1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: We are just back from our Denver and Chicago leg 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: of our tour, and I have a little post tour 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: vocal uncertainty. Yeah, I think we're we're both in torch 7 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: song territory. Mine alternately sounds fine and then like garbage, 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: so brace yes. So if if you've never heard our 9 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: show before, this is maybe not what we typically sound 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: like all of the time. Anyway, we have gotten so 11 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: so many requests for today's topic, including one that came 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: in from our listener Alyssa while I was writing the episode. 13 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: That never happens normally. Normally, when people say have you 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: ever thought about doing an episode on whatever? Fill in 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: the blank, like ninety nine percent of the time the 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: answer is I don't know, maybe, like there's so much 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: stuff to think about. But this was a case where 18 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: she said have you ever thought of doing this? And 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: I was like, I'm working on it right now. So 20 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: way back when we heard from Angela, Dan Kristen, and 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: Harrison all requesting this topic, and then it briefly came 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: up in our past episode on the Fort Shaw Indian 23 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: School Girls basketball team, by total coincidence. After we recorded 24 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: that episode, but before it came out, the other podcast, 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: Saw Bones put out an episode on the topic. So 26 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: then we were just flooded with message about folks saying, hey, 27 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: saw Bones just did this. I lost track of everyone 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: requesting it. And anyway, the point is today we are 29 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: talking about Martin Cooney and his incubator sideshows which came 30 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: complete with premature babies in them. I've heard people pronounce 31 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: his names. His name a couple of different ways. I've 32 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: heard some people say County and I've heard some people 33 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: say Cooney, but Cooney seems to be the more common. 34 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: From a medical ethics standpoint, this is complicated. It Cooney 35 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: was turning premature babies and their care into a sideshow attraction, 36 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: and for a while he was also making a lot 37 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: of money off of that, and there are a lot 38 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: of question marks around his background and the experience that 39 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: he had and whether he was qualified to be doing 40 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: this at all. But at the same time, premature babies 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: really were not getting a lot of care otherwise, and 42 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: the general sense among the mainstream medical community was that 43 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: there was really nothing to be done for them, so 44 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: he was definitely saving babies lives, also some question marks 45 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: around what he was doing. Today. When people used the 46 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: phrase premature baby, they typically mean a baby who was 47 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: born before thirty seven weeks gestation, but during the time 48 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: that we're talking about today, that term was a lot 49 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: more nebulous. It did include babies who had been born 50 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: before thirty seven weeks, but it also included babies who 51 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: had a low birth weight for some other reason, along 52 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: with babies who maybe had some sort of illness, disability, 53 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: or developmental issue. And regardless of the cause, these babies 54 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: were often lumped together and described as weaklings, and for 55 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: the most part, doctors and hospitals in the nineteenth century 56 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: in Europe and North America just didn't provide them any 57 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: kind of specialized care. Parents were instructed to keep them 58 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: warm and to hope or pray for the best, but 59 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: that was just about it. And then underlying this was 60 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: an attitude that these babies who were not very strong 61 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: at their birth would just grow up to be adults 62 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: who also weren't very strong if they survived. So there 63 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: was this idea that maybe it was better to just 64 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: let nature take its course. Of course, this is an 65 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: ablest mindset and it sounds really callous today, but at 66 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: the time, instant mortality in general was quite high, even 67 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: among babies who were born at full term and seemed 68 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: initially to be healthy, and as we talked about in 69 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: our previous episode on Virginia Apgar, well into the twentieth century, 70 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: there was a lot more medical focus on the person 71 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: giving birth than on the newborn baby. In the nineteenth century, 72 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: the death of a baby was a tragedy, but it 73 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: was almost an expected tragedy, especially among premature babies. The 74 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: development that started to turn this perception around was the incubator. Historically, 75 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: people have known that babies need to be have warm, 76 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: but not too hot. This is especially true for pre 77 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: term infants who have less body fat