1 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: So rewarding new I'm on a city bus with author 2 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Amy Hillharth to talk about a civil rights pioneer. So 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: she was, she was riding through this neighborhood, right, Yes, 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: she was. Transportation was not integrated and had she had 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: trouble before? Much everybody had had some trouble in the past. Now, 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: I know you think you know who we're talking about here, 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: but no, we're not in Montgomery, Alabama, and we're not 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: talking about Rosa Parks in the nineteen fifties. We're in 9 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: New York City and we're talking about the eighteen fifties. 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: They tell her to get up, and she resists. Yeah, 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: she said no. And I'm pretty sure you've never heard 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: of this woman. Her mark on history has all but disappeared. 13 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: And she's not alone. In this episode. We'll also tell 14 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: you the story of the first black Major League Baseball player, 15 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: and no, his name is not Jackie Robinson. To rewind 16 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: a few decades, you know, from nineteen forty seven back 17 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: to eighteen eighty four actually, and will introduce you to 18 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: the woman who ruled Hollywood one hundred years ago. At 19 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: several points, she was the highest paid director in the industry, 20 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: the highest paid female, a man, woman or child. As 21 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: one reporter put it, I'm mo Rocca and this is mobituaries, 22 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: this moment the forgotten forerunners Jesse. The other day, one 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: of the fine citizens of our community is as Rosa Parks, 24 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,559 Speaker 1: was arrested because she refused to give up her seat 25 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: for a white passenger. That was the Reverend doctor Martin 26 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: Luther King Junior, speaking about the Montgomery bus boycott in 27 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five. Off when civil rights icon Rosa Parks 28 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: stood her ground by sitting, but another African American woman 29 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: struck her own blow for justice a false century earlier. 30 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: She's really the Rosa Parks of New York, and most 31 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: New Yorkers, most Americans, have no idea. Her name was 32 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Jennings, and Amy Hillharth wrote a book about her 33 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: called Streetcar to Justice. Last summer, Amy and I retraced 34 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's footsteps around the once infamous Lower Manhattan neighborhood known 35 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: as Five Points. You may remember it was the setting 36 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: of the Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York, The 37 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: Five Points, Murderer's Alley, brickbat Mansion, The Gates of All. 38 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: I think it was the dirtiest, most disgusting place imaginable. 39 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: I think if you think of the worst smell you've 40 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: ever smelled, and multiplied by a thousand on a second, 41 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: have you been on the sea train lately? Amy's right, 42 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: City life was especially filthy. Back then the streets were 43 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: covered in horse manure, with wild hogs running a rampant 44 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: alongside open sewers. No surprise, life expectancy was only forty 45 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: years old. Amy and I met up on a sweltering day, 46 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: just like it was on July sixteenth, eighteen fifty four, 47 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: when Elizabeth headed to church to practice the organ with 48 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: the choir. She was wearing these long sleeved jacket over 49 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: a long dress that went down to her ankles, with 50 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: layers of petticoats and choruses and so on. Must have 51 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: been miserable. You know, I'm taking advantage of the fact 52 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: that this is audio only. I'm wearing shorts and I'm 53 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: still hot. In other words, Elizabeth Jennings is an upstanding 54 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: churchgoing woman, a school teacher, no less. All she wants 55 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: to do is board a horse drawn street car, the 56 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,119 Speaker 1: public transportation of the day, with her good friend Sarah Adams. 57 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: But certain rules got in the way. In New York City, 58 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: like most northern cities at the time, there was both 59 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: dejoe legal and sort of de facto segregation and discrimination. 60 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: Leslie Alexander is a history professor at the University of 61 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: Oregon and has written about the black experience in New York. 62 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they had particular street 63 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: cars that were designated as colored street cars. Now, a 64 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: black person could ask to board the cars designated for 65 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: white people, but if any white person on that particular 66 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: car objected to the presence of a black person, you, 67 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: in theory, would be ejected. Remarkably, we know exactly what 68 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: happens that day from contempt Brainy's news accounts. Jennings is 69 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: running late and the first car to arrive is for 70 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: white passengers. There are empty seats, so Elizabeth climbs aboard, 71 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: but the conductor says, hold it, you need to wait 72 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: for the next car with your people in it. That 73 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: other car does pull up, but it's full. Elizabeth isn't budging, 74 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: She's bold in a variety of ways. Here's Professor Alexander 75 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: reading Jennings's own detailed account published at the time in 76 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: the New York Daily Tribune. I answered again and told 77 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: him I was a respectable person born and raised in 78 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: New York, did not know where he was born. The 79 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: conductors an Irish immigrant, that I had never been insulted 80 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: before going to church, and that he was a good 81 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: for nothing, impudent fellow for insulting decent persons while on 82 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: their way to church. He then said I should come 83 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: and he would put me out. She does not mince 84 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: words there. All of those things were incredibly important messaging 85 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: