1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. Before we 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: jump into today's show, we will announce one more quick 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: time because I think this is the last, our last 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: opportunity to do it. Holly and I will be at 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: Salt Lake Comic Con fan X once again March seventeenth 8 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: and eighteen. We will be doing some appearances both of 9 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: those days, so if you were in the area, that 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: is coming right up. Uh. And today's podcast is when 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: we've gotten a lot of requests for including from Laura 12 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: mar Doug John, Katrina Alyssa, Amy, Nicole Page, Jana Casey, 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: Randy and Adrian. Those are just the ones that came 14 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: in via email since because in our email address changed 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: and now we have also moved on to a different 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: email play for platforms, so like trying to look for 17 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: old stuff is really hard. Uh. It is the New 18 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: London school explosion which happened on March eighteenth, nineteen thirty seven, 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: so it's anniversary is coming up. So if you're wondering, 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: how can I get the topic that so many people 21 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: have requested moved to the top of the pile. The 22 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: answer is, have it have a milestone anniversary coming up? 23 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: That seems to be the trans lately. Uh. This was 24 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: one of the worst disasters in Texas history. It was 25 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: the worst school disaster in the United States history. It 26 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: was a horrific tragedy that stemmed from a number of 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: small decisions and moments, and changing any of them would 28 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: have prevented or mitigated the whole thing, or in some 29 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: cases changed it to a way that was also bad 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: and maybe even worse. Uh. We we recently did a 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: show on on the UM the Temple bombing in Atlanta, 32 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: and we offered some reassurance at the beginning that that 33 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: seems like from the title that s it's going to 34 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: be a dreadfully tragic show. We cannot offer that reassurance today. Yeah, 35 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: in that case, the show sounded really terrible and in 36 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,079 Speaker 1: the end was really quite a positive message and there 37 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: was not a lot of of even though there was 38 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: a bombing involved, there was not. Uh, there were no 39 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: fatalities or casualties of any kind. You're not in for 40 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: the same kind of happy ending on this one school explosion. 41 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: It's as bad as you think yeah. So. For background, 42 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: New London is in Rusk County in East Texas, and 43 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: it was originally known as Just London from eighteen fifty 44 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,399 Speaker 1: five until about nineteen thirty. It's primary industry was agriculture, 45 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: with the two largest crops being corn and cotton, followed 46 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: by a variety of food crops. The Civil War had 47 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: devastated this industry, which had relied heavily on enslaved labor 48 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: in the area's economy had only really started to recover 49 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: after the turn of the twentieth century, but even then 50 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: the turnaround had continued to be quite slow, and that 51 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: slow recovery, of course, started to falter with the onset 52 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: of the Great Depression. But in the autumn of nineteen thirty, 53 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 1: Columbus Marion Joyner struck oil in Rust County at Discovery 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: Well Daisy Bradford Number three. Other discoveries of oil soon followed, 55 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: which quickly proved to all be part of the East 56 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: Texas Oil Field, which was at the time the largest 57 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: known oil field in the United States. There were a 58 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: lot of things about Joiners business practices and his mineral 59 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: rights schemes that were incredibly shady. He was what's known 60 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: as a wildcatter. He drilled oil wells in places that 61 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: oil wasn't known to be in the hopes that he 62 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: would just luck out and find some. His method was 63 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: described as being made out of quote, faith, and cuss words, 64 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: and he wasn't above taking advantage of other people's equipment 65 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: and labor to get the job done. In spite of 66 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: making a fortune in oil, by the time he died 67 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: in seven he was nearly penniless. Regardless of all of that, 68 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: his discovery earned him the nickname Dad as the father 69 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: of the nation's then largest oil field. Joiner's discovery of 70 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: oil meant that London became a boom town seemingly overnight. 71 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: It went from a struggling rural area to one that 72 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: was still rural but also incredibly wealthy. Oil wells popped 73 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: up everywhere, along with refineries, many of them tiny, so 74 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: called teapot refineries that essentially processed the oil in the 75 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: field rather than shipping the crude oil to a larger 76 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: facility to be refined. People swarmed into the area looking 77 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: for work in the rapidly growing oil and gas industries. 