1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm tra 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: CV Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,959 Speaker 2: We got lots of requests for an episode on Emily 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 2: Warren Robling thanks to the TV show The Gilded Age. 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 2: I have not watched this television show at all. One 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 2: pu there's too much TV to watch, and I just haven't. 8 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 2: I did sit down after getting these requests and I 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 2: was like, I'm gonna watch the first episode and I 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 2: don't remember what the runtime on the first episode was, 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 2: but it was more minutes than I had and I 12 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,319 Speaker 2: was like, maybe later, and I just I haven't watched it. 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 2: According to IMDb, though Emily Warren Robling is played by 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: Liz Wisen in episodes five and seven of the second season, 15 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 2: that second season has ended now, so hopefully for folks 16 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 2: are still interested in this episode, Emily Warren Robling played 17 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 2: a crucial role in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. 18 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 2: This was not near as much of a secret as 19 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 2: most recent descriptions of all this make it sound like 20 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 2: there's this tone of like and no one knew she 21 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 2: was involved at all until just now not the case. 22 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 2: It was, however, highly unusual for a woman to have 23 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 2: this kind of role in a major engineering project at 24 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 2: the time. This was a role she stepped into after 25 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 2: her husband became disabled. So this is a story of 26 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 2: an engineering marvel and also a story about what mainstream 27 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 2: US society expected of women and of disabled people in 28 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 2: the nineteenth century. 29 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: Emily Warren was born on September twenty third, eighteen forty three, 30 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: in Cold Spring, New York. She was the eleventh of 31 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: twelve children born to Sylvanas and Phoebe Lickley Warren. Although 32 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: only of those siblings survived childhood, their family was comfortable 33 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: but not really wealthy, and they were prominent in their community. 34 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: Emily's father held a number of elected roles in the 35 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: state and local government, and he was also friends with 36 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: previous podcast subject Washington Irving. 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 2: I saw one description of the family that was like 38 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 2: they weren't rich by Hudson River Valley standards. 39 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 3: I was like, would they have been rich somewhere else? 40 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 2: In eighteen fifty eight, Emily started studying at Georgetown Academy 41 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 2: of the Visitation. This was a Catholic school for girls 42 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 2: established in Washington, d c. In seventeen ninety nine. The 43 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 2: course of study included subjects like algebra, geometry, the sciences, languages, 44 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 2: and music, and students sat for public exams every year. 45 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 2: While Emily was enrolled there. The school subsidized its costs 46 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 2: of operations by selling enslaved people and by hiring out 47 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 2: their labor. The people who were enslaved at the school 48 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,399 Speaker 2: or were collectively owned by the religious order that ran 49 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 2: the school, were emancipated under the District of Columbia Emancipation 50 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 2: Act on April sixteenth, eighteen sixty two. 51 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: Emily's father died in eighteen fifty nine, at which point 52 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: her oldest brother, gouvernor Kemball Warren, known as GK, took 53 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: over as head of the family. GK had graduated from 54 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: the US Military Academy also known as West Point, and 55 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: eventually rose to the rank of general in the U. 56 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 3: S Army. 57 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: Emily and GK were close, and in eighteen sixty four, 58 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: during the Civil War, she went to visit him and 59 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: attended a ball that was being held to try to 60 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: raise the morale of the troops, and it was there 61 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: that she met Washington Roebling, who was on her brother's staff. 62 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 2: Roebling was the son of John Augustus Roebling, who had 63 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 2: been born in Germany and immigrated to the United States. 64 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 2: John Robling was an engineer who was regarded as one 65 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 2: of North America's foremost experts on suspension bridges. He had 66 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 2: also developed and patented an improvement on the making of 67 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 2: wire rope, the kind of rope that was used in 68 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 2: making those bridges. Washington had trained with his father before 69 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 2: pursuing a formal study at Rensler Institute later Rensler Polytechnic 70 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 2: Institute and Troy, New York. He had graduated in eighteen 71 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 2: fifty seven, joined the US Army in eighteen sixty one, 72 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 2: and eventually attained the rank of colonel in the Army. 73 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 2: During the Civil War, he worked as an engineer and 74 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 2: also served in combat. 75 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: Emily in Washington fell in love immediately, and they wrote 76 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: one another an enormous volume of letters, many of which 77 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: still survive and are in the collection of the Center 78 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: for Brooklyn History. They got married in cold Spring on 79 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: January eighteenth, eighteen sixty five, in a double ceremony, with 80 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: Emily's brother Edgar marrying Cornelia Barrows at the same time. 81 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 3: After the Civil. 82 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 2: War, ended Emily, and Washington moved to Cincinnati so Washington 83 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 2: could work with his father on the Cincinnati Covington Suspension Bridge, 84 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 2: which is now known as the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. 85 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 2: Construct uction on this bridge and started in eighteen fifty six, 86 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 2: not long after the completion of the Niagara River Gorge Bridge, 87 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,559 Speaker 2: which Roebling also designed, but construction had been interrupted because 88 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 2: of the war. After the Cincinnati Covington Bridge opened, John 89 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 2: Roebling focused on an even more ambitious project, one that 90 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 2: he had been pondering since the early eighteen fifties. It 91 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 2: was a bridge over the East River connecting Brooklyn to 92 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 2: the city of New York, specifically the southern part of Manhattan. 