1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Happy New Year and Happy Saturday. We know that was 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: so so hard for many folks and that there is 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: still more to go in So our first Saturday Classic 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: of this year is all about surviving. It is Violet Jessup, 5 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,080 Speaker 1: who survived tuberculosis, as well as the rex of both 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: the Titanic and its sister ship, the Britannic. This episode 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: originally came out on September two. Welcome to Stuff You 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, 9 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm tray Cevie Wilson and 10 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry. Shipwrecks longtime favorite thing on our show 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: from way before Holly and I joined, And today we're 12 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: taking a slightly different approach to the perennial favorite of shipwrecks. 13 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about a ship survivor. Her name 14 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: is Violet Jessup. She survived a whole lot, and I 15 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: don't want to spoil it, so that is all I'm 16 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: saying for the intro. Violent Constance Jessup was born on 17 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: October two of eight seven, near Bahia Blanca, Argentina. Her parents, 18 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: William Jessup and Catherine Kelly, had emigrated there from Dublin 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: in the mid eighteen eighties with the goal of starting 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: a sheep farm. Her life at first was extremely modest. 21 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: Her father didn't really have enough money for a whole 22 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: herd of sheep, so they were living in what was 23 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: basically a one room structure of adobe bricks. Violet's crib 24 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: was made out of a gin box. After a while, 25 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: when it became clear that he wouldn't be able to 26 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: buy enough sheep to make the farm self sustaining, Violet's 27 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: father instead took a series of other jobs, first working 28 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: as a customs officer and then working for a railroad line. 29 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: This did put the family on more solid financial footing, 30 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: but in spite of that, Violet and the rest of 31 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: her siblings who were born afterwards she was the oldest, 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: they had a number of medical catastrophes, and really, regardless 33 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: of what their income had been like, these catastrophes would 34 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: have basically been unavoidable at the time. Violet and her 35 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: younger brother Ray at the time when it was just 36 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: the two of them, both got scarlet fever and Ray 37 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: actually died of it. Violet later got tuberculosis and then 38 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: also got typhoid fever. Two of her brothers nearly died 39 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: of diphtheria. She had four brothers and one sister who 40 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: survived to adulthood, but she had other brothers and a 41 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: sister who died while they were still children. Violets tuberculosis 42 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: caused her lungs to hemorrhage, and so even after she 43 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: was old enough to go to school, a doctor actually 44 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: recommended that she stay home. Later, when Violet was in 45 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: the hospital and seemed as though she might not recover, 46 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: it was recommended that she go to the mountains where 47 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: the air might give her a few more months. They 48 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: really did think she was going to die. Her lungs 49 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: had been seriously hemorrhaging for a long time. So after 50 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: having lived in Bahia Blanca and Buenos Airess, Violet's father 51 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: got a transfer to Mendoza, Argentina, which is in the 52 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: foothills of the Andies Mountains, and Violet's health did get stronger. 53 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: In Mendoza. She seemed to have an aggressively stubborn will 54 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: to live, and after a while she was doing well 55 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: enough to explore their sprawling adobe house with her pet armadillo. 56 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: I find that wildly charming. Eventually she was well enough 57 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: to go to school, which she did gleefully until her 58 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: father's death when she was in her early teens. She 59 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: really wanted to think so badly. She wanted to be 60 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: able to go to school, and she wanted to have 61 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: a sister, but instead she had a series of brothers, 62 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: then a sister who tragically died of meningitis when she 63 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: was a baby, then a sister who lived to adulthood. 64 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: So when Violet's father died, her mother decided to take 65 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: the family to England, even though people worried that Violet's 66 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: lungs would not be able to handle the English air. 67 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: This was such a big concern that one of her 68 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: Argentinian teachers actually offered to adopt her. At this point, 69 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: Violet was about sixteen years old. They had a difficult time, however. 