1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 2: Wilson. 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: So today's topic was part of the Harlem Renaissance. As 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: a musician, she played piano and she sang in ways 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,319 Speaker 1: that drew huge crowds starting in the nineteen twenties. She 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 1: was unique in that she was completely out as a lesbian, 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: unusual for the time, but her story takes some really 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: surprising turns. She is when she has talked about it's 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: often like gay icon Gladys Bentley. But then there are 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: some weird parts of her story that do get mentioned 13 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: by people, but they don't get picked apart as much 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: as I would like in terms of like really looking 15 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: closely at them. So we're going to do that, and 16 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: this one gets a couple of heads ups. So first, 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: there are some really sad aspects of Gladys's story regarding 18 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: her sexual identity and attempts at it's erasure by her 19 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: parents and even by Gladys herself. If that sounds painful 20 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: to you, just be prepared or maybe skip, because that 21 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: was part of an article that she wrote about herself 22 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. That article has been questioned when 23 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: it comes to whether she was purposely trying to redact 24 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: her queerness as a self protective ruse. Like I said, 25 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: we're going to pick that apart when we get to it. 26 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: There is also a very brief mention of police brutality, 27 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: and there are very brief discussions of song lyrics about 28 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: domestic abuse, one also about a sex act. Those are 29 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: all very quick though, so just know those are in 30 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: the episode. If those are things you might be sensitive 31 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: to you, or if you have a younger history buff 32 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: that listens, you might want to pre screen from the 33 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: very beginning. Gladys Alberta Bentley offers us some contradictions. She 34 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: was born on August twelfth, nineteen oh seven. Her place 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: of birth is almost always given as Philadelphia, and that 36 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: includes in obituaries, and she did grow up in Philadelphia. 37 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: But during an appearance on the television show You Bet 38 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: Your Life in nineteen fifty eight, Graucho Marx asked her 39 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: where she was from, and without any hesitation, she said 40 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: Port of Spain, Trinidad. Her mother Mary was from Trinidad, 41 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: and her father, George was from Philadelphia. If she was 42 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: actually born in Trinidad, it seems like the family must 43 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: have moved to Philadelphia when she was very young. She 44 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: always talked about her childhood as taking place in Philadelphia exclusively, 45 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: and never apparently mentioned anything about Trinidad publicly outside of 46 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: this one mention on one TV show, just starting. 47 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: It out, Gladys, Gladys, you know. 48 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: Not always a reliable narrator of her own life. She 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: would write of her childhood many years later and how 50 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: difficult her relationship with her mother was as a kid. 51 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: She wrote, quote, many of us who have strayed from 52 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: the paths of what society calls normal were once children 53 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:16,839 Speaker 1: in unhappy or broken homes. Children who are rejected, abused, unloved, exploited, 54 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: or overprotected do not have a chance to develop that 55 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: inner sense of security which will keep them from feeling 56 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: abandoned and afraid. However, not all children in situations of 57 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: this nature react by feeling alone or fearful. Some children 58 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: become aggressive, decide to take the reins of their destiny 59 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: in their own hands. That is the way I reacted 60 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: to being an unwonted child. So she continues to recount 61 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: how her mother really had her heart set on having 62 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: a boy. She wanted a boy. She wanted a boy 63 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: so much that when she learned she had given birth 64 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: to a girl, she actually refused to nurse or even 65 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: touch the baby, and for the first six months of 66 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: her life, Gladys was raised by her grandmother. Gladys also 67 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: described not liking men from the time she was very young, 68 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: noting quote, from the time I can remember anything, even 69 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: when I was toddling, I never wanted a man to 70 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: touch me. I would even run away for my own father. 71 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: He felt terrible about his own child avoiding him, but 72 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: I would never go to him. I acted the same 73 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: way with my uncles and all the rest of the 74 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: males who came into my home. She also described hating 75 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: her two brothers because they were celebrated while she was scorned, 76 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: and she said that she started stealing their suits to 77 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: wear when she was nine or ten, and her parents 78 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: got very upset about that. Yeah. Also, she ended up 79 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: with more brothers than that, but I think she had 80 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: two that were born immediately after her that were closest 81 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: to her in age. Gladys described herself as a large 82 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: and stocky child. Those are her precise words, and it 83 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: was something that other kids free equently teased her about. 