00:00:00
This is exactly right. Isn't some far off concept? It's already here. Next starts now.
00:00:33
Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Goodbye. When a charming neurosurgeon rode into Frontier Town
00:00:39
selling a persona of confidence and care, patients trusted him. He wore cowboy boots in the operating room
00:00:45
and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them. Instead, he left a trail of broken bodies.
00:00:51
This is a story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice. Listen to Dr. Death the Cowboy wherever you get your podcasts
00:00:58
or binge the entire series right now only with Audible. Goodbye. Where does summer take you?
00:01:05
Maybe it's a coastal road trip or a quiet morning with the windows wide open. Summer smells like bright citrus, warm sand
00:01:11
and endless possibilities. With Pura's smart diffusers and the new summer collection,
00:01:15
you can restore your sense of place and bring those unforgettable moments right into your living room.
00:01:20
Find your summer escape today. Visit Pura.com to learn more. Goodbye. My favorite murder
00:01:58
It's officially summer. We're enjoying the heat. Hope you are too. I don't know.
00:02:04
What's going on? Oh, I had food poisoning last night. And didn't sleep at all. Couldn't stop barfing.
00:02:12
What was it? I always want to know, but I know you don't. No one knows, right? I'm trying to back time it.
00:02:18
And if it is the restaurant that my dad and I ate at together, it will break my heart because we eat there all the time and I love it.
00:02:27
And I was just like, as it was starting, I was just like, no, because I've had bad food poisoning once before.
00:02:35
And sorry, but remember that? Well, maybe I shouldn't name names, but I don't think these stores exist anymore.
00:02:41
Remember that Fresh Choice in Highland Park? Yeah, it was like a little grocery, like pre-made package stuff.
00:02:48
Right, which when you first go into it, you're like, this is a dream come true for the person that can't cook and doesn't cook.
00:02:54
Right. So I got a Chinese chicken salad from there, but the salad part wasn't lettuce.
00:02:59
It was all cut up cabbage. And then like 24 hours later, I literally thought I was going to have to go to the hospital.
00:03:06
And since that time, and that was 2010s, literally the word cabbage bums me out.
00:03:12
Like I can't even think about it. So as I was trying to figure out where this came from, I was like, but when you find out, there's going to be a whole realm of things ruined forever for you.
00:03:23
But I think that in general, lettuces and cabbages and that kind of thing is just like dangerous and way more than we think we realize.
00:03:30
So it doesn't mean the restaurant gave it to you because they. That's true. Or bad.
00:03:34
It's like just like one unwashed lettuce leaf can like ruin everything. Also in these days, it's just such a, you know, as we all talk about the dystopian nightmare we're sliding into.
00:03:47
When those like the stories of recalls that keep on happening. because everything has just been like deregulated and like, yeah, everybody just do what you want.
00:03:58
It's just like, my God. Pick your level. Yeah, it's absurd. So I feel like that it's not, I always want someone to be like,
00:04:04
it was this thing that I ate at this place so I can always avoid it. Right. Same with true crime where it's like, this thing happened and this thing happened now. I can avoid
00:04:12
it. You know? We all wish, if only. If only. Life isn't like that, unfortunately. So I think you don't have to worry about the
00:04:20
restaurant. And also, I don't know if this has ever happened to you when you're sick, but you watch a certain thing on TV and then the thing seems worse than like you're trying to enjoy it.
00:04:28
But you're like, this represents all of my suffering. I can't hear the theme song to Orange is the New Black without getting depressed because I watched it in this really deep depression of my life back in the old apartment.
00:04:41
Yeah. And so what's that beautiful song that the opening is? I love it. Is that a Regina Spector song?
00:04:47
Yes. Yes. You've Got Time by Regina Spector. I will cry. I will fucking just go into a deep depression if I hear that song.
00:04:55
Because I watched that show. Yes. While I was depressed. And also that show, you go through that show.
00:05:00
Yeah. I mean, that is such an experience of a show. It's not like, you know, you're just kind of like, oh, this whole thing.
00:05:07
You're just like, oh, my God, Noah, I'm also in prison now. I'm also trying to survive, whatever.
00:05:13
It's so sad. Okay. It's a lot. Well, I'm sorry about your food poisoning. Let's make this quick.
00:05:20
Hey, we can do this. Look, I'm blessed to have food poisoning in this goddamn day and age.
00:05:26
Here's kind of a cute thing, which is somebody wrote an email after the Harper Lee episode that I did, if you want to hear it.
00:05:35
Because I said, if anybody out there, the whole thing was about how Harper Lee was down in that town where Reverend Willie Maxwell was killing people.
00:05:42
And people think that she may have been writing a book. Nothing ever came of it.
