1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Frye. Today's subject is somebody I heard 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 2: about for the first time on an episode of the 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 2: podcast Old Gods of Appalachia. This was in their paid 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 2: subscribers feed. It is Lillian exhem Clement Stafford, who went 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,520 Speaker 2: by ExHAM or x, and she was the first woman 9 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 2: in Asheville, North Carolina, to practice law and the first 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 2: woman in the South to be elected to a state legislature. 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 2: They gave a really brief description of her, and this 12 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,480 Speaker 2: kind of asked me anything subscriber episode that they did, 13 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 2: and I immediately wanted to know more, both because of 14 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 2: those basics that I just said and the fact that 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 2: she lived in Ashville, specifically one of my favorite places. 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 2: So here we are exem Clemens staff Efford's story starts 17 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 2: to the question that we have been running into a 18 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 2: lot on recent episodes, which is exactly was she born. 19 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 2: Sources agree on March twelfth, but not on the year. 20 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 2: We usually have the opposite where they know the year, 21 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 2: but the date is fuzzy. Little variety According to the 22 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 2: nineteen hundred census, exem Clement was born in eighteen eighty six, 23 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 2: making her fourteen when that census was taken. Then, the 24 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty census lists ages but not years, and that 25 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 2: one reported Lillian E. Clement as a twenty two year 26 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 2: old stenographer. Apart from the fact that in nineteen twenty 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 2: she was a lawyer, those ages don't quite line up 28 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 2: later in her life, though the gap gets a lot bigger. 29 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 2: Her nineteen twenty one marriage license listed her ages twenty seven. 30 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 2: That would mean she had been born in eighteen ninety four, 31 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 2: eight years later than the year that's listed on the 32 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 2: nineteen hundred census, and this isn't even all of the 33 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 2: discrepancies involved in her birth record. Her death certificate says 34 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 2: that she was born in eighteen ninety two, and her 35 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 2: gravestone gives a whole other year, which is eighteen eighty eight. 36 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: There's some speculation here, and it's totally possible that she 37 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 2: was presenting herself as younger earlier on, but a much 38 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 2: later birth year started appearing in writing around the time 39 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 2: she got married. Her husband was only twenty six when 40 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 2: they got married, and it was already pretty unusual for 41 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 2: a thirty five year old woman to be getting married 42 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 2: for the first time, so it's possible that she presented 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 2: herself as younger than she was because she thought people 44 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 2: were going to be suspicious of her getting married to 45 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 2: such a much younger man. Again, that's speculative, but this 46 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 2: discrepancy does mean that there are a lot of more 47 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 2: recent articles that are unaware of this discrepancy and comment 48 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 2: on how very young she was when she reached various 49 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 2: milestones and achievements in her life. But if she really 50 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 2: was born in the eighteen eighties and not the eighteen nineties, 51 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 2: she would have been a lot older, or at least 52 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 2: a bit older than those startlingly young ages. 53 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: Exem's father was George Washington Clement, who was a carpenter 54 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: and a cabinet maker. His family had been living in 55 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: Orange County, North Carolina, near Hillsborough prior to the Civil War, 56 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: on a plantation with a workforce of about one hundred 57 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: enslaved people. The Civil War ended when George was about thirteen, 58 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: and over the course of the war the plantation was 59 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: destroyed and his mother and one of his siblings died 60 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: of typhoid. Eventually in eighteen eighty seven, he moved to 61 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: western North Carolina, where he met a widow named Sarah 62 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Burnett, and they got married in eighteen seventy nine. 63 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: George and Sarah had eight children together, and a lot 64 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: of sources say that Exam was the sixth, but that 65 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: seems to be based on a later birth year. If 66 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: she was really born in eighteen eighty six, she probably 67 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: would have been the fourth child. The family lived in 68 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: the North Fork Valley of the Swananoa River near Black Mountain, 69 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 1: and the children went to the one room North Fork School. Today, 70 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: a lot of this is under water. It was flooded 71 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: in the creation of the North Fork Reservoir, which today 72 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: provides most of Ashville's water supply. In eighteen ninety nine, 73 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: the family moved to Biltmore, which is now part of Ashville. 74 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: The House at Biltmore Estate, which is the truly gigantic 75 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,679 Speaker 1: home of George Washington Vanderbilt, had been completed in eighteen 76 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: ninety five, and afterward Vanderbilt had embarked on the creation 77 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: of a model town patterned after a quaint European village. 78 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: This included the Episcopal Cathedral of All Souls, finished in 79 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six and Biltmore Parish Day School finished in 80 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight. George Clement was hired to help build 81 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: the village, and buildings that were still to come included 82 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: the post office and homes meant to house the workers 83 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: at Builtmore estate. After the family moved to Biltmore, ExHAM, 84 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: who was about thirteen, continued her education at the day school, 85 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: which had a lot more resources than that one. 86 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 3: Room school in North Fork. 87 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 2: Her interests and activities there included drama and debate. She 88 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 2: also enjoyed hiking in the mountains, and she loved plants 89 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 2: and developed a reputation as a naturalist. Her father's work 90 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 2: also connected her and her sisters to another resource that 91 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 2: was George Vanderbilt's wife, Edith. Edith was a philanthropist who 92 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 2: took an interest in the well being of her husband's 93 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 2: employees and the staff at the estate, which included an 94 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 2: interest in ExHAM and her siblings. In nineteen hundred, when 95 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 2: ExHAM was confirmed at the Cathedral of All Souls, she 96 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 2: received a Bible as a gift which was inscribed for 97 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 2: Exhem Clement with best wishes for many happy birthdays from E. S. Vanderbilt. 