70 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: Violet's mother had actually been pregnant when her father died, 71 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: and the baby died shortly after it was born. In 72 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: spite of the help of Violet's aunt and uncle, they 73 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: were her mother's sister and her husband, the family had 74 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: real trouble finding a place to live. There were six 75 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: children and a mother with no source of income beyond 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: a very small widows pension and Eventually, it was decided 77 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: to put the boys in a Catholic orphanage so that 78 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: they could be educated and raised within their religious faith. 79 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: Placing the boys in an orphanage actually allowed their mother 80 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: to go find work, and she got work as a 81 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: stewardess and the Royal Mail Line, where she worked for 82 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: five years. This gave her an income, although because the 83 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: Royal Mail Line was providing long distance passenger service across 84 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: the ocean, it meant that she had long absences and 85 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,479 Speaker 1: separations from the rest of the family. While her mother 86 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: was away, it was up to Violet to look after 87 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: her surviving little sister, Eileen, although this was interrupted it 88 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: by yet another hospitalization for gall stones. Eventually, the two 89 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: sisters boarded in a convent where they could stay together 90 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: and be educated. Violet continued to live on at the 91 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: convent after finding work as a governess. Violet's own health 92 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: and the various illnesses of her siblings, the death of 93 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: her baby sister Molly for meningitis. All these things combined 94 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: together to lead her to want to study nursing, and 95 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: while she was living in the convent, she set her 96 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: sights on taking an exam that would allow her to 97 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: further in her education and pursue a career. But then, 98 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: after her mother had spent five years working as a stewardess, 99 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: her health became too fragile to continue, and so Violet, 100 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: recognizing that her family needed a source of more income 101 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: than she could possibly provide by being a governess, applied 102 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: to be a stewardess herself like her mother, and she 103 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: did so at the Royal Mail Line. We're going to 104 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: talk about what happened once she became a stewardess on 105 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: board these ocean line nurse after a brief word from 106 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: one of the sponsors who keeps our show on the air. 107 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: When Violent Jessip first applied to be a stewardess, the 108 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: man who interviewed her was not optimistic about her chances. 109 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: He told her she was both too young and too pretty. 110 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 1: She promised him that she would be as dedicated, careful 111 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: and unassuming as possible if he would just give her 112 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: the job, and finally he told her the next opening 113 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: was in fact hers, although it might take some time 114 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: for a vacancy to open. Jessup and her mother got 115 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: to work assembling a wardrobe that would be as boring 116 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: and unattractive as possible cracks me up that she had 117 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: to take those steps. Her memoirs talk about her just 118 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: trying to find the most dowdy, gray, unappealing outfits possible. 119 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: Jessup's first post was a board that Orinoco, which traveled 120 00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: to the West Indies, better known today as the Career 121 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,840 Speaker 1: to Be in. This was really physically demanding work. Ocean 122 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: liners of this era were a lot more about utility 123 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: than about vacationing. So today somebody might get on a 124 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: similar ship to basically tool around the Caribbean on a 125 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: pleasure cruise, but most people on ocean liner needed to 126 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: get from one place to another, typically across an ocean. Uh. 127 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: It was not about taking time off and relaxing. It 128 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: was about enduring a long voyage to get to where 129 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: you needed to go, and not a lot of ports 130 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: of call with um exciting activities to partake him with 131 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: transatlantic travel. And then also we don't really talk about 132 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: it as as much in this episode, but the people 133 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: who were in actual cabins, who Violet would have been 134 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: working with as a stewardess, they were in the minority. 