78 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: Within a couple of years, Rusk Counties population more than 79 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: doubled to sixty people, and many of the area's property 80 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: owners became rich when it became clear that there was 81 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: oil under their land, and there was some strife between 82 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: the longtime residents and the newcomers, with the locals viewing 83 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: the people moving to the area for oil jobs as 84 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: a bad crowd, particularly the ones whose time in town 85 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: was just temporarily. This influx of money and people meant 86 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: that a wave of new construction swept through through the 87 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: town as well. People built new homes, churches, and businesses. 88 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: Within a year, a new post office was established, and 89 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: that's actually what necessitated the name changed to New London, 90 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: since it turned out there was already a London post 91 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: office and operation in Kimball County, also in Texas. Obviously. 92 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: Humble Oil and Refining Company also moved its district headquarters 93 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: to New London, relocating about a hundred families to the area, 94 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: and in ninety four New London finished a newly expanded 95 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,239 Speaker 1: school which had come with a price tag of about 96 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: a million dollars. This was an expansive, twenty one acre 97 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: campus which consolidated and absorbed the student populations of other 98 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: schools in the area. It had an elementary building for 99 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: grades one through four, and a combined junior senior high 100 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: school building that went from grades five to eleven. The 101 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: two classroom buildings were about a block apart, and for 102 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: all grades combined, the school had a capacity of about 103 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: twelve hundred students. The new campus also had a large auditorium, 104 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,159 Speaker 1: a workshop, a separate gymnasium, and the state's first school 105 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: football stadium that was equipped with electric lights. In addition 106 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: to the building itself, the Surgeon wealth in New London 107 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: had brought in better pay for the teachers, new instruments 108 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: for the music classes, and new books and equipment. By seven, 109 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: the school's taxable value had soared to roughly twenty million dollars, 110 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: in part because of the functional oil wells on the 111 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: school's property. There were more than ten of them, which 112 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: brought even more revenue to the school, and it became 113 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest school district 114 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: in the United States. Even though it was so wealthy, 115 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: the school was also looking for ways to save money 116 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: both during its construction and during its operation, and a 117 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: combination of money saving efforts would ultimately lead to the 118 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: school's destruction. Also, there's the irony that all this wealth 119 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 1: was coming from oil, and a byproduct of that oil 120 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: ultimately led to the destruction of the school. We'll get 121 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: into all of this and how it tied together after 122 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. We know it's a little earlier 123 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: in the show than we normally do it, but coming 124 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: up as a bunch of stuff that we would like 125 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: to keep all together. One of the ways the New 126 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: London Consolidated School tried to save money was on its 127 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: natural gas bill, which originally was coming from Union Gas. 128 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: Cost of school about three dollars a month. In seven 129 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: the suggestion came in to cancel the contract with Union 130 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: Gas and instead tap into the nearby parade gasoline companies 131 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: casing head gas line. Casing head gas, also sometimes called 132 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: wet gas, is essentially natural gas that's brought up along 133 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: with the crude oil. It was considered to be a 134 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: waste product. Tapping into a casing head gas line to 135 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: get access to natural gas for free was actually a 136 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: relatively common practice for people living in areas that were 137 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: home to the oil and gas industry, and while it 138 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: wasn't particularly encouraged by the companies in question, in many 139 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: cases it was tacitly allowed. This to me is one 140 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: of the most bizarre parts of this story, that it 141 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: was just a completely common place, commonplace practice to tap 142 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: into a residue gas line as though you were stealing 143 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: cable like that's so strange to me. Sources contradict one 144 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: another about whether New London School did this with or 145 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: without Parade Gasoline Companies knowledge or permission. It was, however, 146 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: approved by the school superintendent William Chesley Shaw, and apparently 147 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: also the school board. So in January of seven, plumbers 148 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: tapped into Parade Gasoline Company's residue line and swapped it 149 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: out for the Natural Gas Companies line, replacing the natural 150 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,839 Speaker 1: gas with this residue gas. According to testimony later given 151 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: it hearings that followed this explosion, Shaw said, quote, the 152 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: piping was not a secret at all. We went down 153 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: and made the connection. It was not buried deep or anything. 