98 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 2: March twelfth, nineteen hundred, graduated on June third, nineteen oh three, 99 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 2: and Edith Vanderbilt encouraged her in what she wanted to 100 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 2: do next, which was to study law. Exem started by 101 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 2: enrolling at the Ashville Normal and Collegiate Institute, which was 102 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 2: a women's school focused on teacher training and business skills. 103 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 2: She earned a certificate from the Commercial Department in nineteen 104 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 2: oh five, with coursework that included secretarial skills as well 105 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 2: as academic subjects like US history and geography. Over the 106 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 2: next few years, Clement spent her time simultaneously working to 107 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 2: earn money and working toward becoming a lawyer. She spent 108 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 2: about a year working as a stenographer for attorney Frederick W. Thomas, 109 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 2: and she did the same work on two Democratic election campaigns. 110 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 2: In nineteen oh six, she got a job as a 111 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 2: clerk working for the Bunkham County sheriff, and she continued 112 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 2: in this job for at least the next eight years. 113 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 2: She also started reading law at night, studying with attorneys 114 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 2: James J. Britt and Robert Goldstein. There are still a 115 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 2: few states where you can study with a lawyer rather 116 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 2: than going to law school before taking the bar exam, 117 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 2: but studying with an established lawyer was a lot more 118 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 2: common in the early twentieth century. Clement was also active 119 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 2: in the women's suffrage movement. She was a member of 120 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 2: the North Carolina Equal Suffrage Association, including serving as recording 121 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 2: secretary and as part of the membership committee. She was 122 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 2: also the recording secretary of the Asheville Equal Suffrage League 123 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 2: and a member of its Progress Committee. In February of 124 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 2: nineteen sixteen, Clement passed the North Carolina Bar exam on 125 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 2: her first try, becoming only the fourth woman to pass 126 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 2: the bar in North Carolina. The Asheville Citizen covered her 127 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 2: accomplishment on February eleventh, running it under the headline Asheville 128 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 2: lady is now lawyer, miss exem Clement passes state bar 129 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 2: examination fourth in state. The newspaper described Clement as one 130 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 2: of Asheville's best known young business women, before quoting Goldstein 131 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 2: as saying, quote, she has an unusually legal mind, being 132 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 2: very capable, thorough and systematic in all the courses, and 133 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 2: has never missed a class nor varied in her time 134 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 2: of reporting for work one minute. During the time she 135 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 2: was a member of my class. Three men who had 136 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 2: also been in the class passed the bar. On the 137 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 2: same day, Clement took her oath of office as an 138 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 2: attorney before Judge W. F. 139 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 3: Harding. 140 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 2: Another judge, Thomas A. Jones, called her brother ExHAM, and 141 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 2: he presented her with a bouquet of carnations on behalf 142 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 2: of all the women working in the county offices. She 143 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 2: also received a bouquet of roses as a gift. 144 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 3: From the bar. 145 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 2: Friends and family were there when she was taking her oath, 146 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 2: as well as members of the Asheville Equal Suffrage League. 147 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: Clement began advertising herself as l Exhem Clement, Attorney at Law. 148 00:08:57,480 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: At the time, she was the only woman in North 149 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: Carolina who was working as an attorney without having any 150 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: male partners, and this androgynous name may have helped her 151 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:11,319 Speaker 1: in that. Occasionally, though, it led to confusion when people 152 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: who were new in town or hadn't heard of her 153 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: came into her office and asked to speak to the lawyer, 154 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: not realizing that that was exactly who they were talking to. 155 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: Many of Clement's clients were women, and a lot of 156 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: her focus was on criminal law and on the law 157 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: as it applied to women and their needs. In July 158 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixteen, Western North Carolina and surrounding regions were 159 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: struck by devastating flooding as two tropical depressions converged on 160 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 1: the area, one right after the other, one of them 161 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: traveling north from the Gulf of Mexico and the other 162 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: northwest from the Atlantic coast. Through South Carolina. The French, 163 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:54,439 Speaker 1: Broad and Swananoa Rivers flooded, washing away mills in industrial buildings. 164 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: Landslides destroyed roads and railroads, cutting Ashville off from the 165 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: rest of the region, and the city of Ashville's power 166 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: plant was destroyed. Other cities and towns in the Blue 167 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: Ridge Mountains and the neighboring Piedmont were also devastated. Hundreds 168 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,079 Speaker 1: of homes and businesses were leveled, and at least eighty 169 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: people died. At the time, this was the worst natural 170 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: disaster to strike Western North Carolina in recorded history, surpassed 171 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: only by Hurricane Helene in September of twenty twenty four. 172 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: This must have had a direct impact on the Clement 173 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: family Builtmore Village is in a low lying area and 174 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 1: is prone to flooding, but this was severe, with water 175 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: up to nine feet deep. The family had moved into 176 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: Ashville proper at this point into a house at thirty 177 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: four Hollywood Street that Exham's father had built, but they 178 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: still would have had connections in Biltmore. Ashville faced extensive 179 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: flooding as well, including downtown where ExHAM had her office. 