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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

Episode #20-'History, Bitches' Gets Undressed, Part 1 (Show Notes)

Centuries before the Victoria’s Secret Angels were raising eyebrows on the cat-walk, European noblewomen set fingers wagging and hearts racing with their voluminous skirts! For this week’s episode of ‘History, Bitches,’ I chat with Sarah Bendall, a Phd candidate researching women’s history through the lens of underwear. For the first in a two-part series, we discuss the farthingale, a structural garment worn under the skirt to increase its diameter. For visual reference, Sarah has provided the following pictures:

Spanish Farthingale: c. 1540s-1580s

       

French Farthingale: c. 1570s-1620s

Wheel Farthingale: c. 1580s-1620s

Mantua, from the Museum of London c. 1750s

Check-out more historical fashions on Sarah’s blog:

Fashioning Nostalgia

Episode #19-Settler Women & the White Colonial Identity in South Africa

During the year 1820, roughly 5,000 Britons descended on what is today the Republic of South Africa to seize land and spread their ‘civilizing’ influence to the Xhosa natives. Among these early settlers were numerous daughters, mothers, and wives. What function did these oft-overlooked women play in the British colonizing scheme?

Episode #19-Settler Women & the White Colonial Identity in South Africa (Show Notes)

During the year 1820, roughly 5,000 Britons descended on what is today the Republic of South Africa to seize land and spread their ‘civilizing’ influence to the Xhosa natives. Among these early settlers were numerous daughters, mothers, and wives. What function did these oft-overlooked women play in the British colonizing scheme?

Rarely in examinations of Great Britain and colonization is the role of women as colonial agents acknowledged. One postgraduate World History & Cultures student at King’s College London has endeavored to rectify this through her research on women and the white settler identity. On this episode of History, Bitches I chat with my classmate Becca about how white South African women helped cultivate and disseminate ideas of cultural and racial superiority. 

You can read Becca’s paper here:

Settler Women and the White Colonial Identity on the Cape Colony’s Eastern Frontier, 1820-1870

During her research Becca used primary sources like memoirs. Check-out British settler Martha Jane Kirk’s memoir’s here:

Memoirs of Grannie (Kirk) Blake 1823 to 1906, as told to her Granddaughter, Helen Rosa Moroney (nee Kirk)

For further reading, Becca recommends Alan Lester’s ‘Imperial Networks: Creating Identities in Nineteenth-Century South Africa and Britain’

Episode #18-Female Tars

 During the 19th a handful of extraordinary British women disguised themselves as men and sailed the high seas. Whether driven by financial desperation or seeking a distant lover, these ‘female tars’ endured countless hardships and the constant danger of having their true gender exposed.

Episode #18-Female Tars (Show Notes)

During the 19th a handful of extraordinary British women disguised themselves as men and sailed the high seas. Whether driven by financial desperation or seeking a distant lover, these ‘female tars’ endured countless hardships and the constant danger of having their true gender exposed.

For this podcast, I interviewed my fellow King’s College London postgraduate student Alanna Stanton. Alanna is presently researching perceptions of female sailors during the 19th century through the lens of contemporary newspaper reports. If you’d like to check-out the work she’s done thus far, here’s a link to her paper:

‘She did the duty of a seamen without a murmur’- British Media Descriptions of ‘Female Sailors’, 1830-1860

For additional reading on this subject, check-out: 

                   

The Female Soldier Or, the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell

The Life and Surprising Adventures of Mary Ann Talbot, in the Name of John Taylor (1809)

'Female Husbands' In The 19th Century

When Jennie Comes Marching Home Again...

Episode #17-Nancy Wake, "The White Mouse"

She parachuted out airplanes, bicycled 500 km. through opposition-held territory, and killed Nazis using just her bare hands! But, what led this spunky, teenage run-away to become an “Inglorious Bastards”-style Nazi killer? Check-out, Nancy Wake, “The White Mouse,” to find out.

