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On this day in 1912, civil rights leader Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, Virginia.
On this day in 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, they're history fans. We're off for today, but please
enjoy these flashback episodes from the TDI HC Vault and
be sure to tune in tomorrow for a brand new episode.
See you then. This Day in History Class is a
production of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to This Day in
(00:21):
History Class, a show that shines a light on the
lesser known heroes of history. I'm Gabelusier, and today we're
celebrating the life of Dorothy Height, a beloved figure of
the civil rights movement known for her charm, intelligence, leadership,
and fine taste in heads. The day was March twenty fourth,
(00:47):
nineteen twelve. Civil rights leader Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, Virginia.
She grew up to be one of the most influential
women of the modern civil rights movement, but her role
in the fight for social justice was often overshadowed by
her male contemporaries. Her name may not be as well
known as theirs, but her dedication to making the United
(01:09):
States a more open and inclusive place for everyone was unprecedented.
Height once said greatness is not measured by what a
man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or
she has overcome to reach his goals. Dorothy Irene Height
had plenty of opposition to overcome on her own road
(01:29):
to greatness. As a child, she was diagnosed with severe
asthma and told that she likely wouldn't live past age sixteen.
She beat those odds, though, and made it through high
school alive and well. Along the way, she and her
family had moved north to rank in Pennsylvania, not far
from Pittsburgh. There, Height attended and integrated public school and
(01:53):
quickly developed a passion for civil rights work. As a teenager,
she volunteered for campaigns against Lynch and in support of
voting rights. She attended numerous marches and discovered she had
a natural gift for speech. Making Her way with words
later earned her the top spot in a national oratorical contest,
(02:13):
along with a scholarship to Barnard College. Unfortunately, when she
tried to enroll after graduating high school, she was turned away.
The college said that it had already admitted two black
female students that year, which meant that its quota had
been filled. Height decided not to waste a year waiting
(02:35):
for another shot at one of only two spots at Barnard. Instead,
she attended New York University, where she earned her bachelor's
degree in education in nineteen thirty. At Columbia University, she
earned a master's in educational psychology two years later. She
also did postgraduate studies at the New York School of
Social Work and continued to push for criminal justice reform
(02:58):
and women's rights. After college, Height became a teacher at
the Brownsville Community Center in Brooklyn, and later took a
job as a case worker for the city's welfare department.
In the late nineteen thirties, she became the assistant executive
director of Harlem's Young Women's Club of America or y WCA.
(03:20):
Not long into her tenure, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt came
to town to attend a meeting of the National Council
of Negro Women. Height was chosen to escort the First
Lady to the meeting, and once there, she caught the
attention of Mary McLeod Bethoon, the Council's founder. After the meeting,
Bethune asked Height to join the group in their fight
(03:43):
for women's equality. As always, Height jumped at the chance
to volunteer, and later went on to work with the
organization for nearly forty years, including as its president for
much of that time. She also served on the national
board of the YWCA. In nineteen forty six, she helped
oversee the desegregation of all the WISE facilities nationwide, and
(04:07):
in nineteen sixty five she founded the WISE Center for
Racial Justice, which she led herself for the next twelve years.
Dorothy Height's work for those two organizations reflected a belief
that wasn't shared by many of her contemporaries. Historically, the
black civil rights movement and the women's civil rights movement
(04:27):
didn't have much overlap, and each group's struggle for equality
was considered its own separate issue. However, Dorothy Height believed
the struggles were deeply connected parts of the same overarching problem.
Black men and women of all races were marginalized in America,
and black women doubly so. As a Black woman herself,
(04:49):
Dorothy Height knew that all too well. Despite her best
efforts to unite the movements, though they largely remained only
reluctant allies. This left Height somewhere in the middle, sidelined
by much of the women's movement because of her race,
and by much of the Black movement because of her sex. However,
the lack of a spotlight never weakened her resolve, and
(05:12):
she eventually took her place at the highest levels of
the civil rights movement, right alongside the so called Big
Six that would be James Farmer, John Lewis, a Philip Randolph,
Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and Martin Luther King Junior. Although
at least one member of the Big Six, James Farmer
(05:33):
considered Dorothy Height to be the group's true six, the
member rather than a Philip Randolph. At any rate, Height
was the only woman on the speaker's platform when MLK
delivered his I Have a Dream speech at the nineteen
sixty three March on Washington. Although she had been instrumental
in planning the event and was a prize winning orator herself,
(05:55):
she was not given the chance to speak that day.
