← Stuff You Missed in History Class
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- [00:00]
Tracy V. Wilson
This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human
- [00:04]
Holly Fry
living with a rare autoimmune condition brings uncertainty, but it can also create community. In season six of Untold Life with a Severe Autoimmune Condition, they go beyond MG and cidp, as host Martine Hackett welcomes stories from other conditions like myositis and IgAN into the conversation. Untold Stories is produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Argenics. Listen to Untold Life with a severe Autoimmune condition on the iHeartRadio app, podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is George Severis and Sam Taggart from Stratiolab. Let's be real Home comes with a lot of odors.
- [00:40]
Tracy V. Wilson
Cooking, pets, everyday life. That's where Febreze comes in.
- [00:44]
Holly Fry
Febreze helps fight household odors and leaves behind freshness that lasts. And with over 30 scents to choose from, you'll always find one that feels like you.
- [00:52]
Tracy V. Wilson
Febreze freshness that fits your life, your space, your style.
- [00:56]
Holly Fry
Febreze is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry, advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. You won't want to miss the Elton
- [01:07]
Tracy V. Wilson
John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard, I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I
- [01:19]
Holly Fry
don't trust much of anything.
- [01:22]
Tracy V. Wilson
It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. We got clear facts.
- [01:30]
Holly Fry
Maybe we could calm down a little.
- [01:34]
Jana Kramer
NBC News brings you clear reporting.
- [01:37]
Holly Fry
Let's meet at the Facts. Let's move forward from there.
- [01:40]
Jana Kramer
NBC News Reporting for America When Kohler,
- [01:45]
Holly Fry
global design leader in luxurious kitchen and bath products, asked me to be their ambassador for timeless, elegant, durable cast iron, I said, I'm in. Soon after, I was in their Kohler, Wisconsin foundry watching molten iron poured enamel applied by hand and the beautiful finished pieces ready to ship. Since 1883, Kohler cast iron has been crafted by incredible artisans, and seeing it firsthand gave me a whole new appreciation for their craftsmanship. Now I am proud to lend my stamp of approval to my favorite Kohler cast iron products for their durability, beauty and enduring style. Shop my curated picks@kohler.com as the Kohler Cast Iron Ambassador, I say long live cast Iron.
- [02:37]
Tracy V. Wilson
Sun's out. Cook out. Whether you're grilling solo or BBQing for a crew, we've got the ingredients for success and the recipes too. From grilling up smash burgers with a side of veggies to a full rack of ribs. Land O Lakes Butter and cheese delivers great flavor to the great outdoors. Find us in the dairy and deli aisles.
- [03:07]
Holly Fry
Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production of iHeartradio.
- [03:17]
Tracy V. Wilson
Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson.
- [03:21]
Holly Fry
And I'm Holly Fry.
- [03:23]
Tracy V. Wilson
While I was getting ready to kind of wind down for the evening on June 4, I was scrolling on my phone. Great thing to do for your mental health in the evening. I'm kidding. Try not to. I'm trying not to, but I was scrolling and saw a headline from the Washington Post that said, quote, park Service orders removal of woke quotes at Boston's Bunker Hill Monument. So we've talked about interpretive material being removed from national parks and other federally managed properties for more than a year now after that Restoring truth and sanity to American History executive order that came out in March of 2025. So this headline was not really surprising. But I had this initial reaction that was like, ugh, another one. And then as I read the article, it veered more toward confusion. A visitor complaint had led to a quote about women's suffrage prompting a review. And then that led to the order to take all of this other material down. And according to the article, the quotes that were flagged to be removed did not actually include the one about suffrage from the initial complaint, but it did include one about the Vietnam War, one from a letter to the abolitionist newspaper the Liberator, and one that was supportive of foreign born citizens, so immigrants to the United States. And then I was just confused because there was really no context in the article about why these quotes were there. I'm not suggesting that they didn't belong there. It just didn't. It didn't quite make sense. There seemed to be no context. All of these quotes dated to a hundred years or more after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Only one of them seemed to reference it directly. An article in the Boston Globe that I saw the next morning had some more context, and it actually had pictures of the panels that the quotes are on. But I still felt like I was having to piece together for myself what kind of exhibit these quotes might have been a part of. None of the news reporting I read explained that part of it, and that included after some more information was added to the Washington Post article that I had originally read later on. So I went down to the Bunker Hill Monument and I came away with the sense that very soon after that monument was completed, it started to be about a lot more than just the battle that took place on June 17th of 1775.
- [05:52]
Holly Fry
But we will start with the Battle of Bunker Hill as background for this. Tensions had been escalating between Britain and its colonies in North America for a while. When the first shots were fired In Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, British forces had marched to Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists weapons and gunpowder. Riders rode out from Boston to raise the alarm, which was of course, the inspiration for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1860 poem, Paul Revere's Ride. Thanks to that warning, colonial militia, including Minutemen, who were required to be ready for battle at a moment's notice, were ready. They successfully defended Lexington and Concord and drove the British back to Boston.