and just aren't 78 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: able to regulate their own body temperature. As well, people 79 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: have used things like heated rocks or bricks or water bottles, blankets, candles, 80 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: and their own body heat to try to keep babies warm, 81 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: and there have also been cultures that recognize that premature 82 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: babies in particular needed to be kept consistently warm as 83 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: Tracy was working on this, she found an article from 84 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: back in the nineteen forties, so the language there was 85 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: really outdated, but it described native people in Siberia wrapping 86 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: babies in the skin of a seabird with the feathers 87 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: turned inward, and then keeping this sort of pouch that 88 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: they had created suspended over a very small flame. And 89 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: that article also discussed in did his people in Mozambique 90 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: keeping pre term babies wrapped up and placed in a 91 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: large pot that was warmed up in the sun. Both 92 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: of these techniques were essentially working as incubators, but the 93 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: incubator as we think of it today was first developed 94 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: in France in the nineteenth century by obstetrician Stephan Tarnier. 95 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: At the time, France as a nation was very concerned 96 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: about its birthrate, which was a lot lower than some 97 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: of its neighbors. This was leading to very practical worries 98 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: about whether France would have enough soldiers and laborers in 99 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: the future, so people were looking for ways not just 100 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: to increase the birth rate, but also to protect the 101 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: lives of the babies that were already being born. Turnier 102 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: got the idea after seeing incubators being used to hatch 103 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: eggs at a zoo. His first incubator was not very sophisticated. 104 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: It was basically a hot water bottle under a wooden 105 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: chamber with a glass top, but it got the job 106 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: done In one he tested it out in a Paris 107 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: maternity ward, focusing on bay bees who weighed less than 108 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: two thousand grahams that's a little under four and a 109 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: half pounds at birth. He reported that being kept in 110 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: the incubator cut their mortality rate in half. Although this 111 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: test went really well, Tarnier's invention wasn't really able to 112 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: be put into widespread use. Most babies in France were 113 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: being born at home, not in the hospital, so hospitals 114 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: set up premature baby words to receive these babies after 115 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,679 Speaker 1: their parents brought them in. But most of the time 116 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,559 Speaker 1: at least a day or two passed between the birth 117 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: and the arrival at the hospital, so by the time 118 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: they were admitted, these babies had been just too cold 119 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: for too long. Sometimes they had also contracted some kind 120 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: of illness, and so their mortality rate continued to be 121 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: quite high. In nine, physician Alexander Leon patented an improved 122 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: version of the incubator, like Tarnier's incubator. It heated a 123 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: chamber from below, but it also had a ventilation system 124 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: that drew fresh air into the incubator and a thermostat 125 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: to regulate the temperature. These devices were expensive, and it 126 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: was also expensive for a hospital to employ a twenty 127 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: four hour medical staff to care for the babies that 128 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: needed them. This was especially true since most people weren't 129 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: giving birth in hospitals, so for the most part, hospitals 130 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: weren't adding premature infant care to existing labor and delivery 131 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: wards that were already fully staffed. They were having to 132 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: start from scratch. It could be weeks or months before 133 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: these babies were ready to go home, so words for 134 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: premature infants also needed to employ wet nurses to keep 135 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: them fed. So to make this level of care affordable, 136 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: Leon established a number of premature infant charities in France's 137 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: major cities, and while those were in operation, they treated 138 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: as many as eight thousand infants, with roughly seventy hundred 139 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: of them surviving. These facilities were funded by charitable contributions, 140 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: by the cities where they were operating, and by the 141 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: admission fees that people paid to come and look at 142 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: these babies. These incubators soon spread outside of France, as 143 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: did the idea of putting the incubators and the babies 144 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: inside them on display. On May one, nineties six, the 145 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: kinder Rutenstaldt or Child Hatchery opened at the Berlin Industrial Exposition. 