right in the nineteenth century to say I was born 86 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: in this country as a result of my birthright, I 87 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: have a right to be an American citizen and have 88 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: a right to be treated as such, and I'm a 89 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: respectable person. Then things turn physical. I told him not 90 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: to lay his hands on me. He took hold of me, 91 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: and I took hold of the window sash and held on. 92 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: He pulled me until he broke my grasp, and I 93 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: took hold of his coat and held onto that. The 94 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: conductor calls in a reinforcement the street car's driver. I 95 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: screamed murder with all my voice, and my companions screamed out, 96 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: you'll kill her. Don't kill her. The two men have 97 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: pushed Elizabeth down off the street car, but guess what, 98 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: she climbs back onto that street car again. Unable to 99 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: overpower her, the driver heads full speed to the nearest 100 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: police officer. The officer doesn't listen to Elizabeth's plea. Instead, 101 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: he forcibly pushes her off the street car and onto 102 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: the ground. She's really beaten up. Her clothes are torn, 103 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: She's covered with Bruce's Jennings refers to the men as 104 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: monsters in human form, but it turns out they messed 105 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: with the wrong person. Well, there's no question that Elizabeth 106 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: Jennings came from an activist tradition. Both of her parents 107 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: very heavily involved in the antislavery cause. Throughout her entire life, 108 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: she would have been hearing all kinds of political discussions 109 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: and debates taking place. Hers was a prominent family. Elizabeth's father, 110 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: Thomas Jennings, is believed to be the first African American 111 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: to hold a patent for an early version of dry cleaning. 112 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: It made the family considerably wealthy, and Thomas did this 113 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty one, before slavery was fully eradicated in 114 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: New York. That wouldn't happen until eighteen twenty seven, but 115 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: the legacy of slavery in New York was still being 116 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: felt decades later. Probably the most significant salient challenge that 117 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: black people in the North were facing was as the 118 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: result of the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 119 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, maybe the most despicable piece of legislation in 120 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: our history. The Fugitive Slave Act mandated that runaway slaves 121 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: be returned to their owners. It became the perfect pretext 122 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: for abducting free blacks from the North. The North essentially 123 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: became sort of open season for a process where black 124 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: folks are being rounded up and kidnapped on the streets 125 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: and sold into slavery. I mean it's horrifying, yes, all 126 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: the more remarkable then that, during such a precarious time 127 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: for black Americans, Elizabeth Jennings and her father decided to 128 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: sue the Third Avenue Railroad Company. Here's author Amy Hill Hearth, 129 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: and they passed a hat in the church. Everybody pitched in, 130 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: and then they went to look for lawyer. Their first 131 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: choice was unavailable. So the lawyer that they do find, 132 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: as name that's familiar to presidential history, buffs that's right. 133 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: And this is how I found out about the Elizabeth 134 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: Jennings story. You see, I have a thing for obscure 135 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: nineteenth century presidents. All the guys between Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, 136 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,719 Speaker 1: lots of facial hair, usually from Ohio. One of them 137 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: was knocked off by an anarchist, another by an aggrieved 138 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: office seeker. If you've watched me on CBS Sunday Morning, 139 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: you've probably seen me do reports on a few of them. Anyway, 140 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: one day, I was rifling through one of my presidential 141 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,199 Speaker 1: trivia books, because that's what I do on the weekends too, 142 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: on wine and I read about our episodes Heroin and 143 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: her legal representation by a future very obscure nineteenth century 144 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: president Chester Alan Arthur. Yes, our twenty first president, and 145 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: he was twenty four years old, and he actually only 146 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: been practicing law for about six weeks. He's really wet 147 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: behind the ears he was. Arthur would go on to 148 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: grow mutton chops that would humble any Brooklyn hipster. Quick 149 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: side note. Decades later, when he was in the White House, 150 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: he was accused of having actually been born in Canada, 151 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: the original Berther conspiracy. You can learn all about that 152 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: in my story online. But back to this story, In 153 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: spite of his youth, chet Arthur was up to the 154 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: task of defending Elizabeth Jennings. Arthur was an abolitionist and 155 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: he worked closely with her and her father on legal strategy. 156 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: Instead of pursuing a criminal case, they decided to bring 157 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 1: the suit to a civil court. With a civil case, 158 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: it would fix the situation for everyone, not just find 159 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: justice for her. So they weren't looking for a conviction 160 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: for assault. What they were looking for was change. That's right. 