135 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: There were a lot of people in steerage and very 136 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: unpleasant accommodations. However, in spite of these differences between how 137 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: we look at cruising now versus how these liners were 138 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: functioning then, the role of stewardess was very like that 139 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: of a Aben steward today. Violet would have cleaned cabins, 140 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: run errands for passengers, delivered meals, generally, kept things neat 141 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: and tidy, and looked after sea sick passengers. Sometimes it's 142 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: involved being up all night with people who were ill. 143 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: Violet Jessup found that getting her sea legs was basically 144 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: a matter of sheer willpower, but even once she was 145 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: accustomed to the motion of the sea, the work itself 146 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: was exhausting. She also didn't get a lot of formal 147 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: training on the Royal Mail Line, aside from what she 148 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: picked up herself on the job. On her very first voyage, 149 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: she hurt her thumb, which got infected just as a 150 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: very severe storm put everybody crew included in their births 151 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: with with sea sickness, and unfortunately, the people who were 152 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: stricken ill at this point included the doctor, so she 153 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: wasn't able to be treated for this infected thumb for 154 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: a while. As she describes them in her memoirs, Violet's 155 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: first years as a stewardess were quite difficult. In addition 156 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: to being on her feet doing physical labor on a 157 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: moving ship all day long, she was also basically confined 158 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: confined there with both the passengers and the rest of 159 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: the crew. From time to time. This led to trouble. 160 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: On the milder end, there were clicks in fighting and 161 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: frustrations among the crew to deal with. She also had 162 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: to fend off the romantic and physical advances of both 163 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: passengers and superiors, and in one case, she had a 164 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: lengthy stay aboard a ship with a bow after he 165 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: revealed that he had no respect for her religious beliefs, 166 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: knowing that she was going to break up with him 167 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,679 Speaker 1: for it once they got to shore. She describes her 168 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: favorite times and all of these early journeys as being 169 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: when they were in port, especially because at this point, 170 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: you know today you can do laundry on a ship, 171 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: but this was not the case at the time, so 172 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: stays in port were lengthier before the ship departed again. 173 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: This meant that she got to explore, she got to 174 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: see new things and basically travel a little bit during 175 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: the time that they were not at sea, So all 176 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: these long stretches at sea were exhausting, and she was 177 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: very often sick, not just seasick, but she still continued 178 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: to have trouble with her health. She also delighted in 179 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: exploring the ports and the cities where they stopped. As 180 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: her career progressed. This included trips to New York City, 181 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: which she loved, and she also got to go back 182 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: to Buenos Aires and say hello to the hospital staff 183 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: who had been sure, so sure that she was going 184 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 1: to die of tuberculosis when she was a child. Eventually, 185 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: Jesseph was serving aboard a ship with a married captain 186 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,319 Speaker 1: who had previously made advances toward her, which she had rebuffed. 187 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: The second time around, he he found fault with everything 188 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: that she did and eventually had her dismissed for flirting 189 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 1: with the officers, something she had not done. But she 190 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: also had no way to disprove this assertion and no 191 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: way to pursue any sort of recourse. So out of work, 192 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: she went to find another stewardess job, and she found 193 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: one at the White Star Line. She did not really 194 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: want to work for the White Star Line. Its ships 195 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 1: sailed the North Atlantic, and she had heard plenty of 196 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: horror stories about that being a particularly rough crossing with 197 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: bad weather and threats to ships uh from the bad 198 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: weather and from icebergs, And she hadn't heard anything bad 199 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: at all about the company itself. She just knew that 200 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: the hours were long, and because of the White Star 201 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: lines reputation, exceptional service was both expected and demanded. So 202 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: it was this combination of exhausting work, extremely high standards 203 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: for the quality of the work, and the treacherous treacherousness 204 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: of the seas. However, because she had been dismissed from 205 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: her previous post, she wound up applying for companies that 206 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: were not at the top of her list, and she 207 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: wound up being hired by the White Star Line. She 208 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: served aboard the Majestic, the Adriatic, and the Oceanic on 209 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: roots that went to New York. Violet Jessup really proved 210 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: her worth to the White Star Line. She was hard working, 211 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: she was dependable, gracious, kind. She was beloved by her 212 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: past in jurors, many of who went on to mention 213 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: her and her warm, steadfast attention to them through illness 214 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: and rough season of their trials, specifically in letters to 215 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: family and friends. So she was chosen to serve on 216 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: the Olympic aboard its maiden voyage as part of a 217 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: hand pick best of class crew. This was a job 218 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: that started well before the departure, as the crew readied 219 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: the ship to sail. The Olympic was launched on October 220 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: after nearly two years of construction, and at the time 221 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: it was considered to be the best and most luxurious 222 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: ship in the Atlantic. It's maiden voyage took place the 223 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: following June after its construction was completed. In September of 224 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: that year, as the Olympic was outbound from Southampton, it 225 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: collided with the HMS Hawk near the Isle of Wight. 226 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: Violet was aboard. We could logically conclude that she was uninjured, 227 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: as she does not mention this in her memoirs at all. Yes, 228 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: does not seem to have been a big deal enough 229 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: to even talk about as she was writing her memoir. However, 230 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: The damage to the Olympic was extensive and took about 231 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,199 Speaker 1: two months to repair, but once it was seaworthy again, 232 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: Jessip was back on board again part of the stewardess crew. 233 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: After a year on the Olympic, Jessip was once again 234 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: hand selected for a maiden voyage crew. In nineteen twelve, 235 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: it was aboard the White Star Line's next best in 236 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 1: class ship, the Titanic. Jessip was in her bunk, sleepily 237 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,559 Speaker 1: trying to concentrate on her devotions on April fourteenth, LVE 238 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 1: when the Titanic famously struck an iceberg. After the crash, 239 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: there was a temporary silence, and then her roommate stoically said, 240 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: sounds as if something has happened. They both dressed and 241 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: Jessip expressed her disbelief when a steward named Stanley told 242 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: them the ship was sinking. From there, they began escorting 243 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: passengers to the boats. Her recounting of this part of 244 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: it sounds almost impossibly calm. Jessip and her roommate took 245 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: their passengers to the lifeboats, and then, with nothing else 246 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,600 Speaker 1: to do, they went back to their cabin, and it 247 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: was there that Stanley found them again, told them that 248 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: the boat really was sinking, this was no longer a 249 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: matter of just precautions, and insisted that they go up 250 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: to the decks as well. He even rummaged through Jessup's 251 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: closet to try to find some warmer clothing for her 252 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: to wear as Jessip made her way to the deck. 253 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: The full seriousness of this situation had really not reached 254 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: people yet. Everything was being described as precautionary and boats 255 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: were being lowered without many people aboard. But while on deck, 256 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: the ship started to noticeably shift, and before long someone 257 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: handed Jessip a baby, and she and her roommate Ann 258 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: were put into lifeboat sixteen. From her position in the lifeboat, 259 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: Jessip saw the Titanic go down, and she and the 260 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: rest of the people in her boat were rescued by 261 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: the Carpathia. The following day, a woman who was presumably 262 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 1: the baby's mother snatched the baby literally out of her arms. 263 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: After finding her, Jessip eventually learned returned to England aboard 264 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: the Lapland, and she had a very strange experience much 265 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: later in her life where someone called her on the 266 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: phone claims to be the baby, laughed and hung up, 267 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: And it's very unclear whether that was really the baby 268 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: of the Titanic or not yet that that'll weird you 269 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: right out? Can you imagine getting a call like that? 270 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: But Jessup's time as a stewardess, despite this tremendous event, 271 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: was not over and we're going to talk about her 272 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: next position after we have a brief word from another 273 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: one of our fabulous sponsors that keeps us going. Violet 274 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: Jessip's voyage aboard the Titanic had obviously been terrifying, and 275 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: consequently she felt as though she needed to get back 276 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: to work on a ship immediately or she would never 277 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: be able to do it at all. However, obviously, jobs 278 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: at the White Star Line were very hard to come 279 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: by because it's flagship vessel had just sank, and after 280 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 1: she got a letter from Ned that's the old Bow 281 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: that we alluded to earlier, jessup took a job aboard 282 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: another line is a way to secure passage to