Have you ever imagined what it must be like to be President of the United States? You’d have to govern an entire country! Just think, you would sign laws that affect over 300 million people. You would be in charge of one of the strongest militaries in the world. You would give speeches to millions of people!

Now, imagine if you had to do all of that from a wheelchair. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second President of the United States, had to use a wheelchair because his legs were paralyzed. This meant that he couldn’t walk or even stand. How did that happen, you may be asking? And how did he still become president regardless of his challenges despite that? Let’s rewind and find out!

Roosevelt grew up on a large farm in New York State. Since he lived in the country, Roosevelt was taught at home by tutors when he was young. Because of this, he didn’t have a lot of friends his age, and he was very shy. 

But Roosevelt was close with his family. He also had a distant older cousin named Teddy who he really admired. Teddy was outgoing and popular. When Roosevelt started high school, Teddy announced that he wanted to become a politician. A politician is someone who gets elected to a government position. 

That sounded pretty cool to Roosevelt. He decided he wanted to be a politician just like his cousin. What he didn’t realize is that to be a politician, he’d have to talk to large crowds of people. He’d have to get those crowds to like and trust him. That meant A LOTa lot of socializing.

There was one big problem: Roosevelt was not particularly social. He had a hard time making friends. He preferred to spend his time reading books and studying. He studied so hard, in fact, that he got accepted into Harvard just as his cousin Teddy had done. Harvard was a top college and a good choice for people who wanted to study law. 

While Roosevelt was in his first year at Harvard, his cousin Teddy became the most important politician in the country: he was elected President of the United States. If you want to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt be sure to look up our episode about him. Roosevelt was proud of his cousin, no doubt. But how could he compete with him? Roosevelt decided to work even harder. He was determined to keep up with his superstar older cousin and forge his own path to the presidency. 

As president, Teddy made hundreds of decisions every day! People counted on him to keep the country safe. To be elected, he’d had to convince millions of people that he was the best person for the job. But Teddy had always been popular.

Being popular was not something Roosevelt had ever been very good at. 

He was not athletic. He always cared more about grades than being cool. How could he get his classmates at Harvard to like him? He hatched a plan. He started to join clubs and meet people. He even became the editor of the Harvard Crimson newspaper!

As editor of this newspaper, Roosevelt reported on events that happened not just on campus but around the world. He began to learn more about politics and the government. He started to realize which politicians he agreed with and which ones he didn’t. His cousin Teddy was a Republican, but Roosevelt decided he would prefer to be a Democrat.  

Roosevelt married a woman named Eleanor and graduated with a law degree. He was ready to give politics a try. So, when he was twenty-eight, he ran in an election to be a state senator for New York and won. As a senator, Roosevelt helped create and vote on laws for his state. Being a state senator was a good first step. But Roosevelt still had more work to do. 

After only one two-year term as a state senator, Roosevelt received a life-changing call! It was the new President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson asked Roosevelt to move to Washington D.C. to help run the United States Navy. This was huge! Roosevelt was excited to take this job. 

His dream of being president suddenly seemed within reach. Roosevelt’s career was moving in the right direction. He was getting experience in politics and learning about different parts of government. He was meeting important politicians. He was even gaining popularity among Americans. His dream of being president was within reach. 

Then, in 1921, Roosevelt went to New York for a family vacation. One day, he was relaxing on a boat, when without warning, he fell into the ice-cold water. His legs felt numb. Soon after that, he felt lots of pain in his back and his legs. He started to lose control of his body. He couldn’t even move his face. For a short period of time, he was almost entirely paralyzed and unable to move any parts of his body.

The doctors told Roosevelt that he had a disease called polio. This disease affected his spinal cord, which is what allowed his arms, legs, and all the other parts of his body to move. It was unusual for an adult to get polio. Since there was no cure for it, Roosevelt thought that he would never be able to move again.

How was Roosevelt ever going to control a country or command a military if he couldn’t move? He couldn’t stand. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t even wave or smile at people. It seemed like his political career was over.

However, Roosevelt did not want this disease to decide when he should retire. He wanted to stay in politics. He was determined wanted to become president. Roosevelt decided that he would fight to recover to reach his goal. Nobody knew how long it would take or if it was even possible! And he’d be away from politics for a long time. Would anybody remember him after he was away for so long?

He needed people to remember his name. He had an idea. His wife, Eleanor, was well-liked and very intelligent. Maybe his wife could help remind people of his accomplishments in political circles. Plus, he could write letters to important politicians all over the country. He would make sure he wasn’t forgotten.

It took Roosevelt years to recover. He had to work hard to regain the use of his body parts. Roosevelt had to learn how to move again by swimming. Since he weighed less in the pool, it was easier for him to try lifting his arms and legs again. At first, he needed a lot of help, but he did get stronger. He had braces fit for his legs that allowed him to stand up.

By 1928, Roosevelt had made a lot of progress. He had built back a lot of his muscles, but he was still paralyzed in his legs. He realized he would never be able to walk again. Could he be the powerful, admirable figure that past presidents like his cousin were known for if he was stuck in a wheelchair?

Roosevelt did what he’d always done: use his intelligence and determination to make progress his hard work. In 1928, seven years after he first got sick, Roosevelt made his political comeback as Governor of New York. 

This same job title had belonged to his older cousin Teddy almost 30 years earlier. Roosevelt’s path to the presidency was back on track. 

Just like Teddy, Roosevelt was well-liked by the people of New York. He ran for re-election in 1930, and he won again. He liked being governor, but still, he wanted a promotion. He wanted to be president.

In 1932, Roosevelt ran for president of the United States. He won the election by beating Herbert Hoover. He became the thirty-second President of the United States, joining the long line of famous, powerful presidents, including his older cousin Teddy.  

Roosevelt didn’t let a wheelchair stop him. He did all of the things that presidents are supposed to do. He showed his country and the world that he was a strong and capable leader. When he gave speeches, Roosevelt used leg braces, a cane, and usually the arm of a family member to walk to the podium. Instead of using the bulky, ugly wheelchairs of the time, Roosevelt built his own sleek wheelchair using a dining chair with bicycle wheels attached to it. He could even climb stairs using just the strength of his arms like a gymnast!

Roosevelt showed the country that a disability did not mean he couldn’t be just as powerful and admirable as any other president. In fact, he served nearly four terms, making him the longest-serving president in history! 

Fortunately, a few years later, a scientist named Jonas Salk discovered a cure for polio. His vaccine made it so no one had to go through what President Roosevelt did. 

Roosevelt’s path to the presidency was not an easy one. But he never gave up on his dream or his desire to match Teddy’s success. Sometimes, being the younger cousin isn’t such a bad thing, after all. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/theodore-roosevelt/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt/

https://www.fdrlibrary.org/fdr-biography

https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/life-before-the-presidency

https://www.cdc.gov/polio/what-is-polio/index.htm

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roosevelt-D-Roosevelt/Paralysis-to-presidency

https://www.ducksters.com/history/us_government/senate.php

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/teaching-wiki/roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-president

https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/life-before-the-presidency

https://kids.kiddle.co/Politics

https://www.fdrlibrary.org/polio

The post History of Franklin D. Roosevelt for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

When Desmond was a little boy, Father Huddleston was walking through Desmond’s neighborhood. This was strange in itself. At the time, blacks in South Africa were required to live only in certain areas. So white men rarely came to Desmond’s neighborhood, unless they were policemen. Father Huddleston was clearly not a policeman: He was dressed strangely, with a stiff white collar and black shirt. Stranger still was what Father Huddleston did: he stopped, tipped his hat, and said a warm “hello” to Desmond’s mother. 

For a white man to treat his mother–a black woman–with kindness and respect was truly remarkable to Desmond, even as a small child. Many white people in South Africa either ignored blacks or were rude, or even cruel to them. Later, Desmond would learn that Father Huddleston worked tirelessly to help make South Africa more fair and kind to its black citizens. But that simple hello in the street showed him that all kinds of people were capable of compassion. All kinds and colors of people were human. And that planted the seed of the idea that he would spend his life striving to make it a reality. The idea of a South Africa where all people, black and white, lived together in a peaceful “rainbow” society.

When Desmond graduated high school after his bout with tuberculosis, he studied to become a teacher. He joined the debate club at his college, where he met Nelson Mandela, a young lawyer, who would become president of South Africa decades later. After graduating, Desmond got a job as a high school English teacher. He met a friend of his sister’s, Leah, who was also studying to be a teacher. The two began dating and decided to marry in 1955.  

But as Desmond was starting out in the world, the country was going through changes that would force him to take a different path than he had planned. South Africa was about to enter a very dark period of its history. Both Desmond and Nelson Mandela would play a big part in helping the country climb out of this period. 

