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2.22.25 - Parts 1 · Children's Hour

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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Reis Story Hour as a Reminder,
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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are of other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Today we will be reading from various books
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on Abe Lincoln. Your reader today is Diane. Our first
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story is called Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig. It
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was published by a ladin Paperbacks, an imprint of Simon
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and Schuster, and it has a copyright year of two
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thousand and two. The author of our book is Stephen Krinsky.
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Young Abe Lincoln was in a hurry most of the time,
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and days were filled with farm chores or odd jobs.
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But today was different. Today he was going to town
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to give a big speech. Abe liked to make speeches.
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He hadn't had much schooling, less than a year altogether,
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but he knew loss of story. The things I want
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to know are in books, he said. My best friend
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is the man who'll get me a book, and I
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haven't read. Abe also loved to learn to spell big words.
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Even before he had used use for them, he just
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stored them up like a squirrel saving nuts for winter.
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Abe got dressed and gave his thick hair a brushing,
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then he straightened up to his full height six feet
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four inches in his stocking feet, Abe was hard to
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miss in a crowd. His father called him the awkwardest
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fellow that had ever stepped over a ten rail fence.
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Abe patted the sleeve of his new suit, the first
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one he had ever owned. Mostly he wore a home
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sponge shirt and a pair of buckskin pants that never
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quite steam long enough to catch up with his ankles.
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Abe had paid for the suit by splitting hundreds of
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wooden fence rails. Nobody in the county could split rails
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like Abe. He knew just how to swing the axe
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and just the right moment to shift his weight for
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the final blow. Abe was handed with lots of tools.
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He knew how to hammer and saw on how to
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cut hay. He could skin the hide of a deer
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or butcher a hog into month of meals. But none
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of that was on his mind as he started out
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for town. He had his speech to think about. Abe's
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long strides covered the ground quickly. Five or ten miles
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was nothing more than a good strow to him. When
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he lived in Indiana, he walked nine miles each way
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to school. One day he walked thirty four miles just
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to hear lawyer give a speech he was curious about.
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Abe hoped his audience today would be curious about his
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words too. As Abe came over a hill, he saw
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a pig rolling in the mug. The pig was grunting
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and snorting up a storm. At first, day thought the
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pig was playing. You're having a fine time for yourself,
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he said, But then he watched more closely he realized
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that the pig was struggling. I do believe you're stuck,
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said Abe. The pig only snorted and wriggled some more.
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Now Abe didn't like to see any animal suffer. When
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he was eight, he shot and killed a wild turkey
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outside his cabin. Seeing that dead bird had left a
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funny feeling in his stomach. After that, he gave up hunting,
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and he always spoke right up if anyone was cruel
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to an animal, even just stepping on an ant. Of course,
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nobody was planning to step on the pig, and his
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life wasn't in danger either. It just looked scared and alone.
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I am sorry, young pig, said Abe, but I cannot
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come to your rescue. I am wearing my new suit
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and I have to give a speech in less than
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an hour. Abe stepped around the mudhoe and moved on.
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He tried to put the pig out of his mind.
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His speech was what mattered. He thought about all the
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people who would be coming to listen to him. Keep
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thinking about that speech, he told himself, But it did
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no good. His thoughts kept reach turning to the poor
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little pig. Finally, Abe stopped in his tracks. A pig
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might not be a person, but it still deserved his help.
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Abe sighed and returned to the mud hole. The pig
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was still there, easy, said Abe. We'll have you out
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in two shakes. Now, Abe was a champion wrestler. Folks
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reckoned him, maybe the best wrestler they had ever seen.
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But the pig didn't know that. It didn't realize Abe
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was only trying to help. So what put up a
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pretty good fight. By the time Abe freed the pig
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from the mud it was hard to tell them apart.
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Abe looked down in his money suit and shook his head.
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But there was no time to go home and change. Besides,
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he didn't have anything better to wear. When Abe got
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to town, he found a crowd gathering in the past
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He had enjoyed standing on a tree stump or a
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fence to talk to other farmers. But this was more
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than just a chat among friends. Abe's audience had come
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to hear him speak about their dreams for the future.
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They were hoping he could put into wards the feelings
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and ideas that couldn't quite they couldn't quite say for themselves.
