first such amendment had been introduced in 1868.
Anthony is commemorated along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott in the Portrait Monument sculpture by Adelaide Johnson at the United States Capitol, unveiled in 1921. Originally kept on display in the crypt of the US Capitol, the sculpture was moved to its current location and more prominently displayed in the rotunda in 1997.
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Person.
On March 9, 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the most fundamental work of classical economics and a description of the system of capitalism.
Smith (1723-1790) became known as the "Father of Economics " or the "Father of Capitalism" as a result of its publication. Born in Kirkaldy Scotland, his father died before he was born. Little is known about his childhood. He was allegedly kidnapped by Romani at age three but released once rescuers took chase. He was a scholarly youth and entered the University of Glasgow at 14, studying philosophy. He later taught at Oxford briefly, preferring teaching at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
He was described as generally unattractive physically and comically absent-minded. Friends told stories of him falling into pits while engaged in conversations, putting bread and butter into a teapot, talking to himself ( and to others who weren't there), and once going out in his nightgown for a walk before realizing he was 15 miles from home. He was also a hypochondriac. He never married and died in Edinburgh in 1790.
On March 9, 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the most fundamental work of classical economics and a description of the system of capitalism.
Smith (1723-1790) became known as the "Father of Economics " or the "Father of Capitalism" as a result of its publication. Born in Kirkaldy Scotland, his father died before he was born. Little is known about his childhood. He was allegedly kidnapped by Romani at age three but released once rescuers took chase. He was a scholarly youth and entered the University of Glasgow at 14, studying philosophy. He later taught at Oxford briefly, preferring teaching at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
He was described as generally unattractive physically and comically absent-minded. Friends told stories of him falling into pits while engaged in conversations, putting bread and butter into a teapot, talking to himself ( and to others who weren't there), and once going out in his nightgown for a walk before realizing he was 15 miles from home. He was also a hypochondriac. He never married and died in Edinburgh in 1790.
Place.
On March 9, 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the most fundamental work of classical economics and a description of the system of capitalism.
18th and early 19th century Scotland was home to a major movement in European philosophy and science xalled the Scottish Enlightenment.
"By the eighteenth century, Scotland had a network of parish schools in the Scottish Lowlands and five universities. The Enlightenment culture was based on close readings of new books, and intense discussions which took place daily at such intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as The Select Society and, later, The Poker Club, as well as within Scotland's ancient universities (St Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, King's College, and Marischal College).
Sharing the humanist and rational outlook of the Western Enlightenment of the same time period, the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment asserted the importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority that could not be justified by reason. In Scotland, the Enlightenment was characterised by a thoroughgoing empiricism and practicality where the chief values were improvement, virtue, and practical benefit for the individual and society as a whole.
Among the fields that rapidly advanced were philosophy, political economy, engineering, architecture, medicine, geology, archaeology, botany and zoology, law, agriculture, chemistry and sociology. Among the Scottish thinkers and scientists of the period were Joseph Black, Robert Burns, William Cullen, Adam Ferguson, David Hume, Francis Hutcheson, James Hutton, John Playfair, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and Dugald Stewart." (Wikipedia)
On March 9, 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the most fundamental work of classical economics and a description of the system of capitalism.
18th and early 19th century Scotland was home to a major movement in European philosophy and science xalled the Scottish Enlightenment.
"By the eighteenth century, Scotland had a network of parish schools in the Scottish Lowlands and five universities. The Enlightenment culture was based on close readings of new books, and intense discussions which took place daily at such intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as The Select Society and, later, The Poker Club, as well as within Scotland's ancient universities (St Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, King's College, and Marischal College).
Sharing the humanist and rational outlook of the Western Enlightenment of the same time period, the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment asserted the importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority that could not be justified by reason. In Scotland, the Enlightenment was characterised by a thoroughgoing empiricism and practicality where the chief values were improvement, virtue, and practical benefit for the individual and society as a whole.
Among the fields that rapidly advanced were philosophy, political economy, engineering, architecture, medicine, geology, archaeology, botany and zoology, law, agriculture, chemistry and sociology. Among the Scottish thinkers and scientists of the period were Joseph Black, Robert Burns, William Cullen, Adam Ferguson, David Hume, Francis Hutcheson, James Hutton, John Playfair, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and Dugald Stewart." (Wikipedia)
Things.
On March 9, 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the most fundamental work of classical economics and a description of the system of capitalism.
Smith coined or elaborated on several terms which contributed to his nicknames of "the Father of Economics" and "the Father of Capitalism." "Laissez-faire" is a French term that means "leave it alone." In economics, the phrase is used to refer to the government policy of non-interference in business. Smith wrote about the "Invisible hand" that guides and controls markets when there are no unnatural outside forces applied to the "free market." The laws of competition and of supply and demand are key factors in Smith's economics theory.