- [06:40]
Tracy V. Wilson
After this, militia from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode island all marched to the area around Boston to help defend it. Soon the British were besieged in Boston while the colonies defended and fortified the surrounding settlements in the area around Boston. By the late spring of 1775, there were still two sites in particular that were vulnerable to British artillery fire. Those were Dorchester Heights to the south of Boston, and the hills of Charlestown to the north across the Charles River. Dorchester Heights and Charlestown are both part of Boston today, but at the time they were not. They were separate settlements. And the landscape around Boston was also a lot different. The area that's called Back Bay today was an actual bay, and Boston and Charlestown were peninsulas kind of facing each other, and each of them connected to the surrounding land by a narrow neck.
- [07:35]
Holly Fry
British general Thomas Gage intended to seize both Dorchester Heights and Charlestown in an effort to weaken the colonists uprising. Colonial forces found out about this plan and decided to fortify Bunker Hill in Charlestown, which was the tallest hill in the area. For unclear reasons, the militia started fortifying Breed's Hill instead. This may have just been a misunderstanding, since these hills were known by multiple names, and Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill are basically next to each other. The colonial forces built a redoubt, basically a ditch with a wall made from the earth dug out of it during the night of June 16, 1775. That was followed by a chest high fortification called a breastwork off to the side. Building these kinds of fortifications was one of the strengths of the colonial militias, since many of them were, were farmers and they were very used to this kind of manual labor.
- [08:35]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah, there are several different battles where the British were like, where did this fort come from?
- [08:41]
Holly Fry
How'd you do that?
- [08:42]
Tracy V. Wilson
Wasn't here yesterday. When the sun came up on June 17, the British quickly realized what was Happening on the hill, British General William Howe sent troops to attack the fortification and to try to take the hill. That hill was defended by forces led by Colonel William Prescott.
- [09:01]
Holly Fry
A couple of questionable details have become part of the lore around this battle. One is that the colonial volunteers were told to hold their fire until they could see the whites of the British soldiers eyes. This saying actually predates this battle and its connection to Bunker Hill was apparently popularized by Mason Locke Weems, the same person who invented the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree.
- [09:30]
Tracy V. Wilson
Another bit of lore is about the first fatality, which is often cited as being Asa Pollard of Billreka, who was struck in the head by a cannonball that was fired from a ship anchored in the harbor during an initial bombardment. So before the fighting had really started, he was decapitated to the absolute horror of the men around him. Some of those men fled because they were so terrified. There are some inconsistencies in the accounts of this. There are multiple accounts of somebody being struck in the head by a cannonball, but articles definitively saying that it was Asa Pollard did not appear until around the 50th anniversary of the battle.
- [10:11]
Holly Fry
Regardless of these sort of problematic and incorrect pieces of lore, the colonial militia successfully defended Breed's Hill against two advances by the British army. But by the third advance, the men defending the hill were exhausted and they were running out of ammunition. The British force also received reinforcements while the American force did not. So the remaining defenders retreated and the British captured the hill.
- [10:40]
Tracy V. Wilson
By that point a lot of Charlestown had been destroyed. Most of its population had already fled, leaving only about 200 people there and a lot of empty buildings. General Howe ordered Charlestown to be burned when it became clear that colonial militia were using the rooftops and the windows of abandoned into buildings as vantage points to fire on the British.
- [11:02]
Holly Fry
So the Battle of Bunker Hill was a loss for the colonies, but most sources frame it as a Pyrrhic victory for the British. About 450Americans were killed, wounded or captured, compared to 1,054 on the British side. That included 19 officers. The British also faced disproportionately greater losses than the Americans. There were about 2,200 colonial militia at the battle and 3,000 from the British army.
- [11:31]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yes, there were more on the British side, but not enough to account for the difference in the casualty numbers. After this encounter, the British dropped their plan to try to capture Dorchester Heights, and that remained unclaimed and undefended until the Continental army took possession of it in March of 1776 and then brought up some cannons they had captured at Fort at Fort Ticonderoga that ultimately led to the British evacuation from Boston on March 17th of that year. That's now celebrated annually in Boston and other parts of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, as Evacuation Day.
- [12:10]
Holly Fry
The battle also had an impact on the colonists and on the Continental army, which was established on June 14, 1775. In the speech he gave at the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument after it was completed, Daniel Webster summed those impacts up this way. It was the first great battle of the Revolution, and not only the first blow, but the blow which determined the contest. It did not indeed put an end to the war, but in the then existing hostile state of feeling, the difficulties could only be referred to the arbitration of the sword. And one thing is certain, that after the New England troops had shown themselves able to face and repulse the regulars, it was decided that peace never could be established but upon the basis of the independence of the colonies. When the sun of that day went down, the event of independence was no longer doubtful. In a few days, Washington heard of the battle and he inquired if the militia had stood the fire of the regulars. When told that they had not only stood that fire, but reserved their own till the enemy was within eight rods and then poured it in with tremendous effect. Then exclaimed he, the liberties of the country are safe. The consequences of this battle were just of the same importance as the revolution itself.
- [13:33]
Tracy V. Wilson
We will get to the consequences after a sponsor break.