154 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: The United Gas Company knew it positively, We told them. Apparently, 155 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: when informed that the school was going to tap into 156 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: the Parade Gasoline Company line, United Gas Company did express 157 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: that there might be some danger involved. However, the school 158 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: board interpreted this concern as just trying to retain the 159 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,439 Speaker 1: school's business and there's three a month in gas expenditures. 160 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: Adding to the school boards perception that this would be 161 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: perfectly safe was the fact that so many other people 162 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: were tapping into the residue line. This same thing was 163 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: being done in homes all over the area and everyone 164 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: was fine. Still baffling, this change from an official natural 165 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: gas supplier to tapping into a residue line to get 166 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,079 Speaker 1: waste gas for was only part of the problem, though, 167 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: and the original building plan New London Consolidated School was 168 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: supposed to be heated by one central boiler. Instead, to 169 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: cut costs, the central boiler was replaced with a collection 170 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: of seventy two individual gas powered radiators, which was apparently, 171 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: uh kind of counterintuitively less expensive. Both the school board 172 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: and the contractor believed that these individual radiators would be safe, 173 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: but having this many individual radiators, all of them runoff 174 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: of gas, did offer far more opportunities for leaks to 175 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: develop in all the interior gas lines, and somewhere in 176 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: this system there was at least one leak. Since this gas, 177 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: in its natural state is colorless and odorless, no one 178 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: knew of the danger that was developing. Even when students 179 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: started a complain of headaches and burning eyes. No one 180 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: suspected that anything was wrong at the school. Spirits were 181 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: pretty high at New London School on March eighteenth, seven. 182 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,719 Speaker 1: It was a mild early spring day and the next 183 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,839 Speaker 1: day was supposed to be a holiday because there was 184 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,119 Speaker 1: going to be a district wide academic and athletic competition 185 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: that would take place in Henderson, which is the county seat. 186 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: Sources very a little bit about exactly what time the 187 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: explosion happened, but it was less than fifteen minutes before 188 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: the end of the school day for the middle and 189 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: high school students. The elementary classes had already been dismissed 190 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: and most of the students from grades one to four 191 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: were already on their way home. Three seventeen pm is 192 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: cited a lot, but then there are other UH eyewitness 193 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: accounts and scheduling things that make it seem like closer 194 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: to UH three twenty or three fifteens. It's a little 195 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: bit hazy. Even though the source of the explosion is 196 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: difficult to conclusively pinpoint. There were survivors who were in 197 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: the school's machine shop that day that reported seeing sparks 198 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: fly from a sanding machine. When the teacher tr Butler 199 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 1: turned it on. It might have been this, It might 200 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: have been some other spark. Literally, any spark could have 201 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: set it off. But something ignited the gas that had 202 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:13,319 Speaker 1: been silently accumulating in the school's lower levels. According to eyewitnesses, 203 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: the walls of the middle and high school building blew outward, 204 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: and the roof was literally lifted off the structure. When 205 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: it came back down, the parts of the building still 206 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: standing were crushed. People as far as forty miles away 207 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: reported feeling the blast, and the force was so great 208 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: that a two ton slab of concrete was thrown more 209 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: than two hundred feet, crushing a car that it landed on. 210 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: At least two hundred people were killed, most of them students, 211 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: and most of them instantly. Fourteen of those killed were 212 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,680 Speaker 1: teachers are staff, and four were visitors to the campus, 213 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: and it's possible that that count is a little lower 214 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: than reality. The labor force and the oil fields tended 215 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: to be somewhat transitory, and records about who is where 216 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: weren't always complete. The adults at a PTA meeting that 217 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: was being held in the gymnasium heard and felt the 218 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: explosion and rushed to the scene to find the middle 219 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: and high school building leveled. Soon help began to pour 220 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,719 Speaker 1: in from all around the area, particularly laborers from the 221 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: neighboring oil fields. Clearing the debris and looking for survivors 222 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: became an immediate and largely manual process. About fifteen hundred 223 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: oil workers manually removed building materials, forming a bucket