On March 9, 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the most fundamental work of classical economics and a description of the system of capitalism.
Smith coined or elaborated on several terms which contributed to his nicknames of "the Father of Economics" and "the Father of Capitalism." "Laissez-faire" is a French term that means "leave it alone." In economics, the phrase is used to refer to the government policy of non-interference in business. Smith wrote about the "Invisible hand" that guides and controls markets when there are no unnatural outside forces applied to the "free market." The laws of competition and of supply and demand are key factors in Smith's economics theory.
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Person.
Let's briefly examine the life of an American woman in 1814. Let's narrow it down to the "privileged" life of a white American woman whose life was even easier than that of a woman of color at the time.
A white woman in 1814 was generally uneducated and relegated to a lifetime as wife and mother or a lifetime of scorn, derision, or pity if she never married. A woman was expected to have no public opinions or even much of a public persona. She couldn't vote, serve on juries, sign contracts, or testify in court. Married women basically ceased to exist legally. Any property or money was their husband's. It was practically impossible in most states for a woman to initiate divorce, even in cases of abuse, adultery, and desertion, and a divorced woman would likely be reduced to a life of poverty, ridicule, and scandal. Maybe worst of all, a mother had no custodial rights over her children; the father made all decisions and dispositions.
This was the world of Eunice Chapman (1778-1863). While there are no portraits of her, and you've probably never heard of her, she singlehandedly waged a legal war for her children over nearly a decade to win her children back, setting divorce law precedents in New York state.
Chapman's husband deserted her and joined the Shakers, the controversial religious sect that had several communities across the country, living apart from the sinful world around them. He returned, kidnapped their children, and took them back to the Shaker community. When Eunice refused to live as a Shaker, she was expelled, and her husband and the Shaker leadership hid her children from her.
Chapman then began a one-woman crusade to get her children back, writing and publishing her story and attacks on the Shakers and personally lobbying state legislators seeking a legal remedy. It is an incredible story, and Dr. Ilyon Woo wrote a great book about it.
Let's briefly examine the life of an American woman in 1814. Let's narrow it down to the "privileged" life of a white American woman whose life was even easier than that of a woman of color at the time.
A white woman in 1814 was generally uneducated and relegated to a lifetime as wife and mother or a lifetime of scorn, derision, or pity if she never married. A woman was expected to have no public opinions or even much of a public persona. She couldn't vote, serve on juries, sign contracts, or testify in court. Married women basically ceased to exist legally. Any property or money was their husband's. It was practically impossible in most states for a woman to initiate divorce, even in cases of abuse, adultery, and desertion, and a divorced woman would likely be reduced to a life of poverty, ridicule, and scandal. Maybe worst of all, a mother had no custodial rights over her children; the father made all decisions and dispositions.
This was the world of Eunice Chapman (1778-1863). While there are no portraits of her, and you've probably never heard of her, she singlehandedly waged a legal war for her children over nearly a decade to win her children back, setting divorce law precedents in New York state.
Chapman's husband deserted her and joined the Shakers, the controversial religious sect that had several communities across the country, living apart from the sinful world around them. He returned, kidnapped their children, and took them back to the Shaker community. When Eunice refused to live as a Shaker, she was expelled, and her husband and the Shaker leadership hid her children from her.
Chapman then began a one-woman crusade to get her children back, writing and publishing her story and attacks on the Shakers and personally lobbying state legislators seeking a legal remedy. It is an incredible story, and Dr. Ilyon Woo wrote a great book about it.
Place.
Beginning in 1814, Eunice Chapman launched a campaign against her estranged husband and the Shakers religious sect when he kidnapped and withheld their children from her, and the Shaker leadership hid the children from her. Her campaign and its results set important precedents in New York divorce and custody laws.
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, known more commonly as the Shakers, were an offshoot of the Quakers. Although she was not the sect's founder, Mother Ann Lee became the sect's leader, even recognized as the second coming of Jesus Christ in female form.
Chapman's children were taken to the first American Shaker community, Watervliet New York, established in 1774. Over the next 25 years, more Shaker communities were formed, mostly in the northeast and New England, but as far south as Kentucky. By the end of the 1800s, at least 20,000 Shakers lived in 26 communities. While they purposely chose to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, which they viewed as sinful, they were not strictly isolated. They supported their communities by engaging in commerce with outsiders, selling food, crops, crafts, and furniture. They were innovative, capitalistic, and worldly in many ways.
Mother Ann Lee died at Watervliet, which had become the hub of Shaker communities, in 1784.
Beginning in 1814, Eunice Chapman launched a campaign against her estranged husband and the Shakers religious sect when he kidnapped and withheld their children from her, and the Shaker leadership hid the children from her. Her campaign and its results set important precedents in New York divorce and custody laws.