- [13:40]
Jennie Garth
This is Jenny Garth from I Choose Me with Jennie Garth. You know, history is full of surprising little details. And laundry turns out it's got its own fascinating story too, because not all detergents are created equal. Tide Liquid Laundry detergent isn't just clean, it's boosted clean for cleaner, whiter, brighter and fresher results compared to Tide simply. And those stubborn stains that always seem to show up at the worst times. Tide tackles 100% of common stains for every load every time. Now, if grease is your nemesis, think food spills, cooking splatters. Tide's got 10 times grease fighting ingredients compared to bargain brands. And it works in a machine, in any water condition on all your machine washable fabrics, it's no wonder. Tide was America's number one detergent in sales last year. So if it's gotta be clean and it's gotta be fresh, it's gotta be Tide. Shop now at your local retailer. Tide is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app. And everywhere podcasts are heard these days,
- [14:57]
Jana Kramer
it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with Okta you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent, secure any agent. Okta secures AI mom, are we there yet?
- [15:29]
Jennie Garth
10 more minutes.
- [15:30]
Tracy V. Wilson
Only 10 minutes.
- [15:31]
Holly Fry
Can you drive slower?
- [15:32]
Tracy V. Wilson
What's up with them today? Lingokids, that app we downloaded last week.
- [15:37]
Jennie Garth
They love it.
- [15:38]
Tracy V. Wilson
The games, this funny baby bot character. Kids, we're almost there.
- [15:42]
Mistr Representative
No.
- [15:44]
Tracy V. Wilson
With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows little ones can't get enough of, Lingokids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids. Why didn't we download this sooner?
- [15:54]
Jennie Garth
Lingokids everything kids love. Download it for free.
- [15:58]
Mistr Representative
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- [16:53]
Dr. Joy
This is Dr. Joy from Therapy for Black Girls. If you could enjoy a spotless space without so much scrubbing, wouldn't you? Of course you would. Well, I've got you. Dawn Power Wash Dish spray cuts through the mess and gets everything clean in half the time. We're talking about both the toughest messes and everyday dishes. Plus its work goes beyond the sink, like to clean counters, stoves, grills and to remove stains on laundry. And it's really good at getting those hard to clean dishes. So basically, Dawn Power Wash cleans everything from dishes to grills, removing all the grease and grime and does it twice as fast. Not bad. You can find Dawn Power Wash Dish Spray at your favorite retailer. Dawn is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry, advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. And we'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of this year's deserving honorees. You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.
- [18:01]
Tracy V. Wilson
The Battle of Bunker Hill lasted for about two hours, but the Revolutionary War continued for eight years until the Treaty of Paris of 1783. Some time passed. Then in 1794, King Solomon's Lodge, which is a Masonic lodge that still exists today, erected a monument to honor their Masonic brother and grandmaster, Dr. Joseph Warren, who had died in the battle. Warren was second General in command of the Massachusetts forces, but he fought on the front lines of the battle alongside the regular volunteer militia. This monument was shaped like a pillar with an urn on the top, and it was placed at the approximate site on Breed's Hill where Warren was killed.
- [18:46]
Holly Fry
At first there wasn't much discussion of some kind of other Bunker Hill monument, But in the 1820s, people around the US started becoming more interested in the Revolutionary War and in battles that had taken place near where they lived. By then, even the youngest veterans of the war were getting into their 60s. People wanted to honor them and to preserve their memories of the war before they died. Also, The War of 1812 had ended in 1815, and it had been controversial and divisive. Some people thought commemorating the Revolution could bolster patriotism and unity in the wake of that later conflicted war. The 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was in 1826, and of course there were other 50th anniversaries related to the Revolutionary War before and after that, so people were also just interested in building monuments and planning commemorations throughout this period.
- [19:45]
Tracy V. Wilson
In Charlestown, someone who owned part of the Bunker Hill battlefield planned to sell it. The Bunker Hill Monument association was formed in 1823 to purchase this land and preserve the battlefield, as well as to construct a monument and to maintain the tradition of commemorating the battle. Every June 17, the association took out a loan to buy 15 acres of the battlefield site in 1824 and then raised funds to repay that loan and to start construction on a monument.
- [20:17]
Holly Fry
King Solomon's Lodge also donated their original monument and the land that it was on with the understanding that their monument would be represented somehow at the new monument. It had fallen into disrepair already, so it couldn't just be left standing. There is a model of that monument in the bottom of the Bunker Hill monument today.
- [20:39]
Tracy V. Wilson
In 1825, a call went out for artists to submit proposals for the monument's design. The winner was Horatio Greenow, who would go on to become one of the first American sculptors to attain international recognition. He would also do some controversial commissions for the federal government. I feel like that's a whole other story. The Monument association had planned for it to be shaped like a pillar, but Greenough's design was an obelisk, as he said in his memoirs. Quote, the obelisk has to my eye a singular aptitude in its form and character to call attention to a spot memorable in history. It says but one word, but it speaks loud. If I understand its voice, it says here, it says no more.
- [21:27]
Holly Fry
The Marquis de Lafayette laid the monument's cornerstone at a ceremony on the 50th anniversary of the battle. On an earlier visit to the battlefield, he had called it, quote, where the blood of American patriots early and gloriously spilled, aroused the energy of three millions and secured the happiness of ten millions and of many other millions of men in times to come. So, side note, the Marquis de Lafayette was another Freemason. And another side note, he collected soil from the battlefield during that earlier visit and his son sprinkled it on his grave after Lafayette died in 1834.
