1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff you missed in history class. A production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of I heart radio. Hello and welcome to the PODCAST. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy v Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. We have 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: gotten so many requests over the years for an episode 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: on Eugene Jacques Bullard and for a while I was 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: answering a lot of them because there were a lot, 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: and my answer was like yes, he's on the list. 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: There's one book I really want to read as part 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: of the research. I can't get my hands on it 10 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: right now because overwhelmingly the request that we got described 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: Bullard as the first black American fighter pilot, which is true, 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: but he also had this really full and fascinating life 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: beyond that that isn't really touched on and like the 14 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: viral facebook posts and stuff that people were sending us 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: as part of their episode requests. There's one book that's 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: focused mostly on that, though. It's called Eugene Bullard, black 17 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 1: expatriate and Jazz Age Paris, but I could only find 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: it in one library I had access to. That library 19 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: stopped lending books at the beginning of the pandemic and 20 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: once they started lending books again, getting to the library 21 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: was a different pandemic issue and uh, then all of 22 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: that was resolved and it took me another year plus 23 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: to actually get back to looking at this because I 24 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: had plenty of other stuff to do. Um. Also, a 25 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,040 Speaker 1: folks are about to send me a note about Inter 26 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: Library loan. I know about Inter Library Loan. That was 27 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: not an option for similar reasons during this stretch of time. So, anyway, 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: all of this is resolved. My resource issues resolved, library 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: access resolved, uh, and there are also new resources about 30 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: him that have come out more recently. So we are 31 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: finally getting to this much requested episode that people have 32 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: been asking us to do for years, and actually we're 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: doing two episodes because it turns out when you get 34 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: more into all the stuff that's beyond being a combat 35 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: pilot in World War One, it turns into a lot. 36 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: So M you will get it all. Eugene James Bullard 37 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: was the seventh of ten children born to William and 38 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: Josephine Bullard, and most people called him Jean. Although some 39 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: sources say his date of birth is unclear, it was 40 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: recorded in the Family Bible as October. The bullards lived 41 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: in Columbus, Georgia, which is in the western part of 42 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: the state, right on the Chattahoochee River on the border 43 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: with Alabama. William had been enslaved from birth and he 44 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: had both African and Muskogee Creek Ancestry. Most accounts also 45 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: described Josephine as creek, but it's not totally clear how 46 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: many connections the family had to other indigenous people while 47 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: Jean was growing up. The city of Columbus is located 48 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: in the Muscogee nation's ancestral lands. It's in a county 49 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: that was named for the Muskogee, but the federal government 50 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: had removed many of the Muskogee from Georgia and other 51 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: parts of the southeast over the eighteen twenties and thirties. 52 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: This removal is really a whole other story, but it 53 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: was connected to a fraudulent treaty that had been negotiated 54 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: without most of the Muskogee nations involvement and in violation 55 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: of Muskogee law, and it was part of a bigger 56 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: federal effort to remove indigenous peoples from the eastern us 57 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: to land west of the Mississippi River. But intermarriages between 58 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: people with African and Muskogee ancestry weren't uncommon during this period. 59 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: The muskogee both enslaved people of African descent and accepted 60 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: free black people as tribal citizens, and it's possible that 61 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: William Bullard had been living amongst some of the Muskogee 62 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: people who were still in Georgia when he married Josephine 63 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty two. Yeah, we really just don't have 64 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: a lot of information about how he conceived of this 65 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: as part of his identity, and most sources describe him 66 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: as African American or black. As a large family of 67 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: both indigenous and African ancestry, though, the bullards often really 68 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: struggled financially. William mostly worked as a Stevadore or doing 69 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: other labor, while Josephine took in laundry. They also took 70 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: in borders to their home to try to make extra money. 