brigade 224 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: style line to move peach baskets full of rubble and 225 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: smaller debris out of the field. Virtually every nearby building 226 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: became either a field hospital or a morgue. There were 227 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: not nearly enough horses or ambulances, so delivery trucks, pickup trucks, 228 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: and trucks that typically carried livestock had to be used 229 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 1: for the purpose. Stocks of bandages and medicines were depleted 230 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: at all of the area's pharmacies and doctors offices. A 231 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: new hospital that was scheduled to open the next day 232 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: in the neighboring town of Tyler had to open immediately 233 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: when words spread about the disaster. A radio station that 234 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: opens just the day before broadcast both calls for help 235 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: and offers of assistants. There were notes like ht Leverette 236 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: near Overton opens his home for any use whatsoever. To 237 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: the parents of three Alexander children. They are safe and 238 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: attention undertaker's Edgeworth Decorating company Longview has men and materials 239 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: ready to go to work on coffins. Soon the surrounding 240 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: roads were clogged with people trying to come into help 241 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: and trying to transport injured students and teachers to safety, 242 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: so much so that it became a total log jam. 243 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: Governor James already declared martial law, which remained in effect 244 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: until March. He sent in the Texas Rangers and the 245 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: Highway Patrol to steer traffic and coordinate the efforts. Soon 246 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: they were joined by the National Guard, the Red Cross, 247 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts, and many other organizations. 248 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: A group of about thirty doctors and one nurses traveled 249 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: in from Dallas to help. As the sun set and 250 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: it started to rain, rescuers set up floodlights and they 251 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: continued to work through the night. Seventeen hours after the 252 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: initial explosion, the rubble and the victims had all been removed, 253 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: but because there were so many fatalities spread out among 254 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: so many locations, it took a lot of families days 255 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: to find their children and loved ones. There's also Texas 256 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: Monthly did an article on one of the more recent 257 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: milestone anniversaries where they talked to a lot of survivors, 258 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: and a lot of the eyewitness accounts are horrifyingly grizzly. 259 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: We're not going to repeat all of that here, but 260 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: that article will be in the show notes for folks 261 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: who are interested. Because of the nature of the blast 262 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: and the injuries, making accurate identifications was also incredibly difficult. 263 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: Parents match swatches of fabric from clothes that they've made 264 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: for their children, or notice detail is like fingernails that 265 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: had been colored on with crayon. There are also definitely 266 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: cases of mistaken identity and people who were mistakenly reported 267 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: as either safe or killed that turned out later not 268 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: to be true. The whole uh, the whole thing was 269 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: incredibly difficult and later became one of the one of 270 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: the incidents that people used as um support for the 271 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: idea that all children should be fingerprinted and have their 272 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: fingerprints stored with law enforcement in case something horrible like 273 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: this happens. This disaster quickly became a national news story. 274 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: Walter Cronkite, who was then only twenty two covered it 275 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: as his first major assignment for United Press International, later 276 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: saying quote, I did nothing in my studies nor in 277 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: my life to prepare me for a story of the 278 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: magnitude of that New London tragedy, Nor has any sort 279 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: of any story since that awful day equaled it. Reporter 280 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: Felix Night, who was twenty six of Dallas, began his 281 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: first report Today, a generation died. We'll talk about the 282 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 1: aftermath of this explosion, uh, and some of them reforms 283 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: that it led to you after another quick sponsor break. 284 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,199 Speaker 1: A lot of the same laborers who had helped remove 285 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: debris after the New London school explosion also dug graves 286 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: for the victims. There were no mass burials, but there 287 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: were so many funerals to conduct that a lot of 288 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: them were held in groups, some of them as many 289 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 1: as twelve funerals at one time. Most of the victims, 290 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: although definitely not all, were buried at nearby Pleasant Hill Cemetery. 