- [22:09]
Tracy V. Wilson
In 1825, Solomon Willard was hired to be the architect and superintendent of the monument. A plan evolved for the obelisk to have a spiral staircase on the inside and to be built from granite quarried from Quincy, Massachusetts, 11 miles away. These granite blocks were transported to to the Neponsett river by one of the first horse drawn railways in the U.S. it was the first known to operate commercially and then they were carried the rest of the way by ship.
- [22:41]
Holly Fry
This project ran out of money repeatedly. Part of the battlefield was sold off in the 1830s because of a lack of funds. Their first wave of Construction built 85ft of obelisk out of a planned 200. And then it stopped. The obelisk just sat there, not quite half finished, for about a year and a half. There were repeated fundraisers, including a donation drive that was specifically aimed at women and children hoping they would donate the small amounts of money they had.
- [23:14]
Tracy V. Wilson
In 1840, Sarah Josepha Hale organized a ladies fair at Faneuil Hall Market, which is now known as Quincy Market. Hale was already a big part of the fundraising efforts. Especially it came to those ones that were aimed at getting women and children to donate small amounts. And her efforts were pretty controversial. There were people who thought that women had no right to give money from their household funds which really belonged to their husbands. Although charitable women's fairs already existed, some people thought this one in particular was unseemly because the women were raising money for a war monument, not doing something like helping the poor. In spite of all this, over the course of September 10th through 15th of 1840, this fair raised more than $30,000. That was about a quarter of the money that was still needed. And that success inspired a couple of other major donations, along with a lot of smaller fundraising efforts.
- [24:14]
Holly Fry
The Bunker Hill Monument was finally completed in 1842, 17 years after Lafayette had laid that first cornerstone. At 221ft, it was the tallest monument in the US until the creation of the Washington Monument that wouldn't be completed until 1884. There are 294 steps inside leading up to the top.
- [24:37]
Tracy V. Wilson
The Bunker Hill Monument was dedicated on June 17, 1843. On the 68th anniversary of the battle. Daniel Webster, again another Freemason, gave its dedication speech. And that speech makes it clear that the monument already was not just about the battle. He called the monument a shrine to liberty and said, quote, it brings to our contemplation on 17 June, 1775, and the consequences which have resulted to us to our country and to the world from the events of that day, and which we know must continue to rain influence on the destinies of mankind to the end of time. The elevation with which it raises us high above the ordinary feelings of life surpass all that the study of the closet or even the inspiration of genius can produce today. It speaks to us. Its future auditories will be the successive generations of men as they rise up before it and gather around it. Its speech will be of patriotism and courage, of civil and religious liberty, of free government, of the moral improvement and elevation of mankind, and of the immortal memory of those who with heroic devotion have sacrificed their lives for their country.
- [26:00]
Holly Fry
Later he said, let us remember that we have duties and obligations to perform corresponding to the blessings which we enjoy. Let us remember the trust, the sacred trust attaching to the rich inheritance which we have received from our fathers. Let us feel our personal responsibility to the full extent of our power and influence for the preservation of the principles of civil and religious liberty. And let us remember that it is only religion and morals and knowledge that can make men respectable and happy under any form of government. Let us hold fast the great truth that communities are responsible as well as individuals, that no government is respectable, which is not just. That without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity and honor, no mere forms of government, no machinery of laws can give dignity to political society. In our day and generation. Let us seek to raise and improve the moral sentiments so that we may look not for a degraded, but for an elevated and improved future. And when both we and our children shall have been consigned to the house appointed for all living, May love of country and pride of country glow with equal fervor among those to whom our names and our blood shall have descended. And then, when honored and decrepit age shall lean against the base of this monument, and troops of ingenuous youth shall be gathered around it. And when the one shall speak to the other of its objects, the purposes of its construction, and the great and glorious events with which it is connected, There shall rise from every youthful breast the ejaculation. Thank God I. I also am an American.
- [27:51]
Tracy V. Wilson
It's obviously an intensely patriotic work, but also one that's basically like, this work isn't done yet. We must all carry it on with us. Other work at the monument, meaning physical work, not sort of the moral work of the country, followed afterward, Including a statue of Joseph Warren installed in 1857, and one of Colonel William Prescott. In 1881, a Greek Revival style lodge was built next to the monument to act as both a museum and a place to sell tickets to climb up those interior steps. With that money helping to pay for the monument's ongoing maintenance and upkeep, that lodge was finished in 1903.
- [28:35]
Holly Fry
In 1919, the Bunker Hill Monument association handed the Monument Lodge and grounds over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston National Historical park was established in 1974, and the monument was transferred to the National Park Service. A year later, the Bunker Hill Museum opened in a building across the street from the monument. In 2007, that building had been home to the Charlestown branch of the Boston Public Library, which had moved to a new location. Some of the displays and dioramas that had been in the lodge moved into
- [29:11]
Tracy V. Wilson
the new museum on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1857, years after the monument completion, Edward Everett, one of the founders of the Monument association, gave a speech. He talked about the Battle of Bunker Hill and the growing division between the north and the south, and his hope for the Union to be preserved. And he also talked about the monument's meaning beyond just commemorating that one battle quote we borrowed the form of the monument from the structures of ancient Egypt, but we did not intend that it should stand like the obelisks and pyramids, a silent mystery to the successive generations that gaze upon them. We wished that from time to time there should go forth a faithful record of the glorious event and of the all important principles to which the monument is consecrated. And while the majestic shaft itself from the clouds to which it towers, shall address its solemn eloquence to the eye, that the pen and voice to the end of time should interpret its illustrious significance to the understanding and the heart. I would say I don't know that he thoroughly understands the purpose of ancient Egyptian monuments and structures, but he is again saying that this is a monument for works and ideas that are continuing.
