1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey everyone. Technically you're getting two days in History today 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: because we were running two episodes from the History Vault. 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: You'll also here two hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: Hope you enjoy. Welcome to this Day in History Class 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the desk 6 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the show 7 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: where we explore the past one day at a time 8 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and 10 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: it's December thirty one. Theodosia Burr Alston disappeared on this 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: day in eighteen twelve. Of course, she was the daughter 12 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: of Aaron Burr and Theodosja Bartow. When they met, the 13 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: elder Theodosia was already married. Theodosia and Aaron Burr got 14 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: married in two after the death of her first husband, 15 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: and they had a daughter, the subject of this episode 16 00:00:51,840 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: on June. The young Theodosia had very ambitious parents. Her 17 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: parents focused their ambitions on her. This is especially true 18 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: of her father, he wanted to groom her to be 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: an outstanding lady. Consequently, she was very highly educated, possibly 20 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: the most educated woman of her time, and she was 21 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: widely regarded as a child prodigy when she was only ten. 22 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: Though the young Theodosia's mother died was probably of stomach cancer, 23 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: and in spite of her very young age, Theodosia stort 24 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: of taking on more and more of the work that 25 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: had been her mother's. She was managing their household and 26 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: the enslaved staff. She was acting as hostess for her 27 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: father's gatherings. She really was the mistress of their house. 28 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: By her early teens and eighteen hundred, two things happened 29 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: that would really change her life. One was that there 30 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: was an incredibly convoluted presidential election and Theodosia's father, Aaron Burr, 31 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: ultimately became the vice president. The other big change was 32 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: that she met a man named Joseph Alston of South Carolina. 33 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: He was a wealthy educa hated planter, and he had 34 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: practiced law before turing his attentions to agriculture. He had 35 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: a rice plantation that had more than six thousand acres 36 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: and a staff of more than two hundred enslaved Africans. 37 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: He had to work really hard to convince her to 38 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: marry him, though she was attracted to him, but she 39 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: thought they were way too young to get married. Once 40 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: they did get married, though, they went on a lengthy 41 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: bridal tour, and then they had a son around May 42 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: eighteen o two. During the delivery, Theodosia experienced a very 43 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: severe uterine pro lapse and that negatively affected her health 44 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: for the rest of her life. She was exhausted and 45 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: traumatized after giving birth to her son, and in a 46 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: lot of ways, she felt incredibly isolated in South Carolina. 47 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: Being on a plantation with such a huge enslaved staff 48 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: was a very different experience for her than what she 49 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: had been used to in her father's houses. So just 50 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: three weeks after giving birth, even though she was definitely 51 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: still recovering, she went to visit her father her and 52 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: these visits back home became an annual tradition. Then, on 53 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: July eleven, eighteen o four, when Theodosia was twenty one, 54 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: her father shot and killed Alexander Hamilton's in a duel. 55 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: He was arrested for treason, tried and acquitted, but he 56 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: fled to Europe to try to escape the scandal. Theodosia 57 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: had kept trying to get permission for her father to 58 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: come back to the United States, but that didn't happen 59 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,679 Speaker 1: until eighteen twelve, and then, unfortunately, they did not have 60 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: a happy reunion. Her son, who was also named Aaron, 61 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: died just a couple of months after arin Burg got 62 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: back to the United States. She was absolutely traumatized and devastated, 63 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: and her only consolation was getting home to her father. 64 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: But the War of eighteen twelve was going on. Theodosia's 65 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: husband had been elected governor of South Carolina and was 66 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: brigadier general of the state militia, so there was no 67 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: way that he could leave his duties and accompany her 68 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: on a trip to go see her father. An overland 69 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: voyage would have been probably safer in some ways, but 70 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: very long and uncomfortable, especially for somebody with her medical history. 71 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: The only way that was reasonable for her to get 72 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: to her father was by sea. That was a trip 73 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: that would take less than a week, but it was 74 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: an already uncertain means of travel through an active war 75 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: zone that was also full of pirates. In spite of 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: all that she was set on going, her husband didn't 77 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: have the heart to try to keep her at home, 78 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: and she departed from Georgetown, South Carolina, aboard a small 79 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: pilot boat called the Patriot on December thirty first, eighteen twelve. 80 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: She also had a lot of her father's papers with 81 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: her to return to him, and Dr Timothy Ruggles Green 82 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: on board with her to take care of her because 83 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: of her illness. She probably had a maid and maybe 84 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: a cook with her as well. Her husband boarded the 85 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: ship with her and then rode back to shore after 86 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: kissing her goodbye, and then once the Patriots slipped out 87 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: of view from the shore, it was never seen again. 