1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class dot Com. Hello, 2 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy Wilson and I'm 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: Holly Fry. Today we are going to talk about Katherine 4 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: Dexter McCormick. She was a graduate of m I T 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: at a time when the school did not admit many 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: women at all. She was also a big part of 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: the movement for women's suffrage in the United States, and 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: she was a huge and for a while almost entirely 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: forgotten part of the development of oral contraceptives. So usually 10 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: when we do UH biographical episodes, we do a mostly 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: chronological account of a person's life, but various parts of 12 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: Katherine Dexter McCormick's life and her accomplishments overlap each other 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: a lot, so it makes a little more sense this time. 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: We're going to spend the first portion of the episode 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: talking about her personal life for upbringing her education. Then 16 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: we will move on to her work toward getting women 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: the right to vote in the United States, and we 18 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: will finish with her nearly single handed funding of the 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: development of oral contraceptives. So, in addition to the discussion 20 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: of contraception, that's going to be part of today's episode, 21 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: McCormick's husband had a number of mental health issues, and 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: the nature of them might not be suitable for our 23 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: most young listeners. Katherine Dexter McCormick was born Katherine Moore 24 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: Dexter on August eight in Dexter, Michigan. The name of 25 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: the town was no coincidence. It had been founded by 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: her grandfather. Her parents, Wort and Josephine Dexter, actually lived 27 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: in Chicago. That Josephine had gone to Dexter to have 28 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: the baby and to be looked after by Wort's mother 29 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: in Chicago. Work McCormick was a lawyer, and both he 30 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: and his father had been abolitionists, and this was an 31 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: enterprise that Wort's grandmother there had also participated in by 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: hiring people who were fleeing north and employing them until 33 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: they could be more permanently settled. Katherine's mother was also 34 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: a supporter of the suffrage movement and an advocate for 35 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: what was at the time referred to as prudent sex, 36 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: in other words, contraception, which at this point was both 37 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: illegal and socially extremely discouraged. The Dexters were an extremely 38 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: affluent and prominent family with branches in Boston, Dexter, Michigan, 39 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: and Chicago. They could trace their roots back to Massachusetts 40 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: colony all the way to sixteen forty two, and they 41 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: worked their way into positions of wealth as well as 42 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: local and even national influence essentially everywhere they lived. They 43 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: were basically an affluent, very powerful family, and Catherine herself 44 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: was a smart, studious, serious child, and she was considered 45 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: by the adults around her to be very mature for 46 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: her age. These traits cemented themselves in her personality after 47 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: the sudden death of her father following a severe heart 48 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: attack when she was only fourteen. After her father's death, 49 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: Catherine and her mother relocated to Boston, where she was 50 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: expected to study art and literature because that was the 51 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: customary education path for a young woman in Boston's affluent society. 52 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: But when it was time to enroll in secondary school, Catherine, 53 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: in part because of her father's death, insisted on studying science. Eventually, 54 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: Catherine and her mother compromised, and she was allowed to 55 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,399 Speaker 1: go to a finishing school that had a very good 56 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: academic reputation. In May of eighteen ninety four, Catherine's older brother, Sam, 57 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: who was just starting his own law career died suddenly 58 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: and unexpectedly of spinal meningitis. Catherine was just a few 59 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: months die of her nineteenth birthday. Katherine's mother was understandably distraught. 60 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: Catherine was heartbroken as well, but also angry. Having lost 61 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: both her brother and her father, both under the care 62 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: of doctors who were power was to help them. It 63 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: just made her furious. She became even more determined to 64 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: pursue a career as a scientist, although she put that 65 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: effort on hold for eighteen months to accompany her bereft 66 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: mother in Europe on the trip that Josephine had arranged 67 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: to try to escape her grief. Katherine resumed her education 68 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,239 Speaker 1: in November of eight when she and her mother returned 69 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: to Boston. She first spent a few months studying at 70 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,119 Speaker 1: a local college, but she left because she didn't find 71 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,799 Speaker 1: their material very new or challenging to her. She started 72 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: looking