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Abe's speech was about the river and how important it
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was to their lives. The river provided water, of course,
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and also power to run the grist and sawmills, but
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rivers were also the best way to move goods. The
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country was growing up fast. Abe explained they needed to
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make traveling by rivers safe and secure. That would help
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everyone in the long run. When Abe spoke, he didn't
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shout or make people nervous. He spoke plainly, listing his
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facts one by one and then weaving them together to
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make a point. His hands followed the pace of his words,
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moving in and out of his pockets as he spoke.
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Abe hated when anyone spoke in a way he could
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not understand, so he made sure he didn't talk too fancy.
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The mud on his suit was still there, but nobody
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seemed likely to mention it. People cared more about what
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Abe said than how he looked. People nodded as he
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spoke and clapped when he was done. The speech had
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been a great success. Why even the pigs seemed to
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like it. Our next book is called Long Tall Lincoln,
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and it was published by Harper and in print of
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Harper Collins Publishers. It has a copyright year of two
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thousand and eight and it was written by Jennifer Duzzling
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Abri Graham. Lincoln said to himself he was not a
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pretty man. He was long and tall, his ears stuck out,
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his clothes were usually wrinkled, and his pants were too short.
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Lincoln didn't look like a president. He didn't always act
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like a president either, but that didn't matter. Lincoln acted
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the right way for the country. Most presidents were born rich.
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Lincoln was born in a log cabin. His family was poor,
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and he didn't get to school often. There weren't any
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schools nearby. Instead, Lincoln chopped wood and planted crop. But
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he loved reading on his own. I'd rather read, tell stories,
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crack jokes, talk, laugh, anything but work, he said. A
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speaker came to town when Lincoln was a boy. After
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the man's speech. Lincoln hopped on to a stump and
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pretended to be the speaker. His friends laughed, and Lincoln
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laughed too, But he also found out he liked giving speeches.
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When Lincoln grew up, he had lots of jobs. He
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worked on a boat, he became a soldier. He owned
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a store. It went broke. He was very honest. Once
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he walked miles return a few pennies to a shopper
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he had charged her too much. Lincoln didn't seem like
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a man who would be president one day, but he
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studied hard and became a lawyer. He cared about people
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and about justice. Lawyers gave lots of speeches too. Lincoln
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liked that. One night, at a dance, Lincoln met a
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lady named Mary Todd. Mary was short and round, Lincoln
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was tall and thinned. But they made a good match.
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His heart is as large as his arms are long,
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she said. Mary married Lincoln and they had four sons.
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At that time, in the South, the law let white
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people own black people just as they owned a house
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or a horse. Slaves were forced to work hard, They
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were paid nothing and were often hurt by their owners.
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Northern states wanted to get rid of slavery, but Southern
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states wanted to keep it. Lincoln did not like set slavery.
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If slavery is not wrong, he wrote to a friend,
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nothing is wrong. To change the law, Lincoln had to
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join the government. He won some elections, he lost to
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other elections, but he kept going. His speeches were very good.
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People got to know him. Finally, Lincoln reigned for president.
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He looked funny, he talked like a country boy, but
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people knew that he was honest. He won the election
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and became the President of the United States. Before the election,
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Grace and eleven year old girls sent to Lincoln a letter.
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She had an idea girl a beard. She thought more
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people would vote for him, and she wrote, all the
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ladies like whiskers. Lincoln took Grace's advice and stopped shaving.
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By the time he was sworn in, he had a
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full black beard. One month later, America went to war,
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Northern States against Southern It was a rough time to
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be president. Even as president, even during the Civil War,
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Lincoln kept his humble ways. Lincoln greeted White House guest
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with howdy. He polished his own boots, and kept joke
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books in a desk drawer, but I did not laugh.
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I should die, Lincoln said. Lincoln was president, but he
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didn't always act like one. He wrestled with his sons
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and let them keep lots of pets, a pony, dogs,
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even a turkey. Sometimes his kids broke into important meetings.
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Other presidents might have been mad, not Lincoln. The war
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went on. In eighteen sixty three, Lincoln made a bold
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move that Southern states free their slaves. My name ever
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goes into history, Lincoln said, it will be for this act.
