1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Daddy and I'm Dublin A Charkerboardy. And the 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: question that we have on the table who was America's 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: first black millionaires isn't one that you think would be 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: really up for debate. I mean, most people when they 7 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: discuss America's first black female millionaire, they're talking about a 8 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: woman named Sarah Breedlove Walker, who's also known as Madam C. J. Walker. 9 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: Walker was born in eighteen sixty seven. She was the 10 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: daughter of former slaves, and she was raised in a 11 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: shack in Louisiana. She however, managed to work her way 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: all the way up from being a washerwoman to owning 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: her own multimillion dollar company called Madam C. J. Walker 14 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: Manufacturing Company. And kind of the key to her success 15 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: was inventing a formula for a product that gave African 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: American women's smooth, shiny hair, and she did that in 17 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: nineteen o five, so really self made woman worked her 18 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: way up. Most historians say that Walker became a millionaire 19 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 1: around nineteen fourteen or nineteen fifteen, so she was nearly 20 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:11,960 Speaker 1: fifty years old when she got there. Yeah, she's the 21 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: lady who you learn about when you're studying black history 22 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: in school. You learn you know, you see her picture, 23 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: you'd probably recognize her if you if you saw her, 24 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: you'd recognize her advertisements. Even she's very famous even today exactly. 25 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: But it's someone else, another person named Sarah. In fact, 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: how about that Sarah is very popular. This person may 27 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 1: have actually beaten her to the punch and it was 28 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: a black girl named Sarah Rector who became a millionaire 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: somewhere around nineteen eleven or nineteen twelve. And the really 30 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: amazing part about this is that she was only ten 31 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: years old. And I'm just gonna pause here to say 32 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: that a lot of our dates in this podcast come 33 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: from an article about Rector that was published in the 34 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: Crisis last year. The Crisis is the n Double, a 35 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: CP magazine, and it was an article called the Richest 36 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: Colored Girl in the World. So we kind of have to, 37 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: I guess, just pick one set of dates because there's 38 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: a lot of debate about what dates, happened, the win, 39 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: the where, everything like that, because there's really not that 40 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: much information out there about her. Yeah, not much that 41 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: was that was documented. Um, But you know, if we're 42 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: going to assume though she's ten years old, it's nineteen eleven, 43 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve. At such a young age, obviously, her wealth 44 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: did not come from hard work like Madam C. J. Walker, 45 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: from the successful business. Instead, it was the result of 46 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: a combination of legislation, oil speculation, and quite obviously a 47 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: little bit of good luck. But at the same time, 48 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: she didn't have it easy either. She had really humble beginnings. 49 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: Her story, though, is a little different from some others 50 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: that you might hear about growing up black in North 51 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: America around the turn of the twentieth century. She was 52 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,399 Speaker 1: born March third, nineteen o two, in Indian Territory, which 53 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: would later become the state of Oklahoma in nineteen o seven, 54 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: So this was kind of northeast Oklahoma, so you can 55 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 1: think about it that way. And she was born near 56 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: the town of Taft, which was an all black town. 57 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: But there's something interesting about being born in Indian Territory 58 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: at this time because even though she's black by birthright, 59 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: she's a member of the Creek Nation. Go figure right. 60 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: So here's the background to that. Some Native Americans and 61 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: Indian Territory had African slaves prior to the Civil War, 62 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: just like some white people did. However, as a result 63 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,239 Speaker 1: of the Treaty of eighteen sixty six, which was between 64 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: the US government and the five civilized tribes and that 65 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: included the Creek, the Cherokee, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes, 66 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: these tribes had to abolish slavery and make the former slaves, 67 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: who were known from that point as freedman, full members 68 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: of their tribes, and as such they had quote an 69 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: equal interest in the soil. So it was amazing because 70 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: blacks finally had their own land. It was a big 71 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: landmark thing to happen for them, and they were members 72 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: of Indian nations, so kind of a strange combination of 73 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: identities here. But soil that that important were there became 74 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: really significant in eight seven with the passage of the 75 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: DAWs Allotment Act, and basically it was a policy that 76 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,239 Speaker 1: did away with communal tribal landholdings in preparation for turning 77 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: Indian territory into a state, and the aim was to 78 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: absorb tried members into US society. And as a part 79 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: of the act, a few things happened. One was reservation lands, 80 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: which were of course giant blocks of land, were broken 81 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,559 Speaker 1: up into individual parcels that were each in turn given 82 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: to individual tribe members. So