Monday, March 18, 2024

Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick - Parachutist

 By Nancy J. Farrier


Tiny with parachute - Wikimedia Commons
State Archives of North Carolina

Georgia Ann Thompson was born in 1893. She grew up in North Carolina and earned the nickname Tiny because she started weighed only three pounds at birth and grew up to be only five feet tall and 80 pounds. For her whole life people called her Tiny, although her determination and spirit did not match her diminutive size.

 

Tiny married at 12 and had a baby girl at 13. Her husband died in an accident when she was fourteen and she had to support her child working long days in a factory. 

 

Tiny in promotional photo as 
The Doll Girl
NC State Archives, public domain 


Georgia attended the 1907 State Fair and first saw Charles Broadwick’s Famous French Aeronauts perform. This group went up in hot air balloons and parachuted back to the ground. This was prior to skydiving from airplanes and so the new sight was thrilling to Tiny.

 


She went to Charles Broadwick and begged him to allow her to travel with them and learn to jump from a balloon. He agreed. Her mother was not happy with the decision but agreed on the condition that Tiny would leave her daughter with her mother instead of dragging her around the country. Tiny left her family and joined Broadwick’s group. Broadwick legally adopted Georgia in 1908 and she became Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick.

 




Charles Broadwick recognized a new performer and the boost she would bring to their tickets sales. She was small and had long, curly hair, so he introduced her as The Doll Girl. Tiny was 15 when she made her first jump from a hot air balloon. The sensation she created lasted through 1912 and then the show’s popularity slowly declined.

 

Tiny on jump seat
Wikimedia Commons

A famous pilot, Glenn Martin, saw Tiny jump and approached her about jumping from an airplane instead. She had no hesitation and wanted to work with him. Charles Broadwick made a different parachute for Tiny made of silk. It fit in a knapsack. A string attached it to the plane’s fuselage so that when Tiny dropped, the string would release the parachute.

 



Tiny rode suspended in a small seat behind the wing of the plane. When Martin reached an altitude of two thousand feet, Tiny pulled the lever and the seat swung away. For her first jump, she landed in Griffith Park in Los Angeles and became the first woman to parachute from a plane. She also became the first woman to parachute into water when she jumped into Lake Michigan.

 


Then, in 1914, WWI started. The military was losing planes and pilots. If the plane went down there was no recourse but for the pilot to go down too. The Army Air Corp went to see Tiny in San Diego. The asked her to jump from a military plane to see how it could be done safely.

 

Tiny Broadwick after 4 parachute jumps
on San Diego's North Island
NC State Archives, public domain


Tiny jumped four times for them at San Diego’s North Island. The first three went perfectly. The fourth one had problems at the start. She jumped and the parachute lines tangled in the tail of the plane. The wind was high and she had no way to get back in the plane. Tiny wasn’t one to get flustered. She cut all the lines except for one short piece. This caused her to fall free of the plane but the parachute wasn’t open. (This is most likely the first free fall, certainly the first for a woman.)

 






Tiny maintained her focus and used the short line to pull out the parachute. It then opened up and she had a safe flight down. That short cord became the early prototype for the rip cord on parachutes today. Most importantly, she proved that a pilot had the chance to get out of his damaged plane and get safely to ground. This is when the parachute became known as the “life preserver of the air.”

 


Tiny had to give up jumping in 1922. She’d broken many bones and dislocated shoulders during her career. Her ankles were problematic when she landed, so she retired.

 

Tiny demonstrating her parachute
to 82nd Airborne at Ft. Bragg
NC State Archives, public domain 

Tiny became known in aviation circles and to the military for her contributions. She was given many awards and honors. Among those, she was made an honorary member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg. 

 



At the time of her retirement, Tiny was quoted as saying, “I breathe so much better up threre, and it’s so peaceful being that near to God.” The National Air Museum Director, Philip S. Hopkins said, “…Measured by her courage and by her accomplishments, she stands tall among her colleagues—the pioneers of flight…” Tiny died at 85 and is buried in North Carolina.

 





What an amazing woman. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have done any of those things, but I admire her for doing them. What a contribution to our military too. I found it very interesting that pilots were taught to parachute by a teenage woman who weighed less than a hundred pounds. Wow.


Have you heard of Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick? Have you ever jumped out of an airplane? Here is a fun interview with Tiny done in 1963. Don't forget that I’d love to hear from you.





Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning, best-selling author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats and dog, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Untold Story Behind the Oklahoma Land Run

 



After moving to Oklahoma a little over a year ago, I have been fascinated with its history. I mentioned the Choctaw and their relationship to the Irish potato famine in a previous post. You can check it out here.