146 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: This included six incubators that were open for public view, 147 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: along with housing for the medical staff and the wet 148 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: nurses who were working there. Later on, Martin Cooney said 149 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: that the child hatchery in Berlin was where he got 150 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: his start in working with incubators and premature babies. He 151 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: said that he was from Alsace Laurent, France, and had 152 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: studied medicine at University of Leipzig before continuing his education 153 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: under the tutelage of French pediatrician Pierre Boudin. Boudin was 154 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: one of the leading authorities on the care of premature infants. 155 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: He even went on to write the first major textbook 156 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: on the subject, which was titled Nursling The Feeding and 157 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: Hygiene of Premature and full term Infants. So, according to Cooney, 158 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: he went to Berlin on Boudin's instruction to run the 159 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: child hatchery at the Berlin Industrial Exposition Cooney said that 160 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: it had been his idea to put these babies in 161 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: the incubators rather than just showcasing empty incubators as an 162 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: example of a new technology. He also said he worked 163 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: with Empress Augusta Victoria to get approval for premature babies 164 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: from Berlin's hospitals to be cared for in this exhibit. 165 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: But none of that seems to actually be true. And 166 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 1: we are gonna get two more about Cooney and all 167 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: of that after we first paused for a little sponsor break. 168 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: According to Martin Cooney's immigration documents, he was born in 169 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: Krytasian on December eighteen sixty nine. Today that's Krytocean, Poland, 170 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: but at the time it was in Prussia. Cooney's name 171 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,319 Speaker 1: at birth was Michael Cohen. He and his family were Jewish, 172 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: as was about a third of the population of the 173 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: town where they were living. From there, his upbringing in 174 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: background get really unclear. The backstory that he told people 175 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: about when and where he was born was all over 176 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: the place. He is listed on the manifest of a 177 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: ship that came to the US in eighteen eighty eight 178 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: when he was nineteen, but by eighteen ninety seven he 179 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: was in London, having partnered with entrepreneurs Samuel Shanken to 180 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: create an incubator exhibition for the Victorian Era Exhibition. Although 181 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: Cooney claimed that he had studied medicine in Leipzig, which 182 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: logically would have happened between eighteen eighty eight and eighteen 183 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: nine seven, there's no evidence that he studied at the 184 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: University of Leipzig or at any other university in Europe, 185 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: or that he continued his studies with Pierre Boudin. There's 186 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 1: also no evidence that Cooney had anything to do with 187 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: the child hatchery in Berlin, although it seems as though 188 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: he and Shanken licensed that endeavor from Alexandre Lyon when 189 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: they started working on a similar attraction at the Victorian 190 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: Era Exhibition. When Cooney and Shanken launched the Victorian Era 191 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: Exhibition an incubator display. Incubators had been used in France 192 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: and other parts of the Western European continent for years, 193 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: but they were still pretty new in England. Attitudes about 194 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: parenting were a little different. Parents and we're just not 195 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: as receptive to the idea. When Cooney and Shanken had 196 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: trouble convincing parents to place their babies in the exhibition. 197 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: They brought newborns across the Channel from France under the 198 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: care of nurse Louise Recht, who spent a lot of 199 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: her career working with Cooney's exhibits. At least two hundred 200 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,679 Speaker 1: thousand people visited the Incubators. As a Victorian era exhibition, 201 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,839 Speaker 1: it got a favorable right up in the Lancet, although 202 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: the Lancets coverage of these types of exhibitions wasn't always positive. 203 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: Cooney and Shanken also wrote a letter to the Lancet 204 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: in warning of the dangers of competing shows that were 205 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: not affiliated with them and had no medical staff. Cooney's 206 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: name on this particular letter is printed as Martin Coney 207 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: c O n e Y. Martin Coney seems to have 208 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: evolved in Martin Cooney By the time Cooney started an 209 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: incubator exhibition at the trans Mississippi and International Exhibition, also 210 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 1: known as the Omaha World's Fair, that was an eight, 211 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: although at that point he hadn't changed his name legally yet. 212 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: While in Omaha, Cooney was approached by the Krug Cabinet 213 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: Beer Company about supplying beer for the exhibits. Wet nurses, 214 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: folks have long believed the beer can help improve milk supply, 215 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,320 Speaker 1: something that seems to be connected to one of the 216 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: pol saccharides in the barley rather than to the alcohol content. 217 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: The Omaha Daily be published a quote by Dr Martin 218 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: Cooney that quote, we take pleasure in stating we have 219 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: used Krug cabinet bottled beer consistently for milk producing qualities. 