every tribe member got a 83 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty acres of land. And then once everything 84 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: was divided up and everybody got his or her share, 85 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 1: there was a surplus of land that was sold to 86 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: white settlers. Yeah, and in this situation, Native Americans and 87 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: Black freedmen, they were considered equally when these land arstals 88 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: were handed out. So as part of this act, Native 89 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: Americans and Black freedmen were considered equally when the land 90 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: parcels were actually handed out, And something interesting happened as 91 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: part of this. About four thousand, four hundred and seven 92 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: black children received nearly one million acres of land in 93 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: eastern Oklahoma. So everybody was getting a piece, and they 94 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: did too. And since the distribution of these lands lasted 95 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: until nineteen o six, Rector was one of those kids 96 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: that got some land as well. But just getting the 97 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: land isn't what made Rector rich. In fact, a lot 98 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: of the land that the Native Americans and freedman ended 99 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: up with was considered to be completely worthless. They got 100 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: the Rocky hilly stuff, basically the stuff that you couldn't 101 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: do anything with, and the land that was considered farmable 102 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: and useful was given to white settlers or put up 103 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: for white settlers to be able to purchase. I should 104 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: make some money off of it. The Rector got her 105 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: a little parcel of land when she was about four 106 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: years old, and it was located in an area known 107 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: as Glenpool, and initially it was a praised is only 108 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: being worth five fifty six dollars and fifty cents. I 109 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: think that's important to to add that little note in there. 110 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: And her dad, Joseph Rector, was just not interested on 111 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: owning this property or his daughter owning the property, because 112 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: he was going to have to pay taxes on it, 113 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: so he tried to sell it off. He petitioned the 114 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: Muskogee County Court to u to let him sell it, 115 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: but there were restrictions in place about the land, and 116 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: he couldn't sell it because Sarah was a minor and 117 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: therefore she couldn't legally enter into business contracts. So he 118 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: had to keep paying taxes on what everyone thought was 119 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: entirely worthless land. And it was a struggle for the 120 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 1: family because they didn't have a lot of money, so 121 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: it's really kind of a significant thing. Then. However, in 122 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: February nineteen eleven, a businessman named B. B. Jones made 123 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: a discovery on Rector's property that kind of changed everything, 124 00:06:54,720 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: and that was loyal Yeah, cu the Beverly Hillbillies. Yeah, definitely. Um. 125 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: Much like the dates we have to mention here, exact 126 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: figures regarding the income that she ended up getting from 127 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: this oil tent to vary, but we can say that 128 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: by about nineteen thirteen, her land had already earned around 129 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand dollars and her income was increasing at 130 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: a rate of ten thousand per month, so even by 131 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: today's standards, a lot of my According to the crisis, 132 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: Some national newspapers reported that a nineteen thirteen her income 133 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: from oil revenue was as high as fifty thousand dollars 134 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: a month, a whole lot of money. And you'd think, then, 135 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: if she's bringing in all of this money, her family 136 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: would at least be living comfortably, even if if they 137 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: didn't have access to all of it, they'd have a 138 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: little something going on. But reports had her still living 139 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: in a two room shanty with her family, which included 140 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: five siblings so tight quarters, they're wearing a cheap dress 141 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: and no shoes. Plus she wasn't even in school. So 142 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: clearly something had gone terribly wrong if this little girl 143 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: could be making so much money and gotten so lucky 144 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: with her a lotment of land and she still she's 145 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: living in poverty, right, And it didn't really help that 146 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: while all this was going on, Rector may have become 147 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: an orphan, and we say may have. It doesn't seem 148 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: like that should be a question, but we say may 149 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: have because some sources say that her mother, Rosa Rector, 150 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: had died of tuberculosis a few years prior, and that 151 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: her dad reportedly died in prison in nineteen However, there 152 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: are some historical articles from the Chicago Defender newspaper that 153 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: have her dad dying as late as n so big discrepancy. 154 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: But even with her dad in the picture, a white 155 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: guardian was appointed to oversee her estate. Well, I think 156 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: that's kind of interesting to note that whether her parents 157 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: were alive or dad didn't really even matter because there 158 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: was going to be this white guardian in the picture. Yeah, 159 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: it was really common at the time, and not just 160 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,479 Speaker 1: for kids, but also for adult Friedman and Native Americans 161 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: whose land turned out to be worth something when the 162 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: oil was discovered. The Chicago Defender actually called it the 163 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: birth of a new kind of shark quote the oil 164 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: grabber Guardian sounds like a shark, definitely. In a book 165 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: called The Greatest Gamblers, which is about American oil exploration, 166 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: and it's by a woman named Ruth Sheldon Knowles, Sarah 167 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: Rector was one of the lucky people in these situations. 