84 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: She later told the press that she started writing songs 85 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: when she was eight years old just to keep herself 86 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: company because she was lonely and outcast among other kids. 87 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: But that was not the only thing that set her 88 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: apart from her peers. She also found herself developing a 89 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: crush on her teacher, noting quote in class, I sat 90 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: for hours watching her and wondering why I was so 91 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: attracted to her. At night, I dreamed of her. It's 92 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: unclear if Gladys's parents knew about this infatuation with her teacher, 93 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,919 Speaker 1: but it does seem that they understood, at least on 94 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: some level, that Gladys did not align with the heteronormative 95 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: social mores of Philadelphia. The family soon moved to another neighborhood, 96 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: but still in the city, and Gladys's mother started taking 97 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: her to a series of doctors. Biographers have interpreted this 98 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: situation as attempts at conversion therapy. She noted later that 99 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: she if you believed that her parents meant well, but 100 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: that she didn't need a doctor. She needed love and affection. 101 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: Though she and her parents did try to come to 102 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: compromises on things like her wearing non frilly girls clothes 103 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: instead of her brother's suits. As glad As reached her 104 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: teenage years, things at home just got worse, and she 105 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: ran away at sixteen to New York, hoping to find 106 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: a career as a performer. In nineteen twenty seven, New 107 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: York passed a piece of legislation known as the Wales 108 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: Padlock Law. This was in response to Manhattan's growing community 109 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: of performers, and a lot of those performers were queer 110 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: and were pushing against the boundaries of propriety to explore 111 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: stories and music that mainstream audiences and the authorities thought 112 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: were indecent. One of the last straws that catalyzed the 113 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: Whales Padlock Law was May West's Place Sex, which she 114 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: starred in and also wrote under the pen name Jane Mast. 115 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: That play was rated and soon Senator b Roger Wales 116 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: had sponsored an amendment to the Penal Code that regulated 117 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: indecent materials to include, among other things, a provision that 118 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: the police could just shut down an establishment that was 119 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: staging purportedly in decent or sexually degenerate entertainment and then 120 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: literally padlocket shut for up to a year. So this 121 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: is the New York that Gladys started her career in, 122 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: and that law meant that a lot of the material 123 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: that she would eventually perform and become really well known 124 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: for could get her into trouble. But over the years, 125 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: as we'll see, she stayed booked and crowds continued to 126 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: show up to hear her play piano and sing her 127 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: often very raunchy songs. One of the main reasons for 128 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: this was just a matter of location. The police tended 129 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: to focus on Broadway in the theater district, and at 130 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: that point Gladys was playing venues in Harlem. The law 131 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: still applied there, but it was not really in forced 132 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: that far north in the city, and as a consequence 133 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: of vibrant queer culture flourished there. Drag balls and drag 134 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: performances were common, and Bentley, as a cross dressing out lesbian, 135 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: became a star. We'll talk about how Gladys Bentley got 136 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: started in New York after we pause for a sponsor break. 137 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: Gladys Bentley is often talked about for being transgressive, but 138 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: she wasn't just transgressive. She was also incredibly talented. When 139 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,319 Speaker 1: she got to New York, she started performing at rent 140 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: parties in Harlem in the mid nineteen twenty so just 141 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: as the Whales padlock law was coming into play. So 142 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: our rent party was, as its name suggests, a way 143 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: for tenants to raise the funds needed to pay ever 144 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: rising rent costs. For a small door charge, people could 145 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: join the party and then they also paid for drinks. 146 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: Prohibition was effect from the beginning of nineteen twenty to 147 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 1: the end of nineteen thirty three, so the alcohol served 148 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: at these parties was home brewed and to draw crowds, 149 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: musicians were booked to play. And these parties became these 150 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: really boisterous community events where people would gather, drink and dance, 151 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: and it was all within the confines of a private residence. 152 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: Sometimes in places like brownstones, multiple units would hold the 153 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: party at the same time, so it got to be 154 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: this immense house party. Innovations in jazz and dances that 155 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: would become popular on the swing scene in the decades 156 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: that followed came directly out of these neighborhood gatherings, and 157 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: Bentley was a very popular draw. Gladys became well known 158 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: for performing songs in what was known as eight to 159 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: the bar style, meaning unlike the more standard four beats 160 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: per bar of music. Each bar would get eight beats, 161 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: so a very fast up tempo style. If you are 162 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: a musician, or if you talk to musician about music theory, 163 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: there's a way more complex discussion about how this can 164 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: be represented in time signatures and what actually comprises a 165 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: bar of music. But for a lay person, what you 166 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: need to know here is this was just a very fast, 167 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: super upbeat style. In nineteen fifty five, Rob Roy wrote 168 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: an article about what made Bentley's performances stand out, and 169 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: that was their uniqueness. Nobody was really doing this eight 170 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: to the bar style, aside from some copycats. Roy said 171 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: that the trade that being the theater district around New 172 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: York's Broadway in fifty second streets quote, preferred listening to 173 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: the original, and Gladys was the original. In addition to 174 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: being very skilled at uptempo playing and singing, Gladys was 175 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: also a very clever lyricist, and she would improvise new 176 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: words to popular songs. Often her new verses were very dirty. 