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It's Dramos. You may know me from the recap on LATV. Now I've got my own podcast, Life as a Gringo, coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday. We'll be talking real and unapologetic about all things life, Latin culture and everything in between from someone who's never quite fit in.
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And Em. From In Our Own World Podcast. My Coutura Podcast Network and Coca-Cola celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with incredible content creators like Patti Rodriguez. I was born in East L.A. and I remember growing up, there was a small little shack in the apartment we lived at. And I would make that shack into a television studio. And there I would play pretend. I would pretend that I was a news reporter. And that's how I would spend most of my afternoons. Pretending and imagining that one day I would be able to tell our own stories. Listen to Out of the Shadows, hosted by Patti Rodriguez and Eric Galindo on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Brought to you by Coca-Cola, proud sponsor of the My Coutura Podcast Network. Hispanic heritage is magic. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Up next, a story about a man you've likely heard about in elementary school and remember as the peanut guy. His name, George Washington Carver. And he didn't invent peanut butter or much of anything at all. Rather, throughout his life, he worked to improve the lives of the farmers and students around him.
Here's National Park Service Ranger Curtis Gregory at the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri, with the story of this remarkable man. Well Moses and Susan Carver were originally from Illinois, and they came here between 1830, 1835, probably closer to 1835. And they came out here like a lot of people at that time period to start a new life. Moses farmed about 100 acres and he grew corn, wheat, potatoes and all sorts of different crops to make a living. He had a lot of work, farm animals on the property, so it was a working farm. And so Moses would take his crops or so or products into town to sell them. So that's how Moses kind of made a living. And Moses and Susan did that for about 20 years or so by themselves. And then in 1855, Moses purchased one enslaved girl by the name of Mary.
We believe that in 1855 is when she had her first son, James, called him Jim. And then between 1860 to 1864, probably closer to 1864, is when we believe that George was born. Now there's not an exact birth date on George, but we believe he was born about 1864. We also believe that George's father was another enslaved individual on a neighboring farm who died in an accident before George was born. So George would have never known his father and he would have barely known his mother because at the end of the Civil War or so, after George was born, George and his mother were abducted or kidnapped here.
Here in Southwest Missouri at the near the end of the Civil War or so was kind of a dangerous unrest place. Bushwhackers, slave raiders, Jayhawkers, all these groups of individuals were located in this area. And someone or a group of individuals came on the Moses Carver farm and took Mary and George would have been a small baby. Moses Carver, of course the enslaver wanted to get him back. So he hired a man to go out to, you know, to retrieve basically his property. And so the story goes that this John Bentley went down in Arkansas, 40 miles south of here, and that's where George was found.
But Mary was never ever found. So George was brought back here and Mr. and Mrs. Carver took the two boys in. And George would have stayed here until he was about maybe about 12 or so. So the Civil War ends, slavery ends, and so George and Jim are kind of boys growing up on a rural Missouri farm. The story goes that George was kind of sickly as a boy here, so he would help around the cabin with some of the chores like washing clothes, which we do know that was one of his chores.
He made it into a business later when he went off to one of his colleges. Jim was a stronger little kid, so he would help Moses around the farm with, you know, milking cows, collecting eggs, and those type of chores. When George had free time, he would go down in the wooded area where he began to learn about flowers and trees and birds and all sorts of things to deal with the natural world. And this is where we believe it started at his formative years on the Carver farm where he began to learn about all sorts of things to deal with nature. And he would go down in the woods and he would play and he would explore and he was very curious about how trees would grow, how flowers would grow, all sorts of things to deal with the natural world. He collected rocks in the woods and he had a very, very special place that he called his secret garden, and he wouldn't tell anyone where his secret garden was located. And while he was here, this is where he got dubbed the plant doctor because George, supposedly George, was able to take little sick plants and heal them and supposedly all the neighbors around in the area would bring their plants that George could heal their little plants, so he was known as the plant doctor while he was here. And also on the farm is where he learned art, and that was George's first love was art when he was a kid here. There's a wonderful story that goes that he was supposed to run an errand for Mrs. Carver from one of the neighbors and was supposedly only able to go to the kitchen, but he went into the parlor or living room where he saw paintings for the first time, fell in love with paintings and went back into the wooded area and started making his own paints out of mud, out of flowers, out of berries, and started painting little nature scenes and stuff.
