1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by square Space. Start 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: building your website today at squarespace dot com. Enter offer 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: code History at check out to get ten percent off 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: square Space. Build it Beautiful. Welcome to steph you missed 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: in history class from works dot com. Hello, and welcome 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I am Tracy B. Wilson and I'm 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: Holly Frying. A few weeks ago, I was at the 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: Boston Atheneum. I needed to check out a book that 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,560 Speaker 1: I wanted to use as a resource for our recent 10 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: episode on the Anglo Cherokee War, and because we have 11 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: not talked as much about Native American history lately, I 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: also spent some time just browsing the shelves around that 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: book to see if anything else caught my eye. Uh, 14 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: and one did. It was called Women of the Dawn 15 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: by Bunny McBride, and it's about four Native American women 16 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: from northeastern North America. And that's specific book did not 17 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: did not work out as a source for Usher just 18 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: because it reads like fiction. And I don't know about you, Holly. 19 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: When a when a historical text reads like fiction, it's 20 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: very hard for me to pick out the fact parts 21 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: from like the more color parts. So UM. I did, however, 22 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: learn about another book by the same author, which is 23 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: Molly Spotted Elk a Panop Scott in Paris. Molly Spotted 24 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: Elk was the stage name of Mary Alice Nelson, and 25 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: Mary Alice Nelson exself itself is an Anglicized form of 26 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: her name, which was Molly Dellis. We are going to 27 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: follow Bunny McBride's lead because she wrote her book Um 28 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: with the consent and involvement of her family, so I 29 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: think she knows best. We're gonna call her Molly for 30 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: this episode. Molly was born in Old Town on Indian Island, Maine, 31 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: and she turned to dance as a way for her 32 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: family to try to make ends meet, but has audiences 33 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: and dance companies and other venues in the United States 34 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 1: were really pushing her towards stereotypical depictions of Native Americans. 35 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: She eventually took that dancing to France. When you mentioned 36 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: this episode in that aspect of it to me, I 37 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: was reminded of our episode on Maria tal Chief where 38 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,679 Speaker 1: she talked about as a child being put on these 39 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: stage shows where they were doing these very stereotype false 40 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: history Native American dance type things. And it ran very 41 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: similar to me in that regard. Yeah, there are some 42 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: similarities definitely with Maria tal Chief. There are also some 43 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: similarities to Josephine Baker, So yeah, she's got some parallels 44 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: with some other stuff, but still her own unique story. 45 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: And today, the Panomscot people are a federally recognized tribe 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: headquartered on Indian Island in the Panompscot River in Maine. 47 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: They're part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Wabanaki means people of 48 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: the Dawn because they're collective. Terra Tory is on the 49 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: eastern edge of the North American East Coast. Historically, the 50 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: panops Got people were a highly mobile society. They used 51 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: birch bark canoes to move along the river and other 52 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: waterways and warm weather and sleds and snow shoes when 53 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: everything was frozen over because it gets quite cold in Maine. 54 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: Uh Hunting animals like moose and deer and muskrat was 55 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 1: a major source of food and materials for clothing. Fishing 56 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: was a staple as well, as we're growing and gathering. 57 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: By the time Molly was born on November seventeenth of 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: nineteen o three, Europeans arrival in North America had changed 59 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: the panop Scot way of life radically. Only about four 60 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: hundred people remained on a reservation on Indian Island. Introduced 61 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: diseases and violent conflicts had reduced the nation's population, while 62 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: their territory had shrunk through land cessations to first European 63 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: and then American governments. Hunting had ceased to be workable 64 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: as the major engine of the nation's economy me and 65 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: instead many of the Panops got relied in one way 66 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: or another on mains tourist industry or in entertainment. The 67 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: reliance on the tourist industry was definitely true of Molly's mother, Philamine, 68 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,559 Speaker 1: who practiced traditional medicine and was also a basket maker. 69 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: Basket making is culturally very important to the panop Scott people. 70 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: Baskets are made of ash splints and sweet grass, and 71 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: the ash tree that they're made from is actually part 72 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 1: of the panop Scott creation story. Philamine was highly renowned 73 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: at making these baskets, both for her skill and making 74 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: beautiful baskets and because she was so prolific at making 75 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: them that she was able to put a significant amount 76 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: of income toward her family's expenses by selling them during 77 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: the tourist season, and the men in Molly's family were 78 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: notable as well. Molly's father, Horace, was the first panop 79 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: Scott to attend Dartmouth College, where he went for a year, 80 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: and he would later become a representative of the Panopska 81 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: people in the main legislature and eventually the governor of 82 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: the Penobscot nation. Both her paternal grandfathers were also tribal leaders. 83 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: Molly's career as a dancer started when she was very young. 