Unsung History

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The Plant Revolution and 19th Century American Literature Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

During the 19th Century, growing international trade and imperialist conquest combined with new technologies to transport and care for flora led to a burgeoning fascination with plant life. American writers, from Emily Dickinson to Frederick Douglass played with plant imagery to make sense of their world and their country and to bolster their political arguments.

Joining me in this episode is Dr. Mary Kuhn, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Virginia, and author of The Garden Politic: Global Plants and Botanical Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century America.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “Down by the Salley Gardens,” performed by Celtic Aire, United States Air Force Band; the composition is traditional, and the lyrics are by Willian Butler Yeats; the recording is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons. The episode image is from Plate VI of Familiar Lectures on Botany, by Almira Phelps, 1838 edition.

Additional Sources and References:

“The Wardian Case: How a Simple Box Moved the Plant Kingdom,” by Luke Keogh, Arnoldia Volume 74, Issue 4, May 17, 2017.
“History of Kew,” Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
“The Great British Tea Heist,” by Sarah Rose, Smithsonian Magazine, March 9, 2010.
“Almira Phelps,” History of American Women.
“‘How Many Stamens Has Your Flower?’ The Botanical Education of Emily Dickinson,” by Anne Garner, New York Academy of Medicine, April 28, 2016.
“Emily Dickinson’s Schooling: Amherst Academy,” Emily Dickinson Museum.
“Gardens at the Stowe Center,” Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.
“Hawthorne in the Garden,” by W.H. Demick, The House of the Seven Gables, July 1, 2020.
“Frederick Douglass On How Slave Owners Used Food As A Weapon Of Control,” by Nina Martyris, NPR, February 10, 2017.
“Cedar Hill: Frederick Douglass's Rustic Sanctuary,” National Park Service.
“Amoral Abolitionism: Frederick Douglass and the Environmental Case against Slavery,” by Cristin Ellis, American Literature 1 June 2014; 86 (2): 275–303.
“‘Buried in Guano’: Race, Labor, and Sustainability,” by Jennifer C. James, American Literary History 24, no. 1 (2012): 115–42.
“The Intelligent Plant,” by Michael Pollan, The New Yorker, December 15, 2013.
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, 2015.
The Overstory, by Richard Powers, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discoveries from a Secret World, by Peter Wohlleben, Greystone Books, 2016.

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The 1972 Occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Apr 17, 2023

Show notes

While voters were casting their ballots in the 1972 presidential election, Native demonstrators had taken over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, DC, barricading themselves in with office furniture and preparing to fight with makeshift weapons. The occupation marked the finale of a cross-country caravan, the Trail of Broken Treaties, and the activists were demanding the consideration of their Twenty-Point Position Paper, which called for a restoration of Indigenous rights and recognition of Native American sovereignty.

Joining me to help us understand the 1972 occupation and to discuss the larger story of native presence and activism in DC is Dr. Elizabeth Rule, author of Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation's Capital and Founder of the Guide to Indigenous Lands Project.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is Hank Adams, in the fall of 1972, addressing the mission of the cross-country trip to Washington, D.C., from the Hank Adams Collection that was donated to the Washington Secretary of State and is included in: “Hank Adams: “An Uncommon Life.”

Additional Sources:

“The Trail of Broken Treaties, 1972,” National Park Service
“The Trail of Broken Treaties: A March on Washington, DC 1972,” William & Mary Libraries.
“Native Americans Take Over Bureau of Indian Affairs: 1972,” by Bob Simpson, The Washington Area Spark, March 26, 2013.
“Trail of Broken Treaties 20-Point Position Paper,” October 1872, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“When Native American Activists Occupied Alcatraz Island,” by Evan Andrews, History.com, original November 20, 2014; updated September 1, 2018.
“Occupy Wounded Knee: A 71-Day Siege and a Forgotten Civil Rights Movement,” by Emily Chertoff, The Atlantic, October 23, 2012.

