Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hi, everyone. This is Dawn Clem, and this is my podcast, Milkweed and monarchs. I know I spoke about interviewing people in person, the last podcast I had, and I was supposed to start today, but unfortunately I'm having some challenges, so it's going to be delayed. I'm not sure how much longer, but the goal still will be for me to interview people in person.
[00:00:30] Until I'm able to do that, though, I would like to continue with my podcast and tell stories that people want to share.
[00:00:39] And if you would like to share a story yourself, you can go on my website, milkmon.com. So it's capital m I l k m o n. All one word.com. And at the end of the page, there's a section where you can fill out your name and your contact information, and I would be glad to get back to you. Or you can also just send an email to milkmon.com and I can answer the email as well. Whatever works for you. But I will definitely contact you, and then we can talk about your story and then decide when we want to put it on air.
[00:01:22] Thank you for your patience. I really appreciate it.
[00:01:26] Thankfully, one of my lifelong friends agreed to share the story of her father, so she's letting me tell the story of her father, who was a remarkable man. And that's the story I will be telling you today.
[00:01:44] My lifelong friend is Kathy, and her father's name was Dan Goldsmith. So I'm going to just jump right into the story, and at the end, I think you're going to understand why the story was worth hearing and what a remarkable and great humanitarian he was.
[00:02:10] So Dan Goldsmith was born in 1924 in a small town in Missouri.
[00:02:16] He had an older brother, Harold. We're not quite certain how much older he was than Dan, but we're thinking somewhere between ten to twelve years. And he had an older sister, Peggy. And again, we're not quite certain how much older, but we're thinking maybe eight to ten years older than Dan and then his parents.
[00:02:39] And when he was four years old, or in 1928, his father abandoned their family.
[00:02:47] If you stop and think about the lay of the land in 1928 in the United States, it was right before the Great Depression. It was at the very beginning of the Great Depression. It was also at a time when women really did not work outside of the home.
[00:03:06] So here's his mother with three children, trying to figure out, how am I going to make this work?
[00:03:14] She decided to come up to open her house up as a boarding home for young men. She knew that this was going to be a way to get income into the house, and she would be able to stay there and take care of her children.
[00:03:33] So she provided three meals a day for the boarders, and she served the same thing for all three meals, chicken and biscuits. She also gave the same meals to her children and herself. But for the boarders, they got the larger portions and the better pieces of the chicken or better cuts of the chicken, and the children and herself got lesser of the portions and the lesser good parts of the chicken. So she wanted to make sure she was giving better portions to the boarders, because in her mind, that meant that they would stay there longer, and she would be able to stay longer and take care of her children.
[00:04:27] It was evident after about a year or so, maybe a year and a half, that this wasn't going to really work for them. They were struggling.
[00:04:37] And it was at a time when Harold was now old enough that he would be able to work outside of the home, so he started looking for a job.
[00:04:49] At that time, Michigan was booming because that was the really the beginning of the auto industry.
[00:04:58] Henry Ford lived in Detroit, so he started looking for an auto factory where he would be able to make money and support the family. And he was able to secure a job in Flint, Michigan. And the good thing about this job is that it also came with housing. I think they had something like tenement housing back then. So he was able to bring his family up there, his mom and his two siblings, and then he was able to work and actually provide an income for them. So it worked out for everyone in the family, which was a godsend, actually.
[00:05:39] Dan subsequently was raised in Flint, Michigan, and he ended up graduating from high school there. When he graduated from high school, he was immediately drafted into the war. Now we're into the era of World War two.
[00:05:59] He was all set to deploy, to go overseas and fight in the war when he came down with scarlet fever. And once he got scarlet fever, he wasn't allowed to travel overseas.
[00:06:14] He got over the scarlet fever, but they kept him stateside for the remainder of his draft. So I'm not sure if it was three years or two to three years, something like that. He was remained in the military stateside.
[00:06:31] When he got out, though, he was still able to get the GI bill. And that is like, that was like a total bonus, because with the GI bill, he decided to go back to college. And also, if you think about people going to college back then, I don't think that many people were going to college. And if you think about how he was raised in a poor family.
[00:06:58] He never would have been able to go to college if he didn't have that GI Bill. So this was really a win win for him. He applied to Michigan State University, and he was accepted. He ultimately got his bachelor's degree in psychology and education.
[00:07:17] When he graduated, his first job was in Albion, Michigan, at the high school. He was a coach and a teacher there. That's also the place where he met his wife, Bonnie, Kathy's mom. And she had gone to Albion College and been in the education program as well. And she did her student teaching at the grade school. And so when she graduated from college, she was able to secure a teaching position in the grade school.
[00:07:57] It was in 1957. So they had been in Albion for a little while.
[00:08:04] When Dan was offered a coaching staff position at Hillsdale College, he.
[00:08:16] I mean, the thing about Hillsdale College, I feel like I should say something about Hillsdale College here. Hillsdale College is a small, private college. It's a conservative school, and I don't think they have more than twelve to 1400 students there.