South Africa had long had laws that tried to keep black and white citizens separate from each other. But in 1948, the country elected a government that wanted to be much more strict about making sure these laws were followed. They created a system of laws called Apartheid. They forced blacks to live in certain, limited areas. Blacks had to get special passes if they wanted to visit a white area. They couldn’t own land. They couldn’t vote. Blacks and whites couldn’t marry each other. They couldn’t even go to the same beaches.  

As Desmond and Leah started their life together, things were getting worse. The government passed a law that forced black South Africans to go to separate schools, and then didn’t pay black teachers as much as whites. Desmond and Leah decided to quit teaching. Desmond had been volunteering in their Anglican church and decided to become a priest. Meanwhile, Leah started school to become a nurse. 

Desmond studied to become a priest in South Africa and then in London. When he and his family moved back to South Africa in 1967, he began to speak out against Apartheid, cautiously at first. He wrote about how the church should help solve issues facing blacks in South Africa and beyond. When students at a university protested policies that supported Apartheid, Desmond gently stepped past the police dogs that surrounded the protesters and began to pray with them. Desmond would become known for this warmth and gentleness when facing tense situations.

Desmond was becoming a leader in the church as he spoke out more. He became a bishop, which is a very respected leader in the church. In 1978, he became the leader of the South African Council of Churches, which worked with many different Christian churches throughout South Africa. He was the first black man to hold this influential position. He used it to spread his message even further. He shared his vision of South Africa as a rainbow nation far and wide. 

Desmond was committed to working towards this rainbow society without violence, and even with gentleness and humor. He went to protest marches and committed civil disobedience, such as visiting beaches that were supposed to be whites-only. Civil disobedience is when you protest an unfair law by breaking that law, but in a peaceful way, which could still get you in trouble. And Desmond and other protesters DID get in trouble: Desmond was arrested and fined, and the authorities were violent with many others. 

Desmond also visited other countries, trying to get people around the world to care about the situation in South Africa. He met the Pope and the leader of the United Nations. He even asked leaders of other countries to boycott, or refuse to buy things, from South Africa. When he returned to the country after a speaking tour, the government took away his passport, which meant he couldn’t leave the country. They gave it back a year later, but this would happen a few more times as he traveled the world to speak out against Apartheid. Still, Desmond knew that if the leaders of other countries didn’t put pressure on South Africa’s government, it would be very hard to change things.  

Then, in 1984, Desmond won the Nobel Peace Prize. He gave a speech to accept the prize. In it, he told how Apartheid had caused people to mistrust and hate each other. He told how the police used violence against everyday people and peaceful protesters. He told how South Africa was a beautiful country of rolling mountains and sunshine, where people just wanted to live in peace with their families. He told how Apartheid had made that impossible for blacks and even many whites. 

Many people around the world learned from news coverage what Apartheid was really like for the first time. Governments finally decided to sanction South Africa, meaning they made laws that made it harder for South Africa to buy or sell things to other countries. 

Meanwhile, Desmond returned to South Africa, where he continued to speak and march against Apartheid. The government was starting to listen. Desmond and other activists met with the president of South Africa, Pieter Botha. But he still wasn’t willing to make many changes. 

But Desmond’s influence was growing. People loved to be around this warm, joyful man, who made everyone feel valuable and loved. In 1986, the church made Desmond archbishop of Cape Town. As the archbishop, he got to move into a big, beautiful house set aside for him. This angered the government because the house was in a whites-only area. But Desmond used his superpower and turned a tense situation into an opportunity to show kindness. He had a playground built on the lawn, and let anyone come to play or swim in his pool.

Finally, things began to change. In 1990, a new president was elected. F.W. de Klerk showed signs that he would be willing to end apartheid. He freed Nelson Mandela from prison after nearly thirty years and refused to punish peaceful protesters. After long talks with Mandela, Tutu, and others in the anti-apartheid movement, de Klerk agreed to put an end to Apartheid. 

In the next election, all South Africans were allowed to vote. Black South Africans, voting for the first time, lined up for hours to cast their ballot. Desmond dropped his vote into the ballot box in front of cheering supporters, then jumped up and down, saying he felt two inches taller than when he came in. He said a new South Africa began that day, “where all of us, black and white, will be holding hands and working for a common prosperity.”  Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. Today, South Africans commemorate this election every April 27th as Freedom Day. 

But the story didn’t end there. South African society still had a lot of work to do if all people were going to live in peace together. Think of a time when you had a big argument with a sister, brother, or friend. A time when you hurt each other’s feelings. It probably took some time to feel better and learn to be friends again. The whole country of South Africa felt this way. It would take time and work to help everyone feel like they could live and work peacefully together. Apartheid had been in place for more than 50 years. Many black people didn’t trust whites because of how badly they’d been treated. Many white people were afraid that the new government, led by a black man, might treat them just as badly in return. 

But Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu came up with a better plan. They formed a group, which Desmond led, called the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They would help South Africans talk to each other. People who had been hurt by the old system would get to tell their stories. And so would people who had hurt others. They would be honest. They would listen to each other. Finally, they would be able to forgive each other.  

As Desmond put it, “I am human because you are human. My humanity is caught up in yours.” It’s important to remember when we’re angry with someone, they are still a person, just like us. We have to live with other people. Saying I’m sorry is one of the hardest things you ever have to do if you mean it. And waiting for someone to say they’re sorry to you is just as hard. But things start to get better right afterward. 

Sources

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/truth_and_reconciliation

https://www.history.com/topics/africa/apartheid

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1984/tutu/biographical/

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1984/tutu/lecture/

https://passiontounderstand.blogspot.com/2010/04/this-day-in-history-27-april-1994.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-tutu-anti-apartheid-hero-who-never-stopped-fighting-rainbow-nation-2021-12-26/

https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2022/01/01/10-memorable-quotes-by-desmond-tutu.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_South_African_general_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_Education_Act,_1953

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._de_Klerk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_laws

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

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Birth

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, to Mary and Augustine Washington in Westmoreland County, Virginia. If you’ve noticed President’s Day is in February, this is one reason why. George’s family was not extremely wealthy or poor but was in what was called a “middling class,” which had been growing in Virginia. George’s ancestors were from England and had moved to British Colonies in America. They were called the British Colonies because they were still ruled by Britain, not their own country yet. George’s father, Augustine, had a farm along the Potomac River and worked hard to make it a success. On the farm, they grew tobacco and had a mill for grinding wheat. When George was 5 the family moved up the Potomac River to the Little Hunting Creek Plantation and then later to the Ferry Farm, where little George spent most of his days growing up.  

Childhood

We know some things about George’s childhood, but not very much — which led to some myths about his childhood. One story said that he was so strong he threw a coin all the way across the Potomac River. Another said he chopped down his father’s favorite cherry tree and told his father about it because he would never tell a lie. These stories were made up, but we do know that George grew up helping on his family farm and was home-schooled by a local teacher where he learned math, geography, and Latin and read classic books. What George learned in books was useful, but most of his practical knowledge came from his days working on the farm, learning from the other workers, and the local woodsmen. 

When George was 11 his father passed away and his brother, Lawrence, took over the farm. George learned about the higher culture and how to act properly from his brother’s wife, Anne. 

Surveyor

Like many boys his age, George started his career very early, at age 16, when he became a surveyor. A surveyor is someone who uses different instruments to measure the size and layout of the land and make maps, so it can be bought and sold. In Virginia and the rest of The New World, there was a lot of lands, so the job of a surveyor was very important. George was soon traveling on his own, studying and surveying the land all over Virginia, and making maps. The experiences of being out on his own and camping every night made him tough and prepared him for later struggles in his life. George worked as a surveyor until he was 20 — when his older brother Lawrence died of tuberculosis. This made George the owner of his family’s farms, which was a very big responsibility for a 20-year-old. 

George loved the peaceful life of a farmer, but events nearby would soon change that. People from England lived in most of the Eastern coastal towns of the colonies, but many people from France, the French, lived and worked further inland as trappers and traders. For many years the English and French did not get along. As the French started to move into the land the English claimed as their own, the King of England became nervous that the French would take it over. He began sending soldiers to America to be sure this did not happen.

Major Washington

Around this time, George had become a major in the Virginia Militia. A militia is a small army run by a colony or state, and at the time the colony of Virginia had its own militia. George was asked by the king to take his small group of soldiers and tell the French living on their land to leave. By this time the French had built a fort called Fort LaBeouf and when George arrived with his soldiers, he did ask them to leave but the French politely refused! George hurried back to let his leaders know and then was told to return to attack the French at Fort Duquesne. A battle broke out and George’s army beat the French in one of the first battles of what became known as The French and Indian War. The French sent more soldiers and drove George Washington and his troops back to their fort, called Fort Necessity. Eventually, George and his troops had to surrender and leave the Ohio Valley. 

George was embarrassed at his loss, but word began to spread that he had fought valiantly against the French and his name began to be known through the American colonies and even in England. 

