1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey guys, the show is currently on break 3 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: until the new year, but we've got plenty of classic 4 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: episodes to tide you over. Enjoy this trip through the 5 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: show's own history, and I'll see you back here on 6 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: January second with a batch of brand new episodes. See 7 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: you in the new year. Welcome to This Day in 8 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from 9 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. It's 10 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: the show where we explore the past one day at 11 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: a time with a quick look at what happened today 12 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:37,480 Speaker 1: in history. Hello, I'm Holly Fry and I am sitting 13 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: in this week for Tracy V. Wilson. It's December twenty nine, 14 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: and we were talking today about an event that happened 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety, which was the Wounded Knee Massacre. But 16 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: first we have to talk about the Ghost Dance. The 17 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: Ghost Dance was a spiritual movement originally established in eighteen 18 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: sixty nine by a piute dreamer called Wad Saab, and 19 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: while in a trance state, Zuab dreamed that the spirits 20 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: of the departed were going to return and make the 21 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: world into a paradise of eternal life without conflict among people's. 22 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: Based on his visions, he began to urge people to 23 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: perform a traditional round dance over a series of nights 24 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: as a form of religious practice. This was intended to 25 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: connect to the land of the dead, with the promise 26 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: that the souls of the departed would come back to 27 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 1: their loved ones. In several years and his ghost Dance, 28 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: as it was called, caught on and spread from Mason 29 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: Valley and Nevada to California and up the Pacific Coast. 30 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,919 Speaker 1: Wadzuab died in eighteen seventy two and the ghost dance movement, 31 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: which was still in its infancy, faded out from practice. 32 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: But that wasn't actually the end of the ghost dance. 33 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: It was revived by Jack Wilson, who also went by 34 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: Wovoca in the eighteen eighties after he had a vision 35 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: during an eclipse, and he began to preach to the 36 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: Paiute people that their deceased ancestors would return from the 37 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: dead and that white people would eventually be gone from 38 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: the earth and that peace, health, and prosperity would return 39 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: to the Native American tribes. And to ensure that this 40 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: cleansing and transition to a new world of prosperity happened. 41 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: According to Avoca, the Ghost Dance had to be performed 42 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,679 Speaker 1: for five nights in a row, and then those five 43 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: nights of dancing repeated every six weeks. Now, at this 44 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: point in history, relations between Native Americans and the US 45 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: government were not good. The US had repeatedly broken treaty 46 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: agreements virtually everyone they had signed with the Native Americans, 47 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: and they also pushed Native Americans onto smaller and smaller 48 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: parcels of land and reservations so that the land that 49 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: they had lived on for in many cases years and 50 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: years and years could be seized. The Ghost Dance was 51 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: an entirely pacifist movement which forbade violence, but just the 52 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: same it terrified the U. S Government, which did not 53 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: understand it. Over the course of eighteen ninety there was 54 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: increasing consternation on the part of the government and military 55 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: that this embrace of traditional customs and the reject action 56 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: of white culture would lead to trouble. From the white 57 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: Field Agent perspective, they saw large numbers of Native Americans gathering, 58 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: and they jumped to conclusions that they were doing something 59 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: threatening and by this point, the ghost dance had spread 60 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: once again, and some of the Lakota Sioux had begun 61 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: to practice it. There had also been an addition to 62 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: the dance of so called ghost shirts decorated with red 63 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: paint and other ornamentation, which they believed would protect them 64 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: from bullets fired by the guns of white men. A 65 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: large gathering of people traveled in December to see the 66 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: Lakota leader, Sitting Bull, and practice the ghost dance together. 67 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: Believing that the Native Americans were practicing a war dance 68 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: as a prelude to an uprising, Indian agency police moved 69 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: in to arrest Sitting Bowl on December fifteenth, eighteen nine, 70 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: and this led to a fight in which Sitting Bowl 71 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: was killed. Two weeks later, a group of ghost dancers, 72 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: having fled Standing Rock Reservation we're Sitting Bull had been killed, 73 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: were captured and brought to a camp at Wounded Knee 74 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: Creek with the Lakota Sioux chief, Spotted elk by the U. S. 75 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: Army seventh Cavalry. That was on December. The camp was 76 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: surrounded by the military with an armed perimeter. On the 77 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: morning of the n an Army colonel named James Forsyth 78 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: demanded that the Lakota disarm. There is conflicting information as 79 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: to how things unfurled from there. The Lakota may have 80 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: begun their ghost dance, agitating the soldiers, but we don't 81 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: know for certain. A young Lakota man named Black Coyote 82 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: refused to disarm, according to accounts by white soldiers, but 83 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: Lakota accounts of the incident indicate that Black Coyote was 84 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: deaf and he simply did not understand the command to disarm. 