He's a little kid. He didn't know much about science. He's curious about the natural world, but his first love was art, and that's where it all started at here. And while he was here, he was also curious about learning, learning as much as he could, and he wanted to go to school. Well, this is right after the Civil War in Missouri, and Missouri changed its constitution to allow for black education. And so there was a school that was located not too far from here, about a mile or so down on Carver Road. And it was a church, known as the Locust Grove Church, but during the week it was the school for all the kids in this area. So George wanted to go to that school, but George and Jim were not allowed to go to that school because they were black. Now there is a possibility, we believe, that Moses Carver tried to get the boys admitted into the school, but we believe it was the townspeople that would not allow this. So he really wanted to go to school, so he found out in the nearby town of Neosho there was a school for black kids in Neosho. And he said he was leaving. He told Moses and Susan Carver that he was going to go to that school in Neosho, and from the age of 12 or so he was on his own. Moses didn't give him anything. As far as we know, no money. He didn't even give him a ride.
So he walked the 8 to 10 miles into the little town of Neosho. And when we come back, more of the story of George Washington Carver here on Our American Story. Here at Our American Stories we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told.
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Give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming. That's our American stories dot com. And we're back with our American stories and the story of George Washington Carver as told by National Park Service Ranger Curtis Gregory. When we last left off, George Washington Carver had decided to walk several miles to go to school in Neosho, Missouri, leaving behind his former enslavers.
Let's continue with the story. So the story goes that he got to Neosho. He found the black section of town and the school. And nearby the school there was a house and supposedly behind this house was a barn or shed. And the story goes that George went to this barn or shed to spend the night or so spend the night in the next day.
A lady came out to find him in this barn sleeping. She wanted to know why he was there. And Mariah Watkins, Mariah and Andrew Watkins, who lived next door to the school, took him in for about a year. And so he did chores around the house and Mariah Andrews house for for his room and board. So when he when he goes to live with Mariah and Andrew Watkins, Andrew and Mariah were a black couple next door to the school. They didn't have any children of their own.
And so he stayed with them and he thought a lot about of Andrew and Mariah. They seemed to be like kind of like the first like set of black parents that he had. He didn't you know, he didn't know his mother. He didn't know his father.
So this is the first really time that he has interaction with an African American couple. And so he lives with them. Mariah was also a midwife. She also dabbled in herbs and plants and she taught him about herbs and plants. And Mariah was also very religious, very spiritual. And so she George would go to church with her.
And this is where we believe a lot of George's his faith comes from. And so his relationship with the Watkins seemed to be seemed to be very strong and he seemed to keep in touch with them for the for the rest of at least for the rest of her life. So he's in Neosho and he finds the school to be very good. He forms friends in Neosho, but he thinks that he's he learned as much as he could from the little school in Neosho.
He thought he could do better. So there was a family that was moving to Fort Scott, Kansas. And George asked the family if he could go with them.
They said, sure, you can go. So he left Neosho for about seventy five miles away to Fort Scott, Kansas, claiming that he walked most of the way. I'm not sure how true that is, but he said he walked most of the way. He found a job and thought the job was a pretty good job and thought the school was a lot better.
So life seemed to be pretty good for him in Fort Scott until March of 1879. There was an incident that took place that I think changed his early life. There was a black man that was had allegedly committed a crime and the man was in jail.
But some of the townspeople thought the legal process was taking a little too slow. So this group of individuals supposedly went to the jail. They overtook the sheriff, beat the sheriff up, overtook the jailhouse, took the man out of jail. And George said they brought the man, dragged the man past where he was living at. And then they hung him from a lamppost and then set him on fire. And it was a pretty horrific incident that, you know, that took place. Supposedly there was several hundred people or so that were involved in this. And it really frightened George. Whatever happened, either George was involved or he witnessed this. It really frightened him. But he's about 14 or 15.
