1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson, 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,639 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Fry. A few weeks ago, I spent 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,080 Speaker 1: some time on the MIT campus for the MIT Mystery Hunt, 5 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: and while I was walking down the hall, I saw 6 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: like labeling that was kind of partially blocked by just 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: the architecture of where I was, so all I could 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: see were the words Ellen and Lobby, And I was like, 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: is that a lobby named for Ellen Swallow Richards? And 10 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: I just kept walking a little farther to see what 11 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: it was. It indeed was the Ellen Swallow Richards Lobby. 12 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: And then my brain like started fishing around trying to 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: connect to, like, of all the people that I know 14 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: from history, which one was this one. So Ellen Swallow 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: rich has come up briefly on our show before, in 16 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: our twenty twenty episode on the Bureau of Home Economics. 17 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: She was a big part of the establishment of home 18 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: economics as a field. Among other things, she convened a 19 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: series of conferences known as the Lake Placid Conferences, and 20 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: that's where the term home economics was chosen to signify 21 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 1: this field. This work is probably what she is best 22 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: known for today, but it happened actually pretty late in 23 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: her life and career, and before she even got to 24 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: that point, she broke a lot of ground and in 25 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: a lot of ways was just way ahead of her time. 26 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: Ellen Henrietta Swallow was born on December third, eighteen forty two, 27 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: in Dunstable, Massachusetts, a rural community not far from the 28 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: border with New Hampshire. Her parents were Peter and Fanny G. Swallow, 29 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: both of whom had experienced as school teachers, and as 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: school teachers, they had strong opinions about how Ellen should 31 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: be educated. They were worried that the local school would 32 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: not be rigorous enough for her academically, so for the 33 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: first years of her life they taught her at home. 34 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: When she was little, a doctor told Ellen's parents that 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: she should be encouraged to play outside and to be 36 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: physically active for the sake of her health, so she 37 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: spent a lot of time exploring the farms and the 38 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: woods of the area. An early twentieth century biography described 39 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: her as quote perilously close to being a tomboy. She 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: particularly loved learning about and taking care of plants and flowers, 41 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: and that's something that would bring her a lot of 42 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: joy for her whole life. She didn't spend all of 43 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: her time outdoors, though. She also learned to cook and clean, 44 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: and to do all the other domestic tasks that were 45 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: part of maintaining an efficient and orderly and well kept home. 46 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty nine, when Ellen was sixteen, her parents 47 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: moved to Westford so she could attend Westford Academy. It 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,359 Speaker 1: had been open to students regardless of their set since 49 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: its founding in seventeen ninety two. Ellen excelled as a student, 50 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: particularly in Latin, which gave her a foundation to also 51 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: learn German and French, and she also started picking up 52 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: new skills outside of school. Her father opened a store, 53 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: and she spent as much time helping with the business 54 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: as she spent helping at home. She also took on 55 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: new responsibilities at home as her mother experienced a series 56 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 1: of illnesses, so she was really starting to manage their household. 57 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: This was a lot of work beyond her schoolwork. She 58 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: was described as always having a book open beside her 59 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: whatever she was doing. By this point, she was already 60 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: forming some strong opinions about things like sanitation and hygiene, 61 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: and that would go on to be a big focus 62 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: in her life. For example, the family store sold tobacco. 63 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: That's something she didn't really like, but it was necessary 64 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: to keep the business going. It really wasn't unusual for 65 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: men to come in by their tabacco and then sit 66 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: around the stove in the store and just talk while 67 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: smoking their pipes. At one point, Ellen complained about this, 68 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: and one of the men asked why the store sold 69 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: to macco if they didn't want people to use it. 70 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: She said, well, we sell you molasses too, but we 71 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: don't expect you to stay here and cook it up. 72 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: Ellen was at Westford Academy until the spring of eighteen 73 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: sixty two. After that, she planned to start teaching, but 74 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: her plans were temporarily disrupted when she contracted measles. Teaching 75 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: was never her long term goal, though she wanted to 76 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: go to college, she just didn't have the money to 77 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: start right away. It's possible that the Civil War was 78 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: affecting her financial situation that spanned from eighteen sixty one 79 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: to eighteen sixty five, but none of the sources that 80 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: were used in this episode really talk about the war 81 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: at all, so unclear exactly how those two might have 82 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: impacted each other. I found the war to be weirdly 83 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: absent in all the accounts. Saving up enough money for 84 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: college took years, and Ellen worked at a variety of 85 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: jobs to do it. She was a nurse, a housekeeper, 86 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,799 Speaker 1: a teacher, and a language tutor, and she also kept 87 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: on studying on her own, so much so that when 88 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: she finally had enough money to start at Vassar at 89 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: the age of twenty six, her scores on her entrance 90 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: exams placed her as a third year student. Once again, 91 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: she excelled at school. Her best subjects were astronomy with 92 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: Professor Maria Mitchell, and chemistry, which was taught by Charles Farrar. 