My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - 457 - In With The Goths

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

On today’s episode, Georgia covers the life and murder of Medgar Evers and Karen tells the story of nurse Cliff Morrison and Ward 5B. For our sources and show notes, visit www.myfavoritemurder.com/episodes. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3UFCn1g. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is exactly right. chat with an actor from the episode. Over the past few years, we've chatted with series icons like BD Wong, Kelly Giddish, Danny Pino, and guest stars like Padgett Brewster and Matthew Lillard. And just like an SVU marathon, you can jump in anywhere. Don't miss new episodes every Tuesday. Follow That's Messed Up, an SVU podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Dun-dun! ["My Saved River"]

My favorite murder. Hello. Hello. And welcome. To my favorite murder. That's Georgia Hart Stark. That's Karen Kilgara. This is a video as well as an audio podcast. Right.

Crazy. Yeah. I guess we were doing something with our arms recently that people were freaked out by. It was like this. Yeah. It's called a power moving podcasting. If you've never seen it, get ready. Podcasting.

See it now. I love people who are freaked out. Yeah. Just over exaggerated. You didn't realize how much we gesture. There love people who are freaked out. I think we're just over-exaggerated. You didn't realize how much we gesture. There's a lot of gesturing. You can't have a good podcast without just flamboyant gesturing. I simply need you to know that... One must.

There's going to be a ton of it. This is basically musical theater. Yeah. We're back on the boards. We're trotting the boards. Speaking of being on the fucking boards. Ha ha. Wow. Guys, it's it. That's it. Karen's banging on the fucking table. Justin Pure, there's no words to describe.

Tell them. Well, first of all, I just want to say that the website Blue Sky is a new social media website that has taken the place of Twitter that died long ago. And so because I'm on there, I opened it up in the middle of like a meeting or something. And there's an account called Carmageddon 13 who's there to tell me some of the most exciting news I've ever seen and that it's we're on jeopardy. I actually got my info from Canada. Oh.

Because I guess it's a different time zone there. Yeah. From our friend Casey Corbin who's Vince's friend in Texas. Oh nice. Texas Canada? Text us. That info. Oh.

Texas. No, Canada. Still Canada. Double Canada. Double Canada. And then basically, we were us and you're wrong about, provided the question part of a clue or the answer part of the clue on Jeopardy. It said, I'll say, it said,

start yapping on your own this, Esquire is best of 2021 included, you're wrong About and my favorite murder. You have to wait till the end. Podcast. Oh yeah, podcast. The answer is a podcast.

Podcasting. What is a podcast? What is a podcast? Fuck. We lost our own fucking round. That was like, that was a moment that I was like, that's all I've been waiting for. We're done now. We're done.

It's great to finally be done. It's nice. To wrap it down. We really wanted. It's great to finally be done. It's nice. To wrap it down. We really wanted to get under nine years and I think we've done it. Just under. Uncomfortably close to nine years. Cutting it real close. So my family has been watching Jeopardy every single night at seven o'clock since I can

remember truly, I think I've told you multiple times the story of me watching it at 430 and then again at 7 and pretending I knew all the answers and my mom was like, are you kidding me? She's the genius. Karen. She was getting so excited I finally had to bust myself. I think I was 14 when I did it. So for that long, my family's been watching Jeopardy at 7.

What's hilarious is, so I see that message. We all send it to each other, we're all freaking out. I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to go downstairs, watch it with my dad, and then there's going to be this reveal, and it's going to be incredible. Well, we were preempted by Monday Night Football. It happens to the best of us. You know, happens to the best of us. You know, it happens to the best. So perfect. And later on, I said to my dad, like at the end of the night, I said to my dad, hey, so,

you know, are you proud that I was on your favorite TV show? And he goes, you were on Monday Night Football. Wait, did it play after? Yeah, it was preempted until like 1030 or some crazy thing. Okay, but then it still played crazy thing. Still played, okay. Still played, but not the same. Football, you guys? Just so perfect that I would be preempted by Monday Night Football.

For your dad, that moment, your dad is finally going to say it. Zzzroop, yoink. So you had to tell him instead of watching it? Yeah. Well, because I had to send that post to my sister because she lost her mind. She was just like, oh my God. Yeah, I did too. That feels like a moment in fucking time.

It really does. And I don't think I'll ever like not be amazed by. I know. Thank you, Jeopardy. Thank you, Jeopardy Writers. Yeah. That was cool to be included. It really was.

Congratulations. You're wrong about. Yeah. I hope you feel the same. Yeah. That was very exciting. I know. How else was your Thanksgiving break? Good. It was good. We binged the show that I. Turkey. We binged Turkey. Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't have said it like that. We ate a whole turkey between the two of us. We binged. No, we ate a bunch and then we forgot to put the leftovers away. It was really sad. Oh, no.

I know. Yeah. That's fine. Forgot. I'm a leftover person. Those are my fucking favorite. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, especially Thanksgiving leftovers. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, the show that we binged over the break is the biopic version of the nonfiction book that we both love, Say Nothing. Oh, yeah. By Patrick Radden Keith. Yes, yes, yes.

About the IRA and the troubles and especially about Dolores Price, which I now know how to say her name correctly because of that show. How the Irish say it? It's tough though. Belarus. Yeah. Right. It's fucking incredible.

Great. It was on Hulu. I could watch ten more seasons of it even though I know it's over. Like, I know they don't, they didn't make it up. Yeah. So they can't just keep going. Love it. But it's incredible.

I'm so glad. Yeah. Because, yeah, I've heard a lot about it and we've talked a lot about it. Yeah. And you love when something that you read, something like that you know about from it feels like it's the very first iteration of it actually gets executed by people who also loved it. Yeah.

Clearly. And like the acting's incredible, like both the younger generation and then the people who play, of course, people who play them, they're older, they're fucking, you know, professionals. But everyone just like killed it. It was just like, it was phenomenal. And it's such a weird period of history that I don't think we really are taught. Right. Well, it's recent to us. So it is that kind of thing where it maybe doesn't feel like history. But yeah, in America we don't know enough about the troubles and what's kind of behind it.

Yeah. And so I think this will teach everyone. So say nothing on Hulu. And why we don't say Londonderry. We don't say Londonderry. It's a mistake that I will never ever stop thinking about for the rest of my life. And that Ireland and Scotland, is it Scotland, is not part of the UK. Ireland's not part of the UK. Except for this area and that's the problem. Yes.

Right. Exactly. I know now. We all know now. We all know all of the things that we know the most. Now. Now. Now we know them. After the fact.

What about you? What have you got? Let's see. I binged Monday night football, Tuesday night football, Wednesday afternoon football. Oh, because you were... There was no end to the football experience. But what I loved was I just lay on the couch. My dad watches football, but he gets it straight into his hearing aids. Nice. So it goes, zzz.