220 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: We can cheerfully recommend it to all nursing mothers. On 221 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: November two, while still in Omaha, Cooney was naturalized as 222 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: a US citizen. At that time, he justified that he 223 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: had been living in Nebraska continually for the previous ten years, 224 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: and that was clearly not true since at minimum he 225 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: had been in London for the Victorian Exhibition. Cooney's next 226 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: major exhibition was the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo in 227 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: nineteen o one, which had eighteen incubators. By that point, 228 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: at least one hospital was also trying to use incubators 229 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: for premature infant care. That was Chicago Lying In Hospital, 230 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: where an incubator station was opened in nineteen hundred by 231 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: Joseph B. De Lee. This station had some of the 232 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: same struggles as the first French hospitals using incubators did 233 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: back in the eighteen eighties, they were expensive to buy, 234 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: run and staff, and most of the babies who needed 235 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 1: them were being born at home. By contrast, the attraction 236 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: at the expo went very well, although the exposition itself 237 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: was marred by the assassination of President McKinley. In nineteen 238 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 1: o three, Cooney started the baby exhibit that he's most 239 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: famous for. It was his first permanent exhibition at Luna 240 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: Park on Coney Island. This was permanent and that he 241 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: continued to run it for decades, but the park itself 242 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: was seasonal, so during the winter months, any babies who 243 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 1: were still there were either sent home or to hospitals 244 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: along with their incubators, and any incubators not in use 245 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: were put into storage. The Luna Park exhibition was similar 246 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: to all of Cooney's previous exhibitions. It had space for 247 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: the incubators themselves, which people could view through a window 248 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: after buying a ticket. The space had housing for the 249 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: medical staff and the wet nurses. The staff included Dr. 250 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: Solomon Fishel and nurses Louise Wrecht and Annabelle Signer, but 251 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: unlike earlier exhibits. This one also had an exam room 252 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: that was also viewable through a window, so in addition 253 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: to seeing the babies and their incubators, the audience would 254 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: also see there's some of their medical examinations and other care. 255 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: Their parents weren't charged anything for the baby's care, and 256 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: no premature baby was turned away. The incubator displays had 257 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: always had kind of an educational component, explaining what the 258 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: incubators were and how they worked and why the babies 259 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: needed them, and this continued at Luna Park as well. 260 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: For the most part, the care that the babies were 261 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: getting was pretty basic. Even when Pierre Budan's textbook on 262 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: Premature Infant care was published in nineteen one, most of 263 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: its guidelines boiled down to keeping the baby warm and 264 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: fed and preventing infections. Breast milk was the ideal food, 265 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: which is why there were wet nurses on staff. If 266 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: breast milk was not available for some reason, sterilized cow's 267 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: milk could be used as a substitute. For babies who 268 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: were too weak to suckle, the nurses used droppers or 269 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: tubes into the stomach or through the nose. At the 270 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: same time, this was definitely a carnival attraction. It was 271 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: located on a boardwalk in an amusement park. Although Coarney 272 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: had strict rules for cleanliness and hygiene and the diets 273 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: of the wet nurses, the surrounding area was noisy and dirty. 274 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: Sometimes the exhibits around the babies were a little racy. 275 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: The staff also included barkers who tried to draw in 276 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: an audience from outside, and people who sold tickets for 277 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: twenty five cents apiece, and there was definitely some theatricality 278 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: involved in the display itself. The babies were often dressed 279 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: in clothes that were too big for them, with an 280 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: oversized bow around their middle, and that made them look 281 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: even smaller than they already were. Nurse Wrecked was fond 282 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: of putting a diamond ring from her index finger around 283 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: a baby's wrist, where it would dangle like a bracelet. 