180 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,319 Speaker 1: George Vanderbilt had died by this point, but Edith was 181 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: a Red Cross volunteer and distributed things like food and 182 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: blankets to flood victims, and the Clements seemed like a 183 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: family that would have been part of the recovery effort 184 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,719 Speaker 1: as well. They were active members of their community. Exim's 185 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: siblings included a brother who was a Methodist pastor and 186 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: sisters who worked in a tuberculosis hospital and with the 187 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: Red Cross. Her father was also a city building inspector 188 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: and was so well known in Asheville that when he 189 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,599 Speaker 1: died in December of nineteen forty two, it was reported 190 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: on the front page of the Asheville Citizen Times, which 191 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: was otherwise almost entirely focused on World War Two. But 192 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: there were no mentions of the family or personal accounts 193 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: from them about the flood in the research that was 194 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: used for this episode, aside from a brief mention in 195 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: that oral history given by Clement's daughter much later, and 196 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: that just described something being washed away in nineteen sixteen. Yeah, 197 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: I don't know what specifically was washed away. I haven't 198 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: heard the audio of this oral history, but the the 199 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: transcription has a lot of stuff marked as in audible 200 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: or unintelligible, so something was washed away. We will get 201 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: to exem Clement's law career and her run for the 202 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: North Carolina Legislature after a sponsor break when exem Clement 203 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: passed to the North Carolina bar exam A lot. 204 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 2: Of the world was involved in World War One, but 205 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 2: the United States had not entered the war yet. That 206 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 2: changed in April of nineteen seventeen when Congress voted to 207 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 2: declare war on Germany. The Selective Service Act of nineteen 208 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 2: seventeen was enacted in May, which required men between the 209 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 2: ages of twenty one and thirty to register for the draft. 210 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 2: That age range was eventually extended up to the age 211 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,959 Speaker 2: of forty five. After the passage of this law, exem 212 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 2: Clement served as chief clerk of the Buncome County Draft 213 00:12:58,559 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 2: Exemption Board. 214 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: She also continued to be active in the suffrage movement 215 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: at the local and state levels. In nineteen seventeen, she 216 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: was elected president of the Asheville Equal Suffrage League and 217 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: her sister Nancy was elected secretary. She continued in her 218 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,199 Speaker 1: role as recording secretary of the North Carolina League as well. 219 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: In nineteen nineteen, after the war was over, Clement also 220 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 1: became a founding member of the Asheville Business and Professional 221 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: Women's Association and was elected the first vice president. 222 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 2: Also in nineteen nineteen, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to 223 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 2: the Constitution, which simply read quote, the right of citizens 224 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 2: of the United States to vote shall not be denied 225 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 2: or abridged by the United States or by any State 226 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 2: on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce 227 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 2: this Article by appropriate legislation. To go into a fact, 228 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 2: the amendment needed to be ratified by three quarters of 229 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 2: the states. By March of nineteen twenty thirty five states 230 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 2: had ratified, with only one more needed for the amendment 231 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 2: to become part of the US Constitution. With ratification seeming likely, 232 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 2: women were selected to service some of the delegates from 233 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 2: Bunkhom County to the State Democratic Convention, and Clement was 234 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 2: one of them. Male colleagues also started encouraging her to 235 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 2: run for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives. 236 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 2: She was initially reluctant to do this, but by April 237 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 2: of nineteen twenty, she had filed her declaration of intention 238 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 2: to run with the county Board of Elections. She later 239 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 2: told a reporter from the Greensboro Daily News, quote, folks 240 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 2: were right much surprised for I am known to be 241 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 2: a very conservative woman, but I wanted an opportunity to 242 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 2: learn the people in my county better and to gain 243 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 2: their confidence. But then in late May, newspapers across North 244 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 2: Carolina carried a report that Clement had withdrawn from the race. 245 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 2: A flurry of states had ratified the nineteenth Amendment in 246 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 2: nineteen nineteen, but progress had really slow down in the 247 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 2: face of coordinated anti suffrage campaigns. Unnamed sources cited the 248 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 2: fact that the amendment seemed likely to fail in Delaware 249 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 2: and claimed that Clement didn't want to put the Democratic 250 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 2: Party in the embarrassing position of running a candidate who 251 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 2: could not be seated if she was elected. In June, 252 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 2: Clement refuted this rumor to the Asheville Times, saying she 253 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 2: quote had no intention whatever of withdrawing from the race, 254 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 2: but that she would not be a candidate if the 255 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 2: nineteenth Amendment did not become effective. The North Carolina constitution 256 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 2: barred only two classes of people from holding office, atheists 257 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 2: and convicts, and otherwise every voter was eligible. The Raleigh 258 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 2: News and Observer had already reported on this constitutional language, 259 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 2: which suggested that if Clement could not be a voter, 260 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 2: she could not hold office. Delaware did indeed not vote 261 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 2: to ratify the nineteenth Amendment. Clement was not yet a 262 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 2: voter when the Democratic primary took place on June fifth. 263 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 2: She remained in the race, though her opponents were EJ. 264 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 2: Jones and Elias C. Jones, which is not confusing at all. 265 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 2: She won the primary, beating second place EJ. Jones by 266 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 2: eighty three votes. Various news reports expressed surprise about this 267 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 2: because people had assumed that voters in the more rural 268 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 2: areas of Buncom County didn't support women's suffrage and wouldn't 269 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 2: like the idea of a woman in office. North Carolina 270 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 2: Supreme Court Chief Justice Walter Clark had written Clement a 271 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 2: letter after hearing about her intent to run, saying, quote, 272 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 2: I am gratified to note that your friends are thinking 273 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 2: of nominating you for the legislature from your county. I 274 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 2: should be glad to see North Carolina take this forward 275 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 2: step in recognition of the service women have rendered this state, 276 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 2: though a tardy recognition, and hope that you will not 277 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 2: decline to honor. After the primary, he wrote to her again, 278 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 2: congratulating her on the nomination. Louisiana became the next state 279 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 2: to vote against ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment later in June 280 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 2: of nineteen twenty. It was hoped that North Carolina would 281 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 2: ratify the amendment when it came before the state legislature 282 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 2: in August, but on August seventeenth, it failed by two votes. 