85 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: But as an attempt was made to forcibly take Black 86 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: coyotes rifle, the gun went off, and this catalyzed an 87 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: intense short range firefight. Because of the close quarters, some 88 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: cavalry mean burs were firing on their fellow soldiers at times, 89 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: and when the whole thing ended less than an hour 90 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: after it had begun, between one hundred and fifty and 91 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: three hundred Dakota were dead. Tabulation of that number is inconsistent. 92 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: An estimated half of the Lakota who had been killed 93 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: were women and children, and thirty one U. S. Cavalrymen 94 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: were also killed. If you would like to hear more 95 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: about this tragic incident, there is an episode and the 96 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in History Class archive by previous hosts 97 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: Sarah and Katie that was originally aired in two thousand nine. 98 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: I want to thank Chandler Mays and Casey Pegram. They're 99 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: always amazing work on the audio for this podcast. And 100 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: if you would like to subscribe to This Day in 101 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: History Class, I encourage you to do so. You can 102 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 1: do that on Apple Podcast, the I Heart Radio app, 103 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: or anywhere you get your podcasts. You should also check 104 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: in with This Day in History Class tomorrow. But I'm 105 00:05:52,240 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: afraid it is another tragedy. Hey everyone, I'm getting some 106 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: much needed R and R in the comfort of my home. 107 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: But just because I'm resting doesn't mean history stops. Let's 108 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:19,799 Speaker 1: get on with another episode. The day was December twenty 109 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: nine nine. Guatemalan President Alvaro Artissu and the Guatemalan National 110 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: Revolutionary Unity or you are in G signed peace accords 111 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: ending the thirty six year long Guatemalan Civil War. In 112 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, the United States Central Intelligence Agency back 113 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: to coup to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan president Hukabo Arbans. 114 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: Right wing Guatemalan Army Colonel Carlos Gustillo Artomas led the coup. 115 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: American anti communist fear was at a high, and Ardabans 116 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: was deemed a communist threat. He had legalized the Guatemalan 117 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: Immunist Party, and his land reform threatened major landowners, particularly 118 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: the US based United Fruit Company. Ottomans was forced to 119 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: resign and went into exile. Ottomas took power in Guatemala 120 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: and reversed reforms from the last decade and returned land 121 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: to the United Fruit Company. Throughout the rest of the 122 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, government corruption was common, leftist political parties were banned, 123 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: and poverty was rampant. Automas was assassinated in nineteen fifty seven, 124 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: but military personnel continued to take power, but the Guatemalan 125 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: Civil War did not begin until November of nineteen sixty, 126 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: when the country was under the autocratic rule of General 127 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: Das Fuentes. A group of junior military officers attempted a 128 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: revolt against the government and failed, but some of them 129 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: went into hiding and established contact with Fidel Castro's Cuban government. 130 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: By nineteen sixty two, they had established an insurgent movement 131 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: known as MR thirteen, and from there the conflict escalated. 132 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: Left wing guerrilla group began fighting government military forces. There 133 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: were demonstrations, riots, and strikes in Guatemala City. With the 134 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: assistance of the U S, the Guatemalan armed forces engaged 135 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: in anti guerrilla warfare. The conflict was especially brutal, marked 136 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: by violence, abductions, and state terror. In nineteen sixty six, 137 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: civilian rule was restored in Julio Cesto Mendez Montenegro, the 138 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: candidate of the Moderate Revolutionary Party, was elected president, but 139 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: violence and terror intensified as the army launched a counter 140 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: insurgency campaign that broke up guerrillas in the countryside. Guerrilla 141 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: attacks continued in Guatemala City, though after Colonel Carlos Aarana 142 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: Osorio assumed the presidency in nineteen seventy, he declared a 143 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 1: state of siege so that the military imposed mark control 144 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: over civilians, including a curfew in home searches. Throughout the 145 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: rest of the nineteen seventies, a series of military governments 146 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: perpetrated violence against guerilla groups and anyone who seemed to 147 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: support their cause. Guatemala's indigenous people had been subjected to 148 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: discrimination over the years, and many of them fought in 149 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: the civil war. Their communities were hit hard in the 150 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: violence of the conflict. In nineteen eighty one, the Inter 151 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: American Human Rights Commission issued a report that said the 152 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 1: Guatemalan government was responsible for thousands of missing people and 153 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: illegal executions throughout the nineteen seventies. A particularly bloody part 154 