UtahsHiddenHistoryEp1

This podcast episode explores the history of youth activism and the story of Betty Jean Gillespie, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement in Utah. The host, Christiana, shares her personal connection to history and how her mother's experiences sparked her interest. She discusses the significance of youth activism and its impact on shaping society. Christiana also highlights a current example of youth activism, the Emergency Contraception for Every Campus group. The episode then delves into Betty's story, her experiences with racism in Ogden, and her involvement in pushing for desegregation at a local swimming pool. Betty's passion and activism inspired other black youth in Ogden to challenge social norms and fight for equality. The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of voting and how Betty organized efforts to help black citizens access polling stations. Through her leadership, real change began to take place in an area that had long been complacent. Welcome listeners to the first episode of Utah's Hidden History, the podcast that amplifies the untold and often forgotten history of Utah's minority groups. I'm your host, Christiana, and today we dive deep into the world of youth activism, where passion meets purpose and voices are heard. Before we get started, I want to say that this is a part of a larger history project that's being put on by the history department at Weber State University. A few other students will have podcasts that are being released at the same time, so please check those out. So history has always been a passion of mine, and I kind of feel like this is because of how I grew up. So I was adopted in the 90s by my foster parents who were already in their 60s, and this was a bit of a controversial subject at the time because of their age. Growing up, I never really second-guessed their age. My mother was born in 1935 and has experienced a lot of major historical events, and I can remember growing up she would always talk about her past and the decades that she's experienced and all the historical events that she's witnessed, and I feel like this is kind of what sparked the interest in me. I'm so blessed to have ended up in the situation that I did because it was really the best scenario. Even now, as a history major at Weber State University, I find myself constantly going back and asking her, you know, did this really happen? What was the 50s like for you? Or what is your opinion on the civil rights movement? What was it like going to college during the civil rights movement? I was able to have a primary source at my fingertips, and I could just ask her any question I really wanted the answer to. My husband always kind of jokes with me saying that I grew up in a different decade, which I didn't really understand at first, but after I'm kind of evaluating my own childhood and comparing it to his, I realized that I really did grow up in a different decade. When my husband was growing up, he had access to computers and the internet and wireless phones and that sort of thing, and I can remember I didn't have stable internet access until 2012. So in a way, I kind of did grow up in a different decade, but have you ever wondered what it was like to be a black child in Ogden in the 1940s? Well, today we have a special episode looking at the history of a very brave individual that helped shape youth involvement within the civil rights movement in Utah. Betty Jean Gillespie was a very prominent figure in Ogden's civil rights movement, but before we dive into Betty's accomplishments, let's discuss a little bit about the significance of youth activism. Youth activism is something that has always been very near and dear to me because I grew up in Central California during a time when gay marriage was being legalized, and a lot of people might think of California as being very open and very willing to support gay marriage, but the area that I grew up in was very conservative. So we had a lot of people at our high school that were split in their decision on whether or not gay marriage should be legalized. I can remember going to rallies and signing protests and meeting with students on campus trying to figure out how we can get this passed, and I remember at the time, it didn't really seem like we had much of a say in the vote or what happened, but now looking back, I can say that youth activism is more than just a trend. It's a movement that's reshaping the world. Today, young people are stepping up, demanding change, and challenging the status quo on topics like climate change and social injustice. Their energy, creativity, and determination are creating ripples that we felt for generations to come. One example of youth activism today can be seen in a student-led group called Emergency Contraception for Every Campus. This group has been campaigning to add emergency contraceptive vending machines on campuses nationwide. They've been around since 2019 and have installed these machines in over three dozen college campuses so far. Young individuals often think that their voices go unheard, but in reality, these voices are the ones that shape our future society. Now, Betty understood what it meant to call out injustices during a time when black Americans were seen as second-class citizens. Let me give you a little bit of a history on Betty. Betty and her family relocated to Ogden in 1942 when her father began working for the Union Pacific Railroad. Before coming to Utah, the family had heard of how wonderful the state was, more specifically, how nice the people were here, and they were very excited to be leaving their hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. Ogden in the 1940s was very different from what we see today. Although there were no laws supporting segregation, subtle racism was still very strong here. A law was passed in 1898 that prohibited marriage between a man and a woman of different races, but most of the discrimination in Utah resulted from restrictive real estate