283 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 2: North Carolina would not ratify the nineteenth Amendment until nineteen 284 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 2: seventy one, but just the day after the measure failed 285 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,440 Speaker 2: in North Carolina, on August eighteenth, nineteen twenty, it passed 286 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 2: in Tennessee. Exem Clement could now become a voter, and 287 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 2: nothing in the North Carolina constitution barred her from holding office. 288 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: The election took place on November two. The Buncom County 289 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: Republican Committee had resolved quote in keeping with Republican policy 290 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: favoring woman's suffrage and out of deference to Miss l 291 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,879 Speaker 1: Exhem Clement, the Democratic candidate for representative, to offer no 292 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: candidate in opposition to Miss Clement. The committee also encouraged 293 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: Republican voters to cast their votes in favor of Clement, 294 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: even though she represented the other party. This required instructions 295 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: on how to do it. The ballot had circles to 296 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: mark for straight Democratic and straight Republican tickets, and Republican 297 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: voters who marked that circle while also trying to cast 298 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: a vote for Clement invalidated their ballots, while the Republicans 299 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: didn't feeld a candidate. Charles Lee Sykes ran as an independent. 300 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 2: Millions of women across the United States voted for the 301 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 2: first time that day, although, as we've noted many times 302 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 2: on the show, in practice, the nineteenth Amendment applied primarily 303 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 2: to white women, and there were women in other parts 304 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 2: of the United States who did already have the right 305 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 2: to vote before the nineteenth Amendment was ratified. The day 306 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 2: after the election, the Asheville Citizen described the scene there 307 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 2: this way. Quote In some precincts in the morning hours, 308 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 2: a line of men in women extended for nearly half 309 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 2: a block, and threatening rain failed to stir any female 310 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 2: from her place. We are almost prepared to venture the 311 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 2: prediction that there were as many women voters as men. 312 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 2: Nashville newspapers also reported on the tone of the day, 313 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 2: which had historically involved a lot of alcohol and rough behavior, 314 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 2: as being a lot more subdued, with male voters restraining 315 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 2: themselves in deference to the ladies. 316 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: When the votes were counted, exem Clement had won ten 317 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: three hundred sixty eight to forty one, making her the 318 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: first woman to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly 319 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: and the first woman in the South to be elected 320 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: to a legislature. 321 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 2: Clement started preparing to go to the capitol in Raleigh 322 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 2: for the legislative session, which would mean leaving her family 323 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 2: and the man that she was courting, Elias L. R. 324 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 3: Stafford. 325 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 2: As we said earlier, it was fairly unusual for a 326 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 2: woman her age to still be unmarried, and we don't 327 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 2: really know what her thoughts are on this. She was 328 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 2: considered to be very attractive, though, and according to her 329 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 2: daughter's oral history. There were rumors that the last duel 330 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 2: to be fought in the Asheville area had involved two 331 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 2: young men fighting over her, with one of them shooting 332 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 2: off the other's hat, but she and Stafford clearly loved 333 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 2: one another, and even the busyness of the campaign had 334 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 2: been hard on them. Stafford worked for the Asheville Citizen, 335 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 2: and that fall, during her run for office, he wrote 336 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 2: her a letter that began quote, this way of not 337 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 2: seeing you is getting on my nerves and I don't 338 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 2: like it one bit, do you. Another letter from around 339 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 2: the same time signs off with your Eller, who is 340 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 2: endeavoring to merit your love. He also made various mentions 341 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 2: in his letters of trying to get good coverage for 342 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 2: the Democrats into the paper, something that would not be 343 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 2: seen as journalistically ethical today given his relationship with a 344 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 2: Democratic candidate. Their letters back and forth continued after ExHAM 345 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 2: went to Raleigh. Eller's letters tended to be very affectionate, 346 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 2: while Exem's could be a bit more business like, more 347 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 2: focused on what was happening in the General Assembly and 348 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,959 Speaker 2: what she hoped would make it into the newspaper. But 349 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,400 Speaker 2: her letters had their very tender moments as well. For example, 350 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 2: a couple of weeks into her time in Raleigh, she 351 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 2: asked Ella to put off his visit that they had planned, quote, Honey, 352 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 2: I don't want you to come down next Sunday. Now 353 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,199 Speaker 2: you may think I don't want to see you, but 354 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 2: I never wanted to see anyone so much in my life. 355 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 2: But the truth is I am not very well, and 356 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 2: I am going to do only the work I have 357 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: to do and rest the remainder of the time. Some 358 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 2: days I stay in bed twelve hours. Don't tell Mama, 359 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 2: she will worry later on. In this letter, she said, quote, 360 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 2: you don't mind waiting on me another week, do you, darling? 