1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Vie Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Today's topic 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: is somebody that listeners have been asking us to cover 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: since and that's when the first book about this person 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: came out. But she really caught my attention about a 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: year after that when she was depicted on the TV 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: show Timeless, which is a show I loved a whole lot, 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: and I know a lot of our listeners did also. 10 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: I heard about her again on the podcast Criminal in 11 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: and we got listener mail asking for her after both 12 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: the Timeless appearance and Criminal And then our colleague Christopher Haciotis, 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: who clearly has a knack for episode pitches, because this 14 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: is the second one we've done recently. That's something he 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: sent us a note about. He sent us a note 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: about her earlier this month, and I was finally like, Okay, Universe, 17 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: I have received your message. We will do a podcast 18 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: on Grace Hommiston's. Grace Hamiston's also known as Mary Grace 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: Quackenboss depending on what period of her life we're talking about, 20 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: was an attorney and an investigator who did a whole 21 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: lot of work to exonerate people who were wrongfully convicted, 22 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: to expose corruption, and, in one particularly dramatic case, to 23 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: solve a murder that the police had written off as 24 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: the victim having just run away. That last one earned 25 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: her the nickname Mrs Sherlock Holmes, and in her words 26 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: though she said quote no, I never read Sherlock Holmes. 27 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: In fact, I'm not a believer in deduction. Common sense 28 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: and persistence will always solve a mystery. Never need theatricals 29 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: nor Dr Watson's if you stick to a case. So 30 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: all that sounds pretty cool. At the same time, though, 31 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: some of her work was part of a moral panic 32 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: over what people were calling white slavery in the early 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: twinnieth century, and this really hinged on the idea that 34 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: white women and girls were being trafficked into sex work 35 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: and just staggering numbers. She made some unfounded allegations during 36 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: all this in the latter part of her career and 37 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: it really tarnished her reputation. And also just a heads up, 38 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: there are mentions and discussions of various sex crimes in 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: this episode, because that was one of the things that 40 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: she was investigating so. Grace Hummiston was born Mary Grace 41 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: Winterton in New York City on September seventeenth, eighteen sixty nine. 42 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: Some accounts described her father, a Donna Ram Judson Winterton, 43 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: as a merchant and a lay minister in the Baptist Church. 44 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: He also worked as an insurance adjuster, and later in 45 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: life Grace talked about accompanying him to court when she 46 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: was still a child. Grace attended Hunter College, and after 47 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: she graduated in eighteen eighty eight, she spent some time teaching. 48 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: On June five, when she was twenty five, she married 49 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: a doctor named Henry Forrest quackenba Us. Some accounts of 50 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: her life that have been written in the past few 51 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: years claimed that they got divorced almost immediately because Grace 52 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: found out that Henry was using peep holes to watch 53 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: his patients while they were undressing. However, the source for 54 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: this allegation seems to be a nine twenty one gossip 55 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: column in the New York magazine The Tattler, who's cover 56 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: for that issue included the tag movies mirth, merriment, and misinformation. 57 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: Not only does The Tattler offer no source for this, 58 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: but it also claims that it was Henry who said 59 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: that Grace's quote addiction to peep hole practices in his 60 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: office had been annoying and embarrassing to him in the 61 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: practice of his profession. This is also in the context 62 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: of a piece that is extremely disparaging of Homiston's and 63 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: her purported inability to keep her husband's happy because she 64 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: was too focused on work. There's a lot of layers 65 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: to that whole problems, a lot going on here, so 66 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: it really none of the should be taken effect. Yeah, 67 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: on top of all that other stuff that came out 68 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: in nine and that was many, many years after they 69 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: had gotten married and divorced. So what question marks about 70 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: the Tatler and its gossip columns and how it's made 71 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: its way into current discussions of her. In the early 72 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, Grace started taking night classes at New York 73 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,799 Speaker 1: University Law School, and at first this was mostly about 74 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: learning how to protect herself and her investments. But she 75 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: really excelled at her studies, and with the help and 76 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: encouragement of the law school's dean, she moved into the 77 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: day program to the regular law school class. She completed 78 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: that in two years rather than three. She graduated with 79 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: a Bachelor of Laws in nineteen oh three, and she 80 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: ranked seventh in her class. That same year. Grace's mother, 81 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: Isabella died, and her father died in nineteen o four. 82 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: From that point, Grace dressed only in black except when 83 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: she needed some other outfit to blend in during an investigation. 