Height reflected on the variance in a two thousand and
three interview for NPR. She said, quote, my being seated
there had some very special meaning because women had been
trying to get a woman to speak on the program.
But we were always met by the planners with the
idea that women were represented in all of the different groups,
(06:18):
in the churches, in the synagogues, in the unions, organizations,
and the like. So the only voice we heard of
a woman from the podium was that of Mahelia Jackson,
a gospel singer. That was a diplomatic response, but by
all accounts, Dorothy Height really was more concerned with the
collective struggle than she was with personal glory. In another
(06:40):
two thousand and three interview, she told the Sacramento b quote,
I was there, and I felt at home in the group,
but I didn't feel I should elbow myself to the
front when the press focused on the male leaders. Once again,
her service, her mission was what mattered. She continued it
through the nineteen seventy and eighties by establishing self help
(07:02):
assistance programs through the NCW. She once said, quote, we
are not a problem people. We are a people with problems.
We have historic strengths. We have survived because of family.
With that in mind, Height launched a series of Black
Family reunions in the mid nineteen eighties, held in cities
(07:23):
across the country. The events were large scale celebrations of
African American history, culture, and traditions. Hundreds of thousands of
people attended the gatherings, helping to foster deeper bonds in
their communities. Humility and selflessness are admirable qualities, ones that
Dorothy Height had in spades, But sometimes you really just
(07:46):
want to see a person get the recognition they deserve,
and thankfully, Dorothy eventually did. In nineteen ninety four, President
Bill Clinton presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the nation's highest civilian honor. Her She received numerous other
awards and accolades as well, including about three dozen honorary
(08:07):
doctorate degrees from esteemed schools such as Tuskegee, Princeton, and Harvard. However,
the academic honor that likely held the most meaning was
a degree awarded to her in two thousand and four
in honorary bachelor's from Barnard College, the same institution that
had turned her away seventy five years earlier. True to
(08:31):
her character, Height continued to fight for equality right up
until the end of her life. In two thousand and eight,
just two years before her death, she was looking ahead
to the future of the civil rights movement. She outlined
the next steps, saying, quote, we don't need the marches
we had in the past, but we need more consideration
in looking at the boardroom tables and at the policies
(08:54):
that are going on, looking at what's happening in industry,
what's happening in terms of employment, opportunity, housing, and the like.
Dorothy Height passed away in Washington, d C. On April twentieth,
twenty ten, at the age of ninety eight. President Barack
Obama remarked on her passing, describing her as quote the
(09:16):
godmother of the civil rights movement and a hero to
so many Americans. It was a fitting tribute and a
well earned title, but Dorothy liked to frame her legacy
as something more approachable, something that any member of society
could aspire to themselves. She said, quote, I want to
(09:36):
be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she
could touch to work for justice and freedom. I want
to be remembered as one who tried. I'm Gabe Lucier
and hopefully you now know a little more about history
today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more
(09:56):
about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
at TDI HC Show, and if you have any comments
or suggestions, you can send them my way. At this
day at iHeartMedia dot Com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for
producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see
you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History Class.
(10:32):
Hi everyone, it's Eves again and welcome to another episode
of This Day and History Class. The day was March
twenty fourth, nineteen eighty nine. The ex Son of Valdi's
(10:53):
oil tanker spilled eleven million gallons of oil and Prince
William Sound in the Gulf of Alaska. The oil spill
caused extensive damage to the environment and was the largest
in US waters until the Deep Water Horizon spill in
twenty ten. Exon Valdis was one of the newer ships
in the Xon Shipping Company's fleet. The night before the spill,
(11:15):
Exon Valdis left Valdis, Alaska and was headed to Long Beach, California.
It was carrying more than fifty three million gallons of
crude oil. Captain Joseph Hazelwood had been drinking alcoholic beverages
that day, which would later become a point of contention.
The tanker left the dock not long after nine pm,
(11:37):
but just after midnight on March twenty fourth, the crew
realized that the tanker was off course. At twelve or
four am, it hit bly Reef in Prince William Sound.