And then I'm sitting in silence with kind of the background of football. I don't have to listen to it. And then I'm sitting in silence with kind of the background of football. I don't have to listen to it. And then I can just watch TikTok full volume in the middle of the room. And it's like we have a great setup. And then if anybody needs to tell the other person anything, we both stop what we're doing and go, what? Okay. So I need to get Vince's hearing aids is what you're saying. Well, it's pretty great. Yeah. Eventually, that's what will happen. I love a sports nap. Like, when Vince puts on a sport, I'm like, great.

This is the perfect, like, you know, atmosphere for a nap. And it's also, I think it's like you don't, you understand the value of it, but you don't have to be invested. You just kind of get to enjoy the general vibe and then like go to sleep. Yeah and I'm like I know he's occupied so I don't have to feel like I'm wasting, you know like You have to ask him questions. Yeah. Or like you know when I'm like baby I'm gonna go take a nap and it's like okay well I'll just hang out for an hour and a half then while you take a nap. It's like no you are watching the sport.

Yeah. And so my nap is not interfering with your day in any way. They go together perfectly. Yeah like I can feel guilty about a nap that's how much fucking day in any way. They go together perfectly. Yeah. Like, I can feel guilty about a nap. That's how much fucking anxiety I have. But I wouldn't. Okay.

No way. Yeah. When he's occupied, it's called codependency, and we're great at it. And you're powering through it. That's right. Speaking of which, and my, I was basically binging TikTok, I guess that would be, on top of forced football, voluntarily binging TikTok, I guess that would be, on top of forced football, voluntarily binging TikTok. And so I think I told you this already, but one of the

things that is now in my experience is I get to see the clips of Nick Terry's MFM animated all the time, because they're in my feed. The algorithm has figured out I love myself. And so they come up all the time. And the other day, the I Can't Find My Mom, Little Girl in the Store story that you told about you for a goth, a punk or a grandma. And so I saw that one and I'm like so cute. And then I looked down and it was actually retweeted by a company called Gothcloth. And Gothcloth, retweeting that, it got 500,000 likes.

Holy shit. And 2 million views. Are you fucking serious? I am dead serious. So, Gothcloth, we want to say thank you. Just let me tell you really quick. Gothcloth was founded by a woman named Jordan Cahill in 2023, so recently. It's a blend of personal design. She creates and curated items that are must-haves for ghosts and ghouls. I love ghosts and ghouls.

Yeah. And witches. So, thanks Jordan for the RT and the, you know, I guess it's like some nice content for the Goths and the ghouls that might be wanting to buy her clothing. I love that. I'm glad that we're like, you know, in with the Goths. I mean. Who better to be in with?

I feel like we were there without being, you know, it's that kind of thing when I was in high school in the 80s. You weren't allowed to try to be in with a group if you weren't going to like dye your hair or wear the black lipstick or whatever. Pluck all your eyebrows and wear the black lipstick or whatever. Pluck all your eyebrows and put cat liner on. Yeah. Yeah, you actually commit.

Yeah. But I don't think it's like that anymore. You can be whatever you want to be. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. You don't have to like wear a uniform to be like. A murderino.

That's right. Yeah. That's kind of what it is. Yeah. So. Yeah, murderinos. Go to gothclothco.com. Gothclothco.com, gothclothco, if you want any of those things, because those are

our new friends. Yay. And also, if you're lost in a grocery store and you can't find your mom, go look for a goth. Look for a goth or a grandma. Or a grandma. Speaking of being lost and found, it's December. And so, as you know, every every year in December we do a weekly donation

for the holidays, ten thousand dollars. So we always like to find a charity that can make a real difference in people's lives. So yeah so this December's, we don't have a name for it, Giving Corner. Sure. We're kicking it off with a donation of ten thousand dollars to an organization called Feeding America. They're part of a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 meal programs, so people can access food without judgment or stigma. And they work with lawmakers to make it easier for people to get food by expanding access to food assistance programs.

And so if you'd like to join us in giving to this very important cause, you can go to their website at feedingamerica.org. Or you can explore their volunteer opportunities, which is a great way to give back. You can like help out at a food bank, you can host a food drive, you can just donate food to your local pantry. Yeah. Just let's all be looking out for ways to help each other and support each other and making sure people in need have what they need.

Yeah. When I was a kid, we had to utilize this. So I really love being able to help out. Help out, yeah, because it helped my family out when I was a kid. Yeah, that's good. Except for that can of peaches that exploded in our laundry room because they were expired.

Don't give expired food to food banks. I mean, please check all those dates. Anyways. Yeah, that's a nice one. That's a good feeling, kickoff December. Love it. Yeah. All right, well, let's get into it.

We have a podcast network. It's called Exactly Right Media. Here are some highlights and then we'll get into our stories. Yeah. So this week on Buried Bones, Kate and Paul are kicking off a two-part series on Harvey Glatzman known as the Glamour Girl Killer. He terrorized Los Angeles in the 50s. —Locked up story. —Yeah.

—And a brand new episode of Rewind with Karen and Georgia. That's our third weekly episode. It's out now. This week we're recapping episode 22, featuring two stories from the 1500s. So if you haven't started binging Rewind, check it out, please do. —It's like a Cliff's Notes binging. It's like, my favorite murder for dummies. Get over there.

We'll make it easy those first couple hundred episodes. That's the plan. Also, this week over on this podcast, I'll Kill You, the errands are talking about all things scabies. Learn about the history of scabies and dive into scabies before scabies dives into you. I knew a fucking dirty ass hipster who got scabies. My mother was convinced because I bought clothes at the Goodwill basically. She's like, you are going to get scabies and then you're going to come to me. And I'm just telling you right now where I'm like, it's a coat. It's an old man's coat.

Right. No one's going to give me scabies. I mean, if it would have happened to someone because of that, it would have happened to me by now. So I can guarantee. Yeah. I can't guarantee. You can guarantee it never happened to you.

Promise. Yeah. I think. And then just a friendly reminder, the holidays are coming up fast. So get your loved one something that says, I love you almost as much as I love podcasts at exactlyrightstore.com. Place your order by December 12th to guarantee delivery by the 25th and get yourself some fun merch.

Yeah. And now that we're doing video, did you know we're also doing commercials? So, let's take a look at the commercial that we made. What? Yeah. Hi, it's Nicole from the Merch Department. You might know me from that email you got about your recent return and I have a question for you Are your buns cold? Don't worry We have the solution and this one is a fan favorite design never before seen in sweatshirt form. Just in time for the holidays, it's the hot dog crew neck sweatshirt. Now you can celebrate the year-round delicacy

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Oh my god! Right? I remember you pitching that and then there it is! Holy shit, my face hurts from smiling. Like that is so joyous. Who better than Nicole to be our salesperson? The head of our like, merch department. Nicole has been selling merch for us and with us

since we started basically, like since right after we started doing merch. Like professionally doing merch, yeah. She's been with us. And I went to her and I was like, would you do this thing? Yeah. I just think it would be funny. And she was like, okay. Whatever.