00:05:46
And then there was a part where somebody years later had found a note that she had put into an encyclopedia I think at the local library So I asked for if anybody has a secret Harper Lee treasure that they want to share with us Yeah To please do that So we got an email
00:06:05
Oh my God. And the subject line is Harper Lee treasure. It just starts. Now I wasn't able to search a dusty attic as Karen instructed in Alexander City for the missing Willie Maxwell manuscript.
00:06:15
My apologies. Would you settle for a retired educator's basement safe in rural Missouri?
00:06:21
Always. I mean, the idea of a basement safe is on par with safe deposit box at the bank, right?
00:06:26
Dude, a safe. Like what? Who? Personal safe. Who has a fucking safe? That's so cool.
00:06:33
I walked into my sister's garage when I was home and there was a safe in her garage.
00:06:37
And I was like, what the hell is she has a safe for? Did she rob a bank or something?
00:06:41
It was the previous owner. It's just sitting out there because no one can move it.
00:06:44
Did I tell you that when Vince and I, way back, we were looking at houses to buy and
00:06:48
one of them had a fur safe. That's how old the house was. It was like a climate controlled,
00:06:56
huge safe just for like this society ladies furs back in the 20s. Holy shit. I know. And I was like, okay, I just want this.
00:07:06
That is amazing. Yep. Go in there, lock yourself in, watch Orange is the New Black, get it taken care of. Okay,
00:07:14
So we're still in this email. So basically they're apologizing, but would we settle for this?
00:07:20
A basement safe in rural Missouri? What we're saying to you right now, writer is that yes,
00:07:24
the answer is yes. Back in the email. If so, your search will uncover the typewritten note of advice Harper Lee sent to my
00:07:32
parents after my birth. Then it says backing up a bit. When my two educator parents chose to name their perfect firstborn me,
00:07:41
they chose the name Harper in 1993. when I was almost five years old, my father, the English teacher, wrote to Harper Lee with no
00:07:48
expectation of hearing back as she lived a notoriously quiet life. To their surprise,
00:07:54
she wrote back the following address to me. They actually sent a picture of this. And it says,
00:08:00
Dear Harper, you are beginning a life in a world quite different from the world I knew as a child.
00:08:05
The only thing I can say is in your reading, if there are any books left to read instead of watch,
00:08:11
Always keep the best company That way you can't go wrong With all good wishes, Harper Lee
00:08:17
Oh my god And then back into the rest of it They say, I've done my best to live up to this advice
00:08:23
For the last 40 years And now get to foster the same passion For literary works with my own child
00:08:29
My namesake was right Books make the best company Stay sexy, protect the written word
00:08:34
And libraries And make Harper Lee proud All the best, Harper Z wow what a like coincidence like what if that was i was harper listening oh my god beautiful
00:08:46
i know i'd be like i have an email i know here here you go i'm harper z you want this and it's
00:08:53
beautifully typewritten little note gorgeous signed by harper lee at the bottom i love it
00:08:58
also wouldn't you just love your dad for being that kind of forward yeah yeah oh that's beautiful
00:09:04
nice job cool should we do some highlights yeah we have a podcast network it's called exactly
00:09:09
right media. Here are some highlights before we begin. Over on our podcast, The Knife, I cannot
00:09:15
wait to listen to this episode. They're telling the harrowing story of Jackie Flug, who survived
00:09:20
the hijacking of Egypt Air Flight 648 in 1985. Incredible. And then we have an exactly right
00:09:27
crossover for the ages. Roz welcomes That's Messed Up host Lisa Trager back to Ghosted.
00:09:33
They talk about ghosts, psychics, and one very dramatic haunting. And the two of them together,
00:09:38
man get ready to laugh come on also this week over on bananas kurt and scotty asked the eternal
00:09:44
question did you know that andre the giant let out a 16 second fart on the set of princess bride
00:09:51
what a great news podcast 16 seconds and then yeah count it out that's a long one hold your
00:10:00
breath that long and see if see what happens oh my god i can't wait to hear that whole thing and
00:10:05
then this is really exciting. So we have brand new merch based on the hit episode of MFM animated
00:10:11
look for a goth. You guys loved it. We love it. So you can get a ladies muscle tee or a unisex tee
00:10:18
featuring the gorgeous goth girl drawn by the great Nick Terry. And it says look for a goth.
00:10:24
So it's kind of perfect for people who aren't goth, but want to support the goth community.
00:10:29
Yeah, it's perfect. You don't like all those piercings and the makeup. You don't have to do
00:10:33
any of that, you can just wear a goth on your shirt. Yeah. There's also a decal that says,
00:10:38
look for a goth. It's designed by our in-house graphic designer, Vanessa Lilac. It's so good.