[00:08:36] And Hillsdale itself, the town is very small. There's only 10,000 people. When we were growing up, I think there was nine to 10,000 people in Hillsdale, and there's even less now, I think. But Hillsdale was the biggest city of all the towns around it in the county. So Hillsdale is also the name of the county.
[00:09:03] So it's amazing to me that they were even having different cultural students go there, because Hillsdale, the town itself, was very. I mean, it's like a farming community, and we didn't have a lot of diversity there when we were growing up at all. We. We didn't have any black students in our high school. We had very few Hispanics, maybe a handful. And I don't remember any asian students.
[00:09:36] I do know, though, that a lot of the families would do have students come, foreign exchange students come and stay with them for a year, and then we would send a lot of our students overseas, too, to Europe and things like that. But still very quiet little, kind of a sleepy little town. And you wouldn't even expect to see a lot of black players on the football team at Hillsdale College, but we did have them, and nobody thought a thing of it. I just wanted to put that plug in there.
[00:10:17] So when Dan got to Hillsdale College, he learned that it was two seasons after the college had turned down a chance to play in the Tangerine bowl in Florida, because the bowl committee had informed them that, that black players must stay home.
[00:10:37] To me, that was so shocking to hear that. I didn't even realize that it was like that back then. But if you think about it, he got there in 1957 and all during the sixties. That was such a tumultuous time with race relations, so it impacted the college and sports directly.
[00:11:03] Kathy, when she was in college, wanted to write a paper about her dad and the influence that he had had on the college. And so she interviewed many people, and some of these stories come from her having the time to be able to interview the people directly and hear what they had to say about her dad.
[00:11:29] He said that this was only the beginning of many racial discrimination situations that Hillsdale teams faced during the tumultuous sixties as they ventured into the south, playing in the National association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the championships and the bowl games. Kathy's dad, or Daniel, was always outraged by the ignorance and audacity and acts of discrimination. You have to remember, he was raised in Flint, and Flint is a predominantly black community, so he didn't think anything about being with blacks or whites. He just didn't think that way. That's where he was raised.
[00:12:22] And so he would always bring the discussion back to the dinner table with his kids and his wife because he wanted them to know what was really transpiring out there.
[00:12:37] Kathy said her dinner table was filled with stories about prejudices and the young black football players and what they had to endure. Her sister, her brother and Kathy grew up with a great sense of the injustice of the times. And we were proud to be part of Hillsdale College and its stance against ignorance and prejudice. I mean, I think that's. That part is so amazing because he was teaching them right from an early age how wrong that kind of behavior is. And I just wish more people would do that, right. That would be great.
[00:13:17] So I'm going to share with you now three separate vignettes of situations that Dan found himself in. And then at the end, we'll talk about them.
[00:13:29] In 1960, the football team traveled to a bowl game in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. They were booked at a fine hotel, the Ivanhoe. But when the manager realized the team had black players, he told them that the black players needed. Needed to stay at the hotel across the street.
[00:13:51] The head coach, muddy Waters, and her and Dan refused to let the players be forced to stay in separate quarters.
[00:14:02] The team withdrew their reservations, and all of the team moved across the street to the other motel.
[00:14:12] One of the players, an all american football player, told Kathy later that they had to stay in the crummiest fleabag hotel, but we were all proud to do it.
[00:14:28] That evening, the coaches decided to treat the players to a movie. I'm sure they were feeling bad about everything, so they said, let's go to a movie. The players filed into the theater, paying for their tickets one at a time, until the first black player stepped up to the counter. The manager sold the black player a different ticket that required him to sit in the balcony. The players were outraged and said, we sit together, all together, or we all get our money back.
[00:15:07] The manager didn't want to lose the revenue of an entire football team. I can imagine he didn't. So he grudgingly relented and allowed them all to sit on the main floor. It was the first time in history a black person had ever been allowed in the white section of that theater.
[00:15:32] The next morning, the coaches were walking downtown. On their way to breakfast. A black barber stepped outside of his shop and shook their hands.
[00:15:46] With tears in his eyes. He said, I want to thank you for what you did last night. We all know about it. Please, can I give you a free shave?
[00:15:59] Her dad and muddy stepped into the barber shop for their shave, and later Dan said it was the best shave he ever had.
[00:16:11] The fact that they were all talking about the theater and them going to that motel, I'm sure that town was never the same once the Hillsdale football team left, and I love it, one of the other players from the sixties told Kathy, the prejudice stories are great, but to him, the essence of Dan Goldsmith was one who could see beyond the playing field as the most important thing.
[00:16:48] He said he inspired Dan inspired students not only to always be a gentleman and play by the rules, but that being a great student was more than just being a great athlete. I love it, love it, love it, love it.
[00:17:08] Troubled, lonely, out of state and foreign students and athletes were always at the Goldsmiths for dinner. Her dad, Dan, had a way of knowing when a student needed some TLC. Thanksgiving was always an international affair. So he didn't just teach students. He didn't just coach athletes. He took them into his home.
[00:17:38] He made them part of his family.