for a better school and considered attending both Harvard 73 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: and Radcliffe. She finally decided on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 74 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: then known as Boston Tech, and she chose m i 75 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: T in spite of warnings that it made it hard 76 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: for women's students to study there. As of eighteen ninety six, 77 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: when McCormick began pursuing her admission to m I T, 78 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: only forty four women were enrolled and only one had 79 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: ever graduated from there. Katherine did pass her entrance exam, 80 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 1: but because her education had been in a finishing school, 81 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: she was required to take a number of other preparatory 82 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: classes before she could start her real degree work, So 83 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: even though she had passed the exam, she had to 84 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 1: basically redo the same courses of study for classes that 85 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: were considered legitimate. She worked on all of these classes 86 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: from eighteen ninety six until eighteen ninety nine, and then 87 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: finally enrolled as a regular student at the age of five. 88 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 1: She graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology in nineteen 89 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: o four. As one example of her life at m 90 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: I T, the school's policies of the day required ladies 91 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: to wear hats. McCormick refused, citing the fact that the 92 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: feathers that were fashionable in ladies hats were in fact 93 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: a fire hazard when they were worn in the lab. 94 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: She finally got the chemistry department to repeal that rule, 95 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: not just for her, but for all female students. Catherine's 96 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,239 Speaker 1: original plan after graduation had been to study to become 97 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: a surgeon. However, just before the start of her senior year, 98 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: she became reacquainted with Stanley McCormick. The Dexters and the 99 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: McCormick's had connections that went back for decades. Stanley's father, 100 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: Cyrus McCormick, owned International Harvester Company, which had been founded 101 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: by his father, the inventor of the mechanical harvester. When 102 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: Stanley's father's factory was severely damaged in the Great Chicago Fire, 103 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: it was Catherine's father, who was at the helm of 104 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: a relief program to rebuild the city, who convinced him 105 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: not to move his business elsewhere. Katherine and Stanley had 106 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: first met at a ball in eighteen eighty nine, when 107 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: Catherine was just thirteen and Stanley was fourteen. Then sixteen 108 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: years later, on September first, nineteen o three, they were 109 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: both coincidentally at a resort outside of Boston known as 110 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: Beverly Farms. Stanley immediately picked up their friendship as though 111 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: they had never been apart. Even though Catherine actually found 112 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: this a little odd and off putting, it was awfully familiar. 113 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: Even behavior expectations at this time. Also a little familiar 114 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: was that within a month Stanley had proposed to her. Catherine, however, 115 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: was afraid that her ambition to become a surgeon would 116 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: be impossible as if she got married. Nonetheless, she eventually accepted, 117 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: then she broke it off, and she accepted again, then 118 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: she broke it off again. She wound up ending their 119 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: engagement three times before they eventually got married. Stanley, for 120 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: his part, was passionate and persistent, even going so far 121 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: as to go to Geneva uninvited after Catherine had called 122 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: off one of their engagements in an effort to try 123 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: to win her back. Aside from this, Ardor, Catherine found 124 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: some of his behavior troubling and erratic. For example, he 125 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: became obsessed about the fact that he had masturbated, and 126 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: he was terrified that this had somehow ruined his potential 127 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: to be a husband. But in spite of all of that, 128 00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: the pair finally married on September fifteenth of nineteen o four. Yeah, 129 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: there were there were clearly a lot of different factors 130 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: going into Catherine's perpetual ending of their engagements and her 131 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: eluctance to get married to him, But she does seem 132 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,679 Speaker 1: to have genuinely loved him, and in his more stable moments, 133 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: found him to be a nice, delightful person to be around. However, 134 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: after their marriage, it became clear almost immediately that Stanley 135 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: was really not in good mental health. The McCormick family 136 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: was also reported to just be extremely dysfunctional. Stanley's father 137 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: was described as a tyrant and his mother as a 138 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: religious zealot. His older sister was in full time care 139 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: due to her own mental illness, and biographers have described 140 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: his other siblings as sociopaths. Catherine hoped that removing Stanley 141 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: from Chicago and from his family's influence and all of 142 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: the pressures of their unhealthy family dynamics would help him recover. Instead, 143 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: just two years into their marriage, his condition deteriorated to 144 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: the point that he had to be hospitalized. He was 145 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: admitted to McLean Hospital for the Insane, and he was 146 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:10,719 Speaker 1: diagnosed with dementia pray Cox of the catatonic type schizophrenia 147 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: basically at the age of thirty two. He was later 148 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: moved to Riven Rock, which is an estate in California 149 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: that had actually been purchased for the care of his 150 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,839 Speaker 1: older sister, who had since been moved to a sanitarium. 