Birth Locations – Page 75 – The Exasperated Historian

536) Linda Lovelace

536: Linda Lovelace

Porn Star Who Became a Born-Again Christian

Born: 10 January 1949, Bronx, New York, United States of America

Died: 22 April 2002, Denver, Colorado, United States of America

Original Name: Linda Boreman

Linda “converted” (for lack of a better term) in later life and did lecture tours on the evils of pornography. She even spoke on how it dehumanizes women and testified before Congress on how dangerous pornography can be.

Linda also alleged her husband at the time coerced her into working in the film that made her famous (Deep Throat—the first full-length pornographic film). Linda stated she made no money from the film (which grossed around $600 Million) but her husband collected $1,250 for her work. It should be noted that her ex-husband denied the charges, and never faced any criminal action from the allegations.

Linda ended up having two children with her second husband, proving you can turn your life around if you really want it. The young family struggled financially, and Linda had to have a liver transplant in the late 1980’s after contracting hepatitis, reportedly from a bad blood transfusion, but Linda never went back to the industry that made her famous.

Linda died from injuries sustained during a car crash. Despite her separation from her second husband in 1996, he was present with their sons when she was taken off of life support.

In 2013, Amanda Seyfried starred as Linda in a biographical film about her life, entitled Lovelace.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/performer/linda-lovelace

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001483/bio

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6364421/linda-lovelace

535) Vivian (Bullwinkel) Statham

535: Vivian (Bullwinkel) Statham

The Only Survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre

Born: 18 December 1915, Kapunda, South Australia, Australia

Died: 3 July 2000, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Vivian enlisted in the Australia Army Nursing Service in 1941 and was quickly posted to a hospital in Malaya. The hospital was soon moved to Singapore, before being evacuated completely after the onset of the Japanese invasion. The nurses and other Australian soldiers were placed on a boat headed back to Australia, but it sank en route, and the survivors made it to Bangka Island, where they decided to surrender to the Japanese.

The Japanese soldiers killed all the male soldiers and twenty-one female nurses after their attempt to surrender was ignored. The men were killed with bullets and bayonets, while the women were marched into the ocean and then murdered with machine gun fire.

Vivian was badly injured but managed to feign death and hide for twelve days before finally surrendering to the Japanese. This time they spared her life, but she spent three years in captivity until the end of the war.

Vivian devoted the rest of her life to nursing and honoring those who never made it home. She married in 1977 and changed her name to Statham. In 1992, Vivian returned to Bangka Island to help unveil a memorial to all the nurses who never made it home.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/fiftyaustralians/5

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676383

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141849624/vivian-statham

534) Irene Drummond

534: Irene Drummond

The Head Nurse Killed in the Bangka Island Massacre

Born: 26 July 1905, Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia

Died: 16 February 1942, Bangka Island, Indonesia

Before the war, Irene was a nurse in the surgical and obstetrics fields along with serving as assistant and acting matron in various hospitals.

She was appointed into the Army Nursing Corps of Australia and quickly rose through the ranks, serving in the South Pacific during 1941 and early 1942. While working in Singapore, the Australian Armed Forces decided to evacuate the area and it was on the journey back to Australia that their ship sank. Drummond and twenty-one other nurses landed on Bangka Island in Indonesia alongside a group of civilians and soldiers.

The group decided to surrender to the Japanese but instead of accepting their surrender the Japanese shot and killed all but one of the nurses (Vivian Bullwinkel) after ordering the nurses into the sea. The male soldiers had been led away where they were shot and bayoneted. The civilians had luckily escaped the massacre by hiding with the local island population.

In 1949, the Sister Drummond Memorial Park opened at Broken Hill Hospital in Australia.