71 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: While they were doing all this to try to make 72 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: ends meet, Josephine also tried to protect Jean and his 73 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: siblings from the extreme and sometimes violent racism of the 74 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: world they were living in. For example, two black men 75 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 1: were lynched and their bodies were desecrated in the middle 76 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: of town when Jean was just a year old, Jean 77 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: started attending a school that had been founded by the 78 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: Freedman's bureau in Nineteen O one, at which point it 79 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: became a lot harder for his family to shield him 80 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: from racism. His mother also died on August nineteen o 81 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: two at the age of thirty seven. Jean was almost seven. 82 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: Her cause of death is not noted anywhere, but taking 83 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: in laundry was hot, exhausting work, and this followed a 84 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: stretch of particularly hot weather in Georgia. Jean's last year 85 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: at the Freedman's bureau school was in nineteen Oh six, 86 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: when he was ten, and around that same time his 87 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: father had a fight with the white foreman at a 88 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: warehouse where he worked. This foreman had been harassing and 89 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: abusing black employees, and William seems to have foreseen that 90 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,280 Speaker 1: this was going to end in violence and that when 91 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: it did, his life would be at risk. Jean later 92 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: related a conversation William had with him and his siblings 93 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: who were still living at home, telling them that if 94 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: something ever happens to him, he wanted them all to 95 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,559 Speaker 1: be good. Eventually, this foreman hit William with a hook 96 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,919 Speaker 1: that was used to unload bales of cotton, and William 97 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: fought back, throwing him through a hole in the floor 98 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: that dropped into a cellar under the warehouse. The foreman 99 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: was badly injured but survived. William apparently had a good 100 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: rapport with the owner of the warehouse, W C Bradley, 101 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: and he had already told Bradley about the foreman's abuse. 102 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: Bradley seems to have tried to keep this whole incident quiet, 103 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,799 Speaker 1: but words still got out about it. A mob of drunk, 104 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: angry white men came to the Bullard House to kill William. 105 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: William was inside the House with his shotgun aimed at 106 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: the locked front door, and the children were all hiding 107 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 1: when they couldn't get into the house, and it also 108 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: seemed like nobody was home. The mob seems to have 109 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: eventually given up. Jean was still a child, but at 110 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: this point he decided it was time to leave. The 111 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: first few times he tried, though, his father found him, 112 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: brought him home and punished him for running away. Then, 113 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: when Jean was eleven, he sold a goat and cart 114 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: that belonged to him to another boy for a dollar 115 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: in fifty cents, and he left again, this time managing 116 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: to evade his father. For about the next five years, 117 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: Jeanne traveled all over Georgia, living and working for an 118 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: assortment of people, including Black Sharecroppers, white landowners and a 119 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: group of Romani people from England. This particular group had 120 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: a big influence on him. Jeanne stayed with them for 121 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: several months. He helped care for their horses and learned 122 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: to race them, and they told him that the racism 123 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: he had been living through in Georgia didn't exist in England. 124 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: When it became clear that they did not plan to 125 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: go back to England anytime soon, Jeanne left, hoping that 126 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: he would be able to make it there on his own. 127 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: This took a while. He worked for a series of 128 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: people in rural parts of Georgia before hopping a train 129 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: to Atlanta. When he got to Newport News, Virginia, he 130 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: stowed away on a ship that he thought was headed 131 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic, but it docked at the port in Norfolk, 132 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: Virginia just a few hours later. In Norfolk he found 133 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: a ship called the Marta Russ which was headed for Scotland. 134 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: The crew spoke mostly German, but some spoke a little English, 135 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: and they seemed happy to let Jean run errands for 136 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: them while they prepared to leave in exchange for a 137 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: little money. Jean used this money to buy himself some 138 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: food and then he hid aboard the martyr roost before 139 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: it departed on March fourth nine. About three days into 140 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: the voyage, though, he ran out of that food and 141 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: he came out of hiding. He was put to work 142 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: in the boiler room, hauling cinders and ashes to be 143 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: dumped overboard, and then he started learning some German from 144 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: the crew. He was put ashore when they got to Aberdeen, Scotland, 145 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: and the captain gave him five English pounds. He stayed 146 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: in Aberdeen for a few months before making his way 147 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: to Glasgow. Bullard described himself as feeling like he had 148 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: been born into a new world. The people around him 149 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: were mostly white, and it would be wrong to suggest 150 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: that no one was prejudiced or that there was no racism. 