177 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: In contrast, though to her body lyrics, she dressed like 178 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: a dandy. She usually performed in a white tailored men's 179 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: tuxedo and a white top hat. She wore her hair 180 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: very short, in what would be considered at the time 181 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: a very masculine cut. She normally had it slicked back, 182 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: and this combination of highly polished visual presentation, her musical talent, 183 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: and her very naughty lyrics made her just irresistible to audiences. 184 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 1: And she didn't confine this persona to performance only. She 185 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: dressed in men's wear all the time, and she was 186 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: as flamboyant and body offstage as she was on. She 187 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: self identified as a woman, and she's often referred to 188 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: as a drag king in modern discussion, but the term 189 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 1: drag king didn't really exist for almost a half century 190 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: after this. She was also not putting on this persona 191 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: just for performance the way a lot of drag artists do, 192 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: although her promoters did often bill her as a male impersonator. 193 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: So it's all little bit tricky here, As is always 194 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: the case when we're talking about someone who was queer 195 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: before the terminology that we would use today existed, It 196 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: is hard to know precisely how Gladys would identify today. 197 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: Booied by her popularity, she got an agent, and the 198 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: agent got her a record deal for eight recorded songs. 199 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: She got four hundred dollars, which she was very excited about, 200 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: but she knew she could not live off of that forever, 201 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: so she also started going to music clubs and bars 202 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: that had musical acts. She would basically ask if she 203 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: could play when the build musicians were on their breaks, 204 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: she would just play for tips while other people were 205 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: having downtime. Then she got a lead on a piano 206 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: player opening at a club called the Madhouse, and she 207 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: went for an audition. The club wanted a male player, 208 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: but when Gladys showed up, they let her play a 209 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: set and the audience really loved her, and she said 210 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: that after her first song, a white man handed her 211 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: a five dollar tip and said, quote, please play something else. 212 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: We don't care what it is, just play your terrific. 213 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: Bentley was hired on the spot, making thirty five dollars 214 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: a week, and those early days she went by the 215 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: stage name Barbara Minton or Bobby, and her act became 216 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: so popular that she drew huge Enbevor's crowds. Black and 217 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: white customers alike flooded into the club. Her pay was 218 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: soon raised to one hundred and twenty five dollars a 219 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: week plus tips. She was such a draw that the 220 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 1: club changed its name to Barbara's Exclusive Club so that 221 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: everybody in the city knew where to find her. A 222 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine write up by Bill Chase for The 223 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: New York Age recalling the Exclusive Club noted quote the 224 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:48,079 Speaker 1: dynamite Gladys Bentley used to draw celebrities like flies to Syrup. 225 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: From there, Gladys goot bookings all around Harlem, including a 226 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: long run at a place called the Clamhouse. This was 227 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: a very well known speakeasy that catered to the queer community, 228 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: although straight people also flock to it just to hear Gladys' shows, 229 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: and she started making a lot of money because, as 230 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: Tracy just said, she appealed the audiences across just about 231 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: every demographic. As a consequence, she was able to move 232 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 1: into a luxury apartment on Park Avenue and she had 233 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: a full staff there. She also talked about driving a 234 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: very nice car. For a while, she had a live 235 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: in romantic partner named Beatrice Robert. In nineteen thirty two, 236 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: celebrated Black cartoonist E Sims Campbell, who is on my 237 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: short list if I can find enough material to research 238 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: for it, created this gorgeous illustrated map of Harlem's nightlife 239 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: in pen and brush, and this piece, which is now 240 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: in the collection of Yale's Benecky Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 241 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: features as one of the locations the clam House. It 242 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: is labeled as Gladys Clamhouse and you can see the 243 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: performer drawn seated at the piano and playing. And then 244 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: there's lettering next to this part of the map that 245 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: reads what is Bentley? Where's a tuxedo and high hat? 246 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: In Walter Winchell's gossip column on Broadway in February eight, 247 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty three, there is just a one line mention 248 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: of Gladys and that reads only quote, Gladys Bentley's penthouse 249 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: on West fifty fourth is so naughty. While there are 250 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: zero details conveyed about exactly what that means, it indicates 251 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: that she was well known enough to make a gossip 252 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: column with no explainer needed of who she was. She 253 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: was so popular that she was also getting bookings in 254 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: midtown Manhattan, but this got her into legal trouble with 255 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: Harry Hansbury and Nat Palin, who were the owners of 256 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: the Clamhouse. They had a multi year contract with Bentley 257 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: and had made the club all about her and her acts, 258 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: so for her to start taking bookings somewhere else, they said, 259 