When the British General, Edward Braddock arrived from England with even more soldiers, George joined him with his militia and they left Fort Necessity to attack the French again. While marching on the road to attack the French, they were surprised by a French army which attacked them. The French and their Native American allies fired from the trees and the road. Bullets flew from every direction. The British soldiers scattered. They were unprepared for the attack. General Braddock was hit by a bullet and fell from his horse. George courageously rallied the troops and urged them to continue fighting. A bullet hit George’s horse and they fell over, but he jumped up and climbed onto another horse. Bullets flew through his jacket and hit his horse again. The fighting continued as the French and natives fired at the British from the cover of the trees and then swarmed them in the road. George climbed onto his third horse and kept fighting. He saw that there was no hope of winning this battle. He would have to escape or all of his soldiers would be lost. He ordered a retreat and the soldiers followed him away from the battle and back along the road. During their long march back to Fort Necessity, they were continually attacked from the woods but eventually made it back. The Battle of the Wilderness was a major loss, but George Washington was praised for bravely taking control of the situation and leading the soldiers out of danger.

French and Indian War

In August 1755 George was made commander of all of the militia troops in Virginia. He was only 23 at the time. His job was to protect the border of Virginia. Most of his soldiers were not well trained and lacked proper fighting gear. To make things worse, the Virginia government did not support him and his soldiers. After two years of this difficult duty, Washington became sick with dysentery and had to return to his home until he got better. 

In 1758 George rejoined his troops as commander and was ordered to take Fort Duquesne, which was held by his French enemies. Washington, with 6,000 troops made up of British soldiers and Virginia militia, attacked Fort Duquesne. The fighting was intense on both sides. Cannons boomed. Smoke filled the air. Musket balls zipped through the air. But Washington and the soldiers pressed on until they took the fort and the French fled or surrendered. Fort Duquesne was finally taken! It was a major victory for the British in the French and Indian War. Because they took the fort they were now in control of the Ohio River Valley. George Washington’s fame spread, but the fighting near his home was over, so like the soldiers who fought with him, George retired — which means he was no longer a commander and returned to his big farm in Virginia to continue taking care of it. But fortunately, it was one of George’s favorite things to do!

Martha Custis Washington

Not long after returning home, George met and married Martha Dandridge Custis, who was a few months older than he and had been married before. She had two children John and Martha, who went by the nicknames Jacky and Patsy. George came to love his adopted children, gave them lots of attention, and treated them as his own. Jacky and Patsy would end up being his only children as he and Martha never had any of their own children together. 

Martha Washington came from a wealthy family, so when she and George married he inherited even more land. He was also given land as a gift for his service in the French and Indian War. This all led to George becoming one of the richest landowners in all of Virginia. 

On his farm, George spent much of his time riding about, checking in on the workers, and was even known to take off his coat and get into the dirty work with them. He enjoyed horseback riding, fox hunts, and fishing. 

Mount Vernon

George was always interested in the latest scientific advances to improve his crops and to find better ways to raise animals and tend to his vast orchards of fruit trees. If you visit Mount Vernon today it is a beautiful plantation with a museum, crops still growing, flower gardens, and well-tended orchards. In fact, I visited it a few years ago with my wife and daughter and we had a great time walking through Washington’s home overlooking the Potomac River and strolling through the beautiful gardens.

Sadly, slavery was everywhere at this time in Virginia and other places in the American colonies. The slaves had been kidnapped from their homes in Africa and forced to work for no pay. Slavery was a horrible practice that didn’t end until after the Civil War. Like most of the farms in Virginia, over 300 slaves worked at Mount Vernon. Later in life, George was more open to ending slavery than other plantation owners. Sadly, he never decided to set free slaves during his lifetime, but after his death, he had all of his own slaves set free — but not Martha’s.

An interesting fact about George Washington is he had very bad teeth. Many times he complained about them aching and other problems. He had to have many of his teeth pulled over the years. For this reason, George wore dentures most of his adult life. Dentures are fake teeth that people wear to replace the real ones that were lost. Legend says that they were made out of wood, but the truth is that his dentures were made out of his lost teeth, some animal teeth shaped to look like human teeth and other metals. 

Far from Mount Vernon, life in the American colonies began to change. At this time the colonies were still part of the British Empire, controlled by King George and his parliament. After the French and Indian War, the King saw how expensive the war was and decided the colonies should pay for part of it. He began to tax items like stamps and later tea and other goods that they bought from England. A tax is when you add a cost to an item. For example, when they would go to buy tea, instead of it being $1 for a bag of tea, it cost $1.25. This made the people very upset. The King also told them they couldn’t buy and settle land past a certain point in the New World. This made them even more upset. As you can imagine, things were not going well between England and the colonies. Tune into our next episode, to learn about George Washington and the American Revolution, and His Presidency. In the meantime, when you’re not in bed look up pictures and videos of George Washington. Check out pictures of his beautiful Mount Vernon estate, and the clothes he wore which are in a museum, and see if you can find a picture of his false teeth! 

Work Ethic

Also, take some time to think about George Washington’s work ethic. This means that he spent his time improving his farm and making it a little better each day. He wasn’t afraid to get dirty to improve it. Think about how this applies to you with things that need to get done around your house. Can you help tidy your room each day or pick weeds in the yard — something I know we always need at our home. Hard work isn’t always fun, but after you’re done it feels good that you’ve done something challenging and chances are you’ll feel good that you made a little difference in your home, and as you see that things look better. The other day my son and I mowed the lawn together. It was the end of the day and we didn’t feel like doing it, but when we were done it looked so clean and nice, we had a great time playing around in it and enjoying it and the hard work was worth the beautiful result.

Also, think about George’s bravery as he went into battle. It can be hard to keep our wits about us during tough times. Think about ways you can stay patient and focused when someone makes you upset or you have to do something that requires bravery. I remember when I was younger I never liked to take the trash out in the dark. One time I had to just take a deep breath and tell myself “be brave!” and did it anyway. I was nervous, but afterward, I felt proud of myself for doing it! 

Listen to the audio

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Listen to the tale of a truly remarkable person – someone brave and fierce and a true patriot – someone who loves their country very much.  The date is April 26, 1777, in rural New York.  It is spring.  Farmers are in their fields preparing the land for new crops.  The sun glimmers across green pastures and small wooden homes surrounded by picket fences.  In the middle of town, a gleaming white church with a heavy bell tolls the afternoon hour.  But this is no ordinary day.  This is a truly momentous day.  On this day, New York is invaded by British soldiers.  Two years earlier, the British attacked Massachusetts, setting Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride to warn citizens of the invading army by sea.  

British Invasion

Now, Danbury, New York, is being invaded by sea.  And who will warn the citizens of this invasion and help save the city?  A rugged farmer?  A battle-trained officer?  A seasoned spy?  NO!  The hero of this story is a 16-year-old girl!  Sybil Ludington is a spunky teenager living on a farm in Paterson, NY, with her parents and 12 siblings.  She is strong and lively – she has to be with that many family members to support and feed!  She works the farm with her family after school and becomes an expert horsewoman.  She loves to ride through the hills and trails around her home.  Her favorite horse is called Star and they go everywhere – into town for supplies, across the rolling green hills of neighboring farms, or through the deep woods.  She loves riding in the fall when the forests are aflame with red, gold, and orange leaves.  Now it is spring and tiny green leaves are just sprouting from trees.  The days are crisp and sunny; the nights cold and moonlit.

Colonel Henry Ludington

This day, April 26, 1777, starts out like any other with chores to be completed and a riot of noisy siblings to supervise and feed.  Sybil’s father, Colonel Henry Ludington, is a farmer.  He is also the commander of local militiamen and volunteers who guard the towns.  They are called “Citizen Soldiers” and they help the Colonial Army in times of need, such as battles with the British.  These 400 New York Citizen Soldiers are ordinary folk – farmers and shopkeepers and local workmen.  They do not own fancy military supplies or uniforms.  They carry old muskets used by their fathers and grandfathers. 

Evening arrives and the sun sinks below the trees.  A knock is heard on the Ludington door.  Sybil’s father, the Colonel, opens the door to find a panting and exhausted rider leaning against the doorframe.  He quickly tells the colonel that the British have invaded Danbury, 25 miles away, and the city is under attack.  They must stop the British from taking over the city and surrounding towns.

The rider and his horse are exhausted; they can go no further.  The Colonel knows he must send a new rider to warn his neighbors and rally them to Danbury’s aid.  But who to send?  He knows he must stay at his farm to command the troops and march to Danbury.  Sixteen-year-old Sybil, who has been listening to this discussion, quickly volunteers to make the dangerous ride.  Her mother argues, stating the woods at night are no place for a young girl.  Who would help her if she was knocked off her horse by a hanging tree branch or fell into a shadowy ditch?  Sybil argues that she knows the woods like the back of her hands and has never fallen from her trusty horse, Star.  She can do this – she knows she can.  Besides, her siblings are too young and they certainly aren’t as good on a horse!  The colonel thinks about it and convinces his wife to let Sybil ride.  