and the policies of private businesses. Betty attended Central Junior High School, where she was one of only three other black students, and one day after school, she decided to visit a convenience store across the street, which was a place frequented by other students. Immediately after entering the store, she was turned away by the owner, who refused to serve black students due to some previous incident with other black students. Betty refused to accept this treatment and reported the shop owner to her principal, Mr. John A. Junk. So after hearing about this, Mr. Junk furiously walked Betty back to the shop to give the owner a piece of his mind. After discussing the issue over and realizing this was solely an act of racism, Mr. Junk told the owner he could either serve all of the students that chose to visit his shop, or he'll be serving none of them, which basically meant Principal Junk threatened to put the shop on a ban list for all students at Central Junior High, and at this time, this was a very bold statement. This act sparked a fire in Betty, and a short time later, she actually joined Ogden's Youth NAACP. Racism in Ogden may have been very obvious to black people that were living here, but it was never as obvious to white people as it was in like Georgia or Alabama, but it was still very much present. Back then, attacks against black populations took a more subtle approach, like highlighting African-American crimes in newspapers. Very rarely did you ever see a newspaper highlighting the accomplishments of the black community. Betty witnessed this subtle racism very quickly. Passion is a very powerful motivator, but so is the desire to be treated equally in a place that you call home. Betty had a voice and a presence that many found comfort in, and her passion inspired other black youth in Ogden to push the boundaries of what was seen as a social norm at the time. Shortly after joining the Youth NAACP, Betty wanted to start pushing the boundaries to see whether or not segregation would be openly expressed in Utah. She decided the best place to start was at a local swimming pool at Lorne Farr Park. She wanted to see whether or not black Americans would be allowed to swim with white people. The pool had previously declared that it did not practice segregation and that all were welcome, so it was the perfect place to start. A few other members of the Youth NAACP warned Betty that what she was doing was dangerous and decided to accompany her to the pool. I'm sure you can guess what happens next. When this group arrived at the pool, they were all denied access, and this event made local headlines in the city newspaper, the Ogden Standard Examiner. There's a quote in the newspaper from city attorney George S. Barker. He states, quote, if colored people are admitted to the pool, there might be a rebellion in Ogden, to which Betty replied, if we are good enough to pay taxes, fight and die for our country, we are good enough to enjoy some of the privileges. Now all of the research that I've done on Betty really shows that she was not afraid to stand up for what she believes in, and a young Betty was one of the four individuals credited in the article with bringing this issue to the attention of the mayor. After graduating from Ogden High School at the age of 15, Betty went to college at Howard University, which is a historically black university, and these schools date back to the early 19th century, and they offered black students an opportunity for higher education. She returned to Ogden after earning her bachelor's degree and immediately began working with the NAACP once again. This time Betty's goal was to inspire the next generation. One of the most important acts she believed in was voting. One of the most powerful things that you can do as an American is get out and vote, because your vote does matter. She encouraged young people to get out and vote whenever they could. She would organize many events that aimed at helping black citizens get to voting stations. So many roadblocks were put in place that would prevent these black citizens from getting out to the voting polls, whether it be the time of day that polls were open or other scenarios that would prevent them from getting to the polls. By the 1960s, Betty was the director of the Youth NAACP, and she organized car rides and babysitting that remained open until polls closed. This was a major help for the community, and this allowed many votes that would otherwise have gone unheard to be counted in major elections. With Betty in charge, black youth in Ogden began to see real change. They had grown up witnessing inequalities that needed to be addressed, but had no idea on where to start. With increasing local movements and building a community of like-minded individuals, this began shaping real change in an area that had remained complacent for many years. And the reason that this area has been like this for so long is because the white population has been the majority. But new generations started to believe that they had the power to challenge and dismantle systemic injustices. These stories are a testament to the impact that youth activism can have. Now let's shift our focus a little bit to the challenges these young activists face. Young people have a lot going on in their lives. Whether it's navigating bureaucracy, facing skepticism, or managing the balancing act of school and activism, the journey is far from easy. I can remember the pressures of being in high school and trying to find a way to bring awareness to issues while still trying to pass and graduate. But previous generations have shown us how passion for change can really drive us to overcome these challenges. Younger populations have the advantage of having fresh eyes on the world. Sometimes we see things that just don't seem right, but older people tend to say, oh that's just how it's always been. Speaking up is what leads to these larger scale movements. I believe that today's world needs youth activism much like it did in the 