84 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: Working under the name Mary Grace Quackenboss, she started working 85 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: for the Legal Aid Society, and then she started her 86 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: own firm, which was called People's Law Firm. She focused 87 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: on hiring and training other women to work with her, 88 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: and her clients were mostly poor people and immigrants. Since 89 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: she already had this independent income, she didn't really have 90 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: to charge very much. She described it as st regious 91 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: law at Mills Hotel prices. Her clients basically paid her 92 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: what they could, and that could be anything from the 93 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: typical fee for legal work to some baked goods or 94 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:41,719 Speaker 1: some handmade clothing or essentially nothing. Um. There's part of 95 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: me that enjoys this will work for fresh bread idea. 96 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: As often as possible, Grace tried to resolve her client's 97 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,119 Speaker 1: needs out of court. Today, their laws in the US 98 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: requiring competent courtroom interpreters for deaf people and for people 99 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 1: with limited English proficiency. That was not the case in 100 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, though out of court settlements were 101 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: generally easier for clients who did not speak much English, 102 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: as well as being faster and less expensive. A lot 103 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: of the cases that she took on her law firm 104 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: involved things like wage theft, child support, and predatory landlords 105 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: and business owners who were taking advantage of her clients. 106 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: She also did a lot of work to just help 107 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: immigrants navigate the US legal system. Grace became known by 108 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: a number of nicknames, including Sister Mother and Porsha of 109 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: the East Side, and people started coming to her for 110 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: help with bigger and bigger issues. In one case, an 111 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,679 Speaker 1: insurance company had gone out of business without paying roughly 112 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: a million dollars in life insurance claims to multiple widows. 113 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: Grace pursued this case for more than a year until 114 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: the judge took steps to hold the company's former directors accountable. 115 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: At one point, she also got another attorney disbarred for 116 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: charging clients far more than the ten dollar maximum fee 117 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: for filing a deportation appeal. She also got their money 118 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: back for the excessive fees that they'd paid. Yeah, he 119 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: was charging people like a hundred and fifty dollars a 120 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: pop for something that was legally capped at ten dollars. 121 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: Just praying on desperation. Yeah. So, as her reputation spread, 122 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: students from Wellesley wrote to Quack and Boss asking her 123 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: to defend Antoinette Tola, who had shot and killed her 124 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: landlord on March fourth of nineteen o four. Tola had 125 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: been convicted of the crime and had been sentenced to 126 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: death by hanging, but the young women from Wellesley were 127 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: convinced that she had been acting in self defense. Even 128 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: though Quack and Boss had never argued a murder case before, 129 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: she took on this work pro bono because she said 130 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: she would quote prefer to take the case without renumera 131 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: as woman for woman. In this case, Antinatla had a 132 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: lot working against her. She had immigrated from Italy, she 133 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: mostly spoke Italian. Her landlord was Joseph Santa, who was 134 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: one of the most prominent citizens of King's Lynn, New Jersey. 135 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: He had been found murdered in the home that Tola 136 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: shared with her husband, Giovanni, and the witnesses at her 137 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: murder trial had included Santa's six year old son. On 138 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: the stand, he had testified that Tola had sneaked up 139 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: behind his father and shot him in the back of 140 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: the head. This is obviously very compelling testimony to the jury. 141 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: Tola's previous lawyers had already tried to get her a 142 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: new case based on evidence that Santa had been armed 143 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: when she shot him, but the judge had claimed that 144 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: no such weapons seemed to have been found. Quackenboss went 145 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: to see the evidence that had been collected from the 146 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: crime scene, and she found that yes, Santa's gun was 147 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: right there. She reviewed the autopsy report, which showed that 148 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: Santa had not been shot in the back of the 149 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: head like his son had said on the stand. She 150 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: also discovered that Tola's court testimony had been translated by 151 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 1: a student. That student had gotten a lot of basic 152 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: facts wrong. In Tallah's account of what happened, Santa had 153 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: been pressuring her for sex and physically assaulting her for 154 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: at least five months. She had tried to get her 155 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: husband to defend her, but he would often just leave 156 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: the house when Santa came in. She had gone to 157 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: Santa's wife, who had told her to get a gun 158 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: and that she could scare him with it. Earlier, on 159 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: the day of the murder, Santa had come into her home, 160 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: accosted her, and threatened to kill her. She had gotten away, 161 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: but when she came back he was still there. When 162 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: he grabbed her again, she struggled to get away, and 163 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: then she shot him. Over a period of several months, 164 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: Grace managed to get the execution postponed several times, but 165 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: she ran into one roadblock after another when trying to 166 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: get the verdict overturned, or to secure a pardon, or 167 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: to get the U. S. Supreme Court involved. After multiple 168 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: stays of execution, Antoine A. Tola was scheduled to hang 169 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: on March twelfth, nineteen o five. Just three days before that, 170 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: Mary Grace Quackenboss finally managed to convince the Board of 171 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: Pardons with all this evidence she had gathered, to commute 172 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: Tola's sentence to seven and a half years in prison. 173 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: This was the first case that really brought Mary Grace 174 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: Quackenboss to prominence, but there were definitely others, and we'll 175 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: talk about more. After a sponsor break around nineteen oh six, 176 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: some of the clients who came to People's Law firm 177 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: for help were women who were reporting that their husbands 178 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: or their sons had gone missing. They had apparently disappeared 179 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: after going to Florida to find work. Even though Mary 180 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: Grace Quackenboss wasn't a reporter, she pitched this to McClure's 181 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: as a story that she would write for the magazine. 