Stuff You Missed in History Class

The Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 was a small boiling-water reactor built at the National Reactor Testing Station, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. On January 3, 1961, during a restart of the reactor, a catastrophic tragedy unfolded when the reactor went supercritical. 

Research:

• Divison of Technical Information Extension, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “SL-1 The Accident, Phases I and II.” https://www.osti.g...

Joaquín Torres-García was Uruguayan-born artist who wanted to bring Constructivism and Modernism to Latin America, and worked for much of his life promoting the idea that Latin-American voices should be part of the Modernist art movement. 

Research:

·     Bollar, Gorki. “Primitive Paintings: Connections to Realism and Constructivism.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 1, 1984, pp....

While working for the Treasury Department, Ely S. Parker met someone who would become a big part of much of the rest of his life – Ulysses S. Grant. It was through this connection that Parker gained a good deal of power, and cemented a controversial legacy.

Research:

·       Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Museum of the American Indian. Fall 2011.

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Ely S. Parker was instrumental in the creation of President President Ulysses S. Grant’s “peace policy." Parker was Seneca, and he was the first Indigenous person to be placed in a cabinet-level position in the U.S. and the first Indigenous person to serve as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Research:

·       Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Mu...

The shoes you’re wearing today likely were made possible by an invention from the late 19th century. But the inventor of that machine, who had little to no formal education, didn’t really get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Research:

·     “29c Jan E. Matzeliger single.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1993.2015.160

·     Biography.com Editors. “Jan Matzeliger Biography.” Biography.com. ...

This episode includes six stories requested by listeners that wouldn't quite work as standalone episodes. The topics include: Nellie Cashman, Ela of Salisbury, Charles "Teenie" Harris, Jane Gaugain, Edward A. Carter Jr., and Alice Ball.

Research:

·       National Parks Service. “Nellie Cashman.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/nellie-cashman.htm Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame. “Nellie Cashman.” https://www.azwhf.org/copy-of-pauline-...

As an adult, Sarah Winnemucca spent a lot of time trying to advocate for the Northern Paiute, although her legacy in that regard has some complexities.

Research:

·       Carpenter, Cari M. “Sarah Winnemucca Goes to Washington: Rhetoric and Resistance in the Capital City.” American Indian Quarterly , Vol. 40, No. 2 (Spring 2016). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/amerindiquar.40.2.0087

·       Dolan, Kathryn Cornell. “...

Sarah Winnemucca was Northern Paiute and was born not long before her band had their first contact with people of European descent. That happened in the middle of the 19th century, which means she lived through a lot – this episode covers her early life.

Research:

·       Carpenter, Cari M. “Sarah Winnemucca Goes to Washington: Rhetoric and Resistance in the Capital City.” American Indian Quarterly , Vol. 40, No. 2 (Spring 2016). V...

This episode covers President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s decision to move the date of Thanksgiving with the hope of helping businesses that were trying to recover from the Great Depression – and the controversy that caused. 

Research:

• Associated Press. “’Omnipotence of Hitler.’” Decatur Daily Review. 8/17/1939.
• Associated Press. “Roosevelt to Move Thanksgiving; Retailers For It, Plymouth is Not.” New York Times. 8/15/1939. ht...

Charles Farrar Browne is often called the first standup comedian. He was, in the 1860s, wildly famous, but his early death, and the soaring career of one of his friends, have contributed to Browne fading from the spotlight in history.

Research:

• “Born 1834; Married 1835. Artemus Ward’s Alleged Widow Claims His Estate.” The Savannah Morning News. April 15, 1891. https://www.newspapers.com/image/852548808/?match=1&terms=artem...