151 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: That one description he had a family that had bought 152 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: an estate to provide care for his mentally ill older 153 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: sister sort of encapsulates a lot of stuff about the 154 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: McCormick family. Catherine's efforts to take care of Stanley would 155 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: be a huge part of the rest most of the 156 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:47,559 Speaker 1: rest of her life, and it was also a source 157 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: of strain between her and his family. She and the 158 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: mccormicks had major differences of opinion and how he should 159 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: be cared for and treated. This battle was huge and ugly, 160 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 1: and sometimes it was dreamely public, to the point that 161 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: it took all of them to court on more than 162 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: one occasion, and was frequently covered as a scandal in 163 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: the newspapers. Compounding the situation was that Stanley's behavior toward 164 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: women in particular was so alarming and inappropriate that he 165 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: can actually only be cared for by male doctors and nurses. 166 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: For about twenty years, Catherine generally only saw her husband 167 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: from afar from some vantage point where he could not 168 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: see her. However, even as doctors and his family suggested, 169 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: repeating it repeatedly, that she divorced him or get an annulment, 170 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: Catherine refused to give up her role in Stanley's life 171 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: and care. One reason was that she really believed his 172 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: family were part of the problem and that they did 173 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: not have his best interests at heart when making decisions 174 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: on his behalf. But she had also been powerless to 175 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: stop the study the sudden deaths of her father and 176 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: her brother, and so that was probably also part of 177 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: what drove her who continued to be married to Stanley 178 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,599 Speaker 1: and to try to find the best care for him. 179 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: We're not going to talk about the details here, but 180 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: Stanley's care in the dispute surrounding it were ongoing for 181 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: more than forty years. Gaps in Catherine's advocacy work were 182 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: often due to some kind of crisis with Stanley or 183 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: his family or his team of doctors. It was basically 184 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: an underlying layer of Katherine's life right up until Stanley's death. 185 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: After a brief word from one of our great sponsors, 186 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: we are going to talk about Katherine Dexter McCormick's role 187 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: in the suffrage movement. Katherine Dexter McCormick's first involvement in 188 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: the movement for women's suffrage was while she was still 189 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: in college. She joined the College Equal Suffrage League, which 190 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: had been formed by students from Radcliffe, Wellesley and Boston College. 191 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: McCormick was the first m I T student to join. 192 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: Through the nineteen teens, she was also active in the 193 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: Massachusetts Woman's Suffrage Alliance, where she toured cities and towns 194 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts to race support for women's right to vote. 195 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: This included at one point speaking from the water in 196 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: Boston Harbor when police refused to allow the crowd to 197 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: congregate on the beach. She was also a big part 198 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: of keeping the Massachusetts branch of the National American Women's 199 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: Suffrage Association, or in a w s A financially a float, 200 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: as that organization got bigger and had some trouble making 201 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: its ends meet, in part because not all of the 202 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: new members paid their their dues on time. McCormick's work 203 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: in record keeping and sometimes having the awkward conversations getting 204 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: people to pay their delinquent dues got the organization back 205 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: on track. She eventually became treasurer of the organization and 206 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: a member of its board. Carrie Chapman Cat, who helped 207 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: found the International Woman's Suffrage Alliance, recruited McCormick to join 208 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: that organization as well. She'd heard McCormick speak and thought 209 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: her speaking and writing abilities, plus her fluency in multiple languages, 210 00:12:57,520 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: would make her a good choice to become the organizations 211 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: corresponding secretary. McCormick was eventually elected to that position. In 212 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: addition to doing extensive work speaking, writing, traveling, and working 213 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: within these organizations, McCormick also made a number of financial 214 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: contributions to the suffrage movement, including bailing out one of 215 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: the one organization's magazine that had fallen into debt. In 216 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: contrast to recent podcast subject Saffia Duleep Singh, whose support 217 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,439 Speaker 1: of increasingly radical arms of the suffrage movement in Britain 218 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: was unwavering, McCormick was not in favor of more radical 219 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: or militant demonstrations. For example, after being asked for a 220 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: donation to the suffrage movement, Helen McGill White, who was 221 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: the first woman in the United States to earn a PhD, 222 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 1: wrote a letter to The New York Times decrying the 223 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: more militant suffragettes in Britain. White's letter ran into the 224 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: headline upbraids suffragists since they can done outrages. Mrs White 225 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: refuses Cash. McCormick, writing in her capacity as treasure or 226 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: of the n a w s A, responded in a 227 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: letter published under the headline on Militant Women, Treasurer of 228 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: National Suffrage Body says it is dumb. I just want 229 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: to take a moment to point out neither of these 230 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: women wrote these headlines right. Editors at the New York 231 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: Times did uh. In her letter, McCormick said, quote, whatever 232 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: may be the opinions held by our members, the fact 233 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,359 Speaker 1: remains that the National Association is not a militant suffrage association, 234 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: that there is no militant suffrage association among our many branches. Moreover, 235 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: the work we are doing will bear any scrutiny which 236 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: may be directed upon it from those holding Mrs White's 237 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: point of view. These opinions held by the n a 238 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: w s a S members are an oblique reference to 239 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: Alice Paul. These letters came out about a month after 240 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: Paul's thirteen Women's suffrage parade in Washington, d C. Which 241 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: led to a confrontation with police. Along with many of 242 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: the naw SAYS younger members, Paul was willing to take 243 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: more aggressive steps to try to get more immediate results 244 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: for women's rights. Paul eventually split off from the naw 245 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: s A and formed her own organization, the Congressional Union, 246 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen, taking the naw says more militant members 247 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: with her. The schism between the two organizations widened, with 248 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: Paul wanting more militant actions for more immediate change, while 249 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: the naw SA was willing to work more gradually and 250 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: less confrontationally, and with mccormicks supporting the naw says prevailing opinion. 251 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: That same year, McCormick was elected first Vice president of 252 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: the naw s A, where one of the tasks before 253 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: her was to revitalize the organization following the loss of 254 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: Paul and some of its members. She organized fundraising, She 255 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: fin tuned their logistics, She tried to truly separate their 256 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: aims from the Congressional Unions, and she put together plans 257 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: to lobby and stay that had not yet passed suffrage 258 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: bills for women d NAWSA and the rest of the 259 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: movement saw the results of their efforts in women gaining 260 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: the right to vote in an increasing number of states, 261 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: culminating in the Nineteenth Amendment, which was ratified in nineteen 262 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: twenty After another brief sponsor break, we will talk about 263 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: McCormick's work in the world of contraception. Once the nineteenth 264 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: Amendment had been ratified, Katherine Dexter McCormick continued to be 265 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: involved with women's voting rights through the League of Women Voters, 266 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: including serving as its vice president, But once women had 267 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: the right to vote, she had the time and energy 268 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: to focus on other matters, and one of those was contraception. 269 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: McCormick had several reasons for being interested in contraception, as 270 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: we noted at the top of the show quote prudent 271 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: sex was something that her mother had supported. At the time, 272 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: Schizophrenia was believed to be an inherited condition, with children 273 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: of schizophrenic parents certain to develop schizophrenia themselves. So even 274 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: of McCormick was not having a physical relationship with her husband, 275 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: she could easily see the importance of couples preventing pregnancy 276 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: for health reasons. But it was not just about medical necessity. 277 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: McCormick genuinely felt that women needed to be able to 278 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: control their own bodies and decide for themselves when or 279 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: whether to get pregnant. There could not possibly be equality 280 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: between the sexes in her mind, as long as women's 281 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: bodies and lives could be derailed by unplanned pregnancies and 282 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: unplanned children. McCormick meant birth control activist Margaret Sanger in 283 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 1: Boston in nineteen seventeen at a trial of a man 284 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 1: who had been arrested for distributing Sanger's pamphlets on birth control. 