Unsung History

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The Unusual Codicil in Benjamin Franklin's Will Jul 18, 2022

Show notes

When Benjamin Franklin died in April 1790, his last will contained an unusual codicil, leaving 1000 pounds sterling each to Philadelphia and Boston, to be used in a very specific way that he hoped would both help tradesmen in the two cities and eventually leave the cities, and their respective states, with fortunes to spend on public works 200 years later. At a moment when it wasn’t clear whether the United States would survive at all, Franklin made a gamble on the American spirit.

To learn more about the fascinating tale of Ben Franklin’s will, I’m joined by Michael Meyer, Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, and author of Benjamin Franklin's Last Bet: The Favorite Founder's Divisive Death, Enduring Afterlife, and Blueprint for American Prosperity.

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 painting of Benjamin Franklin, by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis. It is available in the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Additional Sources:

Library of Congress Benjamin Franklin Papers
Franklin Timeline, The Benjamin Franklin House
Last WIll & Testament of Benjamin Franklin, Living Trust Network
“From Ben Franklin, a Gift That's Worth Two Fights,” by Fox Butterfield, The New York Times, April 21, 1990
“How a 200-Year-Old Gift From Benjamin Franklin Made Boston and Philadelphia a Fortune,” by Jake Rossen, Mental Floss, August 20, 2020

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Dale Evans, Queen of the West Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

Dale Evans is probably best known as the Queen of the West, the wife and co-star of the King of Cowboys, Roy Rogers. But before she ever met Roy, Dale had a successful career in singing, songwriting, and acting, and she had plans to be an even bigger star in musicals, which to Dale, meant not Westerns.

This week we do a deep dive into the life of Dale Evans and how she became a cowgirl, with historian Dr. Theresa Kaminski, author of the new book, Queen of the West: The Life and Times of Dale Evans.

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 Dale Evans taken by Harry Warnecke in 1947. It is in the public domain and available via the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

The musical interludes are “Don’t Ever Fall in Love with a Cowboy,” written and performed by Dale Evans in 1949; and “Cowgirl Polka,” written and performed by Dale Evans in 1950. The audio for both is in the public domain and available via the Internet Archive.

Additional Sources:

“Dale Evans (1912–2001),” by Nancy Hendricks, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, February 6, 2018.
“Dale Evans, the Queen of the West, Is Dead at 88,” by James Barron, The New York TImes, February 8, 2001
“Roy Rogers + Dale Evans: A Love Story Made in the West,” by Courtney Fox, Wide Open Country, May 30, 2022
“Dale Evans,” RoyRogers.com
“The story of Roy Rogers, the man behind the ‘King of the Cowboys,’” by Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer, June 19, 2022
“The Legacy Lives On: Meet Roy Rogers’ Children,” by Kim C, Country Rebel, November 2, 2020

Videos:

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Independence Day Jul 04, 2022

Show notes

On July 4, Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs, spend $1 billion on beer, and watch 16,000 fireworks displays (and those are just the official ones). But why do we celebrate on July 4, when did it become a national holiday, and did John Adams eat hot dogs?

Joining me for the story of the Declaration of Independence, why July 4th might not be the right date to be celebrating, and who the signers actually were, is historian, podcaster, and DC tour guide, Rebecca Fachner.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The musical interlude is “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” written by John Philip Sousa and performed by the United States Navy Band in 1929. The recording is in the public domain and is housed in the Internet Archive.

The image is a photograph of “The Declaration of Independence: One of two ‘exact’ facsimiles given to James Madison on June 30, 1824, sent by John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State, according to Congressional Resolution. Copperplate engraving printed on vellum, William J. Stone, 1823.” Declaration is in the collection of David M. Rubenstein and is displayed in Chicago, Illinois. The photograph of the Declaration was taken by Kelly Therese Pollock on July 1, 2022.