93 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: Her biggest complaint was, in her words, quote, they won't 94 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: let us study enough. They are so afraid we shall 95 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: break down. And you know, the reputation of the college's 96 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: at stake. For the question is can girls get a 97 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 1: college degree without injuring their health? Ellen Swallow graduated in 98 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy and once again she planned to teach, but 99 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: this was still meant to be a temporary step. She 100 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: was hoping that a teacher position might open up opportunities 101 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: for advanced scientific work and to that end, she got 102 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: a contract to go to Argentina along with a group 103 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: of other American teachers. President Domingo Sarmiento was campaigning to 104 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: reform Argentina's education system and to open new schools, so 105 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: all of these teachers had been hired for that purpose, 106 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: but he wound up canceling their contracts before they left 107 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: the United States. Sources agree that this was because of 108 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: a war, but they don't say which one, and I'm 109 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: a little fuzzy on the exact timing of when this 110 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: decision was made. The War of the Triple Alliance ended 111 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy, and an uprising that's generally considered to 112 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: be part of the Argentine Civil Wars started in that 113 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: same year. After the contract in Argentina fell through, she 114 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: tried to find an apprenticeship as a chemist. While she 115 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: loved astronomy, she thought chemistry had more practical, day to 116 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: day applications, especially ones that could help make the world better, 117 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: which was what she really wanted to do with her life. 118 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: But she wasn't considered suitable as an apprentice because she 119 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: was a woman. Finally, one of the chemical companies that 120 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: she had applied to suggested that she might continue her 121 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: studies at the newly opened Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT 122 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: had started holding classes in a building on Boylston Street 123 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: in Boston's Back Bay in eighteen sixty five. Aside from 124 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: the money that she needed for tuition, though, there was 125 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: just one problem. The institute had not admitted any women 126 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: as students, and it wasn't sure that it wanted to. 127 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: The Committee of the School of Industrial Science discussed Ellen 128 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 1: Swallow's application and ultimately decided to allow her to enroll 129 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: as a special student, quote, it being understood that her 130 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: admission did not establish a precedent for the general admission 131 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: of females. The faculty was also quote of the opinion 132 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: that the admission of women as special students is as 133 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: yet in the nature of an experiment, that each application 134 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: should be acted on upon its own merits, and that 135 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: no general action or change of the former policy of 136 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: the Institute is at present expedient. As a special student, 137 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: Ellen didn't have to pay tuition, and at first she 138 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: actually thought her designation as a special student was solely 139 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: about her economic situation, but really it meant that the 140 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: university could allow her to attend classes without having to 141 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: list her on the student roster or otherwise formally acknowledged 142 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: that a woman was attending the school home. Economist Caroline 143 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: Louisa Hunt, who published a biography of Ellen Swaller Richards 144 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen, summed it up as quote, so it 145 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: came about that the answer to her question our women 146 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: admitted was not they are, but you are. Ellen wrote 147 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: this in a letter to her friend after being accepted. Quote, 148 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: you will know that one of my delights is to 149 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: do something that no one else ever did. I have 150 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: the chance of doing what no woman ever did, to 151 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,559 Speaker 1: be the first woman to enter the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 152 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: and so far as I know, any scientific school, and 153 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: to do it by myself alone, unaided to be welcomed 154 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: most cordially. Is this not honor enough for the first 155 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: six months of post collegiate life. She started at MIT 156 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy one, and we'll talk more about her 157 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: time there after a quick sponsor break. While she was 158 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: still a student at Vassar, one of Ellen Swallow's many 159 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: many letters back home to her parents talked about how 160 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: busy she was, how she was just taking on too 161 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: much in pursuit of training herself for her future. She 162 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: ended this letter with quote, I would like to enjoy 163 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: the quiet with you a little while, but my life 164 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: is to be one of active fighting. She didn't start 165 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: her time at MIT by fighting, though. While she wasn't 166 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,079 Speaker 1: totally aware that her special student designation was away for 167 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: the university to avoid acknowledging that it had admitted a woman, 168 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: she did know that there were plenty of people who 169 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: did not think she should be there, so she tried 170 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: to make herself as unthreatening as possible and to continually 171 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: demonstrate that while she was doing something considered to be 172 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: unwomanly by attending the university, she still had a lot 173 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: of the traits and skills that were expected of a woman, 174 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: and a letter dated February eleventh, eighteen seventy one, she 175 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: wrote quote, I try to keep all sorts of such 176 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: things as needles, thread pens, scissors, et cetera, rounds, and 177 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: they are getting to come to me for everything they want. 178 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: They leave messages with me and come to expect me 179 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: to know where everything and everybody is. So you see, 180 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: I am useful in a decidedly general way, so they 181 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: can't say study spoils me for anything else. It may 182 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: feel disheartening to think that she was having to act 183 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: out feminine stereotypes to smooth her way at the university, 184 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: but she also saw this as a means to an end. 185 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: In that same letter, she also said, quote, I hope 186 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: that I am winning away which others will keep open. 187 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: Perhaps the fact that I am not a radical and 188 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,680 Speaker 1: that I do not score womanly duties but deem it 189 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: a privilege to clean up and supervise the room and 190 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: so things, etc. Is winning me stronger allies. She also 191 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: faced some personal hardship during her first year at MIT. 192 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: In March of eighteen seventy one, her father died four 193 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: days after being struck by a train. She had to 194 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: travel back and forth between Boston and her family home 195 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 1: in Worcester every day to care for her father in 196 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: the last days of his life, to see to his 197 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: affairs after his death, and to care for her mother, 198 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: who was chronically ill. And although there were certainly people 199 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: who tried to make her feel welcome at MIT, almost 200 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: none of them were women, which felt lonely. There were 201 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: literally almost no other women there. She did become friends 202 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: with Margaret Stenson, who was MIT's first and at this 203 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: point possibly still the only woman employee, Margaret Stenson, managed 204 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: the supplies for the chemistry department. Ellen once again excelled 205 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: as a student in In eighteen seventy three, a committee 206 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: voted to allow her to present herself as a candidate 207 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: for a degree and to take the exams required to 208 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: earn that degree. She graduated in eighteen seventy three with 209 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,199 Speaker 1: a bachelor's degree in chemistry, making her the first woman 210 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: to graduate from MT. Based on the content of her thesis, 211 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: Vassar also awarded her a Master of Arts degree, and 212 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: she really wanted to go on to pursue a PhD. 213 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: Various sources suggest that MIT balked at the idea of 214 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: possibly awarding its first PhD in chemistry to a woman, 215 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: but she also just didn't have the money to continue 216 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,839 Speaker 1: to pursue her education. While studying an MIT, Ellen had 217 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: met doctor Robert H. Richards, head of the Department of 218 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: Mining Engineering. Again. In the words of biographer Caroline Louisa Hunt, quote, 219 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: Miss Swallow and Professor Richards, differing widely in temperament, she 220 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: being quick to see, to move, and to act, he slow, 221 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: deliberate and judicial in his mental attitude, had met upon 222 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 1: the common ground of interest in scientific pursuits and had 223 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: fallen in love with each other. Robert proposed to Ellen 224 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: in the lab in eighteen seventy three, but she did 225 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: not give him an answer. He was not her first suitor, 226 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,840 Speaker 1: and she had seen a lot of women's lives completely 227 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,079 Speaker 1: changed after getting married because at that point they were 228 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,239 Speaker 1: expected to start focusing exclusively on their homes and families. 229 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: She wanted to be sure that a marriage to Robert 230 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: Richards would not put an end to her educational and 231 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: scientific pursuits. In the interim, she established a private practice 232 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: in sanitary chemistry, doing things like testing food for adulterance, 233 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: checking wallpaper and fabric for arsenic and measuring air and 234 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: water quality. Although she did this to earn a living, 235 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: she also worked for free for people and organizations that 236 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: were struggling. In eighteen seventy five, Ellen agreed to marry 237 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: Robert Richards, and they made it pretty clear pretty much 238 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: immediately that their marriage would not derail her work. Ellen 239 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: and Robert worked together often throughout their marriage, and their 240 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: honeymoon was a working trip to Nova Scotia with his 241 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: mining students. They were touring a bunch of mines and 242 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: taking samples and purse supervising all these college kids, isn't 243 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: it romantic? Ellen and Robert moved into a home in Jamaica, 244 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: plane and until Ellen's schedule got to the point that 245 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: she needed full time help around the house, she allowed 246 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: women students to board with them in exchange for helping 247 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: with housekeeping. She also wanted their home to be comfortable, sanitary, 248 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: and welcoming. As we said earlier, she loved plants, and 249 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: she turned their dining room into a conservatory space that 250 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: had potted plants on seemingly every surface. She was also 251 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: focused on cleanliness and air quality, switching from a coal 252 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: stove to a gas stove, and installing skylights, vents, and 253 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: screened windows for ventilation. People talked about her immense hospitality. 254 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes she would welcome so many guests into their home 255 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 1: that she had to give up her own bed, and 256 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: she would sneak out to stay in a hotel after 257 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: everyone else had gone to sleep. I have a fine note. 258 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: Her focus on ventilation was huge. At one point, she 259 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: wrote quote once breathed air is as much a waste 260 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 1: as once used water and should be allowed to escape. 261 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: Sewers are built for draining away used water. Flues are 262 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: just as important to serve as sewers for used air. 263 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: Since Robert was a department head, he earned enough money 264 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: to support them both, but Ellen had no intention of 265 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: stopping working. In conjunction with the Woman's Education Association of Boston, 266 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: she launched the MIT Women's Laboratory, a facility specifically for 267 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: women to study science, which opened in eighteen seventy six. 268 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: Many of the students at the Women's Laboratory were teachers 269 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: who wanted to improve their knowledge of the sciences, although 270 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: some were studying out of personal interest and others were 271 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: hoping to pursue a career in science or medicine. Richards 272 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 1: was on the faculty, making her MIT's first woman faculty member, 273 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: although she did not draw a salary and even contributed 274 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: about a thousand dollars a year to the lab's operation. 