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, known more commonly as the Shakers, were an offshoot of the Quakers. Although she was not the sect's founder, Mother Ann Lee became the sect's leader, even recognized as the second coming of Jesus Christ in female form.
Chapman's children were taken to the first American Shaker community, Watervliet New York, established in 1774. Over the next 25 years, more Shaker communities were formed, mostly in the northeast and New England, but as far south as Kentucky. By the end of the 1800s, at least 20,000 Shakers lived in 26 communities. While they purposely chose to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, which they viewed as sinful, they were not strictly isolated. They supported their communities by engaging in commerce with outsiders, selling food, crops, crafts, and furniture. They were innovative, capitalistic, and worldly in many ways.
Mother Ann Lee died at Watervliet, which had become the hub of Shaker communities, in 1784.
Thing.
Beginning in 1814, Eunice Chapman launched a campaign against her estranged husband and the Shakers religious sect when he kidnapped and withheld their children from her, and the Shaker leadership hid the children from her. Her campaign and its results set important precedents in New York divorce and custody laws.
New York had divorce laws similar to the UK and other states at the time. Although divorce was generally rare, a husband could sue for divorce based on one unfaithful episode and have his petition granted. However, a wife could only initiate a divorce after obtaining evidence of numerous instances of adultery USUALLY IN ADDITION TO aggravating charges such as physical cruelty, incest, or bestiality.
Dr. Ilyon Woo's book The Great Divorce tells Eunice's story.
Beginning in 1814, Eunice Chapman launched a campaign against her estranged husband and the Shakers religious sect when he kidnapped and withheld their children from her, and the Shaker leadership hid the children from her. Her campaign and its results set important precedents in New York divorce and custody laws.
New York had divorce laws similar to the UK and other states at the time. Although divorce was generally rare, a husband could sue for divorce based on one unfaithful episode and have his petition granted. However, a wife could only initiate a divorce after obtaining evidence of numerous instances of adultery USUALLY IN ADDITION TO aggravating charges such as physical cruelty, incest, or bestiality.
Dr. Ilyon Woo's book The Great Divorce tells Eunice's story.
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Person.
On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren finally ended a long winning streak on US TV
game show "Twenty-One" after winning $129,000 ($1.2 million today). Later, the show was revealed to be fixed, with Van Doren given answers in advance by the producers, causing a huge scandal.
Van Doren (1926-2019) came from an academic family and developed a wide range of interests, earning a BA in Liberal Arts at St. John's College, an MA in astrophysics, and a PhD in English at Columbia. He also studied at Cambridge.
He didn't even own a TV when a friend told him about appearing on Tic-Tac-Dough. Van Doren applied, and producers selected him for a new show they were producing called Twenty-One. He first appeared on Twenty-One on November 28, 1956. In January, he began a long winning streak that enthralled the nation, making him a national celebrity. In 1958, allegations of cheating surfaced, and everything collapsed. Congress held hearings. Van Doren denied everything at first and went into hiding to avoid a subpoena, but another contestant provided evidence of the cheating, and Van Doren was forced to confess.
He lost his teaching job and became an editor at various companies including Encyclopedia Brittanica. He wrote numerous books himself, fiction and nonfiction, but he only rarely ever talked about the scandal. Ralph Fiennes portrayed him in 1994's film Quiz Show. He died in 2019.
On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren finally ended a long winning streak on US TV
game show "Twenty-One" after winning $129,000 ($1.2 million today). Later, the show was revealed to be fixed, with Van Doren given answers in advance by the producers, causing a huge scandal.
Van Doren (1926-2019) came from an academic family and developed a wide range of interests, earning a BA in Liberal Arts at St. John's College, an MA in astrophysics, and a PhD in English at Columbia. He also studied at Cambridge.
He didn't even own a TV when a friend told him about appearing on Tic-Tac-Dough. Van Doren applied, and producers selected him for a new show they were producing called Twenty-One. He first appeared on Twenty-One on November 28, 1956. In January, he began a long winning streak that enthralled the nation, making him a national celebrity. In 1958, allegations of cheating surfaced, and everything collapsed. Congress held hearings. Van Doren denied everything at first and went into hiding to avoid a subpoena, but another contestant provided evidence of the cheating, and Van Doren was forced to confess.
He lost his teaching job and became an editor at various companies including Encyclopedia Brittanica. He wrote numerous books himself, fiction and nonfiction, but he only rarely ever talked about the scandal. Ralph Fiennes portrayed him in 1994's film Quiz Show. He died in 2019.
Place. (-ish)
On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren finally ended a long winning streak on US TV
game show "Twenty-One" after winning $129,000 ($1.2 million today). Later, the show was revealed to be fixed, with Van Doren given answers in advance by the producers, causing a huge scandal.
