The Stampede of Court Street Baptist Church

• Critograph, Volume 83, Number 19, 21 March 1996
• Court Street Baptist Church Website
• Court Street Baptist Church Wiki
• R C Burkholder Wiki
• The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920
• Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper  1878-11-09: Vol 47 Iss 1206
• Alexandria gazette. [volume], October 18, 1878, Image 2
• The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]), 17 Oct. 1878. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
• Duiguid Burial Record
• What Happens During a Stampede and How to Stay Safe?
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 – http://www.wdl.org/media/2714/service/thumbnail/6000×6000/1/1.jpg Gallery: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2714/
• https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.va1127.photos.160137p/1
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Court_St_Bapt_Rear_Lynchburg_Nov_08.JPG
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Court_St_Bapt_Lynchburg_Nov_08.JPG

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Hello, listeners, and

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welcome to Elisha’s Eerie History.

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EHHHH!

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[Song “Elisha’s Eerie History” by Sydney followed by drum break.]

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EHHHH!

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Today, I have a special guest star,

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as I say every time, and friend of the pod.

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Today we have my twin sister.

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Brittany.

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Yep. Hi, Elisha!

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There’s going to be applause
in the background.

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Brittany, tell us a little bit about you.

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I know you’ve been listening to the pod.

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You love it.

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You give me feedback every time. Yes.

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You liked the Bunny Man Bridge.

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That was her favorite episode
so far, right?

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Yes, yes. No.

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I think that will make a great DND
monster.

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Bunnyman Bridge Man.

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Okay. Yeah.

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Brittany’s big into DND.

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What else would they know about you?

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You’re a cool cat.

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I’m your twin. You’re my twin. It’s.

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We’re celebrating our birthday today.

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It was last week, but we’re celebrating
today because I was busy last week.

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Yeah. Time. Time constraints. It is fine.

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We busy people.

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Yeah.

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So Mom
and Brittany wanted to be on the pod,

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but I told mom that Brittany gets priority
because it’s her birthday this week.

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Although mom will probably be more fun
when she’s on here.

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Well, don’t say that.

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You don’t know.

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Well, it’s not about being fun,
although it is about being fun.

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Mostly we’re trying to be educational.

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Educational.

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Okay. So, I- I want you to say
insightful things.

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We’re going to talk
about a topic in Lynchburg.

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So if you know anything geographically,
our you been there our anything?

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Well, we grew up here,
so. Yeah- grew up in Lynchburg,

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so I sure hope I know
some of the geographic area in Lynchburg.

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If you know anything, add to it.

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Try to be insightful,
but honestly, there’s no pressure.

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We have 30 minute episodes
but I usually talk about history

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for like 36 minutes.

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Okay, okay, cool.

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So Brittany,

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I have a boilerplate today.

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Do you know what that is? A boilerplate?

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A boilerplate,

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It’s like the opening
that supposed to spark curiosity.

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I knew what boiler plate was
in, like, machinery.

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Yeah.

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Have you ever been lost in a large crowd?

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Ever been in an audience?

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And suddenly you’re so close to someone,
you’re suffocated by their armpit smell?

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People often feel social anxiety

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and overwhelmed amidst large crowds.

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Is this perhaps your brain
giving you a warning sign?

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Chicago nightclubs, sports games
and even Astroworld

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have fallen victim
to crowd surges and stampedes.

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These events are terrifying,

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and can often lead to a loss of life.

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Today we will be discussing the stampede

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of Court Street
Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

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Eerie music.

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No no no no no no no no no no no no no.

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Don’t bother that.

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so have you heard of the stampede of Court
Street Baptist Church?

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Not until you told me. Okay. Yeah.

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I told Brittany a little bit earlier
because Brittany was being nosy and

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wanted to know about the topic
before we record it, but,

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I am curious.

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I always bug
you about your next topic on the podcast.

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True, true.

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And I think this is a good topic for you

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because you’re someone who don’t do
large crowds per se.

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So, I mean, considering I’ve gotten lost twice in DC
and that’s basically a large city crowd.

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Yeah.

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So I think this is a good episode
you could probably relate to,

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you know, the feelings of anxiety in large
crowds.

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I know I at least I,

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I’m person who’s always in large crowds
and I still get anxious in them.

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Today we’re talking about this
stampede of Court Street Baptist Church.