- [30:36]
Holly Fry
We will get to this idea and how it manifested after we pause for a sponsor break.
- [30:45]
Jennie Garth
This is Jenny Garth from I Choose Me with Jennie Garth. You know, history is full of surprising little details. And laundry Turns out it's got its own fascinating story too, because not all detergents are created equal. Tide Liquid Laundry detergent isn't just clean, it's boosted clean for cleaner, whiter, brighter and fresher results compared to Tide simply and those stubborn stains that always seem to show up at the worst times. Tide tackles 100% of common stains for every load every time. Now, if grease is your nemesis, think food spills, cooking splatters. Tide's got 10 times grease fighting ingredients compared to bargain brands. And it works in a machine in any water condition on all your machine washable fabrics. It's no wonder Tide was America's number one detergent in sales last year. So if it's gotta be clean and it's gotta be fresh, it's gotta be Tide. Shop now at your local retailer. Tide is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry, advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app. And everywhere podcasts are heard these days,
- [32:02]
Jana Kramer
it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise. With Okta, you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. Okta secures AI this is Jana Kramer
- [32:34]
Jennie Garth
from Wind down with Jana Kramer. Hey, quick question for the parents listening right now. When's the last time your kid asked for something and you you actually felt good saying yes? Because lately a lot of families have been hearing the same thing. Can I have Lingokids please? And here's the thing. Lingokids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids with more than 4, 000 interactive games, songs and shows. Astronauts, wild animals, superheroes, dinosaurs. It's literally everything kids love all in one place. So when they ask for it, you can actually feel good saying yes. Download Lingokids for free and start exploring today. Or unlock even more amazing content with LingoKids Plus. And if you go with the yearly plan, you can save up to 60%. Search lingokids in the App Store or Google Play. Lingokids Everything Kids Love did you know
- [33:23]
Mistr Representative
you can get your prep for free? Prep is a once daily peel that's up to 99% effective at preventing the transmission of HIV. Mistr makes it easy and free to get started all online. No doctor's office, no paperwork. They also provide free Doxy pep, a simple antibiotic you take after sex to help prevent certain STIs. Kind of like morning after pill for STIs. Whether you have insurance or not, mistr's got you covered in three easy steps. One, sign up at mistr.com two. Consult with a licensed doctor online and three, complete your at home testing kit. Then your medication is delivered discreetly right to your door. It's safe, easy and completely judgment free. Protect yourself and protect each other. Sign up@mstr.com today.
- [34:17]
Dr. Joy
This is Dr. Joy from Therapy for Black Girls. If you could enjoy a spotless space without so much scrubbing, wouldn't you? Of course you would. Well, I've got you. Dawn Power Wash Dish Spray cuts through the mess and gets everything clean in half the time. We're talking about both the toughest messes and everyday dishes. Plus, its work goes beyond the sink. Like to clean counters, stoves, grills and to remove stains on laundry. And it's really good at getting those hard to clean dishes. So basically, Dawn Power Wash cleans everything from dishes to grills, removing all the grease and grime and does it twice as fast. Not bad. You can find Dawn Powerwash Dish spray at your favorite retailer. Dawn is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry, advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. And we like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of this year's deserving honorees. You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.
- [35:26]
Tracy V. Wilson
To my knowledge, the panels that I saw when visiting the Bunker hill monument on June 6, 2026 are still up now 10 days later as we are recording this on Friday, June 12, which is now four days ago. As of this recording, United States District Judge Angel Kelly forbade the Department of the Interior and the Park Service from taking any further action Implement the Secretary of the Interior's Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History order at National Park Sites. So they are not supposed to be taking things down at the National Parks anymore pending further court work. So this is the second time that I have written an entire episode of this podcast about material being removed from the national parks and then the legal situation surrounding that material has changed in between writing it and recording it, and I have had to go in and make additions and changes. We are still going to talk about these panels though, even though as far as I know, unless something else changes legally, they are not currently at risk of being removed because again, this whole episode was already written when that happened. Some of what is on the panels is the kind of material that people would probably expect at this kind of monument. There's a quote from the Bunker Hill Monument association about the monument, and that is paired with a painting by John Trumbull depicting the death of Joseph Warren. There's information about the original memorial that was raised by King Solomon's Lodge about the formation of the Bunker Hill Monument association, how long it took to build the monument and how expensive it was. There is a quote from Sarah Josepha Hale about raising those funds. But the panels are not just about the battle and the building of the monument. The way that the room is laid out, the panel that a person would probably walk past first on the way to go climb all those steps ends quote Today, more than 250 years later, you are visiting the legacy of many generations since they came here to build, create, retell and challenge stories about the Battle of Bunker Hill and the creation of the United States of America.
- [37:49]
Holly Fry
The challenges start on the very next panel with a quote from Caleb Stark, whose name is shown as Caleb Strong on the banner. Caleb Stark was only 16 years old and too young to serve in the militia, but he ran away from home to do it anyway. After the battle of Bunker Hill, he spent the next eight years in the continental army. After the war was over, Stark got married and had children and started advocating for the rights of veterans.