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: was a breach of her contract. As legal maneuvering dragged 260 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: on with this, Gladys took other bookings anyway, and that 261 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: led to different legal problems. In nineteen thirty four, Gladys 262 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: was performing at a club in midtown Manhattan known as 263 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: King's Terrace. She had several drag queens performing with her 264 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: as backup singers, and she performed songs with lyrics that 265 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: some audience members found quite shocking. One song that she 266 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: sang pretty often was a riff on the song Alice 267 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: Blue Gown, which was written by Joseph McCarthy and Harry 268 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: Tierney for the musical Irene. And. While the original song 269 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: is a very sweet and innocent number about address that 270 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: is Alice Blue, inspired by the color of a dress 271 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: worn by Alice Roosevelt, do you want to hear the original? 272 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: There's a beautiful Judy Garland recording, but Gladys's version switched 273 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: up the lyrics to make this song about anal sex, 274 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: and she would often encourage the audience to sing along 275 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: with her, which a lot of people did, and they 276 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: loved this year reverent act, but some of them were 277 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: downright scandalized, and they recorded Gladys to the authorities. This 278 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: was the year immediately following the end of prohibition, and 279 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 1: as police were no longer kept busy trying to hunt 280 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 1: down illicit alcohol operations, they turned their attention to the 281 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: perceived problem of indecency, and that meant that they started 282 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 1: raiding gay clubs and clubs where gay people performed. So 283 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 1: King's terrorists became a target. One newspaper article about this 284 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 1: opens with kind of a run on sentence quote with 285 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: the New York City new deal in city government under 286 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: the aegis of Mayor Firilla H. LaGuardia comes at last 287 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: the secret police campaign to clean up the nightlife and 288 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:43,120 Speaker 1: cabaret entertainment. It was revealed Thursday when Harold L. Allen's 289 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: second Deputy Police Commissioner, ordered almost thirty managers and entertainers 290 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: to appear before him to explain irregularities ranging from violation 291 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:56,199 Speaker 1: of the curfew to presentation of lewd entertainment. And so 292 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,719 Speaker 1: reform came at last, as it must to all. Once 293 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,639 Speaker 1: hoses to Gladys Bentley Race entertainer at the King's Terrace. 294 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: So this article went on to quote Harold L. Allen 295 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: describing what police saw when they raided the club. Quote, 296 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: we have received complaints that the entertainment in certain places 297 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: is vile, and we have investigated. I am not easily shocked, 298 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,719 Speaker 1: but some of these shows are certainly vile and they 299 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,479 Speaker 1: should not continue. So he talked about the various clubs 300 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: that had been investigated, and then he described Gladys's act quote. 301 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: Following a commonplace song, Gladys Bentley begins a number entitled 302 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,120 Speaker 1: There's a hell of a Situation up at Yale, which 303 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,360 Speaker 1: is followed by a scene worthy of a Northwestern stag 304 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: lumber camp songfest. A chorus of eight liberally painted male 305 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: sepiens with effeminate voices and gestures assisted the singer in 306 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: throwing this piece of filth at a blushing audience. The 307 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: chorus men were dressed in vivid satin pajamas, only slightly 308 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: less extreme than the colors of their faces. The chief 309 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,440 Speaker 1: and filthiest offering of the evening, however, is a personal 310 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: tour of the tables by miss Bentley. At each table, 311 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: she stopped to sing one or more versus of a 312 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: seemingly endless song in which every word known to vulgar 313 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: profanity is used. 314 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 2: This sounds like the. 315 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 1: Parents in Footloose that don't want dancing to happen. 316 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 2: He's just so worked up. 317 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,239 Speaker 1: Alan then stated that the entertainment was so offensive that 318 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: some of the audience left, and also mentioned that Gladys 319 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: and her dancers accepted drinks from patrons and described this 320 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,920 Speaker 1: as something that would normally happen in what he called 321 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: lower class clubs. King's Terrace was shut down by the police. 322 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: They literally put a padlock on the door to prevent 323 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: anyone from entering. They, of course, were invoking the Whales 324 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: Padlock Act. Incidentally, just for clarity, because you might be 325 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: wondering the issue with the song There's a hell of 326 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: a situation up at Yale, was that that song is 327 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: about masturbation. Gladys continued to live her life openly, although 328 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,120 Speaker 1: for a while she was back to only playing in Harlem. 329 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: She booked a long run at the Ubangy Club at 330 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:16,439 Speaker 1: the corner of one hundred and thirty first Street and 331 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: Seventh Avenue, but the white crowds just followed her back 332 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: to Harlem. She did not seem to change anything about 333 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,879 Speaker 1: her act or about herself. She even told the press 334 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: that she had married a white woman in a civil 335 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: service in New Jersey. That claim has never been verified. 336 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: The woman's name has never been known. Same sex marriages 337 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: would not have been legal, so if Gladys and a 338 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: woman did get married, if they did find a judge 339 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: willing to marry them, that almost certainly would have required 340 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: a deception to suggest that one of them was a man. 341 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: Gladys probably could have pulled that off, but she was 342 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: also really well known, so she probably would have been 343 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: recognized unless it was a really blueless judge who wasn't aware. 