84 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 1: Tourreasts coming into the area would ask Native children to dance, 85 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: and if they did a lot of times they were 86 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: rewarded with a nickel. Molly really loved to dance, and 87 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: at the age of nine she wanted to get some 88 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: more formal training and she wanted to take ballet lessons 89 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: in Bangor, Maine. She started cleaning houses at the age 90 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: of nine to pay her own way to do this. 91 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: She also spent a lot of her time looking after 92 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: her younger siblings because she was the oldest of eight children. 93 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: At the age of thirteen, Molly finished junior high school 94 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: at old Town Junior High and rather than going directly 95 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: on to high school, though, she detoured to Massachusetts for 96 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: three years, where she worked as a governess to help 97 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: her family make ends meet, and from there she learned 98 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: that the vaudeville circuit was looking for Native American dancers, 99 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: so she joined a small vaudeville company and she danced 100 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: with them until nineteen. When we say a small vaudeville company, 101 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: these are ofen tiny, sometimes kind of fly by night operations. 102 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: Performer performers often had to provide all their own costumes 103 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: and makeup, and they performed in the little hole in 104 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: the wild venues, some of which barely had a stage 105 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: or a curtain. But Molly really really loved dance, and 106 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 1: she was very good at it, and she was able 107 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: to scrimp and save her pay from these performances to 108 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: help the rest of her family. For the next few years, 109 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: she alternated between performing and trying to go back to school. 110 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 1: She really desperately wanted an education, and what she didn't 111 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,039 Speaker 1: send back to her family she sucked away into a 112 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: school fund, and almost in cycle, she took breaks from 113 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: school to go to Boston to work, and then returned 114 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: to Indian Islands to enroll in school again. In the 115 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen three, she got a job as a 116 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: so called Indian council are at a summer camp for 117 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 1: affluent girls. Summer camps were starting to become a popular 118 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: activity for youth, especially for families who've had a little 119 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: more money, UH, and a lot of camps at this point, 120 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: we're starting to lean on a hodgepods of Native American 121 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: cultural tropes for their themes and camp rituals, something that 122 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: has continued on into today in a lot of places. 123 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: The Boy Scouts, for example, were incorporated by Congress in 124 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, and by nineteen fifteen they were explicitly including 125 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: Native American themes in the honor society known as the 126 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: Order of the Arrow. Molly's job at this camp was 127 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: to lend an air of Native American authenticity and to 128 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: lead the girls in Native themed activities such as canoeing 129 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: and dancing. She was fired from this job, which was 130 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: mortifying for her, when some pieces of jewelry that had 131 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: gone missing were found in her trunk and they may 132 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: have been put there intentionally to frame her. Yeah, a 133 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: lot of people that were um interview you for this book, 134 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: UH talked about how they didn't think that she had 135 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: stolen anything. They thought that somebody had done it on 136 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: purpose to get her in trouble, because even though she 137 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: was popular among a lot of the girls, she was 138 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: also facing a lot of racism on the job there. 139 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: In September of that year, after the summer, she started, 140 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty, high school for the last time. 141 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: And by this point, obviously she was a lot older 142 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: than most of her peers in the class, and she 143 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: was really torn between trying to educate herself and trying 144 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: to earn money for her family. In the fall, she 145 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: started missing classes to pursue other work and eventually stopped 146 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: going entirely, but she didn't stop trying to pursue education though. 147 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: She went to live with the family of Frank Speck, 148 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: who was an anthropologist working at the University of Pennsylvania, 149 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: and she had met with him when she was younger 150 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: and he had been doing research on Indian Island. He 151 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: made arrangements for her to attend Swarthmore Preparatory School and 152 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,320 Speaker 1: audit classes at the Universe City, and Molly contributed to 153 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: a study he was working on called Penobscott Man, The 154 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: Life of a Forest Tribe in Maine. It's not completely 155 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: clear whether Molly, ever, ultimately graduated from the university. There 156 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: are some newsletters that list her as an alumna, but 157 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: her personal papers are more ambivalent about it. Ironically, however, 158 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: both Molly and a sister who attended the university were 159 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: housed in the on campus International House. When Molly eventually 160 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: struck out on her own. It was to make a 161 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: more serious pursuit as a performer, and we're going to 162 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: talk a lot about that, but first we were going 163 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: to pause for a break where we talk about one 164 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: of our awesome sponsors. When Molly left her studies at 165 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: the University of Pennsylvania again not quite sure whether she 166 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: graduated or just stopped, it was to join an old 167 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: West show, Joseph Zachary and George Miller's One oh one 168 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: Ranch Show, which was named after the Father's ranch in Oklahoma. 