1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Happy New Year. History fans. Chandler and I are heart 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: at work on a new batch of episodes, but we 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: need a little time to catch up after the holidays. 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: Please enjoy these flashback episodes from the TDI HC Fault 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: and be sure to tune in on January ninth for 6 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: a brand new episode. 7 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 2: Hey, y'all, Happy New Year. I'm still at home, but 8 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 2: I am excited to bring you the first episode of 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 2: a new decade. 10 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: Enjoy. 11 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:41,919 Speaker 2: The day was January first, eighteen eighteen. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 2: or the Modern Prometheus, was first published. At a young age, 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 2: Mary had taken an interest in writing stories, but her 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 2: childhood and early adult years were tumultuous. Less than two 15 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 2: weeks after she was born, her mother, writer and women's 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 2: rights advocate Mary Wilson Stonecraft, died of pure operal fever. 17 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 2: When Mary was sixteen years old, she eloped with the 18 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 2: wealthy writer Percy bish Shelley, who abandoned his wife. She 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 2: gave birth to four children, but only one survived to adulthood, 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 2: and she miscarried during her fifth pregnancy in eighteen sixteen. 21 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 2: Mary's sister Fanny Goodwin, as well as Percy's wife, Harriet Shelley, 22 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 2: died by suicide. Mary was inspired to write Frankenstein on 23 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 2: a rainy June night in eighteen sixteen. Eighteen sixteen is 24 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 2: known as the Year without a Summer, since it was 25 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 2: marked by low temperatures, high rainfall, and crop failures around 26 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 2: the world attributed to the eruption of Mount Tombora and 27 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 2: the Dutch East Indies. History of a Six Week's Tour, 28 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 2: a travel narrative by Mary and Percy published in eighteen seventeen, 29 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 2: contains letters written during their time in Geneva during that summer. 30 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 2: In the letters, Mary writes about the dark and rainy 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 2: weather her journey through France and Switzerland provided the perfect 32 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 2: setting for writing a Gothic story. Mary was in late Geneva, Switzerland, 33 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 2: with Percy, as well as poet Lord Byron and physician 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 2: and writer John Paulodori. The group was reading a French 35 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 2: translation of a German book of ghost stories called Phantasmagoriana 36 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 2: at the Villa Diodati, the house where they would have 37 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 2: spirited late night discussions. When Byron suggested they see who 38 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 2: could write the best ghost story. They took on the challenge. 39 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,399 Speaker 2: Polydori ended up writing the Vampire, which was published three 40 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 2: years later, but the competition also marked the birth of Frankenstein. 41 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 2: One night after one of the group's philosophical discussions, Mary 42 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 2: could not sleep. She later wrote about the restless night, 43 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 2: she said, quote, I saw the pale student of the 44 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 2: unhallowed arts, kneeling beside the thing he had put together. 45 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 2: I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out 46 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 2: and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show 47 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 2: signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. 48 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 2: Frightful must it be? For supremely frightful would be the 49 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 2: effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism 50 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 2: of the creator of the world. It was the origin 51 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 2: of her story, one about a scientist named Victor Frankenstein 52 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 2: who created an eight foot tall creature made of the 53 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 2: body parts of dead people. Percy encouraged Mary to turn 54 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 2: the story into a novel, and she finished writing the 55 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 2: book by May of eighteen seventeen. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, 56 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 2: was first published anonymously in London as a three volume 57 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 2: novel on January first, eighteen eighteen. The book is a 58 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 2: combination of a Gothic horror story in science fiction. In it, 59 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 2: Frankenstein's nameless monster turns into a murderer who is tortured 60 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 2: by loneliness and rejection. The first edition of the novel 61 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 2: contained a preface written by Percy Shelley. In fact, when 62 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 2: it was published, many people thought that Percy Shelley had 63 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 2: written it. Another edition of the novel, credited to Mary 64 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 2: Shelley and edited by her father, was published several years later. 65 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 2: In eighteen thirty one, the first one volume edition of 66 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 2: the book was published. Shelley wrote several more novels, but 67 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 2: Frankenstein is her best known book. Frankenstein has since become 68 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 2: the inspiration for stories about morality, human hubrists, and scientists 69 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 2: and the implications of their creations. I'm Eve Jeffcote and 70 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 2: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 71 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 2: you did yesterday. Feel free to shoot us an email 72 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 2: at this Day at iHeartMedia dot com, or if you 73 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 2: prefer social media, hit us up on Instagram, Facebook or 74 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 2: Twitter at TDHC podcast. Thanks again for listening and we'll 75 00:04:51,560 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 2: see you tomorrow. 76 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: Happy New Year, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 77 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: a show that belts out the greatest hits of history. 78 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: One day at a time. I'm Gabelusier, and today we're 79 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: talking about the concert that turned Johnny Cash into a 80 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: champion of prison reform and set one talented inmate on 81 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: his own path to country music. Thing the day was 82 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: January first, nineteen fifty nine. Musician Johnny Cash rang in 83 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: the new year by performing live at San Quentin State 84 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 1: Prison in California. The maximum security penitentiary just outside of 85 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: San Francisco, was the second of more than thirty prisons 86 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: the singer performed at in his lifetime. The concerts were 87 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: held at various correctional facilities throughout at least ten states, 88 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: sometimes at the direct record of the inmates. The shows 89 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: eventually inspired the recording of two live albums, Johnny Cash 90 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,679 Speaker 1: at Folsom Prison, released in nineteen sixty eight and Johnny 91 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: Cash at San Quentin, released in nineteen sixty nine. Although 92 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't recorded, the New Year's concert at San Quentin 93 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: was historic in its own right, not only for the 94 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: positive effect it had on Cash's career and public persona, 95 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: but also for its impact on another country music legend 96 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: who happened to be in the audience that day. Cash 97 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: performed at San Quentin for the first time as part 98 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: of a seven hour entertainment extravaganza which the prison held 99 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: for the inmates on January first of each year. Cash's 100 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: performance was the standout of the nineteen fifty nine show, 101 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: beating out other popular acts like a women's dance troupe 102 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: and a seventeen piece jazz band. The prison had its 103 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: own inmate published paper called the San Quentin News, and 104 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: for the January ninth edition, the headline was quote, gigantic review, 105 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: Harold's New Year, three thousand San Quentin Men, cheer stars 106 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: and Johnny Cash. The singer had never been imprisoned himself, 107 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: except for one night at a time whenever he was 108 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: arrested for public intoxication. Nonetheless, he felt a special connection 109 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: or kinship with those behind bars. As Cash's younger brother 110 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: Tommy later explained, quote, he always identified with the underdog. 