291 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: Texas Funeral Director sent twenty five embalmers to New London 292 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: to help with the preparations. Parents and teachers at other 293 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: schools in the area and in the rest of the 294 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: nation were terrified that something similar can happen anywhere that 295 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: natural gas was being used as fuel. Official scrambled to 296 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: test for leaks and drop safety plans. An inquiry began 297 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 1: almost immediately and it ran for three days, and although 298 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: it ruled that the school board and superintendent had not 299 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: exercised good judgment, the report to the governor was that 300 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: it did not warrant prosecution. Superintendent Shot testified that he 301 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,360 Speaker 1: was quote partially responsible for the decision to tap into 302 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,360 Speaker 1: the residue gas line. On the stand he was obviously 303 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,440 Speaker 1: both guilt stricken and grief stricken because both his son 304 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: and his niece had died and the explosion that had 305 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: also killed so so many other people. A professor of 306 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: chemical engineering at the University of Texas gave expert testimony 307 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: that the culprit was gas that had pooled under the 308 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: floor of the school's lower level. That replaced an earlier 309 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: theory that it had seeped into hollow walls and kind 310 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: of collect did there. Gordon C. Holly of the State 311 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: Fire Insurance Company testified that regulatory measures were needed to 312 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,719 Speaker 1: prevent a similar to a tragedy from occurring in the future, 313 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: including better boiler safety codes and better building exit codes. 314 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: He also recommended adding a malodorant to gas lines, which 315 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,160 Speaker 1: would have made it obvious that gas was leaking into 316 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: the building. He was quoted as saying, I don't want 317 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,640 Speaker 1: to appear heroic, but we've got to do something about this. 318 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: The Texas state legislature convened an emergency session to draft 319 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: legislation to require inspections of gas connections and the addition 320 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: of a recognizable odor to gas supplies. Other states followed, 321 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 1: and the federal law. More than seventy lawsuits were filed 322 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: in the aftermath of the explosion, although few of them 323 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,640 Speaker 1: ever actually got to trial and none of them ended 324 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: with any sort of pay out or conviction. They were 325 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: actually ca calls to Lynch Superintendent Shaw over his role 326 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: in this disaster. He wound up a media uh. He 327 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: wound up eventually resigning and moving out of the area. 328 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,439 Speaker 1: Only about one thirty students who were in the building 329 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: at the time escaped without serious injury. Classes resumed ten 330 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: days later in portable and temporary structures and in the 331 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 1: undamaged parts of campus. So many people had been killed 332 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: that some students only learned that people they knew had 333 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: died during roll call, but prom and commencement did take 334 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:38,400 Speaker 1: place as planned that spring. In nine, a memorial monument 335 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: was unveiled near the side of the explosion. It's a cenotaph, 336 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: which is a tomb like structure that doesn't contain actual remains, 337 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: carved from a block of Texas granite on two massive pillars. 338 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,959 Speaker 1: The upper portion bears a life size relief carving of 339 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,959 Speaker 1: students and teachers. A museum was also founded in a 340 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: former soda shop across the street from the monument. In 341 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: For decades, the explosion was little talked about in New 342 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: London until the reunion was held in ninety seven. Then, 343 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: many of those who had survived as children talked about 344 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: being beset with guilt over having lived. Some described receiving 345 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: death threats from the grief stricken parents of friends who 346 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: had died. It was obvious that the entire community was 347 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:31,919 Speaker 1: just absolutely, unsurprisingly, completely devastated. Compounding this grief and guilt 348 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: was the fact that the PTA meeting that had been 349 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: held in the school's gymnasium was normally held in the auditorium, 350 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 1: and when it was held in the auditorium, school was 351 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: dismissed early to accommodate it, and if that had been 352 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,360 Speaker 1: the case, it would have been a completely different tragedy, 353 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: with most of the students spared, but many of their 354 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: teachers and parents being killed when the auditorium was destroyed. Today, 355 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: mercaptain is used in natural gas in the United States, 356 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: which is harm us, but it gives it a noticeable 357 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: and unpleasant odor. Yeah. The idea of adding a bad 358 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:12,199 Speaker 1: smelling substance to natural gas existed prior to this, but 359 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: it was not widely adopted in the United States. But 360 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: after this tragedy, which was obviously horrific. UM, even even 361 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 1: though it's sort of it in a lot of ways, 362 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: disappeared from the national the national consciousness in the decades 363 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: that have passed since then. UH. In a lot of places, UM, 364 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:36,120 Speaker 1: it had immediate change in the requirement for UH natural 365 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: gas to be something that you could easily smell, so 366 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: you could tell if there was a leak, so that 367 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: it wouldn't so that this exact thing would not happen again. 