344 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:07,159 Speaker 1: This one remains kind of a history mystery. Yeah, nobody 345 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: has ever figured out if there was really a woman, 346 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: if they had maybe a service that wasn't illegal service 347 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: like what may have gone on, just big question marks. Eventually, 348 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: that King's Terrace scandal was all but forgotten, and Bentley 349 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: started getting booked in Midtown again. She headlined at Tondalo's 350 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: in Midtown as well as other venues. She still had 351 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: her rich alto voice and its range that passed from 352 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: these low growley segments to higher trills. She did this 353 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: cool thing where she would do the higher notes through 354 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: like a closed mouth, through her teeth with incredible skill. 355 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 2: It was so cool. 356 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: There's a video we'll talk about later that you can 357 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: see her playing was as good as ever as she 358 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: banged out blues numbers. 359 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 2: A lot of the. 360 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: Songs that she was famous for, maybe surprisingly, in addition 361 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: to those filthy ones, had lyrics that were about heteronormative relationships, 362 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: although less surprisingly those relationships were not good, and they 363 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: often featured narratives of abuse. For example, in a song 364 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: called how Much Can I Stand, she sang the lyrics said, 365 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: I was an angel, he was born to treat me right? 366 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 2: Who the devil? 367 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: Heard of an angel that gets beat up every night? 368 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: How much of that stuff? Can I Stand? In A 369 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: similar vein her song called Worried Blues, includes the lyrics 370 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: what made you men? 371 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 2: Folk? Treat us women like you do? I don't want 372 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 2: no man that I got to give my money to. 373 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: But songs like that, which she sang from the beginning 374 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: of her career, continued to be part of her act. 375 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: As she got more famous, she also got more and 376 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: more refined from a production value standpoint. She hired somebody 377 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: else to play the piano while she sang, and the 378 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: verve of her stage presence started to get a little 379 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:53,879 Speaker 1: too smooth around the edges for people. It led to 380 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: a drop off in crowds. Additionally, as the Great Depression 381 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: war on, a lot of clubs started closing, and that 382 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 1: was especially true in Harlem. Still, Gladys was still being 383 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: written about with glowing praise. During her run at Tondalayo's 384 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: critic Alvin Moses wrote of her quote, if there is 385 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 1: any name on our morning patrol along the Broadway realto 386 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 1: that outrates Gladys Bentley as a draw, you call me 387 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: up and tell me who is the owner of it. 388 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: Gladys eventually decided to leave New York, and we will 389 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: talk about that and the infamous article we referenced at 390 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: the top of the show after we hear from the 391 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: sponsors that keep stuff you missed in history class going. 392 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: As the nineteen forties wound down, Bentley headed to the 393 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: West Coast, and while she did get bookings there, the 394 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:54,119 Speaker 1: audiences of California were less enthusiastic about her style of 395 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:55,640 Speaker 1: presentation and music. 396 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:57,200 Speaker 2: Outside of New. 397 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: York, she had the sharp realization that not everyone was 398 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: as willing to let a performer buck against social norms 399 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 1: and basically make that the focus of their act. So 400 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: she started to tone her act down, and while she 401 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: still wore men's suit jackets and ties, they were more 402 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: increasingly paired with skirts instead of trousers. And this wasn't 403 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: just a matter of aligning with the Los Angeles attitudes 404 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: toward gender presentation. There was actually a legal element to this, 405 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: because at least at one of the venues she played, 406 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: which was Joaquin zel Rancho, they had to get a 407 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: special police permit for her to wear pants on stage. 408 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: Her billings sometimes also came off as really odd as well, 409 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,239 Speaker 1: making her seem like a novelty act instead of an 410 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: accomplished performer. One ad for her run at a venue 411 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,880 Speaker 1: called The Dollhouse on Adventura Boulevard touted quote the one 412 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: and only Gladys Bentley, She's fat, tan and terrific. I 413 00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: would not want that as my billing. But whatever, her 414 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,919 Speaker 1: days of doing whatever she pleased in terms of her 415 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: gender expression and identity really did seem to be coming 416 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: to a close, and her career was faltering. In August 417 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty two, an article written by Gladys appeared 418 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 1: in Ebony magazine with the title I Am a Woman Again. 