88 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: Her father and her husband held out hope for weeks 89 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: that maybe she had it's been delayed somehow, but they 90 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: were never reunited, and they eventually accepted that she had died. 91 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: There are, though, theories that continue to persist about what 92 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: really happened. You can learn more about this, including more 93 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: about those theories, in the October eight episode of Stuff 94 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: You Miss in History Class. Thanks to Casey Pegram and 95 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: Chandler Maze for their audio work on this show. You 96 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: can subscribe to the Stand History Class on Apple podcast, 97 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: Google podcast, i Heeart Radio app, and wherever else you 98 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and you can tune in tomorrow for 99 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: the birth of one of history's most famous patrons. Hey, y'all, 100 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: I'm closing out the decade from the comfort of my 101 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: own home, but I'm so glad that you made it 102 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 1: to the end of the year with me. And still 103 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: the show must go on, So let's get into the 104 00:05:52,560 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: last episode of the year. The day was December thirty one, 105 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three. Helan Jack was sworn in as Borough 106 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: President of Manhattan, making him the highest ranking black elected 107 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: municipal official in the US at the time. Jack was 108 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: born in St. Lucia. Jack's father was a minister and 109 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: was active in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. Jack's 110 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: family spent time on a various Caribbean islands, but when 111 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: he was a teenager, he accompanied his father on a 112 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: trip to New York City and stayed there even after 113 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: his father returned to the Caribbean. Jack's plan was to 114 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 1: get an American education, to find work, and to become 115 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: involved in politics, and he immediately set about reaching all 116 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: of those goals. Jack enrolled in the New York Evening 117 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: High School and got his diploma in nine He later 118 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: took evening classes at New York University, where he completed 119 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: three years of study towards a bachelor's degree in business administration. 120 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: Jack found work at a paper box factory, and he 121 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: managed to work his way from being a fox cutter 122 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: there to being the vice president of sales. But as 123 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: he witnessed more racism and discrimination, Jack turned toward a 124 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: political career. In nineteen thirty Jack joined the Democratic Party. 125 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: The next year, he became a U S citizen. In 126 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four, he married Gertrude Hewitt, with whom he 127 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: had one child. She died in nineteen thirty seven, and 128 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: four years later he married Almira Wilkinson. They also had 129 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: one child together. Jack entered politics as millions of black 130 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: people left the Republican Party to vote for Democrat Franklin D. 131 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: Roosevelt as president. He did face racism as he became 132 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: more involved in the Democratic Party, but in nineteen forty 133 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: he was elected to represent Harlem and the New York 134 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: State Assembly. He served as an assemblyman from nineteen forty 135 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: one to nineteen fifty three. After being re elected several times, 136 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: he became known as a Tammany Hall Britive. Tammany Hall 137 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: was the Democratic Party political machine that had a lot 138 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: of control in New York City and state politics from 139 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: the late eighteenth century to the nineteen sixties. The organization 140 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: was known for its support of impoverished people in immigrants, 141 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: as well as its corruption, but Jack was also known 142 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: for his advocacy for bills that struck down segregation and discrimination. 143 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty three, as the Republicans moved towards choosing 144 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: a black candidate for president of the Borough of Manhattan, 145 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: the Democratic Party decided to run Jack for office. He 146 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: won the election, becoming the first black person to hold 147 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: the office. Jack was the first Black American to hold 148 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: a major city elective posts since reconstruction. It was a 149 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: major win, as the office came with a decent salary 150 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: of twenty five thou dollars and a lot of recognition 151 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: and power. During his time in office, many improvements were 152 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: made to the infrastructure in Manhattan and more public housing 153 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: was made available, even though some of the projects he 154 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: supported proved controversial. He was re elected to a second 155 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: term in nineteen fifty seven, but during this term he 156 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: ran into a political scandal that had an impact on 157 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: his position. Jack was convicted of accepting an i legal 158 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: gift of forty five hundred dollars after a contractor refused 159 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: to accept payment for renovations on his apartment. At this point, 160 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: Tammany Hall's power was waning, and some people were accusing 161 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,959 Speaker 1: Jack of being an uncle Tom for working within the system. 162 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: He resigned as borough president in nineteen sixty, but he 163 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: continued in politics and made good with constituents despite becoming 164 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: involved in another scandal. Jack argued that so much heat 165 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: was on him because of his race. He was re 166 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,959 Speaker 1: elected to the New York State Assembly in nineteen sixty eight, 167 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: and he continued serving as district leader of the Democratic Party, 168 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: a position he held from nineteen forty six to nineteen 169 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: seventy two. But Jack would become embroiled in political scandal 170 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: yet again in nineteen seventy two, when he was wrapped 171 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: up in conflict of interest charges related to a community 172 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: service firm that he was a partner in. He was 173 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: convicted and sentenced to three months in federal prison, which 174 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: he served in nineteen seventy three. Jack went on to 175 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: advise other politicians, endorsed the controversial Blenden H. LaRouche Jr. 176 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: For the presidential nomination in nineteen eighty and become the 177 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: founder and executive board member of the Schiller Institute, a 178 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: political and economic think tank. Jack died in New York 179 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: City in nineteen eighty six. His involvement in political scandals, 180 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: the decline of the Tammany Hall political machine, changes to 181 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: how political power was organized, and a shifting landscape of 182 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: race and politics all complicated his legacy. I'm Eves Jeff 183 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 184 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,599 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. And if you want to 185 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: send us a note on social media, you can do 186 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: that at t d i HC Podcast Asked on Facebook, 187 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: Twitter or Instagram, or you can shoot us an email 188 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: at this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks as always 189 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: for listening to the show and we'll see you again tomorrow. 190 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 191 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 192 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: favorite shows.