1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Ye, 2 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: welcome to the show Ridiculous Historians. As always, it's your 3 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: favorite or some of your favorite Quentin Quarantine. It is 4 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,559 Speaker 1: coming to you live and direct in the middle of 5 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: a pandemic. You might recognize that it's been in the 6 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: news pretty often. I don't know what you're talking about. 7 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: It's like a it's like a real life tiny Grinch 8 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: rolling through your your local holidays. As this episode comes out, 9 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: it is Thanksgiving. It's Thanksgiving a mid a pandemic. We 10 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: hope that you are being safe. Uh, and we wish 11 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: you many many wonderful in person Thanksgivings in the years 12 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: to come. But a lot of people right now in 13 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: the US are celebrating Thanksgiving in a different way because 14 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: the pandemic has affected our normal traditions and rituals. And 15 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: today's episode is about a pandemic. It's about the effects 16 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: that a pandemic can have. And we thought this was 17 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: an interesting one to explore with you today. Uh, we'll 18 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: we'll we'll maybe pose the question first a super producer, 19 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram Casey, did you know that the nineteen eighteen 20 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: pandemic affected the fight for women's rights. No. Um, when 21 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: I saw this topic come up, I was like super intrigued, 22 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,839 Speaker 1: and I've kind of been trying to think in my head, Okay, 23 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: how could that have worked out that way? But UM, 24 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: I haven't really come up with any answer, so I'm 25 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: curious to hear. Yeah, I I don't want to speak 26 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: for you know that I had no idea about this 27 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: relationship either. I didn't either. UM. And it all comes 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: BacT to the Spanish flu pandemic that we often have 29 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: compared to this pandemic that we're living through right now, 30 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: a lot of similar kind of politicization of mask wearing. 31 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: There were a lot of interesting parallels. UM. So let's 32 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: put it under perspective a little bit. Um. It left 33 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: more than fifty million people dead, um and including around 34 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: six hundred This was in the entire world, including around 35 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: six hundred and seventy thousand the United States, obviously much 36 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: more deadly than the coronavirus pandemic. UM. And we've talked 37 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: about this compared to you know, figures of war deaths. 38 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: World War One, which was ended just as the flu 39 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: started to reach its peak, only killed around seventeen million people. 40 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: That's a third of the fatalities caused by the Spanish flu, 41 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: and the war kind of led to the perfect conditions 42 00:02:55,080 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: for like super spreader type events UM because of the Again, 43 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: it was spread airborne in the same way that the 44 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: coronavirus is. Respiratory droplets were exhaled by folks who were infected, 45 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: and oftentimes these military men UM spent there were young 46 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: men spent a long periods of time in very very 47 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: close quarters and barracks and um, you know, in actual trenches, 48 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: UM with other soldiers and all that proximity and obviously 49 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: like or it's it's a it's a lot of exertion 50 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: that that would cause you to expel those droplets and 51 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: then you had malnutrition. It's kind of created this perfect 52 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: storm of weakened immune systems and all of that close 53 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: contact and the virus just spread like gangbusters. Yeah, the 54 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: the war actually helped the virus perfect itself, evolving through 55 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: several waves of infection. In each new wave was more 56 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: dangerous than the last. A lot of troops were all 57 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: aready doomed before they reached Europe because they picked the 58 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: flu up on the packed troops ships. If there was 59 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: a single infected soldier on the ship. Then the virus 60 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: could spread to everyone there was. There was no way 61 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: to stop it, and when the soldiers returned to the US, 62 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: they became the perfect distribution method for this infection. Think 63 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: about it, They've contracted this and now they're spreading it 64 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: to their home states. Goodbye Kansas, Goodbye New York. Nice 65 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: to meet you, Georgia. You know what I mean. This 66 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: becomes very dangerous, very quickly. However, it was more than 67 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: just male conscription in the war that led to a 68 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: higher number of men being infected and dying from the flu. 69 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: Even back at home with populations that were never involved 70 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: in the war effort, the death rate for men still 71 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: exceeded the death rate for women. The demographic studies showed 72 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,679 Speaker 1: nearly a hundred and seventy five thousand more men died 73 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: than women in eighteen alone, and in general, role epidemics 74 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: tend to kill more dudes than do debts. In disease 75 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: outbreaks throughout known history, including famines, women have a longer 76 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: life expectancy than men, as presented in Smithsonian, and often 77 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: will have higher rates of surviving something if they are infected. 