1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 2: Wilson. 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: I don't know how Harriet Russell william Strong got on 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: my list. She's on there twice, so I've thought of 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: her a couple times. I love it. But she was 8 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: quite a powerhouse of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 9 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: Not only did she manage to dig herself out of 10 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 1: a pretty unfortunate situation when her fortunes changed rather abruptly 11 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty nine, she was also an 12 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: inventor and an early proponent of water conservation. She had 13 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: a lot of big ideas. Some of those ideas certainly 14 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: had repercussions that, once they came to fruition in ways 15 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: not directed by her, became other problems in other ways. 16 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: But she's a very interesting story. I do have to 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: do a heads up here because this episode does include 18 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 1: a death by suicide. We're not mentioning any specifics, but 19 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: if you just want to skip that entirely, you can. 20 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: There will be a point when we say Harriet found 21 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: herself Challe in a very challenging position. We get there, 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: you can jump ahead thirty seconds or a minute and 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,119 Speaker 1: you'll be past it. But that's a pretty pivotal moment, 24 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: and the repercussions of the event that we mentioned are 25 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: throughout the episode, again not in detail, but just so 26 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: you know as a heads up. 27 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 2: Harriet Russell was born in Buffalo, New York, on July 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: twenty third, eighteen forty four, to Henry Pierpont Russell and 29 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 2: Marry Guest Russell. In eighteen fifty two, her family made 30 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 2: a cross country moved to northern California, near the town 31 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 2: of Quincy in Plumous County. When she was very young, 32 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 2: Harriet had some kind of a spinal condition and had 33 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 2: to spend almost all of her time in bed, but 34 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 2: the specifics of that are a little bit hazy. She read, though, 35 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 2: learned a lot about history and art and literature. Starting 36 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 2: at the age of fourteen, Harriet attended the Young Ladies 37 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 2: Seminary in Benicia, California, run by Mary Atkins. That school 38 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 2: would later become Mills College. She attended until eighteen sixty. 39 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 2: In eighteen sixty one, the family moved once again, this 40 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 2: time to Carson City, Nevada, hoping to cash in on 41 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 2: the silver rush, and in Nevada, Harriet met a man 42 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 2: named Charles Lyman Strong. Charles was the superintendent of the 43 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 2: Gould and Curry Mining Company, which was experiencing great success 44 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 2: mining the comstock load, and Harriet and Charles married on 45 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 2: February twenty sixth, eighteen sixty three. She was just nineteen, 46 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 2: he was thirty seven at the time, and the following 47 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 2: year they had their first daughter, also named Harriet Russell 48 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 2: Strong after her mother. That year was a difficult one. 49 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 2: Charles had a breakdown brought on by the stress of 50 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 2: his job. He left the mining company and went to 51 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 2: a hot spring to try to wrapt and recuperate. Harriet 52 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,119 Speaker 2: was also ill a lot. She was often described through 53 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 2: a lot of her life as being fragile or delicate. Right, 54 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 2: we're going to get to a point where that seems 55 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 2: very much at odds with other things, and we'll talk 56 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 2: about why a little bit. In eighteen sixty five, Charles 57 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 2: went back to work once again in the mining business, 58 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 2: this time assessing mines along the Pacific coast for investors 59 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 2: from the east, primarily from New York. But that was 60 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 2: ultimately unsuccessful, and he really wanted out of mining altogether. 61 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 2: He and Harriet also had another daughter, Mary Lyman Strong. 62 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 2: In eighteen sixty six, the year after Mary was born, 63 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 2: Charles and Harriet became ranchers. They purchased a three hundred 64 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 2: and twenty five acre property with Harriet's brother, William Henry Russell. 65 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: This was in an area which was part of modern 66 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 2: day Whittier, California, in Los Angeles County. Today it's roughly 67 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 2: twenty miles east of downtown LA. The property had belonged 68 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 2: to the last governor of Alta, California under Mexican rule, Popico, 69 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 2: before the Strongs purchased it and built a homestead there. 70 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 2: They named it Rancho del Forerte or Ranch of the Strong. 71 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 2: At that time, there wasn't really much of anything on 72 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 2: this ranch. The only crop that had been started there 73 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 2: was oranges, and those orange trees were still very young 74 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 2: when Harriet and her family acquired the property, and soon 75 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 2: they realized why nothing had been grown there. It was 76 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 2: that it was just about impossible to irrigate the land. 77 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 2: After struggling with the ranch for several years, Charles once 78 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: again went back to mining, even though he had been 79 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 2: completely burned out on it when he left in eighteen 80 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 2: sixty seven. Different accounts kind of just described this differently. 81 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 2: One is that he was not doing well with the 82 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: ranch and he wanted to leave, but others are more 83 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 2: like he kind of just got bored. 