169 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: This show toured from April to October, and then it 170 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: performed in an arena that was built at the ranch 171 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: for the rest of the year. One of Molly's sisters 172 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: had joined this troupe previously kind of brought Molly on 173 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: board with the One on one Ranch Show. Molly did 174 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: some horseback and elephant writing, as well as a lot 175 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: of dancing. She and her sister were also in a 176 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: film that the Miller Brothers made called On with the Show. 177 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: At one point she won a dance competition at a 178 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: pow wow, and it's possible that her Spotted Elk stage 179 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: name was actually given to her at this point by 180 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: one of the Plains tribes that she was performing with 181 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:50,719 Speaker 1: while in Oklahoma. She definitely started using the stage name 182 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: Molly Spotted Elk after she got back from Oklahoma. In 183 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: Molly moved to New York, hoping to find fame as 184 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: a dancer, saying that if she did, her mother would 185 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: not have to sell baskets anymore. And she also still 186 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: continued to pursue her own education extensively reading, studying, and 187 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: writing during her off hours, which she really continued to 188 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 1: do for the rest of her life. She also kept 189 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: a diary, which was another thing she would do through 190 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: most of her life, and she relentlessly critiqued her own 191 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: dance abilities in it. So no matter how much critics 192 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,320 Speaker 1: raved about her, she just never felt like she deserved 193 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: to call her own work excellent. And addition to trying 194 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 1: to find work as a dancer, Molly also made some 195 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: money as an artist's model, and as a footwear model 196 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: she had these very delicate five five feet and consequently 197 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: they were pretty sought after bottle footwear. She also gave 198 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: dance lessons and continued sending as much of her money 199 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: as she could back home to her family. I kind 200 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: of loved the irony that a dancer had such lovely 201 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: feet that people wanted to photograph them, I know, because 202 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: very often that is not the case when you're dancing 203 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: all the time. Yeah. I studied dance in college and 204 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: my feet are hideous, as we're all of the dancers 205 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: that I danced with, So go Molly. Eventually, Molly joined 206 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: the Foster Girls chorus line, which had been founded by 207 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: Alan Kay Foster in and with them she traveled to 208 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: San Antonio, Texas for an eight month engagement at the 209 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: Aztec Theater, where the company performed as sort of like 210 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: an opening act for films that were screened there. Molly 211 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: also got cameo roles and solos as Princess Spotted Elk, 212 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,680 Speaker 1: and she gradually started doing private performances as well. After 213 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,559 Speaker 1: the Foster Girls went back to New York, Molly got 214 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: work with another Pinop Scott entertainer, Lucy Nicola, whose stage 215 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: name was Princess Guadawassu. Her troupe was all Native Americans 216 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: and they performed in the Keith Albie Orpheum vaudeville circuit. 217 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: We haven't really talked about it, but entertainment, we briefly 218 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: said at the top of the show was one of 219 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: the one of the few career opportunities really open to 220 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: Native people at this time, and so um Lucy had 221 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: kind of arranged this all native troop to that end. 222 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: Lucy was actually also from Indian Island, and her family 223 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: had similarly made their living selling baskets in Kinnebunk in Kinnebunkport, Maine. 224 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: So Lucy and Molly had a lot in common from 225 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: that perspective. Soon, Molly was combining the vaudeville work that 226 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: she was doing with solo performances in which she would 227 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,959 Speaker 1: perform both traditional Penobscot and other Native American dances with 228 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: more contemporary styles like the Charleston in the Black Bottom. 229 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: In Molly got what she hoped would be her big break. 230 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: It was a major role in The Silent Enemy, which 231 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: was a docu drama that came out in nineteen thirty. 232 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: This was a silent film with an all Native cast 233 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: about the Ojibway people in northern Canada. The film, set 234 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: before the arrival of European colonists, documented one tribe struggle 235 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: against hunger in the face of a brutal winter. This film, 236 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: Occupi has a bit of an odd place in film history. 237 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: Producer William Douglas Burden wanted to combat stereotypes of Native 238 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: Americans with his film. He was inspired by previous docu dramas, 239 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: and he originally planned to hire and all Ojibway cast 240 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: and to tell a story that was both sympathetic and accurate. 241 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: In the end, three of his UH five lead actors, 242 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: including Molly, wound up coming from other tribes, and one 243 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: of those three was a multi racial man who was 244 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: sort of hiding the complexities of his racial and ethnic 245 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: background UH and instead presenting himself as someone who had 246 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: been raised strictly as a Native person in a Native community. 