111 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: He identified with the prisoners because many of them had 112 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: served their sentences and had been rehabilitated in some cases, 113 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: but were still kept there the rest of their lives. 114 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: He felt a great empathy with those people. As someone 115 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: who wrestled with alcohol and substance abuse, Cash empathized with 116 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: those who had made bad choices or given in to 117 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: their own worst impulses. His prison concerts, which he always 118 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: performed for free, were a way to offer comfort and 119 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: maybe even the hope of finding another better path for 120 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: the prisoner's own lives. That turned out to be the 121 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: case for at least one of the inmates at San 122 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: Quentin that day, the future country music star Merle Haggard. 123 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty seven, Haggard had been arrested for burglary 124 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,559 Speaker 1: at age eighteen. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, 125 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: but wound up serving a little less than three. Cash's 126 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: performance occurred about halfway through his stint, and Haggard later 127 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: cited it as a life changing moment, one that inspired 128 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: him to pursue his own career in music. He got 129 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: to work as soon as he was released on parole 130 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty, and eventually he racked up thirty eight 131 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: number one hits on the country charts, including songs like 132 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: sing Me Back Home and Okie from Muskogee. Years later, 133 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: Haggard reflected on why Cash had been received so enthusiastically 134 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: by he and the other inmates. He said, quote, Johnny 135 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: Cash had the right attitude. He chewed gum, looked arrogant 136 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: and flipped the bird to the guards. He did everything 137 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: the prisoners wanted to do. He was a mean mother 138 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: from the South who was there because he loved us. 139 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: When he walked away, everyone in that place had become 140 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: a Johnny Cash fan. The two singers reunited in nineteen 141 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: sixty nine. On an episode of The Johnny Cash Show 142 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: on ABC, the host mentioned that he didn't remember Merle 143 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: being part of the concert that day, to which Haggard quipped, well, 144 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: I was in the audience. Johnny Cash went on to 145 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: perform dozens more prison concerts, including at least two more 146 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: at San Quentin. During each visit, he made time to 147 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: get to know the inmates. He would sit down with 148 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: them and listen to their stories, what had led them 149 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: to be incarcerated, and what they hoped to do when 150 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: or if they were released. These stories would later inform 151 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: Cash's songwriting, which frequently took the perspective of outlaws and 152 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: outsiders following his messy public struggle with drug addiction. The 153 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: prison concerts and the albums they inspired helped jumpstart Cash's career, 154 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: but it's clear that the cause always meant far more 155 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: to him than money, Providing entertainment and a listening ear 156 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: was already beyond what most prisoners would expect from a celebrity. 157 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: But Cash didn't stop there. The time he spent within 158 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: prison walls led him to advocate for the rights of 159 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: prisoners and to use his power to push for prison reform. 160 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: He donated a portion of the sales from his live 161 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: prison albums to reform campaigns, and in nineteen seventy two 162 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: he got involved directly by testifying before Congress about prison conditions. 163 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: Appearing before the Senate Subcommittee on National Penitentiaries, Cash said quote, 164 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: I have seen and heard of things at some of 165 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: the concerts that would chill the blood of the average citizen. 166 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: But I think possibly the blood of the average citizen 167 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: needs to be chilled in order for public apathy and 168 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: conviction to come about, because right now we have nineteen 169 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: seventy two problems in eighteen seventy two jails. People have 170 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: got to care in order for prison reform to come about. 171 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash continued to perform at US prisons until at 172 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: least nineteen eighty, and as he grew older, he stayed 173 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: in touch with prisoners he had met and visited some 174 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: of the ones who lived near his home in Tennessee. Today, 175 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,319 Speaker 1: the United States incarcerates more people per capita than any 176 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: other developed country in the world. As of twenty twenty one, 177 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,959 Speaker 1: the number stands at roughly two point three million people 178 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: in jail, which breaks down to six hundred and thirty 179 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: nine out of every one hundred thousand American citizens. There 180 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: have been many victories for the cause of prison reform 181 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: since Cash is New Year's Concert at San Quentin, but 182 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: the rate of incarceration has kept right on growing. Over 183 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: half a century later, the need for prison reform remains 184 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: a vital issue. That means that for better or worse, 185 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: the music of Johnny Cash and the stories that inspired 186 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:46,839 Speaker 1: it are just as relevant now as ever. I'm Gabe 187 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more about 188 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,079 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you want to 189 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 190 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 191 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can always send them my 192 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: way at this day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to 193 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you 194 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow. For 195 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:23,439 Speaker 1: another day in history class. 196 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,239 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 197 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:32,319 Speaker 2: or 198 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: Wherever you listen to your favorite shows.