1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,320 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, it's Eaves. Just wanted to let you know 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: that you'll be hearing an episode from me and an 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: episode from Tracy V. Wilson today. I hope you enjoyed 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: the show. Welcome to this day in History class from 5 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com and from the desk of 6 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in History Class. It's the show where 7 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,119 Speaker 1: we explore the past one day at a time with 8 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,159 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: it's December one. Rosa Parks refused to give up her 11 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, 12 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: Alabama on the stay in nineteen fifty. There are a 13 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: lot of misconceptions about this. What is that Rosa Park 14 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: was just really tired from a long day of work 15 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: and she just wanted to get home and this was 16 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: sort of something that caught her up in the civil 17 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: rights movement. But Rosa Parks had been an activist for 18 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: many years before that day on the bus. She had 19 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: joined the Double A CPE. She went to Leadership Conference 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: as an annual meeting, she chaired committees, she gave addresses, 21 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: At these meetings and conferences, she documented crimes and discrimination 22 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: against Black Americans, and she investigated the sexual assaults and 23 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: rapes of black women. Another big misconception is that she 24 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: was the first person to refuse to give up her 25 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, 26 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: and that's not true either. A lot of people had 27 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: done the same in the years leading up to this, 28 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: including a young woman named Claudette Colvin. This wasn't even 29 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: the first time that Rosa Parks had refused to give 30 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: up her seat. She had been removed by the same 31 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: driver who was at the wheel that day in nine 32 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: He had removed her from a bus previously. She had 33 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: said she was never going to ride one of his 34 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 1: buses again, and that she would not have gotten on 35 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: the bus that day if she had realized that he 36 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: was the one at the wheel when this happened. Though, 37 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: the nub A c P had been on the lookout 38 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: for a test case that they could take to the 39 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: courts to try to overturn segregation laws. To do that, 40 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: they needed a good plaintiff, somebody who would seem respectable 41 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: and sympathetic to a white judge and the white media, 42 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: and that's how Rosa Parks became sort of the face 43 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: of this in a lot of ways. She's the person 44 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: most famously associated with the bus boycott. She was certainly fierce, 45 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: but she also had a soft spoken demeanor. She was married, 46 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: she had a job, she went to church, she had 47 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: no criminal record. This was all part of a legal 48 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: strategy to try to do everything possible to take a 49 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: winnable case to the courts. The Montgomery bus boycott began 50 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: as Park's case went to trial. About nine of black 51 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: riders boycotted the bus, and the boycott's leaders went to 52 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: the city with very clear demands. They wanted courteous treatment 53 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: on all the buses. They wanted first come, first served 54 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: seating with whites in the front and blacks in the back, 55 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: so no more giving up your seat to white passengers. 56 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: They also wanted black drivers to be hired for the 57 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: primarily black bus routes. This boycott went on for more 58 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: than a year, during which time Parks and other leaders 59 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: of it did extensive organizing and campaigning, and this was 60 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: all at great risk to their own lives. The houses 61 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: of multiple people who were involved in the boycott were bombed, 62 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: including the House of Martin Luther King Jr. Ultimately, the 63 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, 64 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: which ultimately issued a written order that the buses be integrated. 65 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: This was one of the major moments in the civil 66 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: rights movement in the United States. Rosa Parks that her husband, 67 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: though faced extensive harassment and discrimination and threats all during 68 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: and after the boycott. They later moved away to Detroit 69 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: with the hope of starting over without all of this harassment. 70 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: But even in Detroit they had trouble getting work because 71 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: of their association with the boycott and the civil rights movement. 72 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: It took Rosa Parks about five years to find steady 73 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: paying work Afterwards, she eventually got a job in the 74 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: office of Representative John Conyers Jr. And she continued working 75 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: there until she retired. She died on October five. You 76 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: can learn more about her and about the bus boycott 77 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: in the February three episodes of Stuffy in History Class. 