161 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 1: So if Jennings sought damages and one a new standard 162 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: would be set for integrated transportation. The case was argued 163 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: in Brooklyn before ay of white men. Jennings case was 164 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: bolstered by eyewitnesses and her own first person account, but 165 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: perhaps just as important, before deliberations, the judge reminded the 166 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,079 Speaker 1: jury that, according to statute, rail companies, and there were 167 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: a bunch of them in New York City, were required 168 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: to carry all respectable passengers there's that word respectable again, 169 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: who were sober, well behaved, and free from disease. This 170 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: language might sound antiquated to you, but it's the all 171 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: that strikes me. The jury sided with Elizabeth Jennings and 172 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: awarded her two hundred and fifty dollars. The Third Avenue 173 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: Railroad Company was found liable and moved quickly to integrate 174 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: their cars. The other rail companies were put on notice 175 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: that they could be sued as well. At what point 176 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: is in New York's these transportation system fully integrated well. 177 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: Some historians say that that was the first major step 178 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 1: after the Civil War, there was legislation that was passed 179 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: that made it official. The case received national attention in 180 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:20,599 Speaker 1: antislavery papers. The New York Daily Tribune ran the headline, 181 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: a wholesome verdict. Was she celebrated for a while? Yes, 182 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: she was for about twenty five years. It was tremendously significant. 183 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: That's Leslie Alexander again. You know, in the nineteenth century, 184 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: the idea of women of any race being involved in 185 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: an outspoken way in political matters of any kind was 186 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:50,559 Speaker 1: extremely controversial. So for her to take a stand in 187 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: the way that she did and then allow her story 188 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: and her name to be associated with this very public 189 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 1: case was a huge deal. After the court case, Elizabeth 190 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: Jennings led a rather private life and her name slowly 191 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: faded from history. She continued teaching and even opened the 192 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: city's first black kindergarten. She also married Charles Graham. They 193 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,560 Speaker 1: had a son, but he died as a young child. 194 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: Jennings name briefly appeared in the newspapers again due to 195 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: the political rise of Chester. Alan Arthur, that once wet 196 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,679 Speaker 1: behind the ears lawyer was elected vice president in eighteen eighty. 197 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 1: Then he became president upon the assassination of James Garfield. 198 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Jennings died on June fifth, nineteen o one. I 199 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: didn't expect to find much, but there were at least 200 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,319 Speaker 1: a few short obituaries. Here's the New York Times with 201 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: the headline aged colored teacher dead. Missus E. J. Graham 202 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: was prominent in ante bellum raced troubles. Here the item 203 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: takes note that her whole life was devoted to the 204 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: improvement of her race. Why don't people know her name? 205 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: She was just not a person who was sort of 206 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,319 Speaker 1: self seeking or self interested. She wasn't a person who 207 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: was promoting herself or her story in that regard. So, 208 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: you know, I think that's part of it. But I'll 209 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: tell you honestly, I think on a deeper level, the 210 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: primary reason we don't know Elizabeth Jennings story is that 211 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: it doesn't fit with the narrative of the story that 212 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: we like to tell about the North. So in order 213 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: to know about Elizabeth Jennings, you have to know that 214 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: slavery existed in the North. You have to know that 215 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: slavery existed in the North for almost as long as 216 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: it did in the South. You have to be willing 217 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: to acknowledge that the legacy of slavery haunted the black 218 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: population in the North for generations. But we do have 219 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: to be willing to sort of, you know, pull back 220 00:14:52,920 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: the curtains and have an honest conversation. So where are 221 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: we at the corner of Pearl and Park Row. You 222 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: in Lower Manhattan. If you do visit the site of 223 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: the Elizabeth Jennings incident, you won't find a monument or 224 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: even a placard. The street corner is actually dedicated to Ira, 225 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: a fugitive Joseph Dougherty, but thanks to the persistence of 226 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: some local school children, there is now an honorary street 227 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: sign for her a few blocks away. Wait, what's up there? Okay, 228 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: it says Elizabeth Jennings Place. The day we visited, it 229 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: was covered up under scaffolding. But those who know Elizabeth 230 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: Jennings story. Still hope that one day this remarkable woman 231 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: will finally earn a more prominent place in history out 232 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: in the open. What I would really love to see 233 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: my dream is a statue. Now, there is a statue 234 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: commemorating baseball's great number forty two, Jackie Robinson, But what 235 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: about the player who made history years before him? The 236 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: story of our next forgotten forerunner brought me to Toledo, Ohio. 237 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: When I got into town, I was feeling a little peckish. 238 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: What's the best thing about Toledo? Well, Tony Packles for 239 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: number one, and so I hit up legendary Hungarian hot 240 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: dog joint Tony Paco's. No, this isn't an ad I've 241 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: just always wanted to eat there ever since I was 242 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: a kid watching Mash and heard Toledo and Jamie Farr's 243 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: Clinger character rave about the place. Hey. Incidentally, if you 244 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: ever in Toledo, Ohio and a Hungarian side of town, 245 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: Tony Packo's greatest Hungarian hot with chili peppers thirty five cents. 246 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: Tony Pacos is famous for its buns. The walls of 247 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: this restaurant are covered with hot dog buns autographed by 248 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: all the luminaries who've eaten at Tony Paco's ever since 249 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: Burt Reynolds started the tradition in the early nineteen seventies. 