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 1: of the civil war were the years under the dictatorship 155 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: of General Efrain Rios mont He resorted to using a 156 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: scorched earth policy, and indigenous Mayans were murdered in maths, 157 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: but the war he had pledged to end escalated, and 158 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: in August of nineteen eighty three he was overthrown by 159 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: General oscard Umberto Mehia victories. The new president promised a 160 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: return to the democratic process. Two years later, a new 161 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: constitution was approved and presidential elections resulted in the victory 162 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: of civilian president Marco Veniceo cere Arevalo. Peace talks between 163 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,679 Speaker 1: the government and rebels of the Guatemalan Revolutionary National Unity 164 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: began in nineteen ninety four, but the civil war raged 165 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: on until nine, when President Alvaro Arsu was elected. He 166 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: finalized the peace negotiations, and on December twenty nine he 167 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: signed a peace agreement ending the Guatemalan Civil War. More 168 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: than two hundred thousand people were killed over the course 169 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: of the war. Most of the people who were killed 170 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: were Mayan. The army was responsible for the majority of 171 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: the human rights abuses committed. Rios Mont was convicted of 172 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: genocide and crimes against humanity, but his conviction was later overturned. 173 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: A court later ruled that he would not be sentenced 174 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,199 Speaker 1: if found guilty in a retrial due to his simility. 175 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: He died in while his child was ongoing. The effects 176 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: of the war resounded into the twenty one century. Poverty, crime, violence, 177 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: and human rights violations continue to plague the country. I'm 178 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: Eave Jeff Cote and hopefully you know a little more 179 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. And if you 180 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: want to hit us up on social media, you can 181 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: do so on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at t D 182 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: I HC Podcast. If you want to email us, you 183 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: can reach us at This Day at I heart media 184 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you 185 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: again tomorrow. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 186 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: a show for those who can never know enough about history. 187 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gave Louzier and in this episode we're looking at 188 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: the early days of a youth outreach movement, whose four 189 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 1: letter name is now known around the world. The day 190 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:23,199 Speaker 1: was December twenty nine, eighteen fifty one. Retired Sea Captain 191 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: Thomas Sullivan helped establish the first y m c A 192 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: in the United States in Boston. The Boston chapter of 193 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: the Young Men's Christian Association provided food, shelter, a safe 194 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: place for socialization and exercise, as well as Bible classes 195 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: and prayer meetings to those in need. Its overarching goal 196 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: was to protect young men who came to the city 197 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 1: from the vices of urban life, or, as Sullivan put it, 198 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 1: quote to meet the young stranger as he enters our city, 199 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: and in every way throw around him good influences so 200 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: that he may feel that he is not a stranger. 201 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: Sullivan's y m c A was patterned after the first one, 202 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: which had been established in London in the eighteen forties. 203 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: At the time, industrialization had brought thousands of young adults 204 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: to London in search of work. They quickly found that 205 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: life in a bustling city was very different from that 206 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: of their rural family farms, and not always in a 207 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:31,319 Speaker 1: good way. Many found jobs in factories and warehouses, as 208 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: they had hoped, but the working conditions there were much 209 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 1: harsher than expected, complete with twelve hour work days, six 210 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: days a week. Most of the transplants lived in crowded 211 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: boarding houses or in tiny rooms above the company office, 212 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: separated from their families and communities for the first time 213 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: in their lives. Many of the young men turned to 214 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: the seedier aspects of city life for comfort. Some wasted 215 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: all their pay in taverns, brothels and gambling dens. Others 216 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: had it stolen outright by thieves and scammers who saw 217 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: the country boys as easy prey. One young man drawn 218 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,839 Speaker 1: to city life in London was a former farmer named 219 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: George Williams. He had done all right for himself after 220 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: the move, finding steady work at a department store by 221 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: the age of twenty two. However, he was concerned about 222 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: his less fortunate peers. Not only was there physical health 223 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: at risk due to poor working and living conditions, Williams 224 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: believed they were in spiritual danger as well. His solution 225 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: was to provide healthier means of diversion for the city's 226 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: youth in order to keep them away from temptation. To 227 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: that end, Williams partnered with eleven like minded workers on 228 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: June sixty four. Together, they created the world's first y 229 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: m c A, with the mission to improve quote the 230 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: spiritual condition of young men engaged in drapery, embroidery, and 231 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: other trades. The idea was embraced by the public, and 232 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: y m c A chapters began to spring up all over. 233 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: Within ten years, there were around two dozen y m 234 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: c as in Great Britain alone. The idea was also 235 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: gaining traction in other countries that were experiencing the growing 236 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: pains of industrialization, including the United States. In eighteen fifty one, 237 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: Boston native Thomas Sullivan read about the organization and an 238 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: article written by an American student who had visited London. 