Sybil is ecstatic – and a little nervous, too.  She races around the house, gathering a coat and her father’s musket.  Next, she dashes to the stable and saddles Star.  The last thing she does is pick up a long, sturdy branch.  She can use it to whack on the doors of homes while saying on her horse, saving valuable time during the long, dark ride.  She has no lamp or torch; she will have to ride by moonlight and memory.

Sybil Sets Off

She jumps on Star, yells farewell to her family, and gallops away, racing across their fields into the woods beyond.  Her first stop is her neighbor.  She races into their yard.  Their lights are still on.  She bangs her stick against the door and yells the news:  The British are attacking Danbury; everyone needs to meet at her father’s farm.  And off she rides to the next house, and the next, and the next.  

The night gets colder and her fingers tingle on the reins.  She has to keep a firm grip or risk falling off Star and not completing the ride.  She has warned all her neighbors in Paterson.  She must now ride to the neighboring towns of Carmel, Mahopac, Kent Cliffs, Stormville, and Peckville.  She and Star race into more forests, following familiar dirt trails.  It is pitch dark and Star suddenly rears and whinnies.  A dark figure jumps out of the woods and demands money.  Sybil grabs her musket, heart pounding, and points the barrel at the man, telling him she will shoot if she has to.  The man can tell she is serious and darts away.  Sybil looks behind her.  She can see flames rising from Danbury and can smell smoke in the chilly night air.  She must hurry.

Sybil Spreads the News

On Sybil races with Star.  Door after door, and town after town, they spread the news that the British are here!  She rides all night, a total of 40 miles, twice the distance covered by Paul Revere in Massachusetts two years earlier!  

She arrives home at dawn, shaking and exhausted.  Scores of men have gathered at her father’s farm and marched to Danbury, driving the British back to the coast.  During the night, the British destroyed many of the town’s food, weapons, and supplies, including cots, boots, and tents.  They drank barrels of rum and set the town on fire. However, the brave militia from neighboring towns pushed the British back to the coast and stopped them from advancing any further or invading more towns.  New York is saved – and much of it is owed to 16-year-old Sybil Ludington and her courageous midnight ride.

Sybil Ludington may not be as famous as Paul Revere; however, she is just as heroic.  Many are amazed that such a young girl could ride 40 miles alone in total darkness without getting lost or hurt during a momentous invasion.  Due to Sybil’s bravery, horsemanship, and courage, she saved many towns and people that night.  

Later Life

After her famous ride, she returned to farm life, helped raise her siblings, then married and had one child Henry.  She worked on her husband’s farm and started an inn.  She passed away at 78 years old.

A statute now stands in the center of Paterson, NY, showing a teenage girl astride a charging horse, her arm raised and her ponytail flying.  Every year, Sybil’s ancestors hold a celebration at the statue to honor her historic ride.  

What do you think of Sybil and her midnight ride to save rural New York?  Can you imagine riding a horse alone for 40 miles through dark forests riddled with thieves and deserters? Today people can spread news in seconds thanks to cell phones, social media, and the web.  

Conclusion

I think this story tells us that anyone can be a hero, no matter how young or old, male or female.  Every person has worth, and skills, and value.  By doing what is right and acting in the service of others, people can achieve great things.  When you are feeling sad or unsure or afraid, think of Sybil and her midnight ride.  How can you tap into YOUR strengths and pursue YOUR midnight ride?

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Coronation

Imagine you are in a beautiful old church in England.  The year is 1827 and you are at the coronation, or royal crowning ceremony, of a new monarch.  All around you, rich people are dressed in beautiful clothing.  As the music starts, in enters the princess who is about to be crowned queen.  She is only 18 years old and as she enters the room, you can see that she is very short.  But she is poised and calm.  She has the confidence of someone who knew this is her path.  She is Queen Victoria.

Early Life

Queen Victoria was born in 1819 in London, England.  When she was born, her name was Alexandrina Victoria, but she was called “Victoria” as her nickname.  Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who was the sister of the King of Belgium, Leopold the First.  

Sadly, when Victoria was only eight months old her father died. After that, her mother became a domineering influence in her life. Domineering means bossy and controlling She was raised by her mother and her mother’s accountant, John Conroy.  Because her family was wealthy, Victoria had a very privileged childhood.  This means as a child, she had very nice things and lived in luxury. She had the best food, the nicest clothes, everything you’d imagine a princess to have. But Victoria was said to be kind, warm-hearted and lively. She loved dolls and had over 100 of them in her playroom!  

Despite all of her toys and nice things, Victoria was not allowed to play with other children in a normal way, so she had very few friends.  This made her sad.  But her best friend and constant companion was her nanny, Louise Lehzen. Victoria’s nanny taught her at the Royal Palace.  She learned all the subjects that a wealthy child who may one day become queen would need to learn, including languages and politics.  Victoria had a talent for drawing and painting, and Governess Louise encouraged her to pursue these hobbies.  Victoria also really enjoyed journal writing.  She started writing as a child and continued to write in her journal for the rest of her life.

While she was growing up, Victoria’s mother and John Conroy kept a very close eye on Victoria. They knew that she may one day become the queen of England, and they wanted to keep their influence over her to themselves.  Influence means to control and impact.  While she was a child, they never let Victoria be alone without one of them present.  Victoria slept in the same room as her mother until she was 18 so that she wasn’t on her own.  Her mother and John Conroy were worried that if Victoria was left alone, that other people might try to influence her and might turn her against them. 

Despite her mother’s influence, Victoria had a feisty temperament.  This means that she had high energy and was very independent in nature.  She had a big personality but physically Victoria was famously very short.  As an adult, she was only 4 feet 11 inches tall!

At the time of her birth, Victoria was fifth in line to the throne.  But over the course of her childhood and early teenage years, Victoria’s uncles, her father’s three brothers, all died without having living children.  This meant that when Victoria turned 18, in 1837, she knew she would become the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Queen of England

One of the first things that Queen Victoria did after becoming queen was to claim her own control and authority over her life and her rule.  She moved out of her mother’s bedroom into her own room.  She distanced herself from her mother and John Conroy, which means that she broke away from them and their constant advice and influence.  She had seen how much they were controlling her and trying to tell her what to do and she didn’t like it. 

Instead, the young Queen Victoria turned to her friend, the prime minister at the time, Lord Melbourne, to teach her about government and her role as a queen.  A Prime Minister is similar to a President in England.

Lord Melbourne was Queen Victoria’s first prime minister, who served for 7 years from 1834 to 1841. Lord Melbourne helped teach Queen Victoria about the details of being a queen and the role she plays in government at the time.  Lord Melbourne acted as the Queen’s advisor on politics and was the person she could speak to openly and get advice during the early years of her reign.

Marriage

In 1840, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She met Albert when she was just 16.  Since Victoria was queen, Albert couldn’t propose to her. So she proposed to him on October 15, 1839!

At first, the British public didn’t like Prince Albert because he was not from the United Kingdom, but from Germany.  At first, he was not allowed to be involved in politics at all.  But eventually, people realized that he was a good person and Queen Victoria started to rely on his advice and he helped her to rule. 

During the early part of their marriage, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert fought quite a bit.  They both had strong personalities and didn’t like to be wrong.  However, they loved each other very much and were committed to being successful together. Over time they started to get along better and Prince Albert started to give Queen Victoria advice and helped her make difficult decisions during her reign. And together they had nine children!  Their palace was a busy and noisy place with so many kids. 

Prince Albert also brought a number of German traditions to the United Kingdom that became popular for the British people.  This included the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree at the holidays.  Prince Albert had put a Christmas tree up for a celebration at their royal home and a picture was taken of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children in front of the tree.  The picture was in a popular newspaper at the time and afterward many people in the UK and other parts of the British Empire started putting up Christmas trees. 

Victorian England

Life in Britain during the 19th century was known as Victorian England because of Victoria’s long reign and the stamp it and her personality placed on the country. 

During Queen Victoria’s reign, Great Britain grew its industry more than ever before.  They built railways, bridges, underground sewers and power or energy networks throughout much of the empire. This is also known as industrialization. 

During her reign, Britain also expanded the size of its territories, doubling in size and taking over Canada, Australia, India and a number of other places in Africa and the South Pacific. The Queen loved the British Empire and felt that it was for the good of the world that Britain grew to take over so much of it. Because Britain controlled so many different parts of the world during her reign, people started saying a famous expression: “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”

During Queen Victoria’s reign, she also supported scientists to do research and learn more about the world.  There were great advances in science as a result, including Darwin’s theory of evolution, the telegraph, and the popular press, or common newspapers. The main cities in England grew very large and more and more people learned to read. The “Victorian-era” was a great time of development for the British people. 

