1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: in history today. With that said, on with the show. Hi, 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: I'm Eves, and welcome to this Day in History Class, 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers history one day at a time. 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: The day was March eighteen twelve. On page two of 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: the day's issue of the Boston Gazette, there was a 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: drawing by illustrator Elkina Tisdale with the headline the Gary Mander. 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: The drawing was a satirical picture of the district that 9 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gary lived in. Gary was a Democratic 10 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: Republican and his party, which controlled the legislature, had recently 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: redrawn Massachusetts Senate districts in their favor to restrict the 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: Federalists vote to a few districts. After Gary signed the 13 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: redistricting bill to create the mis shaping districts in eighteen twelve, 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: Federalist viewed the new carved up map as an extension 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: of his partisanship. Federalists criticized the bill, calling the districts 16 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: carvings and manglings. Drawing congressional district boundaries for political gain 17 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: had been done before, and Gary did a lot of 18 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: other notable stuff in his lifetime like being vice president, 19 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: but his legacy lives on in his name's relation to 20 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: jerry mandering. Gary got his start in politics relatively early. 21 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy two, he was elected to the General 22 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: Court of Massachusetts. In seventeen seventy five, he was elected 23 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: to the Continental Congress, where he urged the other delegates 24 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: to declare independence from Britain, and the next year Gary 25 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: signed the Declaration of Independence and was elected to the 26 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: Second Continental Congress. From seventeen eighty three to seventeen eighty five, 27 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,279 Speaker 1: he served in the Congress of the Confederation. He served 28 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: in the House of Representatives from seventeen eighty nine seventeen 29 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: ninety three. Gary was Governor of Massachusetts from eighteen ten 30 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: to eighteen twelve, and after he lost reelection to the governorship, 31 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: he became vice president to President James Madison. Over the years, 32 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: Gary had some bold opinions that he stood firmly by. 33 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: He believed the elite should lead the country. He opposed 34 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: British rule, and he called for an end to partisanship 35 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: among Democratic Republicans and federalists. He supported the Great Compromise 36 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: and Agreement that states reached on congressional representation, and he 37 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: believed that the Constitution the Constitutional Convention had drafted was 38 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: not sufficient and needed amendments in a Bill of rights, 39 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: and he fought for checks and balances in government. But 40 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: the part of Gary's career that he's most associated with 41 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: is not his role in the founding of the nation 42 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: or the creation of the Constitution, but for his role 43 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: in signing a redistricting bill in Massachusetts. During his short 44 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: stint as governor, Gary had come to think that the 45 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: Federalists wanted to restore the monarchy and that their opposition 46 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: to President Medicine's foreign policy was basically treasonists, and he 47 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: did start taking actions that aligned with those feelings, like 48 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: when he replaced Federalists in state government jobs with Democratic Republicans. Apportionment, 49 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: or the way legislative seats are distributed among districts, is 50 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: supposed to provide for equal representation across the board, So 51 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: when the Democratic Republicans read drew districts not to follow 52 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: county boundaries but to bring more power to their party, 53 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: Federalists cry partisanship and appointed to Gary's anti federalists dance. 54 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: Gary didn't really support the redistricting either, but it didn't 55 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: seem to violate the Constitution. This adherence to the Constitution 56 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: and his worry about the Federalist closeness to Britain likely 57 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: swayed him to approve the new Frankenstein's Monster districts on 58 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: February eleven, eighteen twelve. There's debate over where the term 59 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: Gary manner truly originated. Gary's district was long and slender, 60 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: and someone could have said it looked like a salamander, 61 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: while someone else retorted it was a Gary Mander rather. 62 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: Another version of the origin story says painter Gilbert Stewart 63 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: drew the wings and head on the district on a 64 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: visit to a newspaper office. Either way, the drawing that 65 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: showed up in the Boston Gazette on March was accompanied 66 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: by an article that began The horrid monster, of which 67 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: this drawing is a correct representation, appeared in the County 68 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: of Essex during the last session of the legislature. Somehow 69 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: or another, the Gary Mander was born, and the Democratic 70 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: Republicans got a larger state Senate majority in the eighteen 71 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: twelve election, though the Federalists got over a thousand more votes. 