361 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 2: I want to see you so much, and there are 362 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 2: so many things I want to tell you. Soon after this, 363 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 2: after getting a series of long letters from Eller, Exam 364 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,679 Speaker 2: started one of hers with quote, heart of mine, you 365 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 2: are the sweetest thing in the world to write me 366 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 2: such dear, long letters. Do I miss you as much 367 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 2: as you miss me? I don't dare think much about it, 368 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,520 Speaker 2: as I couldn't stay here. I miss you all the 369 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 2: while and hope the time will pass quickly. While their 370 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 2: letters made it clear that they missed one another terribly, 371 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 2: the actual time they had to spend. 372 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 3: Apart was fairly brief. 373 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 2: Exam arrived in Raleigh for the start of the legislative 374 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 2: session on January third, and that session ended in early March. 375 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 2: We will talk about it after another sponsor break. Lillian 376 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 2: Exhem Clement arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the start 377 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 2: of January nineteen twenty one, taking her seat in the 378 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 2: North Carolina House of Representatives on January fifth. Her male 379 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 2: colleagues referred to her as Brother ExHAM and Honorable Exum, 380 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 2: as well as the lady from Buncom. She was appointed 381 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 2: to the Elections Committee, Committee on the Judiciary Number one, 382 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 2: the Committee on Propositions and Grievances, the Committee on Education, 383 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 2: and the Committee on Salaries and Fees, and she was 384 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 2: also chair of the Committee for the Deaf. At least 385 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 2: I think she was the chair of that committee. The 386 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 2: House Journal says mister Clement chairman, but there were not 387 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 2: any other Clements serving in the House. 388 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: This may have been confused by the Brother Exam nickname, 389 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: which befuddles me a little bit. 390 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:38,919 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. 391 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: There was a lot of news coverage of her and 392 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,919 Speaker 1: her arrival at the Capitol and the start of her term. 393 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: On January sixth, the day after the start of the session, 394 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: the Raleigh News and Observer quoted her as saying, quote, 395 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:54,439 Speaker 1: I was afraid at first that the men would oppose 396 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,880 Speaker 1: me because I am a woman. But I don't feel 397 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: that way now. I feel rather shy and timid all 398 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 1: these men. But I have always worked with men, and 399 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: I know them as they are. I have no false 400 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: illusions or fears of them. I am, by nature a 401 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,880 Speaker 1: very timid woman, and very conservative too, but I am 402 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: firm in my convictions. I want to blaze a trail 403 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: for other women. I know that years from now there 404 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: will be many other women in the legislature, but you 405 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: have to start a thing, you know. 406 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 2: Clement reiterated this idea in a letter to Eller Stafford 407 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 2: on January eleventh, quote, I don't want people to expect 408 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,640 Speaker 2: too much of me. There is little I can do alone. 409 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 2: If I blaze the trail for other women to come 410 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 2: in until there is enough to do something, then I 411 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 2: feel I have done my duty. A few days after that, 412 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,439 Speaker 2: the Greensboro Daily News described how Clement had made a 413 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,880 Speaker 2: place for herself within the legislature. Quote, Miss l Exhem Clement, 414 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 2: the only woman representative in the General Assembly, has slipped 415 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 2: so unobtrusively and quietly into the everyday work of the 416 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,919 Speaker 2: House of Representatives that she she is becoming quite a 417 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 2: familiar presence there, and one has ceased to regard it 418 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 2: as anything at all out of the ordinary. Inquiring rather 419 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,360 Speaker 2: timidly at the door of the hall as to whether 420 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 2: Miss Clement was at her desk, the reply came back 421 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:15,679 Speaker 2: quick as a flash. Oh, I'm sure she is, for 422 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 2: she's always among the first to get here in the morning. 423 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 2: It was then nine point thirty on the day of 424 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 2: the inauguration ceremonies. Miss Clement has been assigned to Desk 425 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,400 Speaker 2: fifty nine, just under the picture of George Washington, which 426 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:29,880 Speaker 2: hangs on the wall to the right of. 427 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 3: The Speaker's desk. 428 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: When asked if she had gotten accustomed to being the 429 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: object of so much general attention as the only woman representative, 430 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: Miss Clement said that for the first day or two 431 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: it was a bit embarrassing, but that now she is 432 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: feeling quite at home, and that it's a little different 433 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,360 Speaker 1: from the work of the courtroom. 434 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 2: This article also went on to describe the responsibility Clement 435 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,240 Speaker 2: felt to the women of the state and the impression 436 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 2: that she would make on their behalf. Quote, she doesn't 437 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 2: want to do anything spectacular or just disturbing or out 438 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,199 Speaker 2: of the ordinary, but she does want to be accepted 439 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,959 Speaker 2: there as a matter of fact, because her constituency wanted 440 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 2: her there and because it is her right. 441 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:12,679 Speaker 3: This reporter also described her. 442 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 2: As feeling very homesick, missing her seven year old niece, 443 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 2: her parents, and her flower garden. At a few points 444 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 2: during her time in office, Clement was asked to preside 445 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,640 Speaker 2: over a roll call vote, including on a road bill 446 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 2: that was particularly important to western North Carolina. She also 447 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 2: introduced multiple bills, occasionally with a co sponsor, but usually 448 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 2: on her own. Most of them ultimately became law, either 449 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 2: in this legislative session or after being reintroduced with similar 450 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 2: language later on. Some of these bills were really controversial. 