84 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: With it, and so I don't. In the time that 85 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: he and Harriet had been at Rancho del Ferte, both 86 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: of the Strongs had continued to deal with health problems. 87 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: They both had complaints of back issues and headaches and 88 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: nervous weakness, and they both tried a number of treatments, 89 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: everything from iron supplements to water cures, but these just 90 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: seemed to be for both of them chronic and lingering problems, 91 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: and they never really got better. They would get somewhat better, 92 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: but neither of them ever really seemed to feel one 93 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: hundred percent or really good. But Charles did need to 94 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: bring in some money, and he started chasing mining opportunities 95 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: kind of around the western part of the country. He 96 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: was in California, Nevada, and Arizona, and this constant hustle 97 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: to try to find a promising vain meant that he 98 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: was away from home a lot of the time, and 99 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: as they were dealing with financial stress and him being gone. 100 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: They did also welcome their third daughter, Georgina Pierpont Strong 101 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty eight, and then their fourth daughter, Nell 102 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: de Luce, who was born in eighteen seventy three. 103 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 2: Living apart so much really strained Harriet and Charles's marriage 104 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 2: a lot. They were also having serious financial issues and 105 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 2: that added another layer of strain. Their letters are sort 106 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 2: of fraught. They clearly love one another, but also seem 107 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 2: to feel emotionally disconnected without having regular contact. In one 108 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 2: letter to Charles that Harriet never mailed, she expresses some 109 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 2: sadness and dissatisfaction that she doesn't get to experience love 110 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 2: in her daily life. This was in eighteen seventy six, 111 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 2: and she wrote, quote, it was mine for a few 112 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 2: months only. You have told me too many times you 113 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 2: have no love to give me to think that I, 114 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 2: who have been loved always, should live an unloved wife. Yeah, 115 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,359 Speaker 2: It's kind of one of those things where, if I 116 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 2: can read between the lines, it seems like he didn't 117 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 2: not love her, but he was just too depleted to 118 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 2: be as available to her as she needed. And she 119 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,840 Speaker 2: was wrestling with this dichotomy of being like, I know 120 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 2: you love me, but I don't feel. 121 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: Loved at all, and problems continued for the couple. The 122 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: trick here is that we only have Charles's side of 123 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: most of this correspondence. We'll talk about why in a minute. 124 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: But he seems to waver on how they should live 125 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: and figure this out. He sometimes wrote that Harriet and 126 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: their children should move to be with him, and that 127 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: at other times he would write, no, no, no, that 128 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: was wrong. You should just stay put. We should continue 129 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: as we are. In eighteen eighty two, Charles bought into 130 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: a mine in California that was believed to be an 131 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:41,119 Speaker 1: excellent prospect for gold mining. It was not. The person 132 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: who had sold it to Charles and other investors had 133 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: salted it, meaning that traces of gold had been added 134 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: to the most accessible areas so that when prospective buyers 135 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: took samples, it made it look like a much more 136 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: promising mind than it actually was. And then, to deal 137 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: with his debt and these bad business decisions, Charles had 138 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: taken out loans against the ranch, something that Harriet did 139 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: not know about. 140 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 2: Then, at the age of thirty nine, Harriet found herself 141 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 2: in a very challenging position. Her husband, Charles burned all 142 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 2: of their letters. That's why we don't have her side 143 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 2: of a lot of correspondents. And then he killed himself. 144 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 2: She had four daughters, and Charles's constant business struggles had 145 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 2: left behind a load of debt to make matters worse. 146 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 2: This all happened and was relayed to her while she 147 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 2: was undergoing medical treatment for her ongoing spinal issues. She 148 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 2: was in Philadelphia at the time, in a clinic run 149 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,959 Speaker 2: by Silas Weir Mitchell. Her first instinct was, of course, 150 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,079 Speaker 2: to go back home, but her daughters, who ranged in 151 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 2: age from nineteen to ten at the time, insisted that 152 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 2: she stay there and finish her six month treatment. Her 153 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 2: treatment regimen does not sound enjoyable, and included things like 154 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 2: alternating exposure to boiling and then freezing water on her back, 155 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 2: and then only being allowed to sit up for a 156 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 2: few minutes at a time twice a day. 157 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, that sounds tortuous to me. 158 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 2: Well, and boiling, I'm like, was boiling an exaggeration because 159 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 2: that sounds like third degree burns and death? She wrote 160 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 2: in her account boiling okay, But she also wrote that 161 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 2: only the freezing water really hurt her, okay, So I 162 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 2: don't know if boiling was actual boiling point or just 163 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 2: very very hot, and if it was very very localized, 164 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 2: who knows. But when she returned home to California, she 165 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 2: assumed the position of manager at the Rancho del Ferte, 166 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 2: even though she had no idea how to do that 167 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 2: job at the time. Harriet also had to deal with 168 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 2: a lawsuit in the wake of her husband's death. One 169 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 2: of Charles's business associates had tried to seize the property 170 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 2: to make up for his loss in the salted mind 171 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 2: deal that he had entered. 