151 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 1: It would also be inaccurate to say that there was 152 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: never any racist violence. As one example in Asgo in nineteen, 153 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: a white mob chased down a group of predominantly black 154 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: sailors and lay siege to their boarding house. But overall, 155 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: people seemed to Eugene with curiosity, not with the malicious 156 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: hostility he had been enduring from white people in the 157 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: United States. Something happened during this period that really emphasized 158 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: this difference. It's not clear exactly how or how much 159 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: bullard was in touch with his family after leaving the US, 160 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: but not long after arriving in Europe he got word 161 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: that his oldest brother, hector, had been lynched. Hector had 162 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: inherited a peach farm that had been passed down through 163 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: their mother's side of the family and white squatters had 164 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: tried to take it over. Hector had refused to give 165 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: into them and they had murdered him. We'll get back 166 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: to Eugene's story and what happened while he was in 167 00:09:53,000 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: the UK. After a sponsor break in late nineteen twelve, 168 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: Eugene bullard moved to Liverpool. He'd been making ends meet 169 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: through a range of odd jobs, including acting as a 170 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: lookout for street performers to warn them if the police 171 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: were coming. In Liverpool, he worked at a carnival attraction 172 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: where somebody would put their face through a hole in 173 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: a sheet and then they would try to dodge as 174 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: customers through these soft rubber balls at them. In bullard's 175 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: own account, he told the proprietor of this attraction that 176 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: he would make a lot more money if bullard was 177 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: the target instead of a white person. This turned out 178 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: to be true. I find this whole idea deeply troubling, uh, 179 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 1: but based on his own descriptions, this is another example 180 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: of how he just felt a lot safer as a 181 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: black man in Europe than he had felt in the 182 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: United States. In Liverpool, Bullard also started performing with a 183 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: Vaudeville company, something else that he saw differently in Europe 184 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: than in the US. Black Vaudeville performers were expected to 185 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: follow a lot of the same racist tropes in England 186 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: as they were in the US, and white performers on 187 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: both sides of the Atlantic performed in black face, but 188 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: bullard saw this as flouting stereotypes and expectations, not as 189 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: being subjected to them or reinforcing them. Bullard also made 190 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: friends with a man named Chris Baldwin, who owned a 191 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: boxing gym and started teaching Bullard how to box, and 192 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: soon bullard was making connections with other black boxers from 193 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: the United States who were in the UK. This included 194 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: Jack Johnson and Aaron Lister Brown, who was known as 195 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: the Dixie Kid. Brown invited Bullard to come with him 196 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: to London so they could train together. And London bullard 197 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: started living in a predominantly black neighborhood and a lot 198 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: of the other residents there were also black expatriots from 199 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: the United States. Own and Bullard traveled to cities around 200 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: Europe to box, but it took a while for Bullard 201 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,319 Speaker 1: to get where he really wanted to go, and that 202 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: was Paris. A lot of accounts of his life describe 203 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: him as having family from Martinique and hearing through family 204 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: lore that France was racially tolerant, although that doesn't line 205 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: up with the historical record and it might be a 206 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: backstory that he developed once he was in France to 207 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: try to explain his affinity for the country. Yeah, he 208 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: clearly got the idea from someone at some point that 209 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 1: Paris was a place he would like to be, uh, 210 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: but exactly who that was or how is a little fuzzier. 211 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: Bullard did finally get to Paris for a boxing match 212 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: in late nineteen thirteen, though, and as expected, he immediately 213 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: fell in love with it. As soon as he was 214 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 1: back in London after the match, he talked to Brown 215 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: about wanting to go back to Paris as soon as possible, 216 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: but the dixie kid already had a string of matches 217 00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,079 Speaker 1: lined up in London. So bullard decided to make his 218 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: way back to Paris on his own. He joined a 219 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: menstrual troop that was starting on a tour, and then 220 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: he quit as soon as they got to Paris. They're 221 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: basically his ride, with him doing some work along the way. 222 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: After settling in Paris, bullard started using the middle name 223 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: Jacques as a nod to his love for his new home. 224 