78 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: Thanks to Casey P. Grimm and Chandler Mays for their 79 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: audio work on this show. You can subscribe to the 80 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: Stay in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google podcast, I 81 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, and wherever you get your podcasts. Tune 82 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: in tomorrow for an influential doctrine. Hello everyone, I'm Eves. 83 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to this day in History class, where we take 84 00:04:49,920 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: a tiny bite of history every day. The day was 85 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,559 Speaker 1: December first, nineteen fifty two. The New York Daily News 86 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: announced Christine Jorgensen's gender confirmation surgery, garnering Jorgensen international fame 87 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: and making her the first person in the US to 88 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: become a widely known for having the surgery. Jorgensen was 89 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: born in nineteen six to working class Danish American parents. 90 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: After being rejected twice for her small stature, she was 91 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: finally drafted into the army in August of nineteen forty five. 92 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: She served as a clerk in New Jersey for a 93 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: little over a year. She was honorably discharged from the army, 94 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: after which point she studied at photography school in New Haven, Connecticut, 95 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: and enrolled at the Manhattan Medical and Digital Assistant School. 96 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 1: From a young age, Jorgensen thought that she was different 97 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: from boys, and as she got older, she realized that 98 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: she was attracted to men but did not feel like 99 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: she was gay. While she was in California, where she 100 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: had moved to pursue work, in photography and film. She 101 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: told a couple of her friends that she felt like 102 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: she quote had the emotions of a girl. Jourgensen moved 103 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: back to the East Coast, and she continued to question 104 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: her identity. She learned about indo chronologists who were working 105 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 1: with hormones and animals, and read the book The Male Hormone, 106 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: and she wondered if hormone treatments were the answer to 107 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: her feelings. When an end of chronologist rejected her wishes 108 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: for hormonal treatment and referred her to a psychiatrist, she 109 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: turned elsewhere. In nineteen fifty, at the advice of a friend, 110 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: Jorgensen traveled to Denmark, where she met with Dr Christian Hamburger, 111 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 1: a specialist in hormonal therapy. Jorgensen underwent experimental estrogen therapy 112 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: and six operations. She chose the name Christine in honor 113 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: of her doctor. She wrote to her family telling them 114 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: that though her physical appearance had changed, she had not 115 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: changed as a person. It's not clear how Christine's story 116 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: got to the press. She might have leaked it herself 117 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: and may have been a lab technician, or a family 118 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 1: friend might have leaked the story either way. On December one, 119 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, The New York Daily News reported the 120 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: story of Jorgensen's gender confirmation surgery with the headline x 121 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: GI becomes blonde Beauty. The article said the following, in part. 122 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: Dr Eugenie Anderson, US Ambassador to Denmark, was fully aware 123 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: of what was going on, and at the successful conclusion 124 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: of the operations, arranged that Christine's records be changed by 125 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: the Army and the Veterans Administration, and also by the 126 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: Bureau of Immigration so that the man who went abroad 127 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: three years ago could be readmitted as a woman. Jorgensen's 128 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: story brought new conversations about gender identity into the public sphere. 129 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: She got a lot more pressed and attention, some positive 130 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: and some negative. Some said she wasn't a real woman 131 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: and denounced her gender confirmation surgery. Regardless, she gained celebrity status. 132 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: She had an autobiographical sketch published in American Weekly. She 133 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: toured as an entertainer, performing in nightclubs and theaters, facing 134 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: the crimination along the way. She also gave lectures at 135 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: colleges and wrote an autobiography that was published in nineteen 136 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: sixty seven. She died of bladder cancer in ninety nine. 137 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Scheffcote and hopefully you know a little more 138 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you've seen 139 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: any good history means lately, you can send them to 140 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: us on social media at T D I h C Podcast, 141 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: or you can go the old fashioned route and send 142 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: us an email at This Day at I heart media 143 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks again for listening. We'll see same place tomorrow.