Nov 13: The Holland Tunnel Opens and the Supreme Court Ends Bus Segregation

Host 1 Welcome to This Day in American History for Kids. On this day, November 13th, imagine being 90 feet underwater.

Host 2 Oh, wow.

Host 1 Right. Like trapped in a metal tube while thousands of cars puff out toxic exhaust.

Host 2 That sounds pretty terrifying, honestly.

Host 1 It does. Or imagine challenging a law so deeply stuck in society that most adults are afraid to speak up, but you know you do it anyway.

Host 2 Yeah, that takes serious bravery.

Host 1 It sure does. Today we are doing a deep dive into how Americans broke through invisible barriers. Whether that barrier was poisonous air or an unfair system that kept people apart.

Host 2 It is such a fascinating lens to look through. We are looking at moments where people didn't just accept the limits placed in front of them.

Host 1 Exactly. They engineered entirely new solutions. So, let's start with an engineering marvel from 1927, the Holland Tunnel.

Host 2 Oh, right.

Host 1 Yeah.

Host 2 The road plunging 93 feet under the Hudson River.

Host 1 Yes, connecting New York and New Jersey and President Calvin Coolidge actually opened it by tapping a telegraph switch right from his yacht.

Host 2 That is such a great detail. And you know the excitement back then was just huge.

Host 1 I bet.

Host 2 Yeah I mean before cars were even allowed in about 20,000 people just walked the entire length of the tunnel.

Host 1 Just to experience it.

Host 2 Exactly. And once it opened to traffic about 51,000 vehicles drove through on that very first day.

Host 3 Wow that is a lot of traffic for day one.

Host 2 It was.

Host 3 I'm.

Host 2 And they only paid 50 cents a trip.

Host 3 I am stuck on the logistics here though. Cars in the 1920s were heavy polluters.

Host 2 Oh definitely.

Host 3 So if you have tens of thousands of cars in a sealed tube I like to think of the tunnel's 84 giant fans as a huge set of lungs breathing for the road without those mechanical lungs wouldn't car exhaust make the air too dangerous to breathe

Host 2 oh absolutely that exact problem almost stopped the whole project the digging wasn't the main breakthrough it was the ventilation

Host 3 right because the chief engineer Clifford Holland passed away during the project right

Host 2 he did yes

Host 1 so engineer Ole Singstad stepped in to finish this groundbreaking air system

Host 2 wait how did it work

Host 3 do they just blow a strong breeze through the tunnel

Host 2 no blowing air from one end to the other wouldn't push the heavy exhaust out fast enough

Host 3 oh I see

Host 2 so Singstad designed a dual duct system it pulled fresh air from a duct entirely beneath the road and then sucked the toxic exhaust out through the ceiling

Host 1 And it changed the air every 90 seconds, right?

Host 2 Yep. It proved deep underwater roads were safe and changed global travel forever.

Host 1 So Singstad

Host 4 overcame a physical barrier, but in 1956, everyday citizens in Montgomery, Alabama, dismantled an invisible barrier.

Host 5 You are talking about the end of bus segregation.

Host 4 Yes. This was the day the US Supreme Court ended bus segregation in the city. Just to briefly explain, segregation was an unfair system keeping people apart because of their race.

Host 5 Right, it forced black passengers to sit at the back of city buses and yield their seats to white passengers. So, citizens protested with a bus boycott.

Host 4 Meaning they just refused to ride.

Host 5 Exactly. And that lasted for 381 days.

Host 4 But boycotting alone didn't rewrite the laws. A lawyer named Fred Gray took the case to federal court on behalf of four black women.

Host 5 He did. He argued that segregation went against the US Constitution.

Host 4 And one of those plaintiffs really stands out to me. Claudette Colvin was only 15 years old when she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat.

Host 5 Only 15. That courage is extraordinary.

Host 4 Yeah and she took this stand months before Rosa Parks did. Doesn't this case show that everyday people even kids and teenagers have the power to change the US Constitution?

Host 5 It absolutely does. The Supreme Court agreed with Gray and his young clients and they struck down those unfair rules.

Host 4 It is so inspiring. Now let's quickly mention two other events also on this day going oldest first 1940 brought us the premiere of Walt Disney's animated film Fantasia.

Host 5 Oh I have a cool did you know fact for that one.

Host 4 Let's hear it.

Host 5 Did you know Disney built an entirely new audio system just for Fantasia? It was called FantaSound.

Host 4 Wait really? What was the goal there just to make it louder?

Host 5 Not at all. They recorded the orchestra using 33 different microphones. It was early surround sound making the music feel like it was moving around the audience.

Host 4 Oh wow. So it needed special equipment.

Host 5 Yeah such special equipment that it initially opened in only 14 theaters.

Host 4 It's amazing. And quickly jumping to 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington DC

Host 5 right designed by a 21 year old student named Maya Lin

Host 4 breaking through traditional ideas of what a memorial should look like

Host 5 exactly instead of statues she created a sleek reflective wall covered in names it faced resistance at first but became one of the most powerful memorials in the country

Host 4 well from inventing surround sound and underwater ventilation to striking down unjust laws and redefining art today's history shows what happens when people refuse to accept the barriers in front of them. Think about how you might design something new or stand up for fairness in your own school or town.

Host 4 Just like the young people and engineers we discussed today. Thanks for tuning in. See you back here tomorrow.