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: I understand completely, Jean. However, on June nineteen fourteen, not 225 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: long after bullard finally got to France, archduke friends Ferdinand 226 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenburg, were assassinated, 227 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: sparking the first World War. Even though he was not 228 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 1: French and the United States was not yet involved in 229 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: the war, bullard wanted to serve the nation that he 230 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 1: had fallen in love with and he joined the French 231 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: Foreign Legion on October nine nineteen fourteen, which would have 232 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: been his nineteenth birthday. Bullard was initially stationed along the 233 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: sum river as a machine gunner, and he also did 234 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: extremely dangerous work, like trying to retrieve bodies for no 235 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: man's land and cutting through barbed wire and preparation for 236 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: assaulting the enemy's trenches. Over the course of Nineteen fifteen, 237 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: the foreign legions saw so many casualties in this area 238 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: that units had to be merged together as they lost 239 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: too many soldiers. Meanwhile, it doesn't seem like Bullard had 240 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: any contact with his father since arriving in Europe, but 241 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: somehow William Bullard had figured out where he was and 242 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: what he was doing, and William was trying to find him. 243 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: William Bullard wrote a letter to the U S State Department, 244 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: apparently believing that at nineteen, Jean was too young to 245 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: legally enlist, although that was not the case. Somehow William's 246 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: attempts to find Jean got all the way to the 247 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: U S Secretary of State and then the American Ambassador 248 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: in Paris, William Sharp, although sharp does not seem to 249 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: have taken any action on it. Okay, it's uh kind 250 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: of heartrending the effort that he was going through to 251 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: find his son, but also seemingly totally misguided about whether 252 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: Jean had the legal right to be doing what he 253 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: was doing, which he did by late Nineteen fifteen. Tens 254 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: of thousands of men in the French Foreign Legion had 255 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: been killed in action, and that included a lot of 256 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: people among Bullard's unit at the battle of Champagna. At 257 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: that point their numbers were just too far reduced to 258 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: keep consolidating these foreign legion units, so survivors were transferred 259 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: into the regular French army. Bullard was sent to the 260 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: one Seventieth Infantry Regiment of the Moroccan division, nicknamed the 261 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: swallows of death. When he got there, bullard continued to 262 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: be a machine gunner. The Battle of their dome stretched 263 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: through almost all of nineteen sixteen as Germany tried to 264 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: capture the French fort city of their don't. There don't 265 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: had both strategic and symbolic importance, and Germany hoped that 266 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: France's efforts to defend it would turn into a war 267 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: of attrition. They're done. was nicknamed the Meat Grinder because 268 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 1: of its relentless deadliness, and that had been Germany strategy 269 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: from the beginning. Bullard was seriously wounded at verdant on 270 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: March Second Nineteen Sixteen, just a couple of weeks into 271 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: a nearly year long battle. An artillery shell had exploded 272 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: nearby him, knocking out most of his teeth and also 273 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: killing several of the men who were with him. He 274 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: continued fighting, though, and then three days later was seriously 275 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: wounded for the second time, this time in the leg, 276 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: while trying to deliver a message from one officer to another. 277 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: That wound could have killed him. It barely missed his 278 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: femeral artery and he had to be evacuated and taken 279 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: to Lyon by Red Cross train. He was hospitalized for 280 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: months and while in the hospital he was awarded the 281 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: Quadriger for his heroism. This was one of fourteen honors 282 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: that he would earn during the war. Yeah, it wasn't 283 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: the first one he received, but it was one of 284 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: the most notable. Bullard spent about six months in recovery 285 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: and physical therapy from his leg injury and while he 286 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: did recover more function in his leg than doctors had expected, 287 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,879 Speaker 1: he still needed a cane to walk afterward. There was 288 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: no way he could go back to being a machine 289 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: gunner for the infantry. Apart from it being an infantry role, 290 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: the machine gunners were like hauling these very heavy machine 291 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 1: guns from place to place. He thought his skills as 292 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: a machine gunner in the infantry might make him a 293 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: good aircraft gunner, though. So he asked for a transfer, 294 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: and we'll get to that after a quick sponsor break. 295 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: Eugene Bullard had some leave and he went back to 296 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: Paris until October of nineteen sixteen, and after that he 297 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: went to CASILLAC, France, to train as an aircraft gunner. 