Sister Suffragets

This past Tuesdays, voters went to their polling place to place their votes in the midterm elections but 97 years ago, a large portion of the population could not vote. However, in New York state, there was an increase in voters: women were allowed to vote in state elections.

Photo: nytimes.com


On November 6, 1917, women in New York gained the right to vote. As historical consultant Louise Bernikow stated: "When New York women won the right to vote in 1917, they changed the national political landscape. The victory was a critical tipping point on the road to a constitutional amendment." Under the leadership of Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, women in New York undertook an ambitious task in 1917: a house-to-house canvass to campaign for women's votes. Their actions resulted in a petition signed by 1 million women stating that they wanted the right to vote. 

Photo: sites.newpaltz.edu
On the night before election day, Catt was quoted as saying "Vote for women suffrage, because it is a part of the struggle toward democracy." Unlike earlier suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Catt did not put the cause of women suffrage aside because of the war. Instead, she linked what the men were fighting for with what the women were fighting for at home. 

 Photo: nps.gov

November 6, 1917, New York became one of the first states to allow women to vote. This continued a trend in New York history: women had been fighting for women's rights in the state since 1837, when a delegation against female slavery met in New York City. New York is also known for the Seneca Falls meeting in 1848, which was a meeting for women's rights. Three years after New York women gained the right to vote, women across the country were given the right to vote by the 19th Amendment in 1920. 

Photo: archives.gov
 

Don't Panic

In 1897, H.G. Wells published his short story The War of the Worlds. It is considered to be the first narrative of a conflict between humans and aliens and was very popular at the time of publication all the way up until today. In fact, in 1938, it was an extremely influential radio broadcast. 

Photo: biography.com

Actor Orson Welles worked with the Columbia Broadcasting System to put on a radio drama of The War of the Worlds. Welles and the Mercury Theatre on Air collaborated to update the 40 year old short story and make it sound plausible. 

Photo: war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk

Despite an intro that stated it was a dramatization of the story, panic ensued because many listeners missed the intro. Plus, it was performed to sound very much like a real news broadcast interrupting a program of music. As RadioLab hosts pointed out, this style had become commonplace due to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

Photo: people.ku.edu

At the end of the broadcast, Welles came on the air to inform listeners that it was a Halloween trick, but the story of a Martian invasion was picked up by newspapers and the hysteria continued. People made inquiries into where they should go to be safe from a Martian invasion or, rather, a German invasion. Some listeners believed that the Germans had attacked New Jersey and New York and that the radio host was simply confused. 

Photo: authorama.com

The truth eventually came out and the nation returned to normal. However, the story has been performed since the original broadcast and it caused panic again, especially in Quito, Ecuador. Happy Halloween!

Photo: telegraph.co.uk

Lonesome No More

On November 1, 1971 the last Pinta Island tortoise was discovered. Prior to this, it was believed that these tortoises had been hunted to extinction by pirates in the 1800s. Lonesome George, the last tortoise, was known as the rarest animal on the planet and was the face of conservation for the Galápagos Islands. George died on June 24, 2012 around the age of 100. 

Photo: telegraph.co.uk

When George was discovered, he was removed from the island so that he could be protected. Efforts to have him mate so that his kind would not go extinct all ended in failure and his death is one of the few instances in which scientists know the exact time of extinction. While mating efforts failed, there is a possible opportunity for his sub-species to continue: when Pinta Island tortoises were being hunted, some of them were also taken to different islands where they mated and created hybrid tortoises.

Photo: animalcorner.co.uk

Today, Lonesome George is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He is on loan and will eventually return to the Galápagos Islands, but for now he is a reminder to visitors that species do not last forever and conservation efforts are necessary to halt the extinction of rare animals and plants. 

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

Rapid Transit

New York City is unique, especially in how it has been developed. Due to the Hudson River, the East River and the New York Harbor, the city had to expand north. The business district developed at the southern end of the island while residential areas were developed on the northern end. The difficulty in this became apparent with the question, How were the businessmen to get from their uptown homes to their work downtown?

Photo: nycurbed.com
 
Before the Subway system, New Yorkers traveled via horse cars, cable cars and elevated trains. An underground system was determined to be a preferable mode of transportation to reduce the number of people traveling on the streets. 

Photo: tenement.org 
 
October 27, 1904, the New York City Subway system opened and serviced about 100,000 people on its first day.  The Subway was preferable to elevated trains and cable cars because it was faster and was not subject to weather delays. 