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The Southern Strategy Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

In the decades following the Civil War, African Americans reliably voted for the Republican Party, which had led the efforts to outlaw slavery and enfranchise Black voters; and white southerners reliably voted for the Democratic Party. When Black voters started to vote for Democratic candidates in larger numbers, starting with the 1936 re-election of FDR, whose New Deal policies had helped poor African Americans, Republicans began to turn their sights toward white Southern voters. By the 1964 Presidential election, Republican Barry Goldwater was actively courting those voters, winning five states in the deep South, despite his otherwise poor showing nationwide. Republican Richard Nixon successfully refined the strategy in his 1968 defeat of Democrat Hubert Humphrey. In the following decades, the Republican Party continued to employ the Southern Strategy, eventually leading to a complete realignment of the parties.

Joining me for a deep dive on the Southern Strategy is Dr. Kevin M. Kruse, Professor of History at Princeton University, author of several books on the political and social history of twentieth-century America, and co-editor with fellow Princeton History Dr. Julian E. Zelizer of Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies about Our Past.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is a photograph of Richard Nixon campaigning in 1968; it is in the public domain and available via Wikimedia Commons. The mid-episode audio is the "Go, Go Goldwater" radio jingle produced by Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff and Ryan, Inc. (EWR & R) from the 1964 presidential campaign; it is widely available on YouTube and is sampled here for educational purpose.

Additional Sources:

To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party, by Heather Cox Richardson, Basic Books, 2021.
“The Kansas-Nebraska Act,” United States Senate.
“Missouri Compromise (1820),” National Archives.
“Whig Party,” History.com, Originally Published November 6, 2009, Last Updated July 29, 2022.
“Republican Party founded,” History.com, Originally Published February 9, 2010; Last Updated March 18, 2021.
“What we get wrong about the Southern strategy,” by Angie Maxwell, The Washington Post, July 26, 2019.
“Exclusive: Lee Atwater’s Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy,” by Rick Perlstein, The Nation, November 13, 2012.
“How the Southern Strategy Made Donald Trump Possible,” by Jeet Heer, The New Republic, February 18, 2016.
“Paul Manafort's role in the Republicans' notorious 'Southern Strategy,'” by Sue Sturgis, Facing South, November 3, 2017.
“Candace Owens wrongly called GOP’s Southern strategy a ‘myth,’” by Colby Itkowitz, The Washington Post, April 9, 2019.

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Harold Washington Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

In 1983, Harold Washington took on the Chicago machine and won, with the help of a multiracial coalition, becoming the first Black mayor of Chicago. Winning the mayoral election was only the first fight, and 29 of the 50 alderpersons on City Council, led by the “the Eddies,” Aldermen Ed Vrdolyak and Edward M. Burke, opposed Washington’s every move. This week we look at Washington’s rise to the 5th floor of City Hall, who helped him get there, and the struggles he faced once elected.

Joining me to help us learn more about Harold Washington is Dr. Gordon K. Mantler, Executive Director of the University Writing Program and Associate Professor of Writing and of History at the George Washington University and author of The Multiracial Promise: Harold Washington's Chicago and the Democratic Struggle in Reagan's America.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is a photo of Harold Washington, US Federal Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Additional Sources:

“WASHINGTON, Harold,” HIstory, Art, and Archives, United States House of Representatives.
“Mayor Harold Washington Biography,” Chicago Public Library.
“Achieving the Dream: Harold Washington,” WTTW Chicago.
“Who Was Harold Washington? A Look Back at the Legacy of Chicago's First Black Mayor,” NBC5 Chicago, April 15, 2022.
“How Mayor Harold Washington Shaped the City of Chicago,” by Adam Doster, Chicago Magazine, April 29, 2013.
“Punch 9 for Harold Washington [video],” directed by Joe Winston, 2021.
“The Legacy of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington [video],” UChicago Institute of Politics, Streamed live on Apr 27, 2022.
“ILLINOIS SETS UP AT LARGE VOTING; Governor Signs Emergency Bill for House Election,” The New York Times, January 30, 1964, Page 14.
“Hyde Park Stories: Harold Washington Park,” by Patricia L. Morse, Hyde Park Historical Society, February 22, 2023.