93 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 2: Today Brooklyn and Manhattan are, of course two boroughs of 94 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 2: New York, but at the time Brooklyn and New York 95 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 2: were two separate cities. To John Roebling and to a 96 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 2: lot of others, this bridge was an immense but desperately 97 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 2: needed project. The only way to get between the two 98 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 2: cities was by water, so there was an incredible amount 99 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 2: of ferry and barge traffic back and forth across the 100 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 2: East River. It was continually busy at the best of times, 101 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 2: but the East River is really a tidal estuary, and 102 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 2: strong tie could wreak havoc on the ferry crossings, and 103 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 2: so could storms and fog and other weather. If the 104 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,119 Speaker 2: East River froze over in the winter, it could shut 105 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 2: down traffic between the two cities entirely. But such a 106 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 2: bridge would need to be very long to make it 107 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 2: all the way across the river, as well as tall 108 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 2: enough to allow ships to pass underneath, and able to 109 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 2: support the weight of pedestrians, carriages and streetcars, and other 110 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 2: mass transit and traffic along and across the East River. 111 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: Could not stop while the bridge was being built. In 112 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: other words, this seemed like a nearly impossible building and 113 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: construction feet. 114 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 2: In preparation for this project, John sent Washington to Europe 115 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 2: to study bridge building methods, especially the use of pneumatic cassons. 116 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 2: These were pressurized compartments for working underwater, and will be 117 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 2: getting into them in more detail in a minute. Emily 118 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 2: went with them. She was pregnant when they left for 119 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 2: Europe in eighteen sixty seven. Given the state of transportation 120 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 2: in the middle of the nineteenth century, this would have 121 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,239 Speaker 2: been a difficult trip for anybody, and being pregnant probably 122 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 2: made it even more exhausting and uncomfortable for her. In 123 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 2: addition to that, Emily sustained a serious fall not long 124 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 2: before she gave birth. Their son, John Augustus Robling the second, 125 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,559 Speaker 2: was born in Germany on November twenty first, eighteen sixty seven, 126 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 2: and while Emily did largely recover from her injuries, their 127 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 2: effects were serious enough that she couldn't have any other children. 128 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: The Roblings returned to the United States in March of 129 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty eight, and Washington joined his father in his 130 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: work on the Brooklyn Bridge. And to be clear, there 131 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: is an entirely different story we could be telling about 132 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: this bridge, one that involves controversies and political infighting, corruption, 133 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: and New York's Tammany Hall political machine headed by Boss Tweed, 134 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: who was one of the trustees of the New York 135 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: Bridge Company. The bridge also faced fierce opposition from the 136 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: faery industry, along with concerns about whether it could be 137 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: built safely and whether the finished bridge would be safe. 138 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: And of course, there were people who owned homes and 139 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: other property that would be affected by this bridge, everything 140 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: from altering the view of the river to raising their 141 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: buildings to make way for the bridge. 142 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 2: But while we're going to be talking about some of 143 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 2: what went into the bridge's construction, what we are really 144 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 2: focused on today is Emily and Washington's story. Like you 145 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 2: could have a whole podcast series just about the bridge. 146 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 2: There are entire books just about the bridge. We are 147 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 2: not covering everything about the bridge. We're really focused on 148 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:36,599 Speaker 2: these two people. We will get back to this, including 149 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 2: how Washington's role in the bridge suddenly became a lot 150 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 2: bigger before construction had even begun after a sponsor break. 151 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 2: John Roebling's final designs for the Brooklyn Bridge, also known 152 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 2: as the East River Bridge, were approved on June twenty first, 153 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 2: eighteen sixty nine. Of course, this followed all kinds of 154 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 2: planning and back and forth that were not really getting 155 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 2: into This bridge would have two immense towers, one on 156 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 2: the Manhattan side of the East River and one on 157 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 2: the Brooklyn side. These towers would support four steel cables, 158 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 2: with huge anchorages securing the cables at each end of 159 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 2: the bridge. At the time, these towers were expected to 160 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 2: be taller than any structure in New York except for 161 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 2: the spire of Trinity Church, and they would be built 162 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 2: on the bedrock on the river bottom. This was estimated 163 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 2: to be twelve meters down on the Brooklyn side and 164 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,960 Speaker 2: twenty two meters down on the Manhattan side. But on 165 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 2: July twenty second, eighteen sixty nine, John Robling died a 166 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 2: little less than a month before and just a week 167 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 2: after getting approval on the design, John and Washington had 168 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 2: been doing a final survey for the Brooklyn Tower. John 169 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 2: had gone out to the end of a ferry dock 170 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 2: to get the best view of the site and win 171 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 2: a fair He tried to dock there his foot had 172 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 2: been crushed. 