298 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: It's possible that he always thought this might be a 299 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: way to move into training as a pilot, but at 300 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 1: some point he heard about the Lafayette Esqua Drille. This 301 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: was named for the Markete Lafayette and organized by Americans 302 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: to give American pilots a chance to fly for France. 303 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: It was also an effort to put some pressure on 304 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: the United States to become involved in the war, kind 305 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 1: of like hey, these Americans are already flying for France 306 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: and they are making you look bad by not also 307 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:28,879 Speaker 1: stepping up. After learning about the Lafayette Escadrille, Bullard asked 308 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: if he could move into pilot training instead of gunnery training, 309 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: and he was transferred to aviation school in tour in 310 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: the fall of nineteen sixteen. Bullard earned his pilot certificate 311 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,160 Speaker 1: on May five nineteen seventeen. And then he went back 312 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,159 Speaker 1: to Paris for almost a week of leave. At some 313 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: point previously he had made a bet with American expatriate 314 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: Jeff Dixon, who was in Europe hoping to become a 315 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 1: boxing promoter. Dixon had met Bullard two thousand dollars that 316 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: he would never become a pilot. Bullard collect did his 317 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: winnings and spent his leave treating everyone he knew to 318 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: dinners and drinks and generally having a good time. But 319 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,440 Speaker 1: then Bullard didn't receive orders for where to report once 320 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 1: his leave was over. That seems to have been due 321 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: to the influence of Edmund Gross, who was a doctor 322 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: who had helped establish the Lafayette Escadrille as well as 323 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: the American Hospital of Paris and the American ambulance field service. 324 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: Grows apparently didn't want a black man in the Lafayette 325 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: ESCA drill and he seems to have pulled strings to 326 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: try to keep bullard out of the service. Some of 327 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: the accounts of all this described. The evidence of all 328 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 1: of this is circumstantial, but they're sure is a lot 329 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: of it. There are a lot of times where bullard 330 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: was kept from doing something and Dr Gross seems to 331 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: have been involved. Finally, Bullard was ordered to report for 332 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: further combat flight training on August five nineteen. Ultimately, Bullard 333 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,679 Speaker 1: was assigned to ESCA drills, sp a nineties three, flying 334 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,919 Speaker 1: his first mission in September of nineteen seventeen, and he 335 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: had a monkey named Jimmy with him, which he had 336 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: brought back from Paris. It is not clear exactly how 337 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: he got Jimmy, but bullard called him his co pilot 338 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,719 Speaker 1: and hid him in his flight jacket on missions. The 339 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: fuselage of his plane was also decorated with a heart 340 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: pierced with a dagger, in the words to lesson Quiku Rouge, 341 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 1: or all blood that flows is red. been a lot 342 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,920 Speaker 1: of ways, bullard's day to day life as a pilot 343 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 1: was better than it had been in the infantry. Just 344 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: the basic living essentials were safer and cleaner and more predictable. 345 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: He had regular meals and snacks and a clean place 346 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: to sleep, and he wasn't in the trenches anymore. But 347 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,440 Speaker 1: at the same time, being a combat pilot was really dangerous. 348 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: More than two hundred Americans flew for France during the war, 349 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: both in the ESKDRILL and in other units and sixty 350 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 1: eight of them were killed. Since they usually flew in 351 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: these single seat biplanes, the men who were killed usually 352 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: died alone. This was just a different kind of grief 353 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,360 Speaker 1: and trauma than what Bullard had been experiencing in the infantry, 354 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: where the vast scale of death could become so overwhelming 355 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: that it was almost numbing. So it was like both 356 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,199 Speaker 1: of them were really traumatic. In some ways, being a 357 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,920 Speaker 1: pilot felt more acute, if that makes sense. Bullard flew 358 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: about twenty missions during his time as a pilot as 359 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: part of ESKU DRILL SPA Ninety three and later Esqdril 360 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: sp a eight five. He reported that he had shot 361 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: down to German planes during that time. Those were not confirmed, though, 362 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: which wouldn't have been unusual if the planes crashed behind 363 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: German lines and nobody else was around to see it. 364 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: Bullard also crashed at one point after his plane was 365 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,240 Speaker 1: hit from the ground. He hid from German troops until 366 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,439 Speaker 1: the French came to retrieve the plane. His time as 367 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: a pilot did not last for very long, though. The 368 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: United States became involved in world one in April of 369 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen, and once American troops actually started arriving in Europe. 