- [38:19]
Tracy V. Wilson
By this point, a lot of veterans viewed the revolutionary war as a whole string of broken promises and unmet obligations on the part of the government. Some soldiers were promised land in lieu of back pay, and they never received it. The first pension programs applied only to soldiers who had served in the continental army, not in the militias or. Or the state regiments. That way more people served in. While there was some state and federal support for impoverished and disabled veterans, the first really broad pension program applying to all veterans was the pension act of 1832 that was passed almost 50 years after the end of the revolutionary war, after a lot of those veterans had already died. Stark's own land grant came through only after a lawsuit against the government that ended in 1828. To my knowledge, Stark was not focused on the rights of the enslaved people who had volunteered, thinking that it would help free them. But that is another thing that was going on. Regardless, though, Stark thought that all of that stuff that I just said about broken promises and missed payments and all of that, he thought that was not right. So when he was elected to the Bunker Hill monument association, he refused to join.
- [39:41]
Holly Fry
In his letter to the association, he wrote, quote, I have powerful national objections to the adoption of this project for the following reasons. First, those who made this notable stand on this sanguinary hill have almost all passed to those shades where military honors are not more highly appreciated than they have been in the United States. Secondly, the actors in this bloody scene, the revolutionary war, after having performed their part in a manner perhaps unparalleled in ancient or modern history, were refused by the government the rewards that were so solemnly promised in the hour of the most critical danger. And while the government has found ways and means to satisfy all other legal and many illegal demands, they still continue a deaf ear to the crying demands for justice claimed by the disbanded officer and soldier. And now, sir, in room of giving them the bread that was solemnly promised. The debt is to be paid by a stone.
- [40:45]
Tracy V. Wilson
Stark was not alone in these feelings. During that period when the monument stood half finished, it really became emblematic of the unpaid soldiers and the unfulfilled promises. Today, in the exhibit in the lodge at Bunker Hill, an abridged version of this quote ending in the part about it being paid in a stone, is juxtaposed with information about the King Solomon's lodge monument and the building of the One that still stands today at Bunker Hill. When they were built, both of these monuments were really criticized as being a big waste of money, especially given all of that about the veterans.
- [41:21]
Holly Fry
Another panel at the monument pairs a quote from Daniel Webster's 1843 dedication oration with one from a letter published in William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator, that was published in 1846. Webster's quote describes the monument as, quote, a memorial of the last and a monitor to the present and to all succeeding generations. The quote from the letter in the Liberator, written by G.B. stebbins, is one of the ones ordered to be removed. It reads, quote, as we drew near to Boston, there stood Bunker Hill Monument towering up towards the heavens as if in silent, bitter mockery of the millions of slaves guarded by the professed lovers of liberty who reared its lofty column.
- [42:10]
Tracy V. Wilson
This letter was written only three years after the monument was completed, but before the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the US except in punishment for a crime. So within three years of the monument's completion, abolitionists were talking about the contrast between the Bunker Hill Monument as a monument to the freedom of the Revolution and the freedom that was denied to the nation's enslaved, which is reflected in this panel in the Lodge.
- [42:38]
Holly Fry
Another of the quotes to be removed from the monument was published in an Irish Catholic newspaper called the Pilot that was printed in Boston on May 8, 1875. This followed an address that George William Curtis had given on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Curtis had been an abolitionist and was a supporter of women's suffrage and he also advocated for the rights of black and indigenous people. But he had anti Catholic and anti immigrant views, and in this address he criticized the changes that he thought immigration was causing in the United States. He said, quote, this enormous influx of foreigners has added an immense ignorance and entire unfamiliarity with Republican ideas and habits to the voting class. He claimed that newcomers to the US had no connection with the revolution or its ideals.
- [43:33]
Tracy V. Wilson
This piece published in the Pilot, which was published by the Archdiocese of Boston, was in response to this. The quote on display in the lodge at Bunker Hill reads, quote, now that a public orator has declared that foreign born men have no association with the men of the Revolution, it is our duty to show that in love of freedom and loyalty to the republic, the citizens of foreign birth take no second place.
- [44:02]
Holly Fry
This piece went on to say that Curtis's newspaper was known to publish malevolent attacks on foreign born citizens and had a record for attacking Catholics and Irish people. It called Curtis, quote, too small in heart and brain to grasp the significance of the centennial before going on to say, quote, a full grown adult man would exult in the vast power of the 100 year republic, would proudly point to the world's ships steering westward, laden with strong men, foreign men like the fathers of those who drove the British from Concord. Such a man would find hope and power in the thought that our generous country is great enough to take to her breast the people of all races and creeds, there to live in peace and goodwill.
- [44:48]
Tracy V. Wilson
The writer of this piece did not really make note of all the people who fought on the side of the Revolution in spite of not being born in North America. People like the Marquis de Lafayette, who's come up a bunch in this episode, and Casimir Pulaski, who we just talked about on the show, and all of the other European military men who joined the fight. Something we talked about in that Casimir Pulaski episode, and just people who were immigrants before the revolution started. He did note that there were many men of foreign birth who fought for the Union during the Civil War, including the Irish brigades.
