1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Few of us performed the same jobs for 7 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,919 Speaker 1: our entire lives. Some may go from stocking shelves as 8 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: teens to selling stocks when we're older. We may even 9 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: change careers entirely later in life. No one is defined 10 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: by what they do for a living. It's just a 11 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: piece of who we are, along with our families, our friends, 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: and the hobbies we enjoy in our free time. But 13 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: for one woman, her job didn't just come to define her. 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: It changed the way that we see the entire universe. 15 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: Born in Dundee, Scotland, in eighteen fifty seven, Wilhelmina eventually 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: became a teacher and was married at twenty to an 17 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: accountant named James Orr Fleming. In eighteen seventy eight, mister 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: and Mrs Fleming emigrated to the United States, settling in Boston, 19 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: where they had a son Edward. Sadly, Wilhelmina's life took 20 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: a dark turn sometime later when her husband up and 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: left the family. Forced to find work outside of the house, 22 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: she took a job as a maid for a man 23 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: named Edward Charles Pickering. He ran the Harvard College Observatory 24 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: with the staff of several male assistants for clerical work 25 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: such as classifying stars. But one day, Pickering, upset with 26 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: the quality of work being done by his assistance, shouted, 27 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: my Scottish maid could do better well. His wife agreed 28 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: and encouraged him to bring Fleming on as an assistant, 29 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: and Wilhelmina excelled, transitioning from dustine and changing diapers to 30 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: studying the data coming into the observatory. Pickering even taught 31 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: her how to analyze how light or spectra broke down 32 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: from the stars. She then viewed this spectra on photographic 33 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: plates provided to her by him. He obtained these images 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: by positioning a prism in front of the telescope's lens, 35 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: which split the light into a spectrum of dark and 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: light bands, much like a fingerprint. Each array was unique, 37 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: and it was Fleming's job to examine them and record 38 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: any anomalies, and she did cataloging the stars based on 39 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: the amounts of hydrogen present in their spectra. Now, her 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: official title might be confusing to folks today. It was computer, 41 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: which was what typists and analysts were called back then. 42 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: She even started a group at the college called the 43 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: Harvard Computers, made up entirely of women who worked for Pickering, 44 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: doing jobs just like hers. But she didn't stop there. 45 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: Wilhelmina went above and beyond, earning a spot on a 46 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 1: new project called the Henry Draper Catalog. It was being 47 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: funded by Mary Anna Draper, whose late husband, Henry, had 48 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: been an astronomer and the first person to take a 49 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: photograph of the Moon using a telescope. Wilhelmina was appointed 50 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: the leader of the project, but wound up budding heads 51 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: with her colleague and fellow astronomer and Tonia Maury. Maury 52 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: wanted to classify the stars using their temperatures, size, and 53 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: the strength of their spectra. It was a more complicated 54 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: way of organizing the data, whereas Wilhelmina chose to utilize 55 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: a simple alphabetical method for classifying the stars instead. Eventually, 56 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: Wilhelmina's system was improved by another computer, Annie jump Canon, 57 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: who organized the stars based on their surface temperatures. This 58 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: became known as the Harvard System of Spectral classification and 59 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: is still used to this day. The Henry Draper Catalog 60 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: was completed in eighteen ninety and contained over ten thousand stars, 61 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: many of which had been classified by Wilhelmina herself. Her 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: work eventually earned her the position of Curator of Astronomical 63 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: Photographs at Harvard, the first woman to step into such 64 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: a role. But perhaps her most recognized accomplishment occurred two 65 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: years before the publication of the Henry Draper Catalog. In 66 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight, Wilhelmina was examining a photo grammatory plate 67 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: given to her by William Pickering, Edward's brother. She noted 68 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: a nebula among the constellation Orion, with a semi circular 69 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: indentation five minutes in diameter thirty minutes south of Zeta. Orionis. 70 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: To the average stargazer, it looked just like a horse, 71 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: hence its name, the horsehead Nebula. She also went on 72 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: to identify the first white dwarf star, although her name 73 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: was left off of almost every one of her discoveries. 74 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: Almost all of them had been attributed to the Pickerings. 