1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: in history in this episode. They're both good, if I 4 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: do say so myself. On with the show. Greetings everyone, 5 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to this day in History class, where we learn 6 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: a smidgen of history every day. The day was March 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: eighteen forty nine. An enslaved man named Henry Brown packed 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: himself up in a box and with the help of friends, 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: mailed himself from slavery in Virginia to freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: Henry was born in eighteen fifteen or eighteen sixteen at 11 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: the Hermitage Plantation in Louisa County, Virginia, and John Barrett 12 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: was his owner. Henry's life was markedly different from that 13 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: of many other people who were enslaved at the time. 14 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: He knew and grew up with parents and his four 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: sisters and three brothers. He was not whipped. As Henry 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: learned more about slavery on other plantations, he discovered how 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: terrible the conditions on plantations could be. But it wasn't 18 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: long before Henry's life would be changed forever by one 19 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: of the cruel practices endemic to the institution of slavery 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: family separation. When Henry was a teenager, John Barrett died 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: and gave Henry to his son William. William took Henry 22 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: to Richmond to work in a tobacco factory, separating Henry 23 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: from his family. William promised Henry good treatment in a 24 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: small sum of money if he behaved well and worked hard. 25 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: Years later, Henry married an enslaved woman named Nancy, who 26 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: was owned by a banker named Mr. Lee. But Henry 27 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: was once again torn apart from a loved one when 28 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: Nancy was sold to Joseph cole Quit, then to a 29 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: man named Samuel Catrell. Cotrell basically extorted Henry, telling Henry 30 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: that he could stay with his wife and kids if 31 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: he paid him fifty dollars a year. Henry did so, 32 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: and the family lived together for years in a rental home, 33 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: attending the first African Baptist church. But in August, twelve 34 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: years into the marriage, Cotrell sold Nancy and the three 35 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: Brown children. At the time, Nancy was pregnant. On the 36 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: day Nancy had to leave for North Carolina, Henry held 37 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: Nancy's hand for four miles before he said his final goodbye. 38 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: Henry was once again ripped away from his family. What 39 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: happened to Nancy and their children is unknown. It was 40 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,679 Speaker 1: at this point when Henry began to really resent the 41 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: lack of morality and goodness and supposedly Chris slave owners, 42 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: and he longed to escape slavery. He later wrote the following. 43 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: One day, while I was at work and my thoughts 44 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: were eagerly feasting upon the idea of freedom, I felt 45 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: my soul called out to Heaven to breathe a prayer 46 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: to Almighty God. I prayed fervently that he who seeth 47 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: in secret and knew the inmost desires of my heart, 48 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: would lend me his aid in bursting my fetters asunder 49 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: and then restoring me to the possession of those rights 50 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: of which men had robbed me. When the idea suddenly 51 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: flashed across my mind of shutting myself up in a 52 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: box and getting myself conveyed as dry goods to a 53 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: free state, so Henry turned to James Caesar Anthony Smith, 54 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: a free black man and fellow member of the First 55 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: African Baptist Church Choir, for help. James Smith then reached 56 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: out to Samuel Alexander Smith, a white shoemaker, gambler and 57 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: slave owner to set up the escape. After they decided 58 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: that Henry would be shipped in a box by rail 59 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia, Samuel Smith got in touch with James Miller McKim, 60 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: a leader of the Pennsylvania Anti Slavery Society who was 61 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: involved in the underground railroad. Henry port sulfuric acid on 62 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: one of his fingers that was already infected to get 63 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: off work, and on March Henry climbed into a wooden 64 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: box marked as dry goods that was three ft one 65 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: inch long, two ft wide, and two and a half 66 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: feet high. Henry was around five ft and ten inches 67 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: and two hundred pounds, so it was a tight fit. 68 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: He had a little water and some biscuits for the ride, 69 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: and he had cut holes in the box for air. 70 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: Samuel and James nailed him into the box, and Samuel 71 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: shipped it to Philadelphia through the Adams Express Company. The 72 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: trip took a grueling twenty seven hours, and along the 73 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: way Henry was turned upside down and thought he might die, 74 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: but he made it to the headquarters of the Philadelphia 75 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,239 Speaker 1: Anti Slavery Society alive the next day. Henry later wrote, 76 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 1: I had risen as if it were from the dead. 77 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: Months later, Samuel and James were arrested for trying to 78 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: ship another person to freedom. Samuel was sentenced to six 79 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: and a half years in prison, but James was released. 80 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: Henry Box Brown went on tours telling his story and 81 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: wrote a book with the abolitionist Charles Stearns called Narrative 82 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: of Henry Box Brown. Just before the Fugitive Slave Act 83 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 1: of eighteen fifty past, which would require people who escaped 84 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: slavery and lived in free states to be returned to 85 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: their owners, Henry was motivated to leave the country because 86 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: of a racist assault he had endured. Henry lived in 87 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: England for twenty five years, performing acts about his escape 88 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: able and eventually magic and science. He returned to the 89 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: US in eighteen seventy five with his second wife and 90 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: daughter and stayed in the entertainment business. Years later, he 91 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: moved to Canada and likely died there in eighteen nine. 92 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: People who were enslaved used many different methods of escape, 93 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: some successful and some not, but Henry's mail escape lives 94 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: on as a testament to the ingenuity and determination many 95 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: people had to employ to find a way to freedom. 