78 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: Researchers in the modern days still don't know the exact 79 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: reason why this occurs, but there's definitely more to the story. 80 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: And speaking more to the story, it turns out this 81 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: flu for all the horrible things that did, played a 82 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: role in women's rights because the epidemic was so profound 83 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: that parts of the economy in the US temporarily shut down. 84 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,239 Speaker 1: In might give you a little bit of deja vu, right, folks. 85 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: Cold deliveries in New England were so severely affected that 86 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: people froze to death because they weren't able to keep 87 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,559 Speaker 1: their homes heated. Researchers estimate that just for a stamp 88 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: shot in businesses in Little Rock, Arkansas, there was a 89 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: decline of forty percent. This is an existential threat to 90 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: the economy and businesses, and it also occurs during a 91 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: worker shortage. Right, people are going to war, Yes, people 92 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: are also calling and sick to work or dying. So 93 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: the labor market is increasingly desperate and it opens two women. 94 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: And now, because of this these two huge factors, an 95 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: unprecedented number of women take jobs outside the home. That's right, 96 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: and after the war um the number of women in 97 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: the workforce went up by and before that around n 98 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: women only made up So it's definitely on the rise, 99 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: and that was of all gainfully employed individuals in the 100 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 1: United States. And you know, you often hear about what 101 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: is it um rosie the riveter and all that stuff, 102 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: and the idea of women stepping up and filling in 103 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: the jobs for their male counterparts when they were away. Uh, 104 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: it's often attributed to World War One alone, but it 105 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: actually had to do with the pandemic, the nineteen eighteen flu, 106 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: because that's when women began to move into roles that 107 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: previously had only been occupied by men in manufacturing. And 108 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: like we said, that's because men were more susceptible to 109 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: this flu for whatever reason. So women began to the 110 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: let's say, the this the guidelines, the strictures surrounding the 111 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: employment of women in terms of jobs they had been 112 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: banned from or that men were exclusively you know, the 113 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: ones occupying those roles. All that stuff was loose and significantly, 114 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: for example, in the textile industry or other manufacturing roles. 115 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: And when they realized that they were needed, perhaps they 116 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: were needed more than they needed them. And by them, 117 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: I mean like the man, they started to demand equal 118 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: pay because they had this leverage and they were becoming 119 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: a really important part of the economic system, right, Yeah, exactly. 120 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: With that empowerment, we see more progress, We see more 121 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: active advocacy for other issues, not just equal pay, but hey, 122 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: what about the right to vote? You know what I mean? 123 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: Why am I supporting this economy if I don't have 124 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:44,559 Speaker 1: a say in politics? Great question. The crisis also helped 125 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: change society's minds about how women fit into society in general. 126 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: Increased participation in the workforce allowed a lot of people 127 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: to have unprecedented social and financial independence. Leadership positions in 128 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: the workforce, as you indicated, Noel could now be occupied 129 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: by women who had historically ran into a glass ceiling 130 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: it's called and still continue to today. But now it 131 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: was normalized to say, hey, my boss in the garment 132 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: industry is a woman, or hey, my supervisor, my boss 133 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: in military and police forces also a woman. The U 134 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: scot its first female governor when Nellie Taylor Ross took 135 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: her oath of office in Wyoming in ninete Yeah, and 136 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: even like the president started getting in on the game, 137 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: like Resident Woodrow Wilson started to defend women's rights in 138 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen, saying that they were a valuable part of 139 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: the American War effort and the economy in general. Um, 140 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: and that they should be given the right to vote. Yeah, 141 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: he talked about it in an address to the Senate, 142 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 1: and he had this specific quote, Nash Wall could not 143 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: have been fought if it had not been for the 144 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: services off of the women, services rendered in every sphere either. 