It would frighten anyone. So the next day or so, in a few days or so, he immediately leaves Fort Scott. He leaves Fort Scott because of the incident.
And the story seemed to stay with him a lot in his life because in the 1930s, someone was asking him about that incident and he said in the 1930s that it still frightened him. So from there, from Fort Scott, he drifted from town to town. He went to Kansas City and took a typing course or some sort of business course. And then from Kansas City, he went to Highland, Kansas. Highland, Kansas was a small town but had a college. So he applies to Highland College on paper.
He gets a letter back that he's accepted, very excited. But then when he showed up at Highland College for his first day, they wanted to know why he was there. And George explained why he was there and they said, well, we can't take you because you're black.
We did not know that you were black. And he homesteaded for a little while. He had a claim but he wasn't very successful as a homesteader at all. And it was rough. The winters were rough out there.
It was a rough environment. So for some odd reason, around 1889 or so, he left there and went to Iowa. And really, no one knows why he went to Iowa but it was a good choice to go to Iowa because he found a job working in a hotel and while he was attending a church, he met a doctor and Mrs. Millholland. And Dr. and Mrs. Millholland also had a huge, huge effect on his life. They became instant friends and George stayed friends with them for the rest of their lives.
And the Millhollands encouraged them a lot. They encouraged him not to give up his love of going to college. And so there in Winterset, Iowa, about 20 miles or so away in Indianola, was Simpson College. Simpson College is still open today. George applied to Simpson College.
He was accepted and when he showed up, they welcomed him with open arms. Now while he was at Simpson College, he originally took a bunch of art courses because that was his first love was art. And he wanted to be an artist. But there was a teacher that really showed some interest in George. And she said, you know, you're a good artist, George, but I'm not really sure if you can make it as an artist.
So maybe you should think about some other career paths. Well, she noticed that he was a good drawer of flowers and plants. So this teacher said, maybe you should think about a career in botany. And so what's interesting is this teacher's father happened to be a professor of horticulture at Iowa Agricultural School, what is now Iowa State University. So George transfers to what is now Iowa State University. He was the first black person to be admitted to Iowa State University. So he arrives on campus on his first day. He's the only black student on the entire campus.
He gets caught a lot of derogatory names. And then Iowa didn't provide any provisions for him. They didn't provide a dormitory for him. A teacher gave him an office space for him to live. And at first when he arrived there, he couldn't eat in the cafeteria. He had to eat in the basement with the with the help with the kitchen help, but he never gave up. He graduated the first black to graduate from Iowa Agricultural School with a degree in scientific agriculture, stayed at Iowa and got a master's degree in 1896 in agriculture as well.
So they wanted him to stay there. But Booker T. Washington and the Booker T. Washington was one of the founders of Tuskegee and Tuskegee, Alabama. He invites Carver to come start the agriculture department at Tuskegee. And you've been listening to Curtis Gregory talking about the life of George Washington Carver. And there was a lot of meandering until there wasn't. And it was at Iowa State that he found his bearings, found his calling, and most important, found his mentors and the training he needed to get where he needed to get next. And of course, he made history even as a college student in the first African American to ever graduate from what is now Iowa State University.
When we come back, more of the life of George Washington Carver here on Our American Story. Soon, millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year. And UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare Annual Enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop. But for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot.
And I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners too. So they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious. And there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done.
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Purchase All-Free Clear Mega Packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. And we're back with our American stories and the story of George Washington Carver is told by National Park Service Ranger, Curtis Gregory. When we last left off, George Washington Carver who had been the first black student at Iowa State University to graduate had just been extended an invitation to join the faculty at the Tuskegee Institute founded by none other than Booker T. Washington. He was to start the Agricultural Institute there.