00:10:43
It's like a little baby on board. Look for a goth triangle. It looks very official and it's
00:10:49
basically like helping people out. So go to myfavoritemurder.com to check out the store.
00:10:54
We have a lot of great merch in there, including that. While the world watches the stars at the
00:10:59
FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent. The future soccer
00:11:04
stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Making plays that end up on everyone's feed,
00:11:09
scoring from angles that don't make sense, rewriting record books that barely had time
00:11:13
to gather dust. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation and Hyundai doesn't either. Hyundai
00:11:18
has always moved the future within reach. Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every
00:11:23
vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra fast charging capability. And Hyundai
00:11:28
continues doing it every day. From robotics that change how people live to young athletes changing
00:11:33
the game, the future isn't some far off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai,
00:11:39
an official partner of FIFA. Goodbye. Peace of mind can be hard to come by. Especially at 2am when
00:11:45
your house suddenly makes a weird noise. That's why so many people trust SimpliSafe to help keep
00:11:49
their home secure. Traditional home security only alerts you after a break and has already happened,
00:11:54
and that too late SimpliSafe is changing that The system is customizable so you can build the one that fits your home and your specific needs The 24 professional monitoring is effective and affordable and won lock you into a long contract
00:12:07
Listen, Cookie is a really good watchdog, but she's not going to tell me what is actually going on.
00:12:12
If it's a raccoon or if it's a person looking through my windows. Like, you have to get this level of safety if you want to feel as safe as possible.
00:12:20
So you know what's going on. So I just feel safer with actually having something like SimpliSafe around.
00:12:25
There's a whole staff at SimpliSafe that's waiting to talk to you and help you out and tell you, no, you're fine.
00:12:30
It's a raccoon. Right now, you can get 50% off your new system by visiting SimpliSafe.com slash MFM.
00:12:36
That's half off at SimpliSafe.com slash MFM. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Goodbye.
00:12:42
If there's one thing to know about traveling with dogs, it's that they can't eat like you do on vacation.
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Luckily, Just Food for Dogs makes it easy to feed your dog a healthy meal no matter where you are.
00:12:53
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00:13:02
I only want to feed my dogs Just Food for Dogs because it's human-grade. This is great for people who go out of town with their dog, but for people who go out of town without their dog, this is also just like easy.
00:13:12
You can put it in the Tupperware. They just feed the dog. No fuss. It's a real solution.
00:13:17
So go to justfoodfordogs.com and get 50% off your first order. Goodbye. So today, this episode comes out on Juneteenth, the day that marks the ending of slavery in the United States.
00:13:32
And so I saw a TikTok on an incredible woman. So today's story is about a remarkable woman born into slavery in 1830s North Carolina.
00:13:43
and because of this and the erasure of black accomplishment by a racist establishment,
00:13:49
there are gaps in what we know about her life. But luckily in recent years, historians have worked very hard to change that,
00:13:57
searching archives and poring over old documents to find information and basically piece her life story together.
00:14:04
So because of that reporting, I am able to tell you today the amazing story of heroic Civil War nurse Lucy Nichols.
00:14:12
So the sources for the story that Marin used are the research of Pamela Peters, Curtis Peters, and Victor McGinty, and the reporting of Dr. Eileen Yanoviak, who published a book about Lucy called The Tenacious Nurse Nichols.
00:14:28
And the rest of the sources are in our show notes. Lucy's life begins in April of 1838 when she's born into slavery in Halifax County, North Carolina.
00:14:38
She's owned by Jacob and Sally Higgs. and because that's the way it worked back then,
00:14:46
she is forced to take their last name as her own. So technically her legal name is Lucy Higgs.
00:14:52
We don't know the names of Lucy's parents or the details of what her day-to-day life was like.
00:14:58
Much of what historians have cobbled together comes from the Higgs's legal documents
00:15:03
and those legal documents purely speak of the people that they owned as inventory.
00:15:09
So it is how many of them, the cost, the names, and they track her movements to the different households within the family, or they name her in legal disputes over which family member owns her.
00:15:24
That's so crazy and awful. It's so horrible. But here is what we do know. In 1839, when Lucy is an infant, Jacob and Sally Higgs' 29-year-old son, Ruben, claims legal ownership of her.
00:15:37
Lucy's seven-year-old brother, Aaron, and her four-year-old sister, Angeline. So before she's a year old, Ruben takes Lucy and her two siblings and a small group of other
00:15:47
enslaved workers from the Higgs, North Carolina property to his new home in Tennessee.