She's like always the funniest person in our staff meetings. And then the day we went to do it, Allison and I went to like go over the scripts with her and say, is there anything you want to change or do or anything? And then I was like, you took theater in high school. And she goes, no, I didn't. And then I was like, oh, okay, well, tell me if you want to not do this. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. It doesn't seem like something she would want to do, and yet she nailed it. She did it.

I'm so impressed. Because it's Nicole being Nicole, which I love. Oh, I'm so happy about that. Yay. Go to our Instagram and our TikTok and watch that video and then get a hot dog shirt. And you can see it and you can be a part of it. That was joyous.

Right? I'm so glad you liked it. I want a surprise video every episode. Please make me a surprise video as much as possible. You know what? Check and done. I was so scared when you said that it was going to be like me talking that I didn't know about it.

You would sleep on a plane again. That's like the old pictures I used to love to surprise you with. Right. Oh, we made a commercial? Fuck. No. That's like the old pictures I used to love to surprise you with. Right. Oh, we made a commercial? Fuck. No. It has nothing to do with me. I love it.

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I mean, we talk about this a lot, but the idea that you could text with a therapist to start the conversation to do therapy, I would have loved that so much. I would have started so much sooner. Yeah. Because it's just like there's no stakes. It's just like texting with an incredibly intelligent, trained friend who is giving you feedback not based on their biases of being your friend, but actually based on training and like a degree. Science.

And I also love that you can typically match with someone in 48 hours because how many times have you tried to make a therapist appointment and like great I can see you in two months and then you just spiral from there? No, I need it now. Yeah. And as a listener of this podcast, you'll get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to Talkspace.com slash MFM and enter promo code space 80. To match with the licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com slash MFM and enter promo

code SPACE80. You'll get $80 off your first month and show support for our show. That's Talkspace.com slash MFM and enter promo code space 80. Goodbye. Okay. Okay, I'm first. And my story today is a heavy one. This is the life and murder of a civil rights hero whose killer went free for 30 years as

a clear, obvious, direct result of state-sanctioned racism in good old Mississippi. This is the story of Medgar Evers. You know this one? Oh, wow. I know the overall, I know the very white child from a white school version of this. Overarching, yeah. Yeah, okay.

Well, the main source for this story is a book called The Autobiography of Medgar Evers, which combines his speeches and writings with historical context written by his incredible wife, Merle Evers Williams and Naning Marable. And the rest of the sources are in the show notes. So Medgar Evers is born in 1925, grows up in Decatur, Mississippi, and his parents are James and Jesse Evers. James works in a sawmill and Jesse, his mom, does laundry and ironing at home for local white families. Medgar has three other siblings and James and Jesse are known as extremely loving and

attentive parents. Medgar's father is locally known as Crazy Jim, like your dad, because he refuses to step off the sidewalk in town in deference to passing white people, as was the rules. So the bullshit rules, right? The Everses are extremely focused on their children getting good educations, despite the many barriers to this in the Jim Crow South, the Evers children attend a segregated school, which is a 12-mile walk each way from their house. Twelve miles. That's what, half a marathon? Yes. But also like, so you have to get up, what, at six in the morning to get to school on time?

Seriously. So when Medgar is only 14 years old, a man in his town named Willie Tingle is lynched for supposedly insulting a white woman. Medgar witnesses Willie, who was friends with his father, be dragged behind a truck before being shot and hanged. So he sees us as a 14-year-old. Willie's bloody clothes are left out on a fence post for a year after this, you know, to send a message. And the Everest kids have to walk past them every day on their way to school.

The horror. So in 1942, when Medgar is 17 and still in high school, he volunteers to join the army by lying about his age and goes to fight in World War II. He serves in a segregated battalion in England and then in France. And like most, though not all, black soldiers at the time, Medgar is assigned to a non-combat role due to the racist military policies. He works as a technician, loading and unloading shipments of weapons. And he and his fellow black soldiers are routinely subject to demeaning treatment from their

white commanding officers. And it's during this time in the army that Medgar resolves to fight for civil rights when he gets back home. So right after being discharged in 1946, Medgar and his brother bring a group of Black veterans to the courthouse in their hometown of Decatur to register to vote. But on election day, a group of white men carrying guns blocks Medgar, his brother, and the others from accessing the polls. So Medgar finishes high school and then attends Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College.

On the first day of school, he meets a fellow freshman who's seven years younger named Merle Beasley. And Merle, who's only 17, is warned by her grandmother to stay away from the older veterans. But the two get married in December of 1951 and graduate the following spring. And while in college, Medgar had been on the debate team, the business club, the football team, the track team, and been his class president his junior year and yearbook editor and newspaper editor in his senior year. So no small feat. Also while in college, Medgar had attended an interracial seminar hosted by one all-white college and one all-black college in Mississippi.

And it was at this seminar that he first learned about the NAACP and joined. After graduation in 1952, Medgar and Murley first moved to a town called Mound Bayou, Mississippi, where Medgar begins working as an insurance salesman at a business owned by a prominent black doctor. And the job gives him the opportunity to travel the Delta region and talk to a lot of people. He also applies to be the first black law student at the University of Mississippi. But, shocking, his application was rejected on a technicality. But of course, we know that it's more about the

outrage of the alumni, you know, admitting a black person. I mean, but when you were saying that thing of an all-white school and an all-black school coming together to have, like that seemed very advanced. And that's also in Mississippi. So it's like, obviously, there's pockets of people who are really, especially the white people who knew that change had to happen and like... I think it's such a tipping point in history like a, you know, it's like you've got the old school, you've got the new school and they're butting heads. Right.

It's like the young people and then the old ways basically. It's the like what side of history do you want to be on? Yeah. Kind of a thing. It's a very valid question to this day. It sure is. And so, you know, getting rejected is in 1954, the same year as the Brown versus Board of Education decision passes, declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

But southern states and white school districts will fight this decision for years. On the state level, the Mississippi State Legislature passes laws empowering white districts to resist segregation and puts up obstacles for black students to register for school. It also recognizes local bodies called white citizens councils, which oppose immigration in individual cities and towns, often with armed resistance. So people trying to make progress and change, people trying to keep things their old way. And you know.

The fight. The fight. That makes me think of leading up to the election, there was a video about this woman who made a t-shirt with the receipt from when she voted the first time I think when she was 18. Did you see that video? A black woman who's, you know, older now obviously. And it was the $2 receipt for her having to pay a poll tax, which all black people had to pay when they were voting. That's what a poll tax is. Holy shit. When was this?

When did she vote originally? Right. It was like, I can't remember. I think she said it was like in the late 40s or so. Oh my God. Because I would guess that woman was somewhere in her 70s or 80s, but I couldn't guess. But she did a whole speech on it. And I was like, I've heard the phrase poll tax for so long, and I didn't know that that's what it was. That's fucking wild. And that kind of like yeah figuring out all these ways to restrict people or just

just get in people's way. Right. Yeah. Make it difficult so that they won't try let alone succeed. Yep. Okay. So Medgar asked the NAACP for their assistance in suing the University of Mississippi over his application, but their leadership instead offers him a job. And in December of 1954, he is named their field secretary for the state of Mississippi.

