1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Technically you're getting two days in history today 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: because we're running two episodes from the History Vault. Hope 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: you enjoy Welcome to this day and history class where 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: history waits for no one. The day was June twenty eighth, 5 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine. Early in the morning, New York City 6 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: police raided the stone Wall in a gay bar in 7 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: Greenwich Village in Manhattan. The raid inside a riot, and 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: tensions between the LGBTQ community and police reached a breaking point. 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: The raid in subsequent riots catalyzed the organization of pride 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: marches and marked a major moment of resistance in the 11 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: US movement for LGBTQ rights. Anti LGBTQ policies and views 12 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: were prevalent at the time. Sexuality was still deemed a 13 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: psychiatric disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, and LGBTQ people 14 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: faced institutional and interpersonal discrimination. They were at risk of 15 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: being locked up in psychiatric institutions or jail, being fired 16 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: from their jobs, or losing custody over their children because 17 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: of their sexuality or identity. In New York, in the 18 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: years leading up to the Stonewall riots, the State Liquor 19 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: Authority banned gay people from being served alcoholic drinks and bars, 20 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: and it would close bars that violated this rule. This 21 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: rule was overturned in nineteen sixty six, and the SLA 22 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: stopped closing licensed bars that served LGBTQ folks. Though LGBTQ 23 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: activists had been working for decades to advance LGBTQ rights 24 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: and demand better treatment, so listening homosexual acts and publicly 25 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: expressing homosexuality was still illegal in New York. They could 26 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: be arrested for displays of affection, for dancing with each other, 27 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: and for wearing clothes that were not quote gender appropriate. 28 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: LGBTQ people sought out gay bars, one of the few 29 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: places that accepted them where they could express themselves without 30 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: judgment or persecution, but police continued to harass patrons at 31 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: gay bars, many of which operated without liquor licenses since 32 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: they were ran by the mafia. The stone Wall In 33 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: was one of those unlicensed bars, so police raids on 34 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: gay bars were still common in New York City. Stonewall 35 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: had seen its fair share of raids, but staff were 36 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: usually given a heads up and warned customers so nobody 37 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: would get arrested. In the days leading up to the 38 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: Stonewall riots. Police raided many bars, including the stone Wall, 39 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: on the Tuesday before the events took place, but on 40 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: June twenty eighth, at one twenty am, police entered the 41 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: stone Wall in and out that they were conducting a raid. 42 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: Employees had not been alerted that there would be a 43 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: raid that night. It's been suggested that the bar owners 44 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: failed to pay off the police, who took money for 45 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: not arresting them for serving drinks without a license and 46 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: not telling media about the bar's notable patrons. But as usual, 47 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: the police lined people up, checked their IDs, assaulted some 48 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: of the patrons, and checked people who they suspected of 49 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: cross dressing, which was an offense. The police ended up 50 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: arresting several patrons and employees. As people in the area 51 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: began to notice the commotion, they gathered outside the bar 52 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: along with patrons who had been sent out of the bar. 53 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: As a police band arrived at the scene and arrested 54 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: patrons were sent to the police station. The growing crowd 55 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: became more rowdy and through bottles, coins, and other objects 56 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: at the police. Transgender rights activists Marshall P. Johnson has 57 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: been cited as one of the key gears in the 58 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: uprising along with Sylvia Rivera. Police barricaded themselves inside the bar, 59 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: but people through trash cans, rocks, and bricks at the building, 60 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: and they even set it on fire. A few hours 61 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: after the rioting started, the area was quiet, though a 62 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: lot of the Stonewall Inn had been destroyed and people 63 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: had been injured, But rioting began again the next night 64 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: and protests continued for a few more days. The Village 65 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: Voice published reports on the riots. Historians assert that the 66 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: riots were spontaneous, but were a culmination of social turbulence 67 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: related to anti LGBTQ sentiment, the civil rights movement, the 68 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: Vietnam War, and other conflicts occurring at the time, as 69 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: well as the climate of sexual openness in the sixties. 70 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: Raids continued after the riot. Though the riots at stone 71 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: Wall were not the beginning of LGBTQ activism, they are 72 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: viewed as a watership moment in the history of the 73 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: movement that activated interests in LGBTQ rights organizations, the gay 74 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: liberation movement, and LGBTQ inclusion and advocacy. I'm Eve Jeffcote, 75 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 76 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday, and if you'd like to follow 77 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: us on social media, you can find us at t 78 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: d i h C podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 79 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 1: And if you have not listened to a new show 80 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: I host Call on the Popular you can get it 81 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: anywhere you listen to This Day in History Class. Thanks 82 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: again for listening, and we'll see you tomorrow. Hey, y'all, 83 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: it's Eves and welcome to This Day in History Class, 84 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: a podcast for people who can never know enough about history. 