173 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 3: Uh. 174 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 2: I'm a little unclear on the exact details because there 175 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 2: are different accounts of this, including from the time that 176 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 2: used different terminology to explain what happened, and the terms 177 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 2: that they used don't mean the same thing. But basically, 178 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:20,839 Speaker 2: he had been standing on part of the structure that 179 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 2: the fairies routinely struck while they were docking. That was 180 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 2: why that part of the structure was there to like 181 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 2: deflect and spread out impact from the approaching fairies. And 182 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 2: when this fairy was approaching, he stepped back onto an 183 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 2: adjacent beam. He thought that would be a safe place 184 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 2: to stand, but it wasn't, and when the ferry struck 185 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 2: the dock, his foot was trapped underneath an overlapping part 186 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 2: of it. Some recent descriptions of this call it a 187 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 2: freak accident, or they describe the faery as out of control, 188 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 2: But reporting on the accident in the Brooklyn Eagle on 189 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 2: June thirtieth, two days after it happened, make it sound 190 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 2: like the ferry was docking normally. David McCullough's The Great Bridge, 191 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 2: the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, 192 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 2: makes it sound like standing on the beam was a 193 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 2: rookie mistake one John understood that he had made. John 194 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 2: was taken to a doctor, where he took charge of 195 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 2: his own care. Four of his toes had to be amputated, 196 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 2: which he insisted be done without anesthesia. He dressed his 197 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 2: own wounds afterward, and all during all of this just 198 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 2: continued to focus on what needed to happen with the bridge. 199 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 2: Before long, he developed signs of tetanus, which is often 200 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 2: fatal if untreated, and there were no effective treatments for it. 201 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 2: Yet some descriptions seemed to imply that John caused his 202 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 2: own death through the treatments he insisted on but really, 203 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 2: the toxin producing bacteria that caused tetanus could have been 204 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 2: introduced into his wounds at any point during all of this, 205 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 2: including during the initial injury if it broke the skin. 206 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 2: Antiseptic surgical techniques were still in their infancy in Western medicine. 207 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 2: Josephs had started publishing on the topic in March of 208 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 2: eighteen sixty seven, but that was pretty recent and those 209 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 2: ideas were not widely accepted in the US until about 210 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 2: a decade later. Washington Roebling, who was thirty two, was 211 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 2: soon hired to take his late father's place as chief 212 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 2: engineer on the Brooklyn Bridge project. Although he was following 213 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 2: designs that his father had made, doing so meant that 214 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 2: he was continually making decisions about how to implement those 215 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 2: designs in the physical world, and initially he also did 216 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 2: a lot of work on site, especially when it came 217 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 2: to things that were critical to the bridge's successful completion. 218 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: This included working underwater in the pneumatic case songs. Briefly, 219 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 1: and very approximately, imagine this as a wooden building without 220 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: a floor. The ones for the Brooklyn Bridge measured roughly 221 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: one hundred seventy by one hundred two feet that's roughly 222 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: fifty one by thirty one meters, with a ceiling formed 223 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: by layers and layers timber. This would be lowered down 224 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: to the river bed and pressurized to keep the water out. 225 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: Workers would enter the cason through a shaft and dig 226 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: away clay, rock, boulders, and other material from the riverbed, 227 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: which was removed through a waste shaft. As the workers 228 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: removed the material, the casson would sink down into that 229 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: space until it hit the bedrock, and at that point 230 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: it would be filled with concrete and become part of 231 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: the bridge's foundation. This was hot, dirty work, and it 232 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: was also dangerous. Among other things, people didn't fully understand 233 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: the effects of atmospheric pressure on the body or what 234 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: it took to keep nitrogen bubbles from forming in people's 235 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: blood when they left a pressurized environment. Illnesses had been 236 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 1: reported among workers and pressurized casuons as early as eighteen 237 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: forty one. Eventually, the severe pain, dizziness, fatigue, difficulty thinking, 238 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: and other symptoms that we know today as decompression sickness 239 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: were being described as cason disease. At least one hundred 240 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: workers on the Brooklyn Bridge developed decompression sickness. It's possible 241 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: there were more, since record keeping with spotty. Some accounts 242 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: site workers on the Brooklyn Bridge as coining the term 243 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: the bends because of the way decompression sickness can cause 244 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: people to suddenly double over in pain. But the Brooklyn 245 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: Bridge's casons were filled with concrete in eighteen seventy one 246 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: and eighteen seventy two, and Merriam Webster cites the first 247 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: use of the term the bendz in writing as happening 248 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: a decade later. The Oxford English Dictionary gives an even 249 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: later year of eighteen ninety four. 250 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 3: Washington. 251 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 2: Roebling first developed decompression sickness after trying to fight a 252 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 2: fire in the Brooklyn Cason in eighteen seventy This fire 253 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 2: had spread within the timbers of the ceiling of the cason. 254 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 2: Before anybody noticed what was going on, it had burned 255 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 2: through these pockets of pressurized oxygen that were hidden in 256 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 2: those layers and layers of timber. Robling spent hours in 257 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 2: the cason searching for pockets of undetected fire. Eventually this 258 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 2: fire was extinguished, but it led to months of delay 259 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 2: as the timbers involved were repaired and replaced Washington developed 260 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 2: a second and more severe case of decompression sickness in 261 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy two, toward the end of the sinking of 262 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 2: the Cason work on the New York side. The water 263 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 2: is deeper on that side of the East River, requiring 264 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 2: greater pressure within the cason, and this cason was deeper 265 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 2: than any other underwater project up to this point. Ultimately, 266 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 2: this cason wasn't lowered all the way to the bedrock, 267 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 2: in part because of the increasing risk of cason sickness 268 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 2: among the workers. Yeah, Washington, Robling basically assessed the whole 269 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 2: situation and was like, this is. 270 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 3: Gonna be fine. It's going to have to be fined. 