This blog is dedicated to a treasured past, the past that has shaped the foundation of all of our todays. Each post will give a glimpse into the history that once was on the day it was written..Posts will not be daily, but will be multiple times in any given week.
Can't imagine life without those bluetooth ear buds? Or how about those fond memories of a rotary dial? Some of us may even still be carrying around memories of telephone numbers that actually started with two letter...UN4-something or other comes to mind as I remember my grandmother's phone number when I was a child.
Well, if any of the above matters to you, then take a moment today to honor a significant piece of American innovative history and the man who catapulted us into the age of communication - Alexander Graham Bell and in making the first voice transmission. The date of this ever historic event was June 3, 1875.
Oddly enough another significant event happened on June 3rd and one which would help catapult our nation into another era like no other, this time however the year was 1889 - on this day 122 years ago the very first long distance electric power transmission was completed. A power line that ran 14 miles from a generator in Williamette Falls to downtown Portland, Oregon - that first long distance energy route powered 55 street lights.
Had it not been for the creativity and determination of the inventors in the mid to late 1800's I probably would not be sitting here typing this all out for you - nor would I be able to inform you of one other significant June 3rd event - one that owes their own appreciation to those creative minds of the inventors of over a century ago..
This next June 3 event occurred in 1976- our country's bicentennial year - and ironically the hat is tipped to a group of British men better known as Queen. Yes, ladies and gentlemen June 3rd is the anniversary of the all time favorite ...first head banging song....going Gold - Bohemian Rhapsody!!
And thank you Queen for having an official You Tube channel and allowing for imbedding this video with out the worry of copyright infringement!
Many women today are outspoken and considered independent - while there may be some in today's society who still frown on that, it is no longer considered a mark of the devil to the vast majority of the population. Many credit this somewhat newly found freedom known as equal rights with the dedication of those before through the suffrage movement However a deeper look into history will show the movement started long before the late 1800's and when women paid the price for being independent and moving forward against the grain.
One such woman was Bridget Bishop. Bridget was the recipient of many whispers of rumor during the time she lived in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600's. Twice widowed and on her third marriage, Bridget at the age of approximately 60 years old would become the first victim to be sentenced to the gallows for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Her day in the Puritan court and sentence came swiftly...all on the same day, June 2 1692 -
She, however, was not the first to be accused, but considering she is what many say was an easy target, she became the first example to be made in what is now known as a sad and tragic time in this land's history.
What made her an easy target? She dared to be different. Rather than blending into the Puritan community she stood out like a blooming rose in winter, and would often wear a red bodice - a social no no. She befriended others who did not abide by the rules of the Puritan ways by hosting parties where "those" people attended and drank...sometimes gambled. She kept unreasonable hours being up late and sleeping in.
Looking back and applying what we know today, it's easy to see that she was considered by those in control and power as someone who needed to be dealt with, even if it meant trumped up charges.
(Bishop) I am no witch (The court) Why if you have not wrote in the book, yet tell me how far you have gone? Have you not to do with familiar Spirits? (Bishop) I have no familiarity with the devil. (The court) How is it then, that your appearance doth hurt these? (Bishop) I am innocent. (The Court) Why you seem to act witchcraft before us, by the motion of your body, which seems to have influence upon the afflicted. (Bishop) I know nothing of it. I am innocent to a Witch. I know not what a Witch is (The Court) How do you know then that you are not a witch (Bishop) I do not know what you say. (The Court) How can you know, you are no Witch, & yet not know what a Witch is. (Bishop) I am clear: if I were any such person you should know it. (The Court) You may threaten, but you can do no more than you are per-
mitted . (Bishop) I am innocent of a witch. (The Court) What do you say of those murders you are charged with? (Bishop) I hope, I am not guilty of Murder
Bridget was put to death just 8 days later on June 10, 1692. The example had now been set.
Across the ocean....
Attitudes on women and their rights had not changed much in two hundred years since, but women stood up and spoke out as the suffrage movement took hold and the campaign blossomed in the states as well as other parts of the world.
On this day...June 2... in 1884 Admiral Frederick Maxse of Eastbourne sent a pamphlet advocating against the movement to Millicent Garrett Fawcett, a leader and activist in the British suffrage movement. In the correspondence was a message which conveyed the majority of women who ask for the vote are Liberal, but the majority of those who would get it are Conservative. He further suggested that there would be civil war if women were enfranchised. Naturally such comments did not dissuade Fawcett from moving forward in the movement.
Today...
While eventually women in the states and Europe won the right to vote as well as some other basic rights - the movement continues on...such as noted in an article which appears today, June 2, 2011, on the France 24 website - the article and video clip speaks to the recent struggle in Saudi Arabia where women are fighting for the right to drive a car.