00:15:53
It's unclear if Lucy's parents go with this group, but under slavery, families are constantly and very commonly torn apart. So when Lucy's eight years old,
00:16:03
she and her sister Angeline are forcibly moved again after Ruben's wife, Eliza, divorces him
00:16:10
and moves to Mississippi. And Maren makes the note, she says, sort of an aside, but divorce
00:16:16
would have been extremely atypical in the South in this era, which is the first thing I thought of
00:16:21
where I was like, oh my God, this woman was like, goodbye. I mean, it wasn't done. But we don't know
00:16:29
why the marriage ended, we do know that Ruben ended up marrying his first cousin not long after.
00:16:34
So then when Eliza dies, Lucy and Angeline are moved again to another Higgs property back in
00:16:42
Tennessee in a town called Bolivar, not far from the Tennessee-Mississippi border. And here,
00:16:48
Lucy, Angeline, and their brother Aaron are reunited. By 1860, Lucy is in her early 20s
00:16:55
and now married to a man who is also enslaved by the Higgs family. They have a baby girl that they name Mona.
00:17:03
And we know Mona's age because the Higgs 1860 property inventory list. She appears there listed as infant.
00:17:12
That same document reduces Lucy and Mona's lives to a dollar amount. Together, they are valued at $1,400.
00:17:20
Wow. So it's presumed Lucy's husband is Mona's father, But of course, very dark side of slavery is that there's always the disturbing possibility that Lucy was sexually assaulted by her white owner and became pregnant because of that.
00:17:37
What we do know is that Mona's birth marks a very pivotal moment in Lucy's life.
00:17:42
This is what historian Eileen Yanoviak writes. She says, quote, So it kind of cool It like that driving force behind what
00:18:06
the rest of the story becomes. So in 1861, the Civil War begins. And a year later in July in
00:18:14
Kentucky, which is directly north of Tennessee, they're mostly under union control. And the Higgs
00:18:21
family as enslavers probably are starting to feel the walls closing in. So they start talking about
00:18:27
trafficking their enslaved laborers further south, where they can be sold for tens of thousands of
00:18:33
dollars each. Lucy knows what this means. She will wind up deeper in Confederate territory and farther
00:18:39
away from the possibility of freedom if she would ever want to try to flee to a Union state. And
00:18:46
because of that, it's almost guaranteed she'll be separated from her loved ones,
00:18:50
including her baby daughter. So Lucy and a few of the other people enslaved by the Higgs family
00:18:56
plan their escape and bravely set out at night in the summer of 1862. So we can assume the group
00:19:03
is very small. Lucy's thought to be the only adult woman in it, which means her sister Angeline did
00:19:09
not go with them. But historians believe Lucy's husband is a part of the group. And we know for
00:19:15
sure Lucy is carrying Mona with her on this. So how frightening to be an escaping slave with a
00:19:23
baby. Totally. I mean, and Eileen Yanoviak writes this. She says, quote, Mona was only two or three
00:19:29
years of age then, a bright eyed and married child whose sweet chatter or loud wails of fear
00:19:35
could jeopardize their escape. But in the sweltering heat of a Tennessee summer, Lucy swaddled Mona in
00:19:41
her gown and snuck away in the cover of night. So like many escaping slaves, the group almost
00:19:48
certainly uses the stars to navigate north. It's unclear if they have a more specific destination
00:19:54
in mind other than just going north, but they would be making their way through briars and bushes
00:20:00
a lot of the time barefoot, which is the thing I didn't really think of until now. We're just like
00:20:06
getting out with what you have. It's not like they had a bunch of stuff that they could take with
00:20:11
them or totally it's worst case scenario of course in every way they're trying to keep hidden in
00:20:17
wooded areas a lot of it would be unfamiliar definitely hostile territory and it'd be easier
00:20:23
for them to get turned around or lost which could of course lead to them being recaptured and then
00:20:29
brutally punished of course so this group makes it three miles when they arrive outside a union
00:20:37
Army Camp. This camp houses hundreds of soldiers making up Indiana's 23rd Volunteer Regiment.
00:20:45
The soldiers come from a town called New Albany, Indiana, more than 300 miles from their current
00:20:50
post in Tennessee. Major will later describe Lucy and her group as, quote, dusty and foot sore from
00:20:57
the long and hurried journey. Some sources say the group traveled 30 miles, but experts on her life
00:21:06
say it was more likely three miles. Either way, in the middle of the night, just trying to get away.
00:21:12
No shoes. My God. I mean, all the things. It's like all 100 miles. Yeah. So, of course, the Higgs's know immediately when the slaves escape.
00:21:22
So they're already in pursuit of this group. So now Lucy and the group are in the horrible position
00:21:28
of having to beg these white Union soldiers to help protect them from their enslavers.