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The 1968 White House Fashion Show Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

On February 29, 1968, Lady Bird Johnson hosted the first–and last–White House Fashion Show. The fashion show, intended both to highlight the fourth largest industry in the United States and to promote domestic tourism, inadvertently became one of the many PR missteps of the Johnson administration, as it occurred in the midst of the Tet Offensive. Just one month later LBJ announced on national television that he would not seek reelection, and today the fashion show is largely forgotten.

Joining me to help us understand how and why Lady Bird Johnson ended up hosting a White House Fashion Show, and why it was never repeated, is fashion history Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, author of Red, White, and Blue on the Runway: The 1968 White House Fashion Show and the Politics of American Style.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode is “The Stars and Stripes Forever March,” composed by John Philip Sousa and performed by the United States Marine Corps Band; the audio is in the public domain. The episode image is from the 1968 “Discover America” White House Fashion Show, available via the National Archives (NAID: 218517833, Local ID: 306-SSA-68-8218-CC5), and is in the public domain.

Additional Sources:

“Claudia Alta Taylor ‘Lady Bird’ Johnson,” The White House.
“The Environmental First Lady,” Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The University of Texas at Autin.
“Spotlight: 1968 White House Fashion Show,” by Kaitlyn Crain Enriquez, National Archives - The Unwritten Record, August 10, 2021.
“The White House Fashion Show [video],” White House Historical Association, posted on YouTube on June 14, 2022.
“The 1968 Fashion Show, the History Lesson Melania Missed,” by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, Politico, March 5, 2018.
“Why the First White House Fashion Show Was Also the Last,” by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, Slate, October 10, 2014.
“Discover America Scarf,” Frankie Welch’s Americana: Fashion, Scarves, and Politics, UGA Special Collections Library Online Exhibitions.
“TET: Who Won?” by Don Oberdorfer, Smithsonian Magazine, November 2004.

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Madame Restell, "The Wickedest Woman in New York" Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

In 19th Century New York, everyone knew who to go to to end an unwanted pregnancy: the French-trained, sophisticated Madame Restell, who lived in a posh mansion on 5th Avenue. In reality, Madame Restell was English immigrant Ann Trow Lohman, and she had never even been to France, but she managed to combine medical skill with her carefully crafted public persona to become tremendously wealthy, while providing a much-needed service. As the legal landscape of the United States grew ever more conservative, Madame Restell did her best to evade the authorities, and then Anthony Comstock knocked on her door.

Joining me this week to help us understand more about Madame Restell is historian and writer Jennifer Wright, author of Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is part of Twelve Pieces for piano, op. 40, No. 9, Valse in F-sharp minor, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1878, performed by Kevin McLeod, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The episode image is “The arrest of abortionist Ann Lohman (a.k.a. Madame Restell) by Anthony Comstock,” from the February 23, 1878, edition of the New York Illustrated Times; scanned from The Wickedest Woman in New York: Madame Restell, the Abortionist by Clifford Browder; available via Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain.

Additional sources:

“Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue,” by Karen Abbott, Smithsonian Magazine, November 27, 2012.
“Life Story: Ann Trow Lohman, a.k.a. Madame Restell (1812 - 1878),” Women and the American Story, New York Historical Society.
“When 'The Wickedest Woman of New York' Lived on Fifth Avenue,” by Simon Scully, Mental Floss, October 2, 2020.
“Madame Restell’s Other Profession,” By Christopher Gray, The New York Times, October 10, 2013.
“‘Sex and the Constitution’: Anthony Comstock and the reign of the moralists,” by Geoffrey Stone, The Washington Post, March 23, 2017.