172 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: Was strong. There was a lot of legal stuff going on, 173 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: and it took a years for all of the issues 174 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: with Charles's property to be settled, and in eighteen ninety one, 175 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: the legal battle over her husband's business blenders was finally concluded. 176 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 2: In eighteen eighty three, Harriet wrote that marriage was fundamentally 177 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 2: limiting for women. Quote not because women of America have 178 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 2: no ambition or mental capacity for progress, but because they 179 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 2: do not have the sympathy and cooperation of their husbands 180 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 2: and efforts to improve their minds. No doubt, she was 181 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 2: grappling with her new reality and the fact that she 182 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 2: had simply not been prepared in any way to handle 183 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 2: the entirety of the family's finances. But there she was 184 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 2: in that position. Interestingly, maybe unsurprisingly given the quote that 185 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 2: we just read, she did not choose to remarry Harriet. 186 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 2: In the meantime, while the legal stuff was all still 187 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 2: getting figured out, started researching agriculture. She made friends with 188 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 2: other ranchers in the area and asked them for their advice, 189 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 2: and she also started reading just about any books she 190 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,319 Speaker 2: could get her hands on that offered information about successful 191 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 2: ranching and farming. Rancho Delflerte had attempted to expand its 192 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 2: crops in the time that Harriet had lived there, when 193 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 2: Charles was still alive. In addition to the orange groves, 194 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 2: they had tried various grain crops like rye and wheat, 195 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 2: but those had failed, so she started considering what crops 196 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,320 Speaker 2: would work, using the knowledge she had gained from her 197 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 2: self directed studies and her neighbors. We'll talk about how 198 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 2: Harriet strong applied the things that she learned about ranching 199 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 2: and farming and the outcome of what she tried after 200 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 2: we pause for a sponsor break. One of the biggest 201 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 2: problems for any rancher in the arid climate where Harriet 202 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 2: was living, though was water. The topography of Los Angeles 203 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 2: County plays a big part in this story because it 204 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 2: sits in a rainage basin with mountains around it, so 205 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 2: when there's no precipitation, it gets very, very dry, but 206 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 2: when there is a storm, it floods. This is still 207 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 2: a problem today. You hear all the time that when 208 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 2: La has an actual big thunderstorm, the streets get flooded 209 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 2: and everything's a mess. In Harriet's time, which she was 210 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 2: considering crops, any crop needed water, and most options required 211 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 2: more than could be counted on from natural rainfall, which 212 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 2: when it did happen, was often more destructive than life giving. 213 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 2: So Strong started brainstorming how she could get water to 214 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 2: her crops consistently. This actually led her to file a patent, 215 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 2: which she was granted on December sixth, eighteen eighty seven. 216 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 2: It was a dam and water distribution system. She described 217 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 2: her invention as quote, a series of reverse arch dams 218 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 2: built one above the other in an inclined channel, watercourse, 219 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 2: or valley, so that the water in each lower dam 220 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 2: acts as a brace and support for the dam above, 221 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 2: the whole being connected by gates. We're going to backtrack 222 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 2: just a couple of years because that was not Harriet 223 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 2: Strong's first patent, it was her fourth. Her first invention 224 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 2: was a quote device for raising and lowering hard to 225 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 2: reach windows. This is something she came up with while 226 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 2: she was having to stay in bed because of spinal issues. 227 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 2: That patent was granted in October of eighteen eighty four. 228 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,959 Speaker 2: The following month, she was granted another patent for an 229 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 2: improved hook and eye closure. Then her third, a window 230 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 2: sash holder, which used a small knob protruding from the 231 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 2: window frame that would catch on a block instead of 232 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 2: allowing the frame to slide all the way closed. She 233 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 2: was granted that patent on November sixteenth, eighteen eighty six. 234 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 2: It seems like she was trying to set up any 235 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 2: possible revenue stream she could as she faced this uncertain 236 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 2: future with Charles. Even before her damning an irrigation patent 237 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 2: was granted, and knowing that she had figured out out 238 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 2: how to control water, Strong decided to plant a crop 239 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 2: that needed a whole lot of water, and that was walnuts. 