Let's continue with his story. George Washington Carver in 1896 graduated from Iowa State, at that time was Iowa Agricultural School with a master's degree in scientific agriculture. Booker T. Washington found out about this young black student and offered him a position at Tuskegee Institute to start the agriculture department. Well, he went there and he found a school that was kind of starting out, didn't have a money for a laboratory for him. So what he did, what Carver did was he and some of his students went to the junk piles around Tuskegee for his very first laboratory.
You know, he was there for 47 years. He did quite a bit in agriculture, mainly for the peanut because the peanut was so, he was so well known for because, I think it was because of that testimony in 1921 when he went before the House Ways and Means Committee is when Carver became well known as the peanut guy. There was a peanut association group that wanted him to speak on behalf of a peanut tariff and so Carver agreed and so he went to Washington and he spoke before the House Ways and Means Committee.
When he got there to the room, the committee members were very rude. They made several racial comments about him. They weren't very nice and Carver just kind of blew some of those comments off and so they gave him, they said, you know, you have 10 minutes to speak and so what Carver did was he walked up to the head of the room and he had a box and he put the box on the table and he started pulling these things out of the box that he had produced from peanuts and the committee was so amazed by his presentation and what he was presenting, the committee chairman said, you have unlimited amount of time, brother. That's when he became known as this peanut person.
Peanut got mad because it was written the next day or so, it was written in newspapers all across the country about his presentation. He earned their respect but Carver's whole goal to me was that he wanted to help the man furthest down and Carver would often use this term where he would often say I want to help my people as much as possible and he would use that term most of his life. He wanted to help where students were learning agricultural techniques in the school. Carver and his staff would go out into the rural communities to help farmers and farming families as much as they could. Now a lot of the things that Carver did were not new techniques at all but they were definitely new to these mostly rural black farmers. He would write these agriculture bulletins that would encourage farmers and farming families how they could improve their lives and improve their land and such.
Crop rotation and diversifying their crops and things like that. Now USDA agriculture bulletins were written on a scientific level but what Carver did with his bulletins were he wrote them for the simple man in basic terms. There were about 43 different agriculture bulletins that he wrote. Carver also came up with a really really neat idea early on when he was at Tuskegee where he would outfit a movable school on wheels. Booker T. Washington secured funding from a wealthy New York banker by the name of Morris Jessup and it became known as the Jessup Agriculture Wagon and they would take this wagon out and set it up at a church or at someone's farm and they would teach farmers. Besides teaching agriculture and stuff Carver did so much more. He was a pretty good spokesperson for interracial cooperation. He would go out to white colleges and universities often times at first kind of reject it somewhat but he would go and speak to white colleges and universities never using race but he would show examples of what he was able to do in his laboratory and what was interesting about that was a lot of these young people white college students would keep in touch with him for the rest of his life.
There was a group of young men called that was known as the Carvers, his boys. Young white college students Carver made such an impression on them they would often come and visit him at Tuskegee and a lot of times they would accompany him on some of his speaking engagements and such as well. Besides that as well his love was art. He never gave up his love of art. He painted for the rest of his life and what he would often use for his paints was clay and he called it rich Alabama clay and he would make paintings out of he would use this rich Alabama clay to create his paintings.
Carver would often give these paintings away as gifts. He also did needlework and crocheting but in those 47 years at Tuskegee he dedicated himself to service and he said service is the only thing that counts to service, service to others. Carver lived a very very simple life. He never moved off of the campus of Tuskegee.
He lived in two dormitory rooms his entire life. You know if we would see Carver today some would think he would be you know he would maybe resemble a homeless person as such because he wasn't interested really in material wealth. The only thing that was recognizable about Carver every day was that he had a fresh flower or weed in his lapel. It seemed that Carver wasn't interested in as I said wasn't interested in a lot of material wealth but he did have three patents from Peanuts.