According to the article an internet consultant, Manal Al-Sharif was arrested just two weeks ago for defying a ban on women drivers. She was released from custody just earlier this week and after issuing a statement saying she would abandon a campaign asking women to take part in a drive on June 17, 2011.
While we may never know what happened to her while in custody - we do know, through reports, others are leading the cause and will continue with the movement...despite what history may one day look back at and refer to as yet another witch hunt against those who dared to question.
Louis Dembitz Brandeis made history as being the first Jewish American to be confirmed to the United State Supreme Court. The nomination came from then President Wilson who wrote:
I cannot speak too highly of his impartial, impersonal, orderly, and constructive mind, his rare analytical powers, his deep human sympathy, his profound acquaintance with the historical roots of our institutions and insight into their spirit, or of the many evidences he has given of being imbued, to the very heart, with our American ideals of justice and equality of opportunity; of his knowledge of modern economic conditions and of the way they bear upon the masses of the people, or of his genius in getting persons to unite in common and harmonious action and look with frank and kindly eyes into each other's minds, who had before been heated antagonists.
In the same year, 1916, a man who would become the world's foe penned the following piece of poetry:
In a Thicket of the Forest at Artois
English translation
It was in a thicket in the Artois Wood.
Deep in the trees, on blood-soaked ground,
A wounded German warrior lay stretched
And his cries rang out in the night.
In vain ... no echo answered his plea ...
Will he bleed to death like a beast
Shot in the gut, that dies alone?
Then suddenly ...
Heavy steps approach from right and left
He hears them stamp on the forest floor ...
And new hope springs in his soul.
And now from the left ...
And now from both sides ...
Two men approach his dark resting place
A German, and a Frenchman.
And each watches the other with distrustful glance,
And threateningly they aim their weapons.
The German warrior asks: "What are you doing here?"
"I was touched by his desperate calls for help."
"He's your enemy!"
"He’s a man who is suffering."
And both lowered their weapons without a word.
Then entwined their hands together
And with muscles tensed, carefully lifted
The wounded warrior, as if on a stretcher,
And carried him through the woods
Till they came to the German outposts.
"Now it’s done. He’ll get good care."
And the Frenchman turns back toward the woods.
But the German grasps for his hand,
Looks, moved, into sorrow-dimmed eyes
And says to him with earnest foreboding:
"I don’t know what fate holds for us,
Which inscrutably rules in the stars.
Perhaps I shall fall, a victim of your bullet.
Perhaps mine will fell you on the sand —
For the fortune of battle is unpredictable.
But however it may be, and whatever may come:
We lived these sacred hours,
When human found himself in human ...
And now, farewell! And God be with you!" Adolf Hitler 1916
Fast forward to the year of 1942 - June 1st of that year - the 26th anniversary of Louis Dembitz Brandeis being confirmed to the Supreme Court - 26 years after the above piece of poetry was written - An underground newspaper in Warsaw exposed a truth that many had rumored about - The Liberty Brigade documented in their report about the gassing....the murder...the extermination... of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno - a death camp.
The story was more than a report on rumors that many knew were actually fact - it came to the world's attention via the voice of a young Jewish male -, Emanuel Ringelblum. Emmanuel had escaped from the Chelmno death camp - an escape that happened after he was forced to bury the bodies of others Jews and after those lifeless remains had been thrown out of the gas vans.
**one other little tidbit - it is rumored that in 1916 ...the same year he wrote that poem, Hitler lost a testicle due to an injury suffered from war.
Two women- both of whom put aside their feminine physical appearance to don the clothing of power - mens, and both of whom have come to make history by doing so. One heard the calling of the Lord, and the other answered to the screams of her own inner poverty.
Joan of Arc, on this day in 1431, was burned at the stake for heresy. The daughter of a tenant farmer, she heard a calling when she was just a young girl of 16. That calling came to her through the voices of three saints, St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. They told her she must capture the French throne.
Her fight led her through many victories however just one year prior to her being burned at the stake she was captured and sold to England - she was tried and convicted for heresy - How dare she take direct orders from the Lord, rather than the Church - Perpetual imprisonment was her sentence - While imprisoned she was ordered to put on womens clothing, which she did first obey-but just a few days later authorities found her donning the clothing of power once again - Her explanation for doing so was not what the Church wanted to hear- she had once again listened to instructions from a higher power and through the voices of the saints who spoke to her. She was now a repeat offender, something that could not be allowed, so on May 30 she was tied to a stake in the Place du Vieux- Marche and burned before a crowd.
Her stubbornness and dedication to stay true to her calling may have ended her life, but changed a world and she became a heroine and a saint. May 30th is recognized as her Feast Day in the Catholic Religion.