370 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: Months later, the American pilots and the Lafayette Esquadrille were 371 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: transferred into the American military, but not bullard. There is 372 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,959 Speaker 1: some conflicting information around this. Bullard blamed Dr Edmund Gross, 373 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: who definitely did write a letter laying out some flatly 374 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: false reasons to keep bullard out of the American military. 375 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: Gross said that Bullard had been imprisoned for ten days, 376 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 1: which he had not, after an altercation with an officer. 377 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: That altercation did happen in response to that officer's racism. 378 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: Other French officers who had witnessed this had sided with Bullard, 379 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,679 Speaker 1: who was reprimanded but definitely not jailed. And this officer 380 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: was in command of some of the troops that had 381 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: been recruited from France's colonial territories, so those would have 382 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: been people of Color, and apparently the officer was saying 383 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: really disparaging things and Eugene Jack Bullard was not having 384 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: it and other officers backed him up as being in 385 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: the right. Gross also said that Bullard had been imprisoned 386 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: for a further twenty days for wearing a forage air 387 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: that was only allowed to be warned by members of 388 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: the Foreign Legion, which gross implied Bullard was not one of. 389 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,239 Speaker 1: Bullard had been wearing this for a jaire because he 390 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,119 Speaker 1: earned it as a member of the French Foreign Legion, 391 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: which gross had either overlooked in his record or just 392 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 1: lied about in this letter. There was no twenty day 393 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: jail term involved with all of this, because Bullard had 394 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: not been doing anything wrong. He was wearing a decoration 395 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: he had earned. Gross wrote back to captain W W 396 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: Hoffman of the American Expeditionary Force that Bullard was being 397 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: transferred back to the French infantry. For All these reasons. 398 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: It's also noted that all the other pilots being transferred 399 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: into the American military were officers and Bullard wasn't. And 400 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: one source on Bullard claims that his physical exam didn't 401 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: disqualify him from service, but did note that both his 402 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: feet and his tonsils were too large and his name 403 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 1: was last on the list of pilots whose physicals were acceptable. However, 404 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: even without any of that, it is extremely unlikely that 405 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: the US military would have accepted Bullard as a pilot. 406 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: The US military was racially segregated and most black men 407 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: served in labor battalions the ones who served in combat 408 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: roles were in the ninety second and ninety three combat divisions, 409 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: most famously in the three sixty ninth infantry, better known 410 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: as the Harlem Hell Fighters. We have an episode on 411 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: the Harlem Hell Fighters that we ran as a Saturday 412 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: classic in June. Of the American military just would not 413 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: have viewed to black pilot as an option. Gross had 414 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: not wanted Bullard to fly for the Lafayette Esquadrille in 415 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: the first place and had subjected him to a lot 416 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: of petty slates, including paying him late and never giving 417 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: him an honorary scroll that the French Ministry of war 418 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,919 Speaker 1: had presented to all the other pilots. So at this 419 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: point gross seems to have taken the opportunity to end 420 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:19,400 Speaker 1: his service as a pilot entirely. In January of nine eighteen, 421 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: Bullard was transferred back to the one infantry. Around this 422 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: same time there was a brief mention of him and 423 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: then double a CPS publication the crisis, mentioning that he 424 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: had joined the French Foreign Legion, been wounded at ver done, 425 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,639 Speaker 1: earned the Quada gair and enlisted in the Aviation Corps. 426 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: After leaving the hospital, following his injury. This did not 427 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: have the most recent news involving him. Presumably the person 428 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: who wrote this did not know that information yet, but 429 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 1: this seems to be the only mention of Eugene Bullard 430 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: in American media from during the war. Although bullard had 431 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: been able to fly a plane, his earlier leg wound 432 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: still affected his mobility and that he couldn't just move 433 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: back into his previous role as a machine gunner. So 434 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: he spent the rest of World War One in a 435 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: service battalion. After the war, his service was seen as 436 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: particularly heroic since he was one of the Americans who 437 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: served in France long before the US entered the war 438 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: and had been wounded more than once in the process. 