419 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: This was the fascinating and also troubling read kind of 420 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 1: a rollercoaster of a narrative in which she shares the 421 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,120 Speaker 1: story of her early life and her problems with her 422 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: family and her rise to fame, and then it describes 423 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: what she calls the miracle that made her a woman, 424 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: writing that it quote came about what I discovered and accepted, 425 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 1: the love and tenderness and true devotion of a man 426 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: who loved me unselfishly and whose love I could return, 427 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: the awakening in me of the womanliness I tried to suppress. So. 428 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: Bedley's account describes a man who she names only as Dawn, 429 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,880 Speaker 1: that she met through friends and found that she had 430 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: feelings for. She described being confused and scared about these 431 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: feelings and not knowing what to do with them, but 432 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 1: also knowing that she wanted to marry him and he 433 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: was also very obviously interested in her, And she describes 434 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: reading about how if you are feeling doubt about being 435 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: with someone you truly love, that you have left God 436 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,920 Speaker 1: out of the union. This was in like a religious 437 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: book that she had, and she also says that all 438 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: of this concern led her to visit a doctor. She 439 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: went to that appointment wanting, she said, to talk about 440 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,920 Speaker 1: her weight. But when the doctor gave her a full examination, 441 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,959 Speaker 1: she described feeling relieved because that was what she actually wanted. 442 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: And this doctor told her that she had a developmental 443 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,679 Speaker 1: issue with her sex organs, and he started her on 444 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: a course of thrice weekly quote injection of female hormones, 445 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: and that she said, finally overcame the male hormones in 446 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: her body, and then she said she felt free to 447 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 1: get married to a man. This article has a lot 448 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: going on beyond that. After she describes this miracle, she 449 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: starts the next paragraph by saying flatly that her marriage 450 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: to Dawn did not last, but that she got married again. 451 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 1: Quote today I am happily married, and I hope and 452 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: pray this marriage will last to J. T. Gibson, well 453 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 1: known West Coast theatrical columnist. This is where it gets 454 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: even wilder. The ebony article must have actually come out 455 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: to news stands in July. A lot of publications put 456 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 1: out their monthly issues, in this case the August issue. 457 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: They actually dropped the month prior, because not only did J. T. 458 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: Gibson die in July of nineteen fifty two, but one 459 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 1: of his friends, photographer Masseoh Sheffield, gave a statement to 460 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: the press saying that Gibson was really angry about this 461 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 1: article because it was not true. According to Sheffield, one 462 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,639 Speaker 1: of the last things Gibson said to him was quote, 463 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: I am I am not and have never been married 464 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: to Gladys Bentley. I'm going to sue the Blank magazine 465 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: for publishing a story stating that I am her husband 466 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: in that confession article of hers. And then Gibson was 467 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: found dead in a friend's car a few hours after 468 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 1: this conversation. He had parked and then he had an 469 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: aneurysm rupture while he was getting out of the vehicle. 470 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: So this denial of the marriage is also a mystery 471 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 1: because Gibson was dead and we cannot verify Sheffield's account, 472 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: And that account is problematic for a couple of reasons. 473 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: So one, it first appeared in a Hollywood gossip column 474 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: written by Harry LaVette. Then it got kind of picked 475 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 1: up and repeated in a lot of places, but that 476 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: was the earliest mention I could find. And two, Messeo. 477 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: Sheffield was a very problematic figure It's sort of interesting 478 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: that he's described as a photographer in every reference to him, 479 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: because he was a disgraced LAPD detective who then transitioned 480 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: into the film industry and became an actor. He also 481 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: produced a few films, but photography never appears in his 482 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,719 Speaker 1: professional credits. He was actually charged with murder in nineteen 483 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: twenty seven when he raided a home on a tip 484 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: of illicit alcohol and he shot a young man named 485 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: Samuel Faulkner there, which sparked protests in the city. Sheffield 486 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: was tried for that murder but acquitted. Several LAPD cops 487 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: who testified against him lost their jobs, and soon after 488 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: Sheffield also left the force to pursue a film career. 489 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: So we don't know if he just managed to somehow 490 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: get out from under that if people didn't realize that 491 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: he was that detective that had been part of that scandal. 492 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: So we don't know. Was Sheffield just trying to get 493 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: his name in the paper with his claim about J. T. 494 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: Gibson's denial of a marriage to Gladys. The alternative there 495 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: is that Gladys did lie in her story, which was 496 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: printed in a very large publication, or there's also the 497 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: possibility that she and Gibson had some sort of understanding 498 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: that Sheffield either didn't know about, or that he was 499 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: trying to posthumously distance his friend from Gladys for some reason. 500 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: We are never gonna know, but just know that there's 501 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: a whole lot of murkiness around this whole part of 502 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: her story. In addition to all of the writing about 503 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: her life, this multi page article also included a number 504 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: of photos of Gladys. She wasn't in her tuxedo or 505 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: dapper suits anymore. She's in a dress in every picture, 506 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: and some of them she's shown with other well known musicians, 507 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: including Louis Armstrong. The other photos, though, show her doing 508 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: domestic chores typically associated with women. Each of them has 509 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: a short caption about the activity that's being featured, and 510 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 1: then an additional piece of information, so one of them 511 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: reads quote, taste testing dinner she has prepared for husband 512 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:00,120 Speaker 1: Jay T. 513 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 2: Gibson. 