182 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: Magazine paid her expenses for a seven week trip that 183 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: she took to investigate what was happening. What she found 184 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: was a widespread system of debt. Peonage men were being 185 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: recruited to work in several industries, including mines, railroads, and lumber, 186 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: but especially in turpentine processing. Employers charged money for everything 187 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: from workers passage south to housing and equipment once they 188 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,439 Speaker 1: got there, so soon people were trapped in a debt 189 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: to their employers that they just could not pay off. 190 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: This practice had been outlawed in eighteen sixty seven, but 191 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 1: it was still rampant and many of its victims were 192 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: immigrants and black people. Okay, this is one of the 193 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: highly exploitative systems of labor that evolved after slavery was abolished. 194 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: In October of nineteen oh six, quacka Boss took all 195 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: the evidence that she had gathered to Attorney General William 196 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: Henry Moody, who appointed her special Assistant United States Attorney 197 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: for the Southern Strict of New York. To continue with 198 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: this investigation, he dispatched Assistant Attorney General Charles W. Russell 199 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: to the area as well, and together they started building 200 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: cases to shut down businesses that were running these peonage 201 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: schemes and to indict the people that were running them. 202 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: At one point, Grace needed to deal with an employment 203 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: agency that was run by Hungarians. Since she didn't speak 204 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: the language, the Department of Justice assigned a Hungarian agent 205 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: named Julius J. Crone to work with her, and she 206 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: and Kron worked together for years. After this investigation was over, 207 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: in nine seven, the Italian ambassador to the United States 208 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: asked Quack and Boss to investigate what looked like a 209 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: similar scheme at Sunnyside Plantation in Mississippi. The ambassador had 210 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: gotten some really alarming letters from Italians who were working there. 211 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: You wanted Grace to look into it. Before the US 212 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: Civil War, Sunnyside had been a slave labor camp. After 213 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed slavery except in punishment, 214 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: for a crime. Sunnysides owners had replaced its workforce of 215 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: enslaved Africans with incarcerated men from a prison in Alabama, 216 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: and then started working with agents in Italy to recruit 217 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: immigrant workers. These agents would loan workers the money for 218 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:22,079 Speaker 1: their passage across the Atlantic, so they arrived from Italy 219 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: already in debt, and then from there they were made 220 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: to live and really squalid housing. The cost of that 221 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: housing was deducted from their pay. Workers were also charged 222 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: for the mules that they needed to work the land, 223 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: and for jenning and bailing the cotton that they grew 224 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,439 Speaker 1: and harvested, basically everything they needed to do their jobs 225 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: and to just survive. They were also paid, at least 226 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: partly in script that could only be used at the 227 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: company's store. Once the workers debts were paid off, they 228 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: were allowed to sell part of their cotton crop for 229 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: their own profit, but the vast majority simply could not 230 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 1: pay off their debts. Grace also interviewed people who had 231 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: escaped the plantation and then been forced to return at gunpoint. 232 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: Grace's investigation pitted her against some of the wealthiest and 233 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: most powerful people in the area. These included O. B. Crittenden, 234 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: Leroy Percy, and Morris Rosenstock. Together they had established the O. B. 235 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: Crittenden Company to lease several cotton farms in the area, 236 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: including Sunnyside. They were operating all of these farms. Among 237 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: other things. Percy was friends with US President Teddy Roosevelt. 238 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: Grace had gone undercover for her investigations in Florida, but 239 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: that practice backfired in Mississippi when one of the Italian 240 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: speaking investigators on her team was arrested for trespassing and jailed. 241 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: So she went to the acting governor xenofon Pendall, who 242 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: wrote to the Crittenden Company asking for her to be 243 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: allowed onto the property. Although the partners agreed, they tried 244 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: to prevent her from ever speaking to the workers without 245 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: someone from the company present. Quackenboss tried and succeeded to 246 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: negotiate better contracts with more protections for the workers at 247 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: Sunnyside while also building a case for federal prosecution. And 248 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: the more work she did that was related to the 249 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: federal charges, the more resistance and harassment she faced from 250 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: the partners of this company. Soon local newspapers were calling 251 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: her a socialist agitator. And the Crittenden partners were trying 252 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: to undermine and threaten her. At one point, someone broke 253 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: into her room and they stole all of her notes 254 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: and evidence, but then one of Percy's cronies returned them 255 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: to her, claiming they had been confiscated from a known felon. 256 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: This was both Uh, it was terrifying somebody had come 257 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: into a room and stolen Oliver stuff. Um. And then 258 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: also she had just written a letter summarizing Oliver findings. 259 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: But she was like, my whole investigation is lost if 260 00:15:57,800 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: I don't actually have that evidence to back it all up. 261 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: Yeah that I'm only laughing at the confiscation claim. It's 262 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: like going, my dog tried to eat your homework, and 263 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: then I saved it from him. I saved it from 264 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: the dog's mouth. Yeah, exactly, it is. Although Quackenboss managed 265 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: to get Obie Crittenden arrested during all of this, Percy 266 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: went to the President to get him to intervene. Percy 267 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: essentially argued that he wouldn't get in the way of 268 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: the charges against his partner as long as Quackenboss was 269 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: recalled to Washington, which she was. Percy did not keep 270 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: up his end of the bargain, though, and successfully prevented 271 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: Crittenden from being indicted. Percy was elected to the U. S. 272 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: Senate in Grace's work in both Florida and Mississippi had 273 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: been deeply unpopular among landowners, officials, basically any other wealthy 274 