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The National Women's Conference of 1977 Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

In her 2015 book, Gloria Steinem described the National Women’s Conference of 1977 as “the most important event nobody knows about.” The four-day event in Houston, Texas, which brought together 2,000 delegates and another 15,000-20,000 observers was the culmination of a commission appointed first by President Ford and then by President Carter, and was and funded by Congress for $5 million to investigate how federal legislation could best help women. The excited delegates believed that the conference would change history, so what happened, and why do so few people now even remember that it happened.

Joining me to help us learn more about the National Women’s Conference are Dr. Nancy Beck Young, the Moores Professor of History; and Dr. Elizabeth Rodwell, Assistant Professor of Digital Media, who are both on the leadership team for The Sharing Stories from 1977 project through the Center for Public History at the University of Houston.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “Retro Disco Old School” by Musictown from Pixabay. The episode image is from the final mile of the Torch Relay on its arrival to Houston on November 18, 1977. From left to right: Bella Abzug, Sylvia Ortiz, Peggy Kokernot, Michele Cearcy, Betty Friedan, Billie Jean King. Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Additional sources:

Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women's Rights and Family Values That Polarized American Politics, by Marjorie J. Spruill, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.
“Women Unite! Lessons from 1977 for 2017,” by Marjorie Spruill, Process :A Blog for American History, from the Organization of American Historians, The Journal of American History, and The American Historian, January 20, 2017.
“The 1977 Conference on Women’s Rights That Split America in Two,” by Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian Magazine, February 15, 2017.
“Sisters of ‘77 [video],” Directed by Cynthia Salzman Mondell and Allen Mondell, March 1, 2005.
“Spotlight: National Women’s Conference of 1977,” by Chucik, National Archives, November 16, 2017.
“Women on the Move: Texas and the Fight for Women’s Rights,” Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
“National Women's Conference, 1977,” by Debbie Mauldin Cottrell, Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association.
“The 1977 National Women’s Conference in Houston Was Supposed to Change the World. What Went Wrong?” by Dianna Wray, Houstonia Magazine, January 20, 2018.
“Road Warrior: After fifty years, Gloria Steinem is still at the forefront of the feminist cause,” by Jane Kramer, The New Yorker, October 12, 2015.
“What’s left undone 45 years after the National Women’s Conference,” by Errin Haines, The 19th, March 25, 2022.

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Lydia Maria Child Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

By 1833, Lydia Maria Child was a popular author, having published both fiction and nonfiction, including the wildly successful advice book The Frugal Housewife: Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of Economy. And she had been editing a beloved monthly periodical for children called Juvenile Miscellany for seven years. But her popularity crumbled precipitously when she published An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans, arguing for the immediate emancipation of enslaved people. Child never stopped writing or fighting for the causes she believed in, but she never again reached the literary heights to which she’d seemed poised to ascend.

Joining me to help us learn more about Lydia Maria Child is Dr. Lydia Moland, Professor of Philosophy at Colby College and author of Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The poem mid-episode, read by Teddy, is “The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day,” written by Lydia Maria Child and originally published in 1844 in Flowers for Children, Volume 2. The image is of Lydia Maria Child, from “Representative Women,” by L. Schamer, produced by Louis Prang Lithography Company, in 1870; the image is available courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution and is in the public domain.

Additional sources:

“Lydia Maria Child,” Poetry Foundation.
“Lydia Maria Child,” David Ruggles Center for History and Education.
“October 20, 1880: Lydia Maria Child Dies,” Mass Moments.
“Lydia Maria Child 1802-1880,” From a talk titled, “Here are some of her accomplishments” by Jane Sciacca, Wayland Historical Society, October 2018.
“Lydia Maria Child,” National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum.
“William Lloyd Garrison,” National Park Service.
“Lydia Maria Child Taught Americans to Make Do With Less,“ by Lydia Moland, Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2022.
“Activists have always been frustrated at allies’ insistence on gradual change,” by Lydia Moland, Washington Post, March 28, 2022.
“Books by Child, Lydia Maria,” Project Gutenberg
“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself,” by Harriet A. Jacobs; edited by Lydia Maria Child.