That was then...this was later on...
Four hundred and sixty eight years later to be exact - another women, Pearl Hart, made history when she decided to forgo the standard frock for women and donned some mens clothing - however, unlike Joan of Arc, her calling was not divine intervention it served another purpose - greeds calling after a life of poverty.
Pearl, who was born in Petersborough,Ontario, grew up in poverty. What would become her destiny...well.. some may say it was survival, and others may claim that the bad boy she was with, Joe Boot (yes, really) guided her down a wrong path -
On this day in 1899 the down and out couple decided to hold up an Arizona stagecoach. A crime that was carried out with Pearl wearing mens clothing. A crime that netted them $421 in cash from the three passengers.
Despite the horror their victims must have encountered, Pearl obviously was not a ruthless criminal as rather than leaving each passenger with nothing that a nightmare, she gave back $1 to each of them so they could eat at the next stop.
Before Pearl landed Boot she had been married to an abusive husband - she was only 16 when she said "I do" - the same age Joan of Arc heard the calling from saintly whispers. Pearl eventually left that marriage to end up with a dance hall musician, Dan Bandman (yeah, really..you can't make this up!) - Bandman moved Pearl to Phoenix, Arizona and then took off to fight in the Spanish American War. After he left Pearl relocated herself to Globe, Arizona. Globe is wear Pearl found Boot.
After the May 30 stagecoach hold up, the couple did what most criminals do, the fled - but, being amateurs it wasn't long before the Sheriff caught up with them. Jailed in Tuscon Pearl used her feminine charms on a couple of guards and convinced them to help her flee. She didn't get far even though she did make it over the border to New Mexico - there, however, she was recognized and once again arrested and extradited back to Arizona.
Back in Arizona she was convicted and sentenced to five years, Boot however was to serve 30. Boot ended up learning something while imprisoned, as after a few years he was able to escape while working the fields and was never heard of again.
Pearl, well, while she didn't serve her full term there's an interesting reason for it - it appears she found herself in the "family way" one year after being sentenced to prison. Yikes!!! Governor Alexander Brodie didn't want to deal with the scandal, so rather than face the music of having her becoming pregnant and giving birth to a child while imprisoned, he pardoned her.
The years that follow for Pearl are not well documented and more a matter of rumor and speculation. Some say she went into show business and billing herself as the Arizona Bandit. Others claimed she found herself a rancher to marry and had a quiet life. But one thing is sure, for her - like Joan of Arc - wearing the pants made them women to be dealt with and a spot in history.
Perhaps there is a reason that a year prior to May 29, 1914, the haunting music of Stravinsky's Le Sarce du printemps made it's world premiere,. Yes, perhaps it was a premonition of the tragedy that would mark it's year anniversary - If you listen closely it is almost as if you can hear a foggy darkness coming to life after what first sounds like the whispers of hope - a desperation chimes in of those knowing the end is near, and how they scramble in the cold looking for a way to run - run towards a direction that would give them safety - a security that is not found.
Le Sarce du printemps - The Rite of Spring - a time for rebirth and growth - however, as we know, growth often comes after a time of loss -a time of pain. Listen to the music in video as you read on....
Just one year to the day after the world famous premiere 1,073 lives were lost to the darkness of water of the St. Lawrence River in Canada - their final breathes taken in the cold dark morning hours when two ships, The Empress of Ireland and the Storstad, lost their sight in a thick fog and collided when the Storstad failed to follow proper procedures fog conditions. That failure meant it would crash into the Empress of Ireland where it stood still on the St. Lawrence River.
The Empress of Ireland had just left Quebec City for Liverpool, England. Boarded on the magnificent ship was 1477 passengers and crew, and of which only 465 would live to see dry land ever again.
The Storstad, a Norwegian coal freighter, survived the collision with the Empress of Ireland, however it was forever scarred and was torpedoed during WWI in 1917. The Storstad hit the doomed Empress midship, but the worse was yet to come and did so when the freighter's Captain, Thomas Anderson, failed to reverse the Storstad and ended up crushing many of the passengers on the Empress to only then cause the ship turn over on it's side - dumping into the cold waters those left who were unable to find refuge in a life-raft.
The Empress of Ireland sank in just 14 minutes - In 14 minutes in 1914 over 1400 lives were changed forever.
The Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR), owner of the Empress of Ireland, went on to sue the owners of the Storstad. As part of the settlement, the CPR acquired ownership of the freighter.
*information gathered for this post came from the History.com website.
Can't imagine life without those bluetooth ear buds? Or how about those fond memories of a rotary dial? Some of us may even still be carrying around memories of telephone numbers that actually started with two letter...UN4-something or other comes to mind as I remember my grandmother's phone number when I was a child. 