72 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: Gary died in eighteen fourteen, but the word Gary Mander 73 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: caught on, eventually morphing to Jerry Mander. Today, the word 74 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 1: gerry mandering has a negative connotation and the pract is 75 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: is typically viewed as a shady tactic in the US. 76 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: I'm Eve step Coote and hopefully you know a little 77 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd 78 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: like to learn more about Gary and gerrymandering, listen to 79 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: the stuff you missed in history class episode called Albert 80 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: Gary's Monstrous Salamander. If there are any upcoming days in 81 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: history that you'd really like me to cover on the show, 82 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: give us a shout on social media at t d 83 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: I h C podcast. Thanks for joining me on this 84 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: trip through time. See you here in the exact same 85 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 1: spot tomorrow. Hey everyone, I'm Eaves and welcome to another 86 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: episode of this day History Class. The day was March 87 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: eight Swedish nurse and philanthropists Elsa Branstrom was born. Branstrom 88 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: became known as the Angel of Siberia for her work 89 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: with prisoners of war. Branstrom was born in St. Petersburg 90 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: to Edward Branstrom and Anna velamina Eskilson. Her father was 91 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: a Swedish military attache to Russia, and her family went 92 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: back to Sweden for a while when she was a child. 93 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: Her father went back to St. Petersburg as an envoy 94 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen o six, but she stayed in Sweden, where 95 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: she was training to become a teacher. She went back 96 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: to St. Petersburg in nineteen o eight. Elsa's mother died 97 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirteen, just before the outbreak of World War One. 98 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: In nineteen fourteen, when the war began, Elsa and her 99 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: friend Ethel von Haydenstam were trained as nurses. Elsa began 100 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: serving at a military hospital. There she cared for wounded 101 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: Russian soldiers, but she found that Russia was not providing 102 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: the necessary support to prisoners of war, so she and 103 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: von haydens Dam worked to find private donations to help 104 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: care for the POWs. In nineteen fifteen, the Swedish Red 105 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: Cross asked her to go to Siberia to do relief 106 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: work in the prisoner camps. Conditions were poor in the camps. 107 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: They lacked winter clothes, blankets, medical supplies, and other basic necessities. 108 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: Many people got sick because of these conditions, and diseases 109 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: like typhus killed a lot of prisoners of war. During 110 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: these trips, she gave out food, clothing, and medical supplies 111 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: to POWs at a Siberian camp calls three Tents. Branstrom's 112 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: inspections led to changes that helped slow the typhoid epidemic. 113 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: When she was in Europe, she met with families of 114 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: Russian POWs. Though the Central Powers in Russia signed a 115 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: peace treaty in nineteen eighteen, ending Russia's participation in World 116 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: War One, the Red Cross continued its relief work. Elsa 117 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: was accused of being a spy and arrested. At one point, 118 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: she was even threatened with execution, but her sentence was revoked. 119 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: Also got typhoid in nineteen nineteen. The next year, she 120 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: was imprisoned, but soon released. She went back to Sweden 121 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: in July of nineteen twenty. In Sweden, she continued to 122 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: support POWs in Siberia. She collected donations and sent winter 123 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: clothing to them. In ninete, she even published a memoir 124 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: called Among Prisoners of War and Russia and Siberia. With 125 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: the money from her book, from a lecture tour in 126 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: the US, and from her work at a relief association, 127 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: she was able to fund a health resort, a home 128 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 1: for the children of POWs, and a labor sanatorium to 129 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: train POWs to work jobs like farming or fishing. In 130 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,559 Speaker 1: the children's home, she only accepted kids who would become 131 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: quote first class people, and refused those with disabilities and 132 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: character traits deemed unacceptable. Elsa married Robert Ulick in n 133 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: and they moved to Dresden. They had a daughter together 134 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty two. Because she worked with prisoners of war, 135 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: she was recognized by Hitler, but she and her husband 136 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: disapproved of the rise of the Nazis. The family moved 137 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: to the US, where Ulick had gotten a job at Harvard. 138 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: Elsa helped refugees from Nazi Germany and occupied Scandinavian countries 139 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: get residency permits. She died in nineteen forty eight and Cambridge, Massachusetts. 140 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: I'm Eaves Jeffcote, and hopefully you know a little more 141 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,959 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. And if you 142 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: want to leave us a message on social media, you 143 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: can do so on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter at t 144 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: d I h C podcast. You can also send us 145 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: a note via email at this Day at I heeartmedia 146 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks again for listening. To the podcast and 147 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 148 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 149 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.