One on a lady's facial cream from Peanuts and two on paint stains. He never married he came close one time to a lady at Tuskegee but things didn't work out too much. He had an assistant that he took in 1935 and his assistant his name is Austin Curtis and he was often called baby Carver and they were very good friends. He was kind of like his like a son to like a son to Carver and then later on he just seemed to be he just seemed to have have a lot of different just health problems. George Washington Carver died on January 5, 1943. Six months later Congress established George Washington Carver National Monument. Six months after his death the first national monument dedicated to an African American in the National Park Service was established. He still has a huge influence and a lot of our visitors that will come here will say oh I read a story I read a biography on when I was a little kid and I remember George Washington Carver and that's what brought me to your national monument. We can continue that legacy every day with students that come here and they can remember and tell others and bring their parents here and bring others here and where they can you know fulfill that legacy of about George Washington Carver. And a terrific job on the production by Monty Montgomery and a special thanks to Katrina Heine on the assist on the audio and storytelling and most important a special thanks to National Park Service Ranger Curtis Gregory at George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond Missouri.
The story of George Washington Carver the peanut guy here on Our American Story. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you are working past age 65 you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare helping people live healthier lives.
I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop. But for small business insurance I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See they're small business owners too so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done. I mean that can be overwhelming for anyone. So if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to your life try all free clear mega packs. All free clear mega packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All free clear mega packs are also one hundred percent free of perfumes and dyes and they're gentle on skin which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs.
Which my family we definitely have sensitive skin. So the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is that's caused this big pile of dirty clothes just know that all free clear mega packs they have your back. Purchase all free clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. This is our American stories and our next story well it's about the Wrigley Mansion. It was built by William Wrigley Jr. the man who invented as you can probably guess Wrigley's chewing gum. Judy Pearson is here to tell us the story of the building the man who built it take it away Judy. In eighteen ninety one thirty year old William Wrigley arrived in Chicago from Philadelphia with thirty two dollars the only money he had to his name about nine hundred dollars today he started the Wrigley's Scouring Soap Company. To entice housewives to try his soap he included a box of baking powder with every purchase Wrigley was soon shocked to discover that his baking powder was more popular than his soap so he went into the baking soda business adding two packages of chewing gum to each can again his gift with purchase was more popular than his primary product and Wrigley's chewing gum was born producing spearmint juicy fruit and double mint the business grew and so did Wrigley's fortune in nineteen fifteen he spent two and a half million dollars telling people that chewing gum aided the digestion and that chewing it was a pleasurable experience remember double your pleasure double your fun with double mint gum Wrigley was a whirlwind of ideas he never stopped innovating and reinventing himself always ready for the next adventure he bought a minority stake in the Chicago Cubs in nineteen sixteen and became the majority owner in nineteen twenty one six years later he changed the name of the team's ballpark to Wrigley Field wondering about the feasibility of shipping his chewing gum via the relatively new airplanes in nineteen nineteen Wrigley got the idea to drop packages connected to parachutes dealers across the Midwest would then travel to the drop points taking delivery of their merchandise that same year Wrigley bought the Santa Catalina Island Company as had been the case with Wrigley's own ventures the company came with a gift with purchase the entire island located off the coast of Los Angeles with the dream of creating an enterprise that would help employ local residents Wrigley improved the island with public utilities new steam ships a hotel a casino and extensive plantings of trees shrubs and flowers by that time Wrigley had ownership full or partial in fifteen different companies around the country it was Arizona that next captured his heart he bought a few mines in the state but real estate held a special interest Wrigley created a syndicate with three other men to purchase a hundred and fifty acres along famed Camelback Road the purchase price was a hundred thousand dollars a million and a half today although today it's worth many times more than that the land was adjacent to the newly opened Biltmore hotel in which Wrigley was also heavily invested the Czar of Chewingum owned four very palatial homes but in 1930 he began building something special on the 100 foot