168 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: Others were cheated out of their lands or even worse. 169 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: Um and this is really sad, but the book relates 170 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: the story of two other black orphans who had land 171 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 1: allotments in Glenpool. The passage reads, these luckless waives were 172 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 1: murdered in a shock mind with dynamite by a group 173 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: of whites who were ready to claim their wealth with 174 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: forged documents and false airs. So the situation definitely could 175 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: have been worse. But even then things weren't really going well. 176 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: But all of a sudden, Sarah Rector had another stroke 177 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: of luck. And that was when some people, including a 178 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: special agent for the n double a c P in 179 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: the U. S. Children's Bureau, started looking into the mismanagement 180 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: of her estate. In early nineteen fourteen, so started poking 181 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: around and realizing something was definitely wrong here. Also around 182 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: the same time, newspapers heard about the little girl's story, 183 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: and this photo of her standing in front of the 184 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,439 Speaker 1: dirty shanty where she lives started circulating, and Dablina, you 185 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: sent me the photo earlier today. It's very sad and 186 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: pathetic looking this poor little girl in a tattered dress 187 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 1: standing in front of her her little shanty. Yeah, morose expression, 188 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: very adorable, but very sad. So after this investigation started, 189 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: the nub a CP got heavily involved in it and 190 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: started advocating on her behalf. In fact, people like W. E. B. 191 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 1: Dwo Boys, who was the head of the a c P. 192 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: He got interested in her case and really got actively 193 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: involved in it. So by October nine, fourteen, they actually 194 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: managed to get Rector out of Oklahoma and into school. 195 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: There's some discrepancy again over exactly what sort of school 196 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: and she received. According to the crisis, records show that 197 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: she was at the Children's school at Tuskegee Institute from 198 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: December nineteen fourteen to September nineteen fifteen. Booker T. Washington 199 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: himself is said to have made the arrangements for her 200 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: admission and oversaw her education there, and then later she 201 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: went to and graduated from Lincoln High School in Kansas City. 202 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: But some other sources say that she went to high 203 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: school and then attended Tuskegee University. So again just a difference, 204 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 1: and I think it might even be semantics here, you know, 205 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: what we call Tuskegee today as opposed to what they 206 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 1: called it in the past, and and so forth. But yeah, 207 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: who definitely, we do know though that she did attend 208 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: Tuskegee at some point, but it didn't exactly solve her problems, 209 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: and that was partly because the people managing her estate 210 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: weren't doing a very good job of it, and the 211 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: people who were trying to help her couldn't get that 212 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: control away from her white guardian. They did manage to 213 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: get her a little bit, though. They managed to get 214 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: her about a thousand dollars a month and some better 215 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: clothes to where in the Muskogee County co Wort oversaw 216 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: her estate a little more carefully, so there were some 217 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: benefits to having all this attention from the media and 218 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: from the l A. C P. People, However, just kept 219 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: trying to get control of her estate during this time. 220 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: Even while she was at Tuskegee, she said to have 221 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: received hundreds of letters from white suitors who wanted to 222 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: marry her when she came of age. She got about 223 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,680 Speaker 1: twenty from Germany, for example, when her story ended up 224 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: in a paper there, and people were just professing their 225 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: love and wanted to get married to her so that 226 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: they could have her fortune. So the people looking out 227 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: for her were understandably concerned by all of these declarations 228 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: of love pouring in. You know, this young girl might 229 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: be led astray. And in fact, the Black press called 230 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: on the National Federation of Women's Clubs to make sure 231 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,439 Speaker 1: that Sarah wasn't quote honeyed with any love affairs by 232 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: fakers and grafters, but that, on the other hand, she 233 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: becomes well educated and encouraged to marry one of her 234 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,599 Speaker 1: own race. Um, so they're worried she's going to be 235 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: taken advantage of even further. And she was lucky that 236 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: she had people to look out for her. She manages 237 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: to dodge these overtures and makes it to age eighteen. 238 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: She's finally of age. He's not a miner anymore, so 239 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: she gets some access to her fortune, and it's unclear 240 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: exactly how much of her A state that she ultimately received. 