"Twenty-One was originally conceived by host Jack Barry and producing partner Dan Enright as a weekly half-hour program for CBS' 1956–1957 schedule. The show was ultimately picked up by NBC and ran from September 12, 1956, to October 9, 1958, under the sponsorship of Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the makers of Getitol. The series finished at #21 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1957–1958 season. In 1958, Elfrida von Nardoff won $220,500 on the game show Twenty-One, more money than any other contestant on the show.After starting the 1958-59 season with an 8:30 Thursday night time slot, Twenty-One ran on October 2 and on October 9 before being abruptly canceled. An announcement broadcast a few hours before the scheduled October 16 program informed viewers that it would not be seen. A spokesman for Pharmaceuticals said, "Twenty-One was dropped because of a decline in ratings. We must admit that the investigation had something do with this decline," after the October 9 show had the lowest rating in its history. A prime-time version of Concentration was introduced in the 8:30 time slot on October 30, with Barry as the host and Pharmaceuticals' Geritol as the sponsor." (From Wikipedia)
Van Doren lost his teaching job as a result of the scandal and became an editor at various companies including Encyclopedia Brittanica. He wrote numerous books himself, fiction and nonfiction, but he only rarely ever talked about the scandal. Ralph Fiennes portrayed him in 1994's film Quiz Show. He died in 2019.
On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren finally ended a long winning streak on US TV
game show "Twenty-One" after winning $129,000 ($1.2 million today). Later, the show was revealed to be fixed, with Van Doren given answers in advance by the producers, causing a huge scandal.
"Twenty-One was originally conceived by host Jack Barry and producing partner Dan Enright as a weekly half-hour program for CBS' 1956–1957 schedule. The show was ultimately picked up by NBC and ran from September 12, 1956, to October 9, 1958, under the sponsorship of Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the makers of Getitol. The series finished at #21 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1957–1958 season. In 1958, Elfrida von Nardoff won $220,500 on the game show Twenty-One, more money than any other contestant on the show.After starting the 1958-59 season with an 8:30 Thursday night time slot, Twenty-One ran on October 2 and on October 9 before being abruptly canceled. An announcement broadcast a few hours before the scheduled October 16 program informed viewers that it would not be seen. A spokesman for Pharmaceuticals said, "Twenty-One was dropped because of a decline in ratings. We must admit that the investigation had something do with this decline," after the October 9 show had the lowest rating in its history. A prime-time version of Concentration was introduced in the 8:30 time slot on October 30, with Barry as the host and Pharmaceuticals' Geritol as the sponsor." (From Wikipedia)
Van Doren lost his teaching job as a result of the scandal and became an editor at various companies including Encyclopedia Brittanica. He wrote numerous books himself, fiction and nonfiction, but he only rarely ever talked about the scandal. Ralph Fiennes portrayed him in 1994's film Quiz Show. He died in 2019.
Thing.
On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren finally ended a long winning streak on US TV
game show "Twenty-One" after winning $129,000 ($1.2 million today). Later, the show was revealed to be fixed, with Van Doren given answers in advance by the producers, causing a huge scandal which tainted the game show genre for years.
(From Wikipedia)
"Game shows began to appear on radio and television in the late 1930s. The first television game show, Spelling Bee, as well as the first radio game show, Information Please, were both broadcast in 1938; the first major success in the game show genre was Dr. I.Q., a radio quiz show that began in 1939. Truth Or Consequences was the first game show to air on commercially licensed television; the CBS Television Quiz followed shortly thereafter as the first to be regularly scheduled. The first episode of each aired in 1941 as an experimental broadcast. Over the course of the 1950s, as television began to pervade the popular culture, game shows quickly became a fixture. Daytime game shows would be played for lower stakes to target stay-at-home housewives. Higher-stakes programs would air in prime time. (One particular exception in this era was You Bet Your Life, ostensibly a game show, but the game show concept was largely a framework for a talk show moderated by its host, Groucho Marx.) During the late 1950s, high-stakes games such as Twenty-One and The $64,000 Question began a rapid rise in popularity. However, the rise of quiz shows proved to be short-lived. In 1959, many of the higher stakes game shows were exposed as being either biased or outright scripted in the 1950s quiz show scandals and ratings declines led to most of the primetime games being canceled."
On March 11, 1957 Charles Van Doren finally ended a long winning streak on US TV
game show "Twenty-One" after winning $129,000 ($1.2 million today). Later, the show was revealed to be fixed, with Van Doren given answers in advance by the producers, causing a huge scandal which tainted the game show genre for years.