275 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: Helen Swallow Richards didn't just want to open up opportunities 276 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,160 Speaker 1: for women to study science at MIT. She also wanted 277 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: to make scientific study accessible to women who couldn't go 278 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: to college, So also in eighteen seventy six, she started 279 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: working with the Society to encourage studies at home, eventually 280 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: becoming head of its science section. She developed science curricula 281 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: that people could pursue at home. By correspondence, this society 282 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 1: had been founded in eighteen seventy three, following the example 283 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: of Britain's Society for the Encouragement of Home Study. But 284 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: while the British Society was primarily focused on the education 285 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: of upper class women, it's American counterpart wanted to make 286 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: education accessible to women of any class. Ultimately, all kinds 287 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: of people were taking these classes at home, older people 288 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,439 Speaker 1: who were looking for something to enrich their time, disabled people, 289 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: people with chronic illnesses, children whose local schools didn't have 290 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: the resources to teach particular subs. In detail, black women 291 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: and girls who were shut out of whites only schools, 292 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: and women and girls who faced discrimination at school because 293 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: of their gender. Also, in eighteen seventy six, Ellen accompanied 294 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,159 Speaker 1: her husband on a work trip to Germany, and there 295 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: she learned about naturalist zoologists and physician Ernst Heckel's ideas 296 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: around ecology, which he spelled oekology. He described this as 297 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: the study of organisms in their own environment. After getting 298 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: back to the United States, Richards built on this to 299 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: formulate her own ideas of ecology, which she described as 300 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: quote the science of the conditions of the health and 301 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: well being of everyday human life. Her ideas on this 302 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: had connections to later movements for environmental activism and conservation. 303 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: She thought humans were interacting with, rather than acting on, 304 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: the world around us, and her ideas of ecology encompassed 305 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: the home and the built world, not just what we 306 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: would think of as nature. Although the word ecology still 307 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: carries this sense today in terms like urban ecology, it 308 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 1: pretty quickly became more widely used in a sense that's 309 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,159 Speaker 1: more about the natural environment than the built environment. But 310 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: for the rest of her career, Richard's ideas on things 311 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:24,199 Speaker 1: like sanitation and conservation were more holistic, including not just 312 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: household cleanliness, but also clean air, clean water, and clean 313 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 1: streets in public spaces. As just a glimpse of how 314 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: she talked about these ideas, here is something she had 315 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: to say about water. Quote. Water is held to be 316 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: a gift of nature to man for use by all, 317 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: and therefore not to be diverted from its natural channels 318 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,199 Speaker 1: for the pleasure of or profit of anyone, to the 319 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,199 Speaker 1: exclusion of the rest. Neither has won the right to 320 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: return to the channel water unfit for the use of 321 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: his neighbor farther down the stream in eighteen se seventy eight. 322 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy nine, Richards studied the quality and purity 323 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: of food at the request of the Massachusetts Board of Health, 324 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: which had been founded in eighteen sixty nine. Her results 325 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 1: were published in the first annual report of what was 326 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: then known as the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and 327 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: Charity under the title the Adulterations of Some Staple Groceries. 328 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: Her work suggested that when food was adulterated, the adulteration 329 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: happened during manufacturing, not at the grocer's who sold the 330 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,439 Speaker 1: product to consumers. She outlined various adulterants that she had 331 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 1: found in staples like flour, sugar, and baking powder, as 332 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: well as her conclusion that supposedly better equality products were 333 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 1: often chemically identical to cheaper ones, so people were paying 334 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: more for something that they thought was more pure but 335 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: really wasn't. Richards later studies of food adulteration would uncover 336 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:57,880 Speaker 1: some dramatic examples, like mahogany sawdust used in place of cinnamon. 337 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: Richard's work in this area is often cited as a 338 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: reason that Massachusetts passed a Food and Drug Act in 339 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty two, more than twenty years before the Federal 340 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: Pure Food and Drug Act of nineteen oh six. In 341 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, Ellen Swallow Richards, Alice Freeman Palmer, and 342 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: others came together to establish the Association of Collegiate Alumna 343 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: which later became the American Association of University Women. A 344 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: year later, with the help of the Women's Education Association, 345 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: she established the Summer Seaside Laboratory on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, 346 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: and that was one of the marine research laboratories that 347 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: eventually became part of Woods Whole Oceanographic Institution. In eighteen 348 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: eighty two, Richards also published her first book, The Chemistry 349 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: of Cooking and Cleaning, a manual for Housekeepers, which described cooking, cleaning, 350 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: and sanitation in terms of applied science. It had four 351 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: chapters Starch, sugar and Fat as Food, Nitrogenous Food, and 352 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: the Chemistry of Nutrition, The Chemistry of cleaning, and Chemicals 353 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,880 Speaker 1: for household use. She also published a pamphlet called First 354 