241 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 1: A two thousand four article in the Southeast Missouri and 242 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: says that she eventually got three million. However, a Chicago 243 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: Defender piece said that there was really no exact figure available, 244 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: so it kind of fluctuates what you see of what 245 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: she got gets the substantial sum that regardless of what 246 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: the exact figure was. But at nineteen, she bought this 247 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,719 Speaker 1: huge mansion at two thousand East twelveth Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Uh, 248 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: and that's where she settled with her family. They finally 249 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: could move out of the more humbler abodes they had 250 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: been living in, and it seemed like things were finally 251 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: looking up for her. You know, she's getting to use 252 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: this money she's so luckily gotten. Um. But then unfortunately 253 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: Missouri changed its legal majority age from eighteen to twenty one. 254 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: So sorry, Sarah, but you're back to being a miner again. 255 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: So at this point, her white quote friends, and you 256 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: see that written that way a lot of times, referring 257 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: to her friends quote unquote in Oklahoma. Some of these 258 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: folks once again stepped into the picture. They stepped up 259 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: to take advantage of her situation. And specifically a guy 260 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: named Jim Collins petitioned the court for guardianship of Sarah 261 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: and said basically that she wasn't competent enough to manage 262 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: her a state, even though she had attended high school 263 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 1: and was educated. A judge in a white court however, 264 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: at that point denied his petition after reviewing everything, he 265 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: really felt that she had handled everything well. His exact 266 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: quote was that she has handled the more than seven 267 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of property she owns 268 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: with such a stuteness. And he also ruled that she 269 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: was mentally sound enough to not need a guardian and 270 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: complimented her intelligence and thrift. So talk about that thrift 271 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: a little here. But um, finally, though, with this judge 272 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: is ruling, Rector was able to control what was rightfully 273 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: hers and um, even though you know the judge's assessment 274 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: wasn't totally on par, at least the thrift part. Yeah, 275 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: we don't know too much about her adult life, but 276 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: what we do know is that she wasn't exactly conservative 277 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: with her fortune. She loved fancy cars and she left 278 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: to drive them really fast. She bought a Limo hutmobile 279 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: and a silver plated Lincoln and silver plated pretty fancy. 280 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: I just want to emphasize that for everybody, Sarah's obsessed 281 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: with the silver plated Lincoln. Everyone. I kind of am obsessed, 282 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: I guess because I'm just wondering. I mean, what do 283 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: you have to do to keep your silver plated car 284 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: looking good? Polish? Yeah, well, if she didn't have to work, 285 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: then she wouldn't have had time on her hands, so 286 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: maybe she got to polish her car a lot. I 287 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: don't know, driving around the block. Regardless, she used to 288 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: surround town a lot in both the Hutmobile and the 289 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: silver plated Lincoln, and this was a time when it 290 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: wasn't at all common for African American women to be 291 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: behind the wheel, so kind of breaking down some boundaries 292 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: right off the bat. She also loved clothes. She apparently 293 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: had a taste for European gowns, and she was also 294 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: a frequent customer of a downtown jeweler, so she liked 295 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: diamonds as well. She liked fancy thing so at twenty, 296 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: she married a guy named Kenneth Campbell, who eventually became 297 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: a partner of a very successful local African American business 298 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: or a businessman named Homer B. Roberts, who interestingly was 299 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: one of her maybe the first African American auto dealer 300 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: in the United States. I'm guessing that Kenneth Campbell kind 301 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: of shared Sarah's love of the silver plated land maybe, 302 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: so maybe that's how she got her car deals and 303 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: she picked him up one day. So Sarah and Kenneth 304 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: they threw lavish parties at their home, entertaining the likes 305 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: of musicians Duke Ellington and Count Basie and boxers like 306 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: Joe Louison Jack Johnson. So definitely different from the other 307 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: millionaires we discussed earlier in the podcast. Madam c. J. 308 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,640 Speaker 1: Walker Walker spent a lot of her money on philanthropy. However, 309 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: some sources do say that in addition to having her 310 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: limo and driver take her three kids to school, Rector 311 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:21,159 Speaker 1: also had the limo and the chauffeur take some neighborhood 312 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: kids to local elementary school. So a little mix of things. 313 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: And I mean, I can't help but think a little 314 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: of Madam C. J. Walker's daughter too. I think she 315 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: was sort of known more for the the high life, 316 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,920 Speaker 1: hanging out with with fancy people and buying fancy thing 317 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: it was a player in the Harlem Harlem Renaissance, right, definitely. 