145 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: That's the quote goes on. But I don't want to 146 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: subject everybody to that voice for too long. Blog story short. 147 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: What's really happening here not so much altruism on good 148 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: old Woodrow's side, but more the political reality. Politicians have 149 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: to acknowledge this empowered segment of the population. And it 150 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: gets tricky because women in America campaigning for suffrage the 151 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: right to vote found themselves fighting three different rattles at once, 152 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: fighting against the problems brought by the flu, fighting against 153 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: the ongoing issues and ripple effects of World War One, 154 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: which just recently ended, and then fighting the people who were, 155 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: for some ridiculous reason, just staunchly opposed to women's suffrage. Uh. 156 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: One local suffragist in nineteen eighteen told the New Orleans Times, 157 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: pick a you and quote everything conspires against women's suffrage, 158 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: and you know what, you can see how someone would 159 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: feel that way. They have been fighting for women's rights 160 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: to vote for seventy years. Victory seemed almost in reach. 161 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: As we said, President Wilson had come out in support 162 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: of amending the constitution for this House of Representatives had 163 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,319 Speaker 1: already passed it. But that all happened before the Spanish 164 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: flu struck. And just like things were rolling along at 165 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: a pretty quick pace before COVID nineteen struck, we we 166 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: see the same results. Right, everything went haywire. That's right. 167 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 1: The first wave of the flu began to just burn 168 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: its way through the country in nineteen eighteen during the spring, 169 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: and then it's sort of abated a little bit by 170 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: the summer. But this this kind of through a wrench 171 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: in the works. Actually was during that time that Senate 172 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: Democrats dominated by a lot of Democrats from the South. 173 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: Different time for Democrats versus Republicans in terms of, you know, 174 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: the attitudes we may be ascribed to those parties. Uh, 175 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: they were pushing to actually put a hold on giving 176 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: black women, uh the right to vote. Um, and we're 177 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: refusing to pass this bill that would send the suffrage 178 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: Amendment to the states for ratification, and votes were announced, 179 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,719 Speaker 1: then canceled, and then by the early fall, the suffragists 180 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: could see that they were only two votes short of 181 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: the two thirds majority they needed to pass the law. 182 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: Um And and there's a really interesting quote from Carrie 183 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: Chapman Kat, who was the president of the National American 184 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,439 Speaker 1: Women Suffrage Association, in a letter that she wrote to 185 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: supporters of the movement in nineteen eighteen, she said, these 186 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: are sad times for the whole world, grown unexpectedly sadder 187 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: by the sudden and sweeping epidemic of influenza. This new 188 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: affliction is bringing sorrow into many suffrage homes and is 189 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: presenting a serious new obstacle and our referendum campaigns and 190 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 1: in the congressional and senatorial campaigns, we must therefore be 191 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: prepared for failure, grim news, dire times. Just like the 192 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: pandemic today, the infection itself doesn't discriminate too much when 193 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: it comes to victims. Over in Congress, the powerful Speaker 194 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: of the House at the time, a gentleman named Champ Clark. 195 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 1: I feel like that's that's quite a gambit to name 196 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: your child Champ, you know what I mean. Maybe it's 197 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: that nominative determinism thing at play, or maybe they were 198 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: thinking it was gonna give him a leg up, or 199 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: at the very least, you know, maybe he'd get so 200 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 1: bullied in high school that he would toughen up and 201 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: become you know, his namesake. Yeah, yeah, I mean maybe 202 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: it was short for Champlain or camp Jamin. I don't know, 203 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: I'm not his parents. Uh So, anyhow, he is a 204 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 1: powerful speaker of the House. He's done well, so maybe 205 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,960 Speaker 1: not beative determinism plays a role in that. But he 206 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: catches the flu and while the suffrage bill is in 207 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: limbo over in the Senate, the galleries that the suffragists 208 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: sat in to keep an eye on proceedings were closed 209 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: due to health concerns, and the US Public Health Service 210 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: issued a national advisory to all local health departments to 211 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: prohibit large meetings and gatherings. And this means that the 212 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: campaigns for women's suffrage are compromised. Organizers have to postpone 213 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: a huge train tour on the second floor of the 214 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: Suffrage House in d C. Carrie Chapman cat was bedridden 215 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: by the flu and was you know, could have been 216 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: out of the movement entirely, but she was to termined. 