New Site!

Episode #25: Badass Bitches of the Met

It likely comes as no surprise that women are under-represented in the art world. However, renegade tour company Museum Hack is hoping to change that! This episode, I interview Museum Hack’s Creative Lead and Project Champion, Kate Downey, the creator of their Badass Bitches of the Met tour. Tune-in to learn how Kate and Museum Hack are actively working to dismantle to the patriarchy by introducing audiences to badass modern and historical women artists/subjects and  highlighting the  obstacles faced by women in the arts today.

To learn more about Museum Hack’s Badass Bitches of the Met tour, check-out:
https://museumhack.com/badassb/

Episode #23-Ghosts!

If there's something strange
In your English manor
Who you gonna call?
Podcasters!

This week’s episode is a co-production between History, Bitches and the Renaissance English History podcast. So, grab a blanket and flashlight because it’s about to get spooky. Tune-in as co-host Heather and I talk about Anne Boleyn’s headless specter, the tortured spirit of Lady Jane Grey, and lots more!

Episode #23-Ghosts! (Show Notes)

The show-notes below relate to the ghosts I discussed in the episode. To learn more about the ghosts discussed by Heather, check-out the show-notes on her website!

Anne Boleyn ( 1501? – May 19, 1536), the unfortunate 2nd wife of king/tyrant Henry VIII, is rumored to haunt Blickling Hall, the Boleyn’s ancestral home. For more, check-out:

A biography of Anne Boleyn

The ‘Anne Boleyn Files’ is a breath-taking number of articles relating to Anne and Tudor England

The National Trust’s webpage for Blickling Hall

Spook spotters turn out to see Anne Boleyn's ghost (ITV article + video)

Hampton Court, a royal residence favored by Henry VIII. is supposedly haunted by the king’s favorite wife, Jane Seymour (1508? – 24 October 1537) , and Sybil Penn (a.k.a. the Grey Lady), a domestic servant. For more, check-out:

A biography of Jane Seymour

Ghosts at Hampton Court Palace (by Historic Royal Palaces )

Eek! There are ghosts in my royal palace: After this eerie photo of Hampton Court's Grey Lady, the building's curator says it's jam-packed with spooks (Daily Mail article)

Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s 6th wife, is said to haunt Sudeley Castle, the site of her death and final resting place. For more information, check-out:

A biography of Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr’s Ghost At Sudeley Castle (article on the Tudors Weekly blog + video)

Sudeley Castle website

The restless ghost of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s much-wronged 1st wife, is reported to haunt Kimbolton Castle, the dreary palace to which she was banished after her marriage ended. For more information, check-out:

A biography of Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon's Ghost (article on the Times of the Tudors website)

Kimbolton Castle (now Kimbolton School) website

For more information about Henry’s VIII’s six wives or Tudor England, check-out:

Henry VIII & His Six Ghosts (History in the (Re)Making article)

The Ghosts of Henry VIII’s Queens (nerdalicious article)

On the Tudor Trail website

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (PBS miniseries website)

The Wives of Henry VIII (Renaissance English History Podcast episode)

This episode is a co-production between myself and Heather at the Renaissance English History Podcast. So, please check-out Heather’s podcast and website!

Episode #22-Theodosia Burr

The Encyclopedia of Women in American History described her ‘one of the best educated women of her generation,’ while America’s 3rd Vice President regarded her as his most trusted confidante. The daughter of (in)famous Founding Father Aaron Burr, Theodosia’s life was characterized by public scandals and private tragedies including her own mysterious disappearance at age 29. Tune-in to this week’s Halloween-inspired episode to learn more!

Episode #22: Theodosia Burr (Show Notes)

Frustratingly, there are few sources  which focus on Theodosia’s life exclusively.  The majority of information about her life is from books about her father, 3rd U.S. Vice President, Aaron Burr.  Here are some of the texts I used  when researching the podcast:

Biographies of Theodosia Burr

Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy
By Richard N. Côté 

Theodosia, the First Gentlewoman of Her Time
By C.M. Clark 

Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 1 (entry for Burr, Theodosia)

Encyclopedia of Women in American History (entry for Alston, Theodosia Burr)

Biographies of Aaron Burr

Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr

By Nancy Isenberg

American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America
By David O. Stewart

Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America
By Thomas J. Fleming


For further information regarding Theodosia’s family:

This website provides a treasure-trove of information about the Burr-Hamilton duel and the Burr Conspiracy:

The American Experience: The Duel

Further information regarding Theodosia’s parents from the Hermitage Museum:

Theodosia Prevost and Aaron Burr

For more information about Theodosia’s disappearance and purported sitings of her ghost, check-out:

History: Disappearance of Theodosia Burr a source of speculation for 200 years (article from Coastal Observer newspaper)

Photographs of the Alston family memorial 

Information concerning the Nag’s Head portrait and other paintings of Theodosia:

Portrait of Nag’s Head (article from Antique Trader magazine)

Old Painting Gives Clews to the Fate of Theodosia Burr Alston (article from San Francisco Call, June 1906)

Gibbes Museum’s entry for 1811 portrait of Theodosia

Blogpost of John Wesley Jarvis’ portrait of Theodosia

Theodosia’s has also been featured in historical fiction novels and, most recently, a broadway musical:

My Theodosia
By Anya Seton

Burr
By Gore Vidal

Hamilton (links to the cast recording for the broadway musical)

Episode #21-'History, Bitches' Gets Undressed, Part 2 (Show Notes)

Bodies, stays, and busk points, OH MY! This week, for ‘History Bitches Gets Undressed, Part 2,’ I speak to guest co-host Sarah Bendall about the predecessors to the corset. Tune-in to hear about Catherine de' Medici’s rumored connection to the stay’s invention, how busks and busk points were exchanged as love tokens, and how little views about women’s bodies have changed from the 17th century! For visual references to the garments discussed in the podcast, check-out the show notes!

Bodies & Stays

Bodies’ or corset of ivory silk worn by
Pfalzgräfin Dorothea Sabin von Neuberg, c. 1598.
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (You can see the channel that the
busk would have slid into running down the front of the bodies.)

Bodies of Dame Elizabeth Filmer, c. 1620-1640.
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester.

Stays of silk damask, lined with linen, reinforced with whalebone,
hand-sewn, English 1770-1790. Victorian and Albert Museum, London

Corset, 1883. British. Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Busks

For more about historical women's fashion, visit Sarah's blog:

Fashioning Nostalgia

Sarah has also written a piece on the history of corset for the Powerhouse Museum. Check it out here:

From Bodies to Corsets: A Brief Overview of the Corset