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: people in the area. Over the course of these investigations, 275 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: she was undermined, threatened, vilified as a hysterical woman, and 276 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: even shot at. And although she unearthed clear your evidence 277 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 1: of wrongdoing, what happened with that evidence was largely out 278 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: of her hands. A major peonage case that followed her 279 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,719 Speaker 1: investigation in Florida ended with an acquittal, and laws against 280 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: peonage continued to just be ignored for decades after she 281 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 1: left the South. However, it does appear that her work 282 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: led to a big reduction in cases of debt peonage 283 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: involving immigrants to the US. Other people were still being victimized, 284 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: but the trafficking of immigrants seems to have dropped for 285 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: this purpose. After this, and after her investigation at Sunnyside, 286 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: Quackenboss went abroad for a year to investigate the European 287 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,320 Speaker 1: end of this whole peonage scheme. She testified during congressional 288 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: hearings on peonage in nineteen That same year, she also 289 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: wrote to the House of Governors also known as the 290 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: Governor's Conference, about overcrowding in the spread of tuberculosis, particularly 291 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: in New York City, and how it might be alleviated 292 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: if more immigrants to the US resettled into more rural areas. 293 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: She noted that many people who arrived in the United 294 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: States from Europe were farmers or farm laborers, but then 295 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: wound up living in cities that already had established immigrant 296 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: populations from those same regions. She argued that establishing immigrant 297 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: communities in more rural areas would help everyone involved. This 298 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: is a counterpoint to people who were trying to just 299 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: curtail the rate of immigration overall. She was more like, no, 300 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,199 Speaker 1: immigrants bring a lot to this country. Maybe should not 301 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: be just densely packed into cities where people are having 302 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: trouble finding work. On June eighth, nineteen eleven, Mary Grace 303 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,879 Speaker 1: Quackenboss married Howard Donald Humiston, who was also a lawyer. 304 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: We know basically nothing about their marriage. Grace Humiston's opposed 305 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: the death penalty, and she worked to overturn the death 306 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: sentences of people who had been wrongfully convicted or had 307 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: been sentenced to death in spite of mitigating factors in 308 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: the crime. In nineteen sixteen, while It's sing Sing Prison 309 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: investigating another case, Deputy Warden Spencer Miller Jr. Suggested that 310 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: she look into the conviction of Charles Frederick Steelo. Stelo 311 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: and his brother in law Nelson Green had both confessed 312 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: to murdering Charles B. Phelps and his housekeeper, Margaret Walcott. 313 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: Phelps had been killed in his home, which was across 314 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: the street from Steelo's house, and Walcott had been found 315 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: dead on Steelo's doorstep. Steelo and Green had been tried separately, 316 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,479 Speaker 1: and after Steelo was convicted of first degree murder and 317 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: sentenced to death, Green struck a plea deal. He pleaded 318 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to life 319 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: in prison. The two men's confessions were the only thing 320 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 1: linking them to the murder, but Humiston found that those 321 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:52,200 Speaker 1: confessions had been coerced. Steelo's wife had just had a baby, 322 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: and an agency detective had told him that he would 323 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: be able to see them if he said that Green 324 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: had done it. Then the detective told Green that Stelo 325 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: had implicated him. Homiston also found forensic evidence that a 326 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: gun that Stilo owned could not have been the murder weapon. 327 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: After speaking to Stilo and reading his signed confession, Homiston 328 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: also concluded he just could not have written it himself. 329 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 1: The confession was written with a much larger vocabulary than 330 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: he actually used in conversation. Multiple other investigators and activists 331 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: were part of this effort to try to get them 332 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,200 Speaker 1: a new trial or clear their names, but as had 333 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: happened in the Antoinette Tole case, they just ran into 334 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: obstacle after obstacle. Every time they got a stay of execution, 335 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: Stilo was once again sentenced to death afterward, and this 336 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: happened seven times. That included after another man named Irwin 337 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: King said that he and Clarence O'Connell had killed Phelps 338 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,880 Speaker 1: in a robbery attempt. One of these last minute stays 339 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 1: happened after Grace's team took evidence to a judge at 340 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: about four were in the morning, when the execution was 341 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: just over an hour away. There was a nineteen eighteen 342 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 1: right up of all this and good Housekeeping detailing this 343 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: whole very dramatic effort to exonerate Steelo, and it was 344 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,880 Speaker 1: titled Where there are women, There's a Way, and they 345 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,919 Speaker 1: will take It. One of the activists involved in this 346 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: effort was labor lawyer and suffragist Inez mil Holland, who 347 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: died after collapsing on a speaking tour in nineteen sixteen. 348 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: Journalists Sophie Irene Loebe, who was both working on and 349 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: covering the case, told New York Governor Charles Seymour Whitman 350 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: that mil Holland's last wish had been for him to 351 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:43,360 Speaker 1: hear Steelo's appeal for clemency. Whitman finally commuted steelo sentence 352 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,640 Speaker 1: in November of nineteen sixteen, four days after mill Holland's death, 353 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: and he pardoned both Steelo and Green on May eighth, 354 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen. It does not appear that King and O'Connell 355 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: were ever tried for this. King repeatedly repudiated his confession 356 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: and only to then give a different, contradictory confession later on. 357 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: At one point, a grand jury refused to indict the 358 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,880 Speaker 1: two of them because Stelo and Green were already imprisoned 359 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,920 Speaker 1: for the murder by the time Stelo and Green were 360 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: exonerated and released O'Connell was incarcerated for another crime, and 361 