Australia, 283 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: where Ned was living. Her roommates graciously agreed to cover 284 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: for her while the ship was imports that she could 285 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: go spend time with Ned, and she had hoped that 286 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: the two of them could clear the air, but nothing 287 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: actually came of this. She returned to her post and 288 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: she went back home as planned. The editor who edited 289 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: her memoirs kind of sort of meditates for a while 290 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: on how her life might have been different if she 291 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: had wound up marrying Ned rather than briefly marrying some 292 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: other person later on, who's apparently was not a very 293 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: good marriage, and she hardly refers to in her memoir 294 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: at all. In nineteen fourteen, after Great Britain declared war 295 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: on Germany, Jessup decided to join the British Red Cross. 296 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: She became part of the Voluntary Aid detachment, where she 297 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: started as a junior nurse, finally taking on the nursing 298 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: profession she had so wanted to pursue when she was 299 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: a child. She trained at a hospital before once again 300 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: being assigned to a ship, and this time it was 301 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: another White Star vessel, the Britannic. The Britannics construction had 302 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: started about six months before the sinking of the Titanic. 303 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 1: It had been conceived as even bigger and more luxurious 304 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: than that ill fated vessel. Uh Since the Titanic sank 305 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,879 Speaker 1: so early in the construction of the Britannic, a number 306 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: of safety improvements were included as this new ship was 307 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: being built, including additional lifeboats and watertight compartments. The Britannic 308 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: was actually scheduled to begin passenger service in nineteen fifteen, 309 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:41,680 Speaker 1: but instead it was requisitioned for military use and the Olympic, 310 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,880 Speaker 1: which we talked about Jessa previously serving on, was requisitioned 311 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: as well. The Britannic became a hospital ship, and it 312 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: served from December twenty, nineteen fifteen, through June of nineteen sixteen, 313 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: when it was briefly released from the war service, before 314 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: being requisitioned again that August. On November two, the first 315 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: nine six the Britannic sank after presumably striking a mine 316 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: in the water, not far from Greece. At the time, 317 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: people thought that it could have actually been struck by 318 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: a torpedo, and once again Violet Jessup was calm. She 319 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: went to her cabin and she gathered up her prayer book, 320 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: her toothbrush, a ring that had belonged to Ned, and 321 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: her clock. She made a pouch out of the front 322 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: of her apron by folding it up to keep all 323 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: of these little items secure. And then she clipped her 324 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: life belt on over her coat, and she got onto 325 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: a lifeboat. So Jessup's recounting of the Titanic is quietly tragic. 326 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: She counts the lights on the deck is the ship sinks, 327 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: realizing that it's all lost. But her account of the 328 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: Britannic sinking is horrifying, and in a way this is 329 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:50,679 Speaker 1: a little incongruous because more than people died on the Titanic, 330 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: but only about twenty eight died in the seeking of 331 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 1: the Britannic. The difference is that those last moments, as 332 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:04,360 Speaker 1: as Violet witnessed them, were terrifying and brutal. The Britannics 333 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: propellers were still turning in the water, and this just 334 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: created chaos. It was churning up the water, it was 335 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,360 Speaker 1: sucking men and debris toward the propellers, and even though 336 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,959 Speaker 1: she was in a lifeboat, Jessup realized that if she 337 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: did not get out and swim, her lifeboat was going 338 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: to hit the propellers as well. She had always instructed 339 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: passengers not to put their life belts on over their 340 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: coats in case they needed to take their coats off, 341 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: and we just mentioned that she did the opposite of 342 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: what she told them, and that was nearly fatal. In 343 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: spite of her life belt, the weight of her coat 344 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: pulled her underwater. She fought her way up, and she 345 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,119 Speaker 1: struck something with her head from below, until finally she 346 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: caught someone else's arm and she was pulled above the water. 