240 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 2: The reason she went with such a thirsty crop was 241 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 2: because her research had revealed that it was also one 242 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 2: of the most profitable if you could get it up 243 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 2: and running. She planted a reported fifty rows of walnut 244 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 2: trees in a half mile wide layout, totaling one hundred 245 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 2: and fifty acres. Had she not had her irrigation system planned, 246 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 2: this almost certainly would have been a spectacular failure. But 247 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 2: it worked, and it worked really well, and by the 248 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 2: mid eighteen nineties people had started calling her the walnut Queen. 249 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: The Rancho del Ferte. Walnut crop was bringing in and 250 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: reported two hundred and ninety five dollars an acre, so 251 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: forty four two hundred and fifty dollars annually, which was 252 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: a whole lot of money. In the eighteen nineties, she 253 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: had turned the mess left behind after Charles died into 254 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: a success story, and in the course of just a 255 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: few years she had paid off the debts left behind 256 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: by her husband, paid off the substantial legal fees related 257 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: to settling his chaotic estate, and started to turn a profit. 258 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,479 Speaker 2: Harriet also used the income from the walnuts to expand 259 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 2: and diversify the ranch's crops. Soon there were pecans and chestnuts, 260 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 2: and also a lot of fruit orchards with lemons, figs, pomegranates, apples, pears, dates, 261 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 2: and even pineapples. She also planted pampas grass instead of 262 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 2: corn as a support crop for the walnuts, and then 263 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 2: she sold the fronds as a decorative item. These are 264 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 2: really popular as an alternative for ostrich plumes to put 265 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 2: on people's hats. She had managed to develop an impressive 266 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 2: infrastructure for the ranch's water systems, with artesian wells that 267 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 2: were linked to a pumping plant that could carry water 268 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 2: to all of these wading crops. If you're hearing all 269 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 2: of this and thinking, wait, I thought this one was fragile, 270 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 2: that's pretty common. It is really fascinating how much her 271 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 2: well being seemed to suddenly shift once she was left 272 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 2: to figure things out on her own. Us An Albertine, 273 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 2: writing for Biography magazine in nineteen ninety four, noted quote, 274 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 2: once free of marriage, Harriet ceased to be ill. In 275 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 2: the second half of her life, she emerged as a 276 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 2: modern public woman, a nationally known entrepreneur, inventor, agriculturists, civic leader, 277 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 2: and suffragist. And most biographies that you look at note 278 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 2: the death of Charles as a delineator in Harriet's life, 279 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 2: separating the before and the after almost as two different people, 280 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 2: and Harriet herself kind of seemed to want to eradicate 281 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 2: evidence of her earlier life and the physical issues associated 282 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 2: with it, as at one point she asked her oldest 283 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 2: daughter to burn any letters in which she had talked 284 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 2: about her health. She seemed to want to truly reinvent 285 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 2: herself and to create a public persona that supported her ambitions. 286 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 2: She would later say, for example of her success in 287 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 2: her widow years quote, I had the courage of ignorance 288 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 2: and plenty of determination to back it up. She didn't 289 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 2: tend to mention any ailment ever, at least not on 290 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 2: the record once she was the public figure. I just 291 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 2: want to note that there is a widespread, pervasive, and 292 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 2: totally false idea that disabled people can stop being disabled 293 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 2: if they just try harder. Yeah, and so this part 294 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,119 Speaker 2: of her story irritates me so much. 295 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: Well, it brings up a lot of questions, some of 296 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 1: which we'll talk about it behind us. 297 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Like, I'm glad she worked her life the 298 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 2: way she could work it. I do not want this 299 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 2: story to reinforce such a false and damaging idea. In 300 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 2: eighteen ninety three, Strong attended the World's Columbian Exposition as 301 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 2: an exhibitor. She designed and oversaw construction of an exhibit 302 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 2: called the Pampa's Plume Palace. In addition to being hawked 303 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 2: as hat accoutrement, these grass plumes were sold to department 304 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 2: stores as decor. They also became popular at political conventions 305 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,479 Speaker 2: because they could be dyed any color to match the 306 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 2: decor or the part affiliation. The Pampas Plume Palace, which 307 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,719 Speaker 2: was part of the larger California Exhibition, won an award, 308 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 2: and it is no wonder there are photos of the 309 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 2: palace and it is quite a thing to look at. 310 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 2: It shows a pavilion with a hexagonal footprint. The exterior 311 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 2: walls of the structure, which have intricate designs woven into them, 312 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 2: are a little bit fluffy because almost the whole thing 313 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 2: was made of pampas grass, and it used the plumes 314 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 2: as a design feature. The door opening sort of mimics 315 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 2: what you've maybe seen in Moroccan design, and the windows, 316 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 2: which are also shaped in the curved arches, have a 317 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 2: crisscross lattice design within them, all of which is made 318 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 2: of woven together pampas grass. Harriet also showed off her 319 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 2: irrigation system at the expo, which was simply called dam 320 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 2: and reservoir construction, and that one awards. She showed that 321 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 2: alongside another invention that would make use of waste water 322 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 2: and reclaim it for agricultural use, called Method and Means 323 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 2: for Impounding Debris and Storing Water. She was granted a 324 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 2: patent for her wastewater system in November of eighteen ninety four. 325 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 2: Harriet's appearance at the expo was wildly successful, but it 326 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 2: was not limited to inventions and marketing for the ranch's 327 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 2: various crops. She also gave a lecture to the World's 328 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 2: Fair Auxiliary Congress on suffrage. She believed in voting rights 329 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 2: for women strongly, but her talk largely focused on her 330 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 2: own story as a sort of cautionary tale for other women. 331 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 2: She was very frank about how utterly lost she had 332 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 2: been when she found herself facing a life without her 333 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,679 Speaker 2: husband and with no training in business or agriculture. She 334 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 2: was adamant that women needed to be educated in the 335 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 2: ways of business. She told the assembled audience that it 336 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 2: had taken her, for example, a long time six years 337 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,879 Speaker 2: to learn not to sign contracts without a lawyer's input first. 338 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 2: So it sounds a little bit negative and scary, but 339 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 2: her overall message was very, very poss She was adamant 340 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 2: that women could absolutely learn to run businesses, and moreover, 341 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 2: that they should. She framed this as something that every 342 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,399 Speaker 2: woman should do quote to prepare herself for any and 343 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 2: all emergencies. Several years down the line, she was still 344 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 2: advocating for women to have the self assurance to take 345 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 2: on entrepreneurial in business roles, stating in nineteen ten, for example, 346 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 2: quote as for the business of running a farm, any 347 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 2: woman who can think out and plan the affairs of 348 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 2: a large household in all departments can manage a business 349 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,399 Speaker 2: as principal. Harriet continued to be an outspoken advocate for 350 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 2: greater agency and independence for women, not just in terms 351 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 2: of bolstering women's confidence, but with ideas about how municipalities 352 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 2: should work to foster more women run businesses. She was 353 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 2: adamant that every city should have a bank owned by 354 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 2: a woman, as well as a drag good store, and 355 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 2: that the proprietors of each should train other women by 356 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 2: employing them there. She put forth the very bold idea 357 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 2: that the board of directors for banks should retire one 358 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 2: man every year and replace him. 359 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: With a woman. 360 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 2: She also walked the walk in terms of adding to 361 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 2: her own workload by taking on civic issues. So she 362 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 2: became a member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce 363 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,719 Speaker 2: in eighteen ninety three held that position for nineteen years. 364 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,880 Speaker 2: She used the platform that it gave her to campaign 365 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 2: for suffrage in California. Yeah, she's often cited as the 366 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 2: first woman to be on the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. 367 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 2: One source I looked at said that there was actually 368 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 2: another woman that was appointed to it at the same time, 369 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 2: but that she had moved and had to step away 370 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 2: from it. I didn't follow that one down a rabbit 371 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 2: hole to find out if there really were too, but 372 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 2: she's the only one that stayed there for a long time. 373 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,400 Speaker 2: Strong was also a member of the National American Woman 374 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 2: Suffrage Association, and she rubbed elbows with a lot of 375 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,919 Speaker 2: the most well known names from the suffrage movement, including 376 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 2: people like Susan B. Anthony and Alva Belmont. But when 377 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 2: she first traveled the East Coast as one of these 378 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 2: suffrage events was happening, she was a little bit surprised 379 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 2: at the level of resistance that many people, including women, 380 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 2: had to the idea of political equality for women. She 381 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 2: wrote this off as a problem of the upper class, 382 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 2: where she felt like the women were so accustomed to 383 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 2: having plenty of men in their lives to take care 384 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 2: of them that they also let them quote do everything 385 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 2: for them, even to the expression of opinions in great 386 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 2: and grave matters. She remained adamant on this issue, saying 387 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 2: that a lot of women, most women did not have 388 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 2: the luxury of taking a stance like that. Harriet Strong 389 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 2: continued to innovate in the world of agricultural irrigation. In 390 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 2: nineteen hundred, she bought another property, Rancho San Antonio. Half 391 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 2: of the acreage of this was worked by her own 392 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 2: farm hands and staff, and the other half leased out 393 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 2: to other farmers. To support the whole effort, Harriet founded 394 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 2: her own water company, Paso del Bortolo Water Company. She 395 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 2: dropped wells between the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel rivers 396 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 2: instead of a pumping station that ran