318 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: So you know they I guess between these two women, 319 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: they're kind of skirting both worlds. Yeah, they both skirted 320 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: both worlds, and they both made a difference in their 321 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: communities kind of in their own way. For example, in 322 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: a book called Take Up the Black Man's Burden, which 323 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: is about Kansas City's African American community and it's by 324 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: Charles E. Coulter, he notes how Rector used her wealth, 325 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: at least in the nineteen twenties to overcome obstacles facing 326 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: other African Americans at the time. So what this means. 327 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,160 Speaker 1: One example of how she did this was by ignoring 328 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,959 Speaker 1: Jim Crow conventions or basically ignoring them in downtown clothing stores, 329 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: she was one of the few and maybe the only 330 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: African American woman who could try on her clothes before 331 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: purchasing them. I think that's pretty amazing. I mean, that 332 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,360 Speaker 1: sounds like a small thing, but that's that could make 333 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: a really big difference in how people in your community 334 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: were perceived. But a lot of sources indicate that Rector 335 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: ended up spending a lot of her estate, and I mean, 336 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: I guess that's not too hard to imagine with all 337 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: of these cars and European clothes and jewels and the 338 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,719 Speaker 1: fancy house. But according to the Southeast Misserin article, that 339 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: was due in large part not to to all this 340 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: fine taste, but to her taste for gambling. Yeah, she 341 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:58,640 Speaker 1: ended up having to sell her mansion and her husband 342 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: divorced her. According to some sources, she also ended up 343 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: moving back to Oklahoma for a time with her kids 344 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: and passed away eventually in nineteen sixty seven. So, I 345 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: know that seems like we just kind of rushed at 346 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: the end of her life. But as we said, there's 347 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: really no definitive biography out there about her. Um, so 348 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: a lot of the details are pretty fuzzy. Yeah, kind 349 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,640 Speaker 1: of an unglamorous founding end though for a millionaires. Yes, 350 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: But it does seem like her kind of triumph was 351 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: in not really suffering the same fate that the other 352 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: black children during that time in Oklahoma did well and 353 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: becoming a poster child for this problem, to this this 354 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 1: land problem. Um in helping other kids get their their rights. Yeah, 355 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,160 Speaker 1: and she for a time she got to kind of 356 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: live how she wanted as she wanted, you know, she 357 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:55,239 Speaker 1: said the where the when, And that's something definitely, so 358 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: there may be a little more research in the works 359 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 1: about her. The Southeast Missournant article that we reference a 360 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: lot in this story is actually about a woman named 361 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: Jerry Sanders who has done a lot of research on 362 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,919 Speaker 1: Rector's life. And I think she's written a little like 363 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: a chapter in a book about Homer b. Roberts, the 364 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,200 Speaker 1: man that we mentioned before. And I know that there 365 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: are others doing research on her, so hopefully there will 366 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: be some kind of definitive biography, and it would it 367 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: would be great too to hear a little more of 368 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: Sarah Rector's and voice. I mean, I think you were 369 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: mentioning earlier that kind of reminded you of Ellen Craft 370 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,919 Speaker 1: a little bit. You know, it's clearly ellen craft story. 371 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 1: She's the one in the amazing disguise, She's the one 372 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: trying to keep her identity under wraps, but when we 373 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: read her narrative, we don't get too much of that. 374 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: And I mean I kind of felt the same way 375 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,719 Speaker 1: with this story. Clearly Sarah Rector, she's the central figure, 376 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: but we don't know much about her. Yeah, the only 377 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: direct quote I saw from her was in the Southeast 378 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,639 Speaker 1: Missourian article, and it relates how she would get pulled 379 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: over sometimes for speeding and defiantly say to the officers 380 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: who pulled her over, do you know who I am? Like? 381 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 1: I like that. I think the pretty I guess if 382 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: you're gonna leave just one quote, one available quote, but 383 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,880 Speaker 1: the good one. Yeah, displays some self confidence that she had, 384 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: and that I mean, I think it kind of says, 385 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: what the stories about? Do you know who I am? Yes, 386 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 1: people knew who she was, and that was a big 387 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: deal in the nineteen twenties, and now hopefully you guys 388 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: know who she is too. I mean, I had never 389 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: heard of her before. So um, it's it's definitely been 390 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: an interesting story to learn about. Yeah, one that we 391 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,160 Speaker 1: want to learn more about. And not just her story, 392 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: as we said, but the other children who are in 393 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: the same situation as her in Oklahoma during this time period. 394 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: So I think there was another little boy named Danny 395 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,719 Speaker 1: Tucker who also made some money and managed to escape 396 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: being kidnapped or murdered or you know, otherwise separated from 397 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: his fortune. So if you know any stories related to 398 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: this one, um or anything else to add about Kansas 399 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: City in the nineteen twenties. You can write us at 400 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,439 Speaker 1: History podcast at how stuff works dot com. 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