347 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: One of the ship's motor boats picked her up, and 348 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: she and others wound up on a tiny island with 349 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: the Britannics doctors patching one another up, and though she 350 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: was injured, she was safe thanks to the rescue efforts 351 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: of other nearby boats. Only twenty eight people, as Tracy said, 352 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: we're killed out of the more than one thousand people 353 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: that were on board. So previously, she had immediately gotten 354 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: to work as a stewardess again after the thinking of 355 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 1: the Titanic, but this time she knew that it was 356 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: going to be hard to find a stewardess job until 357 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: the war was over, so this time she stayed ashore 358 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: for about three years. She found a job on land 359 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: as a clerk, but she had some trouble concentrating. She 360 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: didn't really think much of it until a lot later 361 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,159 Speaker 1: when she got an X ray for a tooth that 362 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: was bothering her, and she learned that her skull had 363 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,640 Speaker 1: been fractured as she was trying to get away from 364 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 1: the Britannic. So we don't know exactly at what point 365 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: in her life uh she discovered this skull fracture, but 366 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 1: we do know that she didn't stay on land forever. 367 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: As for the Olympic, which we've talked about a couple 368 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: of times. Uh, it was upgraded again after the war 369 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: and it resumed service, and once the war was over, 370 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: Violet Jessip once again served aboard it. The Olympic continued 371 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: its transatlantic service until nineteen thirty five. That was a 372 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: little less than a year after it struck and sank 373 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: a light ship off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Jessup 374 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 1: actually was not aboard for that one. That would have 375 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: been a few It's it's not totally surprising that she 376 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: was aboard both the Olympic and the Titanic because the 377 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: Titanics crew was hand picked from other vessels. But having 378 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: been aboard the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Britannic when 379 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: all three of those, like best of line vessels, had incidents, 380 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: that's a oddly coincidental that she was on there for 381 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: all of them. So Violet Jessip spent the part of 382 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: her later stewardist career working with the Red Star Line 383 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 1: on world cruises, and she worked aboard five different annual 384 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: world cruises that spanned between nineteen six and nineteen thirty one. 385 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: She went back to the Royal Mail Line again in 386 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty five and served on the Alkan Hera until 387 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: the start of World War Two. During the Second World War, 388 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: she worked ashore as a nurse again, rather than being 389 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: on another seafaring nursing ship. At the end of World 390 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: War Two, Violet mostly worked at clerical and factory jobs, 391 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 1: realizing that her work as a stewardess was not going 392 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: to allow her to retire, and apart from a couple 393 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 1: of brief stints at sea, she was landbound until her 394 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: death on May five of nineteen seventy one. She finished 395 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: the memoir that we've referenced a few times in nineteen 396 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: thirty four, which is one of the reasons why it 397 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,400 Speaker 1: doesn't include a lot of her later life, but it 398 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: wasn't published until two of her nieces submitted a manuscript 399 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: uh in the spring of nineteen six, and then, kind 400 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: of ironically, the man who wound up editing it was 401 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: someone who had previously interviewed her as he was doing 402 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,880 Speaker 1: some work on survivors of the Titanic. So it all 403 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: comes together in this sort of small world situation. It's 404 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: very cool, slightly scary if you're afraid of ships and sinking. 405 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: I've been on ships a lot and they don't really 406 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: frighten me. But when I got to the part about 407 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: the Titanic sinking, I was like, what, Okay, every time 408 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: I've been on a ship there's been a mustard drill. 409 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,439 Speaker 1: There's enough, There are enough lifeboats for every person on board. 410 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: The crew has been exceptionally prompt about escorting everyone to 411 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: the deck during this mustard drill. But I had this 412 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 1: thought where I was like, what if the ship sank 413 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: in the middle of the ocean and there were no 414 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: other ships around and we were stuck in the middle 415 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: of the ocean. And then I said, Okay, you need 416 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: to stop thinking about that right now, think about something else. 417 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: So that is Violet jessef Fay so much for joining 418 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of 419 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,440 Speaker 1: the archive, if you heard an email address or a 420 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something so miller over the 421 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: course of the show, that could be obsolete. Now. 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