1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. These are coming from the 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: T D I h C Vault, so you'll also here 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: two hosts. Consider it a double feature. Enjoy the show. 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to this day in History class from how Stuff 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff you 7 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 8 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Welcome to the podcast. 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and it's August today. In eighteen 11 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: thirty five, a bizarre hoax started in a newspaper, So 12 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: an announcement ran in the New York Sun on Friday 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: August one, thirty five, just a few days before. We're 14 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: talking about this announcement read quote, we have just learned 15 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: from an eminent publisher in this city that Sir John 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope has made some 17 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: astronomical discoveries of the most wonderful description by means of 18 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: an immense telescope of an entirely new principle. This was 19 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: very exciting. Sir John Herschel was a famous name in 20 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: the world of astronomy. He was the nephew of Caroline 21 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: Herschel and the son of William Herschel, and this telescope 22 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: promised to be extremely fancy, so people got excited about 23 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: what news was going to follow in the newspaper. A 24 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: front page article ran on August also in the New 25 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: York Sun, which was the paper that ran all of these. 26 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: It was purportedly written by John Herschel's assistant, Dr Andrew Grant, 27 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: and Dr Grant talked about this amazing and enormous telescope 28 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: that could see all kinds of detail all the way 29 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: on the Moon. This telescope was reportedly twenty four ft 30 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: or about seven point three meters in diameter, so it 31 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,919 Speaker 1: was huge, and it suggested that there was a whole 32 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: civilization on the Moon. More articles followed. This was a 33 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: six part series, and the next part was basically a 34 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: travelogue about going to the Cape of Good Hope and 35 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: setting up this incredible telescope that they were going to 36 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: use to look at the Moon. What followed was all 37 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: kinds of detail about what was on the Moon. There 38 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: were lunar forests and flowers and bodies of water and 39 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: all kinds of bizarre creatures. Is included goat like monsters, 40 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: water birds, some kind of lunar beavers that made their 41 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: own huts instead of building dams in the water. There 42 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: were palm trees, there were melon trees, there were miniature zebras. 43 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: It went on and on. It was really like somebody 44 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: just free associated a bunch of really bizarre plant and 45 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: animal descriptions, and then later on also buildings. The fourth 46 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: installment featured these humanoid creatures with bat wings and faces 47 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: that were quote a slight improvement upon that of the 48 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: large orangutan, except it was spelled orangutang. The sixth and 49 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: last entry in the New York Suns Lunar series was 50 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: printed on Monday, August thirty one. It included a very 51 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: dramatic story about this telescope catching fire and then once 52 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: the teleus hope was fixed, the moon had moved out 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: of observable position, so they couldn't see anymore. Once the 54 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: moon was ready to be observed again, Herschel had moved 55 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: on to some other projects, so that is why that 56 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: was the end of the story. Other newspapers picked up 57 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: this whole story, and there was a lot of talk 58 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: about how exciting all these discoveries were. There was some 59 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: discussion at the beginning about whether this was valid at all. 60 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: I mean, people had never seen the surface of the 61 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: Moon with that much detail. It maybe was believable that 62 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: there was all kinds of bizarre life up there. The 63 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: fact that Herschel really had gone on a research trip 64 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: to South Africa and really had built a telescope at 65 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: the Cape of Good Hope all helped with the believability 66 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: of this whole bizarre story. People were like, Oh, I know, 67 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: he really did that, so this must really be what 68 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: he saw through it. But by the fourth installment a 69 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: lot of people were staring to think this seemed a 70 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: little bit far fetched. More and more people came to 71 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: the conclusion that this was some codswallop with a side 72 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: of bull Roar was not unbelievable to a lot of 73 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: people by the end of it. Sometime later, British journalist 74 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: Richard Adam's Luck confessed to writing this whole thing, saying 75 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: that he didn't mean it to be a hoax, He 76 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: meant it as satire. Apparently, Herschel heard about this whole 77 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: thing late in eighteen thirty five. At first, he thought 78 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: it was funny, although for many years after that people 79 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: kept asking him about it, and he gradually thought it 80 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: was less funny and got tired of those questions. You 81 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 1: can learn more about this whole bizarre episode in the 82 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: March thirty and April one installments of Stuff You Missed 83 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 1: in History Class. Thanks to Tari Harrison for her audio 84 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: work on this show. You can subscribe to This Day 85 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever 86 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,679 Speaker 1: else you get podcasts. Tomorrow, we'll have an eighteenth century 87 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: declaration that's probably not the one you thought of. Greetings everyone, 88 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: welcome to this Day in History Class, where we bring 89 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: you a new tidbit from history every day. The day 90 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: was August. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Boarders, a labor 91 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,239 Speaker 1: union organized by the black employees of the Pullman Company, 92 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: had its first meeting. George Mortimer Pullman founded the Pullman 93 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: Company in eighteen sixty seven during the reconstruction era, after 94 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: the emancipation of enslaved black people in the South. The 95 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: Pullman Company manufactured railroad cars. Pullman's big claim to fame 96 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: was the sleeping car, or passenger rail cars that have 97 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: beds for travelers to make overnight trips more comfortable real 98 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: road lines, least Pullman cars, which were really popular in 99 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: the US from the mid eighteen hundreds to the mid 100 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds. The Pullman Company employed black maids and porters, 101 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: many of whom were formerly enslaved. In the beginning of 102 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: the company's history, Pullman knew that many black people needed 103 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: work badly and would take low wages. The work that 104 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: the porters did on Pullman cars is what really made 105 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: the experience top quality. Porters prepared beds for passengers at 106 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: night and made them up in the morning. They served 107 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: food and drinks to passengers, They cared for passengers when 108 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: they were sick, and they made sure passengers were safe 109 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: on their trips. Porters were respected in their communities, they 110 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: got to travel around the country, and after tips, they 111 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: were paid better than a lot of black people and 112 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: other professions, but their hours were long and the work 113 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: was often cliss They had to work four hundred hours 114 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: or travel eleven thousand miles in a month to earn 115 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: full pay, and they were still paid a lot less 116 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: than white people and other professions. At the Pullman Company, 117 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: porters did not have any job security, and they had 118 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: to pay for their own food, lodging, and uniforms. If 119 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: passengers took items from their cars, then their pay was stopped. 120 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: They did not get much sleep at night since they 121 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: worked such long days, and even when they did, they 122 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: had to sleep on couches in the smoking car, and 123 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: the conditions of their work maintained the master servant relationship 124 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: between black and white people that was perpetuated under slavery. 125 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: Porters were often called George, regardless of their real names, 126 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: presumably because of the old practice of plays being named 127 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: after their masters, and the Pullman founder's name was George. 128 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: Unhappy with these conditions and how they faced nishment if 129 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: they brought these issues up to the company, the porters 130 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: tried to organize. After a few attempts to unionize from 131 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: nineteen o nine to nineteen thirteen, the Pullman Company itself 132 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: decided to create the Pullman Porter's Benefit Association in nineteen fifteen. 133 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: Five years later, the company also established the Employee Representation Plan, 134 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: which was funded through employee salaries, but those initiatives did 135 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: not completely address the porter's issues, so a small group 136 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: of Pullman porters approached labor movement leader A. Philip Randolph 137 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: for help in starting a union. Randolph was reluctant to 138 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: help them initially, but he warmed up to the idea 139 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Boarders had its first 140 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: meeting on August nineteen. The union published its first demands 141 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:55,439 Speaker 1: in The Messenger, a magazine that Randolph founded. It called 142 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: for abolishing tipping, pay raises, pension increases in better rest 143 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: as the Pullman Company used various tactics to disrupt the 144 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: union's efforts, like using spies, firing porters involved in the union, 145 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: intimidating people interested in joining, and putting propaganda and media. 146 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: So the union remained secretive and the porters wives were 147 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 1: instrumental in keeping the union alive by fundraising and attending 148 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: meetings when porters could not be present. It took a 149 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: while for the union to gain traction, but in nineteen 150 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: thirty seven, two years after the National Relations Labor Act 151 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: was enacted, the Pullman Company signed a labor agreement with 152 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: the Brotherhood. The porter's minimum salary was increased and working 153 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: conditions improved. In nineteen seven, the Pullman Company let go 154 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: of the sleeping car business. As the railroad industry declined 155 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. In nineteen sixties, so did the 156 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: number of porters and membership in the Brotherhood. Many porters 157 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: were involved in the Civil rights movement as well. In night, 158 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: the Brotherhood merged with another union, the Brotherhood of Railway 159 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: Airline Steamship Clerks, freight Handlers, express and station Employees. I'm 160 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: Eve step Coote and hopefully you know a little more 161 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you would 162 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: like to learn more about this topic, you can listen 163 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: to the episode of Stuff you Missed in History class 164 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: called The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The link to 165 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: that episode is in the description. You can follow us 166 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t d i h 167 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: C podcast. Thanks again for listening and we will see 168 00:10:46,720 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: you tomorrow. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit 169 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 170 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.