284 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: Even though Cooney was providing life saving care to these 285 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: premature infants, and even though everyone seems to have taken 286 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: as fact that he really was a medical doctor, the 287 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: Luna Park exhibit drew a lot of criticism. On August 288 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: nine oh three, an article in The New York Times 289 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: accused Cooney of running a baby farm. John D. Lindsay, 290 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: who was president of the New York Society for the 291 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: Prevention of Cruelty to Children, became an outspoken critic of 292 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: Cooney and of baby side shows. Eventually, the matter went 293 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: to court, and Cooney testified that he had saved fifty 294 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: of the fifty two babies he was brought in Buffalo, 295 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: and so far eighteen of the nineteen babies brought to 296 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: him in New York. The Luna Park side show was 297 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 1: allowed to continue. On August thirty one, nineteen o three, 298 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: Michael Cohen legally changed his name to Martin Arthur Cooney. 299 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: A little less than a month later, on September twenty six, 300 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: he married nurse Annabelle Segner, who continued to work with 301 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,159 Speaker 1: him at the baby exhibit. In nineteen o four, the 302 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: Luna Park Nurse reopened for the season, and another location 303 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: virtually identical opened it, Dreamland Amusement Park, which was also 304 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: on Coney Island. A third amusement park location later opened 305 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Throughout all of this, other 306 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: people were continuing to use incubators with living babies as 307 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: exhibits and sideshows, and fairs and expositions people who didn't 308 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 1: have anything to do with Martin Cooney. Cooney wrote about 309 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: these as inferior imitations of his own idea, even though 310 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: it really seems like he lifted this idea from Alexander Leon. 311 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: Some of these other exhibits ran without incident, but in 312 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: nineteen o four, disaster struck at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition 313 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: him also called the St. Louis World's Fair. This was 314 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: the one that we talked about in our previous episode 315 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: on the Fort Shaw Indian schoolgirls basketball team. There was 316 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: an outbreak of diarrhea in the exhibit and the mortality 317 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,359 Speaker 1: rate at the exhibit approached. A doctor was brought in 318 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: to take charge, and Cooney was careful distress that he 319 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: had not had anything to do with that exhibit. Although 320 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: Cooney continued to arrange and run baby incubator attractions and expositions, 321 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: the amusement park locations were really a big part of 322 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: the rest of his career, and we'll get into more 323 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: of that after another quick sponsor break. In the years 324 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 1: after Martin Cooney arranged his first incubator attraction, he started 325 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: holding periodic reunions which would bring together babies and young 326 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,639 Speaker 1: children who had spent their early months in one of 327 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,919 Speaker 1: his incubators, now, of course, thriving and healthy. The large 328 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: majority of premature infants that he cared for went on 329 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: to grow and thrive. At the same time, his whole 330 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: career was full of ups and downs. For example, in 331 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: nineteen o five, the Infant Incubator Company was established, with 332 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: Cooney's colleagues Dr. Solomon Fishel and Samuel Shanken as co directors. 333 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: That same year, the New York Society for the Prevention 334 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: of Cruelty to Children try to lobby for legislation that 335 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: would make the exhibition of babies in incubators a misdemeanor. 336 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 1: On January twenty nine seven, Cooney's wife, Annabelle, gave birth 337 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,400 Speaker 1: to a daughter, about six weeks early. Since it was January, 338 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: the amusement parks were closed for the season, so Cooney 339 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: got somebody to retrieve one of the exhibit incubators from storage. 340 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 1: This daughter, Hilda guard Francis, survived her infancy and went 341 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: on to become a nurse working in her father's exhibits. 342 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: She was also dogged by rumors that she wasn't actually 343 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 1: Martin and Annabel's child, but was a premature baby that 344 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: somebody else had abandoned. On May nineteen eleven, a fire 345 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: broke out at Dreamland Amusement Park. As always, there were 346 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: staff members on duty at the incubator exhibition, which was 347 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: successfully evacuated, but The New York Times published an incorrect 348 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: report saying that all of the babies had been killed. 349 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: John D. Lindsay used this as fodder to renew his 350 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,400 Speaker 1: criticisms of the side shows, although they did continue to operate. 351 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,440 Speaker 1: In nineteen fourteen, Cooney established an incubator display at White 352 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: City Amusement Park in Chicago, and there he met Dr 353 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: Julius Hess. Hess would go on to established the first 354 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: dedicated intensive care unit for premature infants in the United States. 355 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,640 Speaker 1: Hess didn't really approve of the theatricality that was involved 356 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: with Cooney's exhibits, but he really regarded Cooney as a 357 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: friend and a colleague. When Hess published his textbook, Premature 358 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: and Condenitally Diseased Infants, he had Cooney review it beforehand 359 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: and acknowledged his contributions when it was published. Has also 360 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: dedicated another book to Cooney, In Night Together. Hess and 361 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,440 Speaker 1: Cooney planned a state of the Art Incubator for facility 362 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,959 Speaker 1: for the Chicago Century of Progress in nineteen thirty three. 