Sources:

“Declaration of Independence: A Transcription,” National Archives.
“Opinion: Independence Day on July 2? John Adams got it right,” by David Cutler, PBS NewsHour, July 3, 2018.
“Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776,” Massachusetts Historical Society.
“Fourth of July – Independence Day,” History.com, December 16, 2009; Updated June 21, 2022.
“Where Did the Term ‘Gerrymander’ Come From?” by Erick Trickey, Smithsonian Magazine, July 20, 2017.
“Forgotten Founders: Elbridge Gerry, The ‘Brusque Maverick,’” by Nicholas Mosvick, Constitution Daily, August 3, 2020.
“10 Things You Didn't Know About the Fourth of July,” by Jason Serafino, Mental Floss, July 4, 2018; Updated June 28, 2022.
“What's the History of July 4th? Plus, 22 Surprising 4th of July Facts,” by Linsay Lowe, Parade Magazine, July 2, 2022.
“25 Fun 4th of July Trivia Facts to Spark Your Red, White, and Blue Spirit,” by Josiah Soto, The Pioneer Woman, June 17, 2022.

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The 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

On a hot weekend night in August 1966 trans women fought back against police harassment at Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. Although the Compton’s riot didn’t spark a national movement the way Stonewall would three years later, it did have an effect, leading to the creation of support services for transgender people in San Francisco, and a reduction in police brutality against the trans community.

Joining me to discuss the riot, its causes, and its aftermath, is historian Dr. Susan Stryker, co-writer and co-director of the Emmy-winning 2005 documentary, Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria, and author of several books, including Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image origin is unknown; it is used as the cover image of the documentary, and appears in many related news stories without attribution.

Additional sources:

“At the Crossroads of Turk and Taylor: Resisting carceral power in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District,” by Susan Stryker, Places Journal, October 2021.
“Compton's Cafeteria riot: a historic act of trans resistance, three years before Stonewall,” by Sam Levin, The Guardian, June 21, 2019.
“Ladies In The Streets: Before Stonewall, Transgender Uprising Changed Lives,” by Nicole Pasulka, NPR Code Switch, May 5, 2015.
“Don't Let History Forget About Compton's Cafeteria Riot,” by Neal Broverman, Advocate, August 2, 2018.
“Compton's Cafeteria Riot,” by Andrea Borchert, Los Angeles Public Library, April 16, 2021.
“How lost photos of a defining landmark in LGBTQ history were rediscovered on Facebook,” by Ryan Kost, San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2021.

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Two-Spirit People in Native American Cultures Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

In the summer of 1990, at the third annual Native American/First Nations gay and lesbian conference, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the term Two Spirit was established. An English translation of the Northern Algonquin term niizh manitoag, Two Spirit describes masculine and feminine qualities within a single person. As a pan tribal term, Two Spirit both connected organizers across different Native nations and also helped them re-discover the traditional terminology used in their own cultural history.

Joining me to help us understand more about the Two-Spirit people is Dr. Gregory Smithers, a American history at Virginia Commonwealth University, and author of the new book, Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image Credit: “We-Wa, a Zuni berdache, full length portrait,” photographed between circa 1871 and circa 1907 by John K. Hillers, National Archives at College Park, Public domain.

Additional sources:

“What does 'Two-Spirit' mean? What to know about Two-Spirit, indigenous LGBTQ identities,” by David Oliver, USA Today, December 10, 2021.
“8 Things You Should Know About Two Spirit People,” by Tony Enos, Indian Country Today, September 13, 2018.
“Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ Identities: Today and Centuries Ago,” Human Rights Campaign, November 23, 2020.
“The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North Americans,” by Walter L. Williams, The Guardian, October 11, 2010.

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The Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

The 12-story Women’s House of Detention, situated in the heart of Greenwich Village in New York City, from 1932 to 1974, was central to the queer history of The Village. The House of D, as it was known, housed such inmates as Angela Davis, Afeni Shakur, Andrea Dworkin, and Valerie Solanas, and was formative in their thinking and writing. On the night of the Stonewall Riots, the incarcerated women and transmaculine people in the House of D, a few hundred feet away from The Stonewall Inn, joined in, chanting “Gay power!” and lighting their possessions on fire and throwing them out the windows onto the street in solidarity.