451 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,360 Speaker 2: One was an act to assume control of and conduct 452 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 2: the Lindley Home near Asheville, North Carolina, as an industrial 453 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 2: and training school for wayward girls and women. The Lindley 454 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 2: Home was being run by missus M. E. Hillard as 455 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 2: a private charitable institution, and it had a five thousand 456 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,679 Speaker 2: dollars legacy that covered most of its operating expenses. But 457 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 2: Hillard was advancing in age, and Clement wanted to make 458 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,159 Speaker 2: sure the institution could continue once Hillard could no longer 459 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 2: run it. A lot of the women and girls who 460 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 2: were living there really had no other place to go. 461 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 2: She faced heavy criticism from people who thought she was 462 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 2: encouraging vice by supporting this home, including having vegetables and 463 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 2: eggs thrown at her while she was speaking in support 464 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 2: of it. In a news report on this she was 465 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 2: quoted as saying, quote, I am reminded of a time 466 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 2: long ago when people were passing judgment on a woman, 467 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 2: when weapons were not eggs but hard stones. It is 468 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 2: not for you or I to condemn or cast the 469 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 2: first stone, but rather to render aid to the unfortunates 470 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 2: so they may go their way and sin no more. 471 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 2: Another controversial bill was an Act to amend the Consolidated 472 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,640 Speaker 2: Statutes of North Carolina relating to divorce. Before this law 473 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 2: was passed, a person who had been abandoned by their 474 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 2: spouse could get a divorce in North Carolina after ten years. 475 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 2: Clement's Act cut that down to five. She thought the 476 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,199 Speaker 2: ten year requirement was excessive and that it presented a 477 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 2: particular hardship to women, and that, in her words, quote, 478 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 2: not one person in ten thousand returns to husband or 479 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 2: wife after a separation of five years. At the same time, 480 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:36,200 Speaker 2: legislators didn't want North Carolina to become a place for quote, 481 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 2: frivolous seekers of matrimonious dissolution, and some thought reducing the 482 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 2: ten year requirement would do exactly that, even though five 483 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 2: years was still a really long time. 484 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: You know, I'm thinking about our Divorce Ranches episode where 485 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: it's like six weeks. 486 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 3: I thought about it too. 487 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 2: Clement's focus was also largely on women in an act 488 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 2: to provide privacy in voting. At the time, ballots were 489 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 2: not secrets, and other people could see who you were 490 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 2: voting for and try to change your mind or harass 491 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:12,160 Speaker 2: you about it at the polls. Clement thought men were 492 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 2: hardened to the various forms of intimidation and coercion that 493 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 2: could happen at polling places, but that women were not, 494 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 2: especially since women had only just gotten the right to 495 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 2: vote in North Carolina. She wanted everyone to be able 496 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 2: to vote according to their conscience in private. Clement's bill 497 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 2: did not make it past to the Committee on Election Laws, 498 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 2: but North Carolina eventually did implement secret ballots in nineteen 499 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 2: twenty nine. 500 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: A lot of the legislation Clement introduced was about safety. 501 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 1: One bill was an Act to promote the safety of 502 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: employees and passengers by prohibiting railroad companies from employeeing firemen, brakemen, flagmen, 503 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: train baggagemen, passenger train porters, or other employees assisting in 504 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: the mood of trains and cars in road or yard 505 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 1: service who cannot read and write the rules of such companies. 506 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: Along with the other representative from Bunkhom County, Luke Young, 507 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: she also introduced an Act to promote sanitation in milk 508 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,239 Speaker 1: production in Bunkham County, which required dairy cattle to be 509 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: tested for tuberculosis before their milk could be sold. She 510 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 1: saw this as particularly important because Bunkham County was home 511 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: to so many sanatoriums. Other legislation that she introduced addressed 512 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: trespassing on municipal watersheds, cooperation among the state and counties 513 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: in forest fire protection, the construction of a fireproof addition 514 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: at the Bunkhom County Courthouse, maintenance of bridges across the 515 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: French Broad River, and an act to protect public libraries 516 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: in Bunkham County. Various sources that I used for this 517 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: episode say that Clement introduced bills that I just wasn't 518 00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 1: able to confirm. These sources were newspaper and magazine articles, 519 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: not academic journal articles that have citations and footnotes, so 520 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: it was not really possible to figure out exactly where 521 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: this information came from or whether it was correct. One 522 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: was supposedly a bill to add yellow caution lights to 523 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: traffic signals in addition to red and green. I just 524 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: couldn't find this in documents from the nineteen twenty one 525 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 1: legislative session, and newspaper reports from that year suggest that 526 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: the traffic signals were really not standardized in North Carolina, 527 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: like some of them were using semaphore flags rather than 528 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: colored lights. Another bill that she purportedly introduced was a 529 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 1: eugenics bill, specifically legislation allowing the state to forcibly sterilize 530 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: people who were deemed unfit. This is actually part of 531 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: North Carolina's first eugenics law, which was an act to 532 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: benefit the moral, mental, and physical conditions of inmates and 533 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: penal and charitable institutions. 534 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 2: This law and power quote competent and skillful surgeons to 535 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 2: perform any operation that would be for the quote mental, moral, 536 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,560 Speaker 2: or physical condition of such inmate. But that law was 537 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 2: passed in nineteen nineteen, before Clement was elected to office 538 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 2: and North Carolina law did not specifically mention sterilization until 539 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 2: a decade later. My various sources through the records of 540 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 2: the legislative sessions that she was part of just that 541 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 2: did not seem to have this in it. At the 542 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 2: same time, though, the eugenics movement had extremely broad acceptance 543 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 2: in the United States at this point, so it's at 544 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 2: least believable that Clement supported the movement. 