However, not everyone always liked the decisions that Queen Victoria made.  During her life, there were seven assassination attempts made on Victoria’s life.  This means that her enemies tried to kill her so that she would no longer be in charge. But they did not succeed in their attempts.

After several years of suffering from a sore stomach, Victoria’s beloved Albert died of typhoid fever in 1861 at the age of 42. Victoria was very sad.  She had a plaster cast made of his hand and she kept it by her side for the rest of her life.  She also went into a 25-year seclusion, which means hiding on her own.  For the rest of her reign, she wore black.

Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901.  When she died, she had been the longest-reigning woman monarch in the world.

Conclusion

While Queen Victoria was queen her country saw great cultural expansion, advances in industry, science, and communications, and the building of railways and the London Underground.  And the expansion of the British Empire during her reign continues to have a great impact on the world and the cultures of the various places that were British colonies under her rule. 

Can you imagine being born into a royal family and knowing that you will one day be queen or king?  This would be a great amount of pressure for a child.  Even though she had nice things and was very wealthy, she still cared about other people. She took great pride in her country and wanted to use your power to do good things. With all of her money, she could have just had a good time, but instead she rose to the challenge to be a great queen to her people.

If you were the king or queen of a country, what are some of the things that you would focus on?  Where you live, what are some of the things you would do to make it better?

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In France lived a man named Edouard de Layboulaye. He was a history teacher and an expert on American History. He loved democracy and the American way of government. He wanted to show his support of liberty but needed to do it in a way he wouldn’t get in trouble with the emperor of his own country. He had the idea of France giving America a gift to celebrate liberty! Laynoulaye had a party in 1865 outside Paris that a sculptor named Frederic-Auguste Batholdi was also at. It is rumored that this is where the idea for the statue was born! Bartholdi loved to make HUGE statues; he was perfect for the job!

In 1870, Napoleon the emperor was no longer in power and Layboulaye knew it was time to start working on his gift to America. Maybe it would inspire France to make a democracy! FirstBartholdi took a trip to America. As he sailed into New York Harbor, he saw Bedloe Island. Right away he knew it was the perfect place to put the statue! While in America, Bartholdi traveled all over and met tons of people. Everyone loved him, but they still weren’t sure if they wanted the gift. But his visit definitely got them talking about it.

In 1876 a World Fair was held in Philadelphia. Bartholdi felt like this was the perfect place to get the word out about the statue, and having the hand and torch completed for people to see would really get people excited. There were exhibits about everything at the fair! From stuffed exotic animals to new inventions and cultural exhibitions, the fair was a fascinating place. While the hand and torch weren’t ready in May for the start of the fair, it was ready in August and it was a huge hit! For 50 cents people could climb a ladder in the forearm and stand on the balcony that went around the torch. Just the hand and torch was as tall as a 3-story building! When the fair ended in November, the hand and torch went to New York City and was placed in Madison Square Park for more than 5 years while the rest of the statue still needed to be built in Paris.

In 1877, all of Bartholdi’s hard work paid off and Congress voted to accept France’s gift. And, just like he was hoping, Bedloe’s island was chosen to be the statue’s home. The US government also agreed to build a pedestal, so the statue could have a strong base to stand on. It was going to be a very heavy statue! By the middle of 1880, Bartholdi had raised enough money for the statue’s construction, some of which was earned by putting the finished head on display in Paris and charging people to go up in it.

The final design of the Statue of Liberty had Liberty wearing a long gown called a stola and then over the top of that she wore a palla (which is kind of like a cape)- Bartholdi had dressed her like a Roman goddess! He had her right arm raised and her hand held a torch high. On her head, she wore a crown that has 7 rays to represent the 7 seas and 7 continents. It is rumored that Liberty’s face was modeled after Bartholdi’s own mother. At her feet was a broken shackle and chain that she is stepping over to symbolize her stepping toward freedom. In her left hand, she held a tablet with the date July 4, 1776 carved in roman numerals- This was the date celebrating America’s Independence!

To construct the internal skeleton, Bartholdi eventually turned to Gustave Eiffel. Eiffel was the architect who would later go on to build the Eiffel tower. And it really was like a skeleton, it was completely hollow, which would allow people to go up inside and tour the statue. 

Bartholdi chose to work with copper as his medium (A medium is the material that an artist uses). He chose copper from the advice he was given by his former teacher Eugene Viollet-le Duc. Copper was recommended because it was cheaper than other materials and it wasn’t as heavy. It also wouldn’t crack when it hammered into shape and then onto the skeleton. Because he was working with copper, he chose to work with Gaget, Gauthier & Cie, a metal workshop that was in Paris.

The workshop made models to shape the copper around, a process called repousse, which is French for “push back”. After that, they were attached to the skeleton Eiffel made. In order to shape the copper, they first had to heat the sheets, it would then be hammered around the mold. It took over 300 copper sheets to make the entire Statue of Liberty. In all, it was enough copper to make 30 million pennies! And she stood 151 feet tall!

In America, they were trying to get the money they needed to build the pedestal. By 1882 they had only raised around $80,000, and they need another $100,000. The committee asked the government for the rest of the money, but they said no! The wealthy members of the committee and other wealthy New York residents wouldn’t help, so it was up to the regular citizens everywhere to donate the needed money. So, in October 1883 to encourage donations, a man named Joseph Pulitzer promised to publish the name and donation amount of everyone who donated each day in his newspaper The World. That did the trick! In less than 5 months enough money had been raised to finish the pedestal. It was finally finished in April 1886.

Sadly, Laboulaye didn’t live to see the statue finished.He died in May of 1883. The work continued anyway! The statue was finished in 1884 and left France for New York a year later. It had to be taken apart before it left and had to be put back together in New York like a giant puzzle. Then on October 28, 1886 it was declared a holiday in New York City to celebrate the Statue of Liberty officially being finished. It was a big party!

In 1883 a woman named Emma Lazarus wrote a poem named “The New Colossus”. She wrote it because she was upset Jews in Russia were having to flee or risk being killed. As they fled Russia to seek safety in America,. Lazarus worked hard to help them. A friend found her poem after her death and felt that it fit the Statue of Liberty perfectly. The poem was put on a plaque and placed at the statue are a few lines of the poem:  

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

More than 12 million immigrants passed by Liberty as they came to live in America for a better life between the years 1892 to 1954. Lazarus appropriately called her the “Mother of Exiles”.

In 1980 (almost 100 years after the statue was completed) it was discovered that many repairs were needed if she was going to survive another 100 years. Even though the statue was originally the color of a penny (orange-brown), the turquoise color that it is now doesn’t mean it is rusted. That color is a coating called patina, and it is a protective layer that the copper produced. After over 90 years of exposure to the seawater and weather the color is now permanent! The statue was also damaged throughout the years from many different things like pollution and birds and the internal skeleton was rusted. So a massive overhaul was done. 

The repairs were done in time for the Fourth of July celebration in 1986 and the statue was officially 100 years old! They called the huge celebration Liberty Weekend. There was a big street fair, lots of shows and famous singers. The current president, Ronald Reagan even spoke. 

It was a long journey from when Edouard de Layboulaye first dreamed up the idea of a symbol of freedom and Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi created the physical statue. Sometimes it seemed like the statue would never get to be built, but people believed in her and worked hard. And now the Statue of Liberty is known as a symbol of freedom all around the world.

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Do you know what a judge is or a lawyer? Judges and lawyers are jobs people have where they work to make laws. Laws are used to keep us safe and keep order in the world, but sometimes laws are made that are unfair. And sometimes new laws need to be made to help people be treated equally. In this episode, we will talk about one of the most important people in the fight for women’s equality: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ruth was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1933.  When she was born, her name was actually “Joan Ruth Bader” but when she was in first grade, there were many “Joans” in class. Her mother told her teacher that everyone could call her “Ruth” instead.  So from then on “Joan Bader” was called “Ruth”. 

Her parents were hard-working, but they were not rich.  They were Jewish and brought her to the synagogue, or Jewish temple, regularly to study the Torah or Jewish holy book.  From a young age, Ruth was annoyed to learn that women were not allowed to read from the Torah, only men could. She was unhappy that she was treated differently.

Ruth’s mom was a very independent woman.  Independent means to do things on your own. She was very close with Ruth and taught her that it was important for Ruth to get a good education and be independent, too.  She took a close interest in her education. Although her mother had gotten excellent grades in high school, she finished when she was 15 and wasn’t able to go to university.  Instead, she had to go work in a clothing-making factory to help pay for her brother to go to college.  Ruth’s mother wanted to help Ruth get into university and study to become a high school history teacher. 

Ruth liked studying with her mother and it helped her to excel, or do really well.  She was also inspired by what her mother had done for her brother.  Working in a factory to help pay for his education was an act of selflessness that stuck with Ruth.  An act of selflessness is something that someone does to help another person without any thought of what it will do for themself. 

Ruth worked very hard in high school and got excellent grades. Sadly, Ruth’s mother got sick with cancer when Ruth was in high school and died the day before Ruth graduated. 