*Please note, the island where Irene was killed has been alternately spelled Banka; whichever spelling you use, both refer to the same place.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/drummond-irene-melville-10051

https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/military/display/20562-sister-irene-drummond-

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56216484/irene-melville-drummond

533) Hannah Stilley Gorby

533: Hannah Stilley Gorby

The Oldest Person Ever Photographed

Born: c.1746

Died: after 1840

This claim stems from her date of birth and not her physical age at the time the photo was taken.

Hannah’s name popped up all over the internet in the mid-2010’s, explaining why she has a place here, but it should be noted however this claim cannot be definitively verified.

In fact, the top result for Hannah on Google (as of January 2020) is a Facebook post claiming she is the oldest person ever photographed (linked below). While this claim could be true, the fact that we do not know for certain what year she was born, where she was born, or even when or where she died, everyone should take this story with a grain of salt. Remember kids, don’t believe everything you read on the internet (at least without finding a veritable source to back it up).

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stilley-3

https://www.facebook.com/Wistorical/photos/a.334130610027673/736915519749178/?type=1&theater

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166889835/hannah-gorby

532) Kathrine Switzer

“Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!” -Jock Semple, the Race Manager Who Tried to Stop Kathrine from Finishing

532: Kathrine Switzer

The First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon as a Numbered Entrant

Born: 5 January 1947, Amberg, Germany

Kathrine ran this historic race in 1967.

She has also worked as a television commentator and author.

At the marathon in 1967, a man attempted to stop her from completing the race but her boyfriend at the time shoved him to the ground to allow her to finish. They soon learned the man was actually, also, the race manager.

Kathrine and her other friends eventually finished the marathon after four hours and twenty minutes.

Women were not officially allowed to compete until 1972.

Kathrine would return to run in the Boston Marathon in 2017 for the fiftieth anniversary and she was given the same bib number. She has run over thirty marathons in her career.

Badges Earned:

Located In My Personal Library:

The Only Woman by Immy Humes

Sources:

https://kathrineswitzer.com/1967-boston-marathon-the-real-story/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyfrye/2019/04/02/kathrine-switzer-talks-boston-marathon/#3ee10796a35d

https://kathrineswitzer.com/meet-kathrine/

531) Evelyn McHale

“I don't know what her last words to me were, she had to run for the train,” Barry, Evelyn’s Fiancé

531: Evelyn McHale

The Subject of One of LIFE Magazine’s Most Famous Pictures--“A Beautiful Suicide”

Born: 20 September 1923, Berkeley, California, United States of America

Died: 1 May 1947, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Not much is known about Evelyn’s life; other than the fact she leapt to her death from the 86th floor (otherwise known as the observation deck) of the Empire State Building.

Her body landed largely intact on a United Nations limousine and a photography student who was there at the time took a picture of her approximately four minutes after her death.

Before she took the final leap that would lead to her death, Evelyn had survived a troubled childhood. Her parents separated, her mother suffered from depression, and Evelyn moved a lot as a child. However, after she graduated high school in 1942, she went on to join the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. By 1944, Evelyn had left the service and was working as a bookkeeper in New York. At a New Years’ Eve Party in 1945, Evelyn was introduced to the man who would become her fiancé. They were engaged and were planning a wedding in June of 1947. Evelyn had apparently inherited her mother’s depression, and often told her fiancé she was scared she wouldn’t make a good wife, which he later told reporters he thought was ridiculous. The morning of her death, Evelyn left her fiancé after a short visit and boarded the train back to New York City. Less than five hours later, Evelyn was dead.

Evelyn’s suicide note that she left behind said she wouldn’t make a good wife to anyone and that “he” would be better off without her, meaning her fiancé. Evelyn also stated: “Tell my father, I have too many of my mother’s tendencies.”

The saddest part is she specifically asked in her suicide note to have her body cremated so that no one would see any part of her. Now her picture will live on forever since Andy Warhol also appropriated it for one of his prints. I have chosen to use an image of Evelyn from when she was alive, in order to honor one of her last wishes. However, if you wish to see the photograph in question, it is easy to find on the internet, and is even included in some of the sources listed below.