00:21:33
because even a union camp is a threat to freedom seekers like Lucy. Escaped slaves risk assault and sexual violence
00:21:41
or being taken captive under the Fugitive Slave Act. And this is a federal law requiring that escaped enslaved people
00:21:49
be returned to their quote owners and often resulted in a monetary reward. Yeah, it's the reality of it, right?
00:21:57
Yeah, if you're being seen as less than human anyway, then no matter what side you're on, it's, you know,
00:22:03
Right. It's that. But also the Union soldiers could just turn them away and basically say, we can't help you.
00:22:10
I think people think that just because it's like the Union, they're not racist. And it's like, they're still racist. It's just not this. It's a different flavor.
00:22:18
That's right. Fortunately, though, these Union soldiers do the right thing. When someone from the Higgs home does show up to the 23rd Regiment's camp, the men of the 23rd refuse to turn Lucy and her group over. There are theories that that's because of baby Mona. Even these hardened soldiers wouldn't want to throw a small child to the wolves that way.
00:22:41
And there are laws known as Confiscation Acts where union forces are technically allowed to seize any property being used to support the Confederacy.
00:22:51
And because enslaved people are seen as and treated like property, these freedom seekers can arguably be considered contraband of war.
00:22:59
So the Higgs family are furious and there's a standoff, but the soldiers don't back down.
00:23:06
And so the Higgs have no choice but to leave. I mean, it's a camp of soldiers all armed, you know.
00:23:13
So Lucy then decides to stay at the camp, presumably because she doesn't have other options.
00:23:19
They didn't have a final destination. And at least here she can feed and care for Mona, who immediately becomes a rare source of joy for the regiment soldiers.
00:23:30
Eileen Yanoviak writes, quote, the soldiers would lovingly croon to the little girl to earn her giggles and glee.
00:23:38
I know. But of course, nothing's free, so Lucy and her husband have to work very hard for basic necessities if they're going to stay at this camp.
00:23:46
Lucy's immediately put to work as a laundress and a cook, while her husband would have likely been assigned manual labor jobs, or even could be enlisted in Black volunteer regiments.
00:23:57
Aileen Yanowiak says, quote, a different type of bondage that required work in exchange for protection, provisions,
00:24:04
and the promise of freedom, end quote. Within weeks, the Indiana 23rd is instructed to pack up
00:24:11
and move on to the next battle. They set up camp in southern towns where the fighting requires them,
00:24:17
so Lucy's responsibilities begin to evolve. Within a year of her arrival at the regiment,
00:24:22
she becomes known for how good she is at soothing the sick and treating minor injuries,
00:24:27
which are things she's learned as an enslaved domestic worker. So big part of her job and skills that she's basically already earned and learned.
00:24:37
Lucy's caregiving skills eventually catch the attention of the regiment's surgeon,
00:24:41
Dr. Magnus Brucker, and he chooses her to serve as his right hand. This is a critical and high stakes job that most doctors at the time
00:24:50
would only consider another white man to be able to do. Yeah. Wow. This story keeps making me think of The Nick. Do you remember that series, The Nick?
00:24:59
Looking at history, we just have no idea unless we study it. Right. The details of that kind of stuff of like, it's the accomplishment alone.
00:25:08
She must have been incredible to have this white surgeon be like, no, it's got to be you.
00:25:14
You're the one that's going to come and help me. But because war demands it out of sheer need, more and more women take on nursing roles, often with no real training.
00:25:24
and Lucy already has experience and has done it. So these women include Harriet Tubman
00:25:30
and the founder of the Red Cross, Clara Barton, who were forced to learn everything in real time in wartime.
00:25:38
Dr. Brucker then offers Lucy the unofficial title of nurse and promises she will eventually be compensated for her service.
00:25:45
So that promise really matters to Lucy because even though, of course, her immediate world is consumed by the war,
00:25:53
she's trying to make plans and prepare for her and Mona's future as free women. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer,
00:26:03
Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent. The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age 14.
00:26:09
Making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring from angles that don't make sense,
00:26:13
rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and Hyundai doesn't either.
00:26:20
Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every vehicle.
00:26:26
Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. And Hyundai continues doing it every day.
00:26:32
From robotics that change how people live to young athletes changing the game, the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here.
00:26:39
Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Goodbye. Peace of mind can be hard to come by.
00:26:46
Especially at 2 a.m. when your house suddenly makes a weird noise. That's why so many people trust SimpliSafe to help keep their home secure.
00:26:53
Traditional home security only alerts you after a break and has already happened, and that's too late.
00:26:57
SimpliSafe is changing that. The system is customizable so you can build the one that fits your home and your specific needs.
00:27:04
The 24-7 professional monitoring is effective and affordable and won't lock you into a long-term contract.