250 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: Bob Hope, Patti LaBelle okay, So Walter Mondale's right next 251 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: to tiny Tim Don Shula. Oh there's Jibbie Reynolds, Penn 252 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: and Teller signed the same bun I love Aria Speedwagon 253 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: at the share the buns. So that's manager Frank Petersburger. 254 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: They've got plenty of Frank's here, but surprisingly no Burgers, 255 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: even though the food is delicious. Tony Pacos isn't the 256 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: legend I'm here to profile. I'm in Toledo to learn 257 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 1: about the first African American man to play Major League Baseball, 258 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: And no it's not this guy nineteen forty seven. It 259 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: was the Brooklyn Dodgers Abbott's Field, Jackie Robinson, given the 260 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: challenge by Dodger owner Branch Rickey, and he accepted. Jackie 261 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: Robinson is most certainly not forgotten. When he walked out 262 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: onto Ebbott's Field to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he 263 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: changed history. But technically speaking, he wasn't the first. According 264 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: to this plaque right outside Toledo's minor league ballpark. Here 265 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: we go Moses Fleetwood Walker. In eighteen eighty three, Walker 266 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: joined the newly formed Toledo Bluestockings and became the first 267 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: African American Major league ballplayer when Toledo joined the Major 268 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: League sanctioned American Association the following year. Now this deserves 269 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: a holy Toledo and here on this is considered Moses 270 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: Fleetwood Walker square. That's Rob Worsinski, the communications guy for 271 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: the current minor league team. Here the beloved Toledo Mudhens. 272 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: Mash fans may remember that Jamie Farr wore a Mudhens 273 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: jury from time to time on the show. But back 274 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: to Moses. When you ask people who was the first 275 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,360 Speaker 1: man of color who played the top flight pro baseball 276 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: in America, everybody will say Jackie Robinson. But in order 277 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: for a color barrier to be broken, one head to 278 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: be set up in the first place, and it was 279 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: Moses Fleetwood Walker whose mere presence on the diamond invited 280 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: the backlash that would bar black players from baseball for 281 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:37,439 Speaker 1: decades afterwards. Moses Fleetwood Walker was born on October seventh, 282 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty six, in Ohio and played baseball at Oberlin 283 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: College and at the University of Michigan. Before long, he 284 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: was playing for the minor league Toledo Bluestockings as the 285 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: team's catcher, barehanded in those days. Soon after, Toledo's team 286 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: got promoted to the American Association, and at the time 287 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty four, the American was top flight pro 288 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: baseball in America. While there were other black players who 289 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: joined team rosters, including Walker's own brother, Moses, was the first, 290 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: but there were no celebrations around this milestone. Just like 291 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: Robinson Wood, later on, Walker faced intense racial bigotry. There 292 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: were also threats of lynching his own pitcher ignored his signals. 293 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: Walker couldn't have been all that surprised. Just the year before, 294 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 1: future Hall of Famer and Chicago player Cap Anson unsuccessfully 295 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: protested Walker's participation in the game Moses Fleetwood. Walker's time 296 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: and the majors was short. During his time with Toledo, 297 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,680 Speaker 1: he batted two sixty three with only one hundred and 298 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: fifty two at bats. As a catcher in the eighteen eighties, 299 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,399 Speaker 1: baseball was a very dangerous position to play, and actually 300 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: he ended up having a series of injuries that season. 301 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: Played in a fraction of the games. Toledo released him 302 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 1: that same season. Walker went on to play in other leagues. 303 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,159 Speaker 1: While catching for the Newark, New Jersey Little Giants, he 304 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,360 Speaker 1: was paired with an African American pitcher named George Washington Stovey. 305 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:19,959 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty seven, they were set to play against 306 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: Chicago and cap Anson. This time, Anson flat out refused 307 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: to play if the black team members were put on 308 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: the field. Newark gave into his demands soon after, baseball 309 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: officials across the board decided not to sign any more 310 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: black players the color line had been drawn. Post baseball, 311 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: Walker held a variety of jobs, but eventually got in 312 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: trouble with the law. After stabbing a man to death 313 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:58,640 Speaker 1: during a drunken racial altercation. He was acquitted. He did 314 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: end up in jail later on for mail fraud. At 315 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: the same time, the injustices he'd experienced inspired him to 316 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: get angry and political. He wrote a book advocating black 317 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 1: emigration to Africa. He had some success in business, but 318 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: when he died in nineteen twenty four at the age 319 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: of sixty seven, there was barely any acknowledgement. But some 320 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: proud Ohioans are trying to change that. Saturday is Moses 321 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: Fleetwood Walker's birthday, and thanks to a new state law, 322 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: he'll be honored on that day every year. Toledo is 323 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: doing its part to keep his name alive. At the ballpark. 324 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: Oh my god, it's a Moses Fleetwood Walker bobblehead. And 325 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: he's right next to Jamie Far. He's between two different 326 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: Jamie Fars and just across the street at a bar 327 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: called Fleetwoods. And it's not named after Fleetwood Mac all right, 328 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: so we're entering Fleetwood's tap room. I mean, this looks 329 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: like a pretty serious place for draft beer. Forty eight 330 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 1: different types on tap. Hello, there's this picture. There's a 331 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: big picture of Moses Fleetwood Walker And once people know 332 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: the story behind the face, they're impressed. Yeah, that is incredible. Oh, 333 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: Jackie Robinson was the first. That's pretty cool. Goal. Moses. 