Joining me to help us understand more about the Women’s House of Detention and its role in queer history is historian and writer Hugh Ryan, author of the 2022 book, The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image Credit: “Women’s House of Detention, Jefferson Market Courthouse, View Northwest from West 8th Street, at Sixth and Greenwich Avenues, 1943,” Municipal Archives, Department of Public Works Collection.

Additional Sources:

“Prison Memoirs: The New York Women’s House of Detention,” by Angela Davis,The Village Voice, Originally published October 10, 1974.
“The Women’s House of Detention,” by Sarah Bean Apmann, Village Preservation, January 29, 2018.
“Women’s House of Detention,” 1931-1974, by Joan Nestle, Out History, Historical Musings 2008.
“'The Women's House of Detention' Illuminates a Horrific Prison That 'Helped Define Queerness for America',” by Gabrielle Bruney, Jezebel, May 9, 2022.
“Site of the Women's House of Detention (1932-1974),” by Rebecca Woodham and Clio Admin,” Clio: Your Guide to History. February 26, 2021.
“The Queer History of the Women’s House of Detention,” by Hugh Ryan, The Activist History Review, May 31, 2019.

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The Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

Queer suffragists were central to the women’s suffrage movement in the United States from its earliest days. However, in a movement that placed great importance on public image in service of the goal of achieving the vote, queer suffragists who pushed the boundaries of “respectability” were sometimes ostracized, and others hid their queerness, or had it erased by others.

Joining me to help us learn about queer suffragists is historian Dr. Wendy Rouse, Associate Professor in History at San Jose State University. Dr. Rouse is the author of a new book from New York University Press, Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image Credit: “Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947) and Mary Garrett Hay (1857–1928) casting ballots, presumably during the midterm elections, November 5, 1918.” Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (128.00.00)

Additional Sources:

“When lesbians led the women’s suffrage movement,” by Anya Jabour, The Conversation, January 24, 2020.
“How Queer Women Powered the Suffrage Movement,” by Maya Salam, The New York Times, August 14, 2020.
“Carrie & Mollie & Anna & Lucy: Queering the Women’s Suffrage Movement,” by Susan War, American Experience, PBS, October 23, 2020.
“The Very Queer History of the Suffrage Movement,” by Wendy Rouse, National Park Service.
“The Queer Suffragists Who Fought for Women’s Right to Vote: New research shows that women’s right to vote, now a century old, was won by a distinctly LGBTQ+ group of activists,” by Sarah D. Collins, Them, August 14, 2020.
“When American Suffragists Tried to ‘Wear the Pants,” by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, The Atlantic, June 12, 2019.
“The Unconventional Life of Mary Walker, the Only Woman to Have Received the U.S. Medal of Honor: Dress reformer, women’s rights activist, and all-around pioneer,” by Anika Burgess, Atlas Obscura, September 27, 2017.
“Annie Rensselaer Tinker (1884-1924) Of East Setauket And NYC: Philanthropist, Suffragist, WWI Volunteer In Europe,” by Catherine Tinker, Long Island History Journal, 2017.

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Chinese Grocery Stores in the Mississippi Delta May 30, 2022

Show notes

During Reconstruction, cotton planters in the Mississippi Delta recruited Chinese laborers to work on their plantations, to replace the emancipated slaves who had previously done the hard labor. However, the Chinese workers quickly learned that they couldn’t earn enough money picking cotton to send back to their families, and they turned instead to running small grocery stores, filling a niche in the market of the Deep South. At one point, the city of Greenville, Mississippi, had 40,000 residents and 50 Chinese-owned grocery stores. Although the numbers of Chinese Americans living in the Mississippi Delta region had dwindled now, their legacy remains.

Joining me to help us learn about this history is filmmaker and musician Larissa Lam, director of the 2021 documentary Far East Deep South, which follows her husband’s family as they search for their own lost family history in the Mississippi Delta.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image Credit: “In the Mississippi Delta. There is an ever-increasing number of Chinese grocerymen and merchants.” Marion Post Wolcott, photographer. Leland, Mississippi, 1939. The photograph is courtesy of the Library of Congress and is in the Public Domain. Audio Credit: “The First Day,” by Larissa Lam, from the 2015 album Love & Discovery, Label: LOG Records/Del Oro Music. Song clip used with permission of the artist.