247 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: Minor parts and extras came from a mix of Ojibway 248 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: actors as well as other Native American and First Nations people's. 249 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: Although the actors themselves collaborated on the scripts through rewrites 250 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: and revisions, the ends story that was told was still 251 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: filtered through a white lens, with some tropes that were 252 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: inaccurate and frankly offensive. For example, there was an evil 253 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: medicine man, and there's some treatment of animals that would 254 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: simply not fly in the film world today. So in 255 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: a lot of ways, this film was way ahead of 256 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: many others of the day in terms of opportunities for 257 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: representation of Native Americans in film. But if you watch 258 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: it today, and you can, it's available at archive dot org, 259 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: there is a lot that is still stereotypical or insensitive, 260 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: even when it came to things that have been refined 261 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: to be more accurate to Native American traditions. A lot 262 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 1: of the Native Americans who were involved in that process 263 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: were from different tribes, and as we've talked about on 264 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: the show before, Native American is not like one monolithic culture. 265 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: There are lots of huge nuances among things. So uh, 266 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: in some cases there were there were opinions that were 267 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: absolutely true for one tribe but not actually true for 268 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: the tribe that was being shown in the film. In 269 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: addition to being in a sort of in between place 270 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: in terms of representation of Native Americans and film, something 271 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: that you know, good representations of Native people were that 272 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: was hugely important to Molly and her work. This film 273 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: was also in an in between place in terms of 274 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: the transition from silent films to talkies. This was one 275 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: of the last silent films that Paramount ever produced, and 276 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: by the time it was ready to be released, the 277 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: world had mostly moved on to talkies. Nobody really wanted 278 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: to watch a silent film anymore, so in an effort 279 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: to salvage this movie, Paramount recorded a talking preface that 280 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: started before the main body of the film, as well 281 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: as a synchronized score with narration so people would hear 282 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: the narrator talking rather than reading titles on the screen. 283 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: The Silent Enemy, which had involved a year of grueling 284 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: filming in northern Maine, much of it during winter, was 285 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: released to almost unanimous critical praise, but as is often 286 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: the case with films that get a lot of critical praise, 287 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,199 Speaker 1: it was not a financial success. Molly was able to 288 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: use her pay from it to buy her family a 289 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: new house on Indian Island, but it really did not 290 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: open the door to real fame the way she had hoped. 291 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,360 Speaker 1: This is one of the first of many things where 292 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: I just feel like Molly could not catch a break 293 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: like like. The film was really good. The big thing 294 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: that worked against it was that the world had just 295 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,360 Speaker 1: moved on to talkies by the time the film came out, 296 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: Otherwise it probably would have done much better at the 297 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: box office. So once the film came out, Molly went 298 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: back to working on clubs and stages, including getting a 299 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: contract with the Provincetown Players. She was approached for a 300 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: role in Cecil b the Mills remake of The squaw Man, 301 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: but that wound up falling through. She kept persevering and 302 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: finding solo roles and performance opportunities, and just trying ceaselessly 303 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: to portray Native American dances authentically, at least as much 304 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: as Broadway directors and audiences would allow. As had been 305 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,719 Speaker 1: the case in so many other times in her life, 306 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:04,959 Speaker 1: Molly took on multiple roles and bookings to help her 307 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,120 Speaker 1: family back home as much as she could. She also 308 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: turned to direct advocacy, writing to state agencies and newspapers 309 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,440 Speaker 1: to petition for more fair treatment of the Panomscot people 310 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: by the state appointed Indian Agent, which was at the 311 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: time the person who was responsible for dispersing funds to 312 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: the population. In one talent aimed. Thomas O'Brien invited Molly 313 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: to Paris, and this marked a huge shift in her life. 314 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: We will talk about it after another brief break for 315 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: a word from a sponsor. Molly's opportunity in Paris was 316 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,239 Speaker 1: as part of a Native American jazz band known as 317 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: the United States Indian Band, which was to travel to 318 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: Europe as part of the International Colonial Exposition. Molly was 319 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: enormously excited to bring her dances to a new audience, 320 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: but unbeknownst to the band, they were there in part 321 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: to show cultural progress among Native Americans. So this was 322 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: in the era in which these expositions essentially contained human zoos. 323 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,160 Speaker 1: The presence of the jazz band was sort of one 324 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: step up from that. In in addition to being part 325 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: of the jazz band, Molly also became part of the 326 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: International Ballet Corps. You know, we've talked about these expos 327 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,360 Speaker 1: in some previous shows, where there would be like, this 328 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: is a village from an African nation with the villagers 329 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: living there, and people would kind of come to gawk 330 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: at it. Uh So the jazz band was not that, 331 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,959 Speaker 1: but it was also like they hands selected the band 332 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: to show, hey, Native Americans can go to college now, 333 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: and like that has its own issues, like it's not 334 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: being put into a human zoo, but in a way 335 