Photo: constructioncompany.com

Almost as soon as the Subway opened, new lines and expansions of existing lines were proposed. Some ideas included competing with the current subway system, or being able to travel from either end of the island on one fare, as well as a loop system to New Jersey. 

Photo: thetransportpolic.com

When the subway system was developed it was built by two different companies, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. In 1940 these companies were combined under the city's Board of Transportation. While it is all one subway system, there are complexities and they are due to the original division between the companies: the IRT company numbered its lines while the BRT company lettered its lines.

Photo: dailymail.co.uk

Today, the New York City Subway is one of the largest underground rapid transit systems in the world with over 400 stations and 34 lines, and it is one of the world's oldest public transportation systems. Without it, a lot of New Yorkers, commuters and tourists would have a difficult time making their way around the city.

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

Half a Leage

October 25, 1854, the British light cavalry brigade was sent to do battle with the Russians in the Crimean War. 

Photo: bbc.co.uk

The cavalry unit was sent to harass a retreating Russian artillery unit, however, orders were confused and the cavalry was sent towards a heavily armed Russian unit in a frontal assault instead. This resulted in heavy British casualties and the unit was forced to retreat. 

Photo: theguardian.com

Six weeks after the failed attack, the Light Brigade's actions were praised in Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Charge of the Light Brigade." It was a very popular poem that commended the soldiers on their bravery and even became a pamphlet that was distributed to the soldiers on the front lines. 

Photo: poets.org

The poem has been quoted and referenced in modern films to inspire people in the face of adversity. Rudyard Kipling also wrote a poem about the event but more to highlight how badly the British treated its own soldiers during the battle as well as afterwards. 

Photo: poetryfoundation.org

This Saturday marks the 160th anniversary of the charge of the Light Brigade. 

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made,
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

"Come on back, boys!"

In 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant was given command of the Union armies in the US Civil War. Knowing that the fastest way to force a surrender was through the use of total war, Grant placed Philip Sheridan in charge of the forces in the Shenandoah Valley in late 1864 and informed him that “If the war is to last another year, we want the Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste.” The valley was the breadbasket of the South and General Robert E. Lee could not afford this threat, so he sent Jubal Early to protect the valley. 

Photo: americaslibrary.gov

On October 19, 1864 (150 years ago), Early attempted a surprise attack on Sheridan’s forces near Strasburg, Virginia to try and end the Union occupation of the Lower Valley. The surprise was successful: the Union forces were unaware of the Confederate plan until the forces arrived and Sheridan wasn’t even present at the time of attack. 

Photo: nps.gov

Sheridan was in Winchester, Virginia when the attack was launched, on a return trip from Washington, DC. He received reports of gunfire but believed it to be his own troops attacking Early. However, he left Winchester and rode towards the battle. Sheridan discovered that his troops were retreating and in order to halt this, he ordered Captain William McKinley to form a line to intercept stragglers and send them back to battle. When he arrived at the battlefield near Cedar Creek, Sheridan rallied his troops by shouting, “Give ‘em hell!” and the Union soldiers managed to defeat Early’s troops. 

Photo: exhibits.lib.byu.edu

The Battle of Cedar Creek was the last major conflict in the valley and effectively ended the Confederates’ campaign to control the Shenandoah Valley. In addition, the battle occurred just before the 1864 election and since it was a Union victory, it helped Lincoln to win reelection over his opponent George McClellan, who would have ended the war and allowed the Confederacy to remain as a separate country 

 Photo: nps.gov

Unusual Flooding

October 17, 1814, the streets of London were inundated with porter. People were not celebrating, they weren’t drinking and they were not happy. Instead, they were fleeing for their lives from a 15 foot wave of beer. 

Photo: viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk

At the Horse Shoe Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, a vat had broken and knocked over other others, resulting in about 9,000 barrels of beer flooding the streets of the nearby slum. Two houses were lost, as were seven lives. But many survived, despite their basements being flooded. At the time, no one reported rampant beer drinking instead, the crowd was quiet and calm, which allowed the people who were trapped to be heard. 

Photo: blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

The Horse Shoe Brewery was established in 1764 and primarily produced porter, especially for the area. Just before the flood, it had been bought by Sir Henry Meaux. After the incident, the brewery was brought to court because some believed the brewery could have prevented the accident but a jury cleared the brewery and stated that the flood had been an unavoidable act of God. The brewery continued production until 1921. Today, the nearby pub, the Holborn Whippet, brews ale each year to commemorate the London Beer Flood. 

Photo: www.altasobscura.com