363 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,440 Speaker 1: While Cooney's earlier incubator exhibits had included some education, this 364 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: was more like a functioning research institute, with the staff 365 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: specifically studying the care the babies were receiving and its 366 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,119 Speaker 1: effects and outcomes. Hess and Cooney's medical teams were both involved, 367 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: so each team learned from the other. At about the 368 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: same time, more hospitals were starting to establish dedicated facilities 369 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: for pre term infant care, so this work being done 370 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: at the Century of Progress was contributing to a growing 371 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: medical field. The next year, in four, William Randolph Hurst 372 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: approached Cooney with a request to travel to Canada, where 373 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: Quinn tuplets had been born in Ontario. These five babies 374 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: came to be known as the Dion Quinns, and Cooney 375 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: declined to get involved with their care. The reason that 376 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: he gave publicly was that his existing patients needed him 377 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: he just didn't have time with his other work, but 378 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: it was also because he didn't think these babies were 379 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: likely to survive, and his experience in cases of multiple 380 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 1: births at most only one baby survived all five of 381 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: the dion quintuplets did survive their infancy, and we have 382 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: gotten a lot of request to talk about them on 383 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: the podcast. It's kind of like the never ending request 384 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: loin Um. But two of them are still living and 385 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: we don't generally do biographies of living persons. And they 386 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: have also said pretty clearly that they just want their privacy, 387 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: and a big part of their story is their privacy 388 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: being taken away from them from their infancy and Childhood's uh, 389 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,439 Speaker 1: that is why we are not doing an episode on 390 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,679 Speaker 1: the dion quintuplets. So, yes, it is fascinating and we 391 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: understand the curiosity, but we're respecting their privacy. They've pretty 392 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:44,679 Speaker 1: clearly said they would just like to be left alone. 393 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: In the late nineteen thirties, things were pretty difficult for Cooney. 394 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: His wife, Annabel died. He was also aware of events 395 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: in Germany as Hitler came to power, and he knew 396 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: that his Jewish friends and family in Europe were at 397 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 1: great risk. During the late eighteen thirties, he arranged for 398 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: about fifteen people to leave Europe, paying their way and 399 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: handling their paperwork. Then Cooney tried to arrange another incubators 400 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,400 Speaker 1: side show at the New York World's Fair in nineteen 401 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: thirty nine, but by this point the novelty of incubators 402 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: had started to wear off. The exhibit just didn't draw 403 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: the kinds of crowds that previous efforts had, and for 404 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: the first time, Cooney lost money. The show was renewed 405 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: for a second season, with Cooney hoping that he could 406 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: make up for the earlier loss, but the opposite happened. 407 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: The whole thing was financially disastrous. That was not going 408 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: well at this point for the more permanent locations either, 409 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,679 Speaker 1: and the two remaining amusement park attractions, which were at 410 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: Luna Park and Atlantic City, both closed in nineteen forty three. 411 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: At that point Cooney retired. Also, more and more premature 412 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: care wards were opening around the United States by this point. 413 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 1: It was something that paused a little during World War Two, 414 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: but then resumed afterward. Cooney died on March first, nineteen 415 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 1: fifty He had become known at that as the Incubator Doctor, 416 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: and it's estimated that during his career, his exhibitions cared 417 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: for at least eight thousand babies and saved the lives 418 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,840 Speaker 1: of at least six thousand five hundred of them, but 419 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: when talking about it to the media, he always stressed 420 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: that he shouldn't get all the credit, that the doctors, nurses, 421 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: and wet nurses on staff were critical to the work. 422 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: Cooney's legacy is really complicated. There are just so many 423 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 1: holes and some outright falsehoods in the back story that 424 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,439 Speaker 1: he told people about himself, and we really have no 425 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: idea what his credentials were when he started his first exhibit. 