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: it's got some similarities to that. At the end of 336 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: the expo, the rest of the band went home and 337 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: Molly side and to stay in Paris. This was a 338 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: risk she was taking, basically hoping she would be able 339 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: to find work. European audiences approached her dancing in a 340 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: very different way from how audiences had approached it in 341 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: the States and the United States. Moley was basically a 342 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: colonial subject, and she was expected to play out a 343 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: stereotype of a Native American woman. European audiences still saw 344 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 1: her as strange and exotic, but seemed a lot more 345 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: willing to learn about her and her tradition and to 346 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: want to see authentic culture rather than expecting her to 347 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: perform a racist trope for their amusement. She moved out 348 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: of clubs and into cabarets, concerts, and recitals. For these performances, 349 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: becoming known as Princess Spotted Elk. She became pretty highly acclaimed, 350 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: not exactly famous, but she was finding steady work and 351 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: all the while she was still trying to learn. She 352 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: was going to lectures at the Slurbun and she was 353 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: working with Parisian anthropologists on their studies. Uh. This effort 354 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: to make money and survive while also educating herself was 355 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: just a theme through her whole life. Early on in 356 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: her stay in Paris, Molly met Jean Arschambeaux, who interviewed 357 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: her for Paris Soir shortly after her arrival, and he 358 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: fell in love with her and began writing her really 359 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: beautiful love letters, and he proposed two months after they met, 360 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: It's going to be one of the many times where 361 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: I say, if you are interested in this story, read 362 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: the book Molly spotted al Ka Panovs got in Paris, 363 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,919 Speaker 1: because some of these love letters are excerpted there and 364 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: they're lovely. Molly, however, was reluctant, although she did eventually 365 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: take him up on an offer to rent a room 366 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:49,199 Speaker 1: in his parents home. His parents were initially really welcoming 367 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: of her, but they became a little less approving as 368 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: it became clear that their son was pretty serious about her. 369 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: During this time, Molly worked on a novel, She kept 370 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: up with her diaries and her hers, and she really 371 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,360 Speaker 1: threw herself into trying to make a real career as 372 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: a performer, and it really seemed like she was making 373 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,399 Speaker 1: headway in this regard until the Great Depression struck along 374 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: with political turmoil in France and the rest of Europe, 375 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 1: and everything started to crumble. Molly's film opportunities all fell through. Jean, 376 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: who she called Johnny, lost his job at Paris Soir, 377 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 1: probably because his politics did not align with the view 378 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,160 Speaker 1: that the paper needed to promote to sell enough copies 379 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: to stay in business, and then he lost his subsequent 380 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,959 Speaker 1: job at Le Petitjean Now and started struggling to freelance. 381 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: By nine thirty three, three years into her relationship with Johnny, 382 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: Molly was out of money. She was facing chronic health 383 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:48,160 Speaker 1: problems due to having had tuberculosis. She became homesick, then 384 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: she got anthrax, for which she was successfully treated. Then 385 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: she got pregnant. Johnny and Molly wanted to get married 386 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 1: as soon as they realized that she was pregnant, but 387 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: French law meant that she needed to present a birth certificate, 388 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: which would be followed by a number of delays in 389 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,680 Speaker 1: trying to get a marriage license. Molly finally decided that 390 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: it would be best and safest if she went back 391 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: to the United States with the plan that Johnny would 392 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: join her later. It seemed more likely that they would 393 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: be able to get married there than that they would 394 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: be able to jump through all the hoops that she, 395 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: as a Native American from the United States, would have 396 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:24,880 Speaker 1: to jump through to get married to him in France. 397 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: After writing to her sister, Molly went back to the 398 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: United States by boat and a journey that took a month, 399 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: only to find after getting to California, where her sister 400 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: had been living, that her sister had actually moved to 401 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,919 Speaker 1: New York while Molly was in transit. Then, on May 402 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,640 Speaker 1: thirty one, nine thirty four, Molly's daughter, who she named Jean, 403 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: was born two months early. Her sister wound up borrowing 404 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 1: some money to come back to Los Angeles to help out, 405 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: and in the fall of four Molly and the baby 406 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: went back to Indian Island, where the baby promptly contracted 407 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: hooping cough in influenzas. So as Tracy mentioned earlier, Molly 408 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: just could not catch a break. Yeah. Fortunately, baby Jean 409 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: recovered UM. She had a combination of traditional healing methods 410 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:19,200 Speaker 1: from her grandmother, Molly's mother um and from a doctor, 411 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: so it was a blend of of treatments since she 412 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: did successfully recover, which is good because whooping cough and 413 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: influenza are both very serious, especially in a baby. The 414 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: following January, Molly got a role in the opera Mini 415 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 1: Ha Ha, which was by Peter Joseph Engels, and she 416 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: took this role even though it meant that she would 417 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: have to leave her baby with her mother. With her 418 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: daughter and her mother's care, Molly went back to trying 419 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: to earn money as a dancer and a performer. Although 420 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: she did get small roles in several films. Once again, 421 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: her film career didn't really take off, and she had 422 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: several minor things to her credit, but not any leading roles. 