So Medgar and Murley, who by this point have two young children, Daryl and Reena, move to Jackson, which is Mississippi's capital. We both totally knew that. Yeah, absolutely. I know all the state capitals. They moved there in January of 1955. Their third child, a son named James, will be born in Jackson in 1960. So in the wake of Brown versus Board of Education, there is an increase in violence against black people in southern states. As part of Medgar's job, he investigates

murder and assault cases against black people, which I can't imagine is not just completely traumatizing. He provides assistance to 14-year-old Emmett Till's family after he is horrifically lynched in Money, Mississippi in August of 1954. The Till case, and as we've heard, it causes shockwaves around the world because his mother made me Till's decision to allow the press to document the brutality of his injuries by having an open casket. Medgar himself spends days on his hands and knees in the town of Money looking for evidence

in the fields and in the river, and Tills' murderers are ultimately declared not guilty by an all-white jury. RIDICULOUS. Yeah. Medgar investigates eight other murders, countless assaults, and works to assist another black applicant to the University of Mississippi Law School. And he also works tirelessly to register black voters in Mississippi. And as the civil rights movement changes and adapts to include more direct action like

boycotts, Medgar helps organize those too. So at this point, the atmosphere in Jackson is obviously more than tense. And between 1955 and 1963, the Evers family is targeted with countless threats and several acts of violence. Murley writes that they used to get so many threatening phone calls that she would just put the phone down and walk away, you know? And she says, quote, I began putting the phone down and walk away, you know? And she says, quote, I began putting the phone quietly down on the table and directing it toward the wall.

So much hatred has been poured out on that wall, end quote. Oh, God. I know. Also, that's just like, again, you're just going about your day. You have other stuff to do. And then you have that kind of like, just think of like the last time somebody yelled at you in a parking lot where you were like shaken and whatever. And it's like that being brought to black people's door multiple times a day. Or, you know, and back then, oh, you try to take any kind of action.

You can't. On another occasion, Medgar is run out of a small town. He drives his car at 100 miles an hour to get away. Medgar and Merly teach their children to army crawl to the bathroom if they ever hear a loud noise aimed at the house. And in 1963, someone throws a fire bomb at the Evers Home's carport. Medgar isn't home when it happens. The kids are asleep, and so Murley, this mother of three, is so afraid of being shot if she goes outside, but she also doesn't want the house

to burn down, so she goes out and puts the fire out with an urn hose. Like, that's the best choice she has. She has to do it herself, yeah. Murley remembers asking Medgar if all of this physical danger is worth it. So she says, quote, what about us? You have me, your wife who loves you dearly, you have these three children. And Medgar would tell her, quote, that's why I'm doing what I'm doing, end quote. And she says also, quote, knowing that every day might be the last day was the force behind

the deep love that Medgar and I had for each other and our children." End quote. So on June 12th, 1963, Medgar comes home around 1230 a.m. from a very long day of work for the NAACP. And the way Murley tells the story, it sounds like Medgar thought something might happen to him that day. He had made sure to spend the previous Sunday with his family not working, which was rare for him. And he made sure to kiss the kids before he left. not working, which was rare for him. And he made sure to kiss the kids before he left. And he called Merle just to talk three times throughout the workday. And when Medgar pulls the car into the carport shortly after midnight, his hands are full.

He's carrying a stack of NAACP t-shirts into the house. Because he had been out of town and traveling a lot, Merle had let—this is the fucking worst—Merle had let the children wait up to greet their father when he got home. This is just—they hear the engine stop and the car door open, and then they all hear the horrifying, unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Murley runs to the door. Medgar has made it there. His key's in hand, but then he falls to the ground, bleeding profusely, with the fucking

kids awake to greet their daddy. And the kids are between three and nine years old, and they see all of it, and they plead with their father to get up. Neighbors come over to help, but Medgar dies later that night. He's just 37 years old. Oh my God. I know. Thousands of people attend Medgar's funeral and it's documented in Life magazine. And there's this devastating photo of Murley comforting her nine-year-old son, Daryl, on

the cover of Life. Medgar is buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. So almost immediately, it's very clear who shot Medgar Evers. In a small grove of trees about 100 feet from the Evers house, investigators from the FBI find a rifle that matches the gun Evers had been shot with. It belongs to a 42-year-old man named Byron Dela Beckwith. Byron is a member of his local White Citizens Council, one of those all-white groups devoted to maintaining segregation and white supremacy. He's also a member of the Klu Klux Klan. They kind of go hand in hand. So Byron is arrested and charged with Medgar's murder, but the case results in two

hung juries, both all-white and all-male juries, both times. And he's not tried a third time. I mean, just the idea that it was such a strong case, so clear that actually it made these completely rigged white juries go, hold on a second. How are we going to do this? And we're hung. Yeah. That's like, yeah.

That speaks volumes rather than innocent. Right. Or not guilty. Right. So it not being tried a third time remains the state of affairs for 30 years. That's until an investigative reporter named Jerry Mitchell finds evidence that the state of Mississippi assisted Byron's defense team in vetting jurors for both trials. Oh.

That's a fucking no-no. You can't do that. I've never heard of this. This feels like I'm trying to rack my brain of like, have I seen like a movie about this or something? You have. OK, I'll tell you. You want to know the movie?

The movie and book is first the book and then the movie is Ghosts of Mississippi. Oh, OK. Yes, yes. Famous, amazing movie directed by Ron Howard. But so Jerry Mitchell finds that evidence. He's this incredible investigative reporter. So Mississippi has a governing body called the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission.

And in theory, the role of this body was to protect the rights of the state from federal overreach, which we can fucking talk a lot about states' rights. Let's not. In practice, it really functioned to protect the racist interests of the local white citizens' councils. It formed directly after the passing of Brown versus Board of Education. So in both trials of Byron Dela Beckwith, representatives from this body collected information

on potential jurors and passed this on to Byron's defense team. So very specific, obviously egregious. So all this starts to happenron's defense team. So very specific, you know, obviously egregious. So all of this starts to happen in the late 80s, and Byron has finally tried a third time in 1994. It takes that long. In addition to the evidence from the crime scene, which remains the same from the first two trials,

multiple people testify that Byron had boasted about killing Medgar over the years, including at KKK rallies. Multiple people testify that Byron had boasted about killing Medgar over the years, including at KKK rallies. And this time, a jury, which is no longer all white or all male, finds him guilty and he is sentenced to life in prison. And this part of the story is where the book and movie adaptation of Ghosts of Mississippi happens.