(From Wikipedia)
"Game shows began to appear on radio and television in the late 1930s. The first television game show, Spelling Bee, as well as the first radio game show, Information Please, were both broadcast in 1938; the first major success in the game show genre was Dr. I.Q., a radio quiz show that began in 1939. Truth Or Consequences was the first game show to air on commercially licensed television; the CBS Television Quiz followed shortly thereafter as the first to be regularly scheduled. The first episode of each aired in 1941 as an experimental broadcast. Over the course of the 1950s, as television began to pervade the popular culture, game shows quickly became a fixture. Daytime game shows would be played for lower stakes to target stay-at-home housewives. Higher-stakes programs would air in prime time. (One particular exception in this era was You Bet Your Life, ostensibly a game show, but the game show concept was largely a framework for a talk show moderated by its host, Groucho Marx.) During the late 1950s, high-stakes games such as Twenty-One and The $64,000 Question began a rapid rise in popularity. However, the rise of quiz shows proved to be short-lived. In 1959, many of the higher stakes game shows were exposed as being either biased or outright scripted in the 1950s quiz show scandals and ratings declines led to most of the primetime games being canceled."
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Person.
I'm currently listening to American Midnight published last fall by the author of King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hoschchild. It is a searing account of the horrible things Americans did to other Americans during the 1910s and 1920s. The governments, businesses, law enforcement, vigilantes, the public at large all perpetrated horrific crimes against innocents in the guise of patriotism. It is hard to read such things, but necessary.
Kate Richards O'Hare (1876-1948) was one of those wronged because of her politics and her determined devotion to free speech. Born in Kansas to the son of slave owners who hated slavery and enlisted as a Union bugle boy in the Civil War, she became a socialist, inspired by Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. After the US entered WWI in 1917, she crossed the country giving anti-war speeches. She was convicted for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 as a result and sentenced to 5 years in federal prison. She was pardoned after a year, thanks to a major public campaign to release her.
Unlike Eugene V. Debs and other Socialist leaders, O'Hara was a segregationist. Much of her energy in later life was devoted to penal reform.
I'm currently listening to American Midnight published last fall by the author of King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hoschchild. It is a searing account of the horrible things Americans did to other Americans during the 1910s and 1920s. The governments, businesses, law enforcement, vigilantes, the public at large all perpetrated horrific crimes against innocents in the guise of patriotism. It is hard to read such things, but necessary.
Kate Richards O'Hare (1876-1948) was one of those wronged because of her politics and her determined devotion to free speech. Born in Kansas to the son of slave owners who hated slavery and enlisted as a Union bugle boy in the Civil War, she became a socialist, inspired by Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. After the US entered WWI in 1917, she crossed the country giving anti-war speeches. She was convicted for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 as a result and sentenced to 5 years in federal prison. She was pardoned after a year, thanks to a major public campaign to release her.
Unlike Eugene V. Debs and other Socialist leaders, O'Hara was a segregationist. Much of her energy in later life was devoted to penal reform.
Place.
I'm currently listening to American Midnight published last fall by the author of King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hoschchild. It is a searing account of the horrible things Americans did to other Americans during the 1910s and 1920s. The governments, businesses, law enforcement, vigilantes, the public at large all perpetrated horrific crimes against innocents in the guise of patriotism. It is hard to read such things, but necessary.
In Collinsville Illinois in 1918, German immigrant Robert Prager was lynched for being a German enemy agent, accused of plotting to blow up the local coal mine. The evidence against him? When he was rejected for membership into the local United Mine Workers chapter simply because he was German, he wrote an open letter complaining about his unfair rejection. For that, a mob of 200 to 300 men kidnapped from his home and lynched him.
Eleven men were tried for the murder. They proudly posed for a photo on the courthouse steps waving American flags. The jury took a whole 10 minutes to deliberate before acquitting all the defendants. Most of the men in the mob, the defendants, and the jurors themselves were first or second generation immigrants. In the wartime superpatriotic fervor that gripped the nation, they probably acted out of the desire to prove to the country what good Americans they were.
I'm currently listening to American Midnight published last fall by the author of King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hoschchild. It is a searing account of the horrible things Americans did to other Americans during the 1910s and 1920s. The governments, businesses, law enforcement, vigilantes, the public at large all perpetrated horrific crimes against innocents in the guise of patriotism. It is hard to read such things, but necessary.
In Collinsville Illinois in 1918, German immigrant Robert Prager was lynched for being a German enemy agent, accused of plotting to blow up the local coal mine. The evidence against him? When he was rejected for membership into the local United Mine Workers chapter simply because he was German, he wrote an open letter complaining about his unfair rejection. For that, a mob of 200 to 300 men kidnapped from his home and lynched him.
Eleven men were tried for the murder. They proudly posed for a photo on the courthouse steps waving American flags. The jury took a whole 10 minutes to deliberate before acquitting all the defendants. Most of the men in the mob, the defendants, and the jurors themselves were first or second generation immigrants. In the wartime superpatriotic fervor that gripped the nation, they probably acted out of the desire to prove to the country what good Americans they were.
Thing.