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: King had disappeared. We've got more, including Grace Thomaston's most 362 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: famous case. After a sponsor break on February nineteen seventeen, 363 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: eighteen year old Ruth Krueger told her sister she was 364 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: gonna go run some errands. One of those errands was 365 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: getting her ice skates sharpened at a motorcycle shop that 366 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: was owned by Alfredo Cochi. When she did not come home, 367 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: her sister went looking for her. When Ruth's sister talked 368 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: to Coachy, his behavior was just un nerving and strange 369 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: to her. She told the police about her suspicions. When 370 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: the family reported that Ruth was missing, police questioned Coachi, 371 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: who said that Ruth had dropped off her skates to 372 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,119 Speaker 1: be sharpened and then picked him up later and left. 373 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 1: Police searched the shop and found nothing. Then a few 374 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 1: days after Ruth's disappearance, Alfredo's wife, Maria, reported her husband missing. 375 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: Ruth's disappearance attracted a ton of media attention. She was 376 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,679 Speaker 1: a pretty white teenager described by her family as a 377 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,719 Speaker 1: good student and a good girl who taught Sunday school. 378 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 1: They asked for help in finding her, and they offered 379 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: a reward. Investigators were just flooded with hundreds of tips, 380 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: none of which panned out, but police focused on one 381 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: in particular. That was a cab driver who reported that 382 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,520 Speaker 1: he had taken Ruth and a much older man as 383 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: passengers together on the day that she disappeared. Police also 384 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: talked to a couple of college students who Ruth had 385 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,440 Speaker 1: gone out on dates with. Based on all of this, 386 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: a little over two weeks after Ruth disappeared, police concluded 387 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: that she had run away or eloped with a boyfriend 388 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,959 Speaker 1: and they closed the case. But her family insisted this 389 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: was impossible, and they hired Grace Humiston. Homiston immediately focused 390 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 1: on Alfredo Coachy. In addition to what Ruth's sister had described, 391 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,199 Speaker 1: he had inexplicably closed his shop for several hours on 392 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: the day of Ruth's disappearance. Hamiston got Julius Crone to 393 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: go undercover as a repair man in Coachy's shop, which 394 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 1: they needed a repairman since Alfredo himself had gone missing. 395 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,479 Speaker 1: He didn't know how to repair bikes and motorcycles, so 396 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 1: he sort of made it seem like he was always 397 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: about a day behind so he could research how to 398 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: fix problems at night and then come back to the 399 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,120 Speaker 1: shop the next day and take care of the actual repair. 400 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 1: I love him for this. I love him for this. 401 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,120 Speaker 1: I love his fake it till you make an approach 402 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: to it, and that he really intended to fix bikes. 403 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: He was there while he was also trying to do 404 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: undercover work to find evidence of Ruth Krueger. Yeah, like 405 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 1: people need their bikes fixed. Um Maria Coachy became suspicious 406 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: of Crone and she fired him after he spent too 407 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: long in the basement one day, so then they had 408 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: to find another way to look for evidence. They eventually 409 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,120 Speaker 1: discovered a coal shoot adjacent to the building, and they 410 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 1: got permission to excavate under the sidewalk. Although they eventually 411 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: found a corset cover, some newspapers from just after Ruth disappeared, 412 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,479 Speaker 1: and bones, the corset cover was not Ruth's and the 413 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: bones were not human bones. Meanwhile, Alfredo Coachy was found 414 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: in Bologna, Italy, on May thirty one, nineteen seventeen. He 415 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: claimed that he had gone to Italy because he was 416 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: sick of his wife, and he said that he had 417 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: learned about Ruth's disappearance only after arriving in the country, 418 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: Allegations surface that Coachy had been luring girls and young 419 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,959 Speaker 1: women into his shop for trysts with himself or his customers. 420 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 1: The girls families hadn't gone to the police because they 421 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 1: were afraid of scandal. A woman known as Consuelo LaRue, 422 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: who gave a series of increasingly fantastic statements during all 423 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: of this, claimed that two men attacked her after giving 424 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: Humiston information about the case. Yeah, um, Consuelo LaRue was 425 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: like a very public presence in all of this. She 426 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,879 Speaker 1: made a lot of statements about the case. Uh some 427 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,879 Speaker 1: of them appear to have come from a novel. A 428 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:35,360 Speaker 1: lawyer who was representing Maria Coachy filed a whole series 429 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: of complaints about the digging around the coal shoot and 430 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: how much dirt was being brought up to the sidewalk. 431 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: But then someone convinced Maria to sell the building. She 432 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: had already been planning to sell the bike business after 433 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: her husband disappeared. That someone was one of Grace Hemmiston's assistants, 434 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: and when the building was listed for sale, Humiston bought 435 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: it so her team could search however they wanted. On 436 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 1: June eighteen, Grace Humiston's crew found Ruth Krueger's body. It 437 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 1: was in a pit concealed under a workbench in the 438 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: basement of Alfredo Cocchi's shop. She had a fractured skull 439 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: and a stab wound in the abdomen, and her bloodstained 440 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 1: ice skates were found nearby. Later, Humiston said, of all 441 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 1: this quote, I've noticed that some folks are saying I 442 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: found the body because I followed my intuition. Every time 443 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: a woman does make a discovery, someone pipes up intuition. 