1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: in history in this episode, one from me and one 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do 5 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: say so myself. One with the show, Welcome to this 6 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,319 Speaker 1: Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot com 7 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. 8 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: It's the show where we explore the past one day 9 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: at a time with a quick look at what happened 10 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson and it's September. The crash at Crush 12 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: took place on this day in eighteen ninety six, and 13 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: if that name doesn't sound familiar, it's one of the 14 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: many times that people wrecked some trains together for fun. 15 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: People like to smash things, and people like to watch 16 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: things being smashed. And then the late eighteen hundreds and 17 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds, this included intentionally staging train wrecks for 18 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: people to watch. William George Crush was a passenger agent 19 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: for the State of Texas at the Missouri Kansas Texas 20 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: Railroad Company, also known as the Katie was kind of 21 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 1: a shortened version of those initials m KT. He had 22 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: a great idea to sell more tickets on this railroad. 23 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: The railroad was replacing all of its thirty five ton 24 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,680 Speaker 1: locomotives was sixty ton models, so he thought they might 25 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: on purpose wreck two of the old ones together at 26 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: a specially constructed stretch of track, And of course they 27 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: could also sell tickets to get to that stretch of 28 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 1: track on the Katie for two dollars apiece. Thirty three 29 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: trains were pulled into the whole effort. He was a 30 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: little concerned about whether this would be safe. In particular, 31 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: he worried about whether the boilers of these two locomotives 32 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: might explode on impact, so he asked around among the engineers. 33 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: All but one of them said that probably wouldn't happen, 34 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: so he went ahead with his plan. They laid down 35 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: special track from the Waco Dallas line and they basically 36 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: made a pop up town that they named Crush. It 37 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,919 Speaker 1: was fifteen miles north of Waco and about three miles 38 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: south of the town of West. It had a restaurant 39 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 1: and lemonade stands and a grand stand and a huge 40 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: carnival with all the expected carnival attractions. They drilled wells 41 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: and they borrowed a tent from P. T. Barnum. They 42 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: built a temporary jail just in case the crowd got rowdy, 43 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: and they hired two hundred constables to patrol on the day. 44 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: They also prepared for a media onslaught with two telegraph 45 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: offices and a stand for reporters. This whole site was 46 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: surrounded by hills that gave a lot of natural vantage 47 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: points to watch the wreck, and there was a stretch 48 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: of railroad track that they were able to put among 49 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: these hills that would let both of the engines go 50 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: slightly downhill until they met at the middle. They chose 51 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: locomotives and one thousand one. One of them was painted 52 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: green with red trim and the other red with green, 53 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: and then they advertised what they were going to do 54 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: all through the summer. Of passengers started arriving on September 55 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: at about ten in the morning. There were about ten 56 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: thousand spectators. They were supposed to start the event at four, 57 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: but at four there were still trains that were arriving 58 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: full of people, and some of these trains were so 59 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: crowded that passengers were hanging on to the top of 60 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: them instead of riding inside. When they finally started at 61 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: five o'clock, there were forty thousand people watching, which was 62 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: about twice as many as they had thought were going 63 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: to come. The two trains came slowly together, and they 64 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: touched their cow catchers sort of like they were boxers. 65 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: William Crush raised his hat from on horseback. After the 66 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: trains had reversed apart again, he whipped down his hat 67 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: as a signal for the event to begin. Their drivers 68 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: anchored their whistles down and they got the engines going 69 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: before jumping clear, and when the two locomotives hit each other, 70 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: each going about fifty miles an hour, they folded together 71 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: like accordions, and the box cars they were towing shattered 72 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: into splinters. Unfortunately, that one engineer that Crush had talked 73 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: to who suggested that the boilers might explode was the 74 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 1: one who was correct. Both of the boilers did explode, 75 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: and scalding water and flying debris flew into the crowd, 76 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 1: causing so many injuries, some of them very serious, and 77 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: they were also tragically deaths. One man was hit with 78 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: a length of break chain and was killed instantly. There 79 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: was a young girl who was hit with debris and 80 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: died on the way home. There was also a man 81 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: who survived the wreck itself unharmed, but on the way 82 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: home was run over by one of the trains and killed. 