on steam to 397 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 2: get that water out to the ranch. She was able 398 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 2: to flip the Rancho san Antonio a few years later 399 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 2: and made a lot of money on the sale. Strong 400 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 2: had figured out ways to manage her own property's water needs, 401 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 2: but she was thinking much much bigger, and we will 402 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 2: get into her efforts to get politicians on board with 403 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,919 Speaker 2: her ideas and her frustrations in that effort. After we 404 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 2: hear from stuff you missed in history classes sponsors. In 405 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 2: nineteen oh five, Strong penda paper in which she made 406 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 2: the case for establishing flood management systems both to control 407 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 2: floodwaters and to make use of them, and her plan 408 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 2: required storage reservoirs, which would have been huge and would 409 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 2: have needed to be constructed. She had an entire plan 410 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 2: for water conservation in a way that would actively benefit 411 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 2: a lot of people, but she had a hard time 412 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 2: getting others bought in, and this was in part because 413 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 2: it was such a massive idea. It was just hard 414 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,360 Speaker 2: for a lot of people to see how this concept 415 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 2: could possibly be funded for construction. Perpetually advocating and getting 416 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 2: little support was undoubtedly irritating for Strong. She was recognized 417 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 2: for her innovation and her success all over the country, 418 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 2: but she shocked some of the difficulties she had up 419 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 2: to being a woman. In nineteen thirteen, she gave a 420 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 2: quote to Little Farm's magazine and a story about her 421 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 2: that stated quote, a woman needs to have five times 422 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 2: as much ability as a man in order to do 423 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 2: the same thing. She may be permitted to conduct her 424 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 2: own ranch and be a success and a small business enterprise. Yes, 425 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 2: but let her go into the business of incorporating a 426 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 2: large enterprise and bonding it as a man would bond 427 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 2: a land and water project, and then see if the 428 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 2: word does not go forth from mankind. Hold, this woman 429 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 2: is going too far. She must be put down. She also, 430 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 2: we should point out, was not really aware of or 431 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 2: thinking about as many people who were innovating in various 432 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 2: industries throughout human history. What are the repercussions of all? 433 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: Sure, but eventually nature gave her a chance to start 434 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,120 Speaker 1: really making moves with her reservoir ideas. On February eighteenth, 435 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, a huge, four day long series of thunderstorms 436 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 1: hit southern California. The storms caused ten million dollars in 437 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: property damage. Trains were shut down, telegraph lines stopped working, 438 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: and the entire area was in a panic. On February 439 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,600 Speaker 1: twenty first, the Los Angeles Express reported quote at eleven 440 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: o'clock today in a final desperate attempt to stop the 441 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: great storm damage being done to land and buildings at 442 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,719 Speaker 1: the Aliso Street bridge over the Los Angeles River, The 443 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: Santa Fe officials shunted six heavily aiden box cars at 444 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: a speed of forty miles an hour down the tracks 445 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: and hurled them into the river at the foot of 446 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:10,160 Speaker 1: the bridge. This carried away fifty additional feet of land 447 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 1: and a telephone pole, which fell within a few feet 448 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: of an immense crowd of bystanders. So they were trying 449 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,199 Speaker 1: to use these box cars to slow the progression of 450 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: the water because it was carrying away chunks of land, 451 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: and in fact they made the situation worse. 452 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 2: In the wake of this disaster, the Los Angeles Flood 453 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 2: Control Association was formed and Harriet Strong was sent by 454 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,240 Speaker 2: Whittier as a delegate. She helped develop the legislation that 455 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 2: would establish a flood control authority, and she worked to 456 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 2: get it done with funding from a district wide tax. 457 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 2: She continued to advocate for measures to manage and use 458 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,959 Speaker 2: the flood water, and she expanded beyond the idea of 459 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 2: reusing water to plan out hydroelectric plants that made use 460 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 2: not just of the water as a resource on its own, 461 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 2: but that made use of its canet energy to harness electricity. 462 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 2: One of the interesting aspects of her plan is that 463 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,479 Speaker 2: she felt strongly that speculators should not be allowed to 464 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,439 Speaker 2: profit from hydroelectricity. She thought any money that such a 465 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 2: system made could be used by the government to benefit 466 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 2: its people through things like tax reduction and veteran services. 467 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: Once the Southern Flood Control Association was established in Los 468 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: Angeles County, which is something that came out of that 469 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,679 Speaker 1: legislation she worked on, it would seem completely natural that 470 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,439 Speaker 1: Harriet would be invited as a delegate to their meetings 471 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: or even to be on it. She had made studies 472 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: of the workings of water and harnessing floods way more 473 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: than just about anybody else. But she was not invited 474 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: because no women's groups had been consulted or invited to 475 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: send delegates. Harriet went anyway, and as the only woman 476 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 1: at the meeting, she spoke out about it. She stated 477 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: that she protested the lack of women delegates and pointed 478 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: out that women were citizens, noting things were not quote 479 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: as they were or twenty years ago. Women's clubs were 480 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 1: invited to send delegates to future gatherings. I haven't looked. 