334 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 1: You can't help but think he died, I'm guessing, not 335 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: knowing that he would ever be acknowledged as as special 336 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: or important. It really was a guy who just loved 337 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: the game of baseball. He wanted to play it. Moses 338 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: Fleetwood Walker and Jackie Robinson bookends to a sixty three 339 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: year long journey baseball researcher Larry Lester may have put 340 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 1: it best when he wrote, while Walker failed to lead 341 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: his people to the promised plan, Robinson delivered his people. 342 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: Both men wrestled with Jim crow Fleet bruised his knuckles 343 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: and lost the early rounds. However, Jackie later bloodied his 344 00:23:53,920 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: nose and won the fight. Next up, the Woman who 345 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: ran Hollywood one hundred years ago. Now, let's travel back 346 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: to the earliest days of Hollywood, somewhere between nineteen ten 347 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: and nineteen twenty, to the story of one of silent 348 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: filmdom's most prolific, yet almost completely forgotten directors. How much 349 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: does this historical amnesia bother you? I mean, it's infuriating. 350 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: It's absolutely infuriating, and film historian Shelley Stamp is here 351 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: to set the record straight. One critic at the time 352 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: talked about the three great minds of early Hollywood, two 353 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: of whom will be familiar to most people who don't 354 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 1: know anything about early cinema d W. Griffith and Saal 355 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: speA Mill And the third great mind was Lois Webber, 356 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: not Lewis Lois Webber. She was the first American woman 357 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: to direct a feature film, A nineteen fourteen adaptation of 358 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. She was also one of 359 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: the stars. This all took place before movies even had sound. 360 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: Shelley Stamp wrote the book Lowest Webber. In early Hollywood, 361 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: she was the highest paid director in the industry, the 362 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,800 Speaker 1: highest paid female, a man, woman, or child. As one 363 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: reporter put it, she was respected. She negotiated very lucrative 364 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: contracts when she formed her own studio, so you can 365 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: see she was right up there with names that we 366 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 1: associate with the fathers of American cinema at the time, 367 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: and their legacy endures and hers does not. Last year, 368 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: a mere three percent of studio films were directed by women, 369 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: and pay inequity is a persistent issue. But in the 370 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,719 Speaker 1: Hollywood of one hundred years ago, Lowest Webber was one 371 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: of the most respected and highest paid directors. I know, 372 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: it's like I'm describing some mythical time and place like 373 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: Camelot that just poof disappeared. I mean, did this really happen? Well, 374 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,640 Speaker 1: I think the first thing to emphasize is that, yes, 375 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: Webber was the most prominent female director during this time, 376 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: but there was lots of other female filmmakers during this time. Right, 377 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: she wasn't a unicorn, she wasn't an anomaly. And the 378 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: early years of the industry were open to many people. Right. 379 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: When film began in the early decades of the twentieth century, 380 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: it became really popular, really fast. So there was an 381 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: incredible need for movies. I mean it sounds like a 382 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: land rush or something, right, No, seriously, this is open terrain. 383 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 1: And you know, once the industry solidified in LA around 384 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,440 Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen, LA became an incredible magnet for women in particular, 385 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 1: and Lois Webber was one of those women. She was 386 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in eighteen seventy nine and 387 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: started off as an accomplished pianist. She then moved on 388 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: to the theater as an actress, and that's where she 389 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,439 Speaker 1: met her husband, Phillips Smalley. He started working in the 390 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,959 Speaker 1: movies first, but she very soon joined him and they 391 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: worked together as a collaborative team. She wrote the scenarios, 392 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,919 Speaker 1: they acted together on screen, often playing husband, wife or 393 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 1: romantic partners, and then they co directed Who is Leading 394 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: Home Here? Initially their build as the Smalley's and their 395 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: build as a couple, but within four or five years. 396 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,679 Speaker 1: Weber is clearly the dominant creative force. But as Shelley 397 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: told us early on, Webber was not a unicorn, wasn't 398 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: even the first in her field. In fact, the actual 399 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: first woman to direct films, really one of the first 400 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:39,400 Speaker 1: filmmakers period, was Alice G. Blachet of France. We're talking 401 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: about the eighteen nineties. She eventually opened a US studio 402 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: in New Jersey with her husband, right around the time 403 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 1: Webber was getting her own start. I don't think it's 404 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: any exaggeration to say that women were at the beginning 405 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 1: of the formation of film language. Here is an article 406 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: August fourth, nineteen sixteen Lois Webber's are of first magnitude 407 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: from the Nashville, Tennessee in I mean the middle of 408 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: the country, you know, is surprised. It's not. Variety is 409 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: not a trade journal. Low As Webber ranks with the 410 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: greatest directors in the profession, and whose success confutes any 411 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: argument of women's inability to fill posts in a man's field. 