Terrifying & True | Wall Street Bombing of 1920

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:09.599
Terrorism ravages New York City. But
when does this happen? In September of

2
00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:16.839
nineteen twenty when a bomb was set
off in the middle of the Financial District.

3
00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:22.199
But what really happened that day and
what was the aftermath of the attack.

4
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:28.960
We're going to learn all about that
tonight on the program. What you

5
00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:40.200
were about to be based on witness
accounts, testimon piece, and public record.

6
00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:55.799
This is terrifying and truth. Lately
here on Terrifying and True, I've

7
00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:02.079
really been challenging myself to cover topics
that make me squirm. Now, many

8
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:06.439
things make me squirm, whether it's
about a missing child or a murder or

9
00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:12.680
multiple murders, But as an American
in my early thirties, I'm terrified at

10
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:22.400
the idea that the concept of safety
is really quite imagined, that in reality,

11
00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:26.760
we've always been at risk, but
we've always felt safe. That nine

12
00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.680
to eleven in Pearl Harbor were not
the only times Americans were under attack.

13
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:37.799
So tonight we're going to talk all
about the Wall Street bombing of nineteen twenty,

14
00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:42.560
something I knew nothing about until I
started this program. And we'll get

15
00:01:42.599 --> 00:02:00.640
to it after these quick words from
our sponsors. A dynamite rigged carriage sploded

16
00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:06.040
on Wall Street, New York's Financial
District, one hundred and two years ago.

17
00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:12.280
A century later. The mysterious terrorist
attack was never solved, and it

18
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:17.360
was known as the deadliest act of
terrorism on US soil until the Oklahoma City

19
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:23.439
bombing in nineteen ninety five and the
World Trade Center on September eleventh, two

20
00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:30.319
thousand and one. In the nineteen
twenties, the financial district of Lower Manhattan

21
00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:37.159
was the epicenter of capitalism. The
headquarters of JP Morgan, a multinational investment

22
00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:42.639
bank, which was located on twenty
three Wall Street. The US Subtreasury and

23
00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.400
the Essay Office were located across the
street from the banking headquarters, with the

24
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.199
New Stock Exchange nearby. On September
sixteenth, nineteen twenty, the church bell

25
00:02:53.360 --> 00:03:00.159
rang, indicating that it was noon
and that the area would become densely populated

26
00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:04.840
in the next few minutes. During
lunch time, a horse drawn wagon was

27
00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:09.240
parked in front of the essay office. Inside the wagon were one hundred pounds

28
00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:16.039
of dynamite and five hundred pounds of
heavy cast iron sash weights, which exploded

29
00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:23.879
in a timer set detonation. The
explosion sent a shockwave through the area.

30
00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:29.840
According to a JP Morgan employee who
witnessed the explosion, quote that was the

31
00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:35.199
loudest noise I ever heard in my
life. It was enough to knock you

32
00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:40.919
out by itself. The driver was
thought to have fled the scene. The

33
00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.840
explosion derailed a nearby streetcar and sent
debris as high as the thirty fourth floor

34
00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:53.360
of the nearby Equitable building. Thirty
eight people were discovered dead, the majority

35
00:03:53.400 --> 00:04:00.639
of whom were young people working as
messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers,

36
00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:05.280
and one hundred and forty three people
were seriously injured. Joseph P.

37
00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:11.319
Kennedy, a stockbroker and the father
of the thirty fifth President of the United

38
00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:15.120
States, John F. Kennedy,
was present at the time of the explosion

39
00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.879
and was thrown to the ground.
Hundreds of people were injured by metal fragments

40
00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:26.920
from the wagons sash weights. Then
windows would shatter from the buildings nearby,

41
00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:32.160
with broken glass falling on people and
covering the streets. The JP Morgan building

42
00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.759
was engulfed in the rubble. William
Joyce, a twenty four year old clerk,

43
00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:44.399
was sitting at his desk when a
metal fragment crushed his skull. To

44
00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.800
avoid panic, the president of the
New York Stock Exchange, William H.

45
00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:55.120
Remick, temporarily halted trading. Following
the explosion, Wall Street, normally a

46
00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:00.399
bustling street filled with men in suits
and briefcases, was now filled with blood,

47
00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:08.519
broken glass, and bodies. Two
thousand New York City Police officers and

48
00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:13.519
Red Cross nurses combed through the wreckage
and got as many people to the hospital

49
00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:18.600
as they could. James Saul,
a seventeen year old messenger, was able

50
00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:25.160
to transport thirty people to the hospital
using a car. The bomb caused two

51
00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:30.120
million dollars in damages, which in
two thousand and twenty two is approximately twenty

52
00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:36.879
seven point one million dollars. Because
of the number of people killed and the

53
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:43.519
lack of a specific target, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation, which would

54
00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:47.279
later be known as the FBI,
did not classify the bombing as an act

55
00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:53.800
of terrorism. The New York Stock
Exchange reopened the following day around three thirty

56
00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:59.480
pm. Investigators began cleaning up the
area so that everything could return to normal

57
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:04.800
the following day. However, because
they were in such a hurry, they

58
00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:12.680
risked destroying any physical evidence that could
have helped investigators solve the bombing. The

59
00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.480
timing, location, and method of
delivery of the bombs all pointed to Wall

60
00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:23.720
Street and JP Morgan as targets of
the bomb. Some people thought the bank

61
00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:29.079
was the target because during World War
One, said bank profited from the horrors

62
00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:33.160
of the war. But the victims
were not wealthy businessmen, but clerks,

63
00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:40.199
stenographers, and messengers. With no
one knowing who was responsible for the attack,

64
00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:45.680
people began to suspect it was an
anti capitalist, communist and anarchist group