423 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: And this time, instead of trying to fund an education 424 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: for herself, as had been the case so often before, 425 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: she was trying to stock away her extra money to 426 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 1: either find her way back to France or to get 427 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: Johnny to the United States. That separation that they had 428 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: been living in was really difficult for both of them. 429 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: Molly had expected, and perhaps even okayed uh that Johnny 430 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: was going to have casual relationships with other women while 431 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: she was gone, but he wound up having an affair 432 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: with a woman that he said had been sent to 433 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: spy on him, and the emotional weight of this relationship, 434 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: in Molly's view, really crossed a line. This is also 435 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 1: the there's also the part that it was the dangerous 436 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: Johnny was involved. Johnny was a socialist, and so there 437 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: was some reason to suspect that this person really had 438 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: been sent to spy on him. UM, but definitely the 439 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: it seemed a more emotional affair than Molly was comfortable with. UH. 440 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 1: And after a series of tense letters, some of which 441 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: crossed in the mail or got lost in the mail entirely, 442 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: Johnny was on the verge of applying for a visa 443 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: to come to the United States. He asked Molly to 444 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 1: help him secure the necessary documentation that he either had 445 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: money or a job waiting for him when he got there. 446 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: But then he got sept to seemia. He had a 447 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: friend write Molly a letter a few weeks into this 448 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: multi month illness, because sept to seemia also is very 449 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: dangerous UH to tell her what was going on. But 450 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,160 Speaker 1: those letters didn't arrive, and in the meantime, over her 451 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 1: mother's fierce objections. Because Molly's mother had become very attached 452 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: to Jean and had been raising her for a while, 453 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: and Molly was going to take Jean with her. Molly 454 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: made arrangements to go back to France with her daughter 455 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty eight. This is where, uh, I knew 456 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: there was some sadness in this story before I started 457 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 1: researching it, this fact that she goes back to France 458 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: in ninety eight being some foreshadowing. I'm to say it's 459 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: sadder than I thought it was going to be. Back 460 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: in France, Molly's life was less about public performance. She 461 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 1: might have done some dancing, but it would have been 462 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: in private halls or recitals. She and Johnny tried to 463 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: make ends meet through writing, including a French edition of 464 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: Panop Scott Legends, and eventually they had to move in 465 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: with Johnny's parents. Molly gave birth to a second child 466 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: in the spring of nineteen thirty nine, but the baby 467 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: died at about two weeks old and had never left 468 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,760 Speaker 1: the hospital. Molly's book of Panop Scott Legends was published 469 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: later that summer, but just as her promotional tour was 470 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: scheduled to begin, Hitler invaded Poland. Shortly after that, Molly 471 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: and Johnny finally got married this obviously looming war and 472 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: Nazi invasion, dispelling any of Molly's lingering reservations about whether 473 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: a relationship or a marriage between her and Johnny was 474 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: going to work out. Johnny became a Scout master, assisted 475 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,440 Speaker 1: with the Red Cross, helped refuge gee's and was vocally 476 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: anti Nazi. Molly sought aid from an Morgan, who was 477 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: JP Morgan's daughter to try to get the couple out 478 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: of France and and sent them a check to get 479 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:13,399 Speaker 1: to Paris with the hope that they could meet someone 480 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,120 Speaker 1: there who would help get them out of the country 481 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: and into the United States. However, because they had no 482 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: jobs waiting for them in the United States, and because 483 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,439 Speaker 1: security to get into the United States had become a 484 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: lot tighter during the war, and because France's Socialist Party, 485 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,520 Speaker 1: which Johnny was part of, had at one point considered 486 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:39,200 Speaker 1: uniting with Germany's Socialist Party, which became the Nazi Party, 487 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: they just could not get a visa for Johnny to 488 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: go to the United States. Even though he had personally 489 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 1: been vehemently and adamantly against connecting to Germany's National Socialist Party, 490 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: it was still too big of a black mark against him. 491 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: There were just too many complicating factors. Molly was offered 492 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: a place on a refugee ship that was on for 493 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: the United States, but she refused to leave without her husband. Johnny, 494 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: marked an eligible for military service because of a heart problem, 495 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: made arrangements to flee by boat along with the scouts 496 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: that he was working with. Molly and Jean were supposed 497 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: to go to but at the last minute learned that 498 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: they couldn't because of their sex. Molly insisted that Johnny 499 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: go anyway, because at this point leaving was critical to 500 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 