Eight out of the eleven cargo tanks were punctured. Soon
ten point eight million gallons of crude oil had spilled
into the surrounding waters. Eventually, the spill pill looted more
(12:00):
than one thousand miles of shoreline in south central Alaska.
Thousands of seabirds, sea otters, and seals, bald eagles and
fish died because of the spill. The disaster had a
significant effect on wildlife, environment, reliant industries, recreational fishing, and tourism.
(12:20):
In investigations after the disaster, it was found that Captain
Hazelwood was not at the navigation bridge. Third mate, Gregory Cousins,
was in charge of it. Cousins had called Hazelwood just
before the vessel struck blyth Reef, recognizing there was danger,
but it was too late. When investigators found out that
(12:41):
Hazelwood had been drinking before boarding, Exon Valdis Exon fired him.
He was cleared of being intoxicated at the time of
the incident, but he was convicted of misdemeanor negligence. Find
fifty thousand dollars and sentenced to one thousand hours of
community service. After years of appeals, Hazelwood began community service
(13:03):
in nineteen ninety nine. Xon was deemed responsible for the disaster,
along with the company's incompetent and overworked crew. Blame was
also placed on the US Coast Guard for a poor
system of traffic regulation. In nineteen ninety Congress passed the
Oil Pollution Act, which created measures for responding to oil
(13:25):
spills and increased penalties for spills. It also called for
the eventual banning of single hold tankers from US waters.
Now all tankers for oil, liquefied natural gas, and chemicals
are double hold. Over the years, XON paid billions of
dollars on restitution, cleanup costs, and personal damages. XON employees,
(13:50):
federal responders, and Alaska residents helped clean up the spill.
They used chemical dispersants and booms and skimmers for mechanical cleanup,
but some methods workers used removed oil, yet killed plants
and animals, and a portion of the Alaskan coastline is
still polluted with subsurface oil. Exon Valdis was repaired, renamed,
(14:14):
and soon returned to service. It was sold for scrap
in twenty twelve. Though the exon Valdi's oil spill had
a huge impact on the environment and industry, there have
been plenty of other incidents that resulted in much larger
oil spills in world history. I'm Eve Stefcode and hopefully
(14:34):
you know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see
you tomorrow. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, they're history fans. We're off for today, but please
enjoy these flashback episodes from the TDI HC Vault and
be sure to tune in tomorrow for a brand new episode.
See you then. This Day in History Class is a
production of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to This Day in
(00:21):
History Class, a show that shines a light on the
lesser known heroes of history. I'm Gabelusier, and today we're
celebrating the life of Dorothy Height, a beloved figure of
the civil rights movement known for her charm, intelligence, leadership,
and fine taste in heads. The day was March twenty fourth,
(00:47):
nineteen twelve. Civil rights leader Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, Virginia.
She grew up to be one of the most influential
women of the modern civil rights movement, but her role
in the fight for social justice was often overshadowed by
her male contemporaries. Her name may not be as well
known as theirs, but her dedication to making the United
(01:09):
States a more open and inclusive place for everyone was unprecedented.
Height once said greatness is not measured by what a
man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or
she has overcome to reach his goals. Dorothy Irene Height
had plenty of opposition to overcome on her own road
(01:29):
to greatness. As a child, she was diagnosed with severe
asthma and told that she likely wouldn't live past age sixteen.
She beat those odds, though, and made it through high
school alive and well. Along the way, she and her
family had moved north to rank in Pennsylvania, not far
from Pittsburgh. There, Height attended and integrated public school and
(01:53):
quickly developed a passion for civil rights work. As a teenager,
she volunteered for campaigns against Lynch and in support of
voting rights. She attended numerous marches and discovered she had
a natural gift for speech. Making Her way with words
later earned her the top spot in a national oratorical contest,
(02:13):
along with a scholarship to Barnard College. Unfortunately, when she
tried to enroll after graduating high school, she was turned away.
The college said that it had already admitted two black
female students that year, which meant that its quota had
been filled. Height decided not to waste a year waiting
(02:35):
for another shot at one of only two spots at Barnard. Instead,
she attended New York University, where she earned her bachelor's
degree in education in nineteen thirty. At Columbia University, she
earned a master's in educational psychology two years later. She
also did postgraduate studies at the New York School of
Social Work and continued to push for criminal justice reform
(02:58):
and women's rights. After college, Height became a teacher at
the Brownsville Community Center in Brooklyn, and later took a
job as a case worker for the city's welfare department.