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But first, you know what we always do?

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We do the Google reviews–

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Google reviews. Okay, okay.

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We have 4.9 out of five stars
on the Court Street Baptist Church.

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The first star is Jesse Westscott.

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She gave it five stars,
and she said or

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Jesse, you dude.

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Could go either way with how it’s spelled.

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Okay, so. Let’s just call them a they.

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A they, they said “Great historic
church! A real beauty!”

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Penny Burford says

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this church helps
a lot of people with their food pantry.

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She also gave them five out of five stars.

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So congrats to this church Court Street
Baptist Church.

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Ya’ll do a great job.

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Whoa. Yeah.

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The building I showed you
was is the new Court Street building.

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Okay? Okay.

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The building the story is about
is the previous

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Court Street Baptist Church building.

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That the reason there’s a new one
is the reason this story happened.

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The church was actually
in deplorable conditions.

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The time-

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this event happened,
the stampede was in 1878.

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And to give context for
are not super history buffs.

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The Emancipation Proclamation
happened in 1863,

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reconstruction
ended in America in the South in 1876.

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So this is actually two years

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after reconstruction
that the stampede of Lynchburg happened.

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Okay. Okay?

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So on October 16th,

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1878, over 2000

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people stood in what is now called
the Old Court Street Baptist Church.

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This was for the event and the wedding
of Jack Averett and Mary Rives.

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There’s another news article that claims
it was a different family getting married,

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but most of the news articles
say Jack Averett and Mary Rives.

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So we’re going to go

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that they got married,
but potentially there were two weddings.

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I mean with 2000 people.

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There might have been two weddings.

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That’s a lot of people.

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Yeah.

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So, um- A wedding to-

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Damn, they must have been popular.

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According to the New York Herald
an eyewitness said,

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“the marriage ceremony had been completed
and the bridal party

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had just retired, followed
by at least one half of the congregation.

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Otherwise, the loss of life
would be much greater than it was.”

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The wedding had ended
and religious service had commenced.

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A prayer had been offered
when the sound of breaking glass

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and a cry from the gallery came
that said, “The church is falling!”

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A man at this point jumps from the gallery
on the heads of those in the audience,

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and for those who don’t know, I’m
assuming the gallery is the balcony.

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I’m assuming that too. If he jumped.

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A man then yells, “Make your escape!

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The front is falling!”

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And then a large exit of people

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fled, for
they thought the building was falling.

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Now there are two

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editorializations of this story.

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One story is that what we just heard
was that a kid or man,

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they think it was a kid, broke some glass
and then screamed,

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“The building was falling,”
and made everyone panic.

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The other story goes, that

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The other story goes, that

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plaster, on the building fell
while the congregation

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plaster, on the building fell
while the congregation

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was singing and rejoicing,
and it scared the s*** out of people

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and they started rushing out.

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When this happened, people freaked out

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and they started rushing to the exit.

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Once people
got to the exits of the church,

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some of them turned around
and fought against the surge of people

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to find their children or friends
that didn’t exit with them.

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This event is an example of a crowd surge
or stampede.

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That’s why I talked about Astroworld
and nightclubs in the beginning.

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The paper then says that people jumped
from the second

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and third stories of the church
and could not escape.

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A lot of people blame
the crash of glass on two boys

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who are playing around and pegging them
responsible for this event.

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This event and the crowd surge,

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leads to the deaths
of multiple women and children.

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The author of one of the primary articles
I read insinuates that men crowded

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over the women and crawled over the women
and weren’t very like–

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Gentelmen-y, save women, children
first type deal. Yeah.

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And then this was backed up by Frank
Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.

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However, comma, the news articles

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were written by white people,
from what I could tell.

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So I think this is a case of trying
to make the black population

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seem inferior and like
or like they’re not respectful or,

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you know, just in general, not good vibes.

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So I don’t know that that happened,
but that was the report.

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Those in the front of the crowd
that were crushed underneath,

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all the people rushing out
say that they had the weight of people

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squeeze them until they thought
they would die, and some people did die.

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So after all of this crowd rushing, nine

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people were killed
and 20 to 30 were wounded.

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Those that were killed
include

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Maria Wilson, Maria Ransom,

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Millie Ward, Mary Henry, Virginia Robinson, Emma Brown,

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Arena Cox, and two unidentified bodies.