Ruth had studied so hard and gotten such good grades that she got into Cornell University.  This is one of the best universities in the United States so it was a huge accomplishment.  

While she was at Cornell, Ruth studied government.  Very early in her time there, she met a young man named Martin Ginsburg. They started dating and fell in love.  Martin was studying law and he told Ruth about what he was learning.  She started thinking that she might also want to study law.  First, however, she needed to finish her other degree.  She did so in 1954 and graduated at the top of the class, which means that she had the best grades of anyone in her entire university class that year.  

Martin and Ruth decided to get married and they had their wedding one month after Ruth graduated. Ruth added Martin’s last name to hers and her new name became “Ruth Bader Ginsburg”.  

Shortly after they got married, Ruth got pregnant and had a baby girl named Jane. Very soon after, Martin was drafted into the US military.  Drafted means when someone is told that they have to join the army.   Martin served for two years in the army before he was allowed to go back to regular life. 

After Martin was finished with the army, Ruth and Martin returned to Harvard so that he could complete his law studies.  Ruth continued to be interested in studying law as well, so she also started law school at Harvard. 

When Ruth started law school, it was a difficult time for her.  She had to find time to study and she also had to take care of her baby Jane.  It was hard to do both!  But Ruth was very hard working and found a way, together with Martin’s help.  

Ruth also had to deal with challenges at law school.  She was one of only 8 women students in a class of more than 500.  All the other students were men and many did not like that there were women joining the program. They tried to make it uncomfortable for the women students that were studying with them by teasing them and making it harder for them to do well in class. Back then, many people thought that only men should go to law school, so they directed their anger toward Ruth and her female classmates.

But Ruth pressed on and studied very hard.  And it all paid off in the end!  As always, Ruth did very well in her courses.  She also became the first female member of the Harvard Law Review, which is one of the most famous legal journals in the world.  This was a very difficult role to get.  

In 1956, Ruth’s husband was diagnosed with cancer.  He needed to go to the hospital for surgery and Ruth needed to take care of him.  She was at a crossroads, or the point of a big decision, in her life.  Should she stay in law school or take time off with her family? Should Martin take time off as well, even though he had already had to take time off before?  They talked it through and decided that they would both stay in school and finish their degrees together, even when Martin was sick.  Ruth continued to go to class and she took notes for Martin in class.  Martin started doing more around the house to help out, including doing the cooking.  This was not common at the time: for the man of the house to be at home full time caring for children and taking care of the housework.  But it helped to shape how Ruth thought about equality and what is expected of women in society. 

With medical treatment and Ruth’s help, Martin got better and he was able to return to school and finish his studies.  He graduated from law school and got a job as a lawyer in New York.  Because Martin’s job was in New York, Ruth moved to Columbia Law school in New York and finished her degree there.  Ruth graduated first in her class in 1959. 

Next, Ruth looked for a job, but she found many law firms didn’t want to hire her because she was a woman.  It is hard to believe now, but back then in America, it was not common for women to work outside of the home.  And there were really not many women in professional jobs like law.  So Ruth was really doing something new and when that happens, often people resist or fight against, it.  Big changes in society, like women’s equality, take years to change. 

Eventually, Ruth found a job as a law clerk, which is a researcher who works for a judge.  After two years in that job she became a university law professor.  Despite being very busy, as a professor and mom, Ruth also volunteered her time to the Women’s Rights Project.  To volunteer means to do something for free because you want to make a difference.  Ruth’s volunteer work for this project involved winning 6 very important trials in U.S. courts on cases about women’s equality. 

In 1980, Ruth was awarded a very important job: President Jimmy Carter appointed her to be a Judge with the Court of Appeals.  She continued to work very hard and to work for equality for women and others.  In 1993, she was appointed to be a judge on the U.S. Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton.  The Supreme Court is the highest level of court in America and makes decisions about the most important cases from around the country.

As a judge, Ruth’s decisions favored a moderate approach.  She was a big supporter of equality between men and women and of the rights of workers and the separation of church and state.  This means that she believed that the government should not be influenced by religion.  She wrote an important decision that said that the military could not refuse to allow women to join.  She won awards for her work and what she did to help defend peoples’ rights.  She worked hard in the coming years to be an excellent judge and to provide lots of reasoning that have been very influential on American laws. 

In 2016, Ruth released a book about her life memories called “My Own Words.”  She became famous for her thoughtful attitude and her style, as well as her famous expression, “I dissent.”  Later in her life, people made t-shirts with her image and this expression and she became an icon, or symbol, for her beliefs.  People began calling her RBG, her initials for Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ruth’s health started to get worse in the later years of her life.  She had cancer a few times and had surgery for each.  However, she continued to fight each time and grow healthy so she could continue her important work.  

In July 2020, Ruth revealed that her cancer had returned. She died in September of that year. She was laid to rest in the state in the Capitol on September 25.  She was the first woman and the second Supreme Court Judge to have this honor. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is remembered for her hard work throughout her life, arguing for the fair treatment of women.  There are many things we can learn from Ruth, including hard work and resilience.  Resilience means the ability to carry on even when life is hard.  She was also determined, which means that she was focused on her goal and positive that she would make it happen.  Once she decided she wanted to become a lawyer, she worked very hard to make that happen, even though she had to take care of her husband and her young child.  She was also brave.  At law school, she was teased and sometimes bullied by her male classmates.  But she still worked hard to finish and become a lawyer.

What are some things in society that you think are unfair?  Who are people that you would like to see helped more by society or treated with more fairness and kindness?  Becoming a judge or a lawyer is one way to support others who need help.  What are some ways you can spend time helping others who need help?  

Spend some time thinking about the things that others have done that are good and help others. Think about some of the things Ruth accomplished in her life.  What can you learn from her life about your own future path? No matter what you decide to do, Ruth would encourage you to work hard, stick with what you believe and treat everyone with equal respect. 

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Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. When she was a child she was often sick and sadly had to spend a lot of time in bed. Then when she was two their family moved to live with their grandparents on a farm in a town called Pine Level. Rosa loved being on the farm with her family. It gave her and her siblings lots of room to play and spend time with each other. They explored the woods and streams nearby and she enjoyed the school there. 

Rosa was safe in Pine Level, but this wasn’t the case in other places in Alabama. Rosa and her family were African American and this was a time when black people were treated poorly in Alabama. They were forced to attend separate schools, used separate bathrooms, and to drink from different drinking fountains. This is called segregation. They were often called mean names or abused.

When Rosa was eleven, she moved to Montogomery, Alabama to go to a better school. It was called the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. The head of the school was a white woman named Alice White. She didn’t go easy on the girls, but this wasn’t because she was mean, it was because she wanted them to learn and grow. Often people who love you, do this because they want to see you be your best you. This motivated Rosa to try her best in school and learn as much as she could. She wanted to become a teacher like Ms. Alice someday. 

Rosa stayed at the school until her grandmother became sick, so she moved back to Pine Level to help. There she found jobs to help earn money for her family. She worked very hard to support them. 

When Rosa was 28, she met a young man named Raymond. Raymond inspired her to take even more interest in the problems black people were facing in Alabama and other places in the South. He was part of the NAACP, the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People. Rosa was proud of Raymond’s interest in helping this cause. He often put himself in danger for it. Rosa and Raymond fell in love and were married in 1932.

In 1934 Rosa finished high school, then started working as a nurse’s assistant and later at an army air force base. On her way home from work she rode a bus, but like all African Americans at the time she had to ride in the back of the bus. It made her very upset to be treated differently. She didn’t say anything at the time, but she was very angry deep inside. 

Around this time Rosa joined the NAACP and helped as a secretary for several years. She also registered to vote. At the time the government in Alabama made it very hard for black people to vote. Rosa had to take a difficult test and pay a tax that was very expensive. When she was finally able to vote she was very happy but also upset that so many of her friends and family were prevented from voting.

Rosa worked very hard for her family through these years and continued to help the NAACP. She was never able to have her own children, but helped the youth through the NAACP. She wanted them to have good lives and took the time to care for them. 

To get to and from work, Rosa rode the bus every day. Like other buses in Alabama, this one was segregated which means anyone who was black had to enter the bus from the back and sit at the back of the bus. This day, Rosa took courage and got on the bus through the front. The driver told her to get off and get on through the back. Rosa refused! The driver told her to get off again. She said she would not. The driver grabbed her by the coat and pulled her toward the front of the bus. She sat down again. The driver continued to yell at her. Rosa finally got off the bus, but she had stood up for herself and made her point.

In 1954 Rosa made friends with a white woman named Virginia Durr, who wanted to help her and other African Americans. Virginia encouraged Rosa to attend a workshop in Tennessee that trained people to fight for equal rights for blacks and workers who were treated unfairly. People of all races and different states came together to learn how to make the world a better place. There she met Martin Luther King and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. a black congressman from New York City. There she began thinking about ways to fight racism in her own city.