439 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,400 Speaker 1: Because he had been wounded in service to France, Bullard 440 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: was also eligible for French citizenship and later identified himself 441 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: as a French citizen. After the war was over, Bullard 442 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: went back to Paris. He doesn't seem to have had 443 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:38,160 Speaker 1: his monkey Jimmy with him anymore. According to some accounts, 444 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,680 Speaker 1: Jimmy died during the flu pandemic. We'll talk more about 445 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: bullard's life in Paris in our next episode. Will we 446 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 1: talk about Listener Mail in the meantime, we will uh. 447 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 1: This listener mail is from Heather, and Heather wrote. High 448 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. I hope this email finds you well. 449 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: I started listening to your podcast after the start of 450 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: the pandemic and I have to say it has been 451 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: essential to my daily walking routine and general intellectual enrichment. Today, 452 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: on my daily walk with our dog Zoro, I listened 453 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: to the episode on Thomas Midgley Jr and his deadly 454 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: inventions and the last part on the history of free on. 455 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: You ended it by mentioning that the world's response to 456 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: the science showing free once negative impact on the Ozon 457 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: layer demonstrated what was possible when a substitute is available. 458 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: What is interesting is that what eventually replaced free on 459 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: and other CFCs used as a flat refrigerants, Hydrofluoro carbons, 460 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: or h f CS, are now considered among the culprits 461 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,640 Speaker 1: of global warming and climate change, being accountable for about 462 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,159 Speaker 1: one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Recent years have 463 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 1: seen the global community rally around initiatives to phase out HFCs, 464 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: in a movement reminiscent of the global phase out of 465 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 1: free on and CFCs and the U N, EU and 466 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: many nations are legislating to reduce their usage. In the US, 467 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: the bipartisan followed by two expl exclamation points in parentheses, 468 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: twenty American innovation and manufacturing, or aim act mandates the 469 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: eventual phase out of listed high global warming potential or 470 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: G W P, HFCs. The irony in all of this 471 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,640 Speaker 1: is that the substitutes available and being promoted, ammonia, propane 472 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: and carbon dioxide, are the very chemicals that were considered 473 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,680 Speaker 1: too toxic or flammable to continue to use the refrigeration 474 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 1: back in the first part of the twentieth century and 475 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: made free on a viable alternative back then. However, in 476 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: the present day these chemicals can be used as refrigerants 477 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: much more safely due to the advanced engineering of refrigeration 478 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: equipment that prevents fires and leaks. In most cases, these 479 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: natural refrigerants have zero or very low G W P. Anyway, 480 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: I thought you might enjoy this Fitnte uh and then 481 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: heather also included pictures of cat, Cathulu, the great old one. 482 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: She's not actually that, but does sometimes embody her love, 483 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: crafty and namesakes behaviors. Oh and the dog is cute too. 484 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: So we have a dog picture. This dog is super cute. 485 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: I do not know if this is a girl dog 486 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: or a boy dog, but dog it's kind of rolling 487 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: around with the mouth open, adorable posture. Um. And then 488 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: also such a very cute cat making very cute cat faces. Um. 489 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: It looks like this kitty cat has a tipped ear 490 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: in one picture, so I wonder what the Kitty Cat's 491 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: background is. Uh, that's a lot of Um. FERRELS and 492 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,719 Speaker 1: strays have their ears tipped after being vaccinated, spader, neutered 493 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: and vaccinated and sometimes returned to their feral colonies. Yes, 494 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: because they can test positive for things they have been 495 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: vaccinated for. Yes, yes. Or you can have a cat 496 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: like my now gone cat, Mr Burns, who tears his 497 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 1: own ear in a way that makes people think that happened, 498 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: but in fact he just got a claw cotton impulse. 499 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: Oh No, he was for Mr Burn so thank you 500 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: for all these cat pictures and for this footnote. Another 501 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 1: thing that we did not mention in the episode is 502 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: that new ozone depleting substances are being developed all the 503 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: time and the progress towards the whole in the ozone 504 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: layer in general. Ozone Depletion repairing itself only continues to 505 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: work if we continue to not use those substances once 506 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: they're known to be ozone depleting. We did not specifically 507 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: say that in the episode, so I wanted to take 508 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: the opportunity to say it now. Thank you again, Heather, 509 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: for this note and all of the adorable animal pictures. 510 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: If you would like to send us a note about 511 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: this or any other podcast, we're a history podcast at 512 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: I heart radio DOT com. We're all over social media 513 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: ADMISTON history. 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