1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: a show that soars through important moments in history one 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: day at a time. I'm Gabe Lousier and in this episode, 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: we're looking at the groundbreaking maiden flight of Ruth Carol Taylor, 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: the first black flight attendant in US history. The day 7 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: was February eleven, ninety eight. Ruth Carol Taylor became the 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: first ever African American flight attendant when she operated a 9 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: flight from Ithaca to New York City. Taylor was born 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: in Boston, Massachusetts, on December two. Her mother, Ruth Irene Powell, 11 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: was a registered nurse and her father, William Medicine Taylor, 12 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: was a bar her. Years later, the family moved to 13 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: upstate New York to set up a farm. In the 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: early nineteen fifties, Taylor decided to become a nurse like 15 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: her mother. She enrolled in the Bellevue School for Nursing 16 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: in New York City and graduated as a registered nurse 17 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five. At the time, black Americans were 18 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: immersed in a decade's long struggle for equal civil rights 19 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: under the law, and similar calls for social justice were 20 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: being made all over the world. In nineteen fifty seven, 21 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: France made some headway in that regard when U a T, 22 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: one of the airlines that served France's African routes, hired 23 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: the first black flight attendant in the world. Her name 24 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: was Dual Bell Smith and she was a princess of 25 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: the Royal Duala family of the West African nation of Cameroon. 26 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty six, at the age of seventeen, Smith 27 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: was recruited and sent to Paris for flight training, and 28 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: a year later she took to the skies for the 29 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: first time. Meanwhile, back in the United States, Ruth Taylor 30 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: was ready for a career change after just two years 31 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 1: as a nurse. In early nineteen fifty seven, she decided 32 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: to follow Smith's lead and try to break the racial 33 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: barrier for flight attendance in her own country. That's not 34 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: an assumption either. In an interview with Jet magazine, Taylor 35 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: flat out said that she had no long term career 36 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: aspirations as a flight attendant. She wanted the job strictly 37 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: because the airline industry said she couldn't have it, not 38 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: on the basis of her intelligence or experience or personality, 39 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: but because of the color of her skin. The fight 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: for equal opportunity in housing, education, and employment was raging 41 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: all around her, in her own country and beyond. Taylor 42 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: picked her battle, and she joined the fight. She first 43 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: applied for a job as a flight attendant at a 44 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: major US carrier, the trans World Airline or T Double 45 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: you A. However, as she expected, her application was refused 46 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: on account of her skin tone. At the time, airlines 47 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: had all kinds of discriminatory rules about who was or 48 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: wasn't fit to be a flight attendant. There were regulations 49 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: regarding female attendants, height, weight, and general appearance, and they 50 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: weren't allowed to get married or become pregnant either. Many 51 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: of those barriers would sadly remain in place for years, 52 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: but Taylor believed the policy against hiring minority crew members 53 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: was ready to give way. To help give it a push, 54 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: she filed a complaint against the company with the New 55 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: York State Commission on Discrimination. Nothing ever, came from it directly, 56 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: but other companies started to reassess their hiring policies. First 57 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: out of the gate was a mid Atlantic carrier called 58 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: Mohawk Airlines, which expressed interest in hiring non white flight attendants. 59 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: Taylor applied for the position along with eight hundred other 60 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: black applicants, and in December of nineteen fifty seven, she 61 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: was told she had the job. She started training right away, 62 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: and two months later she was ready to take her 63 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: first flight. On February eleven, nineteen fifty eight, she made 64 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: aviation history as the first black flight attendant to operate 65 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: a flight in the United States. It was a short 66 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: trip from the Tompkins Regional Airport in Ithaca to JFK 67 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: in New York City, but he left a lasting impression 68 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: on the industry. In fact, just three months later, t 69 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: w A, the airline that had rejected Taylor, changed its 70 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: mind and hired Margaret Grant as its first African American 71 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: crew member. Still, despite her big victory, Taylor's flying days 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: were cut short thanks to another one of the industry's 73 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: absurd regulations. Before she had even applied to be a 74 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: flight attendant, Taylor had gotten engaged to a man named 75 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: Red Legal six months after she got the job at Mohawk. 76 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: Her wedding day was just around the corner. The company 77 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: made it clear that once she became a married woman, 78 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: she would be out of a job, so Taylor decided 79 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: to beat them to the punch. She resigned that month 80 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: and got married as planned. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last 81 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,919 Speaker 1: much longer than the job at Mohawk, and the couple 82 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: got divorced shortly after the birth of their daughter. Taylor 83 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: then moved to Barbados and returned to her roots by 84 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: founding the country's first professional nursing journal. She also became 85 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: more active in the civil rights movement, reporting on the 86 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three March on Washington and working as an 87 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: activist for racial equality and women's rights. She continued this 88 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: work throughout the nineteen seventies, eventually returning to New York, 89 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 1: where she co founded the Institute for Interracial Harmony. She 90 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: put her own spin on the green book travel guides 91 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: of the mid twentieth century by writing The Little Black Book, 92 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: a survival guide for young Black men living in the 93 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: United States. Although she wasn't a flight attendant for long, 94 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: Ruth Carrol Taylor succeeded in bringing long overdue change to 95 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: the aviation industry and secured a major win for black 96 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: civil rights, but it still took entirely too long for 97 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: American carriers to follow through on the promises that had 98 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: brought them such good publicity. For example, after Taylor and 99 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: Margaret Grant, no other African American flight attendants were hired 100 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: in the US until nineteen sixty, when Capital Airlines hired 101 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: Patricia Banks, and even then her employment only happened because 102 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,119 Speaker 1: state officials ordered the company to give her the job 103 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: or face charges of discrimination. That in itself was a 104 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: kind of progress, since nothing had been done at all 105 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: when Taylor raised the same complaint three years earlier. But 106 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: it would still be decades before interracial cabin crews became 107 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: no big deal in the US, and without the efforts 108 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: of Ruth Carrol Taylor and those of women like her, 109 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: the long battle for racial equality in the Skies may 110 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: have lasted even longer. That's why I think it's important 111 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: to remember stories like hers, those of people who pushed 112 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: back against the injustices of society, not in a courtroom 113 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: or at a pulpit or on a battlefield, but in 114 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: their everyday lives. It shows that sometimes big changes start 115 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: with small ones, and that's a message that's as true 116 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: today as it was then. I'm gay, Bluesier, and hopefully 117 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 118 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: he did yesterday. You can learn even more about history 119 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 120 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: d i HC Show. If you have any comments or suggestions, 121 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: you can send them my way at this Day at 122 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: I heart media dot com. Thanks as always to Chandler 123 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 124 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another Day 125 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: in History class. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 126 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 127 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.