368 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: One of the pieces that I read about this kind 369 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: of tried to theorize about why something that was such 370 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 1: a huge national news story at the time. UM. Today 371 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: a lot of people have never heard of a part 372 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: from the many many people who emailed us UH to 373 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,440 Speaker 1: suggest that we do this as an episode, and one 374 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,640 Speaker 1: of the theories was that it was not long before 375 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: um the Hindenburg disaster. So perhaps the Hindenburg combined with 376 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: the fact that so many people who survived or who 377 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: parents who have lost their children were just so reluctant 378 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: to talk about it for so many years after it 379 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: actually happened. Before we move into some listener mail, it 380 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: is still March. Yeah, we're gonna talk a little bit 381 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: about podcasts. Obviously you like podcasts. If you're listening to ours, 382 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: maybe this is your first podcast you've ever listened to. 383 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: You're still trying to decide if it's for you. But 384 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,959 Speaker 1: during March, podcasts are recommending other podcasts, and you can 385 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: get on this too with the hashtag tripod t r 386 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 1: y p o D. If you go to Twitter search 387 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,360 Speaker 1: for that, you will find folks talking about the podcast 388 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,919 Speaker 1: that they recommend. One of my favorite podcasts has nothing 389 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: to do. This has nothing to do with history at all. 390 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: Most of the time it is Judge John Hodgeman and 391 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: which people bring their disputes to the Court of Fake 392 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: Internet Justice. And John Hodgeman rules in one of the 393 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: party's favors uh on on the subject of their dispute. 394 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: Some of the favorites from way way back in the 395 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: day are whether a machine gun is a robot um, 396 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: whether someone can have a sadness tree in their home. 397 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: During the season of Advent, one of the more recent 398 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: ones was whether this guy's really nasty old bathrobe he 399 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 1: had had for for so long was something he could 400 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: continue to having wear or whether he needed to get 401 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: a new one. So a lot of these seem like 402 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 1: very ordinary, maybe even petty disputes among people, but a 403 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: lot of times the discussion turns out to be very 404 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: funny and very insightful into being a human being on earth. 405 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: And the same is true for the judgments that come 406 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: at the end. They often are also um very thoughtful 407 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 1: and pliant. I like listening to it a whole lot, 408 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: So a tripod hashtag tripod for lots of podcast recommendations 409 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: this month. Do you also have some listener mail? Do you? 410 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: This is another listener mail about Ed Roberts and it's 411 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 1: from Nellie and Nellie says, Hi, Holly and Tracy, I've 412 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: been listening to your podcast for almost a year and 413 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,360 Speaker 1: I am so glad I found you two. You make 414 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: my commute to work so much more enjoyable, and I 415 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: love the range and inclusivity of your topics. I want 416 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,679 Speaker 1: to thank you from the bottom of my heart for 417 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,399 Speaker 1: your wonderful podcast on Ed Roberts. I worked at a 418 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 1: Center for Independent Living for two years and I was 419 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: planning to email you suggest him as a podcast subject 420 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: on his birthday. I was pleasantly surprised to see on 421 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: your Facebook page that it was already in the works. 422 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 1: While working at the Center for Independent Living, I was 423 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: a coordinator for our youth program. Our main goal was 424 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: to help young people with disabilities transition from high school 425 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: to college, work, or independent living in the community. Part 426 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 1: of my job involved going into local high school special 427 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: education classes as a guest speaker to talk about the 428 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: history of disability rights in America. We always told the 429 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: story of Ed Roberts, as many of the challenges he 430 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,359 Speaker 1: faced as a transitioning young adult are things that my 431 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: students and clients were also facing, such as obtaining accommodations 432 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: for school or figuring out how to live independently from 433 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: their parents. It always amazed me how these students with 434 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: disabilities knew little to nothing about the history of disability rights. Often, 435 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: when we started our lesson, we would ask students who 436 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: has heard of the civil rights movement? Who has heard 437 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 1: of the women's rights movement? Ultimately everyone would raise their 438 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: hand once we said who has heard of the disability 439 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: rights movement? Almost no one er to raise their hand. 440 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: A colleague of mine pointed out to the class once 441 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,120 Speaker 1: that if they open their history books, it's very