239 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: Sullivan had recently retired after a life at sea and 240 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: turned his attention to social outreach and missionary work. In 241 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight, he founded Boston's Marine Mission at Large, 242 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: which ministered to sailors. Three years later, after learning about 243 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: the y m c A, Sullivan decided to bring the 244 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: program to Boston. On December fift he met with thirty 245 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: one men from local city churches and wrote a set 246 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: of guidelines for what would become America's first y m 247 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: c A. Sullivan spent the next two weeks drafting and 248 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: redrafting the charter. Finally, on December twenty nine, the group 249 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: reconvened and voted to adopt the constitution for the y 250 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: m c A of Boston. The initial rules written by 251 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: Sullivan would remain in place for nearly four decades, serving 252 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: as the foundation for many other y m c a 253 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: S throughout the growing country. Within a few years, the 254 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: organization had spread throughout the United States, just as it 255 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: had done in Great Britain in the late nineteenth century. 256 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: The y m c A broadened the scope of its 257 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: outreach and began accepting young men, whether they were Christian 258 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: or not. It also started putting a great emphasis on 259 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: exercise and physical fitness. For example, the Y in Boston 260 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: installed the country's first indoor swimming pools. Other chapters in 261 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: Massachusetts were even more pioneering, eventually leading to the creation 262 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: of two brand new sports. At the Y in Springfield, 263 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: an instructor named James Naismith invented the game of basketball 264 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: in as a new way to keep his students active 265 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: during the frigid New England winters. The game quickly caught 266 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: on and was taught at y m c a s 267 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: throughout the state. However, four years later, at the y 268 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: m c A in Holyoke, a gym teacher named William 269 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: Morgan noticed a problem with the game. Over the years, 270 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: the organization had relaxed its age restrictions, meaning that men 271 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: of any age could now make use of its facilities. 272 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: Morgan realized that basketball was too strenuous for the older men, 273 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: so he developed a new, less demanding indoor sport for 274 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: them to play. He called the game minton net as 275 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: a play on badminton, but we know it better today 276 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: as volleyball. In eighteen fifty five, four years after Thomas 277 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,919 Speaker 1: Sullivan launched the first y m c a in America, 278 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: a meeting was held in Paris. Delegates from ninety nine 279 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,159 Speaker 1: chapters gathered and agreed to form the World Alliance of 280 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,679 Speaker 1: y m c a S. Today, the organization exists in 281 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: more than a hundred and twenty countries, with about twenty 282 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: five hundred individual branches just in the United States. The 283 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: nonprofit has certainly grown in scope, but it remains every 284 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,679 Speaker 1: bit as committed to improving the physical, mental, and spiritual 285 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: health of men of all ages and from all walks 286 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: of life. Lastly, I have to acknowledge the elephant in 287 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: the room, which is, of course, the y m c 288 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: A song that you've probably been humming since you saw 289 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: this episode's title. The disco song y m c A 290 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: was released by the Village People in It was one 291 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: of the biggest hits of the decade and remains popular today, 292 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: especially at sporting events where crowds are still fond of 293 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: spelling out the letters with their arms. At first glance, 294 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: the song seems like an ideal anthem for the organization, 295 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: extolling its virtues and all the fun activities it offers. However, 296 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: the actual y m c A didn't see it that way. 297 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy nine, they filed a lawsuit against the 298 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 1: band for copyright infringement, though they later dropped the case. 299 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: At that point, the song was just too popular to silence, 300 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: much to the relief of macho men worldwide. I'm Gabe 301 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: Louisier and hopefully you now know a little more about 302 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 303 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 304 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if 305 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can always send 306 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 1: them my way at this day at i heart media 307 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mace for producing the show, 308 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 309 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more 310 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 311 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.