96 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: I'm Eves, Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little 97 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 98 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: want to know more about Henry's life, listen to the 99 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: episode of Stuffy missed in history class called The Life 100 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: and Magic of Henry Box Brown. And I'd like to 101 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: add that some sources claim he was shipped on March 102 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: twenty nine and arrived in Philadelphia on March thirty, including 103 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: the book that Brown wrote himself called Narrative of the 104 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: Life of Henry Box Brown. But a letter James Miller 105 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: McKim wrote on March puts the shipping day at March 106 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: and other documents back that date up as well. And 107 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: during his lifetime, Henry did have some critics. James Smith 108 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,119 Speaker 1: criticized him for taking an English wife instead of trying 109 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: to find and purchase Nancy. Frederick Douglas also thought that 110 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: Brown ruined the chance for other enslaved people to escape 111 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: via shipping, since Brown had publicized his method. Thanks again 112 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: for listening, and we'll see you here again tomorrow. Hey everyone, 113 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: it's Eves again speaking to you from the comfort of 114 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: my home. Welcome to another episode of this day and 115 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: History class. The day was March nineteen forty two, Guyanese 116 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: historian and activist Walter Rottney was born. He's remembered for 117 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: his scholarship and activism concerning the working class and black 118 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: people around the world. Rottney was born to Edward and 119 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: Pauline Rottney in Georgetown, British Guyana or present day Guyana, 120 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: British Guyana was a colony that was part of the 121 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: British West Indies. After World War Two, there were increasing 122 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: demands for political independence in Guyana. The People's Progressive Party, 123 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: a left wing political party formed in the early nineteen 124 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: fifties in the colony. Rottney's perspectives developed in the midst 125 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: of this rising anti colonial sentiment. During that decade, Rottney 126 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: distributed People's Progressive Party manifestos. He began attending Queen's College, 127 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: a high school in Guyana. There, he edited the school's 128 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: newspaper and participated in the debate society. He graduated in 129 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty and won a scholarship to the University College 130 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: of the West Indies. He graduated with a degree in 131 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,199 Speaker 1: history in nineteen sixty three. He went on to attend 132 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: the University of London, where he got a doctorate in 133 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: African history. His thesis was called a History of the 134 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: Upper Guinea Coast fifty to eighteen hundred in England, Rottney 135 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: continued to recognize how scholarship divorced history from politics. Rottney 136 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: took a job as a lecturer in Tanzania, but he 137 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: left to teach at the University of the West Indies 138 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: in Jamaica. There he taught African history, highlighting the importance 139 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: of Africa and Caribbean history and the impact of historical 140 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,959 Speaker 1: resistance against slavery and colonialism. He advocated for the working 141 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: class and criticized the government's policies. He gave lectures to 142 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: marginalized groups in Jamaica and became a key figure in 143 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: the Black power movement. After he went to the Black 144 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: Writers Conference in Montreal in nineteen sixty eight, Rodney was 145 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: declared prasada non grata by the Jamaican government and banned 146 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 1: from returning to the country. People protested his banning, but 147 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: he continued to speak out on the repression of darker Jamaicans. 148 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: He taught in Tanzania for a few years, publishing his 149 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: best known work, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, but in nineteen 150 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: seventy four, he returned to Guyana, which had gained independence 151 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six, to take a position as a 152 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: professor of history at the University of Guyana. Though his 153 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: appointment to the university was revoked, he stayed in Guyana 154 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,599 Speaker 1: and he became a leader of the Working People's Alliance, 155 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: a political group formed in the nineteen seventies in opposition 156 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: to the regime of Prime Minister Forbes Burnham. Rodney gave 157 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: lectures in Jamaica, Europe, and the US, and he continued 158 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: his vocal resistance to Burnham as the government proceeded to 159 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: sponsor police raid and beatings. In July of nineteen seventy nine, 160 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: he and seven other people were arrested after two government 161 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: offices were burned down. He faced charges of arson but 162 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: was acquitted. Though he and his peers faced persecution, he 163 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: maintained his criticism of the government and the constitution. But 164 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: on June eighty Rottney died in a bomb explosion. The 165 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: bomb was allegedly given to him by someone in the 166 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: Guyana Defense Force. It suspected that the assassination was orchestrated 167 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: by Burnham. Rottney was survived by his wife and three children. 168 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:43,599 Speaker 1: Some of his works were published posthumously. I'm Eve Jeffcote 169 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 170 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. And if you want to leave 171 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: us a message on social media, you can do so 172 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter at t d i h 173 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: C Podcast and if you prefer to send us an email, 174 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: you can do so at this day at i heeartmedia 175 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks again for listening to the show and 176 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 1: we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, 177 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 178 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.