412 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,199 Speaker 1: I mean she was a very important finger. Webber was 413 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: also prolific. She directed over one hundred short films and 414 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: in one year alone, when she was Universal's top director. 415 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: She wrote and directed ten feature length films. This is 416 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 1: an extraordinary productivity. I can't really even imagine. I think, 417 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: by contemporary standards, it's impossible to imagine. I mean, these days, 418 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: you know, you wait for your favorite director to make 419 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: a movie once every three years. Well, you know, the 420 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: reporters that saw her on set during these years, they 421 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: talk about how how decisive she was, how in command 422 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: she was. She had her script in her hand and 423 00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: she was issuing orders, and everybody would come to her 424 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: for every little detail about wardrobe, about sad, about everything. 425 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: I mean, I think she just worked incredibly hard. She's prolific. 426 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: Is she innovative? So she's not a cookie cutter director. 427 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: She's not a director that's prolific because she's turning out 428 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: the same thing again and again and again. She takes 429 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: on all of these very controversial social issues of her day. 430 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: She's known as this director who took on birth control 431 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: and poverty and religious hypocrisy. But equally important, I think 432 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: is her visual storytelling, which is extraordinary. One of Weber's 433 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: most popular early short films is called Suspense. It's from 434 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen. What she's doing is adapting of what at 435 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: that time would have been a really well known formula 436 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: called the last Minute Rescue, basically Liam Neeson movie. Yes, yes, 437 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 1: the early Liam Neeson. This is pre taken right by 438 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen. By the time she takes it on, it's 439 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: a very well known formula. She gives her film a 440 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,680 Speaker 1: generic title to tell us that she's taking on this 441 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 1: formula and that she is going to better the master 442 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: at his own game. Shelley and I watched the film together. 443 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: It's only ten minutes long. And let me tell you, 444 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,479 Speaker 1: suspense is gripping and what's happening here. One of the 445 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: hallmarks of the Last Minute Rescue is that you have 446 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: the woman on the phone with police or her husband, 447 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: and often the phone line is cut, and so that 448 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 1: cross cutting back and forth of the phone call is 449 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: a key element of suspense. What whatever does is she 450 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: puts the three elements together in the frame. Yes, I 451 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: see it. The screen is split in three. There's the 452 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: wife at home on the phone, the husband at work, 453 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: and the intruder coming further and further into the house 454 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: right sawing the phone line, peeking through the door. So 455 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: we see all three elements at once, and there he 456 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: is looking right at us. A tramp is prowling around 457 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: the house and he's good and bad guy's good in 458 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: this and she's on the phone, and that's Lois Webber 459 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: playing the woman. She wrote it. She started it as 460 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: she's directing it. How did Lois Webber present if she 461 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 1: were to walk in here, would you think, well, there 462 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: she is, that's a groundbreaker or she's a radical? Absolutely not, No, 463 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: she had what that is What I think is really 464 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: interesting about her. Her persona was that of a kind 465 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: of very dignified, married, white, middle class woman. She really 466 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: presented herself that way. But I think that persona was 467 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: a way for her to tackle the issues that she tackled. 468 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: She describes herself as a missionary in several places that 469 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: I've seen. Well, she took that description very seriously. Early 470 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: in her career when she was pursuing music, she was 471 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: involved in evangelical work in New York, and she really 472 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: saw cinema as she said, it's it's a meeting where 473 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: I can preach to my heart's content. One of the 474 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 1: issues that she tackled on film was birth control. In 475 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic 476 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: in America, That same year, Weber directed a film called 477 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 1: Where Are My Children, which was considered so controversial that 478 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 1: Universal preface to the film with a big, full screen 479 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: warning to parents not to let their children watch the 480 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: film unsupervised. The studio also defended the film subject matter 481 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: by pointing out that birth control had been in the 482 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: news fair warning to this audience. Though the film's point 483 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: of view has not aged well at all, her take 484 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: on legalizing contraception is very mired in the eugenics of 485 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: the period. She said, media case for legalized contraception for 486 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: largely for women living in poverty and for immigrant population. 