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The South ignored the order, but up north, black men
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joined the army. They were ready to fight for their
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country and freedom. At last, after four long years, the
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South gave up. Slaves were free. Lincoln did not hold
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a grudge. The day after the warri and that he
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asked a band to play Dixie. He knew the song
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meant a lot to the South. When Lincoln was elected,
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many people weren't sure about him. He looked funny and
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talked funny, but people grew to love him. Long tall
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Lincoln became one of America's favorite presidents. How he looked
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did not matter. How he acted did. Our next set
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of books are about famous black Americans and the first
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one is titled Third Good. It was published by Anne
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Schwartz's Books. It has a copyright year of twenty nineteen
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and the author is Jonah Winter. Normally you don't look
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at a sandbox full of toddlers and say, little Jimmy
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there is going to become a world famous lawyer. But
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there was this little boy named Thoroughgood who was all
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by all accounts, a born lawyer. The first evidence, at
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age six, he convinced his parents to legally change his
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name to Third Good. Well, this Third Good character would
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grow up to change more than just his name. He
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would change the law of the land. Here are the
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fics of his case. It's nineteen twenty two, Baltimore. A
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fifteen year old black kid is trained to get on
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a trolley with an armload of a head boxes he
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has to deliver. He accidentally bumps into a white woman.
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A white man calls him a hateful word and shoves
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him off the trolley. The kid, whose dad had taught
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him never to take that kind of abuse, punches the
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man and gets arrested, even though he's just fifteen and
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was acting in self defense. White boss comes to the
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jail and manages to get him released the kid's name
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Thirdgood Marshall for Third Good, such things are just a
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fact of life. Fact. As a black kid growing up
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in America during the nineteen twenties, Third Good was forced
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to attend a black's only school called Colored High School.
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Unlike Baltimore's all white schools, it had no library, gym,
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or cafeteria was so overcrowded that half the students had
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to go in the morning and half in the afternoon. Fact.
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From a classroom window, Good could hear the sounds of
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the white cops beating confessions of the black suspects in
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the police station across the street. This was the world
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he was born into, a world where black people had
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few legal rights. Fact. Third Good Stead worked at jobs
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where he had to serve and bow to white people,
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including a country club that didn't allow black people as members.
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Third Goods saw these jobs hurt his father. He saw
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the rage that boiled inside him. But he also learned
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some things from his dad. He learned about courtrooms and lawyers.
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His father used to take him to trials, and there
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they would sit watching lawyers argue about justice and injustice,
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guilt and innocence, truth and falsehood. Back at home over dinner,
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his dad would engage him in arguments about these trials,
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about the news, about anything. He would raise his voice,
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demand that Third Good back up his points with evidence,
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and Third Good would put it right back to him,
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word for word, point for point, with glee with fire.
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As it turned out, this sloppy kid with untucked shirts
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and ink stained pockets had a knack for arguing. He
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became captain of his high school debate team. Unparalleled in
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his debating and talking skills, he gave epic classroom presentations
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so long that his teach would have to cut him off.
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No one could out talk Third Good, especially once he
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went to college at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where right
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away he made his mark as the loudest talker, funniest
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joke teller, and best arguer of them all. As the
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star of his college debate teen, he earned the nickname
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the Wrathful Marshal Fight. One day, Thirgood was in a
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theater when the ushers told him and his friends that
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they had to move to the color section instead they
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were Instead, they tore down curtains and knocked over a
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bunch of stuff, fleeing before the cops arrived. In a
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single moment, Thirgood saw that it was possible to fight
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the in justice he experienced his whole life. Breaking the
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law was one way. Practicing civil disobedience. Changing law was another,
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and this way interested Thirdgood far more fight. By a
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senior year, this foreign lawyer knew what he wanted to become,
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but the law he hoped to attend, the University of Maryland,
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did not accept black students. The laws set separate but
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equal schools for blacks and whites were perfectly legal. So
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Thurgood went to the historical black school that would accept him,
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Howard University in Washington, d C. Where he would hone
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himself into a one man weapon to destroy the laws
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that hurt black people. He became the star pupil of
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the great civil rights lawyer Charles Houston, who trained his
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students to challenge legalized racial segregation and forced separation. Houston
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took Thurgood on a road trip to the Deep South
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to study the segregated schools for black and white kids. Fact,
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unlike the white kids' school the black kids' schools had
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dirt floors and no restrooms. The students were malnourished and
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said separate but equal. Yeah, right, Well, can you guess
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what Thurgood's first major legal was once he graduated and
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became a lawyer. It was against the very law school
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that would not accept him because of his skin color.
