JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups, and this is an inspiring story about a hidden hero of history.
THEME SONG: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tail, so let us regale you.
JONATHAN
Okay, Redge. You got this. You can ride a bicycle without training wheels. I believe in you.
REDGE
That’s lovely that you believe in me Jonathan but I’m not sure that will be enough to get me through this ridiculous process.
JONATHAN
It’s going to be okay. You’re going to hold onto the handlebars, place your feet firmly on the pedals, and push them forward. I’m going to hold the back of the bike and guide you along until we get to that bench over there.
REDGE
(nervously) And then what happens at the bench?
JONATHAN
I’ll release you.
REDGE
Release me?! Have you lost your mind, Jonathan!? I’ll crash and break every quill on my body. No! Retrieve my training wheels immediately.
JONATHAN
Okay, if you don’t feel ready, that’s alright. We can always try again on another day.
REDGE
Ugh, no, no. It shan’t wait. They won’t let me into the Bippity Boppity Bicycle Club unless I lose the training wheels. It’s been my dream for at least three days to join them. They look so cool with their shiny glasses, sleek helmets, and stretchy-stretch shorts.
JONATHAN
Well, then you know what you have to do, Redge. Are you ready?
REDGE
(Breathes in.) I am ready.
JONATHAN
Okay, on your mark. Get set. Here … we … go!
REDGE
We’re going!
JONATHAN
We’re going!
REDGE
I’m riding a two-wheel bicycle!
JONATHAN
Well almost! We’re at the bench now. And … I … release you!
REDGE
Haha! Woo-hoo! Bye-bye training wheels! See you never!
JONATHAN
Keep pushing the pedals, Redge! You got this!
REDGE
I got this! I’m doing it! I’m — Ah! I can’t stop!
JONATHAN
Watch out for that bush!
SFX Redge crashes into a giant bush. Jonathan runs over to him.
JONATHAN
Are you okay, Redge?
REDGE
Ughhhh. My aching back. I think I skinned a knee. Ugh. All of my knees actually. Do I have three knees? Leave me here. Save yourself, Jonathan!
JONATHAN
Oh, Redge. You’re okay. Here, let me help you up.
JONATHAN
You know that was very brave of you.
REDGE
Was it? But I completely failed at it.
JONATHAN
It’s okay to fail. You still mustered up the courage to try. Your courage reminds me of someone actually …
REDGE
Is it that time again?
JONATHAN
I think it is, Redge. Today we’re going to talk about a Hidden Hero of History!
REDGE
And who is the hero, my good friend?
SFX: HHH trumpet sound.
JONATHAN
Her name was Bessie Stringfield and she was happiest on two wheels. Except the thing she rode wasn’t a bicycle.
REDGE
What else has two wheels? A rollerblade? My grandfather Hedgemont’s walker? Ooo! A suitcase?
JONATHAN
A motorcycle.
SFX a motorcycle rumbles.
REDGE
A motorcycle!
JONATHAN
A motorcycle. Bessie Stringfield was the first Black woman to cross the United States on her motorcycle in 1930.
REDGE
She rode across the country?! I can’t even make it past the bench. How did she learn how to do that?
JONATHAN
She taught herself. She practiced on her upstairs neighbor’s motorcycle. When her adoptive mother found out, she reminded Bessie that nice girls don’t ride around on motorcycles.
REDGE
Bessie sounds like a bit of a rule-breaker. I like her already.
JONATHAN
That’s exactly what she was. When she turned 16 years old, her mother finally gave in and bought her a motorcycle of her own, a 1928 Indian.
REDGE
She must’ve been delighted!
JONATHAN
I would imagine she was. She loved riding a motorcycle so much that in 1930, she opened up a paper map, flipped a penny on it, and decided to ride her motorcycle wherever it landed. And that started her on her first of eight journeys across the United States.
REDGE
Oh, how I admire her spontaneity and sense of adventure.
JONATHAN
Bessie certainly was adventurous.
REDGE
I love adventure just like her, you know. I mean, do you remember my big ride from just over there to this bench?
JONATHAN: Very true, Redge. But as exciting as this all was, it could also get very dangerous.