In the late nineteen thirties, she became the assistant executive
director of Harlem's Young Women's Club of America or y WCA.
(03:20):
Not long into her tenure, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt came
to town to attend a meeting of the National Council
of Negro Women. Height was chosen to escort the First
Lady to the meeting, and once there, she caught the
attention of Mary McLeod Bethoon, the Council's founder. After the meeting,
Bethune asked Height to join the group in their fight
(03:43):
for women's equality. As always, Height jumped at the chance
to volunteer, and later went on to work with the
organization for nearly forty years, including as its president for
much of that time. She also served on the national
board of the YWCA. In nineteen forty six, she helped
oversee the desegregation of all the WISE facilities nationwide, and
(04:07):
in nineteen sixty five she founded the WISE Center for
Racial Justice, which she led herself for the next twelve years.
Dorothy Height's work for those two organizations reflected a belief
that wasn't shared by many of her contemporaries. Historically, the
black civil rights movement and the women's civil rights movement
(04:27):
didn't have much overlap, and each group's struggle for equality
was considered its own separate issue. However, Dorothy Height believed
the struggles were deeply connected parts of the same overarching problem.
Black men and women of all races were marginalized in America,
and black women doubly so. As a Black woman herself,
(04:49):
Dorothy Height knew that all too well. Despite her best
efforts to unite the movements, though they largely remained only
reluctant allies. This left Height somewhere in the middle, sidelined
by much of the women's movement because of her race,
and by much of the Black movement because of her sex. However,
the lack of a spotlight never weakened her resolve, and
(05:12):
she eventually took her place at the highest levels of
the civil rights movement, right alongside the so called Big
Six that would be James Farmer, John Lewis, a Philip Randolph,
Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and Martin Luther King Junior. Although
at least one member of the Big Six, James Farmer
(05:33):
considered Dorothy Height to be the group's true six, the
member rather than a Philip Randolph. At any rate, Height
was the only woman on the speaker's platform when MLK
delivered his I Have a Dream speech at the nineteen
sixty three March on Washington. Although she had been instrumental
in planning the event and was a prize winning orator herself,
(05:55):
she was not given the chance to speak that day.
Height reflected on the variance in a two thousand and
three interview for NPR. She said, quote, my being seated
there had some very special meaning because women had been
trying to get a woman to speak on the program.
But we were always met by the planners with the
idea that women were represented in all of the different groups,
(06:18):
in the churches, in the synagogues, in the unions, organizations,
and the like. So the only voice we heard of
a woman from the podium was that of Mahelia Jackson,
a gospel singer. That was a diplomatic response, but by
all accounts, Dorothy Height really was more concerned with the
collective struggle than she was with personal glory. In another
(06:40):
two thousand and three interview, she told the Sacramento b quote,
I was there, and I felt at home in the group,
but I didn't feel I should elbow myself to the
front when the press focused on the male leaders. Once again,
her service, her mission was what mattered. She continued it
through the nineteen seventy and eighties by establishing self help
(07:02):
assistance programs through the NCW. She once said, quote, we
are not a problem people. We are a people with problems.
We have historic strengths. We have survived because of family.
With that in mind, Height launched a series of Black
Family reunions in the mid nineteen eighties, held in cities
(07:23):
across the country. The events were large scale celebrations of
African American history, culture, and traditions. Hundreds of thousands of
people attended the gatherings, helping to foster deeper bonds in
their communities. Humility and selflessness are admirable qualities, ones that
Dorothy Height had in spades, But sometimes you really just
(07:46):
want to see a person get the recognition they deserve,
and thankfully, Dorothy eventually did. In nineteen ninety four, President
Bill Clinton presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the nation's highest civilian honor. Her She received numerous other
awards and accolades as well, including about three dozen honorary
(08:07):
doctorate degrees from esteemed schools such as Tuskegee, Princeton, and Harvard. However,
the academic honor that likely held the most meaning was
a degree awarded to her in two thousand and four
in honorary bachelor's from Barnard College, the same institution that
had turned her away seventy five years earlier. True to
(08:31):
her character, Height continued to fight for equality right up
until the end of her life. In two thousand and eight,
just two years before her death, she was looking ahead
to the future of the civil rights movement. She outlined
the next steps, saying, quote, we don't need the marches
we had in the past, but we need more consideration
in looking at the boardroom tables and at the policies
(08:54):
that are going on, looking at what's happening in industry,
what's happening in terms of employment, opportunity, housing, and the like.