Byron dies in 2001 at the age of 80. So Byron probably would not have been tried were it not for Murley Evers. She eventually remarried and is now known as Murley Evers Williams. And after the new evidence about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission's influence on the first two trials was revealed, Murley tirelessly pushed for several years for Byron to be retried. Murley says, quote, because I loved Medgar, I didn't want him to be forgotten. That was the first motivation. The second was to bring positive change if I possibly could. In the years after her husband's death, Murley moved her children to California and attended

Pomona College. She had a career in marketing and corporate community outreach. And then in the 90s, became a member of the board at the NAACP. She says that her primary motivation for attaining such an incredible career was vengeance. She says, quote, tell me that I can't do something. I'll kill myself trying to do it. That's right. End quote. Yeah. Fucking chills. That's right. End quote. Yep. Fucking chills.

Merle eventually becomes the NAACP board's first chairwoman, first lady, first female leader. In 2013, she delivers the invocation at the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. Wow. Remember that? She's the first woman and the first non-clergy member to do so, which is like bring us fucking back. So good. Remember?

I mean, yeah. Medgar Evers is still remembered as one of the brightest heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. There's a college in Brooklyn named after him and a statue of him in Jackson, Mississippi. Every June, Jackson has the Medgar Evers homecoming celebration and actually BB King played at it every year before his death in 2015. Oh. I know.

Medgar had told Murley that he was choosing to risk his life for his children's futures, and they all went on to do great things. Sadly, Daryl Evers, Medgar and Murley's oldest son, died of colon cancer in 2001. He was a prominent artist. Rena Evers had a 32-year career with United Airlines and now runs the Medgar and Murley Evers Institute and serves on several

nonprofit boards. And James, the youngest, is a successful photographer who works on promotional photos for films and TV. And actually, James took this incredible photo of his two sons with Barack Obama and Murley at that inauguration in 2013. So last year, Murley and Medgar's house was turned into a national monument, which people can visit. At a gala honoring her, Murley, who's now 91, said, quote, I ask you to please always keep Medgar Evers' memory in your minds and in your hearts."

And that is the story of the death and legacy of a true hero of the civil rights movement, Medgar Evers. COLLEEN O'BRIEN Wow. RISA GOLUBOFF I did not know these details. There's just so many stories of brave people that are not told. Well, and they're like, they're crucial stories. It's the details of how that kind of work gets done and pushed forward, and it's by people who truly knew they were putting their life on the line and did it.

They didn't back away from the risk, and they didn't back away from like all of that fear. They had to just, they kind of like lived in that fear and powered through it anyway. And that's the piece of it that's, it's so incredible. It's like he didn't stay home from work. He didn't, he just kept going knowing that he had to. It reminds me of when they started the desegregation, Ruby Bridges, the five-year-old girl who had to, the first little black girl who went to a white school. She's a baby. I mean, we've talked about this before, but like I recently saw a picture and it was like her now and her from then. And it just like like they made a five-year-old do that. They made her get escorted into the school so she could get an education.

By some white men. Yeah. Like by her, she was alone. Yeah, like by fear of being killed. It's like, it's just fucking insane. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. amazing job. Thank you. Thank you. I wanted to not do that shitty, so... Yeah, you did it great. And also just like, yeah, I love that idea of like,

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Goodbye. It's the holiday season. Chances are you're about to spend a lot of time with family. Like, too much. Like a ton. Yeah, so much. That means there's no better time to dive into something new on Audible. Discover the year's top audiobooks, podcasts, and originals in all your favorite genres. Listening on Audible helps your imagination soar, especially when you're diving into a thriller, cozy holiday stories, or anything in between. With thousands of titles released each year, Audible has the best selection of audiobooks,

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Goodbye. Well, we're going to take a turn, but it isn't really the turn away that we usually do, which I kind of love. We're going to take a turn, but it isn't really the turn away that we usually do, which I kind of love. We're going to turn toward different direction. Okay. But also serious. Okay. Because December is HIV AIDS Awareness Month.

Right. If you weren't there, many of our listeners were not. But in the spring of 1980, the national news began to report on a mysterious fatal disease that was spreading across the country almost entirely in the gay male population. Almost immediately, those who fell ill were treated like pariahs in the healthcare system. Being diagnosed with AIDS was seen as a death sentence, stoking fear, paranoia, and intense homophobia. The AIDS crisis in America and the way it was handled by the Reagan administration

and by some average Americans themselves will always be a stain on our history. But like most of the stories that we tell each other, there is a glimmer of light in this story because at San Francisco General Hospital, sorry, I can't start it already. I just feel so proud. Yeah, I was going to say that. Because at San Francisco General Hospital, a young gay male nurse from Florida will spearhead the first dedicated AIDS ward in the United States. Oh my God, this is incredible.

And when he does, a staff of heroic nurses and doctors will defy fears and cultural taboos to provide compassionate care to those patients dying from AIDS. And that simple, generous act of compassion will ultimately prove to be revolutionary. This is the story of nurse Cliff Morrison and San Francisco General's Ward 5B. Shit. I don't know anything about this. Right? Incredible. I knew like a little, but again, it's that same thing where you're kind of like, I know a little. There's an incredible documentary called 5B

that came out in 2018. So definitely watch that. And then there's also interviews with and articles by Cliff Morrison and fellow 5B nurse Allison Moad. Those are the two main sources and the rest of the sources are in our show notes. Okay. So, first I'm going to tell you about Cliff Morrison. He is born in the early 50s in Live Oak, Florida, which is a small town on the state's Panhandle.

And by his own description, Cliff says it's, quote, about 90 miles from anywhere. So, Cliff grows up in poverty. No one in his family ever graduated high school, let alone college. They also didn't own a car, a telephone, or a TV. So true poverty. But from a young age, Cliff works as a field hand to support his family. A very young age. That's very hard work, obviously, very physically

demanding. So by the time he's 12, he decides that he doesn't want to do that job anymore. 12, he's like, enough. So when did he start? That's fucked up. Serious. So he heads down to a small local hospital and he asks if he can please work there. Oh my God. Yeah. So he gets a job in the housekeeping department and he asks if he can please work there. Oh my god. Yeah. So he gets a job in the housekeeping department.

He mops the floors. He takes out the trash. But after a while, he realizes he wants to care for the patients. Before long, Cliff is promoted to an orderly position, a job he holds throughout high school. And after he graduates, he goes to nursing school in Jacksonville. Wow. So, he admits that he was self-conscious about going into nursing at first, because back then, the field was dominated by women. But by 1971, 20-year-old Cliff is a registered nurse, and he's earning $10,000 a year, which

is about... What year? Seventy-one. I'm going to go 38,000. Seventy-eight thousand. Holy shit. Yeah, he's making good money. That's very good money.

Yes. I think even in today's standards for some nurses, it's like they don't get paid that. Okay. So that's, of course, the most anyone in his family has ever made. That's incredible. But more than that, Cliff has really found his calling. He says, quote, I realized I really liked being a nurse. It's where I felt the most comfortable.