1: both his health and the scouts in his charge. She 501 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,040 Speaker 1: had been really, really determined that if they were leaving, 502 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: they were leaving together, but at this point she was like, 503 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 1: you've got to go or you are going to die. 504 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: Once Johnny made his escape by river, Molly decided to 505 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: try to reach safety via Portugal. This was a seven 506 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: hundred mile trip. With help from Anne Morgan, she did 507 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: secure a third class fair for herself and her daughter 508 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,600 Speaker 1: aboard the s S Manhattan, and she made her way 509 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: to the port by hitchhiking, by an ambulance, on in 510 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: a cart, on foot, and eventually by train. A lot 511 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: of this part that was done by foot and by hitchhiking, 512 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: was over the Pyrenees Mountains, where they basically slept by 513 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: the side of the road. Back in the United States, 514 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: Molly and Jean went back to Old Town. They moved 515 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: in with her parents. Her father at this point was 516 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 1: the Panamscat governor. They anxiously awaited word that Johnny and 517 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: the Scouts had made it out of Nazi occupied territory, 518 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: eventually learning that they had and were in a refugee 519 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,480 Speaker 1: camp in Toulouse. While writing letters back and forth to 520 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: Johnny and trying to secure a visa for him, Molly 521 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: got a job as a dancer and a wardrobe mistress 522 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: for a touring company from the Metropolitan Opera Company out 523 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: of New York. She danced, but she also did a 524 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: lot of cleaning the costumes and keeping them in good repair. 525 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: At this point, she was thirty seven. Johnny considered coming 526 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: to the US illegally, both to escape the Nazis and 527 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: to view with Molly, but he didn't. After being hospitalized 528 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: for about twelve days, he died in the hospital of 529 00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:00,719 Speaker 1: Saint Gaudan's on October twenty three. N My last friends 530 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: and her family later reported that her flight from Nazi 531 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: occupied France, and Johnny's death irrevocably changed her. She spent 532 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: the next few years going back and forth between Indian 533 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: Island and New York to perform. She also went to 534 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: California to once again try to find work in film, 535 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: and while she was there, she had a psychological collapse. 536 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:23,240 Speaker 1: In March of nine, she wound up being hospitalized. Her 537 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 1: mother eventually brought her home, and she was later admitted 538 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: to Bangor State Mental Hospital, where she stayed for a year. 539 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: She recovered somewhat, finally returning to Indian Island, where she 540 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: spent the rest of her life. She published a Panop 541 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: Scott dictionary and crafted traditional dolls, two of which are 542 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:44,719 Speaker 1: actually in the Smithsonian collection. She died on February twenty one, 543 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 1: ninety seven, at the age of seventy three, and that 544 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: was after a fall uh and it was two weeks 545 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: after her mother's death at age nineteen. Her daughter Jean 546 00:31:54,280 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: died on July eleven. It took a turn at the end. 547 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 1: I knew that there was some sadness at the end 548 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: from like my my cursory research at the beginning to 549 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 1: decide if this seemed like a good fit for our show. 550 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:15,600 Speaker 1: I was not quite prepared for exactly how uh how 551 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: it it sort of takes a turn at the Great Depression, 552 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: and how much of her life is just she doesn't 553 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: seem like she can win. She she spent her whole 554 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 1: life trying so hard to find an audience for traditional dancing, 555 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: and to educate herself and to make enough money to survive, 556 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: and like all of these things were competing for her 557 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: time and attention, um, because of the fact that she 558 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:44,239 Speaker 1: was was Native American, And I don't know, I just 559 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:51,959 Speaker 1: I wasn't quite prepared for the downer, the last especially 560 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 1: the last act of this episode. Is there is, however, 561 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: so so so much more detail and Molly spotted Elka 562 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 1: Pana Got in Paris by Bunny McBride. That book Prince 563 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: lots of excerpts of her letters, letters to her letters 564 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,719 Speaker 1: from Johnny to Molly, her diaries. It's uh and a 565 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: lot of that. Um. These are all things that I 566 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 1: felt really comfortable reading about in Bunnie McBride's book because 567 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: she did work with the family and had their direct 568 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: involvement in their permission to tell this story. But a 569 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: lot of them are really intimate, and I was like 570 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: I don't feel like I can read this super intimate 571 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,440 Speaker 1: letter on her podcast. UM, but if if you want 572 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,120 Speaker 1: to learn more about Molly and her life, that book 573 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: is really really good. You should pick it up. Do 574 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: you have some listener, ma'am a dear. I do. And 575 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: this actually throws back to an episode from quite a 576 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 1: while ago, but it's a it's a letter that we 577 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: just got, um, just as you and I were leaving 578 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 1: for a whirlwind ten days of travel to Salt Lake 579 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: City in the New York City. It is from Tessa 580 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: and it's about our episode on the Gallipoli Campaign. And 581 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: she says, Hi, Holly, and I see. My name is Tessa. 