high La Colina Solana the Sunny Hill it would be an anniversary gift for Wrigley's wife Ada and oh what a home it was to be the Mission Revival mansion would be nearly 17,000 square feet set on 10 acres it would have a 360 degree view of the Valley of the Sun below the 30 foot high foyer rotunda would be adorned with gold leaf and hand-painted ceiling and the floor below was laid with tiles made in Wrigley's Catalina Island estate kiln the rest of the home had pegged oak floors covered in beautiful hand-woven Spanish rugs the oak Steinway grand piano to be placed in the living room was one of only two in existence doubling as a player piano and all of the chairs throughout the mansion were carefully crafted lower than normal to accommodate Ada's petite frame every doorknob hinge window fixture and switch plate in the mansion would be brass with the exception of those in the family bedrooms they were sterling silver the mansion took three years to reach its splendor it was Wrigley's plan to spend the early months of 1932 there but a few weeks after arriving in January he was stricken with acute indigestion and died at the age of 70 in his bedroom atop the Sunny Hill the Wrigley mansion as the locals called the home remained a much-loved family destination Ada suffered a stroke there dying in 1957 and then in 1973 the beautiful mansion was sold like a stray dog she passed from one ill-fated owner to another a developer who died of a heart attack a savings and loan caught up in the 1980s scandal another developer who filed for bankruptcy but prior to each failed ownership her lovely rooms and grounds welcomed business conferences dozens of brides and grooms and celebrity parties and then the end of the line arrived for the Wrigley mansion in 1992 rumors reported that this graceful landmark would be demolished for condo construction enter another intriguing millionaire capitalist with a love of beautiful things Geordi Hormel's family had founded Hormel foods based in Austin Minnesota the company's most famous product was the canned meat spam Geordi loved music owning a music studio in Los Angeles and playing multiple instruments as a composer he had written a number of well-known television theme songs and once recorded with his buddy Frank Zappa like William Wrigley Geordi eventually found his way to Phoenix where he bought the largest home in the state of Arizona and not long after that purchase he heard about the proposed fate of the mansion on the Sunny Hill he called a realtor friend and requested a showing in the first few minutes of his Wrigley mansion tour Geordi was transported back to his childhood and the Wrigley's home reminded him of his own childhood home having turned that into a supper club where he entertained guests with his accomplished piano playing he knew he could do the same thing with this mansion the beautiful stray dog won Geordi Hormel's heart he bought it immediately Geordi and his wife Jamie began restoring the mansion and opened it as a private club Geordi entertained Sunday brunch guests on the Steinway Grand still in the living room he played happy birthday every Sunday because as Geordi used to say every day is someone's birthday the family enjoyed the mansion as much as the public did the Hormel children would sneak napkins out of the dining room and slide down the hill on them and the pastry chefs could always be charmed into giving them treats they celebrated birthdays and holidays at the mansion and the Hormel's even renewed their wedding vows there when Geordi died in 2006 Jamie became the mansion's proprietor continuing what her husband had begun she has made it a world-class destination she's brought the kitchen into the 21st century while lovingly updating rooms to former grandeur the spectacular wine cellar is well stocked an outstanding Phoenix chef is at the helm in the kitchen and the national awards keep rolling in the Wrigley mansion and the Wrigley's in general hold a special place in my heart my mother was a die-hard and lifelong Chicago Cubs fan the baseball team William Wrigley bought in 1921 living in Phoenix I discovered the magical charm of the Wrigley mansion shortly after the Hormel's reopened it as a private club and restaurant I took my father there for dinner when he came to Phoenix on a business trip he was so taken with the history and the views that when he returned home he and my mother hatched the idea of a surprise 40th birthday party for me to be held in the mansion on the sunny hill every time I walk into that majestic foyer I'm reminded of that magical night in 1993 when happy birthday was played for me on that famed Steinway in the living room my mother died just a few weeks after my memorable Wrigley birthday gala and was never able to visit the czar of chewing gums beautiful Phoenix mansion but I know she would chuckle at one particular detail through all the owners and renovations one room remained just as William Wrigley created it to the left of the hand-carved double front doors is a tiny closet with a small table and a telephone switchboard vintage of course today it's assumed the butler used the room to call family members when visitors arrived it has a unique silver sheen on the walls and the faint odor of mint it is the gum room it is wallpapered with foil from my favorite Wrigley chewing gum double mint and what a beautiful story by a beautiful storyteller and we're talking about Judy Pearson the Wrigley mansion story here on our American stories after the last two years of being at home a lot no one wants to 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