00:27:10
Listen, Cookie is a really good watchdog, but she's not going to tell me what is actually going on,
00:27:14
if it's a raccoon or if it's a person looking through my windows. like you have to get this level of safety if you want to feel as safe as possible.
00:27:23
So you know what's going on. So I just feel safer with actually having something like SimpliSafe around.
00:27:27
There's a whole staff at SimpliSafe that's waiting to talk to you and help you out and tell you, no, you're fine.
00:27:32
It's a raccoon. Right now you can get 50% off your new system by visiting simplisafe.com slash MFM.
00:27:38
That's half off at simplisafe.com slash MFM. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Goodbye.
00:27:43
Goodbye. If there's one thing to know about traveling with dogs, it's that they can't eat like you do on vacation.
00:27:50
So if you're taking the whole family on vacation this summer, your dog still needs a real dinner.
00:27:55
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00:28:03
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00:28:09
That means no freezer, no cooler, no weird travel logistics. You can bring it on a road trip to the beach or wherever you and your dog end up this summer.
00:28:17
That means no matter what you decide to do to yourself on vacation, your dog gets a healthy meal.
00:28:22
I mean, traveling with dogs, we've both done it. It is such a pain getting a whole cooler to make sure that my dog's food is okay for them to eat at the perfect time that they have to eat it.
00:28:32
Just Food for Dogs, like it's such a solution. I'm so grateful to them because my dogs absolutely need this for that drive up north.
00:28:40
Go to justfoodfordogs.com and get 50% off your first order. Goodbye. So Lucy takes the job.
00:28:50
She immediately begins tending to gruesome injuries. The soldiers are torn apart by grape shot, which are clusters of small cannonballs,
00:28:58
as well as musket fire that can easily shred muscle and obliterate bone. Lucy's right in the middle of the action.
00:29:06
Later a fellow soldier will describe her as quote quote fearlessly going to the front to seek out wounded soldiers and officers all equal in her mind to administer water to thirsty mouths pull away wounded soldiers and gently care for them
00:29:23
She witnessed men gasping their last breaths, whispering comforts to them as their angel of
00:29:28
mercy. Wow. End quote. How horrifying. Yeah. She's just immediately a full-time war medic. Yeah. At
00:29:35
the front yeah yeah lucy also cares for the regiment through relentless waves of illness
00:29:40
and she shepherds many sick men to their death 217 members of the 23rd regiment die during this war
00:29:47
145 of them dying of diseases like dysentery malaria and typhoid fever holy shit that's
00:29:54
yeah big percentage yeah so lucy's constantly surrounded by death and chaos as well as dwindling
00:30:01
food rations, filthy living conditions, and she still has Mona to take care of and worry about.
00:30:07
But she keeps marching forward with the 23rd Regiment, and she's there around 30 battles.
00:30:13
Oh my God. She did 30 times. Can you imagine having the food poisoning you have right now, but in a war, on the front with no...
00:30:22
Yep. But people are just like, can you push this bone back into my arm so I can go keep fighting?
00:30:27
It's like, really, can you give me two seconds? I just have to retch. Okay, so the Louisville Career Journal later reports, quote,
00:30:36
She was sometimes at the rear, sometimes at the front, and often in the thickest of the battle, as much a soldier as her male companions, except that she did not carry arms.
00:30:46
She never received a scratch. Isn't that wild? Yeah. So Lucy's a nurse during the Battle of Atlanta, where Union forces capture one of the South's most critical cities, as well as Sherman's March to the Sea, which is the brutal push to the Georgia coast that helps turn the tide of the war in the Union's favor.
00:31:08
So she's there for all the big ones. Yeah. Damn. That's amazing. She's also present at the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, where following a relentless 47-day siege, the Union finally wins.
00:31:21
It's seen as a turning point in the Civil War, but it comes with an enormous loss for Lucy,
00:31:26
because this is when Mona, who is now around three or four years old, dies. We don't know why.
00:31:33
You didn't warn us. I know. I'm sorry. But this is a story of slavery and war. So it's as bad as it's bad.
00:31:41
The warning comes with the territory. But it's also like putting perspective on this life this woman led under the greatest oppression.
00:31:51
And in the worst circumstances, like going from slavery to the Civil War front lines.
00:31:58
My God. Yeah. So we don't know how or why Mona dies. It is another detail of Lucy's life that is lost to time and to indifference.
00:32:08
given how rampant and lethal disease is during the war is very possible. Mona just gets one of
00:32:15
these diseases, doesn't recover. It's also possible she was killed. Like nearly every other aspect of
00:32:22
her life, we don't have Lucy's perspective on her daughter's death, but a member of the 23rd
00:32:28
Regiment will report that, quote, in the siege of Vicksburg after the city had been captured,
00:32:33
Our regiment was one of the first to go in and receive surrender. Aunt Lucy followed in our wake.