I'm currently listening to American Midnight published last fall by the author of King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hoschchild. It is a searing account of the horrible things Americans did to other Americans during the 1910s and 1920s. The governments, businesses, law enforcement, vigilantes, the public at large all perpetrated horrific crimes against innocents in the guise of patriotism. It is hard to read such things, but necessary.
One of the targets of government, business, law enforcement, and vigilante repression and violence was the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, nicknamed the Wobblies (although the origin of that is unclear).
The IWW was officially founded in Chicago, Illinois in June 1905. A convention was held of 200 socialists, anarchists, Marxists (primarily members of the Socialist Party of America and Socialist Labor Party of America), and radical trade unionists from all over the United States (mainly the Western Federation of Miners) who strongly opposed the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The IWW opposed the AFL's acceptance of capitalism and its refusal to include unskilled workers in craft unions.
I'm currently listening to American Midnight published last fall by the author of King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hoschchild. It is a searing account of the horrible things Americans did to other Americans during the 1910s and 1920s. The governments, businesses, law enforcement, vigilantes, the public at large all perpetrated horrific crimes against innocents in the guise of patriotism. It is hard to read such things, but necessary.
One of the targets of government, business, law enforcement, and vigilante repression and violence was the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, nicknamed the Wobblies (although the origin of that is unclear).
The IWW was officially founded in Chicago, Illinois in June 1905. A convention was held of 200 socialists, anarchists, Marxists (primarily members of the Socialist Party of America and Socialist Labor Party of America), and radical trade unionists from all over the United States (mainly the Western Federation of Miners) who strongly opposed the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The IWW opposed the AFL's acceptance of capitalism and its refusal to include unskilled workers in craft unions.
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Person.
On March 13, 1964, 28-year old bartender Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. Two weeks later, The New York Times published an article declaring that at least 38 witnesses had seen or heard the attack, but none of them had called police or attempted to intervene.
The story shocked and enraged the country. Psychologists began detailed studies of what was called the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome." However, questions were raised about facts in the Times article at the time, but they largely went unchallenged. Decades later, historians and researchers have found no evidence for 38, or any, witnesses. In 2016, The New York Times called its own reporting "flawed" and "grossly exaggerated." In fact, two people had called the police, no one saw or heard more than the briefest part of the attack, and people who heard bits of the attack though it was lovers or drunks quarreling. A woman did discover Genovese after the murderer fled and cradled her until police arrived. One witness did admit to calling her friends to ask what to do before calling police.
In addition, autopsy results showed that one of the initial wounds punctured her lungs. That would have made screaming extremely difficult.
The murderer was arrested 6 days later on burglary charges. He admitted to a couple of dozen burglaries and to murdering and raping Genovese and two other women, revealing unpublished details about the Genovese attack. He selected his victims at random, and he was a necrophile. He died in prison in 2016.
On March 13, 1964, 28-year old bartender Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. Two weeks later, The New York Times published an article declaring that at least 38 witnesses had seen or heard the attack, but none of them had called police or attempted to intervene.
The story shocked and enraged the country. Psychologists began detailed studies of what was called the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome." However, questions were raised about facts in the Times article at the time, but they largely went unchallenged. Decades later, historians and researchers have found no evidence for 38, or any, witnesses. In 2016, The New York Times called its own reporting "flawed" and "grossly exaggerated." In fact, two people had called the police, no one saw or heard more than the briefest part of the attack, and people who heard bits of the attack though it was lovers or drunks quarreling. A woman did discover Genovese after the murderer fled and cradled her until police arrived. One witness did admit to calling her friends to ask what to do before calling police.
In addition, autopsy results showed that one of the initial wounds punctured her lungs. That would have made screaming extremely difficult.
The murderer was arrested 6 days later on burglary charges. He admitted to a couple of dozen burglaries and to murdering and raping Genovese and two other women, revealing unpublished details about the Genovese attack. He selected his victims at random, and he was a necrophile. He died in prison in 2016.
Place.
On March 13, 1964, 28-year old bartender Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. Two weeks later, The New York Times published an article declaring that at least 38 witnesses had seen or heard the attack, but none of them had called police or attempted to intervene.
The story shocked and enraged the country. Psychologists began detailed studies of what was called the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome." However, questions were raised about facts in the Times article at the time, but they largely went unchallenged. Decades later, historians and researchers have found no evidence for 38, or any, witnesses. In 2016, The New York Times called its own reporting "flawed" and "grossly exaggerated." In fact, two people had called the police, no one saw or heard more than the briefest part of the attack, and people who heard bits of the attack though it was lovers or drunks quarreling.
(Wikipedia)
"Kew Gardens was one of seven planned garden communities built in Queens from the late 19th century to 1950. Much of the area was acquired in 1868 by Englishman Albon P. Man, who developed the neighborhood of Hollis Hill to the south, chiefly along Jamaica Avenue, while leaving the hilly land to the north undeveloped.