On December 1st 1955, Rosa left home to catch the Cleveland Avenue bus to go to work. When she got on the bus she realized the driver was the same one who had forced her off the bus a few years earlier. Rosa went to the back of the bus and sat down. As the bus went drover further and more people got on the bus, the bus driver told Rosa and the others in the back to stand up so the white passengers could sit down. Rosa refused to get up. The driver yelled at her to get up, but she did not. The driver threatened to have her arrested. “You may do that,” Rosa replied. Soon, the police officers arrived and took Rosa to jail! She was very afraid. Fortunately, her friends at the NAACP were able to pay to have her released until her trial. She was going to be put on trial for not giving up her seat. Can you believe that?

Rosa and lawyers at the NAACP decided they would sue the bus company for not letting her sit down. Suing is when lawyers use the law to try to punish a company like the bus company by getting money from them. If they won the lawsuit then hopefully the unfair laws would be done away with. 

Rosa and her friends also decided to boycott buses that treated them unfairly. A boycott is when you refuse to use something and pay for it, so it punishes the company. If no one paid for bus rides, the bus company would see how much it cost to treat African Americans unfairly. During the days leading up to the boycott, Rosa and others passed out notes urging others to not ride buses on December 5th. If enough people didn’t ride the buses it would send a message to the bus companies. Rosa was nervous about whether it would work.

On December 5, 1955, to Rosa’s excitement, she saw that the buses were empty and thousands of people were walking to work and school instead of riding the buses! They were inspired by Rosa’s actions! Rosa set the example by refusing to give in to the unfair treatment of the city and bus companies. And the boycott didn’t only happen for a day — it went on for an entire year! Never before had so many people in the community come together to fight for civil rights. And the bus companies lost money because very few people rode the buses. 

Rosa’s trial also started on December 5, 1955. She lost the trial, but didn’t mind because they wanted it to go to a higher court. People around the country were watching the boycott and knew about Rosa’s trial. They started to send money to her and to the NAACP to support their fight for equality. She began spending all of her time writing and speaking about civil rights. She met other famous leaders and Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was also believed in her cause. 

On November 13, 1956 Rosa’s trial went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, the most important court in the country. The Supreme Court is located in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court judges ruled that not allowing people sit where they want on a bus because of their race was against the Constitution — and not legal. Rosa Parks and her friends had scored a huge victory!

Soon after the trial, Rosa rode in the front of the bus and a famous photograph was taken of her to memorialize the event and her bravery in standing up to an unfair system. 

While there was still much work to do, Rosa’s act of courage and the result of the trial is often considered one of the first big events in the Civil Rights Movement. In August 1963 over 200,000 people marched in Washington, D.C. to show their support for Civil Rights. There Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” Rosa was excited to see so many others speaking out about Civil Rights. Then in 1964, the President signed the Civil Rights Act that made it illegal to treat people differently because of their race.

Eventually, Rosa and her husband moved to Detroit and lived a quiet life there. In 1966 Rosa was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. She received many other awards over the years for her bravery. She wrote books and spoke about her life and passed away at the age of 92. 

Spend some time thinking about Rosa and her decision to stand up for herself and for her rights. She was afraid and knew that she might get in trouble for it, but doing what was right was more important than her feelings. She refused to move when the driver told her to move. She knew it was wrong and didn’t back down. There will be times in your life when you will have the chance to stand up for yourself and others. Take courage even when you are afraid. Speak up when something wrong is happening! If not you, then who? You can make a difference in the world by speaking up and taking action. 

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But if someone had asked a young Frederick Douglass these questions, he wouldn’t have been able to answer some of them.  Frederick was born into slavery in the early 19th century, in the state of Maryland. Not only was he considered the property of his white master, but many other things were also denied to him and his fellow enslaved workers. Frederick never knew his birthday, or exactly how old he was. He never knew his father, though there were rumors that his master was his father. He barely knew his mother: she was forced to work on a farm miles away from Frederick. She wanted so badly to see her son that, whenever she could, she would walk for miles after a long day of fieldwork to visit him late at night. Sadly, these visits stopped when Frederick was seven. He would only learn later that his mother had died.

This was how life looked for millions of enslaved people at the time. Birthdays and close family members are important parts of who we are, but slave masters didn’t want their slaves to have these connections. They didn’t want them to learn to read or write. Family, birthdays, and books might give the enslaved worker things to care about and hope for that had nothing to do with working for their master from dawn til dusk, and work was what the master wanted.

Not long after his mother passed away, Frederick’s grandmother took him to a different plantation. Once there, the master made her leave. Frederick stayed. At 8 years old, he would get a taste of what life as an enslaved worker was like. He was given two long shirts to wear, but no pants, shoes, or even a blanket. He slept on the floor, sometimes stealing a flour sack to keep warm under. He saw the grown-ups go off to the fields to work before dawn, and not return until it was dark, so tired they were ready to collapse. He saw his aunt whipped for talking to a man she liked.

But soon, Frederick’s enslaver decided he’d be of better use elsewhere. He sent Frederick to live with his relatives in Baltimore, Hugh, and Sophia Auld. There, he would live in a house and be given better clothes to wear. But this wasn’t exactly a privilege: Frederick was going there to be a servant to the Auld’s son. 

Still, for a brief time, Frederick got a glimpse of a better life. But the nice house, the big, bustling city, and the real clothes were just a small part of that better life. His new mistress, Sophia Auld, gave him something far more valuable than those things..in fact, more valuable than even she realized. She taught him to read. 

Sophia Auld did not come from a family that kept slaves. She didn’t know it was illegal to teach them to read, and maybe she didn’t realize what a powerful thing reading was. But she was delighted to see how quickly Frederick learned, and he loved his lessons. 

Hugh Auld was not so pleased. He scolded Sophia that reading would ruin Frederick as a slave. He thought, like many other slaveholders, that if slaves knew how to read they might learn about ideas that made them question slavery. They might start thinking about freedom and democracy. They might rebel or run away. 

Sadly, Sophia came around to her husband’s way of thinking. She stopped teaching Frederick. She became distant and cold. Frederick wrote later that “slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me.” It made her less kind and less human.

Hugh Weld was right about one thing though. Reading gave Frederick power.  Like many enslaved people, Frederick had wished for freedom even before he could read. But in books, he found people who argued that he deserved freedom, who said he was just as human as any white person. He learned about people and ideas that gave him the strength to keep hoping – for his own freedom and that of all enslaved people. 

Frederick didn’t want to stop learning. He befriended white children in the streets of Baltimore. He convinced them to help him with his reading and writing. Like Sophia, they didn’t know that they weren’t supposed to. They saw Frederick as just another little boy. Many of these children were hungry and poor, so Frederick would take a little extra bread from the Auld’s kitchen to share with them. By the time he was 12, he convinced many of these children that he should be free when he grew up, just like them. They could see what the grown-ups all around them couldn’t: Frederick was a child just like them, and he deserved the same freedom they had. 

Eventually, Frederick was sent to work on Hugh’s brother’s farm. Thomas Auld was far more strict than Hugh, and he and Frederick clashed from the beginning. Frederick would sometimes let Thomas’s horse run off. He knew the horse would always wander to a particular neighbor’s house, and that neighbor would give Frederick a good meal when he went to retrieve the horse. But maybe he secretly wished that escape could be so easy for him. Thomas soon got tired of this behavior. He thought he knew how to teach Frederick to be obedient and meek. He sent him to live with a man named Edward Covey. 

Covey was the worst person yet. He wasn’t a new master, who just wanted Frederick to work and obey his orders. Covey’s job was to break slaves who weren’t behaving the way their regular masters wanted. He worked Frederick harder than any other master had, and punished him more cruelly. He whipped and beat him almost daily. But Frederick stayed strong. He never gave in, and finally, one day, he had had enough. He fought back. The two fought with each other for hours, but finally, Covey gave in. From that day on, Frederick knew he could stand up to even the worst treatment. More than that, he knew he could escape.

Frederick was sent back to the Aulds in Baltimore. He had one goal now: to free himself. To go north, where he could make his own decisions and fight for the rights of others to do the same. 

In Baltimore, he met a free black woman named Anna. The two fell in love, but Frederick didn’t want anything to get in the way of his goal of freedom. He told Anna he would marry her when he was a free man.

Finally, he found a friend who was willing to help. The friend was a free black sailor in Baltimore, and he let Frederick use his identification papers. Wearing a rumpled sailor uniform that didn’t quite fit, Frederick got on a train to Delaware, then a ship to Philadelphia and freedom. He settled in New York and sent word to Anna to join him.

Freedom for himself wasn’t enough though. Frederick knew that millions of other enslaved people still suffered – children without mothers who didn’t have enough to eat or wear; grownups who worked every moment of the day with no pay and no choices in life. He began to speak against slavery, and in August of 1841, he traveled to a meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Someone in the hot, crowded meeting hall had heard him speak before and urged Frederick to address the meeting. 