00:32:39
A short time after, her child died. It almost broke the mother's heart. The men, too, had grown to be so fond of Mona.
00:32:47
And it was a severe pain that went through the entire 23rd. Oh my God, that's so touching.
00:32:54
It's so sad. Yeah. The soldiers collect flowers from Mona's grave, and she's buried in Vicksburg alongside members of the regiment
00:33:01
who were killed in that battle. It's believed that this is when Lucy's husband enlists in the war.
00:33:08
Yanoviak writes, quote, Perhaps he was compelled to fight in honor of his fallen daughter, unable to bear the burden of her death as a passive bystander of the war effort.
00:33:19
But after his enlistment, Lucy will never see her husband again. Yanoviak adds, quote,
00:33:25
While the war brought Lucy opportunity and the prospect of freedom, it also delivered intense personal tragedy.
00:33:31
She left behind her siblings, lost her husband, and watched her beloved child die.
00:33:36
In contrast to the perceptions that enslaved people were passive recipients of freedom bestowed upon them by Yankees,
00:33:43
Lucy's story, like so many others, illustrates the intense self-sacrifice made by Black men and women to attain freedom.
00:33:50
They too went deep into the war zones, working to survive bloody battles in a brutal civil war that tore the nation apart to reconcile its brutal past.
00:34:02
That just makes me think of the movie Glory. If you haven't seen the movie Glory, you absolutely have to see that movie. It's so good.
00:34:09
So about a year later in 1864, the 23rd Regiment is granted a 60-day furlough and heads home to New Albany, Indiana for the first time in years.
00:34:19
And Lucy goes with them. In Indiana she on free soil and she could leave the war behind But when that furlough ends she decides to return to the front perhaps because the regiment gives her something to focus on in her grief
00:34:35
or maybe out of loyalty to the soldiers who've become like family to her. So she has a chance. She makes it to freedom, and she goes back.
00:34:44
Either way, the 23rd Regiment is active through the final days of the Civil War,
00:34:48
which ends with Union victory in 1865. When the troops march through Washington, D.C. in the Union's Victory Parade, which is known as the Grand Review, it's clear how much the men of the 23rd Regiment respect Lucy because she marches right beside them as one of them.
00:35:06
Oh, my God. Stop. I know. After the war, the men urge Lucy, who is still only in her 20s, to settle in New Albany.
00:35:13
and she does it. Here she becomes one of the few female members of the Grand Army of the Republic,
00:35:19
which is an organization for union veterans, and she stays very close with her fellow soldiers.
00:35:25
While getting back on her feet, she earns a living as a domestic worker and a nurse in some of their
00:35:30
houses. Then when Lucy is around 32 years old, she marries a man named John Nichols. Like Lucy,
00:35:37
he is a Black veteran of the Civil War. Their wedding is held at the Second Baptist Church in
00:35:42
New Albany, which is a known stop on the Underground Railroad, and then they buy a house together.
00:35:48
Lucy finally seems to have some long overdue happiness and stability, but one thing is missing.
00:35:54
She has not been paid for all of the work that she did during the war, and her pension claim
00:36:00
is denied. At this point, the U.S. pension system is massive, actively paying out over
00:36:06
950,000 veterans and their families, some going all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
00:36:13
The payments eat up around 40% of our federal budget. And it's a commendable progressive system
00:36:19
in many ways, but it's also very flawed. More than 18,000 women who serve the union as hospital
00:36:25
nurses, laundresses, and cooks are left out entirely, mostly because they don't have the
00:36:31
official records that are required to actually get the government to sign off on their pension.
00:36:35
Right. But remember, Lucy was hired by Dr. Brucker. So she is one of those thousands of women without formal paperwork outlining her service. But her bravery and determination isn't going anywhere. So in the 1890s, after her pension claim is denied, she starts a battle with the U.S. government.
00:36:57
Damn. She starts by filing a petition, which is one of the few documents we have actually written by Lucy herself and in her voice.
00:37:06
So it says, quote, I served as a nurse for about three years. I cooked for the soldiers, dressed their wounds, gave them medicine and washed for them and did anything I was called to do.
00:37:17
I never received a nickel for my services as a nurse. Dr. Brucker told me I would get paid and I worked on the hope of getting paid.
00:37:26
So Lucy's initial appeals are all rejected. And for most women, this would be the end of the road and they just wouldn't get a pension.
00:37:34
But Lucy keeps on fighting. She even strategically enlists her fellow soldiers to back her up.
00:37:40
Dozens of men from the 23rd Regiment step up, including Dr. Brucker himself, testifying that he could not have done his job without Lucy.
00:37:49
Wow, that's so incredible. It takes seven years. 55 testimonials and an avalanche of paperwork.