I'd always been told that I was a caring person, so it made sense that I gravitated toward that profession. So Cliff bounces from Jacksonville down to Miami. There's a thriving gay community down there. There were lots of job opportunities. But it's the 70s. And at this time, down in South Florida, there's a woman named Anita Bryant who's decided to wage war on the LGBTQ community of South Florida. She and her cronies are lobbying hard to have

a recently passed ordinance that outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation repealed. She wants to get rid of that. I want you to take the steps you've so fought for so hard and take them away from you. Like, let's go back in fucking history instead of forward. What the fuck? What does that sound like to you? I don't know. It sounds really familiar though. Let's repeal rights, huh?

How's your body feeling right now? It feels like I want to get a hysterectomy. A little second class? Yeah. Anita Bryant, I believe there's- Her getting pied? Yes. Yes. If I'm right, there's an amazing video because she-

Who did it? It's someone who did it that's like because she was also she wasn't she was a performer Yeah she was like a singer and stuff and she was kind of like back it was like back in those Perry Como days where people Were very like clean cut it was all about like late 60s kind of like all-american clean cut whatever And so she was kind of like popular in a way. And then suddenly she was like, but you know who I really want to oppress is these gays. And so yeah, there's that legendary video where she gets pied while she's doing I think a press conference. Yeah, it was by gay activist Tom Higgins.

Yeah, you can look that video up on YouTube. It's pretty great. But also it's like at the time it's like, how dare you? And it's like, it's pie. You're an asshole and you got a pie in the face. You deserve it. So basically, those bigoted activists drum up such an increasingly hostile energy in South Florida, which is up until then been a safe haven for gay people, that Cliff decides it's time

for him to move to California. He's always wanted to spend time in the Bay Area. And of course, San Francisco has become like the Mecca for gay people to escape to from all around the country. So in 1979, Cliff moves there and takes a job at San Francisco General, which is at the time a teaching hospital for University of job at San Francisco General, which is at the time a teaching hospital for University of California at San Francisco. So what's funny is Cliff doesn't actually take to the city right away. It's cold, it's foggy, the weather, there's not a lot of sunshine in San Francisco. So he misses the Florida sunshine.

He's also not clicking with the gay community like so many places that can become emblematic of like a movement or a subculture. San Francisco is filled with transplants. So he feels like it's a little artificial. So he figures, okay, he'll stay for a year or two and then he's going to go try somewhere else. But all that changes in 1981. The murmurings of a strange, deadly illness that's largely affecting young gay men begin to circulate. So Cliff and his colleagues at SF General start seeing some of these patients come into their ICU. They're all suffering from the same symptoms. They've lost weight. They have fevers that last for days. They have lesions on their skin, swollen lymph nodes, some of

them are confused and delirious, and they almost always die from this illness. The news goes from calling it a mystery illness to saying it's a new type of cancer affecting gay men, because they just have no idea. By 1982, and I have told you this story, I told you the last time we talked about the AIDS crisis, but this happening in 1981, I absolutely remember where I was sitting in the living room watching the 6 o'clock news with my mom, or if it was my mom was there, it was the 7 o'clock news, and Dave McElhatton on the Channel 2 news, and the little, like, chiron next to him just said mystery illness.

And he basically was like a mystery illnesses in San Francisco. LESLIE KENDRICK-KLEIN Yeah, terrifying. AMT. SONIA SOTOMAYOR Yeah. Really strange. So by 1982, this mystery illness is given a name, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS for short. Cases are being identified throughout the country now with many, but most importantly not all of the victims being gay men. So even the best medical experts and the most decorated doctors can't fully explain why

these patients are getting sick. And that uncertainty begins to fuel a widespread panic and blatant homophobia. According to the website Hospital Watchdog, they say, quote, some men suspected as gay and infected with HIV were kicked out of their apartments and fired from their jobs. In one instance, their desks were taken to a parking lot and set on fire. Insurance companies were screening out gay men to deny coverage by sending out surveys asking if they worked as a florist or a hairdresser.

Holy shit. Yeah. In actuality, AIDS is affecting people from all walks of life, but it's an extremely hostile time for members of the gay community. It's a hostile time anyway. And then this comes along. Right. Then it's like they almost feel justified in their homophobia.

Those bigots, yeah. So even within the medical establishment and even in progressive cities like San Francisco, some nurses, doctors, and orderlies are reluctant or they outright refuse to treat patients with certain symptoms or if they suspect that they're gay. And when those patients are admitted, they are usually isolated and treated more like walking biohazards than as human beings. Actually, literal hazard signs are sometimes plastered on their hospital room doors. Meals are left in the hallway outside of their rooms. Basic care like changing their

bedsheets or cleaning them goes undone out of this fear of being infected. And Cliff is seeing all of this as a nurse. And then one day, it hits even closer to home. He comes back from work to find his roommate, Wayne, collapsed on the hallway floor. Cliff says, quote, we had been talking a lot about the disease because it was just starting to make headlines, and I had a feeling that's what he had. So for days, Cliff does everything he can to care for Wayne at home, but Wayne's condition doesn't improve. And it's not easy to find a hospital that can or will admit him.

Which is such a weird thing to think of, like... The place you're supposed to go when you're sick. The given. Yeah. And they're like, oh, no. Like when you need care, and they're like,, well their laws say that I can't take care of you and give you the care that you... Or we're just going to, to protect ourselves. We're going to not admit you.

Right. Sounds so familiar. Yeah. So, Cliff reaches out to his colleagues at San Francisco General. He's finally given the name of a doctor who works out of a private hospital that will take Wayne. And there, Cliff watches as his friend is rushed into an isolation room surrounded by fearful staff, then shut away and left alone. When Cliff tries to go into that room, the medical staff stops him. They warn him that it's too dangerous, but Cliff doesn't hesitate. He tells them, quote, I'm a nurse and I've been

taking care of Wayne for days, whatever he's got I probably have. And he goes into the room. So at the time, it's very common for medical staff treating these patients to wear head-to-toe PPE, including what's casually referred to as a space suit, which are those heavy-duty biohazard suits that we've all seen in movies. So the staff who have been wearing suits like that, if not the heavy-duty PPE, is just staring at Cliff in shock and horror as he walks into Wayne's room without any protective gear on at all. Cliff later says, I didn't want to wear a spacesuit to take care of my friend." So seeing these patients at San Francisco General, as well as his roommate, being neglected,

isolated, and denied compassion in the final days of their lives infuriates Cliff. The fact is, at this time, most patients with AIDS do not survive, and Cliff sees that their deaths are neither peaceful nor dignified. And then so many of their families had shunned them already. So it's not like all they have is each other and they're not even being allowed to see each other. They're not allowed in or like their friends don't know that

this is the part that they're in. Like they're just not. It's like it's like a leper colony. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So these patients die in pain, surrounded by fear, and often alone. And the diagnosis of this disease cuts them off from care in a time that they need it the most. So, Cliff decides he needs to change this.