487 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: So that's a sort of classic eugenics argument, right, And 488 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 1: that's one half of the film. The other half of 489 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: the film is vilifying wealthy, privileged white women who repeatedly 490 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: use abortion to avoid pregnancy. They're not propagating the right stock. Absolutely, 491 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: they're not propagating the right stock. And so the reproductive 492 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: politics of this film are pretty distasteful from a contemporary 493 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: point of view, right, you know, we can't really shy 494 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: away from that fact. But they were relatively typical of 495 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: the time. Lois Webber was not part of some fringe 496 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 1: No no Now, Lois Webber didn't earn recognition just for 497 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,840 Speaker 1: her directing. Just when I thought nothing else would surprise me, 498 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: I learned about her political career. In nineteen thirteen, feigned 499 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: Hollywood director Lois Webber gained national attention for another role. 500 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: She was mayor of the Universal City. Yes, Universal City, 501 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 1: the home of Universal Studios. Any family that's been lucky 502 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: enough to take a trip to Los Angeles and we 503 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: went as a family in nineteen eighty when I was 504 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 1: in the fifth grade, hopefully took the Universal Studios tour 505 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 1: where you see the Psycho House and you know, Jaws 506 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: comes up and you think it's gonna bite you. What 507 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: they don't tell you on that tour. The city once 508 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: had a mayor, a female mayor, seven years before women 509 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,439 Speaker 1: gained the right to vote nationally. What was this about? 510 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: Was this a big Hollywood publicity stunt kind of but 511 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: it was an important publicity stunt. Right. Universal City imagines 512 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:33,239 Speaker 1: itself as a place where work in life are combined. Right, 513 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,879 Speaker 1: that making motion pictures is so fun, that it's it's 514 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 1: a community. You live there and you work there together, 515 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: and so part of that is having a mayor. But 516 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: Webber runs on an all female ticket with other women, 517 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:48,240 Speaker 1: other Universal stars running as distric attorney and police chief. 518 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,400 Speaker 1: And some of the publicity was really negative, right about 519 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: women taking over the Universal city, and the Amazons, the 520 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: Amazons and you know they hate men and all all 521 00:34:58,440 --> 00:34:59,959 Speaker 1: this sort of stuff. Now it gets a little calm 522 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,799 Speaker 1: implicated because Webber didn't win this election, but the guy 523 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,719 Speaker 1: who did left the studio six months later, and she 524 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 1: took over the job a largely ceremonial post. Really, I 525 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,359 Speaker 1: don't think it had any real function, but I think 526 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 1: it was an important ceremonial post and that it demonstrated 527 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:18,760 Speaker 1: to the world that Universal was led by a woman. 528 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,800 Speaker 1: So why don't we know Lois Webber's name? What happened? 529 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:24,719 Speaker 1: I think there's a whole bunch of complicated things that 530 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: happened with her decline. Once we get into the twenties, 531 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: once we get into the height of the jazz age 532 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:34,800 Speaker 1: entertainment and Hollywood in particular shifts to more escapism. Lois 533 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,080 Speaker 1: Webber doesn't do escapist and she doesn't do escapism, and 534 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:38,880 Speaker 1: she's out of stab. But there's a bunch of other 535 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:45,840 Speaker 1: stuff that's going, yes, yes, which are well, what happens 536 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: is by the early twenties. The movie industry is incredibly profitable. 537 00:35:51,680 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: So so guess what power consolidates. I'm a managing like 538 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 1: a bunch of cigar choppers, like guys like the monopoly man, 539 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,400 Speaker 1: coming in and going all right, all right, all right, ladies, 540 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: step aside, because now this is getting serious. There's big 541 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,360 Speaker 1: money here, and this is a man's job. That is 542 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: basically what happens. I mean, the studios in order to 543 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:18,359 Speaker 1: buy up Holly Theater chains had to borrow a lot 544 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: of money from Wall Street, and in doing so they 545 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,840 Speaker 1: sort of bought into a corporate culture which was highly 546 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 1: male and as a result, disvalued, forgot about female filmmakers. 547 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,360 Speaker 1: So and it happens really fast. You know, by the 548 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,759 Speaker 1: late twenties and early thirties, when the first histories of 549 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: Hollywood are being written, there is no mention of Lois 550 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:42,320 Speaker 1: Webber or any of the female filmmakers. It's all about 551 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: the female stars. It's all about Pickford and Swanson. Great, 552 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:50,520 Speaker 1: but they are forgotten very very fast, in a sort 553 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,719 Speaker 1: of effort to as you say, legitimate the industry. You know, 554 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 1: step aside, ladies, Well you know, we're gonna make this 555 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,279 Speaker 1: very profitable industry legit you could say women in Hollywood 556 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 1: went the way of silent films. The Jazz Singer premiered 557 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,839 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty seven, talkies became all the rage in 558 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: the following decades. Women directors were the exception to the rule. 559 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: There was Dorothy Artisner. She was a big deal in 560 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,920 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties and forties. Then in the nineteen fifties, 561 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,920 Speaker 1: Hollywood actress Ida Lapino you know her from crossword puzzles, 562 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 1: moved on to directing films and later television. And to 563 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:34,719 Speaker 1: this day, female filmmakers are told, well, it's never been 564 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:36,759 Speaker 1: done before. You're gonna have to reinvent the wheel. Oh 565 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: my goodness. You know, I don't think a woman can 566 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,440 Speaker 1: direct a big budget film. I don't think a female 567 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 1: lead can carry a picture. I don't think a film 568 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 1: about so called women's issues can be successful. These arguments 569 00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:50,520 Speaker 1: were one a hundred years ago, and yet we're still 570 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,440 Speaker 1: fighting about them because we've forgotten. It's a lot easier 571 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 1: to imagine something as possible if you know it's happened before. Absolutely, 572 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 1: that's why history matters. We talked about the forces that 573 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:04,160 Speaker 1: made it difficult for Lois Webber. Did she retire at 574 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:08,279 Speaker 1: one point, she did not retire. To her credit, she 575 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: made her last film in nineteen thirty four, which was 576 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:16,560 Speaker 1: her one and only sound picture. She took a boatload 577 00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 1: of generators to Kawai. She shot the first film on 578 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:25,320 Speaker 1: location on Kawaii. Jurassic Park was shot. You can't even 579 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,839 Speaker 1: imagine doing that. I mean, it's it's phenomenal. So she 580 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,640 Speaker 1: That was her last film in nineteen thirty four. She 581 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 1: died five years later in nineteen thirty nine, and in 582 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:38,319 Speaker 1: those intervening five years, she continued to write scripts. She 583 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,239 Speaker 1: continued to try to get films made. She never gave up, 584 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,920 Speaker 1: even in industry that was became very inhospitable to women, 585 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,720 Speaker 1: Just like we did for Elizabeth Jennings and Moses fleetwood Walker. 