545 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: The North Carolina House ended its nineteen twenty one legislative 546 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:48,520 Speaker 1: session on March ninth. A week later, on March sixteenth, 547 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: Lillian ExHAM Clement married Elias l. Er Stafford at the 548 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: Church of Saint John in the Wilderness in Flat Rock, 549 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: southeast of Hendersonville. According to Exham's daughter, they chose to 550 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: get married at this church both because it was a 551 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: beautiful location and because it was far enough from Asheville 552 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: to feel like an adventure. They sent a telegram to 553 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 1: inform Eller's parents of their marriage, and they got one 554 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: in return from his father which read quote, we send 555 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: congratulations letter follows father. Telegrams were by nature very concise, 556 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: but that delighted me. Exham's marriage led to a question 557 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 1: among legislators, which was what they were supposed to call 558 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 1: her if the legislature returned for an extra session before 559 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: the next election. She had been elected with the last 560 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: name of Clement, but now her last name was Stafford, 561 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: and that kind of name change was not something the 562 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 1: legislature had ever considered or planned for. Although news reports 563 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: said that it had been decided that she would still 564 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: be known as Clement. The role for the extra session 565 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 1: that did convene that December lists her as Missus Exhem 566 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:59,959 Speaker 1: Clement Stafford. Back in Ashville, Exhem Clement Stafford kept up 567 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: law practice, and there was at least some discussion of 568 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: her running for Congress. Governor Cameron Morrison also appointed her 569 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: to the board of directors of the State Hospital in 570 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:14,359 Speaker 1: Morganton for a six year term. It's possible that this 571 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:17,880 Speaker 1: is where her support of eugenics could be documented. This 572 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: was initially founded as the Western Carolina Insane Asylum following 573 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,560 Speaker 1: the advocacy of Dorothea Dix. It is now known as 574 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 1: Broughton Hospital. 575 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 2: She was also a member of the United Daughters of 576 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 2: the Confederacy, in serving as the registrar of the Asheville 577 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:37,840 Speaker 2: chapter from nineteen twenty two to nineteen twenty three. The 578 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 2: United Daughters of the Confederacy was founded in eighteen ninety four, 579 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 2: and some of its initial work included things like maintaining 580 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 2: the grave sites of Confederate soldiers, raising money for the 581 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,920 Speaker 2: care and housing of Confederate veterans and their families, and 582 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,839 Speaker 2: planning Memorial Day observances. But the organization was also very 583 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 2: heavily involved with promoting them myth of the Lost Cause 584 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 2: of the Confederacy, that's the distorted and romanticized interpretation of 585 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 2: the South's involvement in the Civil War as a doomed 586 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 2: attempt to defend a noble cause, rather than what it 587 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,480 Speaker 2: was explicitly about, which was maintaining the institution of slavery. 588 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,440 Speaker 2: We talked about this in our December fourteenth, twenty twenty 589 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,319 Speaker 2: episode on the Lost Cause, which we also ran as 590 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 2: our most recent Saturday Classic. 591 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 1: On May twenty fifth, nineteen twenty three, exem Clement Stafford 592 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,760 Speaker 1: gave birth to a daughter named Nancy after her sister, 593 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 1: who was later known as Stafford. She was born premature, 594 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: and in an oral history given in two thousand and two, 595 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:46,360 Speaker 1: she described herself as Ashville's first incubator. Baby Exem became 596 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,920 Speaker 1: ill after her daughter was born, and she needed a 597 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: wet nurse. She hired a young woman named Rebecca, who 598 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: she had taken an interest in after finding her sitting 599 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,720 Speaker 1: on a bench outside of her law office for several 600 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: days in a row. Rebecca had had become pregnant by 601 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: her employer's son, and both her employer and her family 602 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,399 Speaker 1: had kicked her out, so Exem had taken her in. 603 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 1: Exem kept a diary for her daughter, documenting their lives 604 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: through very tender and loving entries. They can also be 605 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:18,359 Speaker 1: sort of heartbreaking. The last one reads quote, last night 606 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: you slept with someone besides daddy and mother for the 607 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,319 Speaker 1: first time. Daddy was sick and mother was sick, and 608 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: Aunt Nancy came in and spent the night with you. 609 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 1: Less than two weeks later, on February twenty first, nineteen 610 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 1: twenty five, Lilliam Exhem Clement Stafford died of pneumonia. She 611 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: was survived by her husband, her daughter, both her parents, 612 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 1: and seven siblings. 613 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 2: Both houses of the North Carolina Legislature adjourned in her memory, 614 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 2: and they passed a joint resolution honoring her. News of 615 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,759 Speaker 2: her death appeared under the headline quote Ashville loses one 616 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:57,439 Speaker 2: of its most notable women. One of her obituaries read, 617 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,319 Speaker 2: in part quote, a daughter of the present age, she 618 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,120 Speaker 2: held to the best of the old days while adopting 619 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,920 Speaker 2: the best of the new. There's also a fair amount 620 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:11,439 Speaker 2: of misinformation and various obituaries, including that she had never 621 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:14,399 Speaker 2: been a suffragist and that she had been elected before 622 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 2: women had the right to vote in North Carolina. 623 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,239 Speaker 1: In the words of an address read by Missus A. 624 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,440 Speaker 1: Matthews at a memorial service held by the United Daughters 625 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,960 Speaker 1: of the Confederacy, quote, the outstanding characteristics of missus Stafford's 626 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: life were steadfastness of purpose, sincerity, loyalty, and modesty. Once 627 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,759 Speaker 1: she began an undertaking, she never faltered until it was finished. 