Additional Sources:

“The Legacy Of The Mississippi Delta Chinese,” Melissa Block and Elissa Nadworny, NPR, March 18, 2017.
“Chinese in Mississippi: An Ethnic People in a Biracial Society,” Charles Reagan Wilson, Mississippi History Now, November 2022.
“Neither Black Nor White in the Mississippi Delta: Two photographers document a community of Chinese-Americans in the birthplace of the blues,” James Estrin, The New York Times, March 13, 2018.
“The Grocery Story of the Mississippi Delta Chinese,” Victoria Bouloubasis, Somewhere South, April 13, 2020.
Mississippi Delta Chinese: Life in Chinese Grocery Stores.
“Op-Ed: How African Americans and Chinese immigrants forged a community in the Delta generations ago,” by Larissa Lam, Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2021.

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Patsy Mink May 23, 2022

Show notes

In Patsy Mink’s first term in Congress in 1965, she was one of only 11 women serving in the US House of Representatives, and she was the first woman of color to ever serve in Congress. Mink was no stranger to firsts, being the first Japanese-American woman licensed to practice law in Hawaii, after being one of only two women in her graduating class at the University of Chicago Law School. She would later be the first Asian American to run for President.

Mink leaned on her own experiences of sexism and racism in writing and supporting legislation to help women, especially women of color and women in poverty. MInk co-authored and supported the landmark Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, that stated that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” After Mink’s death in 2002, Title IX was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.

Joining me to help us learn about Patsy Mink are Dr. Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and Patsy Mink’s daughter, Dr. Gwendolyn (Wendy) Mink, former Professor of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and former Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Smith College. Drs. Wu and Mink have co-authored a new book, Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image Credit: “1972 campaign poster image from the Patsy Mink for President Committee,” Congressional Portrait File, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-122137) - Patsy T. Mink Papers at the Library of Congress. Image is in the Public Domain. Audio Credit: “The National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year 1975 sponsored this conversation with Rep. Martha Griffith (D-Michigan), Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) and Wendy Ross of the U.S. Information Service.” November 26, 1974. Video/Audio is in the Public Domain.

Additional Sources:

“MINK, Patsy Takemoto,” United States House of Representatives Archives.
“Patsy T. Mink Papers” at the Library of Congress
“Women who made legal history: Patsy Mink,” University of Chicago Law School, March 31, 2021.
“Rewriting the Rules: Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX,” The William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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The US-Born Japanese Americans (Nisei) who Migrated to Japan May 16, 2022

Show notes

In the decades before World War II, 50,000 of the US-born children of Japanese immigrants (a quarter of their total population) migrated from the United States to the Japanese Empire. Although these second generation Japanese Americans (called Nisei) were US citizens, they faced prejudice and discrimination in the US and went to Japan in search of a better life.

Joining me to help us learn about the Nisei who returned to Japan, what motivated them, and the challenges they faced both in Japan and back in the US is Dr. Michael Jin, Assistant Professor of Global Asian Studies and History at the University of Illinois Chicago and author of Citizens, Immigrants, and the Stateless: A Japanese American Diaspora in the Pacific.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image Credit: “Two students pose outisde a building. Phillip Okano attended school in Japan from 1923-1933,” Courtesy of Okano Family Collection, Densho, This work is licensed under a Creative Common Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Audio Credit: “Tanko Bushi (Coal Miners Dance),” performed by Masao Suzuki, 1956. Courtesy of the Internet Archive. Audio is in the Public Domain.

Additional Sources:

“Stranded: Nisei in Japan Before, During, and After World War II,” by Brian Niiya, Densho, July 28, 2016.
“Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History: Japanese,” Library of Congress.
“Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II,” Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
“First Japanese immigrant arrives in the U.S.” History.com, March 26, 2021.

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