65
00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:51.199
responsible for previous bombings dating back to
the nineteenth century. On September seventeenth,

66
00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:57.480
postal workers discovered a stack of flyers
that had been dropped in the Financial District

67
00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:04.160
mailboxes just minutes before the blast.
They read quote, remember we will not

68
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:10.680
tolerate any longer. Free the political
prisoners, or it will be sure death

69
00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:17.279
for all of you, signed American
Anarchist fighters. The letters were similar to

70
00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:24.480
those that circulated following a bombing in
June nineteen nineteen, also known as the

71
00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:30.279
June nineteen nineteen anarchist bombings, which
occurred in various US cities, including Pittsburgh,

72
00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:36.199
New York, Washington, d C
and several more. The Galleanists,

73
00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:43.560
who were Italian anarchists and their leader
at the time, Luigi Gallieni, became

74
00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.959
a suspect, but he was deported
the year before the bombings, but many

75
00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:54.560
suspected him because of his use of
iron weights as shrapnel, which matched other

76
00:07:54.639 --> 00:08:01.560
bombs he had crafted in his past. The Bureau of Investigation three years attempting

77
00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:07.920
to identify the wagon driver, but
they were never successful. They never found

78
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:13.839
any more Galionist related leads. Investigators
were also concerned about Edward or Edwin Fisher,

79
00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:20.600
a tennis champion who sent postcards to
his friends advising them to avoid Wall

80
00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:26.839
Street. On September sixteenth, investigators
discovered that Fisher had previously issued a Wall

81
00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:33.639
Street warning, claiming to have obtained
the information quote through God and the Air.

82
00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:39.080
They decided he wasn't a suspect and
committed him to the Amityville Asylum,

83
00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:46.120
where he was labeled insane but harmless. The Bureau investigated the case for three

84
00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.440
years without success. They concluded that
the explosion was the work of an Italian

85
00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:58.039
anarchist or an Italian terrorist. Some
investigators suspected Mario Buddha, a Galianist.

86
00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:05.840
He was closely associated with Nicola Sako
and Bartholomew Venzetti, two well known anarchists,

87
00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:11.159
and Mario may have planned the Wall
Street bombings in retaliation for what happened

88
00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:16.240
on September eleventh, nineteen twenty,
when they were charged with robbery and murder.

89
00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:22.759
After the bombing, Mario Buddha fled
to Italy and remained there until his

90
00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:28.919
death in nineteen sixty three. Neither
he nor anyone else were ever charged in

91
00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.360
connection with the September sixteenth attack.
Many people were interviewed over the years,

92
00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:41.440
but no one was charged, and
the investigation was officially dropped in nineteen forty.

93
00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.840
There was no memorial built to remember
those who died that day. Wall

94
00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.360
Street reopened the next day and went
right back to work, as stated in

95
00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.159
the New York Sun quote, determined
to show the world that business will proceed

96
00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:03.759
as usual despite the bombs. Thousands
of New Yorkers gathered on September seventeenth to

97
00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:09.799
sing America the Beautiful and the national
anthem. The scars are still visible in

98
00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:16.519
the JP Morgan Building today, serving
as a constant reminder of the horror,

99
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:22.399
as well as the thirty eight lives
lost on September sixteenth, nineteen twenty.

100
00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:31.360
Sometimes, as a modern American I
feel very pampered because when you look back

101
00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:37.799
at the history of the United States, there's a lot more violence and terrorism

102
00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:43.519
than we remember. When we look
back, nostalgia as a hell of a

103
00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:48.519
drug, and it makes you feel
like the past was easygoing, super chill

104
00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:52.960
and relaxing, when in reality people
were very afraid. And the only reason

105
00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:56.679
we look back with such fondness,
with such a lack of fear, is

106
00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:01.600
simply because we know how it all
turned out. Talk to someone who lived

107
00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:07.480
through the Cold War as an adult
and they'll tell you it was very scary.

108
00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:09.840
But you talk to someone like me, an elder millennial or a gen

109
00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:15.639
z and they'll think it was as
silly and fun as a Rambo movie.

110
00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:22.559
The truth is things have never been
incredibly safe, and today society is in

111
00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:28.799
many many ways better than it's ever
been before here in the United States.

112
00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:33.600
So remember that whenever you feel a
little down. We've come a long way,

113
00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:39.960
but we have so much further to
go, so many more things to

114
00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:46.600
improve. But one thing is certain. We're all human. We all need

115
00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:52.039
to be loved, and to love
ourselves, and we should never forget those

116
00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:58.600
who have been harmed in senseless acts
of violence. And while it was callous

117
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:03.399
to reopen the stock mark it terrorism
can never win. Terrifying and True is

118
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:09.559
narrated by Enrique Kuto. It's executive
produced by Rob Fields, produced by Daniel

119
00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:13.600
Wilder, with the original theme music
by Ray Maddis. If you have a

120
00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:18.039
story you'd like us to cover on
the program, send us an email at

121
00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.679
Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com.
And if you want to support us in

122
00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.919
a very direct way, go to
Weekly Spooky dot com and click on Patreon.

123
00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.159
For as little as one dollar a
month, you can support us and

124
00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:33.840
allow us to keep the Spooky rolling
and rolling and rolling. And I want

125
00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.360
to say a big thank you to
our Patreon podcast boosters, folks who page

126
00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:39.039
us a little bit more to hear
their names on the show, and they

127
00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.919
are bobble Topia, Megan Hua,
Julia Kirsch, Christopher Sullivan, Brent McCollough,

128
00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.440
Gino Lyons, Steve King, Karen
weem At, Jack Kerr, and

129
00:12:48.559 --> 00:13:15.200
Craig Cohen. Thank you all so
very much, and we'll see you next Monday.