582 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,960 Speaker 1: And to answer the every important question, I listened to 583 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: you in between dispatching ambulances or answering emergency ambulance calls 584 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: in camera. In the Australian Capital Territory, I live in 585 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,360 Speaker 1: a city with one of the best war museums, the 586 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: Australian War Memorial. They have a great website and if 587 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: you find yourself in Canberra you should really visit. Whilst 588 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: listening to the Glibpoli campaign episode from on my way 589 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: to work tonight, I discovered your podcast at the beginning 590 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 1: of the year, and I'm hoping to catch up to 591 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,440 Speaker 1: the most recent ones soonih I was thinking about Simpson 592 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: and his Donkey, thinking what a fantastic pot topic for 593 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 1: the podcast he would be when Lo and Behold you 594 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: mentioned him. When I was in kindergarten UH and year 595 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: one at primary school, my school and another nearby primary 596 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: school would come together on a hill named Simpson's Hill 597 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: for Anzac Day and novemberlen Remembrance Day. The hill was 598 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,520 Speaker 1: of course named for him, and he continues to be 599 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: a very important part of the culture of these two schools. 600 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:01,919 Speaker 1: Take the dog for a walk up there as often 601 00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:04,320 Speaker 1: as I can. Is that is quite close to my house. 602 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,879 Speaker 1: There's a flagpole and a small memorial. They're surrounded by 603 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: browning natural grasses, some rosemary plants and poppies. I was 604 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,680 Speaker 1: always fascinated with the story of Simpson and his Donkey 605 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 1: as a As an adult, it still brings a tear 606 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,919 Speaker 1: to my eye that he was so filled with bravery 607 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,720 Speaker 1: as someone who works for the ambulance service now, although 608 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: in a communication side of things, I see him as 609 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 1: a shining example of how you can be filled with 610 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,840 Speaker 1: the termination and care for your mates and Cambra, we 611 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: take pride in our memorial services for Anzac Day. It 612 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 1: is a public holiday and many folks will get up 613 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:37,720 Speaker 1: at four am or earlier to get a good spot 614 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: on the Anzac parade, which is lined with memorials for 615 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: nurses the Vietnam, more and more for the memorial which 616 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,400 Speaker 1: brings which begins at sunrise. A good Cambra joke is 617 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: that the first freezing morning of the year is always 618 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: going to be Antach Day morning. My dad used to 619 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 1: get up my little brother, sister and I and take 620 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: us down and explain to us, while we were shivering 621 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: in our jackets and blankets in the ark, why it 622 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:05,319 Speaker 1: was important that we remember them. It was a good lesson. Nowadays, 623 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: during the memorials and celebrations for Anzac Day, there is 624 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,920 Speaker 1: a special attention drawn to the nurses and women at 625 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: home and abroad who were affected by the war by service, 626 00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: work or family. It's good that there's acknowledgment of their sacrifice. Sorry, 627 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: this email is a tadlong and may not make much sense. 628 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,480 Speaker 1: It's by second night shift before days off, and I'm 629 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 1: a little tired. And then she concludes with some episode 630 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,760 Speaker 1: suggestions and ends by saying thank you for the podcast, 631 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 1: which brightens my world immensely. Thanks, tess, I just wanted 632 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:37,840 Speaker 1: to read that. I know that episode was quite a 633 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,719 Speaker 1: long time ago, and for folks who don't remember, the 634 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,279 Speaker 1: man she's talking about was an ambulance driver who was 635 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 1: evacuating soldiers, including on the back of a donkey, but 636 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:48,880 Speaker 1: I don't know. I love to hear people who have 637 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: personal remembrances of how the things that we talk about 638 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,560 Speaker 1: on our show. When you and I are Americans living 639 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: in the United States and and don't have personal experience 640 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,560 Speaker 1: ants with um the how things have evolved uh to 641 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: be like public holidays in other parts of the world. 642 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: I love to hear from people who say, yeah, this 643 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 1: is exactly, this is how we observe this where I 644 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: live in this case in Canberra. So very thank you 645 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 1: so much, tess Uh. If you would like to write 646 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,839 Speaker 1: to us about this or any other podcast, we're at 647 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: History Podcasts at how Stuff Works dot com. We're also 648 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,240 Speaker 1: on Facebook at facebook dot com, slash miss in history 649 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,000 Speaker 1: and on Twitter at miss in History. Are tumblers missed 650 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:31,840 Speaker 1: in history dot com, wre dot com, and we're also 651 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: on panterest at pentrist dot com slash miss in History 652 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,360 Speaker 1: as well as Instagram at missed in History. If you 653 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:40,280 Speaker 1: want to learn more about what we talked about today 654 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,359 Speaker 1: or any other subject, you can come to our parent 655 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 1: companies website, which is how stuff Works dot com. You 656 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:47,320 Speaker 1: can also come to our website, which is missed in 657 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,000 Speaker 1: history dot com, where you will find an archive of 658 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:52,920 Speaker 1: every episode that has ever existed and show notes for 659 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,120 Speaker 1: the episodes. Holly and I put together lots of other 660 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:56,719 Speaker 1: cool stuff, so you can do all that and a 661 00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:59,719 Speaker 1: whole lot more at how stuff works dot com or 662 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:08,400 Speaker 1: miss in history dot com for more illness and thousands 663 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:22,880 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com. 664 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: Mmmmm