217 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: Two consult on strategy with a friend of hers and 218 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: close ally of the president, a guy named John Walsh 219 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: who was a Senator for Montana at the time. But 220 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: then boom, boom, womp womp, he also gets struck low 221 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: by the flu. Cat can't come downstairs from her bed. 222 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: She can't move. Walsh does not have the strength to 223 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: walk up the stairs. So get this. They're sharing strategy 224 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: on winning the right to vote by having an intermediary 225 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: walk up and down the stairs relaying their messages to 226 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: each other. It's weird. It's super weird. UM And at 227 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: this point the pandemic was working its way west after 228 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: you know, decimating UM. The East coast UH and the 229 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: referendum state of South Dakota took heavy losses. There's another 230 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: quote from a local organizer here from the National Geographic 231 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: article pandemic nearly dere ailed Women's suffrage UH, saying this, 232 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: just when we had plans developed for a renewed and 233 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: revised campaign, along comes the influenza and cuts off all 234 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: possibility of public speaking and even meetings in open air. 235 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: So many homes have been touched in each locality, if 236 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: not with the actual disease, with the dreadful fear, which 237 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: seems to be worse that we have not been able 238 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: to work with the individual voter. This is all ringing 239 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: eerily true, is it not been? Whatever are you talking 240 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: about being of what's yeah? Exactly. They weren't able to 241 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: raise money. So many of these these incredibly devoted women's 242 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: suffrage movement volunteers began to have to start volunteering for 243 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: the Red Cross instead or in hospitals. Right, yeah, it's 244 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: it's a terrible confluence of events, and so the suffrage movement, 245 00:16:54,720 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: uh improvises, adapts, overcomes. Thank you too ever made that bank? 246 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: Name what they what? Here's what they do. So there 247 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: are these bands on large public gatherings. It makes sense 248 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 1: even though some kind of sleazy political opportunists are using 249 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: it to repress this righteous movement. Uh it does make 250 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: medical sense to prohibit large gatherings. So these suffragists switched 251 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: to a personal touch approach. They reach out directly to 252 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:32,640 Speaker 1: their neighbors and friends. They're emphasizing their patriotism. They're quoting 253 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: the statements of Woodrow Wilson saying that votes for women 254 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: is a reward for their sacrifice during the Great War. 255 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,120 Speaker 1: They didn't call it World War One at the time. 256 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: You know, we're an optimistic species. National headquarters provided millions 257 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: of pamphlets for distribution door to door, and then weekly 258 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: bulletins that you could place in local newspapers. People signed 259 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: petitions urging male voters, because like, how messed up is this? 260 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: If there's a referendum, who on women voting? Who gets 261 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,640 Speaker 1: to vote? Not the women? They don't get to vote 262 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: on their own referendum. Imagine that. So they were urging 263 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: these male voters, who are already enfranchised two try to 264 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: pass referendums in four states granting the right to vote. 265 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:26,400 Speaker 1: And the extensive grassroots organizing that the movement had perfected 266 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:31,880 Speaker 1: already carried the day because long before the Spanish flu 267 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 1: came around, these organizers have been laying the basis for 268 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: their campaigns. Each city and town in each state had 269 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: its own organization linked to a coherent, cohesive national strategy. 270 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: People have developed these very sophisticated political skills, and all 271 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: this preparation was crucial because hey, guess what, while we're 272 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: speaking about history rhyming, if it doesn't repeat, these folks, 273 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: we're voting during an epidemic. Yeah, and that didn't go over? Well, 274 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: do they have mail in ballots? Then? Ben Yeah, it's 275 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:14,400 Speaker 1: It's interesting because absentee ballots first started in the military 276 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: during the Civil War here in the US, and for 277 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: a long time after you could vote by mail if 278 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: you could not go to the polling place on election day. Nowadays, 279 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,679 Speaker 1: of course some states land be used for convenience, but 280 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: they're still referred to as absentee ballots. Got it, Okay, 281 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: So I wonder I don't know, like this is for 282 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 1: a