He starts by volunteering with the Shanty Project, which is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that provides people with terminal illnesses, compassion, and human connection as they die. By the early 80s, many of the people they work with are sick members of the gay community. So for Cliff, this volunteer work becomes an invaluable education in palliative care. Back at San Francisco General, word spreads quickly about his work with the Shanty Project. And before long, doctors, nurses, and even patients are coming to Cliff for guidance. He's suddenly a very helpful middleman who can see, share, and translate both the clinical

and patient perspectives in a time that's incredibly confusing and incredibly scary. Wow. But as more people get sick, the hysteria is dialed up and the misinformation only increases. Meanwhile, ICU beds at San Francisco General hit capacity as hundreds of patients being diagnosed with AIDS all spread throughout different wards. The quality of their care is entirely inconsistent depending on their respective nurses and doctors Mindsets so you get a bad area of the hospital you get a bad doctor or nurse. Yeah

Just thought the idea of that is like we take it for granted I mean anybody that has insurance and then gets to even go to the hospital takes it for granted I definitely do yeah But then this idea that you would get a thing that would suddenly turn those people against you. Yeah, they have hatred towards you. Yeah. And they're supposed to be treating you while you're actively dying.

Yeah. So, the hospital administrators quickly realize that they're in over their heads and again they turn to Cliff for help. They want him to take on a clinical coordinator job so they can oversee these patients with AIDS in the hospital and Cliff accepts. There's immediately a plan to quarantine these patients in a separate part of the hospital. But at first, Cliff hates this idea. He compares it to being sent to a leper colony. But then the more he thinks about it, the more practical a separate ward feels.

They'll have dedicated space and an opportunity to provide a more tailored kind of care. So he agrees. He's given an area of the hospital on the fifth floor, used as a sleeping area for resident doctors known as Ward 5B, and an outpatient clinic called Ward 86. But Cliff realizes he's going to need money to set up and fund this new dedicated clinic. And that's when Dr. Mervyn Silverman, San Francisco's director of public health at the time, invites Cliff to meet with Mayor Dianne Feinstein. Cliff remembers, quote, we went to her office and sat down and she said, we just so happened to have several million dollars surplus in the budget this year.

If you promise me that you will spend this money appropriately, I will give you some of the surplus and you do what you need to do. Just make sure you do it right. Wow. When does that fucking happen? I mean, for real, especially considering at this time, 1981, President Ronald Reagan hasn't even addressed this public health issue, a very pressing public health issue to the country at all.

He has not acknowledged it. And he won't until 1985. And even then in 1985, he just very briefly mentions AIDS in a press conference, just like in passing. And then after that, it's two more years before he addresses this national health crisis in any significant way. It takes them six years to talk about AIDS. Yeah, as people are actively dying. Yes.

And by then, nearly 47,000 Americans have been infected with HIV or have died from AIDS. Cliff adds, quote, as I look back on that meeting with Dianne Feinstein, that was one of the more wonderful moments of my career. That's the first time I'd actually seen a politician show true leadership. So now that he has both the space and funding, Cliff needs nurses and doctors to work in Ward 5B. So, he posts notices about the forthcoming AIDS ward throughout the hospital. He ends up hiring 11 nurses, as well as a team of social workers, physical therapists,

dietitians, chaplains, and occupational therapists. And for him, staffing 5B isn't just about finding qualified medical professionals, it's about hiring people who genuinely want to work there. He knows that'll be the key to improving this poor quality of care that everyone is seeing everywhere else. But Cliff insists on being honest about the risks of this work. He has worked with enough AIDS patients without contracting the illness himself to know that that's possible. But generally, information is sparse and he

needs his staff to be informed and accepting of the unknowns. One 5B staffer later recalls an early conversation with Cliff where he says, quote, go home and talk to your significant others because we don't know. We can't tell you that you're not going to get this disease. That's terrifying. Yeah. How brave. And then Cliff talks to the patients themselves to find out what they want out of this ward. He'll later say, quote, the first thing I heard was I want to feel like I'm being treated

like a person. I have to stop crying on this podcast. It's fucking... Well, you need to do it for both of us, because I can't. Because of all those meds, because of all that Botox. Like, I just don't have the power. I see it. There's a tear in that eye right there. There is.

Yeah. Well, it's just, look, I lost a friend to AIDS who was 21 years old. Oh, my God. And it was a big surprise. And it was, he was my friend from sixth grade. Wow. And it was a big surprise, and he was my friend from sixth grade. And I loved him very much, Ken Mason. And to see him, he, thank God, had a very loving, very accepting family who took care

of him right till the end. And so I got to go see him basically in his, at his mom's house. And it was one of the worst things I've ever experienced to kind of see that he was ravaged. I mean, he was just like, he was emaciated. And it's so easy to think about all of these men who in the 70s were like, oh, you know, everyone's encouraged to come out and we need to fight for our rights. And we need to like be the people who we are. And then suddenly this happens and it enables these bigots to talk about gay people, gay men, like you got what you deserved. Totally. It's cruel. It's so disgusting.

It's just like, yeah, everything about it is so, is so horrifying. And then the leadership that intentionally didn't help. Right. Like you got to wonder what would have happened if a Democrat had been in the, had been in office at the time. Or a decent human being? Right. Like somebody that would look at that and, and say, it's insane, but here's

what's beautiful. Basically, that's where Cliff comes in and he goes, we'll do it ourselves and we'll do it for each other. And there's a lot of lesbian women and a lot of female nurses who went in and were like, we will take care of them, we'll do this, and we'll take these risks, because this is, we cannot just let these men die to protect ourselves. Like, that is not the point of being a nurse or a doctor. And they weren't the only ones who felt that way, thank God. And because of that, then essentially after being able to give that care, they proved that you can give that care. Right.

And basically they went out there and they were the first line, first responders to go, look, we did it and we didn't catch it, therefore you need to do it. The idea that they had to do that though. Right. And not know. And the in-between of all the people that died alone and isolated and it's just, it's disgusting and horrible. So when Cliff asked those patients what they wanted out of the ward, he said, the first

quote, the first thing I heard was, I want to feel like I'm being treated like a person. They said, I want people who are not afraid of me. I want people to touch me. I want to know that I'm going to be cleaned up every day." They were talking about being treated with dignity and compassion. Yeah. Basics. The very, the lowest bar.

Yeah. So the virus that causes AIDS, HIV, is finally identified in May of 1983. And two months later, in July of 1983, Ward 5B officially opens to the public. It's helmed by head nurse Allison Moed, who oversees a team of 11 dedicated nurses. Some of these nurses are straight, some are gay. All of them have agreed to put aside their personal fears surrounding AIDS to offer compassionate care to their sick and vulnerable patients. Allison later says, quote, I was enthralled by this idea of love for your fellow being. This was a confluence of nurses, of people who wanted to take care of this population

that had been stigmatized, discriminated against, not cared for during a period of their lives where their lives were ending. Professionally, how do we care for them? Caring is what we were about. Wow, imagine that. Yeah. So 5B is unlike anywhere else at the time. Here, the doctors and nurses don't speak down

to their patients and they certainly don't judge them. In fact, patients are treated as a member of their own care team and they're involved in all the conversations about their treatment. 5B is one of the only units in the U.S. where people can visit outside of set visiting hours. Oh, wow. And those visitors don't have to be literal family members. In the biological sense, they can be members of the patient's chosen family. The staff even sneaks in their patient's pets when they can. Also, on 5B, staffers don't use the same full-body PPE many other facilities across the country do. Instead, they wear protective equipment when

necessary. The 5B staff use common sense precautions that keep the patient's dignity in mind, remembering the value of human touch and connection. Cliff says, quote, we knew by now that AIDS was not transmitted casually. I had no qualms about climbing onto the bed with my patients to hold them. That had never been done before. As a nurse, you might touch someone's hand, but you would never take them in your arms." Oh my god, that image. Yeah. This is a huge deal. For a sense of timeline, this is five years before that famous moment where Princess Diana made history publicly shaking the hand of someone with HIV.