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Another report claimed
that 14 people were trampled to death.

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The reason for this,
discrepancy of numbers is probably due

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to the fact that nine people died
on scene, many sustained

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injuries that later in the week
in coming months, led to their death.

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So imagine you’re part of a crowd stampede
and you get you survive it,

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but you’re very injured,
and then you die weeks,

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days, or months later
due to a crowd injury

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at church after a wedding

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Yeah

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That ain’t a very happy wedding anymore.

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A man named Pascal Horton
died of his wounds.

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He was the only man to die.

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And he died on 2 a.m.

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October 8th, two days after the event.

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After this case of crowd surging,
the fire department comes upon the scene.

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Alarms were sounded by people
who had houses neighboring the church

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and everyone came.

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obviously, you know,
nosy southern people everyone

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everyone’s coming out of their house
being like, what the hell’s going on?

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What’s going on? Are you okay?

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Yeah.

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This obviously
put a huge damper on the night.

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It was really hard on the community,
you know, get past this because,

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I wrote down the hearts
and the minds of the black population,

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this was a telltale sign
of the lack of safe accommodation

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and the struggle of being able to worship
safely, persecution by lack of safety.

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We just experienced reconstruction.

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But there wasn’t reconstruction
of the South for everybody.

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Yeah, it was reconstruction of the South
for white people.

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two boys were blamed.

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I can only imagine what those boys
were thinking as they were blamed

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because no one knows who started it,
which is the worst part.

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Yeah, well,
it’s like some people think plaster fell.

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That glass was broken.
It was blamed on other people.

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There are eyewitnesses
that say plaster fell.

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So I like to believe the plaster
fell. Yes.

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Multiple articles said that.
And I would like to believe that.

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I would more like to think glass broke
on the rush and exit out.

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And then that was just blamed on the boys.

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And I don’t think it ever lists
the boys names, but I don’t know.

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That also seems like a case
to be of like racism, of just trying to.

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Find blame on somebody.

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Yeah, put blame on someone.

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You might have just heard the dog
in the background.

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I’m glad you’re on the same page
about that as I am.

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So we’re going to get into the history

00;12;08;04 – 00;12;11;19
of Court Street Baptist Church
and what it means for Lynchburg.

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but the disclaimer is we’re talking

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about the modern Court Street
Baptist Church,

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but this story is about the old Court
Street Baptist Church.

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But nonetheless, the congregation
and the community around

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this church is still it’s
the same community.

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This church migrated from
that old building to the new building.

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And here they are today.

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Okay, okay, okay.

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So history of the church.

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Court Street Baptist Church stands

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as a testament of the black
Christian community of Lynchburg.

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And that was a quote,

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the building that resides
there has entertained the likes

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of many black evangelicals,
including Martin Luther King Junior,

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Reverend Cessar L. Scott

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of the Baptist General Convention
of Virginia,

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and Reverend N. S. Walker, where over 1000 March for Civil
Rights in Lynchburg, Virginia.

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Founded in 1843,

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originally named
the African Baptist Church,

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this is one of the premier
black churches in Lynchburg, Virginia.

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In fact, some of the first black children
to be integrated

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into white schools
in Lynchburg attended this church.

00;13;19;17 – 00;13;22;26
The building today is one of the tallest
objects in Lynchburg,

00;13;22;26 – 00;13;28;00
becoming a iconic part of this medium
sized city skyline.

00;13;28;12 – 00;13;32;17
Standing over 16ft tall,
the belfry of this church demonstrates

00;13;32;17 – 00;13;35;24
the impact
it has had on the culture of Lynchburg,

00;13;35;24 – 00;13;40;11
and I still think it’s
a pretty influential church community.

00;13;40;11 – 00;13;41;28
in the area.

00;13;41;28 – 00;13;44;09
Yeah,
it has a nice little point, like a castle.

00;13;44;09 – 00;13;46;18
For those
who don’t know where the belfry is.

00;13;46;18 – 00;13;50;23
The building,
the new building that is, was built

00;13;50;23 – 00;13;55;07
by, well, the architectural plans
were by an ex Confederate soldier.

00;13;55;07 – 00;13;56;13
Can you believe that?

00;13;56;13 – 00;13;59;12
And his name was R.C. Burkholder.

