In The Past Lane - The Podcast About History and Why It Matters

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In this episode of ITPL, we focus on Alexander Hamilton. You may have noticed that Hamilton has become the hottest Founder in recent years – and it’s all due to the smash Broadway hit, “Hamilton: The Musical.”
So here’s the lineup:
1. First, I provide a brief backgrounder on the remarkable life of Alexander Hamilton. 2. Second, I sit down with historian Stephen F. Knott to discuss his book, Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America (Sourcebooks, 2015). He and his co-author Tony Williams argue that the relationship between Washington and Hamilton had a major impact on the outcome of the American Revolution and the subsequent creation of the American republic.
3. Finally, I drop by the one permanent site in Manhattan that’s dedicated to the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. It’s the Hamilton Grange in Harlem. I speak with National Park Service ranger Liam Strain about the site’s history and how “Hamilton: The Musical” has dramatically increased visitor traffic at the site. You can find show notes for this episode and more information about the podcast at www.InThePastLane.com
In The Past Lane is a production of Snoring Beagle International, Ltd.

About Stephen F. Knott – website

About the Hamilton Grange – website

Further Reading

Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams, Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America (Sourcebooks, 2015)

Ronald Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (Penguin, 2004)

Joseph J. Ellis, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 (2015)

Thomas Fleming, The Great Divide: The Conflict between Washington and Jefferson that Defined a Nation (2015)

Joanne B. Freeman, Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic

Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (2005)

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, Hamilton: The Revolution (2016)

John Sedgwick, War of Two: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Duel that Stunned the Nation (2015)

Jim Beckerman, “Hamilton Tourist Sites in New Jersey Ride the Wave of the Hit Musical,” Associated Press, Jun 12, 2016

Linda Flanagan, “How Teachers Are Using ‘Hamilton’ the Musical in the Classroom,” KQED.org

Valerie Strauss, “The unusual way Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’ is teaching U.S. history to kids,” Washington Post, June 28, 2016

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Doctor Turtle, “Often Outmumbled Never Outpunned” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, ”On The Street,” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer, Devyn McHugh

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Washington and Hamilton: The Untold True Story of the Unlikely Friendship that Helped Win the American Revolution, Forge the Constitution, and Shape a Nation

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at a significant but often overlooked event during the Civil War, the Draft Riots of July 1863. Protests against drafting men into the Union Army broke out in many places, but the worst occurred in New York City. For four days rampaging crowds tore the city apart, destroying property and leading to the deaths of more than 100 people, including 11 African Americans who were lynched. To this day, the Draft Riots remain the largest civil uprising in US history.

Feature Story: The Civil War Draft Riots

On July 13, 1863 - 157 years ago this week - the streets of New York exploded in a violent episode known as the Draft Riots. It lasted four days and claimed the lives of more than one hundred people and destroyed millions of dollars in property – all while the Union struggled to defeat the Confederacy on the battlefield. The event terrified northerners, many of whom were convinced that it was the result of a Confederate plot, and it prompted the Lincoln administration to rush thousands of troops from the battlefield at Gettysburg to NYC. To this day, the Draft Riots remain the greatest civil uprising in American history.

At the outset of the Civil War in 1861, no one in the North or South could have imagined that there would ever be a shortage of volunteers that would necessitate a military draft. Union and Confederate Army recruiting stations were overwhelmed by men eager to join the fight. Few men on either side expected the war to last more than a few weeks.

But subsequent events made clear just how unrealistic these hopes were. Beset by a series of incompetent generals and a host of other problems, the Union's Army of the Potomac in the east performed poorly in the field. By mid-1862 it was clear that the war would be long and very, very bloody. Later that year, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which effectively announced the abolition of slavery. Lincoln had deemed emancipation necessary to win the war, but it also produced intense opposition among certain groups of northerners. War weariness, not to mention anti-war sentiment rose in the North and soon Union Army recruiting stations were empty. If Lincoln was to make good on his promise to preserve the Union at all costs, a second drastic measure was needed.

In March of 1863 Congress passed the Conscription Act (the first in U.S. history) which declared all male citizens (and immigrants who had applied for citizenship) aged 20-45 eligible to be drafted into the Union Army. If drafted, a man had several options short of serving in the Union Army. He could pay a “commutation fee” of $300 to the government; or he could hire a substitute to serve in his place; or he could disappear – something that more than twenty percent of draftees did.

The draft, like emancipation, proved intensely controversial. Some protesters denounced the draft as an affront to democratic liberty. Others focused on what they termed its "aristocratic" provisions that allowed the wealthy to buy their way out of service (the $300 commutation fee exceeded the annual income of many poor laborers). More and more, they argued, it was becoming “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.”

The draft also incited anger among those northerners, principally Democrats, who initially had been willing to support a war to preserve the Union, but who now balked at fighting a war for emancipation. Many politicians in the years before the war had used the issue of emancipation and the specter of cheap African American labor flooding northern cities to rally urban workers -- especially the Irish -- to the Democratic Party. The message to the Irish was clear: if you think it's tough to earn a living now, just wait until you have to compete with hundreds of thousands of black workers willing to work for less money. It was an opportunistic message of fear that ignored the fact that for the past thirty years it had been Irish immigrants who had taken jobs from free blacks living in northern cities. Nonetheless, it stoked racist animosity among the Irish and other poor white workers.