Frederick was nervous because he’d never spoken in front of such a large group. His voice shook. But soon after he began, he saw the sympathetic expressions on the faces in the audience. He told about his struggles to learn to read and about the harsh treatment he’d endured under Edward Covey. How he didn’t know his age or birthday, and never really knew his mother.

After that, Frederick joined the Anti-Slavery Society and began to tour the free states, speaking about his experience. His perspective was valuable since many in the North had not witnessed slavery up close. He wrote his autobiography, revealing the terrible things he and other enslaved people experienced every day.

None of this was safe or easy. Having his name in newspapers and pamphlets, then on a published book, meant that people in the south might realize who he was, and Frederick’s old master might send slave catchers to kidnap and bring him back. After his book came out, Frederick traveled to England. In England, all people were free. Frederick spoke to groups there about American slavery, convincing many British people to speak out against the system. Two English friends raised money to buy Frederick’s freedom. For 710 dollars and 96 cents, the Aulds officially gave Frederick the freedom he’d known all along was his right. 

Frederick returned to America as a free man in 1847. By this time, many Americans were starting to think that they would never be able to resolve their differences about slavery peacefully. Civil War broke out in 1861 between the Northern, free states, and slaveholding states in the South. Frederick knew this conflict would determine the fate of the millions of people still enslaved in America. 

Frederick was one of the most famous men in America by now. He met with President Lincoln in the White House and helped convince him to allow black men to fight in the Union army. He then recruited black men to fight, including two of his sons. He attended Lincoln’s second inauguration, and when he was turned away at the door for a reception afterward, Lincoln insisted the guards let him in. Lincoln asked Frederick his opinion of his speech, saying there was “no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours.” Frederick told the president that it “was a sacred effort.”

Frederick lived three more decades after the civil war. He kept working to help black people get to vote, get their education, and enjoy the rights that had been denied them for so long.

Frederick was born enslaved–denied a mother, a birthday, and his freedom. He was taught to read almost by accident, and that one forbidden activity opened a world of ideas–of freedom, justice, and opportunity to him. He discovered that words were powerful. With his speeches and writing, Frederick opened the minds and hearts of masses of people, even a president, to the experiences of enslaved people. He made them see these people as people, made them care, and made them act. Frederick’s voice may have shaken at first, but it grew strong and clear and deep. And it could never be broken. 

Sources

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/frederick-douglass/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7716878/

https://www.nps.gov/frdo/learn/historyculture/confronting-a-president-douglass-and-lincoln.htm

Douglass, Frederick. (1845) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Anti-Slavery Office, Boston. 

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (2012) Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America. Disney, New York.

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Do you like to play board games?  Maybe you know of some popular games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Battleship, or Trouble.  Maybe you even have your own favorite board game that you play with your family.  One of my favorite board games is called “Clue.”  This game was created a long time ago, in 1944 by an Englishman, for people to play while they were huddled in underground shelters during bombing raids.  It was originally called “Cluedo” which means “I play” in Latin! It is a mystery game full of twists and turns, where players find clues and try to figure out who committed a daring deed with a household item, such as a fireplace poker, knife, or a walking stick, inside a spooky gothic house.  It is a game of cunning and conniving – of trying to figure out who is the villain and how to use clues to solve the mystery.  The characters have funny names like Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, and Mrs. Peacock and you need to follow and remember their hijinks and clues during the game.  You need to be a super sleuth – or spy!    

Real Spies

During the time Clue was created, there were a lot of real spies.  But instead of playing a make-believe game, they were engaged in actual spycraft!  During WW II, US spies worked tirelessly and covertly – meaning secretly – to obtain enemy information, such as where the enemy was headed, where they would attack, how many planes, ships, or men they had, and other useful information.  And not all of these spies were men!  Women were also used as spies across Europe and Asia because they were so unexpected.  At that time, people did not think that women could be involved in the war, either fighting or spying.  So, women had the perfect spy cover!  They could act like a society lady, attending parties, and listening to war talk between men.  Or they could ride their bikes around town, stopping in shops and cafes to listen for war secrets.  And some even created news by writing fake radio announcements, newspaper articles, or postcards to confuse the enemy.  

Betty McIntosh – Spy

One such spy was Elizabeth “Betty” McIntosh who was born on March 1, 1915, in Washington, DC.  She was very brave and smart.  She knew how to speak Japanese and was working as a news reporter during the start of WWII.  Betty was stationed in Hawaii when Japanese planes bombed US ships docked at Pearl Harbor.  

The bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the US into the war and Betty moved to Washington, DC.  She kept busy writing articles about Eleanor Roosevelt, the President’s wife, and her war efforts.  She then interviewed a man working at the OSS – the Office of Strategic Services.  This was the US spy agency during WWII.  During the interview, she was asked if she would “like to do something more interesting.”  She was not told it would be spying – which was very sneaky of them!  She said, “I would like to do it if it involves going overseas.”  And they granted her wish!  

Betty reported for her first day of work and was fingerprinted – meaning they covered her fingers in ink and pushed her fingers onto a piece of paper, leaving fingerprints on the paper.  She was then told that she had to keep everything top secret and swear an oath – which she thought was strange because she didn’t even know what she would be doing yet.

Betty was then sent to a group called MO – Morale Operations.  Their entire job was to spread rumors.  Can you imagine that?  I’m sure all of us have been told by our parents and teachers not to tell lies or spread rumors.  But that was her new job!  She was taught how to start rumors and make them believable by mixing in bits of truth with lies.   She worked with other “spy craft” people, like radio announcers, artists, newspaper editors, cartoonists, and writers – people who had skills in writing and creating convincing stories and pictures.  Some of these spycraft people were captured Japanese soldiers who were artists and agreed to work with the allies.

Betty McIntosh Heads to India

Once Betty finished training in 1943, she was sent to India to spread false radio and news reports to Japanese soldiers who were getting very tired of fighting.  The Japanese government had told their soldiers that if they stopped fighting – or if they surrendered – they could never go home and they would lose their houses and savings.  This made the Japanese continue to fight very hard.  The US needed to find a way to let the Japanese soldiers stop fighting while keeping their honor.  So, Betty and the OSS created false Japanese military orders to surrender in one particular battle!  They had another spy capture a Japanese courier – a mailman – and put the false order in his mailbag.  This order was later read and believed by the Japanese officers!

Betty McIntosh in China

Betty then flew to China, where she started writing fake radio scripts and stories for the OSS.  One OSS radio worker acted as a fortune teller.  This fortune teller pretended to look at the stars and make predictions over the radio.  The Japanese loved to listen to these radio stories!  Betty was told she had to write a very scary, but believable story to scare the Japanese.  “What about an earthquake?” she said.  No, that happens all the time in Japan,” said her boss.  “Well, what about a Tsunami,” she replied.  “Nope, they have those, too,” he said.  “Well, I’ll think of something scary” replied Betty.  

She thought and thought, but couldn’t think of something truly scary.  So, she finally wrote the following announcement, “Something terrible is going to happen to Japan. We have checked the stars and there is something we can’t even mention because it is so dreadful and it is going to eradicate one whole area of Japan.” That same day, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.  Betty didn’t even know this was going to happen and she was shocked – as well as everyone else who listened to her radio announcement!  She was asked, “How did you know about the bomb because it was top secret?”  She said, “I just made the story up!”

Betty McIntosh Returns to the US

After the war ended, Betty returned to the US and started writing for Glamour magazine.  But it was very boring writing about clothes and makeup after being a spy!  So, Betty returned to government work, assisting the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the State Department, and the United Nations.  She also wrote several spy books, including “Undercover Girl” and “Sisterhood of Spies” as well as several children’s books.

Still, Betty missed the thrill and excitement of working as a spy, so she asked for a job with the new US spy agency, the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency.  She worked there for many years until retiring.  She signed an oath to never talk about her work at the CIA, so we will never know about her other spy exploits, but I’m sure they were exciting!  

Betty passed away at the age of 100 in 2015 after 40 years of working as a spy.  Before she died, she stated that her work as a spy was the most exciting time in her life.  

In 1982, the US started an annual celebration called Women’s History Month, which starts on March 1^st in honor of Betty’s birthday.  

Life as a Spy

What do you think of Betty’s life as a spy?  Would you like to be a spy?  What would be your spy name?  What kind of spy would you be?  Would you write stories, sneak behind enemy lines gathering information, or smuggle people to safety?  Or maybe you would do something else, like crack codes or decipher messages.

I think Betty’s story reminds us that women can do courageous, patriotic, and amazing things.  Betty traveled overseas and did important work for her nation during a time of great crisis to save US lives and shorten the war.  Maybe you can continue to honor Betty and other brave women by participating in Women’s History Month and learning more about courageous women who changed the course of history. 

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