00;13;59;12 – 00;14;02;15
The Court Street Baptist Church
that currently exists

00;14;02;15 – 00;14;05;22
was purchased
after the old building was condemned.

00;14;06;03 – 00;14;11;02
It was written down in 1879
that the previous building was condemned

00;14;11;02 – 00;14;16;13
a few months after the incident,
on Wednesday, March 5th, 1879,

00;14;16;13 – 00;14;19;28
the old Virginia announced
that the Court Street Baptist Church,

00;14;19;28 – 00;14;22;27
at which the calamity occurred
last fall, is being pulled down.

00;14;22;27 – 00;14;24;04
The material will be used in a new church
building, corner

00;14;24;04 – 00;14;26;13
The material will be used in a new church
building, corner

00;14;26;13 – 00;14;28;05
of Court and Sixth Street.

00;14;28;05 – 00;14;31;28
The land was purchased by a private citizen
who bought the land for the church

00;14;31;28 – 00;14;33;23
and then donated it to the church.

00;14;33;23 – 00;14;37;01
Originally,
the white population of Lynchburg

00;14;37;01 – 00;14;41;13
when the church was condemned was trying
to, like, completely stop

00;14;41;22 – 00;14;46;07
the congregation from buying property
downtown for the church.

00;14;46;07 – 00;14;50;08
This congregation overcame,
purchased a privately, and was able

00;14;50;08 – 00;14;51;24
to have their church downtown.

00;14;51;24 – 00;14;55;16
Otherwise they were trying to have
the black population commute

00;14;56;01 – 00;14;59;01
to the other side of town,
essentially to go to church.

00;14;59;03 – 00;15;02;26
After the lot was purchased,
the cornerstone was laid, and in reporting

00;15;02;26 – 00;15;06;09
that occasion, the Virginia informed
its readers that this, we understand,

00;15;06;09 – 00;15;09;20
is to be the handsome structure
and one of the largest in the state.

00;15;09;20 – 00;15;10;07
By Mr.

00;15;10;07 – 00;15;14;03
R.C. Burkholder is the architect
to be finished by October 1st.

00;15;14;09 – 00;15;18;03
While the congregation selected ex
Confederate soldier Burkholder

00;15;18;03 – 00;15;21;01
to design their church,
they had no need to go outside

00;15;21;01 – 00;15;23;23
of their membership
to find builders and contractors.

00;15;23;23 – 00;15;28;18
Perhaps the historian has overstated
the case, an assertion that in 1879,

00;15;28;26 – 00;15;32;04
all construction of homes
and public buildings was done

00;15;32;04 – 00;15;35;15
by Negro contractors,
carpenters, brick and stone masons.

00;15;35;27 – 00;15;38;14
But at least
there are plenty to do this one job.

00;15;38;14 – 00;15;41;19
So the church had no issue
finding people to work on,

00;15;41;22 – 00;15;45;11
and they had a huge following.

00;15;45;11 – 00;15;46;06
They had one of the most

00;15;46;06 – 00;15;49;06
influential congregations in Lynchburg,
from what we can tell.

00;15;49;07 – 00;15;51;28
That’s not easy feat for a church in this.

00;15;51;28 – 00;15;52;23
In Lynchburg.

00;15;52;23 – 00;15;56;17
John Wilson, a member of the congregation,
assumed the responsibility

00;15;56;17 – 00;15;59;17
of the head contractor while other workers

00;15;59;18 – 00;16;01;04
worked beneath him

00;16;01;07 – 00;16;05;14
They did not finish, on the October
1st, 1879

00;16;05;14 – 00;16;06;29
deadline that the Virginia had given.

00;16;06;29 – 00;16;11;10
However, the building was completed
and dedicated in July 1880.

00;16;11;20 – 00;16;14;10
Prior to its completion,
the new church was described

00;16;14;10 – 00;16;17;29
in the press as one of the finest
religious structures in the South.

00;16;18;13 – 00;16;19;24
I love that phrase.

00;16;19;24 – 00;16;22;15
When I read that,
I could just hear the person being like

00;16;22;15 – 00;16;24;14
“One of the finest religious structures
in the South.”

00;16;24;14 – 00;16;27;14
“One of the finest religious structures
in the South.”

00;16;27;20 – 00;16;29;16
Yeah. Added a bit more twang to that.