conversation for another day, but I wonder how many 283 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: people turned to using absentee ballots during this because it's true, Uh, 284 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: you could argue that the epidemics suppressed the voter turnout. Um, 285 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: there worth three million fewer ballots cast in the nineteen 286 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: fourteen mid term, but I wonder how many of those 287 00:19:53,359 --> 00:20:00,239 Speaker 1: were mailing. Nonetheless, Um, but the suffrage referendums in Oklahoma, uh, 288 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: South Dakota, and Michigan were all able to pass with 289 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,679 Speaker 1: a decent a decent little cushion, which is great. And 290 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,400 Speaker 1: this wouldn't have happened without the incredible dedication of the 291 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,879 Speaker 1: suffragist movements, UM participants and and and allies. But it 292 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: really stemmed from, I think, in a larger scale than 293 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: that that appreciation that was becoming more part of the 294 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: zeitgeist of the role that women played during the war 295 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: and the pandemic, the combination of the two, um so 296 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: it was you know, it really was kind of a 297 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: good example of seeing a sea change in attitudes that 298 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: was brought about by you know, some horrible stuff, but ultimately, 299 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,199 Speaker 1: you know, helped push things forward. That's right. Only the 300 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: Louisiana referendum failed, and this was the first referendum in 301 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: the South. And as we've as we've established earlier, uh, 302 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: women's suffrage was starting off at a disadvantage because a 303 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: lot of the political mechanisms of the time were terrified 304 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:09,440 Speaker 1: by the idea of African American women voting, of having 305 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: the power to overturn long held racist attitudes and institutions. 306 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: Women in New York State, whose constitution had been amended 307 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,160 Speaker 1: to grant them full voting rights just a year earlier, 308 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: they showed up at the polls in huge numbers. During 309 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighteen election. The activists we mentioned earlier, Cats 310 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: was still recovering from the flu, insisted on going to 311 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: cast her ballot. It was the first ballot she was 312 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: ever able to cast, and then on November twenty, nineteen eighteen, 313 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: World War One drew to a close. The flu had 314 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 1: one more punch left during the winter, kind of like 315 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: towards the end of a horror movie, right when the 316 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: hand shoots up from the grave, you know. Uh. And 317 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: this weekend President Wilson. So Republicans won control of both 318 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: houses of the new Congress, and in June nine, lo 319 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: and behold, the Senate finally passed the suffrage bill eighteen 320 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: months after the House. Now it was time for the 321 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: next battle. They had to get three fourths of the 322 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: United States, like the actual states, to ratify the amendment. 323 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 1: And so for the next fifteen months, the activists fought 324 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: incredibly hard. They were hard on the paint to try 325 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: to get at least thirty six states to ratify this bill, 326 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 1: and people were still getting sick. February Alloysis Larch Millard, UH, 327 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: prominent activists, gets out of her sick bed while she's 328 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: infected with the flu, to testify before the Oklahoma Democratic 329 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: Party Convention on behalf of ratification and the equal right 330 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,959 Speaker 1: to vote. And she wins this argument, but she dies 331 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: of pneumonia. So it's a pyric victory of a sort. 332 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: Months after the flu was abated, the pandemic has claimed 333 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 1: one of its most prominent victims, and it was Tennessee. 334 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: Shout out to the volunteer state that pushed the nineteenth 335 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 1: Amendment all the way across the finish line, and thus 336 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: pandemic not muthstanding. On August. Women's suffrage is inscribed in 337 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: the US Constitution. Can we get a round of applause 338 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: for that? Yeah? Come on, Oh, okay, that's it's excited. 339 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: It's amazing. I had no idea that this played such 340 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: an important part in this UM, but it makes perfect sense. 341 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: It's one of these things that, like, you know, obviously 342 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: nobody would have wished this horrible plague upon the country 343 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: that obviously killed you know, millions of people. But there 344 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: is this kind of silver lining, isn't there? Outside of 345 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: the workplace, women started to become more involved in, like 346 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: making important civic decisions. UM, women's roles socially began to change. 347 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: There was just an increased kind of you know, groundswell 348 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: of support in much more mainstream kind of way for 349 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: women's rights. Uh. And then the National Federation of Business 350 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: and Professional Women's Clubs was founded in nineteen nineteen, and 351 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: that organization's goal was to eliminate discrimination based on gender 352 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: in the workplace and focusing on things like getting equal 353 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,120 Speaker 1: pay for women and creating an amendment to the Constitution 354 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: that focused on equal rights for all. You know, it's 355 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: not something we've always done very well with in this country. 