444 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 1: Let me say that in this instance, it was just 445 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:38,120 Speaker 1: plane everyday common sense by Crone and myself, backed by 446 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: a determination to keep going until the case had cleared up. 447 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: This discovery sparked an enormous scandal for the New York 448 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: City Police Department. The Mayor personally apologized to the Krueger 449 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: family for how the investigation had been handled. Since police 450 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: said they had searched the shop's basement two different times, 451 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: an investigation was launched to figure out how they had 452 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,120 Speaker 1: missed that her body was hidden there. Investigators also started 453 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: digging up basements in other locations around the city where 454 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: other young women had been reported missing. These internal investigations 455 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: that followed at the NYPD unearthed a lot of wrongdoing 456 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,239 Speaker 1: within the police force. That turned out that Coachy and 457 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 1: several motorcycle officers had been running a kickback scheme. An 458 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: officer would write somebody a ticket, and then a third 459 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: party would tell that person that if they visited Coachy's shop, 460 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,919 Speaker 1: he could make their ticket go away. Once that person 461 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,479 Speaker 1: got to the shop, they would either pay him cash 462 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: or they would buy some extremely overpriced merchandise. Coachy and 463 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: the officer would split that money and the officer would 464 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: erase the record of the ticket. One officer had also 465 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: given Coachy assigned card that said please take care of 466 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,719 Speaker 1: Alfredo Coachy. He's okay. He could present that card if 467 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: he was ever pulled over or stopped by the police. 468 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: Multiple officers face charges for their part in this scheme, 469 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: and one of the detectives that had been assigned to 470 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: the case, John Lagerin, was convicted of dereliction of duty 471 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: and fined. The other detective, Frank McGhee, faced the same charge, 472 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: but he was acquitted. Charges that were filed against the 473 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: head of the New York Police Department's detective branch were 474 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: ultimately dropped. Reforms that followed included the establishment of a 475 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: dedicated Bureau of Missing Persons at the NYPD. Alfredo Cocchi 476 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: was still in Italy and although he confessed to the murder, 477 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: his confession was pretty muddled. He kept changing his story. 478 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: Italian authorities determined that he was still considered an Italian citizen. 479 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: Was illegal to extradite Italian citizens to other countries, so 480 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: they refused to extradite him to the United States, but 481 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: they did put him on trial for attempted rape, murder 482 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,719 Speaker 1: and giving false information while trying to enter the country. 483 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: Humiston provided Italian authorities with everything that she had on 484 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: the case. Coaches trial began on June nineteen nine, and 485 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: he changed his story again, saying his wife had committed 486 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: the murder in a jealous rage. As the proceedings were underway, 487 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: authorities in Italy received a letter from J. J. Lynch 488 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: that claimed Ruth had been targeted by sex traffickers and 489 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: that Coachy was part of a vast international white slaving network. 490 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: Lynch really had no evidence to substantiate any of this, 491 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: but his daughter had been killed and he believed that 492 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: sex traffickers had done it, and that Ruth had been 493 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: the victim of the same people. Coach's trial had to 494 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 1: be adjourned so that Italian authorities could investigate Lynch's claims. 495 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,959 Speaker 1: Proceedings resumed on October twenty five, nineteen twenty, and he 496 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: was found guilty on October twenty nine. He was sentenced 497 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: to twenty seven years in prison, and after going on 498 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: a hunger strike, was sentenced to ten years of solitary confinement. 499 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: He was released from prison in ninety seven. Hamiston's next 500 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 1: high profile investor stigation started a couple of months after 501 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: Ruth Krueger's body was found. Lattie May Brandon was found 502 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: dead in her home in Annapolis, Maryland, on August eight, nineteen. 503 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: Brandon was white, and witnesses said that they saw John Snowden, 504 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,560 Speaker 1: a black man, come out of the Brandon home. A 505 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: reverend who lived next door said no one had come 506 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: out of the house, but if Snowdon was there, he 507 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: had a reason to be. He worked delivering ice, and 508 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 1: there was a block of ice melting on the front 509 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 1: step when the police arrived. Although Washington Times hired Humiston's 510 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: to investigate this crime and to write about it, and 511 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: based on the crime scene and what looked like small 512 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 1: finger marks, and pictures of Brandon's body. Humiston thought she 513 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: had been killed by someone she knew, possibly another woman. 514 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: She recommended exhuming the body to look for more evidence. 515 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: While the doctor who examined the exhumed body was not 516 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: able to make any determination about the possible finger marks, 517 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: he found what he said was black skin under Lottie's fingernails. 518 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: John Snowden had reportedly had scratches on his face when 519 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: police questioned him. He had also bought a drink at 520 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: a bar with a dollar, and Lottie May's husband said 521 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: he left her a dollar when he went to work 522 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: that day. Police tortured John Snowden while questioning him, but 523 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: he steadfastly maintained his innocence, and in the end he 524 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: was tried and convicted of murder. But Hamiston was really 525 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: not convinced that he was guilty, and she felt responsible 526 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: for having suggested the exclamation. She tried unsuccessfully to secure 527 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 1: an appeal. People really started to question whether Snowdon was 528 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 1: guilty or not, and as his execution date approached, all 529 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: the jurors that had voted to convict him signed a 530 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: petition asking for his release. Even so, he was hanged 531 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 1: on February twenty eight of nineteen nineteen, and he was 532 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: posthumously pardoned in two thousand one. Grace Hummiston's last high 533 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: profile investigation wound up really damaging her reputation and her career. 