83 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: Even in the face of all the injuries and the chaos, 84 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: though souvenir hunters rushed to the wreck from their vantage 85 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: points to try to take away pieces of it. The 86 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: Katie fired William Crush immediately, but then hired him back 87 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: the next day, and then not long after all of this, 88 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: composer and pianist Scott jo Blind published his Great Crush 89 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: Collision March. You can learn more about this and about 90 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: the other train wrecks that people staged on purpose for 91 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: fun in the September episode of Stuff You Missed in 92 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: History Class. Thanks to Tari Harrison for all her audio 93 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: work on this show. You can subscribe to This Day 94 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever 95 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: else you get your podcasts, and you can tune in 96 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: tomorrow for a battle cry. Hello, Hello, everyone, Welcome to 97 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class, where we bring you a 98 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: new tidbit from history every day. The day was September 99 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three. Members of the Ku Klux Klan planted 100 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: bombs in the sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, 101 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: killing war girls and injuring many other people. Birmingham was 102 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: an important site of protests and organizing during the civil 103 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: rights movement. Launched in nineteen sixty three. The Birmingham Campaign 104 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: was a movement of protests against segregation laws in the city. 105 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: It was home to Bethel Baptist Church, which was the 106 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: headquarters of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and 107 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: where activists Fred Shuttlesworth served as pastor for several years. 108 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: And Birmingham was the site of the Children's Crusade in 109 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: May of nineteen sixty three, when students marched to protests 110 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: segregation and were met with blasts from water hoses, attacks 111 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: by police dogs, arrests, and meetings by police officers. The 112 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: students involved in the Children's Crusade gathered at the sixteenth 113 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,679 Speaker 1: Street Baptist Church and marched downtown. The sixteenth Street Baptist 114 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: Church specifically was a place where civil rights active has 115 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: met and organized in Birmingham. People like Southern Christian Leadership 116 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: Conference leader James Bebel and Martin Luther King Jr. Spoke 117 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: at the church, but on September nineteen sixty three it 118 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: was a site of terrorism. That day, the church hells 119 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: Sunday services as usual, but around ten am, Caroline Mall, 120 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: who was acting as Sunday School secretary, picked up a 121 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: phone call. The caller only said three minutes and hung up. 122 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: Just after Caroline hung up the phone, a bomb exploded 123 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: in the church. Three of the girls that were killed, 124 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: Addie Maycollins, Denise McNair and Carol Robertson, were fourteen years old. 125 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,559 Speaker 1: Cynthia Wesley was eleven years old when she was killed 126 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: in the church bombing. Sarah Collins, Addie May's sister, was 127 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: blinded in one eye because of the blast. The bomb 128 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: had been planted beneath steps on the east side of 129 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: the church and the girls who died were in the 130 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: basement at the time of the explosion. More than twenty 131 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: people were injured in the blast. There had been other 132 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: bombings in Birmingham in nineteen sixty three in retaliation to 133 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: disegregation measures being passed. The Gaston motel, where Dr King 134 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: had been staying but left, was bombed. The house of 135 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: A D. King, Martin Luther King Jr's brother was also 136 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: bombed in double a. CP attorney Arthur Shore's house was firebombed. 137 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: Segregationists reactions to the success of the civil rights movement 138 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 1: were often violent. After the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, 139 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: protesters came to the scene of the crime. Two black boys, 140 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: Virgil Ware and Johnny Robinson, were killed in the riots, 141 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: and more were injured. Alabama Governor George Wallace sent National 142 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: guardsmen and three hundred state troopers into Birmingham, and hundreds 143 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: of police officers in sheriff's deputies all also showed up 144 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 1: to police the crowds. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Spoke 145 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: at the funeral held for three of the girls. The 146 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: FBI office in Birmingham launched an investigation into the bombing. 147 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: In a memo to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, agents 148 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:22,319 Speaker 1: named white supremacist Thomas Blanton, Robert Chamblis, Bobby Frank Cherry, 149 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,079 Speaker 1: and Herman Cash as suspects, but by the time the 150 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: investigation ended in nineteen there were no indictments. The FBI 151 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: said that witnesses were reluctant to talk, that there was 152 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: not enough physical evidence, and that info gathered from FBI 153 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: surveillance was not admissible in court. The bombing, along with 154 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: other tragic events that affected people's perception of the civil 155 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: rights movement, like John F. Kennedy's assassination in the March 156 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: on Washington, inspired support for and the passage of civil 157 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: rights legislation in the following years. Alabama Attorney General Bill 158 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 1: Baxley lay Or reopened the case, and in nineteen seventy seven, 159 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: Robert Chamblis was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced 160 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: to life in prison. Lantern and Terry were sentenced to 161 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: four life terms in two thousand one and two thousand two, respectively. 162 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: Cash died in nineteen four before he was charged. FBI 163 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: informant Gary Thomas Road Jr. Was also suspected of being 164 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: involved in the bombing, but he was cleared of involvement. 165 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: It's been claimed that Hoover ordered FBI agents not to 166 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: disclose evidence against the bombers two county prosecutors to prevent 167 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: justice from being served, but the FBI said his concern 168 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: was to prevent leaks and that he did not think 169 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: a conviction could be one on circumstantial evidence. The FBI 170 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: did acknowledge that it did not give secretly recorded tapes 171 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 1: and other evidence to Alabama officials when it reopened its investigation. 172 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church is now out a National 173 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: Historic Landmark. I'm Eve Steff Coote and hopefully you know 174 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 175 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: We love it if you left us a comment on Twitter, 176 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: Instagram or Facebook. At T d i h C podcast, 177 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: thank you for joining me today. See you same place, 178 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 1: same time tomorrow. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, 179 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 180 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.