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A lawyer's job is to convince a judge or a
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jury of what is just and unjust, True and untrue
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is to present facts in evidence. Third Good presented the facts.
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The University of Maryland had no legal right to borrow
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his black clients from its law school. As a citizen
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of the United States, he was entitled to equal treatment
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because of the equal protection clause in the fourteenth Amendment
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of the US Constitution. Verdict the law school would have
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to accept black students victory. Because this was just a
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Maryland court case, its ruling didn't apply to the whole country. Still,
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it sure didn't impress the National Association for the Advancement
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of Colored People. Nineteen thirty six, it hired him as
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a full time lawyer at his headquarters in New York.
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Within two years, Third Good was the NAACP's top lawyer.
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Fight in the South, Jim Crow laws required black people
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to drink from colored drinking fountains and sit in colored
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waiting rooms. They were not allowed to vote. They were
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not allowed to eat in restaurants on by whites, stand
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hotels OneD by whites, or sit where they wanted to
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on buses. This was the law, and Third Good took
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it on fight. On most trips, Third Good made to
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the South to fight a legal battle. There were threats
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to his life. Every night. He had to eat and
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sleep in the house of a local black person. Sometimes
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there were armed guards posted outside. Was he scared? Darn right?
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He was scared. Once in Tennessee, Third Good was driving
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with some other laggers down a country road when the
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police pulled them over. They arrested their Good, pushed him
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into their car, and took off. The police car turned
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down the dirt road that led into the woods. When
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they got to a lake, Third Good saw group of
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white men just standing there waiting. He knew they were
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playing to kill him. Thankfully, the lawyers had followed. The
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police spotted them and turned around. Back at the station,
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they falsely charged their Good with drunk driving. He was
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released by the judge, then driven out of town by
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his friends in the dead of the night. This was
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the world Third Good had to enter just to do
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his job fight and the Deep South. Most white sitting
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in courtrooms had never seen a black lawyer, and there
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he was, in his fancy suit, trying to change their laws.
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It filled them with hatred. Third Good's response was not
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anger or none. He let them see no. Third Good
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kept us cool in the midst of their hatred. Third
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Good changed their laws, case by case, trial by trial,
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winning twenty nine cases before the Supreme Court, cases that
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gained important rights for African Americans, cases that defined the
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law of the land. Standing before those nine robe judges,
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nine one white men who took on Injustice again and again.
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He fought for the equal protection of all citizens promised
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by the US Constitution. With every battle, Third Goood took
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a sledgehammer to racial inequality in America. With every battle,
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he built his reputation as Mister Civil Rights, a nickname
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he earned by demolishing one racist law after the next.
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But his biggest battle was yet to come, and he
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had spent his whole life preparing for it. In Justice,
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a man named Lonnie Smith tries to vote in Texas
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primary election and has turned away because he is black.
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Justice Third Good argues that the Constitution protects the right
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to vote for all citizens, not just white people. The
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Supreme Court degrees the law now protects the rights of
19:49
black people to vote in primary elections. Thanks to Third Good.
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In Justice, a woman named Irene Morgan refuses to give
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a seat to a white person on a bus going
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from Virginia to Maryland. She is dragged off the bus
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and arrested. Justice Third Good argues that Irene Morgan's rights
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as a citizen is protected by the Constitution and have
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been denied. The Supreme Court degrees is now illegal to
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deny people the right to sit where they please on
20:18
a bus between states thanks to Third Good. In Justice,
20:23
a couple named Ethel and J. D. Shelley try to
20:26
purchase a house for their family in a white neighborhood
20:29
in Saint Louis and are denied because they are black.
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Justice Third Good argues that the Shelley's rights as American
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citizens have been violated the Supreme Court degrees it is
20:41
now illegal for a white person to refuse to sell
20:44
a house to a black person. Thanks to Third Good.
20:47
Marshal in Justice, a man named Oliver Brown attempts to
20:52
enroll as children in all white school in Kansas, and
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they are rejected. If Third good can prove in the
20:58
Supreme Court the Dow children have a constitutional right to
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attend the school, he will have proven that all black
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children in America have the right to attend any public school.