356 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: It's something we're still struggling with to this day. Um So, Yeah, 357 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: while the nineteen eighteen uh flu pandemic was absolutely devastating, 358 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: um you know, could be considered one of the kind 359 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: of red letter tragic events in the history of this country, 360 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: it did have this really important kind of silver lining, right, Yeah, absolutely, 361 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,400 Speaker 1: because that's that's one thing that people often forget. You know, 362 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: historical events do not occur in a vacuum of any sort. 363 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: And so the pandemic both helped and hindered the fight 364 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,480 Speaker 1: for women's equality, and of course, women's rights are human rights. 365 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,880 Speaker 1: I believe that Anna Layman, executive director of the Women's 366 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: Suffrage Centennial Commission, sums it up perfectly when she says 367 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: it's easy to find inspiration in these activist stories and 368 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 1: their work. There's a refrain of if the suffragists can 369 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: do what they did, then we can get through this 370 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: inspiring now, it really is. Yeah, I'm wondering what the 371 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 1: silver lining is gonna be to this. I can think 372 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: of one without having to get to political here. Um, 373 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: but I wonder what history will say about the the 374 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: coronavirus pandemic, and you know, if there was some positive 375 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: change that it brought about in the world. Yeah. Isn't 376 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: it crazy that grad students in the future are going 377 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: to say, like, oh, instead of saying I'm majored in 378 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 1: the twenty one century, They're gonna be like, I'm majored 379 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:30,879 Speaker 1: in March. That's my concentration. Here's my book. It's it's nuts. 380 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:34,120 Speaker 1: So much stuff has occurred. We hope that you enjoy 381 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 1: this story. We hope you find it inspiring. We hope 382 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: you know, of course, that the Spanish flu is a misnomer. 383 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: It's kind of an unfair name. It just got its 384 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: name from the fact that newspapers in Spain were the 385 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 1: first ones to report the flu. Other countries had kept 386 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: silent because they didn't want to reveal a perceived weakness 387 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: to the enemy, So it's unfair to call it the 388 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: Spanish flu. The ten eighteen pandemic wrought massive change and 389 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: massive damage to society and our species. But we made 390 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,120 Speaker 1: it through and we're gonna make it through this one too. 391 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: Was calling it the Spanish flu, a political kind of 392 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:18,119 Speaker 1: maneuver to place blame. I mean, in some areas you 393 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: could argue that, which is I know where you're going. 394 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: I was thinking the same thing. But it's primarily just because, 395 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: as I said, the Spanish newspapers reported it first. Other 396 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: nations on both sides of the Allied and the Central Powers. 397 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,160 Speaker 1: I knew something was rotten. They knew something was afoot, 398 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: but they were worried that if they told anybody about 399 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: it publicly, they would seem weak in the international sphere. 400 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: Good lesson to learn, not just for this pandemic, but 401 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:53,399 Speaker 1: all the ones ahead. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Let's let's stay safe. 402 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: Uh let's you know, it's always a Thanksgiving at the 403 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: end of every Ridiculous History episode. Behind the scenes, one 404 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,160 Speaker 1: of our favorite things is thanking all the folks who 405 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:08,120 Speaker 1: make this show possible. Started with you, super producer, Casey Pegram. Well, 406 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: like we said, have a happy holiday, everybody, enjoy your 407 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,920 Speaker 1: time um with whomever you're able to pot up with, 408 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,240 Speaker 1: and hopefully folks will be down for some Thanksgiving zooming. Um, 409 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 1: that's certainly what I'm gonna do. Huge thanks to Alex 410 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: Williams who composed our theme. Christopher Hastiota is here in spirit, 411 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:29,680 Speaker 1: gave Louisier, the man who makes all this possible. Bamn, 412 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: big big thanks to Eve's Jeff co Please check out 413 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: this day in History class. It's fantastic. Uh. Don't have 414 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: to take our word for it. Check it out today. Uh. 415 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: And also big thanks to every activist who has been 416 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: fighting for a quality and progress not just in eighteen 417 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,719 Speaker 1: but here in the modern day as well. See you 418 00:28:53,720 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 1: next time, folks. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 419 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever 420 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.