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The Eastland Disaster Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

On the morning of July 24, 1915, employees of the Western Electric Company and their families excitedly boarded the SS Eastland near the Clark Street Bridge in Chicago, eager to set off for a day of fun in Michigan City, Indiana, during their annual company picnic. Tragically, the ship capsized just 19 feet from the wharf in the Chicago River, killing 844 people in one of the worst maritime disasters in United States history.

Joining me on this episode to help us understand more about the tragic Eastland disaster are Ted and Barb Wachholz, who co-founded the Eastland Disaster Historical Society with Barb’s sister, Susan Decker, and their mom, Jean Decker. Barb and Susan’s grandmother, Borghild Amelia Aanstad, who went by Bobbie, was 13 years old, when she, along with her sister Solveig, Mother Mariane, and Uncle Olaf, survived the capsizing of the Eastland.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode audio is “Somewhere a Voice is Calling,” written by Arthur Tate in 1911. This recording is by the Revillon Trio in 1915 and is in the Public Domain. It is available via the Internet Archive. The image is a photograph taken on July 24, 1915 during the rescue operations; it is freely available via the Eastland Disaster Historical Society.

Sources:

Eastland Disaster Historical Society
The Eastland Disaster by Ted Wachholz, Arcadia Publishing (SC), August 17, 2005.
“The Forgotten Disaster of the SS Eastland [video],” Ask a Mortician, September 23, 2022.
“The Eastland Disaster Killed More Passengers Than the Titanic and the Lusitania. Why Has It Been Forgotten?” by Susan Q. Stranahan, October 27, 2014.
“The Eastland Disaster: New look at 100-year-old tragedy [video],” Chicago Tribune, July 16, 2015.
“The Eastland Disaster,” WTTW Chicago.
“1915 – Eastland Disaster,” Chicagology

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The History of Polish Chicago Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

If you’ve ever lived in Chicago, you’ve probably heard at some point that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. While that’s an exaggeration it’s certainly the case that the Chicagoland region has a large population of people of Polish descent and that Chicago is important historically to American Polonia. From the earliest Polish immigrants to Chicago in the 1830s through today, Poles have helped shape the culture, politics, religion, and food of Chicago. This week we dive into that history.

Joining me to help us understand more about Polish Chicago is Dr. Dominic A. Pacyga, professor emeritus of history in the Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences at Columbia College Chicago and author of several books on Polish immigrants and Chicago, including American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Polish Chicago in 2019.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-roll audio is “Mazurka, Op. 24, No. 4, in B Flat Minor,” by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, performed by Polish pianist and Prime Minister Ignacy Jan Paderewski in in the early 1920s and captured on an Aeolian Company "DUO-ART" reproducing piano; the performance is in the public domain and is available via the Internet Archive. The episode image is the Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument, an outdoor sculpture by artist Kazimierz Chodziński, installed in the median of East Solidarity Drive, near Chicago's Shedd Aquarium; the photograph was taken by Matthew Weflen on Sunday, February 19, 2023, and is used with permission.

Additional Sources:

“Poles,”by Dominic Pacyga, Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2005.
“Can Chicago Brag about the Size of its Polish Population?” by Jesse Dukes, WBEZ Chicago, October 26, 2015.
“Where Have All the Polish Pols Gone?” by Edward McClelland, Chicago Magazine, January 6, 2020.
“How Chicago Became a Distinctly Polish American City,” by Marek Kępa, Culture.PL, April 27, 2020.
“Explore Polish culture in Chicago’s neighborhoods,” Choose Chicago.
“Chicago’s Milwaukee Av. to be renamed Polish Heritage Corridor in honour of city’s Poles,” by Stuart Dowell, The First News, June 20, 2022.
“Chicago, The Polish City,” Interview of Dominic Pacyga by Łukasz Kożuchowski, Polish History.
“Chicago’s Polish Constitution Day Parade is back. This year, it has a new theme,” by Adriana Cardona-Maguidad, WBEZ Chicago, May 3, 2022.

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