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: Lessons in Minerals, which was a guide for teachers that 355 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: she had developed by working with classes of elementary school 356 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 1: children in Boston. Not long after this, the women's lab 357 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: at MIT closed, which we will get to after another 358 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: sponsor break. In eighteen eighty three, MT started enrolling women 359 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:38,440 Speaker 1: as regular students, and the women's laboratory closed. Since women 360 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: were being enrolled as part of the regular student body, 361 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: there was no longer a separate laboratory needed. Richards said 362 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: of this quote, I feel like a woman whose children 363 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: are all about to be married and leave her alone 364 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: so that she is to move into a smaller house 365 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: than a new neighborhood. You see it as quite a 366 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: change for me, and though I knew it was coming, 367 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: I cannot at once fit all the corners. My work 368 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,479 Speaker 1: is done and happily done, but the energy will have 369 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: to be used somehow, And that is the question. That 370 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,479 Speaker 1: question was because at first it seemed like the lab's 371 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: closure meant that Richards wouldn't have a job at MT anymore. 372 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: But in April of eighteen eighty four, a committee voted 373 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,919 Speaker 1: to appoint her as an assistant under chemistry Professor William 374 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 1: Ripley Nichols, where she would teach a course in sanitary 375 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: chemistry at a salary of six hundred dollars per year. 376 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: A month later, the committee revised that amount to one 377 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and once again described MIT's relationship with her 378 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: as an experiment which quote in no way commits itself 379 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: to the continuance of this instruction in sanitary chemistry unless 380 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: encouraged by the results of this year of trial. She 381 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:52,919 Speaker 1: also acted as the Dean of Women, although she was 382 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: not formally given that title. This experiment was a success. 383 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: Richards taught at MIT for the rest of her life. 384 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 1: She had previously worked as a chemist for the Massachusetts 385 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: Sport of Health, and in eighteen eighty seven she was 386 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: asked to undertake a comprehensive study of drinking water quality 387 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts. This built on work that she had done 388 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: assisting Professor Nichols at MIT while she was a student, 389 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: although that had been on a much smaller scale. At 390 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: the Sanitary Chemistry Lab at MIT, she examined roughly twenty 391 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: thousand water samples from all over the state. One thing 392 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: she was looking at was chlorine, which was an indicator 393 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: of both industrial and household water pollution. To that end, 394 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: she created a normal chlorine map, which showed how much 395 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 1: chlorine should be in a water supply based on things 396 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: like how far it was from the ocean, if a 397 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: water supply had more chlorine than it should, that suggested 398 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: the presence of other pollutants. This was the first known 399 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: study of drinking water quality of this scale, and it 400 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: is also credited with both water quality laws and the 401 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 1: establishment of a municipal sewage treatment plant in Lowell, northwest 402 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,399 Speaker 1: of Boston. She continued to work for the Board of 403 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,880 Speaker 1: Health as a water analyst for the next ten years. Yeah, 404 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:15,479 Speaker 1: we haven't explained specifically what sanitary chemistry means, but it 405 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 1: includes all of this kind of stuff like examining air 406 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: quality and water quality and waste disposal, and it also 407 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: extends into things like cleanliness and hygiene. It's a pretty 408 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: broad field that touches on all of those things. In 409 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety, Richards helped establish the New England Kitchen, which 410 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: we talked about in our previous episode on the Bureau 411 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: of Home Economics. This kitchen was meant to serve multiple purposes. 412 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: It would provide inexpensive, nourishing foods to supplement the diets 413 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: of Boston's poor and working class residence, and it would 414 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: also demonstrate cooking and sanitation techniques. One of the tools 415 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,440 Speaker 1: that it used was the Aladdin oven invented by Edward Atkinson, 416 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: which burned kerosene rather than coal and was a lot 417 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,400 Speaker 1: more efficient. It was estimated that a pound of kerosene 418 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: burned and an Aladdin oven could replace as much as 419 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: seventy pounds of coal in a traditional oven. The Aladdin 420 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,719 Speaker 1: oven was used for slow cooking, so that allowed the 421 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: staff at the kitchen to slow cook cheap cuts of 422 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: meat until they were tender and at least in the 423 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: minds of the staff, delicious. However, the New England kitchen 424 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,880 Speaker 1: was also preparing what was described as Yankee cuisine, foods 425 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: that often had British roots, sometimes influenced by cuisine from 426 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,199 Speaker 1: indigenous nations living in the northeastern US, as in quote 427 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: beef broth, vegetable soup, pea soup, cornmeal, mush boiled hominy, oatmeal, 428 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:54,119 Speaker 1: mush pressed beef, beef stew, fish chowder, tomato soup, Indian pudding, 429 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: rice pudding, and oatmeal cakes. Case you don't know, what's 430 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: called Indian pudding is a baked zert made with cormeal 431 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 1: and molasses. But most of the people the kitchen was 432 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: trying to feed were immigrants from other parts of Europe 433 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,919 Speaker 1: who just had very different tastes. Many found the menu 434 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: at the New England Kitchen to be unappealing based on 435 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,639 Speaker 1: what they could make at home. Although the New England 436 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: Kitchen did not become popular as just a go to 437 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: source of food for local workers, it did have an 438 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,360 Speaker 1: impact in other ways. It was eventually taken over by 439 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,880 Speaker 1: the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, and it was under 440 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 1: contract to provide school lunches to the Boston School Committee 441 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: for years. It also informed the Rumford Kitchen, which was 442 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: named for Sir Benjamin Thompson, count Rumford, which was a 443 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: display kitchen that was set up at the Massachusetts State 444 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: Fair and then at the eighteen ninety three World's Fair 445 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 1: in Chicago that both fairs, this kitchen offered food to 446 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: visitors and also conducted demonstrations of things like cooking and 447 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: sanitation techniques. Research into nutrition was also conducted at the 448 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 1: New England Kitchen, the Rumford Kitchen, and at MIT. This 449 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,480 Speaker 1: was very early in the establishment of nutrition as a science. 