285 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,360 Speaker 1: At the time, these pamphlets and other information about contraception 286 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 1: were considered to be obscenity under the Comstock Act, a 287 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: very broad federal statute that outlawed obscene literature. Information about 288 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: abortion and contraception were classified as obscene under the law. 289 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 1: After meeting Sanger, and at her request, mccormicks started smuggling 290 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: diaphragms back from her trips to Europe. Diaphragms were illegal 291 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: in the United States, but they were legal in parts 292 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: of Europe, and unlike condoms, they were a form of 293 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: contraception that women could control for themselves. McCormick would take 294 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: advantage of her family's chateau outside of Geneva, her fluency 295 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,119 Speaker 1: in several languages, and her money to do this. She 296 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: would go to Europe, travel and pose as a scientist, 297 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: drawing on her knowledge of biology acquired at m I T. 298 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: She would buy up huge numbers of diaphragms and then 299 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: have them sewn into the linings and pockets of garments 300 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: so that she could smuggle them back into the United States. 301 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: She did this with more than one thousand diaphragms, and 302 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: although the records are unclear, most of this was probably 303 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: funded with her own money. Through the nineteen twenties, McCormick 304 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 1: was involved in birth control advocacy, going to meetings and 305 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: conferences and using her knowledge of biology to study reproduction. 306 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: She also dedicated some of her mental and financial resources 307 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: to endocrine research, having become convinced that her husband's mental 308 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 1: health issues were really due to a malfunctioning endocrine system. 309 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,439 Speaker 1: She actually established the neuro Indocrine Research Foundation at Harvard 310 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 1: Medical School in n seven, and she funded other research 311 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 1: into the endocrine system as well, and as sort of 312 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: a side note, she established a hospital for the mentally 313 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: ill at Worcester State Hospital. Through the nineteen thirties, attitudes 314 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: in the United States were very gradually warmed toward the 315 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: idea of legal contraception, although the Catholic Church lobbied hard 316 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: against it. Some states began to repeal their obscenity laws 317 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: or pass specific exemptions for birth control literature. In nineteen 318 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: thirty seven, the American Medical Association reversed an earlier decision 319 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: and came out in support of artificial contraception under a 320 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: doctor's supervision and as part of a marriage. In ninety eight, 321 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: Margaret s Her announced that she was forming a Citizens 322 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: Committee for Planned Parenthood, which would later become the Planned 323 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: Parenthood Federation of America. She continued her birth control advocacy, 324 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: and McCormick was was vocal in her support of it 325 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: as well, even as it drew criticism from the press, 326 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: her mother, and Stanley's family. But in seven, Stanley McCormick, 327 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: by then one of the only two surviving McCormick siblings, died. 328 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: A handwritten will dated the day of their wedding was 329 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: found in Stanley's safe deposit box, giving his whole estate 330 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: to his wife. Lawyers told Stanley's remaining sister that this 331 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: will could not be contested, and Catherine Dexter McCormick inherited 332 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: the entire McCormick estate. It took her five years to 333 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: settle the whole estate, pay all the taxes, divest herself 334 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: of the harvester business and all of Stanley's property, But 335 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: once all of that was done, she basically turned her 336 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: sole focus to contraception. At this point, although popular support 337 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: for birth control was increasing, funding to create a reliable 338 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: contraceptive was almost non existent. On June eighth three, McCormick 339 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: and Sanger met with Dr Gregory Pinkis at the Worcester 340 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: Foundation for Experimental Biology in Worcester, Massachusetts. He'd been researching 341 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,880 Speaker 1: hormones effects on contraception and saying or believed he could 342 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: develop an effective contraceptive. McCormick wrote him a check. Is 343 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,679 Speaker 1: a little unclear exactly how many dollars she eventually gave him, 344 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: but she basically wound up uh funding all of the 345 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: work of Dr Pinkas, which was carried out in conjunction 346 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: with Dr minshit Chang and other doctors and researchers, almost 347 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: single handedly. Sometimes she funneled these funds through Planned Parenthood 348 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,959 Speaker 1: for tax reasons, and she also kept an extremely careful 349 