85 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: The day was June twenty eighth, nineteen fifty. The television 86 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: show Amos and Andy premiered on CBSTV, adapted from one 87 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 1: of the most popular syndicated radio programs at the time. 88 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: The television version had a successful run, but the show 89 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: was also admired in controversy and ultimately canceled because of 90 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: protests surrounding the way it portrayed black people. Amos and 91 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: Andy was created by Freeman Goston and Charles Carrell initially 92 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: as a radio show in Chicago, Illinois, in the nineteen twenties. 93 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: At first, an executive for their radio station wg Inn 94 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,679 Speaker 1: approached to Goston and Correll about adapting a popular comic 95 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: strip from the Chicago Tribune. Instead, they pitched an idea 96 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: for a show about quote a couple of colored characters, 97 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: specifically because they wanted to voice characters in a stereotypical 98 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: black dialect. Minstrel shows typically featured white actors and blackface 99 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: performing as caricatures of black people. Though waning in popularity, 100 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,679 Speaker 1: they were still a form of entertainment at the time 101 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: WG in greenlit their show. Its initial iteration was entitled 102 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: Sam and Henry and aired on Chicago Radio beginning in 103 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: January of nineteen twenty six. The show was so successful 104 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: that Gosston and Correll wanted to expand it. They proposed 105 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: that the show would be recorded on phonographs and distributed 106 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: to different radio stations around the country, which would have 107 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: been the first ever form of radio syndication, but their 108 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: proposal was shot down. The two creators quit the network, 109 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: but WGN retained the contractual rights to Sam and Henry. 110 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: They were picked up by the Chicago station WMAQ, who 111 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: wanted them to create something similar, so they came up 112 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: with Amos and Andy. They later said that they decided 113 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: on the names after hearing two black men greet each 114 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: other in an elevator. Amos and Andy premiered on Chicago 115 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: Radio in March of nineteen twenty eight. The show followed 116 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: the titular characters, two black men from Atlanta who moved 117 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: to Chicago during the Great Migration. Goaston and Correll voiced 118 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: the characters, as well as more than one written seventy 119 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: other male characters over the course of the show. The 120 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: show was super popular, and it did become the first 121 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: radio program to be syndicated across the US. It was 122 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: drawing in forty million listeners by nineteen thirty one, but 123 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: protests about the show's portrayal of black Americans had already begun. 124 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: The first prominent protest was mounted by the Pittsburgh Courier, 125 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: a black newspaper, in nineteen thirty one. It started a 126 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: petition to have the show taken off the air. One 127 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: April nineteen thirty one article in the paper said the following. 128 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 1: The men portraying the characters are white. The company employing 129 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: Amos and Andy is white. The people reaping the financial 130 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: game from the characterizations are all white. But the people 131 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: who are getting the black eye out of it all 132 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: are the negroes of this country and of every other 133 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: country where Negroes are found. The Amos and Andy Show, 134 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: starring Alvin Childress, Spencer Williams, and Tim Moore, premiered on 135 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: CBSTV on June twenty fifth, nineteen fifty one. The television 136 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: adaptation took place in harle It was the first American 137 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: television show with black actors featured in leading roles. The 138 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: show was sponsored by BLAT's Brewing Company, and it ran 139 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: for fifty two episodes between nineteen fifty one and nineteen 140 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: fifty three. Soon after the show premiered, the NAACP formerly 141 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: protested it as a quote gross libel of the Negro 142 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: and distortion of the truth. Campaigns to band the Amos 143 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: and Andy Show targeted both CBS and BLATS, and BLATS 144 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: stopped sponsoring it. In nineteen fifty three, the show was canceled, 145 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,719 Speaker 1: but twenty six more episodes were grouped in with syndicated reruns. 146 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: CBS continued to air reruns of the show until nineteen 147 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: sixty six, but ultimately stopped after conceding to pressures from 148 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: the NAACP and other protests. In light of the Civil 149 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: rights movement. Rejoice TV broadcast a show for nationwide audiences 150 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: again for several years, starting in twenty twelve, but the 151 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,079 Speaker 1: show is not currently being aired across the US. On 152 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: one hand, many people found the stereo types in the 153 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: show harmful, regardless of the representation of black people in 154 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: different roles. Despite the controversy, some people credit the show 155 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: as paving the way for Black Americans on television and 156 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:15,559 Speaker 1: making white audiences more sympathetic towards black people. I'm Eve 157 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: jeffco and hopefully you know a little more about history 158 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,199 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. And if you have any 159 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: commerce or suggestions, you can send them to us via email. 160 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: We're at This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. You can 161 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: also hit us up or follow us on social media. 162 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: We're at t d IHC podcast. Thanks so much for 163 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:45,719 Speaker 1: listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow. For 164 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 165 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.