unlikely 442 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: that this history or Ed roberts story would ever be 443 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: included in its text. Ed Roberts, his legacy in the 444 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: work of countless other disability rights advocates, are truly missed 445 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,679 Speaker 1: in history class all the time. It's especially detrimental for 446 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,360 Speaker 1: all of young people with disabilities who are missing out 447 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,160 Speaker 1: on an empowering part of their own history. I wanted 448 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,199 Speaker 1: to share a fun story about Ed, which you may 449 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,639 Speaker 1: have come across and your research. You mentioned that he 450 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: was in the hospital. The doctor had told Ed's mother 451 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: that she should hope that he would die, as he 452 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: would be quote no more than a vegetable. Years later, 453 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: Ed's response was this, I decided to be an arctic choke, 454 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: a little prickly on the outside, but with a big 455 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: heart on the inside. You know, the vegetables of the 456 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: world are uniting and we're not going away once again. 457 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: Thank you for your podcasts and more importantly, for making 458 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: sure the voices of the disability rights movement are being heard. 459 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 1: Best wishes, Nellie. Thank you so much Nellie for this note. 460 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: I love the many emails that we have gotten about 461 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 1: Ed Roberts, and I also wanted to say we have 462 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,919 Speaker 1: not read any of these yet, uh, and I'm not 463 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: quite sure whether we will because a lot of them 464 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:50,960 Speaker 1: are quite personal. We have also had a lot of 465 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: people right in UM with stories about their families related 466 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: to our episodes on the Japanese American internments during World 467 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: War Two. After Executive Order, We've had a lot of 468 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: people who have sent in family stories and pictures, UM, 469 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: and just all kinds of things. A lot of them 470 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 1: have been very lovely, and I just wanted to thank 471 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: everyone who has taken the time to do that UM. 472 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 1: As I said, a lot of the stories are very personal, 473 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,679 Speaker 1: and it's clear that even within their families they have 474 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: not been talked about a whole lot. Uh, So thank 475 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: you so much for sharing those things with us. I actually, 476 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:33,360 Speaker 1: when you were discussing how UM today's topic kind of 477 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: fell aside in terms of historical record. I thought about 478 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: some of the things that came up when we were 479 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: doing the Executive Order ninety six six episode, because in 480 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: many cases, so many of those families just did not 481 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,959 Speaker 1: want to talk about it. They kind of, you know, 482 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: pushed that aside and buried it a little bit. And 483 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: I have to presume there's some similar psychology in the 484 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: mix there. Yeah, Well, it's uh yours and my father's 485 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: uh BO have military service experiences that they have not 486 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: really talked to us about, and like I, I have 487 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 1: not really asked my dad. It's the sort of a 488 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: thing that we have not, uh had had much conversation about. 489 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: And I part of me wonders, Uh, next time I 490 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: go home, should I take this heap recorder and we'll 491 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: talk about Vietnam? And then part of me is like, 492 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: I don't know if I want to pry with that 493 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: because I know that was such a difficult time for 494 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: so many people. So thank you again for all the 495 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 1: folks that have shared so many personal stories with us. 496 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 497 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: or any other podcast where a history podcast At how 498 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com, we're also on Facebook at Facebook 499 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: dot com slash miss in history, and on Twitter at 500 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: miss in history. Our tumbler is missed in History dot 501 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: tumbler dot com, or on Pinterest at pinterest dot com 502 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: slash miss in history, and on Instagram at miss in history. 503 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 1: You can come to our parent company's website, which is 504 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. You'll find all kinds of 505 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: stuff about petroleum and oil and gas and all the 506 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: types of fuel that we talked about today. Income to 507 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: our website, which is missed in history dot com, where 508 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,000 Speaker 1: you will find an archive all the episodes Holly and 509 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: I have ever done. You will find show notes for 510 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: the episodes that we have done, and those show notes 511 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: uh starting basically now ish are are now combined with 512 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: episode pages, so you don't have to look in two 513 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: different places to find out what sources we talked about. 514 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: So you can do all that and a whole lot 515 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: more at how stuff works dot com or missed in 516 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: history dot com. For more on this and thousands of 517 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: other topics, is it how stuff works dot com