00;16;29;16 – 00;16;32;18
Another account describe the exterior
of the single paragraph

00;16;32;18 – 00;16;35;21
as externally the building as symmetrical
and imposing.

00;16;36;00 – 00;16;40;06
The foundation walls are of solid stone,
60 by 101ft.

00;16;40;19 – 00;16;43;08
The walls of the superstructure
are of brick.

00;16;43;08 – 00;16;46;08
The front face has been made
at the Richmond Kilns.

00;16;46;19 – 00;16;50;16
The granite steps to the main entrance
will come from the quarry,

00;16;50;23 – 00;16;52;10
also at Richmond.

00;16;52;10 – 00;16;56;14
The spire, which is by far
the tallest in the city, is surmounted

00;16;56;14 – 00;17;01;00
by a copper ball 9.5ft
in circumference and weighs 34 pounds.

00;17;01;09 – 00;17;02;07
It’s impressive.

00;17;02;07 – 00;17;07;05
The Court Street Baptist Church is on
the National Register of Historic Places.

00;17;07;05 – 00;17;09;26
As of June of 1982.

00;17;09;26 – 00;17;12;10
That is the history
of the current building.

00;17;12;19 – 00;17;18;09
I wanted to provide all that context
to give respect to, you know, our black

00;17;18;09 – 00;17;21;27
community here in, Lynchburg and to,

00;17;22;02 – 00;17;25;11
provide a impact on our listeners

00;17;25;11 – 00;17;29;13
of the significance of this congregation
and this church on the community.

00;17;29;20 – 00;17;33;02
I’m really questioning
how they constructed it, because

00;17;33;03 – 00;17;34;21
of, like, how tall it was.

00;17;34;21 – 00;17;36;05
And the belfry and everything.

00;17;36;05 – 00;17;40;12
But there are legit ways
to construct things without modern machinery.

00;17;40;12 – 00;17;41;05
I know that.

00;17;41;05 – 00;17;42;06
I just

00;17;42;06 – 00;17;46;18
I’m just curious on like, those specifics
because that always seems impressive.

00;17;46;27 – 00;17;49;06
I mean, this is right
after reconstruction.

00;17;49;06 – 00;17;53;03
Enslaved people built
most of our structures around here.

00;17;53;16 – 00;17;58;22
It is no surprise that they had the skills
to build their own place of worship.

00;17;58;25 – 00;18;03;03
and it’s no surprise
either that they did it with such zeal

00;18;03;03 – 00;18;05;16
and to make the tallest structure
in Lynchburg.

00;18;05;16 – 00;18;07;10
Yeah, considering the time. Yeah.

00;18;07;10 – 00;18;09;05
Making the tallest structure in Lynchburg.

00;18;09;05 – 00;18;11;04
Considering the time, that’s hard to do.

00;18;11;04 – 00;18;14;11
You know, it wasn’t a good thing
what happened.

00;18;14;20 – 00;18;19;00
Unfortunately, you know, people had to
die, and the building had to be condemned

00;18;19;05 – 00;18;24;07
for the black population of Lynchburg
to get a church that was safe.

00;18;24;09 – 00;18;26;20
But, it is a cool story because now they
have the tallest building in Lynchburg.

00;18;26;20 – 00;18;28;16
But, it is a cool story because now they
have the tallest building in Lynchburg.

00;18;28;28 – 00;18;31;02
Good things can come out of tragedies.

00;18;31;02 – 00;18;32;12
As what we’ve learned.

00;18;32;12 – 00;18;38;15
I have the funeral records,
the people that died at Stampede.

00;18;38;25 – 00;18;41;12
One of the adults that died.

00;18;42;22 – 00;18;47;04
It cost about $30
to get them fully buried in 1878.

00;18;47;04 – 00;18;50;24
Okay, so, Brittany,
you’re someone who doesn’t like crowds.

00;18;50;24 – 00;18;53;18
Have you ever been stampeded in a crowd?

00;18;53;18 – 00;18;58;08
I mean, not to this extent, but have you
ever been in a rush situation in a crowd?

00;18;58;09 – 00;19;02;17
Does game count when you’re playing with,
like, a bunch of people

00;19;02;27 – 00;19;04;22
and like 20 people or a game
you’re playing,

00;19;04;22 – 00;19;07;16
and then they’re all like, we gotta go
this way!