 

Today I want to talk about the displacement of the Native Americans to make room for the settlers who claimed land during the land run on April 22, 1889 all while Oklahoma was still Indian territory. A lot of pieces had to be put in place in order to make it happened. None of them benefited the tribes who had lived there for decades due to relocation. Let’s not forget those tribes who lived in Indian Territory before the five Civilized Tribes were relocated. Those are the Caddo, Wichita, and the Osage.

Indian Territory (Oklahoma) was considered a wasteland by the U.S. Government, which is why it was given to the Native Americans. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s the desire to eliminate tribal sovereignty took on many forms. The most dramatic was the land rush. Note that the land allocated was the best available there. Relegating the undesirable land to the Indians. 

 Tribal Removal

The Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole, referred to as the five civilized tribes where force from their lands on the east coast to Indian Territory between 1830 and 1845. The term Civilized Tribes refers to their desire to assimilate into the white man’s culture in order to survive. Even so, the white settlers across the east coast wanted the Indian’s farms and homesteads because the land was rich for farming. But when gold was found, the Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. There were many trails of tears as various tribes were removed to Indian territory. Those who survived the forced marches made a life in the barren land. By the 1870s the Plains Indians, and tribes that once occupied Texas, were squeezed in alongside the others.

As Long as the Grass Grows and River Flows

 Most treaties between the U.S. Government promised the tribes the land “for as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow.”  In other words, forever.

The natives adapted to the harsh environment, and lived in relative peace until the Civil War. The tribes took sides hoping to assure their tribal lands remained undisturbed.

Some Cherokee owned slaves, so they formed troops and sided with the Confederacy while other tribes as well as non-slave holding Cherokee sided with the Union. After the war all those slave holders had to free their slaves, and as punishment for siding with the Confederacy, they lost some of their land.

The Homestead Act 1862 passed during Lincoln’s administration to encourage westward expansion would come into play with the land rush. The Homestead Act stated heads of households would receive 160 acres of land and had five years to improve it in order to receive the deed. By the 1880s better farming techniques made the so-called wasteland of Oklahoma pretty appealing to farmers, ranchers and European immigrants.

The Unassigned Lands in Indian Territory was considered the best public, unsettled land in the United States. The Indian Appropriation Act of 1889 passed by Congress and signed by President Benjamin Harrison opened two million acres for settlement.

The eastern portion of Oklahoma was designated unassigned land. None of the now forty tribes that lived in Indian territory had been given land in that area. Add to it the land confiscated from the Cherokee, the land mass seemed sufficient to satisfy the demands land for new settlers.


     The Dawes Act

 But, the U.S. Government had already passed The Dawes Act in 1887 to extinguish communal tribal holdings. Thus, making it easy to mandate the native land be reassigned. Tribal heads of households would receive 160 acres each. Which left a large tract of land Indigent people had used as communal land for hunting and shared grazing since settling there. These lands promised to them forever would be handed over to those who won the land rush.

The allotted land taken from the tribes provided 11,000 homestead lots for settlers from the east and Europe.

It’s interesting that the five civilized tribes were not forced to abandon their communal land during the land rush. But in 1902 they, too, succumbed to the 160 acre rule. That year, a land lottery took place, distributing even more land. Over the next few decades more Indian land was offered by lottery.

Once all the land was subdivided and distributed to all the settlers, the U.S. Government  ignored the native’s rights to self-govern and all the other laws set in place to protect them. Eventually, what had once been tribal land was overseen by the U.S. Government.

Native Americans, in Oklahoma and other areas of the U.S., have been working the last fifty years to regain their tribal sovereignty. Not until the 21st Century has tribal sovereignty been truly recognized. Court cases have been won in the Supreme Court allowing Native children to be adopted only by others in their tribe. Tribal law enforcement has priority even over non-tribal residents in Indian territory. The tribes who call Oklahoma home have worked hard to provide for their members. And since 2021, tribal territories are recognized by both the Oklahoma and U.S. Government, allowing tribes to self-govern more freely in every area of life.

 We live in Chickasaw territory. As land is offered for sale, tribes are purchasing it and adding it to their reservation land.

The next time you watch Far and Away with Tom Cruz and Nicole Kidman, know that tribes were uprooted, and treaties broken once again. Oklahoma translated is Land of the Red Man. And over the last one hundred years, they have worked hard to keep the land promised them for as long as “the grass grows and the rivers flow.” If you'd like more information about the Natives continuing legal battles check it out here.