514 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: Miss Bentley enjoys domestic role, which she shunned for years. 515 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: She lives in modest, tastefully appointed home directly in rear 516 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: of similar homes she purchased for her mother. And another 517 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: photo she's making the bed and then yet another she's 518 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: selecting jewelry. There are no pictures of either of the 519 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: husbands that she mentioned in this piece, So this entire 520 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: article seems like such a departure from the life Gladys 521 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: Bentley lived in the years prior that it seems confusing 522 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 1: and almost shocking. But this is also an instance where 523 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: context really really matters. This article came out in the 524 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: middle of the lavender scare, when homosexuality was not just 525 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: seen as deviant, it was criminalized. In nineteen forty seven, 526 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: five years before Bentley shared this story in Ebony, the 527 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: US Park Police, which is part of the National Park Service, 528 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: had instituted a sex perversion al elimination program, and there 529 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 1: was also legislation introduced in Congress that labeled homosexuals as 530 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: sexual psychopaths. Most of these laws targeted gay men, but 531 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: somebody like Gladys, who was a very well known and 532 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: very out lesbian performer, wasn't going to fly under the 533 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: radar in a country that was gripped by this misguided 534 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: notion that same sex attraction was criminal and dangerous. Most 535 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: modern queer scholars and historians, when looking at this article 536 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: and thinking about all of its nuance, see it as 537 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: an effort on Gladys Bentley's part to straightwash her reputation 538 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: to try to save her music career. Yeah, this was 539 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,959 Speaker 1: really I mean, we've talked about like laws about obscenity 540 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,680 Speaker 1: and earlier laws about things like cross dressing, but this 541 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: was a time when more queer people were becoming more 542 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: visible and there was a big backlash against that. So, like, 543 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,680 Speaker 1: as a movement for equal rights was growing and developing, Like, 544 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: there was just an onslaught of laws and social mores 545 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: and all of that that she would have been targeted by. Yeah, 546 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: and a lot of people willing to stoke fear of 547 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: anyone who was not heteronormative. 548 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. 549 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,800 Speaker 1: In September of nineteen fifty two, Gladys got married again, 550 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: and this time there were pictures. Her new husband was 551 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: Charles Roberts, a twenty eight year old cook from Sacramento. 552 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: Gladys was forty five at the time. Newspaper reports said 553 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: that they had been dating for only five months, and 554 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 1: if that's the case, that means that they were seeing 555 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,720 Speaker 1: each other while she claimed that she was married to 556 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: her second husband. But also we just don't have a 557 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: lot of information about Charles or about their life together, 558 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,440 Speaker 1: and so that has led to some speculation that it 559 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: too might have been for show. In the nineteen fifties, 560 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: Gladys wrote a book about her life titled If This 561 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,720 Speaker 1: Be Sin, but it was never published and there doesn't 562 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 1: appear to be a surviving manuscript article. There is also 563 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:05,480 Speaker 1: a photograph of her typing on a typewriter allegedly working 564 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,720 Speaker 1: on this book. She mentioned the book in that same 565 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: You Bet Your Life appearance that we mentioned at the 566 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 1: top of the show, and Bentley also played piano on 567 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:17,799 Speaker 1: that program as she sang them their eyes and you 568 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 1: can find this video online. It is so clear why 569 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: she was a beloved performer. This is, to the best 570 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: of my knowledge, the only actual footage that we have 571 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:31,799 Speaker 1: of her performing. Her presence and her energy just incredibly compelling. 572 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,320 Speaker 1: Her vocal style and the way she phrased the verses 573 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,280 Speaker 1: with her breath was really unique. She would sing lines 574 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,959 Speaker 1: in this sort of staccato style, with each word given 575 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,880 Speaker 1: its own very brief, punchy moment. It is one hundred 576 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 1: percent easy to see why people would have flocked to 577 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:51,800 Speaker 1: her shows. At the beginning of February nineteen sixty, Gladys 578 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 1: got a cold and that quickly got worse. She developed pneumonia, 579 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: and she died at home on February the eighth. She 580 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: was only fifty ten two. Her obituary mentions that she 581 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: lived with her mother. No husband was mentioned as next 582 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,880 Speaker 1: of ken, so we don't really know what happened regarding 583 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: her third marriage. When her mother, Mary died six years later, 584 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: she was buried next to Gladys. 585 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:18,960 Speaker 2: I'd love Gladys. 586 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. 587 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:21,800 Speaker 2: I have so much to talk about on Friday. 588 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, but right now I have listener mail that's not 589 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,719 Speaker 1: about anything this serious at all, but I love it 590 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:32,399 Speaker 1: so much. It's not even really about history. Okay, it's 591 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,880 Speaker 1: about Blue. Yeah, I know this email. I read it 592 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 1: this morning, was delighted. I'm excited for people to hear 593 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 1: it now. 594 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 2: I love it. 595 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,440 Speaker 1: It also validates some feelings I've had about Bluie and 596 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:48,279 Speaker 1: real estate for a while. This is from our listener Ian, 597 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,359 Speaker 1: who writes High Ladies. In a recent behind the scenes episode, 598 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,200 Speaker 1: one of you mentioned you like watching Blue as escapism. 