Episode #17-Nancy Wake, "The White Mouse" (Show Notes)

She parachuted out airplanes, bicycled 500 km. through opposition-held territory, and killed Nazis using just her bare hands! But, before Nancy Wake, nicknamed “The White House,” became landed on the Gestapo’s most wanted list, she was a spunky girl from a broken home, growing-up in New Zealand.

Nancy Grace Augusta Wake was born August 30, 1912 in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand. After the collapse of her parents’ marriage, and a childhood lacking maternal affection, she ran-away to explore the globe. Residing in London, Nancy smooth-talked a newspaper executive into employing her, and was dispatched to Paris as a roving correspondent.

Episode #16-Mata Hari

From disenchanted, favorite child she escaped to become a hopeful, teenage bride. From business-savvy show woman and courtesan she fell to become a convicted spy. From birth to death, Mata Hari’s life was defined by transformation. Charged with aiding Germany while deceiving France, Mata Hari was executed for her supposed crimes at 41. But, was she guilty?

Episode #16-Mata Hari (Show Notes)

From disenchanted, favorite child she escaped to become a hopeful, teenage bride. From business-savvy show woman and courtesan she fell to become a convicted spy. From birth to death, Mata Hari’s life was defined by transformation.

Born Margaretha Zelle in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, her girlhood was characterized by wealth and extravagance, until her spendthrift father went bankrupt, throwing the family into poverty. She was pawned-off to relatives following her parents’ divorce and mother’s death, and trained to become a kindergarten teacher. But, after her first brush with scandal, she was again sent packing. Now residing in the Hague, Margaretha met Rudolph MacLeod, her future husband. Engaged after just 6 days, the pair became acquainted via a matrimonial advertisement he’d taken out in a newspaper. Yet, despite his aristocratic pedigree, Rudolph was no gentleman. His drinking and womanizing, and Margaretha’s free-spending, overtaxed the marriage, and they eventually divorced.

Three Cheers!

Congratulations, Michelle Janine Howard, the U.S. Navy’s 1st female four star admiral, the service’s highest rank! Likewise, this makes her the 1st African-American woman to earn a four-star ranking in the history of the U.S. military. Michelle is also notable for being the 1st African-American woman to command a U.S. Navy vessel. For more, check-out:

Female four-star admiral: Adm. Michelle Janine Howard makes Navy history (The Christian Science Monitor)

Michelle Howard Becomes 1st Female 4-Star Officer in the Navy (The Root)

Episode #15-Phillis Wheatley (Mini-cast)

She overcame her subjugated status to become America’s first black published poet, yet she died in abject poverty. How could Phillis Wheatley soar to such great heights, only to plummet so far? Tune-in, and find out.

Episode #15-Phillis Wheatley (Mini-cast)

She overcame her subjugated status to become America’s first black published poet, yet she died in abject poverty. How could Phillis Wheatley soar to such great heights, only to plummet so far? Tune-in, and find out.

Episode #15-Phillis Wheatley (Mini-cast) Show Notes

The Phillis Wheatley Monument
in Boston, Massachusetts

You've probably heard of Phillis Wheatley, but chances are you’re not quite sure who she is, or why she’s famous. If you’re nodding your head, keep reading…

Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American to publish a book of poetry, was probably born in 1753 or 1754, somewhere in western Africa. At roughly 7 years old, captured by slave-traders.
 Considered too sickly for hard labor plantations in the Caribbean or Southern U.S. colonies, she became a domestic servant for the Wheatley family in Boston.  Though they kept slaves, the Wheatley’s were relatively progressive; after witnessing Phillis copying the alphabet in chalk, instead of punishing her, they decided to cultivate her academic interests. During a period when some states outlawed teaching slaves to read, Phillis was studying Alexander Pope and John Milton. Actually, the education she received from the Wheatley’s was superior even to most Caucasian males’.