75 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: It would be another twenty years before she'd get the 76 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: credit that she rightly deserved. Willemina Fleming started out her 77 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: career as a maid, an important job for sure, but 78 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: one that seriously underutilized her talents. She went down in 79 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: history as a prolific astronomer, a staunch supporter of women 80 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: in science. It turned out that Edward Pickering was right 81 00:04:52,520 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: all along. His Scottish maid could do better. Humankind is 82 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: no stranger to atrocity. Look throughout history and it's clear 83 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: that there isn't much humanity to be found within humanity, 84 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: and few horrors measure up to what the Nazi regime 85 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: carried out during the Second World War. They murdered millions 86 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: and performed countless acts of torture on men, women, and 87 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: children from all over Europe. At the center of it 88 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: all was the Nazis belief that the world should be 89 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: rid of inferior races and populated with only the finest 90 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: aryan offspring children who were deemed what they called racially 91 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: pure and of pure blood. And so in nineteen thirty five, 92 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: the lebans Born Project was started. It was the brainchild 93 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: of Heinrich Himler, Hitler's second in command and one of 94 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: the main drivers behind the Holocaust. Laban's Born or Fount 95 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: of Life, became a primary endeavor for Himler in his 96 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: pursuit of eugenic supremacy for the Nazis. It was originally 97 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: centered around providing support for families who were of the 98 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: proper lineage with big sarcastic air quotes here in the 99 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: recording booth trust me. This also meant caring for wards 100 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: of the state and single mothers if they were of 101 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,039 Speaker 1: the correct racial and biological makeup. Single pregnant women who 102 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: needed help could come to a Laban's More maternity home 103 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: and give birth without facing judgment from their family. But unfortunately, 104 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: the initiative grew into more than a welfare system for 105 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: down on their luck German women. The goal was to 106 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: increase the birth rate, and so women were often recruited 107 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: to partner with s S officers in order to give 108 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: birth to the next generation of Nazi soldiers, and the 109 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: program wasn't just confined to Germany either. By ninety nine, 110 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: numbers were not growing fast enough, so more extreme measures 111 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: needed to be taken. The Nazis kidnapped children from other 112 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: countries such as Norway and Russia, and the native populations 113 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: of those countries also gave birth to hap German offspring, 114 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,280 Speaker 1: the father's being Nazi soldiers. One of those children, born 115 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: in November of ninety was Annie Freed sinny Lnshtad. She 116 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: was born in Balingen, Norway, where she lived with her father, 117 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: a Wehrmacht sergeant, and her mother and grandmother. After the war, 118 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: her father went back to Germany, though, leaving Annie Freed 119 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: and her family behind. However, they didn't stay there for long. 120 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: Afraid that they might be attacked for helping the Nazis, 121 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: Annie Frieda and her grandmother fled to Sweden, while her 122 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: mother stayed back in Norway to work, reuniting with them 123 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: a few years later. After the tragic passing of her 124 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: mother to kidney failure at the young age of twenty one, 125 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: young Annie Freed and her grandmother moved around Sweden before 126 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: settling down in ninety. She had a lonely upbringing, but 127 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: spent many of her summers with her aunts and uncle 128 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: back in Norway, giving her a connection to her home country, 129 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: and when she returned to Sweden, her grandmother was there 130 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: to welcome her back. Annie Fried's grandmother often sang old 131 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: Norwegian songs around the house, instilling a love of music 132 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: and her granddaughter. This passion blossomed as she grew up. 133 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: She perform armed in school and around town for others, 134 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: but her first real foray into professional entertainment came when 135 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: she was a teenager, kicking off her career by singing 136 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: with a fifteen piece big band. She trained on jazz 137 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: standards and came to idolize the vocal stylings of American 138 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. As she got older, 139 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: Anna Freed went on television and won a record deal 140 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: after her first appearance. This ultimately led to her first album, 141 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: titled Frieda, after her nickname growing up. It was released 142 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy one and produced by Benny Anderson, her 143 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: fiance at the time. Benny was friends with another married couple, 144 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: Agnetha and her husband Biorn, who performed as backup singers 145 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: on one of Frieda's hit songs. They sounded good together too, 146 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 1: and over the next few years the foursome began singing 147 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: under the name Biorn and Benny. Agnetha and Annie Freed, 148 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,559 Speaker 1: which didn't exactly quite fit on any marquees. It wasn't 149 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: until nineteen seventy three when the band's manager, Stig Anderson 150 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: helped them find their new identity t He'd been referring 151 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: to them with the shorthand version of their names for 152 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: a while and decided to just make it official. From 153 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,439 Speaker 1: that point on, Bjorn and Benny, Agnetha and Annie Freed 154 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: were no more using just their initials. He combined them 155 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: together into a single word, and the rest was musical history. 156 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: World War Two led to some truly horrendous crimes by 157 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: some of the worst people on the planet, but out 158 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,719 Speaker 1: of that horror came a voice, one that went on 159 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: to define a generation, the Voice of Aba. I hope 160 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 161 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 162 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 163 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 164 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 165 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 166 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 167 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious 168 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: yeah h