Dorothy Height passed away in Washington, d C. On April twentieth,
twenty ten, at the age of ninety eight. President Barack
Obama remarked on her passing, describing her as quote the
(09:16):
godmother of the civil rights movement and a hero to
so many Americans. It was a fitting tribute and a
well earned title, but Dorothy liked to frame her legacy
as something more approachable, something that any member of society
could aspire to themselves. She said, quote, I want to
(09:36):
be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she
could touch to work for justice and freedom. I want
to be remembered as one who tried. I'm Gabe Lucier
and hopefully you now know a little more about history
today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more
(09:56):
about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
at TDI HC Show, and if you have any comments
or suggestions, you can send them my way. At this
day at iHeartMedia dot Com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for
producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see
you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History Class.
(10:32):
Hi everyone, it's Eves again and welcome to another episode
of This Day and History Class. The day was March
twenty fourth, nineteen eighty nine. The ex Son of Valdi's
(10:53):
oil tanker spilled eleven million gallons of oil and Prince
William Sound in the Gulf of Alaska. The oil spill
caused extensive damage to the environment and was the largest
in US waters until the Deep Water Horizon spill in
twenty ten. Exon Valdis was one of the newer ships
in the Xon Shipping Company's fleet. The night before the spill,
(11:15):
Exon Valdis left Valdis, Alaska and was headed to Long Beach, California.
It was carrying more than fifty three million gallons of
crude oil. Captain Joseph Hazelwood had been drinking alcoholic beverages
that day, which would later become a point of contention.
The tanker left the dock not long after nine pm,
(11:37):
but just after midnight on March twenty fourth, the crew
realized that the tanker was off course. At twelve or
four am, it hit bly Reef in Prince William Sound.
Eight out of the eleven cargo tanks were punctured. Soon
ten point eight million gallons of crude oil had spilled
into the surrounding waters. Eventually, the spill pill looted more
(12:00):
than one thousand miles of shoreline in south central Alaska.
Thousands of seabirds, sea otters, and seals, bald eagles and
fish died because of the spill. The disaster had a
significant effect on wildlife, environment, reliant industries, recreational fishing, and tourism.
(12:20):
In investigations after the disaster, it was found that Captain
Hazelwood was not at the navigation bridge. Third mate, Gregory Cousins,
was in charge of it. Cousins had called Hazelwood just
before the vessel struck blyth Reef, recognizing there was danger,
but it was too late. When investigators found out that
(12:41):
Hazelwood had been drinking before boarding, Exon Valdis Exon fired him.
He was cleared of being intoxicated at the time of
the incident, but he was convicted of misdemeanor negligence. Find
fifty thousand dollars and sentenced to one thousand hours of
community service. After years of appeals, Hazelwood began community service
(13:03):
in nineteen ninety nine. Xon was deemed responsible for the disaster,
along with the company's incompetent and overworked crew. Blame was
also placed on the US Coast Guard for a poor
system of traffic regulation. In nineteen ninety Congress passed the
Oil Pollution Act, which created measures for responding to oil
(13:25):
spills and increased penalties for spills. It also called for
the eventual banning of single hold tankers from US waters.
Now all tankers for oil, liquefied natural gas, and chemicals
are double hold. Over the years, XON paid billions of
dollars on restitution, cleanup costs, and personal damages. XON employees,
(13:50):
federal responders, and Alaska residents helped clean up the spill.
They used chemical dispersants and booms and skimmers for mechanical cleanup,
but some methods workers used removed oil, yet killed plants
and animals, and a portion of the Alaskan coastline is
still polluted with subsurface oil. Exon Valdis was repaired, renamed,
(14:14):
and soon returned to service. It was sold for scrap
in twenty twelve. Though the exon Valdi's oil spill had
a huge impact on the environment and industry, there have
been plenty of other incidents that resulted in much larger
oil spills in world history. I'm Eve Stefcode and hopefully
(14:34):
you know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see
you tomorrow. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
This Day in History Class News
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