Visit my website and find both my historical and contemporary inspirational romances for sale. Angelina’s Resolve has a few wonderful scenes with Kiowa characters. I love adding real history to my books. Showing not only the ugly things but the kindness of those who did not agree with the government’s treatment of other races.

 


 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

HISTORY'S INFLUENCE ON THE PRESENT

 By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

         “It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.” Winston Churchill

         Churchill peppered his life’s walk with the past. Knowing that from the past he would glean wisdom to face today’s problems. He once said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.”

        


Is it any wonder he was so obsessed with the thought that if anyone changed the history of the ages, it would put the future of all in jeopardy? Hence, the reason why George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-four, written in 1949 and still recounted to this day, is so crucial to understand. “Who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present, controls the past,” said Orwell. Churchill lived the history many would like to do away with.

         As my February blog showed, Churchill fought an uphill battle to acquire his title of “Brit’s British Bulldog.” Loneliness, ridicule, and self-doubt had to be overcome before he could move ahead. One of those phases in his life that enabled him to do so was marrying his wife, Clementine. So let us begin our account where we left off, in the early 1900s.

         It wasn’t until 1911 that Churchill saw the growing need to prepare his beloved country for the worst—a German invasion. So, he turned his eyes from domestic politics and became the First Lord of the Admiralty (akin to the Secretary of the Navy in the U.S.).

He modernized the British fleet and helped invent one of the earliest tanks. Churchill must have felt the chill in the air because his efforts helped Great Britain prepare for World War I.

        With the 1915 invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, Churchill hoped that offensive would drive Turkey out of the war and bring the Balkan states in to join the Allies, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and Russia. However, Russia left in 1917. In 1917 the United States joined the fight to the war’s conclusion. Churchill said, “Where there is heroism there will always be hope.”

The Turkish resistance proved more than anticipated and after battling for nine months, there were 250,000 casualties. The Allies had to withdraw in disgrace—and so did Churchill. He resigned his position and told Clementine he was volunteering to fight in the trenches.

Clementine supported him 100 percent and encouraged him, boosting his confidence. If Churchill had told her of the instances he had a brush with death, she might not have given him her endorsement.

Churchill must have had an inkling that his military training might come in handy because he’d joined the part-time soldiers of the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and by 1905 held the rank of major.

Entering the military, he got a crash course on trench warfare and was sent to the 2nd Grenadier Guards. He was issued a spare pair of socks and his shaving kit. After that experience, he was given command of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers and received a chilly reception. Of his experience, he later told Clementine, who was the daughter of a Scottish soldier, that he would never attempt to mimic a Scot’s accent. He was told he had ten days to get the battalion into shape before going to the frontline.

Churchill was a tough commander. He thought the regiment assigned to him was a group of pathetic soldiers. He drilled away their slovenliness and told them that those who supported him, he would look after, those who go against him, he’d break. Churchill felt cleanliness was next to godliness. He demanded improvements in the battalion’s sanitary conditions and food arrangements. He told his officers we are here to make war on lice! To get his regiment the needed equipment, from helmets to boots, he schmoozed the rank-and-file officers for his soldiers’ needs—and managed to secure the best equipment and food available for his regiment.


About his experience, he would later write, “Although an Englishman, it was in Scotland that I found the three best things in my life; my wife, my constituency and my regiment.”  About battling in World War I, he told his officers, “Get humor under fire. War is a game best played with a smile. If you can’t smile, grin. If you can’t grin, keep out of the way until you can.”

He worked his men hard in fortifying his frontline with sandbags. This paid off. After 125 days as battalion commander, only 15 men had been killed and 123 wounded. He left his battalion in May of 1916 because he felt it would be his seat in Parliament where he could be the best good.

He proved he was up to the challenge and his men and senior officers of the 9th Scottish Division admired and respected him. Colonel Tim Holland said, “He turned the battalion from moderate to dammed good.”

Churchill described himself to Lieutenant Colonel William Croft, “As a cavalry soldier gone to seed.” Upon Churchill’s departure, Croft replied, “The service lost a good soldier when Winston took to politics.”

He did not return to politics as he hoped he would. Churchill bounced from government job to government job. In 1924 he rejoined the Conservatives and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the American equivalent of Secretary of the Treasury.

The Conservatives were defeated in 1929 and Churchill was out of office for the next decade, which he called his Wilderness Years.

At times, he toured America. After all, his mother was an American. No doubt a blend that made him the perfect man. He saw the Grand Canyon, Hollywood, the Civil War battlefields in Virginia, and during his 1929 visit, he witnessed Black Thursday. In Destiny of Heart, I tell of a first-hand account of Black Thursday. However, Winston saw what few Americans did. Upon his departure from New York, he witnessed a 15-story suicide jump.