271 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 2: Uh. This time, Washington was in so much pain that 272 00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 2: he had to be carried home, and the doctors that 273 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 2: examined him thought he would probably die within days. He 274 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 2: experienced mood swings, severe pain, numbness and weakness in his legs, 275 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 2: sensitivity to light and other, difficulty with his eyesight, and 276 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 2: he had trouble concentrating. It's possible that he had a 277 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 2: series of small strokes as a result of this decompression sickness. 278 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 2: After this, he was not able to return to the 279 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 2: bridge site. 280 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: Emily started handling all his correspondents, reading his letters to 281 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: him and taking dictation. She also advocated for him, including 282 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: meeting with Henry C. Murphy, president of the New York 283 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: Bridge Company, to convince him that her husband should remain 284 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: in the position of chief engineer. They arranged for him 285 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: to take a leave of absence, during which he and 286 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: Emily would go to Weisbaden, Germany to stay at a 287 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: health spa. They wound up staying there for six months, 288 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: returning home in eighteen seventy four. 289 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 2: Washington really didn't recover during his time in Germany, and 290 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 2: at first they tried to keep some distance from the 291 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 2: stress of the job site, so they lived in Trenton, 292 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 2: New Jersey, near the Robling family's industrial complex for making 293 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 2: wire rope. Washington managed the bridge project from there through letters, 294 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 2: with Emily handling all that correspondence for him. In eighteen 295 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 2: seventy seven, they moved back to Brooklyn to an apartment 296 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 2: on Columbia Heights that had a view of the bridge construction. 297 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 2: Washington watched the bridge's progress through binoculars and a telescope. 298 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 2: Emily acted as his liaison to the construction site, meeting 299 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 2: with him and carrying his instructions to the site every morning, 300 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 2: and then returning in the evening to update him on 301 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,439 Speaker 2: the progress and talk through the next steps. Over time, 302 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 2: she developed a thorough knowledge of the bridge and its construction. 303 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 2: When the team of assistant engineers who were working on 304 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 2: the bridge needed clarification on something, Emily was the one 305 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 2: who provided it. When officials wanted an explanation for why 306 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,959 Speaker 2: something was taking so long or why it was costing 307 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 2: as much as it was, that once again came from Emily. 308 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 2: When bids were solicited for new components or materials and 309 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,159 Speaker 2: the bidders had questions about what they needed to submit, 310 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 2: the person they asked was Emily. She understood all the 311 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 2: math and all the engineering and all the logistics involved. 312 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 2: It's possible that Emily wrote a series of public addresses 313 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 2: that were delivered by Master mechanic Frank Farrington about the 314 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 2: bridge and its construction. She definitely became the first woman 315 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 2: ever to address the American Society of Civil Engineers, which 316 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 2: was years before there were any women among its actual members. 317 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: In December of eighteen eighty one, Emily was one of 318 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: the people selected to walk across the partially completed bridge 319 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: leading a team of officials. So partially complete in this 320 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: instance means that this was mostly an open bridge structure 321 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: with planks laid down to walk on. Sounds like my attic. 322 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: Some officials in the group decided to take a ferry 323 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: back because they did not want to repeat that walk 324 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: on planks high over the East River, but Emily was 325 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: apparently just unflappable. According to some accounts, once they had 326 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,479 Speaker 1: crossed the bridge, someone opened a bottle of champagne they 327 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: had brought and toasted her. 328 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 2: Words slowly spread beyond the job site that Emily Roebling 329 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 2: was so deeply involved with the work on the bridge. 330 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 2: On January sixteenth, eighteen eighty two, an alumni dinner was 331 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,119 Speaker 2: held at Rensler Polytechnic Institute, which of course was Washington's 332 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 2: alma mater. Mining engineer Rossiter W. Raymond gave an address 333 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 2: at this dinner that was a toast to sweethearts and wives, 334 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 2: and which he said, quote, I cannot forbear, gentlemen, the 335 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 2: attempt in closing to put into words a vision that 336 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 2: has risen before me as I have sat among you, 337 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 2: a vision of real life incarnating far more forcibly than 338 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 2: my feeble rhymes the strength, the versatility, the helpfulness, the 339 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 2: victory of human love. It is the vision of a 340 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 2: chamber in the neighboring city where lies one of your number, 341 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,199 Speaker 2: a martyr to his own zeal and devotion, as an engine, 342 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 2: whose monument, when long, hence we trust he shall have 343 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 2: passed away, will span the estuary beyond which tomorrow's sun 344 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 2: is soon to rise, a memorial more stately than mausoleum 345 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 2: or pyramid. And in this picture of the master workman 346 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 2: directing from his bed of pain, the master work, I 347 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 2: see another figure, a queen of beauty and of fashion, 348 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 2: become a servant for love's sake, a true helpmate, furnishing 349 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 2: swift feet and skillful hands, and quick brain and strong 350 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,399 Speaker 2: heart to reinforce the weakness and the weariness that could not, 351 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,880 Speaker 2: unassisted fully execute the plans they form, but that stand 352 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 2: with this assistance, almost as in the vigor of health. Gentlemen, 353 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 2: I know that the name of a woman should not 354 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 2: be lightly spoken in a public place. I am aware 355 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 2: that such a speech is especially audacious from the mouth 356 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 2: of a stranger. But I believe you will equip me 357 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 2: of any lack of delicacy or of reverence. When I 358 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 2: utter what lies at this moment, half articulate upon all 359 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 2: your lips the name of missus Washington Robling. 