[NFBNJ] Fwd: Performer, Daredevil and Advocate for the Blind

Fri Dec 11 04:05:48 UTC 2020

Greetings all,

Another one for your listening pleasure with audio attachments. This one
has a special connection to the New Jersey  Commission for the Blind and
Visually Impaired.

Warmly,
Linda Melendez, President
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
732 4 21 7063
president at nfbnj.org
www.nfbnj.org

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Gaston, Pamela <Pamela.Gaston at dhs.nj.gov>
Date: Thu, Dec 10, 2020 at 9:02 AM
Subject: Performer, Daredevil and Advocate for the Blind
To: Gaston, Pamela <Pamela.Gaston at dhs.nj.gov>

Decades ago, before Great Adventure, Disneyland and Busch Gardens,
Atlantic City,
New Jersey was the largest vacation playground in the United States.

The greatest attraction in Atlantic City was the Steel Pier. Some of you,
in my age group might remember that it featured extraordinary
sideshows and sometimes
movie and recording stars would make guest appearances. I remember seeing
Jerry Lee Lewis there (am I old or what?)

The Steel Pier was opened on June 18, 1898, and was originally built
by the Quakers,
as a private resort. However, it was soon open to the public, and was
touted as the "the most luxurious pier in the world".
The most popular and the most fondly remembered Steel Pier feature act
began in the 1920's back when Lydia Hayes was this organization's director
and starred a CBVI consumer born on February 2, 1902.

Dr. W. F. Carver, a noted sportsman, was returning home on horseback one night
in 1924. The bridge he was crossing collapsed, and he and his horse plunged
forty feet into a raging river. His life was saved because his horse executed
a well- balanced dive and they both were able to safely swim back to shore.
This inspired him to add a new feature to his trained animal show on the
Steel Pier - a diving horse.

One of the original riders, and certainly the most famous rider of
all, was Sonora
Webster Carver, Dr. Carver's daughter-in-law, who at the age of 20 answered
an ad for a female rider to perform in "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show". Her
husband Al Carver had been the original horseman, but Sonora made
a female rider a traditional part of the show. Her sister Arnette was also
a rider of the diving horses in their forty, and sometimes sixty, foot
plunge into a special tank.

At first Dr. Carver had thought that Sonora Webster, who begged for a
chance to do the act, was too small for the task, and she was given a job
as a stable hand. She persisted, and was finally given the
chance to fulfill her dream.

Picture this - "Ladies and Gentleman, Red Lips the Wonder Horse is
going to dive
into this small tank of water. Her rider Miss Sonora Webster will guide Red
Lips during her sixty-foot drop into the tank. Now we need you to be very
quiet, it takes all of her concentration to get it right, or they will miss
the tank and fall to their death in the ocean."

The crowd grows silent. Red Lips, standing at the bottom of the ramp,
is released
from her trainer and begins trotting up the long ramp to the top of the 60
foot diving platform, and her awaiting rider. Sonora, standing on a side
railing, springs effortlessly on to Red Lips' back landing just behind the
harness. She takes hold of the leather strap cinched up around Red Lips big
body. Red Lips walks to the edge of the platform and looks out over the
crowd. She raises her head, sniffs the air and quickly slides her two front
legs down the ramp, and jumps off the platform.

"Sp--lash!" Most of the water in the tank comes rushing up in a huge
wave, spilling
over the sides leaving it less than half full. The crowd goes wild when
Sonora and Red Lips emerge from the tank and take a bow before heading back
to the stable.

In 1931, Red Lips got startled by the loud intro of the new Steel Pier
band (the
intro before that had always been a recorded drumroll followed by one clash
of the cymbals) and dived from the platform before Sonora was prepared.

Sonora had her eyes open when she hit the water after the bad jump from the 60
foot platform resulting in her becoming blind due to detached retinas.
Undeterred,
she continued to take part in the show until World War  II, when she moved
to New Orleans and became a transcriptionist. The diving horse
attraction which went on even after Atlantic City became the east
coast's casino
capital, was discontinued in 1978 after animal-rights activists complained.

Sonora always insisted the animals loved to dive and were never forced to jump.
Later in life, she returned to Atlantic City to live and published her memoirs
in 1961, in a book entitled 'A Girl and Five Brave Horses', which inspired
the Disney film 'Wild Hearts Can't be Broken'.

Sonora was a fiercely independent woman who did not allow her blindness
deter her. She passed away in September 2003 at a nursing home in
Pleasantville, New Jersey, at the age of 99. She had been blind for 72
years and credited CBVI services with having enabled her to live a full and
rich life.

You Tube Links:

PBS documentary Female Daredevil and Advocate for the Blind -
https://youtu.be/8Rqyicw73TQ

Actual footage of Sonora and Red Lips jumping into a water tank in Atlantic
City - https://youtu.be/yn5Ai-Ww-5Y  (The horse climbs up a steep wooden
structure that looks a lot like an old fashioned roller coaster trellis.
When the horse reaches the top, Sonora is already up there. She jumps on
the horses back and within 2 seconds, the horse dives from the 40 ft. high
ledge into what looks like a deep above ground swimming pool. The horse
emerges from the pool, stops momentarily for Sonora to dismount and then
walks down a ramp away from the tank. Sonora stays on the platform and
waves to the crowd.

Photos attached:

Sonora with the horse before the jump. She has an athletic build and is
wearing a one piece swimsuit and a football helmet.

Sonora and Red Lips jumping from the ledge into the tank.

Sonora and her sister Arnette in 2001. They both have beautiful white hair
and have short curly hairdos. The family resemblance is apparent, their
smiles and facial expressions are almost identical. Arnette is sitting
behind Sonora embracing her older sister.

Red Lips walking up the steep carpeted ramp.

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-- 
Warmly,
Linda Melendez, President
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
732-421-7063
Email: president at nfbnj.org
*Website: **www.nfbnj.org* <http://www.nfbnj.org/>
*Facebook: **https://m.facebook.com/NFB-NJ-353099574776238*
<https://m.facebook.com/NFB-NJ-353099574776238>
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*YouTube: **NFBNJTransformDreams*
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKEDbjGsCYHMlwd4gqpBPjg>

*Live the life you want.*
The National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey is a community of
members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s
blind. Everyday we work together to help blind people live the lives they
want.
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