00:37:57
Yes. She's just got to get everybody basically who was left from the regiment. Right.
00:38:02
Rough that she could get a hold of. And all that paperwork. So much paperwork. So much paperwork.
00:38:07
So much paperwork. But she does it and she wins. In December of 1898, when Lucy is in her mid-50s, she is finally granted a pension through a special act of Congress.
00:38:18
Now, it isn't much. She's going to be paid $12 a month, which is roughly around $480 in today's money.
00:38:25
Yeah, that's not nothing. It's not nothing. And it's a hard-won victory that helps pave the way for others.
00:38:31
A few years later, in 1901, Congress formally recognizes the role of nurse as an official military post, making all Civil War nurses eligible for pensions.
00:38:43
Oh, interesting. And that's because of Lucy fighting that hard and never giving up.
00:38:48
Wow. So Lucy is a trailblazer in more ways than one. The work she and other women did during the war transforms nursing from a male-dominated job into one predominantly female. And by the year 1900, 91% of American nurses are women.
00:39:05
That's so cool. Mm-hmm. Wow. Lucy stays close friends with the men of the 23rd Regiment for the rest of her life.
00:39:12
Okay. She's at every reunion with them. She marches in every Memorial Day parade alongside them.
00:39:19
And she's even on the invite list as their children grow up and get married. I know.
00:39:25
In turn, the men are also there for her. Like when she gets the measles and years later, when she has a stroke.
00:39:32
Lucy never fully recovers from the latter, and she passes away in January of 1915 at the age of 69.
00:39:39
She buried next to her husband John at the Second Baptist Church where they been married decades earlier Lucy buried with full military honors Oh my God
00:39:50
In an elaborate ceremony with her obituary noting that, quote, Lucy was known to almost everyone in the city and everyone honored her for her loyalty, end quote.
00:40:00
A century later, in 2019, a statue is put up at this church depicting Lucy holding her baby Mona.
00:40:09
Oh my God, stop. Finally returning Lucy with the child she loves so much. And Lucy Nichols is now the subject of a permanent exhibition at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, where Eileen Yanoviak serves as executive director.
00:40:28
And quoting a historian named A. Glenn Crothers, Eileen says, quote, Lucy's story is indeed an important example of determination, grit, service, and loyalty.
00:40:41
But more importantly, her battle to build a life beyond enslavement, to serve, to work, to secure a pension and receive legitimization is a testament to the lingering effects of inequality well after the war was won and to Lucy's triumphant spirit.
00:40:58
And that is the story of boundary breaking Civil War nurse, Lucy Nichols. Wow. I mean, I mean, the timing couldn't be.
00:41:08
It's so relevant. It's so relevant. Imagine that. Imagine just wanting the chance to live and work and be independent.
00:41:20
And having to fight so hard for that. Fight literally on the front lines of one of the worst wars this country has ever seen.
00:41:28
And then they're like, no, I don't think we're going to pay you. Yeah. Just like, yes, you will.
00:41:33
Yes, you will. That's so inspiring. Isn't it great? Yeah, I'm so glad you did that.
00:41:38
That's, yeah. It's a nice one. I'm glad I found it because that, of course, her story is kind of just lost to time.
00:41:45
And, you know, it's the kind of story people really, really need to hear, I think.
00:41:49
Definitely. Well, that was a great story for Juneteenth. Good job. Thank you. I'm going to go put one of those old-fashioned cartoon ice packs on my head and lay on the couch.
00:42:00
How about it? You should. You poor thing. Go to bed. That sucks. We're back to normal next week. We'll tell you two great stories.
00:42:06
will both be so healthy and well. It's just, you're gonna freak. You won't believe it.
00:42:13
You won't believe it. The return we're about to make. Yeah. But thank you guys so much for listening,
00:42:19
for being here. And for staying strong through all of this, all of the things going on these days.
00:42:26
Chaos. Chaos. And yet, man, those no Kings parades. There were little tiny towns.
00:42:33
I kept seeing them on TikTok, just like the town has 5,000 people in it and 2,000 are standing on their main street.
00:42:41
It's just a beautiful thing. I think it's what everybody needed right now. Absolutely.
00:42:45
We're the majority. Stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?
00:42:53
Me? This has been an Exactly Right production. Our senior producers are Alejandra Keck and Molly Smith.
00:43:05
Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Liana Squalachi. Our researchers are Maren McGlashan and Allie Elkin.
00:43:12
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00:43:23
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00:43:28
Goodbye. If audiobooks are your thing, or if you've been meaning to listen to more of them,
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you should check out a podcast called Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club, hosted by Cal Penn.
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Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres,
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It's a fun, easy way to discover your next great audiobook. Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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