628 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,320 Speaker 1: She was entirely sincere in all she said and did. 629 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: Her loyalty to her principles and aims, and to her 630 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,440 Speaker 1: friends was unbounded. She gave freely of herself and what 631 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: she had to others. But the crown of her womanhood 632 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 1: was her modesty. Absolutely unspoiled by the honors she had won. 633 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 1: She demeaned herself at all times in dress, manner, word, 634 00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:01,880 Speaker 1: and deed, with all becoming this. 635 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 2: A historical marker was placed near the site of her 636 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,400 Speaker 2: law office in Ashville at the corner of Charlotte and 637 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,800 Speaker 2: College Streets in nineteen ninety nine. It reads, quote Lillian 638 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:18,120 Speaker 2: exem Clement Stafford eighteen ninety four to nineteen twenty five, 639 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 2: first female legislator in the South elected to Msieahouse nineteen twenty. 640 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,439 Speaker 2: Her law office was four hundred yards west home half 641 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:32,120 Speaker 2: mile northeast. Her daughter, Stafford Anders, was present at the unveiling. 642 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 2: In twenty fourteen, it was also announced that the family 643 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 2: home on Hollywood Street would be preserved through a conservation easement. 644 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 2: The Bible she was given by Ethel Vanderbilt was rediscovered 645 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:48,279 Speaker 2: among family belongings in the twenty teens. Wingate Anders, the 646 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,919 Speaker 2: widower of Stafford Anders, said that he hoped it could 647 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 2: be restored so that other women could use it at 648 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:58,360 Speaker 2: their swearing in. In twenty eleven, Lillian's List was established 649 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,480 Speaker 2: in North Carolina and named for her, dedicated to developing 650 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:08,359 Speaker 2: progressive women candidates for office. I'm glad there was a 651 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:15,440 Speaker 2: one paragraph mention a description of her in this behind 652 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,400 Speaker 2: the scenes episode of a different podcast. 653 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:18,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. 654 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 2: I really enjoyed researching this and even though there were 655 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:23,760 Speaker 2: challenges that we can talk about in the behind the scenes. 656 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,759 Speaker 2: Do you have listener mail? In the meantime, I do 657 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 2: I have listener mail. We referenced this listener mail in 658 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:31,279 Speaker 2: a Saturday Classic already, but I wanted to read the 659 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,160 Speaker 2: actual email. It is from Kiki. It is titled Great 660 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:38,840 Speaker 2: Epizootic Mistake. Kiki wrote, I am a high school history 661 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 2: teacher who loves listening to your podcast on my drive 662 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 2: to work. I've used your podcast and my classes both 663 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,319 Speaker 2: to inspire my lectures and for students to listen to. 664 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,759 Speaker 2: While listening to your recent podcast on the Great Epizootic, 665 00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 2: I noticed a mistake. You said that the Sherman Silver 666 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,240 Speaker 2: Purchase Act might have contributed to the Panic of eighteen 667 00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 2: seventy three. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was passed in 668 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,640 Speaker 2: eighteen ninety and it might have contributed to the Panic 669 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,319 Speaker 2: of eighteen ninety three, not eighteen seventy three, and yes, 670 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:05,839 Speaker 2: President Cleveland repealed it. 671 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:07,080 Speaker 3: I thought you might have. 672 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 2: Been thinking of the Bland Alison Act, which also involves silver, 673 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 2: but that was pasted in eighteen seventy eight, so it 674 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,680 Speaker 2: did not contribute to the Panic of eighteen seventy three either. 675 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:19,839 Speaker 2: As an ap teacher, I really emphasized knowing dates, and yes, 676 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:22,560 Speaker 2: the Sherman Silver Purchase Act is one that stuck in 677 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:26,000 Speaker 2: my head. Thank you for your great shows. As pet tax, 678 00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:28,600 Speaker 2: here is my Westy Fiona, who is one and a 679 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,439 Speaker 2: half years old. She is full of energy, but as 680 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 2: I have to explain to my classes, she is not 681 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,799 Speaker 2: named after the character in Shrek, but the character in 682 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:46,000 Speaker 2: Brigadoon who was played by centuries. Thanks for your entertaining podcast, Kiki. 683 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:49,919 Speaker 2: Thank you so much Kiki for this email. I The 684 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,160 Speaker 2: only thing I can imagine happened here which doesn't really 685 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,279 Speaker 2: make sense to me that it could have happened, is 686 00:40:55,320 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 2: that just somewhere, either I typoed the year of the 687 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 2: Panic of eighteen seventy three, or something bad was in 688 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,719 Speaker 2: the search results that I just didn't clock as being 689 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:14,080 Speaker 2: about a different financial panic. This was an era of 690 00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:17,120 Speaker 2: US history that was full of just cycles of boom 691 00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:22,200 Speaker 2: and bust, and so there were just ongoing periods of 692 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 2: prosperity followed by periods of financial panic because nothing was 693 00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:33,160 Speaker 2: being regulated, banking system not regulated, just not a great, 694 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,120 Speaker 2: not a very stable time of economic history. 695 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:41,440 Speaker 3: I also feel like this is. 696 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:47,719 Speaker 2: Probably the inevitable result of watching continual intentional chaos play 697 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,640 Speaker 2: out in the world around us, and trying to just 698 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:55,359 Speaker 2: work through it. So I am sorry that I wrote 699 00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,320 Speaker 2: just a big mess of a paragraph there. I messed 700 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,880 Speaker 2: that all up somehow make any sense reading back on it. 701 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 2: Thank you so much Kiky for writing us this gracious 702 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 2: note to point that out. Thank you also for just 703 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:12,400 Speaker 2: the cutest puppy dog picture, a little Westy with the 704 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:18,600 Speaker 2: little plaid collar on a bed with striped lenens on it, 705 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:24,320 Speaker 2: so cute, making the cute little Westy face. Westy's are 706 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:28,240 Speaker 2: very cute dogs. They're incredibly cute. So if you would 707 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:30,040 Speaker 2: like to send us a note about this or any 708 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:34,120 Speaker 2: other podcast or at history Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com, 709 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:38,320 Speaker 2: you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app 710 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,800 Speaker 2: or anywhere else that you'd like to get your podcasts. 711 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:49,760 Speaker 2: Stuff You missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 712 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:54,719 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 713 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:56,880 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.