- [45:25]
Holly Fry
By the time Curtis gave this oration and the response was printed in the Pilot, Charlestown had a large and growing Irish Catholic population, many of whom had immigrated to the United States in the wake of the Great Famine. The annual observance of the Bunker Hill anniversary was becoming interconnected with Irish identity and pride in the neighborhood. In 1875, Irish American Catholics explicitly put out a call for Irish people to take part in the procession that took place at Bunker Hill that year, solidifying this tradition through the 19th and into the 20th century.
- [46:02]
Tracy V. Wilson
The panel containing this quote from the Pilot also shares a quote from Lucy Stone, which I think is the quote that provoked this whole investigation, but was not actually slated to be taken down. It reads, quote, the battle is celebrated for the justice of the cause, which, because it was just trust, was triumphant. The woman's suffrage battle is like that of Bunker Hill. Not one today, but sure to be later. Meantime, Bunker Hill Monument is our monument.
- [46:34]
Holly Fry
The third quote ordered for removal from the monument is from a letter printed in the Boston Globe. It was written by Arthur Johnson and Bester Cram, New England coordinators of the Vietnam Veterans against the War, and it reads, quote, we find upon reflection that our duty to our country has not ended. We as Vietnam veterans feel strongly that the United States should cease to build memorials to death and begin to glorify life.
- [47:02]
Tracy V. Wilson
So there's an ellipsis in that quote and Part of what is left out is just before that last part of the statement, and it says, quote, later this month, this country celebrates Memorial Day, a day which commemorates all American war dead. It's after saying that that they say that the United States should stop building memorials to death and instead glorify life. Elsewhere in the letter, Johnson and Cram also wrote, quote, we find in retrospect that what we believed to be patriotism was in fact a disservice to humanity.
- [47:36]
Holly Fry
This letter was printed on May 23, 1971, days before Vietnam Veterans against the War held a protest in Massachusetts. More than 200 people marched from Lexington and Concord to the Bunker Hill Monument, essentially following the reverse route of Paul Revere's famous ride. They camped overnight at the monument, with the protest ending on May 31, which was memorial Day.
- [48:03]
Tracy V. Wilson
This protest was deliberately intended to draw parallels between the American Revolution and the march in the ideas behind was called Operation pow, based on the idea that in the context of the ongoing Vietnam War, all Americans were prisoners of war. Organizers also made a lot of connections between the American occupation of Vietnam and the British occupation of North America before and during the Revolutionary War.
- [48:32]
Holly Fry
On the display at the monument, the quote from the Boston Globe appears alongside one from journalist and civil rights advocate William Monroe Trotters Bunker Hill day address from 1925. And that quote reads, quote, colored Americans were here that day fighting with other patriots, our own ancestors of whom we are justly proud and on whom we base our claim for full liberty and equality as citizens. There is also a photo of the protesters gathered at the monument on May 30, 1971.
- [49:07]
Tracy V. Wilson
So this is like two different statements with very different perspectives about how to think about veterans, including ones who died in a war. So the last panel that a person would walk past into the obelisk as you're walking through the lodge has a quote from the 2025 Bunker Hill Day address from author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick, whose books include Bunker A City, A Siege, A Revolution, which was published in 2013. And then at the bottom of the panel, there's a statement that, to me, really ties together what all of the other panels in this exhibit are doing. It reads, quote, as you prepare to climb the monument or simply take in the views from the ground, consider the many voices this monument echoes. What voice might you add today as a message to future generations?
- [49:58]
Holly Fry
And to be clear, the voices from these panels are not the only ones that have been part of the legacy of protest and advocacy and involvement that has surrounded the Bunker Hill Monument. Over the last 250 plus years. There is also an online exhibit at the National Park Service website called Bunker Hill Memory that includes more information about all of these quotes that we've discussed along with a number of others. And it discusses what the monument has meant over the years and the concept of historical memory, quote, the ways that people understand and interpret their shared past.
- [50:35]
Tracy V. Wilson
So beyond that, beyond what is part of the exhibition there in the lodge and online, Just as some other examples, in the 1970s, Boston faced a court order to integrate its school system. And that was being done through busing. A lot of the anti busing protests were ostensibly about keeping children in their local neighborhood schools. But there was often an underlying threat of racism in these arguments. On September 8, 1975, protesters against the busing of black students rallied at Bunker Hill. There was explicit racism involved, including burning an effigy of a black student. But demonstrators at this protest still tied what they were doing to the ideals of freedom and liberty. In this case, they were arguing that it was the freedom to control where their children went to school and who they went to school with.
- [51:28]
Holly Fry
In 1998, a protest against a newly passed gun control law in Massachusetts also took place in Bunker Hill. This law banned the sale of 25 types of military style assault weapons. It set greater penalties for certain gun crimes, and it prohibited people with felony convictions from getting a gun license, as well as other reforms. Organizers said Bunker Hill was chosen as the protest site because it was symbolic of Americans defending their freedoms.
- [52:00]
Tracy V. Wilson
That same year, a public art installation at the Bunker Hill Monument also drew intense controversy. Artist Kristoff Wishko filmed family members talking about the loss of their loved ones due to street violence in Charlestown. He filmed these family members from below and then he projected this video at the top of the monument and it was accompanied by 16 minute audio loop of their interviews.