426 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: There's just no documentation that he had the medical degree 427 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: that he said he had. Although we could logically conclude 428 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 1: that he changed his name to try to avoid anti Semitism, 429 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: we don't actually know what motivated him to do it 430 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: or why he was just so cagy and inconsistent about 431 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: what his background was. But he definitely dedicated most of 432 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,120 Speaker 1: his adult life to taking care of babies that doctors 433 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,199 Speaker 1: didn't think could or should be help, and thanks to 434 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: his work, the public perception of premature babies also started 435 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: to shift away from this idea of hopeless weaklings who 436 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 1: might be better off if they were allowed to die 437 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: two fighters who could thrive if they just had the 438 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: right kind of care. Some writers have framed Cooney's work 439 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: as an opposition to the eugenics movement. And while it's 440 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: true that the eugenics movement approved of the idea of 441 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: allowing the so called weak to quote die out, Cooney 442 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: also reinforced some of that same mindset with how he 443 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: talked about these babies. He's stressed that they were going 444 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: to grow up quote healthy and normal and not to 445 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: be weaklings. He implied that if they were going to 446 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: grow up to be ill or disabled, he wouldn't be 447 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,600 Speaker 1: doing what he was doing. There are also arguments about 448 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: whether Coney's use of incubators as a sideshow attraction delayed 449 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: their mainstream medical acceptance. That was a little harder to 450 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: pin down. On the one hand, as Cooney and his 451 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: staff were working with these children, they were learning and 452 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: developing new skills and getting better at it over time 453 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: and influencing the work of some of the United States 454 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: earliest neonatologists. But it is also entirely possible that doctors 455 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: just didn't want to be associated with something that was 456 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: so closely connected to sideshows and amusement parks, and that 457 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: it made the whole technology seem a little bit suspicious. 458 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: And of course there have been huge advances in premature 459 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: baby care since Cooney's death There largely outside the scope 460 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: of this podcast, but especially for babies born very early, 461 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: it's no longer a matter of just trying to keep 462 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: them warm and fed in preventing illnesses, there are a 463 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: lot of other medical interventions that can take place, and 464 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: that has led to a whole other ethical debate about 465 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: when to resuscitate premature babies and what level of care 466 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: and intervention that they should receive. That's Martin Cooney and 467 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 1: his Baby Side Shows. You're fascinating and also kind of 468 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: complicated topic. Yeah. Uh, do you have a little bit 469 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: of listener mail that may or may not be fascinating 470 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 1: and complicated? I do it. It is from Celeste, and 471 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: Celeste says, Hello, Tracy and Holly. I love the podcast 472 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: and I'm so glad that there's something I can talk 473 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: to you guys about. While it's not my favorite color, 474 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: the color blue is such a fascinating color. A couple 475 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,200 Speaker 1: of years ago, I watched this video on YouTube called 476 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: why is blue so Rare in Nature? It's a really 477 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,680 Speaker 1: interesting video talking about said question. They talk about how 478 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: it's so rare to find a pure blue in nature 479 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: and They also talk about the few examples of blue 480 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: in nature, like a peacock feather, the blue monarch butterfly, 481 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 1: and more. They talked about why these things have such 482 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: a strong blue color. I recommend you guys watch it, uh, 483 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: and then Celeste follows with several uh different topics for 484 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: future episodes. I would like to say thank you so 485 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: much Celest for writing this letter. I hope I have 486 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: pronounced it correctly, UH the name Celest because I noticed 487 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,400 Speaker 1: there is an accent mark in it that I hope 488 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: I am rendering correctly anyway, UM, I will put a 489 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: link or I will ask Colleige, because Holly is the 490 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: person who sets up our actual episodes for a publication. 491 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: UH to you put a link to this video in 492 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: the show notes, because this is a really interesting video. UM. 493 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: It is from PBS Digital Studios, and it basically talks 494 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 1: about how a lot of the blue butterflies and uh 495 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: and feathers and things like that that we see in 496 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: nature aren't blue because of a blue pigment. They're blue 497 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: because of the way the light reflects off of the 498 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: physical structure of like the wings, which is really cool 499 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:35,199 Speaker 1: and we did not really get into that in our 500 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: mysteries of the color blue. It all so thank you 501 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: again so much for sending that. 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