450 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: The term vitamin had not been coined yet, and although 451 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 1: various minerals like iron and potassium had been isolated, vitamins 452 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 1: had not. Research into nutrition was critically important, For example, 453 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,640 Speaker 1: today we know that vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, vitamin 454 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:33,680 Speaker 1: D deficiency causes rickets, and niacin deficiency causes pelagra, all 455 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: of which can be life threatening. But at this point 456 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: people only knew that these diseases existed, not what was 457 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,520 Speaker 1: causing them or how to treat or prevent them. But 458 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: this also paved the way for things like government dietary guidelines, 459 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: which have a very complicated history. Yeah, I feel like 460 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: that's the whole other digression. In eighteen ninety four, Richards 461 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: was elected to be an alumna trustee at vass One 462 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: of her first tasks as part of that body involved 463 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: dealing with a sewage crisis at the college. Vassard's sewage 464 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: system had been put in place in eighteen sixty five, 465 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: and after converting a lot of solid waste into fertilizer, 466 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: it then discharged the remaining liquid into nearby creeks. Local 467 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: residents were tired of the sewer water in their creeks. 468 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: They were demanding some other solution, and a proposal had 469 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: been made to build a pipeline to instead carry the 470 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: waste runoff to the Hudson River just dump in another 471 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: body of water it's fine, Dad was the plan. Richards 472 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: convinced the trustees to instead implement a plan that involved 473 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: creating a drain field that would be less expensive and 474 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: less destructive. In her words, quote, this is a valuable 475 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: record of the possibility of sewage utilization without offense, and 476 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: of the right principle in taking care of the wastes 477 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: of an establishment by itself, instead of fouling a stream 478 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: to become a menace to the health of others and 479 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: an expense to helpless dwellers further down. It is thus 480 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: in the line of modern economic and sociological investigation, a 481 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: line which must be followed up if the land is 482 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: to remain safely habitable. Yeah, she was very frustrated that 483 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: there was even a plan being discussed to build this 484 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: pipeline to the Hudson River. She was like, as a university, 485 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: we should be taking a leadership role in disposing of 486 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: this waste in like a sanitary, non polluting way as 487 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: much as possible. It was also around this same time 488 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: that two overlapping fields were evolving that would be a 489 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: big part of Richard's career for the last fifteen years 490 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: of her life. One was home economics, as we set 491 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: up at the top of the show. Richards convene the 492 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 1: conference in Lake Placid, New York, in eighteen ninety nine. 493 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: That is where the name home economics was coined and 494 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: agreed upon to represent this field. Annual conferences followed, and 495 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen o two, delegates the conference agreed on this definition. 496 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: Quote one, home economics, in its most comprehensive sense, is 497 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: the study of laws, conditions, principles, and ideals which are 498 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: concerned on the one hand, with man's immediate physical environment 499 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,240 Speaker 1: and on the other hand, with his nature as a 500 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: social being. And is the study specifically of the relation 501 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,720 Speaker 1: between these two factors. Two. In a narrow sense, the 502 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: term is given to the study of the empirical sciences, 503 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: with special reference to the practical problems of housework, cooking, etc. 504 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: As was the case with the term ecology, Richard's ideas 505 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: about home economics were really broader than this. She had 506 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: envisioned a field that was focused on applied science in 507 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: the context of people's everyday lives. She had hoped that 508 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: the field would encompass things like sanitation, air quality, water 509 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: quality conservation, and preserving the natural world through science. This 510 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: would certainly involve the home, something that she hoped would 511 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: both make women's lives easier and more efficient, and would 512 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 1: offer mental stimulation and enrichment through the learning of science. 513 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: But it wouldn't just be about housework or things that 514 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: were considered women's work. That brings us to the other field, 515 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: which was euthenics, which she coined to mean quote the 516 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: science of controllable environment. Euthenics incorporated sanitary science, education, and 517 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: practical applications of sciences to everyday life, all folded together 518 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: with progressive social reform. She hoped that euthenics would similarly 519 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: lead to laws that would prevent disease by preventing contamination 520 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: to the soil, water, and food by requiring things like 521 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,840 Speaker 1: waste removal and ventilation and buildings, and she hoped that 522 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: this would bring an efficiency to those same goals conserving 523 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: resources and preserving the natural environment. One of the reasons 524 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: that Richards was involved in the home economics movement was 525 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: that she thought it might help bring euthenics into a 526 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: wider use. You can see where there's like some overlap 527 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: in them. Both of the home economics movement and euthenics 528 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: were connected to the idea of racial improvement. This was 529 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,320 Speaker 1: during the eugenics movement in the United States, which was 530 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: a movement that was racist, classist, and ablest, but also 531 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: incredibly widely accepted and normalized. This was rooted in the 532 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: idea that humanity could improve itself through so called good breeding, 533 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: which ultimately involved everything from encouraging the so called right 534 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: people to have more children to forcibly sterilizing disabled people, 535 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: people of color, and others perceived as undesirable. Although this 536 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: basic concept was applied across races, it was also threaded 537 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 1: through with the idea that the white race was superior 538 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: and needed to be kept pure. So we've talked about 539 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 1: this we've met a number of times on the show before, 540 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,720 Speaker 1: including in our episode The Calcax and the Eugenicists, which 541 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: we are actually rerunning as an upcoming Saturday Classic. The 542 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 1: eugenics movement in the United States went on to influence 543 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: the Nazi Party's ideas on race science, and that led 544 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 1: to hundreds of thousands of forced sterilizations as well as murders. 545 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: Most of the most horrific outcomes of the eugenics movement 546 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: took place after Ellen Swallow Richard's death, but its core 547 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: ideas of better breeding and racial purity were part of 548 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,319 Speaker 1: her work in both home economics and euthenics. She saw 549 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: euthenics as a more efficient way to reach the same 550 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 1: outcomes as the eugenics movement was proposing. In particular, she 551 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,399 Speaker 1: thought it would take many generations to improve humanity through 552 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,560 Speaker 1: better breeding, but that euthenics could have a more immediate impact. 553 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: Steps like removing pollutants from the soil, water, and air, 554 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,280 Speaker 1: requiring building to be well ventilated, removing garbage from streets 555 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: and alleys, and encouraging people to eat nutritious food and 556 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 1: keep their homes clean and sanitary would all play a 557 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: role in improving the human race. And we should also 558 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 1: take a moment to note that beyond this connection to 559 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:21,760 Speaker 1: like racial purity and eugenics, Richard's work was primarily focused 560 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 1: on white middle class women. Like that menu at the 561 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 1: New England kitchen that we talked about earlier, she really 562 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:30,400 Speaker 1: thought that that kind of food was standard and was 563 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 1: what immigrant families should be encouraged to eat. Sometimes she 564 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,480 Speaker 1: could be disparaging and how she talked about sanitation as 565 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,120 Speaker 1: it applied to immigrants, to poor people, to people of color. 566 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 1: It was kind of contradictory. Sometimes she would simultaneously recognize 567 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 1: that people were living in a society that forced them 568 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: to live in substandard housing in neighborhoods that didn't have 569 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: things like running water or proper disposal of garbage, but 570 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:01,839 Speaker 1: it all most the exact same time. She would kind 571 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 1: of assume that a lack of sanitation in these people's 572 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,239 Speaker 1: homes was due to their own ignorance if you just 573 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 1: tried harder, right. Ellen Swallow Richards spent the last decade 574 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:18,280 Speaker 1: or so of her life traveling extensively doing research work, lecturing, 575 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 1: attending scientific meetings, and connecting with faculty members from other 576 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: universities and other figures within the home economics movement. She 577 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:30,480 Speaker 1: continued to advocate for euthenics and to incorporate it in 578 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 1: other areas of her work. For example, it was incorporated 579 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: into her nineteen oh five book The Cost of Shelter, 580 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,279 Speaker 1: which was an exploration of the idea of home, the 581 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 1: role that home plays in society, and the cost per 582 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:48,319 Speaker 1: person of various types of shelter. She also published Euthenics, 583 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:53,439 Speaker 1: The Science of Controllable Environment in nineteen ten. That same year, 584 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Smith College. She 585 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: also spoke at MIT's convocation year, saying, in part quote, 586 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: the quality of life depends on the ability of society 587 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,400 Speaker 1: to teach its members how to live in harmony with 588 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: their environment, defined first as the family, then with the community, 589 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:17,840 Speaker 1: then with the world and its resources. In the last 590 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,799 Speaker 1: few months of her life, Ellen Swallow Richards started to 591 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: show signs of heart disease, and her friends noticed her 592 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,040 Speaker 1: struggling to do things that she had been able to 593 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:31,440 Speaker 1: do before. She died on March thirtieth, nineteen eleven. Her husband, Robert, 594 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:35,759 Speaker 1: later remarried. He died in nineteen forty five. Although the 595 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: field of euthenics did continue after Ellen Swallow Richard's death, 596 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:44,759 Speaker 1: it was largely overshadowed by home economics. There were many 597 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,319 Speaker 1: reasons for this, including the decline of public support for 598 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 1: eugenics after the horrors of the Nazi eugenics program. Eugenics 599 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: and euthenics just sounded so similar that it was really 600 00:37:57,239 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: not possible to separate the two of them in people's mind. 601 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,879 Speaker 1: The home economics field also continued to diverge from the 602 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: more broad science based scope that Richards had envisioned for it, 603 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,719 Speaker 1: and gradually it became mostly focused on homemaking. I think 604 00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,600 Speaker 1: those of us have an age to remember homemet classes 605 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:17,640 Speaker 1: in high school. Remember that it was like a practical 606 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: class about cooking and cleaning and sewing. Although things like 607 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:25,400 Speaker 1: those home economic classes have really declined in recent decades, 608 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:29,239 Speaker 1: a lot of the fields that were originally considered to 609 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:33,279 Speaker 1: be part of home economics, like food science and textile 610 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,920 Speaker 1: science and child development, like those individual fields are still 611 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: thriving to some extent. The field of family and consumer 612 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: sciences is like the successor to home economics as a field, 613 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,280 Speaker 1: and of course a lot of Richard's work on things 614 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:54,280 Speaker 1: like ventilation and water pollution are just still incredibly relevant today. 