360 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: While Raymond's toast described Washington Robling as a master workman 361 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: directing his master work, it was delivered in the midst 362 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: of ongoing efforts to remove him from the role of 363 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: chief engineer because of his disabilities. Those efforts had gathered 364 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: steam in eighteen eighty one after the election of a 365 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 1: new mayor, and of course some people were deeply suspicious 366 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: of the fact that a woman was essentially taking his place. 367 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: A few months after the alumni dinner, on July eleventh, 368 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty two, an article ran in the Brooklyn Union 369 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: criticizing how long the bridge's construction had taken and accusing 370 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: Washington of leaving the Board of bridge trustees in the dark. 371 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: It read, in part quote, personally, Colonel Roebling has the 372 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: sympathy of the public in the sad illness which he 373 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: incurred through the bridge. It goes without saying that a 374 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: professional man who is not in a physical condition to 375 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: appear at a single meeting of the board of trustees 376 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: that employs him is not a proper person to clothe 377 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 1: with the vast responsibility that belongs to the chief engineer. 378 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 3: Of a work like this. Yeah. 379 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 2: At this point, the bridge had definitely taken an incredibly 380 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,679 Speaker 2: long time, and it had been very expensive, and there 381 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 2: are all kinds of controversies we're not getting into, uh, 382 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 2: but Washington Robling was really scapegoaded for all of it. 383 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 3: And the fact that he. 384 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 2: Was disabled like made that easy to do well. Yeah, 385 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 2: and it like to a lot of people, it made 386 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 2: it seem like transparently obvious that he was not a 387 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 2: fit person to do this. In spite of these sentiments 388 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 2: and the efforts to replace him, Robling did remain in 389 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 2: his role, and the bridge opened a little less than 390 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,399 Speaker 2: a year later, which we'll talk about after sponsor break. 391 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 2: As the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge drew near in 392 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty three, a reporter from the Brooklyn Union came 393 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 2: to the Robling home number one ten Columbia Heights to 394 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 2: interview Washington Robling. Earlier in the day, though Washington had 395 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 2: met with an artist who was making a bust of 396 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 2: him for the opening ceremonies and he needed to rest, 397 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 2: so at first, this reporter talked to Emily and the 398 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 2: reporter's words quote. As has already been stated in these columns, 399 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 2: the gifted lady has been one of the most efficient 400 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,919 Speaker 2: aids to her husband in his great work, since he 401 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 2: was prostrated by the Caisson disease, and through having assisted 402 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 2: him in his intricate calculations and having attended to all 403 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 2: his correspondents, is familiar with every detail of the structure. 404 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 3: In the end, about. 405 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 2: Half this Reporter's published interview was with Emily before it 406 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 2: was determined that Washington was ready to be interviewed as well. 407 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: Shortly before the opening ceremonies. Emily was also the first 408 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: person to drive across the bridge in a gig with 409 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 1: a retractable hood, carrying a white rooster in a cage 410 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 1: as a symbol of victory. After that res died, it 411 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: was mounted and kept in the Robling home. 412 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 2: I don't know whether the rooster died later of natural 413 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 2: causes or whether this was I don't know. 414 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: It's an oddly charming detail. 415 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 3: It is. 416 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,439 Speaker 2: It comes up in like every account of this. The 417 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 2: Brooklyn Bridge opened to enormous fanfare on May twenty fourth, 418 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty three, after more than fourteen years of construction. 419 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,639 Speaker 2: At the time, of its opening, it became the world's 420 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 2: longest suspension bridge. As we said earlier, this was an 421 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 2: engineering marvel. President Chester A. Arthur, New York Governor Grover Cleveland, 422 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 2: and all kinds of other elected officials were present for 423 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 2: these festivities. The Roblings had thought it would be too 424 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 2: much of a physical strain for Washington to try to 425 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 2: attend this in person, so instead they held a reception 426 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 2: at their home for friends and colleagues afterward, including the President. 427 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 2: The opening ceremonies included several speeches. One was by Abram S. Hewitt, 428 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 2: in which he recognized many of the people involved, beginning 429 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 2: with quote John A. Robling, who conceived the project and 430 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 2: formulated the plan of the bridge, and quote Washington A Robling, who, 431 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 2: inheriting his father's genius and more than his father's knowledge 432 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 2: and skill, has directed the execution of this great work 433 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 2: from its inception to its completion. Hewitt then mentioned the 434 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 2: assistant engineers foremen, and quote the unnamed men, by whose 435 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 2: unflinching courage in the depths of the caissons and upon 436 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 2: the suspended wires, the work was carried on amid storms 437 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 2: and accidents and dangers sufficient to appall the stoutest heart, 438 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 2: and he went on to say, quote one name, however, 439 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 2: which may find no place in the official records, cannot 440 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 2: be passed over here in silence. In ancient times, when 441 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 2: great works were constructed, a goddess was chosen to whose tender. 