00;19;07;16 – 00;19;08;22
In the game. Yeah.

00;19;08;22 – 00;19;10;23
And you kind of,
they kind of just sweep you up in it.

00;19;10;23 – 00;19;11;24
Does that count?

00;19;11;24 – 00;19;13;03
I don’t think so. Okay.

00;19;13;03 – 00;19;15;07
I’m not going to say it counts personally.

00;19;15;07 – 00;19;18;00
Okay. I have never been rushed in a crowd
to this extent.

00;19;18;00 – 00;19;21;23
However, I have been in a crowd
when there is like an emergency

00;19;21;23 – 00;19;26;08
exit situation and I lost my flip flops
in it like it was like

00;19;26;08 – 00;19;29;22
everyone was rushing to one side
and I lost both of my shoes.

00;19;29;22 – 00;19;33;15
Let’s get into what causes a stampede

00;19;33;15 – 00;19;36;15
so stampedes
can occur for various reasons.

00;19;36;26 – 00;19;40;09
Some of the most common hazards
include overcapacity, poor

00;19;40;09 – 00;19;43;29
crowd control, poorly planned event spaces
with no clear exit.

00;19;44;06 – 00;19;47;15
Narrow spaces are bulky,
or dangerous structures,

00;19;47;23 – 00;19;50;13
in this case of the Lynchburg Stampede.

00;19;50;13 – 00;19;54;28
It was probably a case of overcapacity,
poor crowd control,

00;19;54;28 – 00;19;59;02
and I don’t know if it was poorly planned
exits or what, but.

00;19;59;07 – 00;20;03;10
Probably the bad structure
since that building was condemned.

00;20;03;29 – 00;20;09;04
Clearly, the population that was in this
church did not have the safest structure

00;20;09;12 – 00;20;12;19
and was not, given safe accommodation.

00;20;12;19 – 00;20;15;19
Do you know why
someone dies in a stampede?

00;20;16;01 – 00;20;17;07
Well, what would be your guess?

00;20;17;07 – 00;20;19;11
Why would you think someone died
in a stampede?

00;20;19;11 – 00;20;22;23
Well, they’re getting trampled,
so probably blunt force trauma.

00;20;22;23 – 00;20;24;17
Blunt force trauma- Is one,

00;20;24;17 – 00;20;29;29
and then if you are aren’t able to if
you keep getting ran over at some point,

00;20;29;29 – 00;20;32;22
you’re not going to be able to breathe
if you’re just being stepped on.

00;20;32;22 – 00;20;33;13
Okay. Yeah.

00;20;33;13 – 00;20;35;13
So you’re exactly right.

00;20;35;13 – 00;20;42;09
Compressive asphyxia is the most
common reason for death during a stampede.

00;20;42;20 – 00;20;47;07
So what happens is people get trampled,
trampled to the ground

00;20;47;07 – 00;20;48;12
during the stampede.

00;20;48;12 – 00;20;54;05
Compressive asphyxia is a condition
that happens when breathing is prevented

00;20;54;05 – 00;20;58;07
by external pressures on the body
during a stampede,

00;20;58;07 – 00;21;01;09
people who are stuck in the crowd crush
against one another.

00;21;01;12 – 00;21;03;11
And this means there is no room to move.

00;21;03;11 – 00;21;06;22
This limits
the diaphragm, a major muscle responsible

00;21;06;22 – 00;21;09;22
for respiration
from contracting and flattening,

00;21;09;22 – 00;21;12;22
which means air cannot enter
or leave the lungs.

00;21;12;22 – 00;21;13;10
So you’re right.

00;21;13;10 – 00;21;15;21
Suffocation essentially is what happens.

00;21;15;21 – 00;21;18;18
Compressive asphyxia is dangerous,
but does not always result

00;21;18;18 – 00;21;22;09
in death with timely intervention
due to first aid such as CPR,

00;21;22;10 – 00;21;26;03
people suffering from compressive
asphyxia can be saved.

00;21;26;06 – 00;21;27;10
Yeah, so you’re right.

00;21;27;10 – 00;21;31;22
And the reason this happens
more commonly to women, in a crowd

00;21;31;22 – 00;21;35;11
is because women
have more happening at top.

00;21;35;27 – 00;21;37;19
And so when they get crushed.

00;21;37;19 – 00;21;38;08
What.