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When Thurgoo stood up to present his argument, he spoke
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in a booming voice that filled the room. This case,
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this moment, was why he had been put on this earth.
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It was the most important battle he had ever fought.
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If he won, it would make all the difference for
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millions of American school children, for the soul of the nation,
21:28
for the ideal of racial justice in America. He came
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on like a locomotive. Was he angry after a lifetime
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of being treated like a second class citizen because the
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color of his skin, After and during all that hatred,
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all those hurtful laws intended to keep black people powerless.
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Darn right, he was angry. But if he wanted to
21:51
win the case, he had to prove his argument word
21:54
by word, point by point, with evidence. Third Goods said
21:57
that segregation hurts the development of the personalities of black children.
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It causes humiliation and actual injury. He brought in psychologists
22:06
to testify. He presented photographs of all white schools and
22:10
all black schools. He argued that as long as their
22:13
several schools, there can be no equality. He said, equal
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means getting the same thing at the same time and
22:20
in the same place. Listening to his powerful arguments, seeing
22:23
the injustice he described, every single one of those nine
22:27
white Supreme Court justices agreed Thurgood had won. The case
22:32
of Brown versus Board of Education was decided. The age
22:36
of legally separating black and white children in schools was over.
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But thir Good's career was far from over. He would
22:44
go on to integrate more than just schools by becoming
22:48
the first black Supreme Court justice in history. Justice. Our
22:54
next book is called Muhammad Ali Sports Unite US and
22:58
it was published by Cherry Lake Publishing. It has a
23:04
copyright year of twenty nineteen and the author is jay E. Skinner.
23:11
Chapter one. Boxing and the Greatest Boxing is one of
23:14
the oldest sports in the world. The sport has existed
23:17
since fifteen hundred BCE and has been part of the
23:20
monor Olympic Games since nineteen oh four. Fans enjoyed the
23:24
energy and excitement of watching a fight Yours watch with
23:27
anticipation as their favorite fighter walks down the ramp and
23:31
enters the ring. The fighter throws some jads and hooks
23:34
in the air, practicing the punches he'll use against his opponent.
23:38
The audience at boxing matches fills the intensity that comes
23:41
from each fighter. If boxers lose their focus for even
23:45
one second, they can get hit or even knocked out.
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To prepare for a fight, Welter Wade champion Floyd Mayweather
23:54
took part in a ten week training camp. Mayweather went
23:57
to gym five days a week. Heard with numerous boxers.
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Boxers train hard because they test their physical and mental
24:05
limits each time they box. Fans enjoy watching these athletes
24:09
show their strength and their skill. They admire the risk
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boxers take, and they appreciate how hard boxers train. Supporters
24:17
watch their favorite fighters and feel pride in their athleticism
24:21
and dedication. Boxing uses the ten point must system to
24:25
score a fight. Fighter wins the match if he knocks
24:28
out his opponent. If by the end of the twelve
24:31
rounds both fighters still stand, the fight is said to
24:34
have gone the distance. If this happens, three judges decide
24:38
the winner. Judges award a point for hard, clean punches.
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Boxers must also show good defense. Fighters lose at least
24:47
one point each time they are knocked down. They also
24:51
lose the point if they foul the other fighter. Fighters
24:54
can win a match three ways. Unanimous decision means that
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all three judges gave the most points to the same fighter.
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With split decision, two judges declare a winner and the
25:05
third judge claims the opponent. One majority decision occurs when
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the two judges declare a winner while a third cause
25:15
a draw. If all the judges say the fighters fought
25:19
equally well, the fighters ruled a draw. One of the
25:22
most well known fighters was Cassius Clay. He fought sixty
25:26
one bounds and won fifty six of them. Of those,
25:29
thirty seven were knockouts. He won his first nineteen fights,
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fifteen of which were knockouts. In nineteen sixty four, he
25:36
changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Despite his different names,
25:40
most people knew him simply as the Greatest. Unlike other
25:44
heavyweight boxers, Ali was quick and he threw hard punches.
25:48
Ali was good enough to hit hard and move fast,
25:51
a rare ability for a boxer. We will have to
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finish this story next time, so this concludes the children's
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story effort to please join us next time as we
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will read more stories, fables and fairy tales. Thank you
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for listening and please day tuned for The Lex and
26:08
Herald Leader on Radio I