481 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 2: Into this at all, but I would bet money that 482 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 2: indigenous people were also not included in these no way. 483 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 2: Harriet also tried to leverage World War One as an 484 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 2: incentive to get government officials to listen to her idea, 485 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 2: and she took every opportunity to make her case for 486 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 2: water management on a much larger scale. She pitched the 487 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 2: idea of damming the Colorado River at the Grand Canyon. 488 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 2: Strong's concept was that a series of dams could create 489 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 2: storage reservoirs in the Grand Canyon's side canyons, and that 490 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 2: these would fill during floods, preventing the water from reaking 491 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 2: havoc below the Grand Canyon, and also offering an opportunity 492 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 2: to generate electricity through controlled waterfalls. 493 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 1: But her concept went far beyond this. She truly believed 494 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: that if the Grand Canyon were properly damned in managed enough, 495 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: nearby land could be converted to farmland through irrigation, that 496 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: it could be farmed year round and would insure that 497 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 1: no one was ever without food. She saw all of 498 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 1: this as a way to ensure that the US came 499 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,239 Speaker 1: out of World War One victorious, and then that they 500 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: would be able to feed the world. She later said 501 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: of her ambitious idea quote, the only objection to the 502 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: plan is said to be it was thought of by 503 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:26,040 Speaker 1: a woman. 504 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 2: This idea became something of a crusade for Strong, and 505 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 2: in nineteen eighteen she appeared before the House Committee on 506 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 2: Water Power to share her expertise. Congressman Frederick C. Hicks 507 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 2: of New York was one of her strongest supporters and 508 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 2: was also her son in law. He and Georgina Strong 509 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 2: were married. Before Congress, Harriet laid out her three part 510 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 2: strategy of floodwater control, use of the captured water for agriculture, 511 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 2: and generating electricity with the water. She continued to advocate 512 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 2: that this should be a government run enterprise and not 513 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 2: open it up to private business. In addition to all 514 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 2: that she had outlined, she also made the case that 515 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 2: building a dam of this nature would enable the US 516 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 2: to stop using a canal that was in Mexico. She 517 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 2: also made a statement during her testimony in support of 518 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 2: women's suffrage. Yeah, there's some additional nuance to that canal 519 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 2: in Mexico that was supplying water to some of the 520 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 2: southwest US because it was owned by businessmen from New 521 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 2: York and the US and they didn't want this to 522 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,480 Speaker 2: get cut off. But she was very like trying to 523 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 2: make the patriotic play here in her rhetoric. But this 524 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,480 Speaker 2: also opens up a part of Harriet's story that is 525 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 2: less delighting if you've been very charmed by this go 526 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 2: getter spirit that we've been talking about up to this point. 527 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 2: She was overall a very progressive woman, but she was 528 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 2: also very much caught up in the politics of the day, 529 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 2: and probably in the fact that she believed just about 530 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 2: all of her ideas were correct. She advocated, for example, 531 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 2: to President Harding himself as he was about to enter office, 532 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 2: that he should be working on agreements with other countries 533 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 2: to ensure prosperity and peace. That was right in line 534 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 2: with so much of what she talked about. But but yeah, 535 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 2: there were other statements too. In nineteen twenty four, when 536 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 2: addressing the Hamilton Club, which was a Republican organization she 537 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 2: founded for women, she stated, quote, we have learned that 538 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 2: the Constitution was suited to the ideals of the people 539 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 2: who settled the Western continent, and also we are learning 540 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 2: that races not kindred to our own threatened to engraft 541 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 2: different ideas, which, if not combated and checked, may engulf 542 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 2: us destroy our government by causing first loss of respect 543 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 2: for the government and then movement toward its overthrow. 