442 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 3: Care they were dedicated. 443 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 2: Thus the ruins of the acropolis today recall the name 444 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 2: of Pallas Athena to an admiring world. In the Middle Ages, 445 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 2: the blessing of some saint was invoked to protect from 446 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 2: the rude attacks of the barbarians and the destructive hand 447 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 2: of time. The building erected by man's devotion to the 448 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 2: worship of God. So with this bridge will ever be 449 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 2: coupled the thought of one through the subtle alembic of 450 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 2: whose brain and by whose facile fingers, communication was maintained 451 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 2: between the directing power of its construction and the obedient 452 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 2: agencies of its execution. It is thus an everlasting monument 453 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 2: to the self sacrificing devotion of a woman and of 454 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,399 Speaker 2: her capacity for that higher education from which she has. 455 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 3: Been too long debarred. 456 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 2: The name of Missus Emily Warren Roebling will thus be 457 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 2: inseparably associated with all that is admirable in human nature 458 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 2: and with all that is wonderful in the constructive. 459 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,159 Speaker 3: World of art. 460 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: The Brooklyn Bridge was Washington Roebling's last major construction project, 461 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: although he did some other design and consultation work after 462 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 1: it was completed. About a year later, the Roblings moved 463 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: to Troy, New York, while their son studied at renssela 464 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: Or Polytechnic Institute. He had a heart condition and Emily 465 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: wanted to be close by. John Robling the second got 466 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: married and later moved to Arizona, and Emily in Washington 467 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: moved to a mansion they had built in Trenton. After 468 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,399 Speaker 1: the bridge was completed and their son had started an 469 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 1: adult life of his own, Emily Warren Robling focused most 470 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: of her time on social causes and philanthropy. She was 471 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: descended from a Revolutionary war veteran named John Barrett, and 472 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: she became active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, 473 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,159 Speaker 1: including serving as Vice President General of the society's national organization. 474 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: She joined the New Jersey chapter of the Federation of 475 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: Women's Clubs and held offices in a number of other 476 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: clubs and societies, including Soorrhosis, which was the first professional 477 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: Women's Organization in the US, the Women's National War Relief Association, 478 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: the Prison Aid Society in the New Jersey Historical Society, 479 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: among many many others. In eighteen ninety six, she took 480 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: another trip to Europe. This time she was on her 481 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: own because the sea voyage and subsequent travel were incompatible 482 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,159 Speaker 1: with her husband's health. She was received at Buckingham Palace 483 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,880 Speaker 1: by Princess Christian in an audience that Queen Victoria commanded 484 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: should be treated as though it had been with the 485 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: monarch herself. She also attended the coronation of Zar Nicholas 486 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: the Second of Russia, and after returning to the US, 487 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: embarked on a lecture tour recounting her experiences. 488 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 2: In eighteen ninety nine, Emily Warren Roebling was one of 489 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 2: forty eight women to earn a certificate in business law 490 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 2: from the Women's Law Class at New York University. She 491 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 2: gave a commencement address titled a Wife's Disabilities, in which 492 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,479 Speaker 2: she advocated for women's equality under the law, including women's 493 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 2: suffrage and property rights. She was also awarded a fifty 494 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 2: dollars prize in an essay contest given by missus J. 495 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,200 Speaker 2: Hedges Crowell the best essay on the theme of what 496 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 2: an American woman loses by her marriage to a foreigner. 497 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 2: Some accounts conflate the commencement address with this essay, but 498 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 2: they were two different pieces. Robling's thoughts on the contest 499 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 2: theme also wouldn't be considered particularly progressive today. I'll interrupt 500 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 2: and say the contest theme itself. 501 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 3: Would not know so progressive today at all. 502 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:28,959 Speaker 1: It is problematic her work on the theme concluded quote. 503 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: Thinking this subject carefully over for many weeks, I have 504 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: come to the conclusion that what an American woman chiefly 505 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: loses by her marriage to a foreigner is the forfeit 506 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: of her claim to an American husband. A good American 507 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 1: husband is the highest possible representative of civilized man. All right, yeah, yeah. 508 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 3: I don't have anything. 509 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 2: Further to add to that, except maybe, like it got 510 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 2: an an interior yikes from me, Yeah when I read it. 511 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 2: In nineteen oh three, Roebling edited and published the Journal 512 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 2: of the Reverend Silas, Constant pastor of the Presbyterian Church 513 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 2: at Yorktown, New York, which may seem kind of random 514 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 2: based on all the things we've talked about in her life. 515 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 3: So far. 516 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 2: In the preface to this she wrote that she had 517 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 2: once been given a collection of four generations of family 518 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,959 Speaker 2: papers which she had burned because they were old and musty, 519 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 2: not realizing when she did that that she was destroying 520 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 2: quote links in the chain connecting the past with the 521 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 2: present that no amount of thought or search could replace. 522 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 2: She said that in editing and publishing this journal it 523 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 2: was an attempt to make amends for that past deed. 524 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 1: Throughout all of this she occasionally returned to the idea 525 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: of the bridge, including commenting on various proposals for changes 526 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 1: or modifications, or the building of new bridges. She was 527 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: regularly quoted in newspaper articles about the bridge, with that 528 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: reporting frequently referencing how involved she had been in its construction. 