534 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 1: Her work on the Ruth Krueger case and the public 535 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: response to it had been threaded through with the idea 536 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: of white slavery, and after Ruth's body was found, that 537 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: is what Hummiston really focused on. So for context and 538 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: the years after the abolition of slavery in the US 539 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: and in the British colonies, the term white slavery was 540 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: used in the context of labor rights to describe low 541 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: paying jobs with poor or dangerous working conditions, jobs that 542 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: were being worked by people who really had no other options. 543 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 1: But over time the term picked up connotations of women 544 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:48,959 Speaker 1: who were forced into sex work. There were absolutely women 545 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: and girls who were victims of sex trafficking, but the 546 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: specter of white slavery went way beyond that. In the 547 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: minds of progressive era reformers, all sex workers were victims 548 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: who needed to be rescued. Campaigns against white slavery were 549 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,319 Speaker 1: connected to general anti vice activity and the breaking up 550 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,399 Speaker 1: of Red Lake districts that had previously been legal or 551 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:16,160 Speaker 1: at least tolerated. All of this was really focused specifically 552 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: on the purity and safety of white women, with sex 553 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:23,399 Speaker 1: traffickers often being framed as immigrant, Jewish or Black men 554 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: who were forcing or deceiving white women into a life 555 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,840 Speaker 1: of crime. This whole idea was threaded through, of course, 556 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: with racism, classism, nativism, and a focus on white racial purity. 557 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:40,440 Speaker 1: This idea of white slavery was the subject of sensational 558 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 1: novels and movies, including Trafficking Souls, which came out in 559 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen. Anti trafficking and anti sex work laws were 560 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: passed in both the US and the UK, and the 561 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,839 Speaker 1: United States it was the White Slave Traffic Act, also 562 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,879 Speaker 1: known as the Man Act, which was pasted in nineteen ten. 563 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: As series of international treaties were also negotiated starting in 564 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: nineteen o four, although to be clear, international trafficking of 565 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: laborers and sex workers was far more prevalent than the 566 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: trafficking of white women within the United States, which was 567 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: just the big focus of this whole moral panic. In 568 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: the wake of her work on the Ruth Kruger case, 569 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:26,239 Speaker 1: Humiston established the Morality League of America, The New York 570 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:30,280 Speaker 1: Police Department hired her as a special investigator. They hired 571 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,720 Speaker 1: Crone as well, and Crone and Humiston focused on missing 572 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: women and girls. The Grace Hummiston League was established with 573 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 1: the goal of raising a million dollars for quote, endowing 574 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: a nationwide organization for the protection of womanhood. Hearing her 575 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 1: work in all of this, Humiston alleged that there was 576 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:53,319 Speaker 1: a vast sex trafficking operation at work involving soldiers at 577 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,440 Speaker 1: Camp Upton, which had been built on Long Island as 578 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,799 Speaker 1: a departure point for US troops headed to Europe during 579 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 1: World War One. She claimed that there were six hundred unmarried, 580 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: pregnant women living in and around the camp. She also 581 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: said that seven had been killed, including two underage girls, 582 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,719 Speaker 1: and while it's likely or even certain that crimes were 583 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 1: committed in and around the base, she really had nothing 584 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,360 Speaker 1: to back up such a broad accusation. The U. S 585 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 1: Army vehemently denied it, and an inquiry ruled the allegations 586 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:31,239 Speaker 1: of a huge white slavery ring were unfounded. Rumors of 587 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: two girls being killed actually dated back to while the 588 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: camp was still being built, before soldiers started arriving and 589 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 1: there was also no evidence of anybody's being found. Humiston 590 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: was simultaneously extremely vocal about all this and hard to 591 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 1: find when reporters and authorities tried to reach her with 592 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,720 Speaker 1: questions about it. She claimed that the Army had hired 593 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:57,880 Speaker 1: her to investigate this sex trafficking network in secret, which 594 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:02,400 Speaker 1: the Army denied. She continued to make allegations without backing 595 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 1: them up. The NYPD stripped both her and Crone of 596 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,719 Speaker 1: their badges. The Grace Hummiston League cut ties with her. 597 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,680 Speaker 1: The Mayor of New York City had appointed a committee 598 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,440 Speaker 1: to work with her on her anti white slavery campaign. 599 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,840 Speaker 1: The committee went to the New York Bar Association to 600 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 1: try to have her compelled to turn over whatever evidence 601 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,880 Speaker 1: she did have. The bar refused, and the committee members 602 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,759 Speaker 1: all resigned. At the end of nineteen seventeen. Humiston told 603 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,919 Speaker 1: reporters that she had already been planning to resign from 604 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: her work with the City of New York because of 605 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:40,320 Speaker 1: the upcoming change in mayoral administrations. This didn't look genuine 606 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: to people, who were like, you're really just saying you 607 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:47,360 Speaker 1: were planning to quit when they fired you. Uh. In 608 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 1: early nineteen eighteen, a young man of about seventeen came 609 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: to Humiston's office and threatened to kill her. Humiston was 610 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,480 Speaker 1: not actually there at the time, but this man assaulted 611 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:02,719 Speaker 1: Crone and other staff before police arrived. Humiston blamed the 612 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,080 Speaker 1: attack on all of this fallout and on the loss 613 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:09,719 Speaker 1: of her police badge in nine Humiston's still thought that 614 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: police were targeting her because of all of this, and 615 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 1: because of her exposure of so much corruption within the 616 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:19,280 Speaker 1: New York Police Department during and after the Ruth Krueger case. 617 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: That year, she opened the Manhattanville be Kind Club, which 618 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: was supposed to be a gathering place for women and 619 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: a daycare. Police shut it down, charging her with operating 620 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:34,920 Speaker 1: a dance hall without a license, even though she had 621 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,840 Speaker 1: checked ahead of time and was told she did not 622 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:40,520 