544 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: So that is awful rhetoric. Aside from the fact that 545 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: its xenophobic, it also suggests that there weren't any people 546 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: in the West before white people got there, which is 547 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: all awful, but for context on it. This was the 548 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: same year that President Calvin Coolidge signed the Immigration Act 549 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: of nineteen twenty four that was an openly racist piece 550 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: of legislation that had written this tide of fear that 551 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: if US truly became the melting pot it was allegedly 552 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: supposed to be, that it would become wild and lawless 553 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: because foreigners weren't going to fall in line. So this 554 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: is all awful, no sugarcoating that, but it's worth noting 555 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: she was not an outlier in that sentiment at the time. 556 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,959 Speaker 2: There are so many achievements in Harriet Russell Strong's life 557 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,080 Speaker 2: that we haven't touched on, and many of them relate 558 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 2: to her civic work. She loved music and composed it. 559 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 2: She was a board member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic 560 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 2: and a founder of the Business League of America. She 561 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 2: sat on the board of trustees for the University of 562 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 2: Southern California Law School and was the first woman to 563 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 2: do so. She carefully managed her public inmas but she 564 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 2: also used that image to help other women and her community. 565 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it becomes a bit of a mixed bag. 566 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: On September seventeenth, nineteen twenty six, Harriet was in a 567 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: car headed home to Rancho Delferte when another vehicle hit 568 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: the one she was riding in, and Strong was thrown 569 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: from the vehicle. When she impacted her head hit the curb. 570 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:23,240 Speaker 1: She was killed almost instantly. 571 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 2: A piece of legislation called the Boulder Canyon Project Act 572 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 2: was passed by Congress at the end of nineteen twenty eight. 573 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 2: This was the start of the Hoover dam Project. Harriet 574 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 2: didn't live to see this idea realized, but it did happen, 575 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 2: and it incorporated a lot of the things that she 576 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 2: had been describing when she talks about these damn systems. 577 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 1: This, of course, is. 578 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 2: Its own, complicated, many downstream effects. Not to use a 579 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 2: pun on purpose story. 580 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, it's interesting because a lot of her by 581 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,239 Speaker 1: biographies they kind of end there. But then with the 582 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: coda of She'd be so happy, isn't this all great? 583 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: And I'm like, whoa, whoa. I like Harriet in many ways, 584 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: but I also feel like she merits a lot of discussion. 585 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, I of the many people we've talked about, this 586 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 2: is somebody that I just have so many mixed feelings 587 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 2: about and a lot of layers of frustrature. 588 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: Yes, I can talk more about it on Oh and 589 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: We're gonna sou. But I have a listener mail that 590 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:43,040 Speaker 1: is about our MRI episodes of good which delighted me utterly. 591 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 1: This is from Dominique, who writes, Haya, I just wanted 592 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,759 Speaker 1: to write that I really enjoyed the MRI episode. I 593 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: am a chemist and NMR was foundational learning during my 594 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 1: undergraduate degree. In fact, I totally understand how chemists and 595 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: physicists would rebuke the question of medical scans back in 596 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:03,160 Speaker 1: the day. We really only focus on identifying patterns of 597 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: small chemical bonds, and expanded theories about organic tissues aren't 598 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: in our general purview. In fact, even after a few 599 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,879 Speaker 1: years of studying and using NMRS, I still didn't make 600 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: the jump in knowing how this applied to the body's tissues. 601 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: I just wanted to say that all the jargon about 602 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,960 Speaker 1: unpaired spin and time of relaxation was thoroughly enjoyable to me. 603 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: Slightly reassuring for me, Holly Fry, because I was very 604 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: worried that anyone in the science community would be like, girl, 605 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: you don't know what you're doing. It's very hard to 606 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,800 Speaker 1: learn things and parse them in a hopefully digestible way 607 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,680 Speaker 1: and be confident about it for me anyway. Dominique includes 608 00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 1: some pet tacks. I have two cats, Humphrey, a tuxedo cat, 609 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 1: and Edward, an old tabby who is nineteen now. I 610 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 1: caught humph sitting like this during the lockdown. Enjoy the 611 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,920 Speaker 1: pof loof love your show, Dominique. Humphrey's super cute. He's 612 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,720 Speaker 1: kind of doing one of those things where he's sitting 613 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 1: halfway up with his feet in front of him, looking 614 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:01,799 Speaker 1: like he's just chilling. It's adorable. He is a fluffy baby. 615 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: I love a fluffy kitty and I love tuxedos, and 616 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: then her beautiful tabby Edward. I also have a nineteen 617 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:14,920 Speaker 1: year old cat listen, I Love I Love old kitties. 618 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: Is very cute and has one of those tabby faces 619 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 1: that looks like it might perpetually confer the idea that 620 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 1: it is worried. I need to have a cat that 621 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: always similarly looked worried. She was a cute little tabby 622 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 1: que Dominique. Thank you so much both for beautiful kitty 623 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 1: pictures and for reassuring me a little bit about science. 624 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:39,480 Speaker 1: I love it, I love all of it, and I 625 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: love hearing from scientists always. If you would like to 626 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: write to us, you can do so at History Podcast 627 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can also subscribe to 628 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,399 Speaker 1: the show on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen 629 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. 630 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,280 Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 631 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 632 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:07,280 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.