529 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 1: In her work on the bridge came up in her 530 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,920 Speaker 1: own correspondence as well, as she wrote in an eighteen 531 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: ninety eight letter to her son, quote, I am still 532 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: feeling well enough to stoutly maintain against all critics, including 533 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: my own son, that I have more brains, common sense, 534 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: and know how generally than have any two engineers, civil 535 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: or uncivil. And but for me, the Brooklyn Bridge would 536 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: never have had the name Robling in any way connected 537 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: with it. I don't know the context for this letter, 538 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: but I'm sort of. 539 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 2: Imagining it as maybe their son being like, hey, you're 540 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 2: getting a little older, maybe you should take a step back, 541 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 2: and her being like, Nope, that is some family business 542 00:31:58,360 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 2: right out in public. 543 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. 544 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: Emily Warren Roebling died at home in Trenton, New Jersey, 545 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: on February twenty eighth, eighteen ninety three. A lot of 546 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: sources give her cause of death as stomach cancer, although 547 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: a few instead cites some kind of muscle weakness. Some 548 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: of those claim that this weakness was brought on by 549 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: her ruining her health by working on the bridge. Several 550 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 1: New York area newspapers reported on her illness in the 551 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: last days of her life, many of them referencing the 552 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: role that she had played in the building of the 553 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: Brooklyn Bridge. 554 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 2: While various sources today point out that she did not 555 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 2: have an obituary in The New York Times until twenty eighteen, 556 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 2: when she was featured as part of its Overlooked series. 557 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 2: Obituaries were printed in at least two newspapers on March 558 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 2: first of eighteen ninety three. One was The New York Tribune, 559 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 2: and the other was the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. The Tribune 560 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 2: described her first and greatest prominence as quote directing the 561 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 2: details of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Eagle 562 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 2: called her quote one of the best known club women 563 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 2: in the country, before saying quote, Missus Roebling's chief claim 564 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 2: to fame lies in the part which she took in 565 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,680 Speaker 2: superintending the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Later on this 566 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 2: obituary read quote, she had followed the progress of the 567 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 2: bridge almost as carefully as had her husband, and she 568 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 2: knew almost as much about it as he did. But 569 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 2: it also added quote, the work done by Missus Roebling 570 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,280 Speaker 2: at this time was far too great for any woman, 571 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 2: and her health has never been the same since then. 572 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: Washington Robling later remarried, and he died in nineteen twenty 573 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 1: six at the age of eighty nine. 574 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,960 Speaker 2: In nineteen fifty one, a plaque was unveiled at the 575 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 2: Brooklyn Bridge which reads, quote the builders of the Bridge 576 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 2: dedicated to the memory of Emily Warren Robling eighteen forty 577 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,560 Speaker 2: three to nineteen oh three, whose faith and courage helped 578 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 2: her stricken husband Colonel Washington A. Roebling ce eighteen thirty 579 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 2: seven to nineteen twenty six complete the construction of this 580 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,959 Speaker 2: bridge from the plans of his father Sean A. Robling 581 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 2: ce Eighteen oh six to eighteen sixty nine, who gave 582 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,400 Speaker 2: his life to the bridge. Back of every great work 583 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,320 Speaker 2: we can find the self sacrificing devotion of a woman. 584 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 2: This tablet erected by the Brooklyn Engineers Club with funds 585 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 2: raised by popular subscription. On May twenty ninth, twenty eighteen, 586 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,440 Speaker 2: the block of Columbia Heights, where the Roblings lived in Brooklyn, 587 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 2: was renamed Emily Warren Robling Way. Today there are at 588 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 2: least two children's books about her. They are Secret Engineer, 589 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 2: How Emily Robling Built the Brooklyn Bridge and How Emily 590 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,399 Speaker 2: Saved the Bridge The Story of Emily Warren Robling, both 591 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,840 Speaker 2: published in twenty nineteen. There's also a novel titled No 592 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 2: Life But This, which came out in twenty twenty. There 593 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:48,800 Speaker 2: is also a book, like a nonfiction book, called Silent Builder, 594 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 2: Emily Warren Robling and the Brooklyn Bridge. To be clear, 595 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,799 Speaker 2: I did not get this book for today's episode. The 596 00:34:55,880 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 2: original edition was published in nineteen eighty four by Association 597 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,880 Speaker 2: Faculty Press, and it's one hundred and eighty eight pages long. 598 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:08,120 Speaker 2: Subsequent editions are a lot longer, but were independently published 599 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 2: and just don't seem to be available in many libraries, 600 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 2: so that book exists, I could not get my hands 601 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:13,839 Speaker 2: on it. 602 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: Do you have listener mail for us as well? I do? 603 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:18,560 Speaker 3: I have listener mail. 604 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 2: This is from Amy and it is about something that 605 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 2: we alluded to in a recent Saturday Classic. But we 606 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,759 Speaker 2: know not everyone listens to every episode, so we're just 607 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 2: gonna say it again. Amy wrote our old episodes disappearing. Recently, 608 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 2: my podcast feed Overcast has apparently started removing old episodes. 609 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 3: Is this just me? 610 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 2: Or is this intentional? I've been working through some older 611 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,480 Speaker 2: episodes I hadn't heard before, and until recently, the archives 612 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:45,720 Speaker 2: went all the way back to the initial two thousand 613 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 2: and eight episodes. As of today, though the oldest looks 614 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 2: to be from July twenty ten, I've in the sixth 615 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 2: and I think older ones have maybe gradually disappeared. Thanks 616 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,120 Speaker 2: Freddy Info. I was hoping to catch up someday, but 617 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 2: maybe that isn't possible anymore, so I wrote back to Amy. 618 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 3: They answered the question. 