00;21;38;08 – 00;21;38;27
It’s true.

00;21;38;27 – 00;21;43;16
It’s part of the research said that
it’s women have more happening at the top.

00;21;43;19 – 00;21;47;02
So when they get crushed they’re like-
So, we’re blaming boobs.

00;21;47;02 – 00;21;48;18
We’re blaming boobs, guys.

00;21;48;18 – 00;21;53;05
Boobs are the reason women
get compressive asphyxia in a crowd.

00;21;53;05 – 00;21;58;01
Secondarily, if you’re a child
or a small woman. You’re just tiny-

00;21;58;01 – 00;22;00;29
Yeah.
And there’s six feet men running around.

00;22;00;29 – 00;22;04;12
You’re more likely to, you know,
get pulled to the ground or fall over.

00;22;04;12 – 00;22;08;23
Now we’re going to go into tips
for staying safe in a large crowd.

00;22;08;23 – 00;22;12;13
So this does not happen to you
or any of our listeners.

00;22;13;00 – 00;22;16;08
So the first step is check
the weather forecast.

00;22;16;08 – 00;22;21;12
If it starts to rain, crowds
tend to surge and start to panic seeking

00;22;21;18 – 00;22;24;17
shelter, dress appropriately
and be ready for when it happens.

00;22;24;17 – 00;22;28;19
So in the case when I was on the beach,
I did check the weather,

00;22;28;19 – 00;22;31;02
but we just went to the beach
for the concert anyways.

00;22;31;02 – 00;22;33;23
And then I lost my flip flops,
which should not be considered

00;22;33;23 – 00;22;35;28
a good thing
because had some of my flip flops

00;22;35;28 – 00;22;37;02
and I felt I could have been crushed.

00;22;37;02 – 00;22;40;19
Another way to stay safe in large
crowds is do not go alone.

00;22;40;27 – 00;22;44;16
Attend the event with a friend or partner
and look out for each other.

00;22;44;26 – 00;22;46;25
Buddy system.

00;22;46;25 – 00;22;48;27
Third, wear bright colored clothes.

00;22;48;27 – 00;22;52;06
This helps to stand out in a crowd
and make it easier for others to identify

00;22;52;06 – 00;22;54;26
you during an emergency,
which this doesn’t really make sense

00;22;54;26 – 00;22;58;15
for the event of a church, but let’s say
you’re at a concert or a festival.

00;22;59;08 – 00;22;59;28
You your bestie.

00;22;59;28 – 00;23;01;26
You might want to wear the bright colors.

00;23;01;26 – 00;23;03;21
That way if you get separated,

00;23;03;21 – 00;23;06;08
you can help identify them
and pick them up off the ground.

00;23;06;08 – 00;23;06;26
If they’re lying

00;23;06;26 – 00;23;11;03
there, make a mental note of all exits
like you would on an airplane.

00;23;11;03 – 00;23;14;23
Should an emergency arise, you may not
be able to get to the nearest exit.

00;23;14;23 – 00;23;18;09
Plan your route to the next exit
and leave the venue as soon as possible,

00;23;18;28 – 00;23;22;08
and then lastly hold railings for support
if available.

00;23;22;08 – 00;23;25;18
Hold on to railings
when going upstairs or escalators.

00;23;25;18 – 00;23;31;06
That is how to survive
a stampede may it not ever happen to you.

00;23;31;06 – 00;23;33;04
Hopefully. Hopefully.

00;23;33;04 – 00;23;36;19
So yeah, that’s the end of our story
and our safety briefing.

00;23;37;06 – 00;23;38;09
You have the whole story.

00;23;38;14 – 00;23;39;17
What’s your take?

00;23;39;17 – 00;23;41;20
What’s your feeling?

00;23;41;20 – 00;23;43;18
Do you have anything.

00;23;43;18 – 00;23;46;05
Anything resonating with you
about this story?

00;23;46;05 – 00;23;48;14
I think this story does give
introverts

00;23;48;14 – 00;23;51;13
a more reason
to stay away from crowds, though.

00;23;52;01 – 00;23;54;21
Because, dang, don’t no

00;23;54;21 – 00;23;57;11
one want be caught up in a crowd surge. Yeah.

00;23;57;11 – 00;24;02;07
So 1 to 10 EHHs. One being not very scary,
ten being really scary.