599 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:54,840 Speaker 2: Listen. 600 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: I watched it this morning while I had coffee. This 601 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: letter continues, so I thought you might find this new 602 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: story for twenty twenty interesting. A real estate agent who 603 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 1: must have watched too many Bluey episodes. No such things 604 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: with their kids realized that the Bluey or Healer Family 605 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 1: Home is a Queenslander style house. It has at least 606 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,720 Speaker 1: fifteen rooms, has a massive backyard with a full size 607 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:20,000 Speaker 1: tree in it, and is in a major suburb of Brisbane. 608 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 1: They calculated the Healer Family Home would be worth at 609 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 1: least four million dollars Australian. That's about US two point 610 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: eight million. Listen that was six years ago. I bet 611 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,399 Speaker 1: it's worth a lot more now. Queenslander style of home 612 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,760 Speaker 1: was developed in tropical Queensland, Australia and the age before 613 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 1: air conditioning. They're made out of wood, they have wrap 614 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,000 Speaker 1: around verandas to keep sun out and improve cooling, and 615 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:43,800 Speaker 1: they are elevated off the ground to provide extra cooling 616 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 1: and avoid flooding. For a while, you could have stayed 617 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 1: in the real Bluey House. A real Queenslander home was 618 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,960 Speaker 1: decorated as the Healer Family Home and was available on Airbnb. 619 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: But I think that home has now become a regular 620 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,520 Speaker 1: family home that Lucky family. Whilst we are at Pepa 621 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,320 Speaker 1: Pig is another TV show which has been popular in Australia. 622 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,719 Speaker 1: There was However, one episode which was not played on 623 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:11,160 Speaker 1: Australian TV. In it, Pepa told her friends that spiders 624 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,400 Speaker 1: cannot hurt you. This episode was not banned. It is 625 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: just that ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, decided it was 626 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,120 Speaker 1: not a good idea to show this episode in a 627 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,479 Speaker 1: country where spiders can actually hurt you. As for pet tax, 628 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,359 Speaker 1: I have attached a couple of pictures of our cat 629 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,680 Speaker 1: Trim and our dog Ringo. Ringo sadly died of old 630 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,080 Speaker 1: age over a year ago. In one picture you have 631 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,360 Speaker 1: Trim cuddling up to Ringo. The other picture you have 632 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: Ringo next to a statue of the original Trim, who 633 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: was Matthew Flinder's cat and was the first cat to 634 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:45,400 Speaker 1: circumnavigate Australia. Thanks for keeping me going at the gym Ian. Okay, 635 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:46,720 Speaker 1: I love everything about this email. 636 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. 637 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,319 Speaker 1: I also love this can of dog. They are the 638 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:51,400 Speaker 1: cutest things on the planet. 639 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:52,880 Speaker 2: That dog. 640 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,239 Speaker 1: I just know that dog got kissed on this new 641 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: twenty seven times a day minimum, well deserved. I think 642 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: Pepa Pig is a British show. I don't know, yes, 643 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:08,640 Speaker 1: but like, but I don't know, but like there are 644 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,720 Speaker 1: also spiders that can hurt you in North America. 645 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 2: Yeah's huge here. 646 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: I don't think I would say that there are more 647 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:22,799 Speaker 1: spiders that can hurt you worse in Australia. Yeah, I mean, 648 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 1: but most house spiders are most spiders you're gonna see 649 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:28,920 Speaker 1: are fine, Listen. 650 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 2: I live with in North America. 651 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,120 Speaker 1: Significant level of rachnophobe, so I understand the fear of spiders, 652 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:38,080 Speaker 1: even though yeah, I love them. It's my job to 653 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,800 Speaker 1: corral them and escort them outside. I do not dislike them, 654 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 1: but I do know what black widows and brown recluses 655 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,000 Speaker 1: look like, and those are the kinds that live in 656 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,799 Speaker 1: places I have lived. Yeah, you are right, Papa Pig 657 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 1: is British. By the way, you could tell that that's 658 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 1: the show. I've never glommed onto you, and I have 659 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:00,400 Speaker 1: no idea what the venomous spider situation is in Britain. 660 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,800 Speaker 2: It isn't. I think that's what It's okay. 661 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:04,759 Speaker 1: To the best of my knowledge, I don't think they 662 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,880 Speaker 1: have any dangerous ones, but I could be wrong. Correct 663 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong, anybody. If you want to correct me, 664 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,360 Speaker 1: you can do that in an email. If British listeners 665 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,400 Speaker 1: want to write in about whether they're venomous spiders. Yeah, 666 00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 1: I feel like I have heard a factoid that they 667 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,120 Speaker 1: don't have them, but I may have a false memory. 668 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 1: If you want to correct us, you can do that 669 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 1: at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. If you want 670 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,680 Speaker 1: to look up our show notes to see any of 671 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:36,160 Speaker 1: the articles, papers, et cetera that got used for this 672 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: episode in any other you can find those at mystinhistory 673 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 1: dot com. We also would love it if you would 674 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show. You can do that on the 675 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:51,719 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. 676 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,640 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 677 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:03,600 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 678 00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.