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: eye on the project, carefully reviewing their progress, very persistently, 350 00:21:54,600 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: coaxing and sometimes prodding it along. She was five years 351 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: old and she was adamant that she see a working 352 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: version of the pill in her lifetime. Pinkas and team 353 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: eventually started testing their combined oral contraceptive pill on human subjects, 354 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: and to be clear, some of the testing and development 355 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 1: methods used do not meet today's ethical standards. For example, 356 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: some were conducted on patients at an asylum. Others were 357 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: conducted out of existing birth control clinics in Puerto Rico, 358 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: but the women enrolled in the trial were often desperate 359 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,639 Speaker 1: to prevent pregnancy and not necessarily made aware of the 360 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,919 Speaker 1: drug's risks. Although this didn't run a foul of ethical 361 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: standards at the time, it absolutely would be unethical today. However, 362 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,399 Speaker 1: in spite of their ethical problems, these trials proved that 363 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: the drug that Pinkas was developing worked. You could also 364 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,719 Speaker 1: make this name general point about basically this entire podcast. 365 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: The suffrage movement that McCormick was part of largely excluded 366 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: black women and other minorities, and Margaret Sanger had ties 367 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: to the eugenics movement, which was really popular in the 368 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: twenties and thirties. So basically all of the things we 369 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: were talking about today, including various things that were tried 370 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 1: in Stanley's mental health care, had issues that were somewhere 371 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: between between troubling and abhorrent. A century later, in nineteen 372 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:21,719 Speaker 1: fifty seven, enovid, which combined synthetic estrogen with synthetic progestine, 373 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: was approved for use in regulating menstrual cycles. Of course, 374 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: in regulating the cycle, it was also preventing ovulation. The 375 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: FDA approved its use for this purpose as the first 376 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: oral contraceptive in nineteen sixty. With that out of the way, 377 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: McCormick turned her focus to the fact that m I 378 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: T did not have adequate housing for female students. In 379 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, Women's Residents Stanley McCormick Hall opened its doors. 380 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 1: It was m i t s first residence halls exclusively 381 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: for women, and it quadrupled the number of women's students 382 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: the m I T could house, bringing the number up 383 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: to two hundred. The dormitory's dedication took place three months 384 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: after mc cormis death at the age of two. She 385 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: died on December ninety seven of a stroke. Her financial 386 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: contributions to the creation of the pill were even then 387 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: largely forgotten. Her death was not even reported as news. However, 388 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 1: in her will, she gave sizeable donations to the Planned 389 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 1: Parenthood Federation and to Stanford University to assist women who 390 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: wanted to get a medical degree. She also made contributions 391 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: posthumously to numerous civic organizations, as well as several that 392 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,640 Speaker 1: were devoted to art and music. She did really all 393 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: of this in Stanley's honor. She also established the Katherine 394 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: Dexter McCormick Library to be housed at the Planned Parenthood 395 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: Federation offices in New York. And that is Katherine Dexter McCormick. 396 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: That's another one of those people, and it comes up 397 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,400 Speaker 1: often in this podcast or I hear their life story 398 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: and think I'm the laziest person alive, like so much work. 399 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: You and I have joked off off Mike about how 400 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: this episode on Katherine Dexter McCormick and one that is 401 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:02,479 Speaker 1: going to run around the same time. You may all 402 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,120 Speaker 1: have heard it already about the Declaration of Sentiments. Both 403 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: could have been two parters because they're so involved, But 404 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: then we would have had three two parters in a 405 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: month that we're all about suffrage, which we love this topic, 406 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: but our listeners like variety, which is why why we 407 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: we did not do it that way. However, the book 408 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: that I got about Katherine Dexter McCormick is enormous. It's 409 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: it's like, how long is it. I'm gonna pick it 410 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: up on Mike here and flip through it. Uh, Okay, 411 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:42,360 Speaker 1: it's only three pages long, but it seems enormous. It's 412 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 1: got a whole It's got so much more information in 413 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: it about UM, about Stanley's mental health care, about various 414 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: friendships and relationships that she developed with other women in 415 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: the suffrage movement, like just the so much other stuff 416 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 1: that we did not get into you. Um, she's pretty amazing. 