00;24;02;23 – 00;24;05;23
How scary is the stampede of Lynchburg?

00;24;06;01 – 00;24;10;02
I would say about a two

00;24;11;03 – 00;24;14;29
A Two?! Because yeah, because stampedes are scary

00;24;14;29 – 00;24;18;14
in that moment, but it’s not like

00;24;19;09 – 00;24;21;27
it’s not like the Bunnyman
which has a chainsaw,

00;24;21;27 – 00;24;25;07
is going to chase you
through the forest at nighttime type deal.

00;24;25;26 – 00;24;28;10
it’s literally something that can happen.

00;24;28;10 – 00;24;29;25
Anywhere. Anytime. Yeah.

00;24;29;25 – 00;24;31;19
And most people aren’t going dwell on that

00;24;31;19 – 00;24;34;20
because that means you’re ever
leaving the house.

00;24;34;20 – 00;24;38;23
I’d say I give like,
crowds surging, probably like eight EHHs.

00;24;39;06 – 00;24;43;21
But I’m not going to tell our listeners
to be scared and not leave their house.

00;24;43;21 – 00;24;46;12
That’s just a risk.
You gotta take when you go into a crowd.

00;24;46;12 – 00;24;47;25
So I say, live your life.

00;24;47;25 – 00;24;52;10
It’s going to be scary in the moment,
but like, just remain calm.

00;24;52;10 – 00;24;53;10
Yeah.

00;24;53;10 – 00;24;55;05
Do what you got to do. Exit safely.

00;24;55;05 – 00;24;56;20
Yeah. Always know your exits.

00;24;56;20 – 00;24;57;09
That’s just good.

00;24;57;09 – 00;25;00;11
In any situation in life,
just knowing where

00;25;00;14 – 00;25;03;10
the exit is so you can walk out.

00;25;03;10 – 00;25;06;26
Well that’s all
I had not a super long episode.

00;25;07;00 – 00;25;09;19
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for joining us today.

00;25;09;19 – 00;25;14;02
Thank you for listening to Elisha’s Eerie History!

00;25;14;02 – 00;25;16;14
EHHHHHH!

00;25;16;14 – 00;25;23;23
[Song “Elisha’s Eerie History” by Sydney followed by drum break.]

00;25;29;28 – 00;25;32;23
Hey, you’re still here.

00;25;32;23 – 00;25;36;07
Thank you so much
for staying to the end of the episode

00;25;36;07 – 00;25;40;16
and going on a history journey
with me, it means a lot to me.

00;25;41;03 – 00;25;44;29
If you haven’t yet,
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00;25;45;00 – 00;25;46;04
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00;25;48;28 – 00;25;50;21
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00;25;50;21 – 00;25;51;29
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00;25;57;13 – 00;25;59;19
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00;25;59;19 – 00;26;07;28
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00;26;07;28 – 00;26;10;29
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00;26;10;29 – 00;26;13;28
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00;26;14;07 – 00;26;18;10
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00;26;18;19 – 00;26;21;29
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00;26;21;29 – 00;26;24;25
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00;26;24;25 – 00;26;28;12
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00;26;28;16 – 00;26;30;29
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00;26;35;29 – 00;26;37;22
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00;26;37;22 – 00;26;40;12
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00;26;40;12 – 00;26;42;10
What’s going on with me?

00;26;42;10 – 00;26;45;10
some cool stuff is in there.

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Thank you so much for joining me today.

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And if you stay tuned, I’m

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going to give you the sources
for the episode you just listened to.

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Our sources are Wikipedia.

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Obviously. A classic source. Classic.

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I did the Court Street
Baptist Church website.

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They have a lot of history
on their church, which is fabulous.

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Even about this event. Wow.

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the New York Herald, the Frank
Leslie’s illustrated newspaper,

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the Alexandria Gazette, the Critograph,

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which is the Lynchburg College newspaper,
had something I referenced.

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And then the last place
I got some resources

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from were a place
called Appetite for History.

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And then the last, last place I got things

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from was the D-I-U-G-U-I-D

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Diuguid? Diuguid? Diuguid?

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Diuguid?

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Diuguid?

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Anyways, that was a funeral home
and they were involved in this story.

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Their records are readily available online

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in the Lynchburg Old City Cemetery
has their records available.