REDGE
Did she also crash into bushes?!
JONATHAN
Well … I don’t know about bushes. But she faced a lot of other dangers. In 1930, many places were not welcoming to Black people. They could be downright dangerous for a Black woman who was by herself.
REDGE
Oh no. Why were they so dangerous?
JONATHAN
Do you remember when we talked about racism in the past? When people are treated differently because of their skin color or background? Well there were racist rules set in place in many Southern states called Jim Crow laws. These laws made it so that Black people were treated less than white people. They would separate Black people from using the same facilities like water fountains or public restrooms as white people. Black children couldn’t attend the same schools as white children. In Bessie’s case, she would encounter angry white people who would run her off the road and many motels wouldn’t let her spend the night there because she was Black.
REDGE
How awful! So where did she sleep?
JONATHAN
If she met a friendly Black family she’d sleep in their homes or if that wasn’t available to her, she’d park in a gas station and sleep on her motorcycle.
REDGE
Sleeping on a motorcycle? I’m uncomfortable just thinking about it.
JONATHAN
It likely was but sleeping on a motorcycle wasn’t the only time she was uncomfortable. Motorcycles at the time didn’t have the same suspension systems that they have today so every time Bessie hit a bump in the road she really felt it. And in the 1930s? There were a lot of bumps.
REDGE
What made it so bumpy?
JONATHAN
Well, today there are major highways that connect all of the states in America. They are wide and paved, making it easy to get from place to place.
REDGE: Kind of like the Parchment Pass in the land of Once Upon a Time?
JONATHAN: Exactly! But in the United States, the highway system wasn’t put in place until 1956, about sixteen years after Bessie’s first ride. The quality of roads varied from state to state. Some were paved but many were not. And, can you imagine what it was like when it rained?
REDGE
Slippery. And muddy. I shiver at the thought.
JONATHAN
And it’s not like there were motorcycle shops lining the streets of those bumpy roads. If her bike broke down, she had to be her own mechanic!
REDGE
So she was not only adventurous, she was also handy!
JONATHAN
Yes, and many of her skills were put to good use when she served in the US Army during World War II. She was a civilian motorcycle dispatch rider carrying messages, documents, and orders between military units. And she was the only woman in her unit, I might add.
REDGE
How very double-o-seven secret agent of her.
JONATHAN
(Laughs) It does all sound very mysterious. But her military work meant she got to spend even more time riding across the United States with just herself, the open road, and her motorcycle. Her favorite place to be.
REDGE
So what happened to Bessie after the war?
JONATHAN
In the 1950s she moved to Florida and bought her own house. She rode around Miami earning herself the nickname “Motorcycle Queen of Miami”.
REDGE:
Motorcycle royalty! I love it!
JONATHAN:
Unfortunately, she still faced discrimination or unfair treatment. Police would try and stop her from riding!
REDGE: How dare they put the brakes on her passion!
JONATHAN: Agreed! But after impressing the police captain with her motorcycle tricks, like figure 8s, they never bothered her again. She even started her own motorcycle club called the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club.
REDGE
Kind of like the Bippity Boppity Bicycle Club. Do you think they wore stretchy-stretch shorts too?!
JONATHAN
I can’t imagine they did but I bet they wore sleek helmets!
REDGE
Well if Bessie could be that brave, I guess I could give this whole bicycle thing one more shot.
JONATHAN
That’s the spirit, Redge. If Bessie has taught us anything, it’s that even if the road gets bumpy we can still pick ourselves back up and keep going.
REDGE
Alright, let’s try this again. You guide me to that bench over there and then release me.
JONATHAN
Okay on your mark … get set … go.
REDGE
We’re going!
JONATHAN
We’re going! We’re at the bench! I … release you!
REDGE
Woo-hoo! I’m doing it! I’m riding a bicycle.
JONATHAN
Watch out for the bush! Nice maneuvering Redge! You’re a natural!
REDGE
Bippity Boppity Bicycle Club, here I come!!
THE END.
JONATHAN CORMUR: Dorktales’ Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. This story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, edited by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studio Recordings. Reach out to us on Instagram or email us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com. Find links in the show notes or go to dorktalesstorytime.com. Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!
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