417 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,199 Speaker 1: That book is called Catherine Dexter McCormick, Pioneer for Women's Rights. Um. 418 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: And Oh, the thing that I was working around to 419 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: you is that one of the things that is funny 420 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,880 Speaker 1: to me about having done this episode and the one 421 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 1: that is coming out either already or soon about the 422 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: the Declaration of Sentiments and the Seneca Falls Convention, is, Uh, 423 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: I wonder how those women's lives may have been different 424 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: had they had access to contraception, because so many of 425 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: them had seven or eight children, and more than likely 426 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: they had seven or eight children because they had no 427 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,719 Speaker 1: choice about methods of not having children. That were actually 428 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: reliable and effective. So anyway, uh, that's Katherine Dexter McCormick. 429 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: I also have listener mail. I have blister mail is 430 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 1: not about Katherine Dexter McCormick. It is about moonshine. It 431 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: is from Jack's sax says Dear Tracy and Holly. I'm 432 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 1: a proud alum of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, So 433 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: your episode on moonshine reminded me of a cultural reference. 434 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 1: If your listeners live in the South and or watch 435 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: SEC sports, they are probably aware of the unofficial U 436 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,120 Speaker 1: t K fight song Rocky Top. However, the band only 437 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: plays the chorus at games, and the verses are full 438 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: of strange mountain culture. In the second verse, there is 439 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: a direct reference to federal agents looking for stills you 440 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,399 Speaker 1: touched on the legal moonshine business, which I personally watched 441 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: explode while working in two different local liquor liquor stores. 442 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: Popcorn Sutton was a long time producer of moonshine, and 443 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 1: after his death, his recipe is now being used for 444 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: legal corn whiskey. It has caused a lot of debate 445 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: on the area's cultural history and what is appropriate representation. 446 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: I could go on for a while about the idea 447 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: of quote poor stupid Southerners as a stereotype, but y'all 448 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: have addressed this, and thank you. I will say that 449 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: a lot of people still get their shine from some 450 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: local producer and guard their sources jealously. Personally, the best 451 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 1: I've ever had was produced in a very urban area 452 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: of Knoxville by a passionate advocate of the community and 453 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: mountain heritage, and one of his best flavors was Rosemary 454 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: your figure, and and then he sends a little note 455 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,679 Speaker 1: that's less related about things that he does while listening. 456 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: Thank you, Jacks. One of the reasons that I wanted 457 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,920 Speaker 1: to read this email is that I actually wanted to 458 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: talk about Popcorn Sutton in that episode. Um. He was 459 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: a character. Uh. It was very well known, like in 460 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: the Maggie Valley area of North Carolina and parts of 461 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: North Carolina and Tennessee. And there are lots of videos 462 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: of him and documentaries of him about his moonshining. And 463 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: one of the reasons that we didn't I didn't end 464 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: up putting him in the and the final outline was 465 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: that it's a very sad story. He he uh, was 466 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: he had a he had a raid. There was a 467 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: federal raid on his operation, and he had already been 468 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: on house arrest, and he was sentenced to prison, um, 469 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 1: and he wound up taking his own life rather than 470 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 1: returning to prison. And it was just such a huge 471 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: story with so many layers to it that I could 472 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: not find a good place to put it in the 473 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: already long story of Moonshine that we had. In that. 474 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: The other thing was, I went looking around for a 475 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: video of him to share on our social media after 476 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: that episode came out, because I had kind of wanted 477 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: to tell a little bit of his story, but I 478 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: couldn't find a place for it, and I could not 479 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: find any in which he was not cussing a blue streak, 480 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: because that is how he talked. M And the one 481 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: that I did find is a very lovely photo essay 482 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: which has a picture of his tombstone on it, which 483 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: has what many people consider to be the mother of 484 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: all swear words on it, so like even then, even 485 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: on his tombstone, he had a very a very foul 486 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: mouth full of foul language. Um. But anyway, he's a 487 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: very interesting character and his his story has a lot 488 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 1: of parallels to the overall story of Moonshine in that 489 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: part of the the Avalacha Mountains. So uh, thank you 490 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: again Jack for writing. 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