Maple Grove Cemetery on Kew Gardens Road opened in 1875. A Long Island Rail Road station was built for mourners in October and trains stopped there from mid-November. The station was named Hopedale, after Hopedale Hall, a hotel located at what is now Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike. In the 1890s, the executors of Man's estate laid out the Queens Bridge Golf Course on the hilly terrains south of the railroad. This remained in use until it was bisected in 1908 by the main line of the Long Island Rail Road, which had been moved 600 feet (180 m) to the south to eliminate a curve. The golf course was then abandoned and a new station was built in 1909 on Lefferts Boulevard. Man's heirs, Aldrick Man and Albon Man Jr., decided to lay out a new community."
On March 13, 1964, 28-year old bartender Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. Two weeks later, The New York Times published an article declaring that at least 38 witnesses had seen or heard the attack, but none of them had called police or attempted to intervene.
The story shocked and enraged the country. Psychologists began detailed studies of what was called the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome." However, questions were raised about facts in the Times article at the time, but they largely went unchallenged. Decades later, historians and researchers have found no evidence for 38, or any, witnesses. In 2016, The New York Times called its own reporting "flawed" and "grossly exaggerated." In fact, two people had called the police, no one saw or heard more than the briefest part of the attack, and people who heard bits of the attack though it was lovers or drunks quarreling.
(Wikipedia)
"Kew Gardens was one of seven planned garden communities built in Queens from the late 19th century to 1950. Much of the area was acquired in 1868 by Englishman Albon P. Man, who developed the neighborhood of Hollis Hill to the south, chiefly along Jamaica Avenue, while leaving the hilly land to the north undeveloped.
Maple Grove Cemetery on Kew Gardens Road opened in 1875. A Long Island Rail Road station was built for mourners in October and trains stopped there from mid-November. The station was named Hopedale, after Hopedale Hall, a hotel located at what is now Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike. In the 1890s, the executors of Man's estate laid out the Queens Bridge Golf Course on the hilly terrains south of the railroad. This remained in use until it was bisected in 1908 by the main line of the Long Island Rail Road, which had been moved 600 feet (180 m) to the south to eliminate a curve. The golf course was then abandoned and a new station was built in 1909 on Lefferts Boulevard. Man's heirs, Aldrick Man and Albon Man Jr., decided to lay out a new community."
Thing.
On March 13, 1964, 28-year old bartender Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. Two weeks later, The New York Times published an article declaring that at least 38 witnesses had seen or heard the attack, but none of them had called police or attempted to intervene.
The story shocked and enraged the country. Psychologists began detailed studies of what was called the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome." The theory was that in larger groups, fewer people would intervene. However, questions were raised about facts in the Times article at the time, but they largely went unchallenged. Decades later, historians and researchers have found no evidence for 38, or any, witnesses, and The New York Times has admitted that the original story was error-filled.
Psychologists and researchers have also found lately that the "bystander effect" has been grossly overstated as well, challenging 3 to 4 decades of acceptance.
In 2019, a large international cultural anthropology study analyzed 219 street disputes and confrontations that were recorded by security cameras in three cities in different countries—Lancaster, Amsterdam, and Cape Town. Contrary to bystander theory, the study found that bystanders intervened in almost every case, and the chance of intervention went up with the number of bystanders; "a highly radical discovery and a completely different outcome than theory predicts."
On March 13, 1964, 28-year old bartender Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. Two weeks later, The New York Times published an article declaring that at least 38 witnesses had seen or heard the attack, but none of them had called police or attempted to intervene.
The story shocked and enraged the country. Psychologists began detailed studies of what was called the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome." The theory was that in larger groups, fewer people would intervene. However, questions were raised about facts in the Times article at the time, but they largely went unchallenged. Decades later, historians and researchers have found no evidence for 38, or any, witnesses, and The New York Times has admitted that the original story was error-filled.
Psychologists and researchers have also found lately that the "bystander effect" has been grossly overstated as well, challenging 3 to 4 decades of acceptance.
In 2019, a large international cultural anthropology study analyzed 219 street disputes and confrontations that were recorded by security cameras in three cities in different countries—Lancaster, Amsterdam, and Cape Town. Contrary to bystander theory, the study found that bystanders intervened in almost every case, and the chance of intervention went up with the number of bystanders; "a highly radical discovery and a completely different outcome than theory predicts."
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Person.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) died on March 14, 1977. She was a civil rights leader and activist who often doesn't get the credit that she deserves.
Born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, the last of 20 children born to sharecroppers, she started picking cotton at age 6. From 6 to 12, she attended a one room schoolhouse, excelling in reading and spelling bees. By age 13, she was picking 200-300 pounds of cotton daily, while living with the effects of polio.