Five years before that. So it was at a time where touching a person who had AIDS, let alone holding them to provide comfort is seen as extremely risky by almost everyone. There's also a large outside component to Ward 5B, which includes a roster of volunteers from the gay community, local hospices, and the Shanty Project, who do things like decorate and furnish the ward. That's so hacky. It's like the gay men go in and they're like, oh, the lighting in here is terrible. It's just like, but it matters.

Yeah. It's just like, but it matters. Yeah, it's all about dignity. Yeah, it's quality of life. They also run errands, they offer counseling, they look for housing for the patients when they get discharged because there are patients who are getting discharged. Nurse Allison Moed says, quote, on a broad level, we learned how to take care of patients who were going through this terrible disease. It was about caring, not about curing. It was about touching and interacting, letting people know they were safe, letting people know that they were accepted, letting people know that their wishes were going to be listened to, that their thoughts about their care and options were going to be respected and heard.

That was not necessarily the mode in those days. So very quickly, the demand for Ward 5B exceeds its capacity. When a patient passes away and a bed becomes available, it's quickly filled by someone from a lengthy wait list. Then in May of 1986, the unit expands into Ward 5A, adding about 30 more beds. So as Ward 5B's profile rises, politicians, advocates, and celebrities stop by to show support for the staff's efforts and the patients' recovery. Of course, given the stigma around HIV and AIDS at the time, not everyone is in support

of what's going on at SF General. Homophobic members of the public are incensed that public dollars have gone to the funding of 5B. And in cases where the patients are well enough to move around the hospital and visit the cafeteria, hysteria erupts around 5B patients using the water fountains. Oh my God. A group of four nurses even sue San Francisco General over fears that 5B is risking their personal health.

But that case is ultimately shot down as 5B's model of care is deemed safe and appropriate treatment. Before long, it becomes the gold standard for HIV and AIDS care throughout the world. And meanwhile, the mission of 5B stands firm. In 1985, the New York Times reports that just two staffers have left the ward in its first two years of operation, which is, quote, a much lower number than hospital wards normally experience. Allison Moed says, quote, we learn that compassion is one of those things that doesn't become

depleted. The more you give it, it actually replenishes. It's one of those things where the more you give, the better you feel and want to give. That's what love's about, right? There was a very loving exchange and loving feeling on the unit, and I know you could see it. We were really committed to what we were doing and passionate about being able to do it. So by the mid-1990s, advancements in medication change everything. An AIDS diagnosis is no longer an automatic death sentence, and before long, HIV is regarded as a manageable chronic condition. Fewer and fewer beds in wards 5A and 5B are occupied, and by 2006, both wards are officially disbanded.

2006, that's like such a long time. Such a long time. Wow. Yeah. Cliff Morrison continues working as an advocate for those people with HIV and AIDS. In interviews, he's not one to talk about his own emotions or experience, which is on brand for such a dedicated healthcare provider. But like so many gay men of his age, he lost

an unimaginable number of loved ones to this disease. Cliff has said, quote, I have dealt with survivor's guilt on and off through the years and still suffer from PTSD. I don't have any peers because they all died. Today the majority of my friends are 20 years younger than me, but I have absolutely no regrets. I would do it all again. I was a gay man, but I was a nurse first." The impact of his work with 5B endures. Today, there's a memorial plaque hanging at the hospital that says, quote, on July 25th, 1983, here on ward 5B, a group of caregivers gathered to confront a new epidemic, AIDS.

They created a haven of acceptance and compassion at a time when others were calling for isolation and rejection. They saw fellow human beings where others saw only disease and contagion. Together with a generous, loving volunteer community, they developed a world-renowned center of excellence dedicated to quality of care for the living and the dying. This plaque commemorates all who served here and remembers all who died. And that is the story of Cliff Morrison and the heroic staff at Ward 5B.

I mean, holy shit. Right. Unbelievable. Good job. I mean, I think being in any way first is one of the hardest things to do. You don't have anybody behind you. Especially like in Cliff's situation, he was having to teach and basically lecture doctors of like that whole thing of I'd have it, I have it already. If it's bad, I have it.

So there's no reason I don't go take care of my friend. And that kind of energy, which is like risking it, that's the ultimate sacrifice for something is like, so you're not just standing by letting something go on. It's like courageous compassion and being the first person to do that is scary and hard, but must be done. And then you become, Cliff became this example of like, well, if he's doing it, then it must be okay for me. Right. Which must mean that this hysteria is not the truth.

Right. That it's essentially like we actually have to figure. And now, you know, now we know that like, there was very specific ways that HIV was transmitted. So that whole idea was completely incorrect. It was just no one knew the exact medical truth. Yeah, because there wasn't enough research going into it because the government was ignoring it completely.

Because the president wouldn't say it was happening. I mean like, if you want to read Cliff Morrison's actual own writing about this, there is a website you can go to. It'll be listed in the sources. And it's an article he wrote called, They Did Not Die Peacefully. And he wrote it in 2011. So it really is like the firsthand account. If you're looking for that, that's the source

that you should pull and read because his firsthand account, you know, is what everyone should read. Can I do what I do best and recommend a fictionalized version of this in a book in book form. This sounds exactly like a book that I listened to recently that was incredible, that I highly recommend is called The Great Believers by Rebecca McKay. It's an incredible book. It takes place in the 1980s in this world in Chicago.

And it just gives you, you know, it's almost historical fiction and it gives you a time and a place of this specific one that is, that's hard to imagine unless you've lived through it but so necessary so we can have compassion and empathy. Yeah. Well, great job. I mean, what a fucking episode. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Hard-hitting.

We're kicking off December the way only we can. Yep. That's what we're here for. If, you know, go listen to what again you're wrong about, too, if you want more info. That's right. More interesting info. And be brave and take care of your fellow man. That's right. And do your best.

Do your best. You've got it in you. You do. Be first. Yeah. And stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye've got it in you. You do. Be first. Yeah. And stay sexy. And don't get murdered.

Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an Exactly Right production. Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck. Our managing producer is Hannah Kyle Creighton. Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Liana Squillace. Our researchers are Maren McClashen and Ali Elkin.

Email your hometowns to MyFavoriteMurder at gmail.com. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murderer. Goodbye!