615 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,360 Speaker 1: Over the course of her career, Ellen Swallow Richards wrote 616 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:01,560 Speaker 1: or co wrote eighteen books in addition to the ones 617 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,920 Speaker 1: we've already mentioned. Some others were The Cost of Living, 618 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:11,759 Speaker 1: Industrial Water Analysis, and Conservation by Sanitation. MIT established the 619 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 1: Ellen Swallow Richards Professorship to recognize distinguished women faculty members 620 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy three. I love a whole lot of 621 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,080 Speaker 1: things about her life and career, and I wish there 622 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:27,319 Speaker 1: had not been eugenics. Yeah, which is the case with 623 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 1: just a lot of nineteenth and early twentieth century people 624 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:37,879 Speaker 1: and movements. Yes, I also have some listener mail. Our 625 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,360 Speaker 1: listener mail is from Kristen, and Kristen wrote, Dear Holly 626 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:43,720 Speaker 1: and Tracy, I recently acquired several boxes of early twentieth 627 00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: century sheet music. I happened to be in the middle 628 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,279 Speaker 1: of going through it right when Irving Berlin came up? 629 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,880 Speaker 1: Is your subject? What a fun coincidence. Beer discussion of 630 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:55,400 Speaker 1: sheet music, both during the episode and in the behind 631 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,040 Speaker 1: the scenes mirrored some of my own discoveries of the 632 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,759 Speaker 1: trends of the time. Bright colored covers, the love of 633 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:06,480 Speaker 1: the quote, exotic, sexual innu window, and sometimes racially problematic 634 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:10,520 Speaker 1: lyrics are all fairly common. Most have advertisements for music 635 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:13,560 Speaker 1: from the publisher on the inside front cover. Some have 636 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: a full page sample. I've also found that many have 637 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:20,240 Speaker 1: an introduction that's meant to repeat until your performers are ready. 638 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 1: The most charming trend that I've run across is the 639 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: common inclusion of a ukulele part. Maybe that'll be the 640 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,560 Speaker 1: next instrument I shall learn. Of course, the box of 641 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:33,360 Speaker 1: sheet music contained an Irving Berlin, which I've pictured below 642 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:36,399 Speaker 1: with some other examples from my box of Treasures one 643 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,239 Speaker 1: more thing being of that same certain age as you 644 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: find Ladies. I immediately had to pause the episode to 645 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,880 Speaker 1: watch Fozzy Bear sing simple Melody with Gene Stapleton. A 646 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,440 Speaker 1: Muppet break is always welcome if you notice Fozzy is 647 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:52,520 Speaker 1: playing a ukulele. I find all of your episodes enjoyable, 648 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,480 Speaker 1: but this one felt like a study guide for my 649 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,360 Speaker 1: latest musical project. Thank you so much for all you do. 650 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,879 Speaker 1: I've attached my pet pick of zach our one ear up, 651 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,600 Speaker 1: one ear down, German Shepherd sharp a mix. This is favorite, 652 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: yet not so convenient spot to sit and people watch 653 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 1: Best Wishes Kristen. So Zach is sitting on the stairs 654 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:15,600 Speaker 1: kind of looking out through the banister, which my cats 655 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,000 Speaker 1: also do, except they also stick their heads out of 656 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:25,160 Speaker 1: the banister sometimes, which is occasionally cute and also sometimes alarming, 657 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:27,440 Speaker 1: because there are spots on the banister that are just, 658 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: in my opinion, too high up for them to be 659 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:34,480 Speaker 1: potentially jumping down off of. Also, one of the many 660 00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:36,359 Speaker 1: things in that episode that wound up being cut out 661 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:40,560 Speaker 1: for sake of time was that a lot of music 662 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:43,839 Speaker 1: out of tenpenn Alley had a very similar structure, and 663 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 1: I don't want to call it a formula because I 664 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:47,880 Speaker 1: feel like that has negative connotations. But there was a 665 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 1: pattern that was recognizable, and it was an introduction, a 666 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,319 Speaker 1: short vamp that drew from the melody and the rhythm 667 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,560 Speaker 1: of the rest of the song at least two verses, 668 00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:59,000 Speaker 1: and then a chorus with two different endings, one that 669 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:00,680 Speaker 1: was going to be used if you were repeating the 670 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,120 Speaker 1: chorus and another if you were instead looping back to 671 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,920 Speaker 1: the introduction or the vamp. So like that is a 672 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:11,319 Speaker 1: you see that same pattern over and over. Also, if 673 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,280 Speaker 1: I had to speculate, there's probably a lot of ukulele 674 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:19,000 Speaker 1: parts because the ukulele is a very inexpensive instrument, which 675 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:21,520 Speaker 1: made it a lot easier for folks to get their 676 00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: hands on than something that might cost a little bit 677 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:29,080 Speaker 1: more or money, like a violin or a guitar as 678 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,160 Speaker 1: examples of things that I feel like are a little 679 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:35,480 Speaker 1: more expensive than the Ukuleleas So, anyway, that's my conjecture. 680 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: Don't cite that as like historical fact. If you'd like 681 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,280 Speaker 1: to write to us about this or any other podcast 682 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:45,200 Speaker 1: or history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com and also on 683 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:48,800 Speaker 1: social media, that's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 684 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,400 Speaker 1: and Instagram, and you can subscribe to our show on 685 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app or wherever else you like to get 686 00:42:53,640 --> 00:43:02,879 Speaker 1: your podcast. Stuff in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 687 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:07,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 688 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.