[00:17:41] What a huge accomplishment.
[00:17:45] Her father eventually decided to go back and get his PhD. He got his PhD at Michigan State as well. I believe he got his master's degree in between in an accelerated program at USC in California. So I don't know the dates of that, but I do know that he went back to get his PhD at Michigan State.
[00:18:10] While he was working on his PhD, he had an interesting experience.
[00:18:18] It was during the week of the six day war in the Middle east, he was walking down a hall and saw obscene graffiti against an arab woman on a chalkboard in an empty classroom. He went in and erased it. As he continued on his way, an arab student followed him down the hall, and he said to him, sir, why did you do that?
[00:18:48] Dan said, because it was disgusting.
[00:18:52] They stopped and talked. They talked about Hillsdale College, they talked about the war, and then they shook hands and they both went on their way.
[00:19:04] A couple months later, her Dan was in his office and was called from the president's office in Central hall.
[00:19:16] The president wanted Dan over in his office immediately.
[00:19:22] When Dan got over there, there were six arab sheiks in the office, one of whom turned out to be the minister of education for Saudi Arabia.
[00:19:36] They wanted to meet Dan in person because he understood their people.
[00:19:45] This began the era of arab students at Hillsdale College that continued for the next ten years. What a huge impact. One conversation and one random act of kindness did.
[00:20:02] And then finally the third vignette. In the early seventies, the coaches hit on a recruiting dream technique. Every year on Long island, there was a banquet for the top 44 high school football players in the country.
[00:20:23] Hillsdale scouts, including her. Kathy's father, Dan, would attend and recruit some of the best players in the nation. At 1.50% of the football team and a large portion of the student body, all came from Long island. That's so funny.
[00:20:42] There was an 18 year old named Bobby who was one of the best players that Dan and muddy Waters had ever seen. But he was a kid with a bad attitude and a bad temper.
[00:20:57] Shortly after high school, he was arrested for a very serious assault and battery charge.
[00:21:04] Dan and Muddy went to the court and talked to the judge.
[00:21:10] At Bobby's court date, he was given a choice of going to Hillsdale College to play football or going to jail.
[00:21:20] He wasn't sure what was worse, going to a rinky dink town in the midwest or going to jail.
[00:21:29] In the end, Bobby chose Hillsdale College.
[00:21:34] His probation was to meet with a probation officer in the town once a week, and then he had to come to Dan's house for dinner once a week. I think he got micromanaged.
[00:21:49] Bobby ultimately fell in love with Hillsdale College and with Hillsdale. He told Kathy that there was no question in his mind that Dan and Muddy had saved his life.
[00:22:03] He became an all American in track and football and was signed to play with the New York jets.
[00:22:12] Unfortunately, he had a serious car accident on his way to training camp. That ended his career, but later he became a New York City fireman, and he was there during the 911 attack on the US.
[00:22:30] He didn't go in the buildings the first round, but he did go in later on. And it's just an amazing turnaround from what he started his life as and how he ended up.
[00:22:48] In 2001, Hillsdale College paid tribute to Dan Goldsmith, and I just want to read to you what they said about him.
[00:22:57] Dan Goldsmith was a man for all seasons and many sports. Dan Goldsmith was one of the most influential personalities around Hillsdale College athletics for more than 30 years. He served as an assistant football coach for more than 20 years, while also working as the head coach of the wrestling, track and men's tennis programs. He was the college's athletic director from 1974 to through 1977, and he was the chairman of the teacher education program at the college from 1974 until he retired in 1990.
[00:23:45] Wow.
[00:23:46] There's a lot to be said in such a small little paragraph.
[00:23:51] When I think about Dan Goldsmith and I look back at the stories that I just told to you, you can't help but think about the ripple effect, because that's. That's what Dan Goldsmith was.
[00:24:08] A ripple, a ripple in time that impacted so many people.
[00:24:15] The Dalai Lama defined the ripple effect.
[00:24:19] He said, just as ripples spread out, when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of an individual can have the same far reaching effects. I think you saw that in so many examples. I mean, when I think about the arab student going back and telling everyone he could, obviously, because six sheikhs came back to Hillsdale College, that was a huge impact from one interaction with one student. Right.
[00:24:57] The other thing I thought about a lot after I read all these stories was he obviously understood that being a great team member is the most important thing you can do in your life. That's the most important role that you will ever have. And he definitely understood that kindness changes everything.
[00:25:23] He was just a wonderful person in so many ways. And he had a wonderful sense of humor, too. I would be negligent if I didn't talk about his sense of humor. I'm telling you, he was imposing. He was a large man, and, you know, I was short. You've heard me say that many times. And he used to tease the bejesus out of me, I'm telling you. But he always made me laugh. And he was so wonderful to all of his children's friends. And the messages that he taught them at that dinner table are still being passed down to their families today. So that is pretty amazing. If you think about it.
[00:26:12] Thank you for taking the time to listen to my podcast, and I look forward to hearing from any one of you. If you would also like me to share your story, don't forget to reach out to me, and I should be back on again in two weeks.