She became involved in the Civil rights movement in the 1950s, concentrating on organizing black Mississippians to register to vote and campaign for the right to vote. As a result, she lost her job, was repeatedly shot at, and had death threats made against her. In June 1963, she was arrested. In jail, policemen forced two black male inmates to beat her with a baton while they sexually assaulted her. She never fully recovered from the injuries, suffering profound physical and psychological damage.
She returned to organizing, leading "Freedom Summer" and founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She led the fight to have the MFDP recognized as Mississippi's delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, gaining national media coverage.
She continued her activism for political, social, and economic justice until her death in 1977.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) died on March 14, 1977. She was a civil rights leader and activist who often doesn't get the credit that she deserves.
Born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, the last of 20 children born to sharecroppers, she started picking cotton at age 6. From 6 to 12, she attended a one room schoolhouse, excelling in reading and spelling bees. By age 13, she was picking 200-300 pounds of cotton daily, while living with the effects of polio.
She became involved in the Civil rights movement in the 1950s, concentrating on organizing black Mississippians to register to vote and campaign for the right to vote. As a result, she lost her job, was repeatedly shot at, and had death threats made against her. In June 1963, she was arrested. In jail, policemen forced two black male inmates to beat her with a baton while they sexually assaulted her. She never fully recovered from the injuries, suffering profound physical and psychological damage.
She returned to organizing, leading "Freedom Summer" and founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She led the fight to have the MFDP recognized as Mississippi's delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, gaining national media coverage.
She continued her activism for political, social, and economic justice until her death in 1977.
Place.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) died on March 14, 1977. She was a civil rights leader and activist who often doesn't get the credit that she deserves.
She excelled among her peers for 6 years in her one-room schoolhouse, and, in 1964, private historically black Tougaloo College, founded in 1869, awarded her an honorary degree in recognition of her community organizing work. Nevertheless, she was often ridiculed and patronized by both black and white people, even black civil rights activists, for her lack of formal education. NAACP Executive Director called her "ignorant," and President Lyndon Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey mocked her, calling her illiterate.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) died on March 14, 1977. She was a civil rights leader and activist who often doesn't get the credit that she deserves.
She excelled among her peers for 6 years in her one-room schoolhouse, and, in 1964, private historically black Tougaloo College, founded in 1869, awarded her an honorary degree in recognition of her community organizing work. Nevertheless, she was often ridiculed and patronized by both black and white people, even black civil rights activists, for her lack of formal education. NAACP Executive Director called her "ignorant," and President Lyndon Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey mocked her, calling her illiterate.
Thing.
Mississippi appendectomy.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) died on March 14, 1977. She was a civil rights leader and activist who often doesn't get the credit that she deserves.
Born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, the last of 20 children born to sharecroppers, she started picking cotton at age 6. From 6 to 12, she attended a one room schoolhouse, excelling in reading and spelling bees. By age 13, she was picking 200-300 pounds of cotton daily, while living with the effects of polio.
From Wikipedia:
"Hamer and her husband wanted very much to start a family but in 1961, a white doctor subjected Hamer to a hysterectomy without her consent while she was undergoing surgery to remove a uterine tumor. Forced sterilization was a common method of population control in Mississippi that targeted poor, African-American women. Members of the Black community called the procedure a "Mississippi appendectomy". The Hamers later raised two girls they adopted, eventually adopting two more. One, Dorothy Jean, died at age 22 of internal hemorrhaging after she was denied admission to the local hospital because of her mother's activism."
From the early 1900s through the 1970s, it is estimated that 60,000 women in the US, disproportionately black and southern, had hysterectomies without their consent. While many cases involved women who were institutionalized or mentally challenged, in several southern states, poor, uneducated, black women were often victims.
Mississippi appendectomy.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) died on March 14, 1977. She was a civil rights leader and activist who often doesn't get the credit that she deserves.
Born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, the last of 20 children born to sharecroppers, she started picking cotton at age 6. From 6 to 12, she attended a one room schoolhouse, excelling in reading and spelling bees. By age 13, she was picking 200-300 pounds of cotton daily, while living with the effects of polio.
From Wikipedia:
"Hamer and her husband wanted very much to start a family but in 1961, a white doctor subjected Hamer to a hysterectomy without her consent while she was undergoing surgery to remove a uterine tumor. Forced sterilization was a common method of population control in Mississippi that targeted poor, African-American women. Members of the Black community called the procedure a "Mississippi appendectomy". The Hamers later raised two girls they adopted, eventually adopting two more. One, Dorothy Jean, died at age 22 of internal hemorrhaging after she was denied admission to the local hospital because of her mother's activism."
From the early 1900s through the 1970s, it is estimated that 60,000 women in the US, disproportionately black and southern, had hysterectomies without their consent. While many cases involved women who were institutionalized or mentally challenged, in several southern states, poor, uneducated, black women were often victims.
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