1960s. Today's generation of activists are especially creative and more open to new ways of thinking, which allows them to bridge the gap between cultural and ideological divides. We had a major technological boom in the early 2000s that's brought us together in ways that could not have been imagined a few decades ago. A lot of young people now use social media as a platform on where they get their news. I'm constantly hearing that older generations say that social media is not a reliable source for news, which in some cases it's really not, but it all depends on the amount of research that you're willing to put into the topic. I believe that we're no longer receiving secondhand news from major broadcasters, but we're witnessing these injustices firsthand with these advancements in social media. Everybody nowadays has a cell phone and when these things happen out in the world, oftentimes they record it and then they'll post it on some kind of a social media platform. A lot of these videos are put out by just average people that don't have millions or thousands of dollars worth of editing software to make it seem as if it's something that it's not. I will say that one thing that's needed now more than ever is more involvement from adults in support of youth activist goals. Betty was a major influence on the black youth population in Ogden and because of this she was able to guide them to their goals. Now I'm not saying that Betty was solely responsible for everything that came out of the movement in 1960s Ogden, but she was a great leader that rallied people together for a common goal. The past few years for this world has been very crazy. After COVID-19 the world shifted to a more isolated stance on community involvement. In 2020 Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed how young people need space to participate in the decisions that will shape their future and I couldn't agree more. A call to human rights encourages young people to participate in activist movements that will build more sustainable goals. It's very important that young people feel safe and included when discussing these more difficult issues and the youth of this nation are often targeted when attempting to protest peacefully because they're seen as unhinged or they're seen as being too emotional. Young people everywhere should be included in these more important discussions revolving around human rights because it's their futures that will be affected. Betty understood that change does not happen overnight and persistence is key when it comes to taking action against policies that have been in place for several decades. Today a quarter of Ogden's population is under the age of 18 and the community is still struggling with developing safe areas for younger populations to come together and express themselves. Having a safe area that you feel like you can express yourself in is very important for youth development. It's important for youth to get out and see the opinions of other people and be able to talk about these major issues without fear of being bullied or harassed in any kind of way. Generational hate is something that is very relevant here and will continue to be an issue until youth involvement in activist movements increases. So I moved to Utah in 2020 at the very beginning of the pandemic and I remember when I first moved here I was told to avoid Ogden at all costs. Surrounding cities view Ogden as a violent place that's full of hate. Despite all of the worrisome conversations I had had with locals in Layton, Riverdale and Clearfield I still decided to move to this city. I was very surprised to see a city that was aimed at growth and providing opportunities for various populations living here. I will say that Ogden's history still focuses on more of the major white influences it has had throughout the years but the city is capable of improvement. A lot of the classes that I've taken now at Weber State University focus on more of the minority groups that have been present here for centuries. This gets people really talking about why these histories are not included in more of the major publications that are put out there or why these histories are not found in archives. Why weren't they saved? Youth involvement in more civil rights activities could potentially see an even greater future than what Betty had once envisioned. So if you haven't taken a history class at Weber State please consider doing so because they are very informative and very eye-opening. Thank you for joining me today on this journey through the realm of youth activism. We've explored the incredible potential that lies within the hands of young activists. As we wrap this up remember that your voice matters, your actions count and your passion is a catalyst for transformation. The road ahead may be challenging but it's your resilience, determination and unwavering belief in a better world that will drive meaningful change. Stay informed, stay engaged and most importantly stay inspired. Connect with like-minded individuals, forge alliances and continue to bring awareness to the issues that resonate with you. Your activism is not just a moment, it's a movement that has the power to shape the future. In the face of adversity remember the strength that comes from unity and collaboration. Each and every step you take contributes to the collective march towards a more just and equal world. Your efforts no matter how small create ripples that can lead to waves of positive change. So thank you for being a part of the conversation and for standing up for what you believe in. The world needs your passion, your ideas and your commitment in creating a brighter tomorrow. And as you begin your journey or continue it just know that you are not alone. Keep advocating, keep striving and keep making a difference. Together we can build a future where the voices of our youth are not just heard but they're celebrated. Until next time keep the flame of activism burning bright and remember what you do today impacts our future.