Speaker 1: need a license. A court later agreed with her. On 623 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 1: March fourteenth of Humiston was on her way to court 624 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 1: when she was hit by a truck at the corner 625 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,280 Speaker 1: of fifty nine and third. The driver of the truck, 626 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:53,960 Speaker 1: William H. Heck, didn't stop when the traffic officer signaled 627 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,240 Speaker 1: and blew his whistle so people could cross. Heck said 628 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,080 Speaker 1: that he thought he had the right of way and 629 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,399 Speaker 1: didn't see her. She had a compound fracture in her foot, 630 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,960 Speaker 1: so she's pretty seriously injured and far as far as 631 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,239 Speaker 1: her life, was not threatened by this injury, but it 632 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,960 Speaker 1: was a long time of recovering. Holliston seems to have 633 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:17,000 Speaker 1: largely withdrawn from public appearance after all of this. She 634 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:21,440 Speaker 1: died on July sixty eight at the age of seventy six. 635 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: That book that we mentioned at the top of the 636 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:27,279 Speaker 1: show is by Brad Rica and it is called Mrs 637 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:30,520 Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes, The True Story of New York City's greatest 638 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 1: female detective in the nineteen seventeen Missing Girl case that 639 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,839 Speaker 1: captivated a nation. Tracy, do you have a listener mail 640 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,440 Speaker 1: that is maybe slightly less violent? I do. It's not 641 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:47,279 Speaker 1: violent at all. This is from Melissa, and Melissa wrote, Hi, 642 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:49,919 Speaker 1: Tracy and Holly. I just got back from a quick 643 00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:52,480 Speaker 1: trip to Chicago, which I took with my husband, who 644 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,200 Speaker 1: had some work meetings there last week. While he was 645 00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,200 Speaker 1: occupied with work, I spent an afternoon in the Chicago 646 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,319 Speaker 1: Institute of Art. It was my first time at that 647 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,920 Speaker 1: museum and it was wonderful and it contains a pretty 648 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,359 Speaker 1: big collection of Impressionist artwork, as I was doubling back 649 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,360 Speaker 1: through the Impressionist gallery to take a break outside. I 650 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:13,560 Speaker 1: read the captions on some Menaise and in Morris So 651 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,120 Speaker 1: just as I walked past. About twenty seconds later, as 652 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,279 Speaker 1: I sat down to rest, I turned on one of 653 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,399 Speaker 1: your episodes that I had downloaded for my trip. It 654 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: was Bart moriss So. I quickly ran back into the 655 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:28,839 Speaker 1: exhibit to look more closely at the painting I had 656 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,600 Speaker 1: just walked past. It was a hilarious and wonderful ends 657 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:34,800 Speaker 1: to my track around the museum. I loved learning about 658 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:38,239 Speaker 1: her sinse as you noted, she isn't very widely known 659 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: or taught, and I didn't know about her role in 660 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,320 Speaker 1: the whole movement. Thanks. I'm still smiling about that moment. 661 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:47,960 Speaker 1: Take care, Melissa Um. And then Melissa sent us a 662 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,760 Speaker 1: second email the following day that said, oh my gosh, Holly, 663 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,960 Speaker 1: I've just started Josephine Nivison Hopper and you were there 664 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:58,759 Speaker 1: at the Chicago Institute of Art too. Ha. I love it. 665 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,360 Speaker 1: Thanks for the art episodes lately, Melissa Um. I delighted 666 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:07,759 Speaker 1: the story. Delighted so much I had to immediately go 667 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:12,160 Speaker 1: see what what B. Moris So things are on exhibit 668 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,239 Speaker 1: at the Art Institute of Chicago. And one of them 669 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:19,760 Speaker 1: is a really lovely painting of UM, somebody like putting 670 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:21,720 Speaker 1: her hair up in front of her mirror. She shown 671 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:25,000 Speaker 1: from behind, uh, and it just is a very like 672 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:29,799 Speaker 1: blue white kind of color palette. The other one is 673 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,960 Speaker 1: a woman sitting in a garden in a blue dress. 674 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:34,799 Speaker 1: And I don't know which of these the one that 675 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:36,840 Speaker 1: Melissa saw, but both of them, I was like, Oh, 676 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:38,799 Speaker 1: I'm going to take some time this morning look at 677 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 1: this art on the Art Institute of Chicago website. UM. 678 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 1: I don't think I saw either of these while we 679 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:48,680 Speaker 1: were there a couple of years back, because we were 680 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,360 Speaker 1: doing a special event and I was hanging out in 681 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,040 Speaker 1: a different part of the museum. Yeah, there's a that 682 00:41:55,200 --> 00:42:02,239 Speaker 1: museum is expansive and also wonderful. I legitimately love it there, 683 00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:06,239 Speaker 1: and I love the staff there because they're just delightful 684 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:10,200 Speaker 1: and helpful and kind. UM. And I feel since we 685 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 1: have this opportunity that I have to give a shout 686 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:14,680 Speaker 1: out to one of the people that works here named 687 00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:18,640 Speaker 1: Darlene King, who um is just an amazing person. She 688 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,200 Speaker 1: was like a greeting people when we first walked in 689 00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:23,360 Speaker 1: and then later in the day I asked her for 690 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,719 Speaker 1: restaurant recommendations and she was hilarious and delightful to talk 691 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:29,359 Speaker 1: to you. So, Darlene, on the off chance you hear this, 692 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:33,880 Speaker 1: you made my day and we're wonderful. Yeah, that's great. 693 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:37,239 Speaker 1: So thanks Melissa for sending this note. Thanks for giving 694 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,680 Speaker 1: me an excuse to look at some paintings this morning 695 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,719 Speaker 1: while I was getting my list or mail ready. If 696 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:44,719 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us about this or 697 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,839 Speaker 1: any other podcast, we're at History Podcast at I heart 698 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,759 Speaker 1: radio dot com and we're all over social media app 699 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:53,680 Speaker 1: Missed in History. That's why you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 700 00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:57,640 Speaker 1: and Instagram. And you can subscribe to our show on 701 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app and really anywhere if you 702 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 1: want to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 703 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,359 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radio. For more 704 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:13,439 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 705 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,720 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 706 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:20,600 Speaker 1: H