619 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,320 Speaker 2: I will now answer it for anyone who is experiencing 620 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 2: the same thing as I understand Overcast. 621 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 3: It pulls from. 622 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,319 Speaker 2: The Apple Podcasts feed of the show and back in 623 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,880 Speaker 2: I think October, Apple Podcasts put in a limit of 624 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,759 Speaker 2: how many episodes could be in a show's feed to 625 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:26,400 Speaker 2: two thousand episodes. We have more than that, and so 626 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 2: the oldest episodes just progressively drop off as we put 627 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 2: out new ones. I think Overcast actually is sort of 628 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 2: lagging a tiny bit behind Apple in terms of dropping 629 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:38,319 Speaker 2: off the old ones that did seem like there were 630 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:41,360 Speaker 2: just a few more episodes on Overcast than an Apple podcast. 631 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,800 Speaker 2: Apple podcasts not the only player with a limit. Many 632 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:50,840 Speaker 2: of them are have you know, have either had limits 633 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 2: for a long time or are putting in new limits. 634 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 2: I totally understand doing this, yeah, because there are continually 635 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 2: more and more podcasts, and we all have continually more 636 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 2: and more episodes. It is not within our control, though, 637 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 2: right that these are decisions that are being made by 638 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:12,840 Speaker 2: Apple and Overcast and whoever else is making podcast players 639 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 2: the whole feed all the way back to two thousand 640 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:18,560 Speaker 2: and eight, at which point it was a very different 641 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 2: show with totally different hosts who have not worked with 642 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:24,759 Speaker 2: us in many, many, many, many years that RSS feed 643 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:29,879 Speaker 2: still has everything in it, and the iHeart the iHeartRadio 644 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 2: website still has everything in it. iHeartRadio app still has 645 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:40,480 Speaker 2: everything in it. There are also other players that still 646 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,360 Speaker 2: include entire feeds for all the shows, but since there 647 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:48,120 Speaker 2: is so much variation from one device to another and 648 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 2: one app store to another, we can't really keep up 649 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,360 Speaker 2: to date with all of them, right, And I would 650 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 2: not be surprised if more start doing limitters because, as 651 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,120 Speaker 2: you said, like it's an industry that continues to grow, 652 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,279 Speaker 2: and because it's everyone from like people like us that 653 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,439 Speaker 2: work for a company that produces them to people doing 654 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 2: them on their own, Like, there's no way to really 655 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:18,320 Speaker 2: manage how many get published in a given week across 656 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:22,800 Speaker 2: the industry. So the solution for companies that host in 657 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 2: are or feed and are running out of space on 658 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 2: servers or just trying to look forward to a future 659 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,479 Speaker 2: where this continues to be a growth industry, they got 660 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:33,640 Speaker 2: to start putting in limiters. 661 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,279 Speaker 3: I know it stinks, yeah, And. 662 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,359 Speaker 2: I will also say I know we have sort of 663 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 2: made a thing of having a PhD in SYMHC for 664 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 2: people who have listened to every single episode. That is 665 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:50,200 Speaker 2: something I would only encourage if like you super want 666 00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 2: to do it, and if you want to listen to 667 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,240 Speaker 2: episodes that are by totally different hosts with a totally 668 00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:57,759 Speaker 2: different outlook and a totally different format of the show. Really, 669 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 2: even from the super early ones, which are only often 670 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:05,280 Speaker 2: five or ten minutes long, maybe not five but maybe 671 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:06,560 Speaker 2: more like fifteen. 672 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,160 Speaker 1: You're some that are pretty short. I will also say 673 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:12,120 Speaker 1: something super rebellious. Okay, you are one of those people 674 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 1: who wants a stuff you missed in history class, a 675 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: PhD in sy m See, I don't know if I 676 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:23,520 Speaker 1: forgot letters. Just buy the shirt. Nobody's gonna check you. No, 677 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:27,640 Speaker 1: we're not checking. Yeah, nobody listen. Our time on this 678 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,440 Speaker 1: rock is finite. Do whatever you want that doesn't hurt somebody. Yes, 679 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna quiz you. If I run into you 680 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:38,759 Speaker 1: and see you wearing that shirt, I won't remember all 681 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: of them, So super not. 682 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 3: It is not a challenge coin No. 683 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:45,319 Speaker 1: If you just feel like you got a lot more 684 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:47,760 Speaker 1: knowledge or you did a lot of work to listen 685 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:49,719 Speaker 1: to a lot of shows, you don't have to do 686 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,040 Speaker 1: all of them. For anybody that did do all of them, 687 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,759 Speaker 1: please don't feel devalued in this way. I just think 688 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:59,720 Speaker 1: like it's given the changing landscape of availability of things, 689 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,480 Speaker 1: it's not worth being too stressed over it. 690 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:05,400 Speaker 3: Correct, I agree, I agree. 691 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:09,440 Speaker 2: So if you want to send us a note about 692 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:13,360 Speaker 2: this or any other podcast or history podcasts at iHeartRadio 693 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:17,240 Speaker 2: dot com, we're on social media app Missed in History, 694 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,680 Speaker 2: you can subscribe to our show as we just said, 695 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 2: on the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere else you'd like to 696 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:30,920 Speaker 2: get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is 697 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:35,319 Speaker 2: a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 698 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,799 Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 699 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:39,680 Speaker 2: your favorite shows.