- [52:26]
Holly Fry
From the 1970s to the 1990s, Charlestown had an alarmingly high murder rate. And a code of silence meant that most of these cases went unsolved. Among the interviewees was Sandra King, whose sons Chris and Jay were both murdered several years apart. She described being devastated and almost unable to get out of bed when Chris was murdered. But when Jay was murdered, it was, quote, the murder heard round the world. She said she would never stop fighting for justice for him.
- [52:58]
Tracy V. Wilson
People involved with this art installation also tied it to the idea of freedom. There was the freedom of speech for the installation itself. And Marty Blatt, supervisory historian for Boston National Historical park, was quoted as saying, quote, what could be more symbolic of freedom than these women who have lost their loved ones. It was the ultimate denial of freedom to have no one come forward. This was the most extraordinary moment I've ever seen in public art. The artist also said that he felt that these women were as brave for speaking out as the volunteers who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. One of the reasons this installation was so controversial was that the residents of Charlestown thought that it was basically airing their dirty laundry. There is more information about this installation at the National Park Service website for the Bunker hill Monument.
- [53:52]
Holly Fry
In 2003, historian Sarah J. Purcell published a paper in the Public Historian about the monument and this installation, and in it she says something that also runs parallel to the exhibit currently installed at the lodge, writing quote, the meaning of a monument is never fixed, but rather is always determined by an intersection of architectural intentions, viewer reactions, and historical interpretation. The Bunker Hill Monument has been a site of dialogue between past and present, local and national, male and female partisanship and impartiality almost since its inception before
- [54:32]
Tracy V. Wilson
we get to listener mail, I just want to shout out to the folks at the National Park Service who created this installation and its online exhibit back in 2023. I'm truly indebted to them both for inspiring this episode and for the exhibits themselves. In the creation of this episode, I found the whole exhibit really thought provoking in a way that I don't often find in these kinds of exhibits and also just thanks to the rangers who were there when I went. Both of the ranger talks that I saw were very enjoyable and informative.
- [55:04]
Holly Fry
Three cheers to the National Park Service.
- [55:06]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah, I have listener mail from Martha.
- [55:10]
Dr. Joy
Great.
- [55:11]
Tracy V. Wilson
Martha said some very kind things in the first paragraph and I'm just gonna to skip over them because I feel self congratulatory trying to read them out loud and then said the other prompting episode was on the history of the iud. The references to camels and stones brought to mind the practice of putting a sterile glass marble in a mare's uterus to suppress estrus coming into heat as a method of reducing marish behavior that can accompany estrus. This technique carries several risks and there are other methods of behavioral management. I am not a proponent of the marble technique, but your mention of the camel stones made me wonder if there may be some camel based story behind the development of the practice. Before I close, I wish to add one more thing. Some time ago you had a discussion regarding camping versus Marriott. In my book it's definitely hotel and the more stars the better. My questions during a vacation should be pool or ocean and restaurant or room service. Turn down service with chocolates on the pillow adds just the right touch. Insert laughing emoji here for pet tats. Here are two photos of my 13 year old dog, Tiva. I did not try to figure out how to pronounce that, so I hope it was correct. In one he proudly holds a street find a piece of cardboard. The other he's enjoying some sunshine in the yard. Thank you for your podcast. Sincerely, Martha. We have very cute dog pictures puppers. I had not heard that there was this practice of putting a sterile glass marble into the uterus of a mare. And that makes me wonder if there is maybe more to this whole camel stone story. Yeah, than I gave it credit for.
- [56:55]
Holly Fry
Yeah, maybe.
- [56:55]
Tracy V. Wilson
Who can say maybe. So thank you so much Martha for writing to us about this. We will talk more about the Bunker Hill Monument on Friday. If you would like to send us a Note, we're@historypodcastheartradio.com if you want to see our show. Notes including links thanks to all of these things that we used as research today and all that stuff from the National Park Service. We are at mystinhistory.com and you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere else you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app and Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
- [57:44]
Holly Fry
Living with a rare autoimmune condition brings uncertainty, but it can also create community. In season six of Untold Life with a severe autoimmune condition, they go beyond MG and cidp as host Martine Hackett welcomes stories from other conditions like myositis and IgAN into the conversation. Untold Stories is produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Argenics. Listen to Untold Life with a severe autoimmune condition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving
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Tracy V. Wilson
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Holly Fry
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Tracy V. Wilson
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Holly Fry
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Tracy V. Wilson
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Tracy V. Wilson
iheartradio big transfer news today. Who's moving me to the couch with Domino's? Best deal ever since they just hit added stuffed crust.
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Holly Fry
Any pizza, Any toppings? Now with stuffed crust for 9.99.
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Tracy V. Wilson
It's a long term contract with no
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Holly Fry
Release clause only 9.99? Yeah, that sounds like the move. I'm heading straight to dom.
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Tracy V. Wilson
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Holly Fry
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Jennie Garth
10 more minutes.
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Tracy V. Wilson
Only 10 minutes.
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Holly Fry
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Tracy V. Wilson
What's up with them today?
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Jennie Garth
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Tracy V. Wilson
That app we downloaded last week.
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Jennie Garth
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Tracy V. Wilson
Kids, we're almost there.
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Tracy V. Wilson
With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows little ones can't get enough of, Lingokids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids. Why didn't we download this sooner? Mango cakes.
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Jennie Garth
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- [60:34]
Tracy V. Wilson
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