Evelyn’s fiancé moved to Florida and never married. The photographer who took the photo would never publish another picture.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://time.com/3456028/the-most-beautiful-suicide-a-violent-death-an-immortal-photo/

http://www.codex99.com/photography/43.html

https://allthatsinteresting.com/evelyn-mchale-most-beautiful-suicide

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57348335/evelyn-francis-mchale

530) Dorothy Counts-Scoggins

"That morning before I left home, my father said to me, remember who you are. Remember you are inferior to no one. And remember that you can do anything you want to do and to hold your head up high."

530: Dorothy Counts-Scoggins

She Helped Integrate Charlotte, North Carolina

Born: 1942, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America

One of the first African American students admitted to Harry Harding High School and therefore she helped usher in the end of segregation in Charlotte, North Carolina schools. The photograph of Dorothy approaching the school is now an iconic moment captured in the fight for Civil Rights across the nation.

Dorothy was only allowed to remain in the school for only a few days before her parents forced her to withdraw for fear of her safety. Her father reportedly contacted the police department and the school superintendent; both of whom concluded they could not guarantee Dorothy’s safety if she continued on at Harry Harding.

After graduating, Dorothy went on to work as an advocate for children in low-income communities, and as an advocate for integration across the country.

In 2010, the high school renamed their library in honor of her, and in 2019, the school also added a plaque as an added honor.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/16/733248960/dorothy-counts-scoggins-honored-at-high-school-she-integrated-in-1957

https://www.wfae.org/post/charlotte-talks-dorothy-counts-integrated-cms-1957-story-behind-her-historic-walk

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article230967493.html

529) Laverne Cox

529: Laverne Cox

Actress and LGBT Advocate

Born: 29 May 1972, Mobile, Alabama, United States of America

One of the first transgender actresses to make mainstream celebrity status; Laverne is most well known for being a recurring actress on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and the recent live television production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Laverne has a Bachelor of Fine Art’s Dance degree. She began transitioning from male to female in college.

Besides acting, she is also a documentary film producer. Her acting career with an appearance on Law & Order Special Victims Unit.

Laverne was the first trans person to appear on the cover of Time Magazine’s cover.

Badges Earned:

Located In My Personal Library:

In Praise of Difficult Women by Karen Karbo

Sources:

https://lavernecox.com/about/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1209545/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

528) Mary Von Waldersee

528: Mary Von Waldersee

Philanthropist Who Married Into German Aristocracy

Born: 3 October 1837, New York City, New York, United States of America

Died: 4 July 1914, Hanover, Germany

Mary may have had an affair with Kaiser Wilhelm II.

She was known for her political salons and charities. There is little other information for Mary available online. In fact, the first page of Google search results lists several different Wiki articles, her Find a Grave Memorial, and a thesis from 2012 about her husband that is available on the internet.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_von_Waldersee

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/15b1/059a9223904e93923cc503ebcc3eefeaabf2.pdf

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188706660/mary-ester-von_waldersee

527) Bianca Cappello

527: Bianca Cappello

Mistress of Francesco de Medici and Grandduchess of Tuscany

Born: 1548, Venice, Italy

Died: 20 October 1587, Poggio a Caiano, Italy

Also Spelled: Bianca Capello

Bianca was married at the time the affair started and had a daughter with her husband, but as soon as they were both free of their marital attachments Bianca and Francesco married.

They were not very popular with their people and spent most of their time away from the public eye. Bianca and Francesco both became sick and died within hours of each other nine years after their marriage became public (it might have been a case of arsenic poisoning, but this was never proven).

It is said Francesco’s brother hated Bianca and had her body buried in a mass grave and her intestines (which were buried separately) were found in 2006 but not the rest of her. Tentative DNA testing done of the remains of Francesco and those believed to be Bianca's were tested for arsenic poisoning, and the results helped further the hypothesis of their cause of death.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bianca-Capello

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761188/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105319079/bianca-cappello