The Great Depression crippled every American, European, and population throughout the world. Churchill was no exception. To regain a fragment of the fortune he lost, he decided to lecture in America. A total of forty-five lectures for $50,000. His wife and daughter accompanied him.

After he’d settled Clementine and his daughter safely in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in their ten-room suite, he decided to visit a friend. By a freak accident, he was struck by an automobile while crossing the street and forced to hold up for two months before well enough to lecture. His most memorable speech was held at the Westchester County Center. He spoke about our need to keep up a united friendship at all costs. We needed to put away our petty differences and remember the necessity of unity. “The crimson thread of kinship far outweighs discordances.”


He stated the greatest tie of all is language. “Words are the only things that last forever… The Pyramids molder, the canals silt up, the bridges rust, the railroads change and decay… But words spoken two or three thousand years ago remain with us now, not as mere relics of the past, but with all their pristine living…leaping across the gulf of ages—they light the world for us today.”

In 1933, the Nazis came into power and Churchill put his words into action. He became the designated spokesman, warning his country about German nationalism. The Britons didn’t want to get involved in international affairs, and the British government ignored Churchill’s warnings and sidestepped Germany’s demands.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed an agreement giving a chunk of Czechoslovakia to Germany. Churchill responded, you’re “throwing a small state to the wolves."

Britons didn’t care what Churchill said. They ignored him. He stood alone in a room full of his collogues. He knew well the feeling. He was a lone voice crying out against an impending doom and no one took heed to his words. 

         A year later, Hitler invaded Poland, breaking his promise. Chamberlain was shoved out of office, and Churchill became prime minister in May 1940. In his first speech to the House of Commons as prime minister, Churchill said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.  We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”

World War I turned out to be a picnic next to the diabolical battles of World War II. France fell to the Nazis in June 1940. In July, German fighter planes covered the night skies over Britain for three months of devastating air raids.

On June 4, during his Dunkirk speech to the House, Churchill’s last sentence stated, “The New World could rescue and liberate the Old `in God’s good time.’”  This was the theme that continued throughout his famous Finest Hour speech to the House of Commons on June 18, 1940. Adding, “Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.” The United States provided Churchill with the aid he needed. As I tell in Waltz with Destiny, thousands of American pilots volunteered to man planes and Franklin D. Roosevelt provided ammunition, guns, tanks, and those planes.


“Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”

         History has a funny way of rewarding someone for their valor. Churchill helped win the Allied victory; however, British voters voted against Conservatism and their prime minister two months after Germany surrendered in 1945.

Through the cracks left by Marxism, the ugly head of Socialism reared its viper head upon the heels of Communism. So, what did Churchill do?  “I never worry about action, but only inaction.” 

Churchill left for the States, but not for a much-needed vacation. His first speech was in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946. He spoke about the anti-democratic Iron Curtain, and that “a growing challenge and peril to Christian civilization” had descended across Europe. Upon returning to Britain, he gave a thought-provoking speech to the House of Commons, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

In 1949, Orwell came out with his novel Nineteen Eighty-four about a Communist country named Oceania. Oceania was governed by an all-controlling Party that brainwashed the population into unthinking obedience. His leader was called Big Brother. They rewrote the history books because their belief was, “Who controls the past controls the future.” 

Don’t miss April’s blog for the exciting conclusion.


Destiny of Heart:
Book 3: Civil unrest, an incurable sickness, and a lost love, plunge the McConnells’ into a battle for survival.  “…you become emotionally immersed in every page, every struggle, every triumph. ‘God can’t wipe away a person’s past…But He can help us rewrite the ending.’”  Linda S. Amazon Reader

         Waltz with Destiny: Book 4: A story-book romance swirls into a rendezvous with destiny. “…the crown jewel of the Destiny series! Brakefield brings 1940s Detroit to life, along with the WWII battlefields of Italy.” Kathleen Rouser


Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny, and Love's Final Sunrise and two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer. She has been published by Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media, Revell Books, Bethany House Publishers, and Arcadia Publishers. You can learn more about her at CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com
https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/winston-churchill 

https://www.biography.com/political-figures/winston-churchill

https://www.scottishmilitarydisasters.com/index.php/titles-sp-26803/66-churchill-in-the-trenches

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/winston-churchill-quotes

https://www.history.com/news/meet-the-woman-behind-winston-churchill

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-does-that-quote-mean-archaeology-172300#:~:text=%22Who%20controls%20the%20past%20controls%20the%20future%3A%20who%20controls%20the,quote%20means%20may%20be%20found.

https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/winston-churchill-speech-westchester/