586 00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:59,480 Speaker 1: We tracked down the newspaper coverage of Lois Webber's passing. 587 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: She didn't get a ton of ink in the major papers, 588 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:05,839 Speaker 1: with one exception, a big front page item in the 589 00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:10,600 Speaker 1: Los Angeles Times penned by famed gossip columnist had a Hopper. 590 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 1: Hopper paid tribute by writing, I don't know of any 591 00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:17,640 Speaker 1: woman who has had a greater influence upon the motion 592 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:21,680 Speaker 1: picture business than Lois, or anyone who has helped so 593 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:25,080 Speaker 1: many climb the ladder of fame, asking for nothing but 594 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:29,480 Speaker 1: friendship in return. Hopper added, I have a feeling she 595 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 1: wasn't sorry to leave this world for a better one. 596 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:36,960 Speaker 1: Shelley Stamp hopes for a better legacy for Lois Webber. 597 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 1: I feel confident that over the long haul, the histories 598 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 1: of Hollywood will be rewritten to feature her and all 599 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:47,279 Speaker 1: of the other women that were active at the beginning industry. 600 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,080 Speaker 1: But the more films that come out and the more 601 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,399 Speaker 1: textbooks that get rewritten, the more at tension that's paid 602 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:59,399 Speaker 1: to her. I think we can correct this amnesia. These 603 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,759 Speaker 1: are the story of just three forgotten four runners, the 604 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:07,560 Speaker 1: Pioneers before the Pioneers. But in any story of firsts 605 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,919 Speaker 1: and four runners, you've got to be careful. We talked 606 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: about Elizabeth Jennings as the Rosa Parks of New York 607 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,440 Speaker 1: Parks is one of the most famous symbols of the 608 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 1: Civil rights struggle, But nine months before her arrest, a 609 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 1: woman named Claudette Colvin did the very same thing. And 610 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:28,320 Speaker 1: as far as Moses fleetwood Walker well, baseball researchers recently 611 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,160 Speaker 1: came across the story of William Edward White he played 612 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,880 Speaker 1: one Major League game in eighteen seventy nine for the 613 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 1: Providence Grays White was actually a former slave, but lived 614 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 1: his free life as a white man. So was he 615 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,800 Speaker 1: really the first? I don't know. Maybe proving who was 616 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:50,080 Speaker 1: first isn't as important as we think. Maybe it misses 617 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,840 Speaker 1: the point that all these people, whether they were first, second, 618 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:58,160 Speaker 1: or one hundred and second, had guts and made things 619 00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: at least a little bit better for the people who 620 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:05,440 Speaker 1: came later, sometimes much later. Of course, that depends on 621 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:28,359 Speaker 1: us remembering their stories next time. On Mobituaries, The Unforgettable 622 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:32,600 Speaker 1: Audrey Hepburn, Were you aware that the day of your inauguration, 623 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:38,080 Speaker 1: Audrey Hepburn died? No, you didn't know that. No. I 624 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,520 Speaker 1: certainly hope you enjoyed this mobid Be sure to rate 625 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:45,040 Speaker 1: and review our podcast. You can also follow Mobituaries on 626 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,960 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram, and you can follow me on Twitter 627 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:52,680 Speaker 1: at Morocca. For more great content, including photos of our forerunners, 628 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:57,040 Speaker 1: please visit mobituaries dot com. You can subscribe to Mobituaries 629 00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:01,759 Speaker 1: wherever you're getting your podcasts. This episode of Mobituaries was 630 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:05,880 Speaker 1: produced by Meghan Marcus. Our team of producers also includes 631 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:10,799 Speaker 1: Gideon Evans, Kate mccauliffe, Meghan Deetree and me Morocca. It 632 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:14,560 Speaker 1: was edited by Ashley Cleek and engineered by Dan de Zula. 633 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:21,000 Speaker 1: Indispensable support from Genius Dineski, Kira Wardlow, Zach Gilcrest, Richard Roarer, 634 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:25,960 Speaker 1: everyone at CBS News Radio, and Frank Petersburger at Tony Paco's. 635 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:30,360 Speaker 1: Our theme music is written by Daniel Hart and as always, 636 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:34,640 Speaker 1: undying thanks to Rand Morrison and John Carp without whom 637 00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:45,160 Speaker 1: Mobituaries couldn't live. Hi, It's mo. If you're enjoying Mobituaries 638 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:48,960 Speaker 1: the podcast, may I invite you to check out Mobituaries 639 00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:53,359 Speaker 1: the book. It's chock full of stories not in the podcast. 640 00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:57,200 Speaker 1: Celebrities who put their butts on the line, sports teams 641 00:42:57,239 --> 00:43:01,000 Speaker 1: that threw in the towel for good, forgotten, fashion defunct 642 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:06,440 Speaker 1: diagnoses presidential candidacies that cratered, whole countries that went caput. 643 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:10,000 Speaker 1: And dragons, Yes, dragons, you see. People used to believe 644 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:13,560 Speaker 1: the dragons will reel until just get the book. You 645 00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:17,279 Speaker 1: can order Mobituaries the Book from any online bookseller, or 646 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:20,239 Speaker 1: stop by your local bookstore and look for me when 647 00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:23,319 Speaker 1: I come to your city. Tour information and lots more 648 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:28,360 Speaker 1: at mobituaries dot com.