When the draft began in July 1863, opposition to it turned violent. Violence broke out in Boston, Troy, New York, Wooster, Ohio, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and other cities. The worst incidents of anti-draft violence, of course, occurred in New York City. The first day of the draft, Saturday July 11, resulted in 1,236 names drawn. Despite grumblings and rumors of protest, it ended without incident. The plan was to resume the draft on Monday morning. Discontent among working-class New Yorkers was palpable Saturday night and on Sunday (when no draft was held) as people pored over the lists and found names of men they knew. Conspicuously absent were the names of any wealthy or prominent New Yorker. The mood in the city’s working-class tenement districts grew ugly by Sunday night.

Signs that there would be trouble when the draft resumed emerged early Monday morning when crowds of workers – among them a large percentage of Irish immigrants and Irish Americans - formed and began moving north towards the draft office at East 46th Street and Third Ave. And the weather was hot and humid -- prime conditions, sociologists assert, for a riot.

By the time the draft office opened, an angry crowd of five thousand had gathered in the surrounding streets. Moments after the first names were drawn, the crowd stormed the office, destroyed the lottery wheel used to draw names, and set the building on fire. The riot was on.

The violence at the draft office at East 46th Street quickly spread throughout the city. To stymie efforts to restore order, crowds built barricades, tore up streetcar tracks, and cut telegraph lines.

As in most riots, the crowds that coursed through the streets did not engage in purely random acts of violence. Instead, they focused on very carefully chosen targets that symbolized their grievances. Anything associated with the Union Army came under attack, including recruiting stations and draft offices. Rioters also attacked anything associated with the Republican party – which they viewed as the party of war, emancipation, and the draft. Both the New York Times and Tribune, staunchly pro-Republican and pro-war papers (not to mention pro-emancipation), were attacked several times. In addition, rioters attacked the wealthy – people they derided as “three hundred dollar men” -- who were able to buy their way out of the draft. Mansions on Fifth Avenue were sacked and burned, as was the Brooks Brothers store. Rioters also took out their anger on local symbols of authority, most especially members of the New York Police Department.

And rioters also assaulted and killed African-Americans. One of the first institutions attacked was the Colored Orphans Asylum, located near the present-day New York Public Library on 42nd Street. Rioters burned it to the ground, but amazingly none of the children or staff inside was killed. Other African Americans, however, were not so fortunate. At least eleven blacks were lynched by rioters. Many of these lynchings included particularly savage acts, including burning and dismemberment.

One of the reasons the rioting escalated and spread so quickly was that New York City had only a minor military presence made up primarily of injured soldiers recovering from their wounds. When they turned out to quell the violence, they were quickly scattered by the much larger mob. Squads of police were likewise attacked and driven away. With the mob in control of the streets of the Union's largest city, officials sent frantic telegrams to Washington, DC pleading for troops.

Late Monday night the heavens opened up and the city was deluged with a most welcomed downpour. The rain extinguished most of the fires and prevented a much larger conflagration from developing. It also drove the rioters indoors for the night. City officials hoped the relatively peaceful night meant the riot was over.

But Tuesday morning brought more steamy weather and renewed rioting. Again, African Americans, Republicans, soldiers, policemen and the wealthy came under attack. But increasingly the original focus of the rioting -- protest against a class-biased draft and a war for emancipation – had expanded to include widespread looting and score settling by the city's poor and marginalized underclass who seized on the riot as an opportunity to vent their rage at a system they viewed as oppressive and unjust -- not unlike the rioting we’ve witnessed in 2020.

On Wednesday, day 3 of the riots, the tide began to turn as the first of several thousand troops arrived fresh from the smoldering fields of Gettysburg. All day Wednesday and Thursday, they stormed the rioters' strongholds using howitzers loaded with grape shot to mow down the crowd. In some neighborhoods they engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat as they moved building to building. By now the police had also regrouped and began to retake streets and make arrests.

By Thursday night the violence ceased and it appeared the riot might be over. When the sun rose on Friday morning, July 17, New York City awoke wondering if the Draft Riots would resume. But all was quiet, except for a steady procession of people to the midtown residence of Archbishop John Hughes, the leader of the city’s Irish Catholics. In handbills distributed all across the city the day before, he announced that he would address the crowd from the balcony outside his residence. Hughes delivered a message that expressed sympathy with the rioter’s grievances, but urged them to cease the violence. The reputation of the Irish in America, he said, was at stake. When he concluded, the crowd broke up and went home without incident. The Draft Riots were over.

In the aftermath of the riot, city officials tallied up the damage and death toll. One hundred buildings lay in ashes, part of more than five million dollars in property destroyed. Of the hundreds arrested for their role in the riot, only sixty-seven were convicted at trial. None were the primary instigators and rabble-rousers and they received sentences that averaged five years in jail.

As for the number killed, some early estimates ranged from several hundred to several thousand. These exaggerated figures were clearly the result of the shock and horror produced by the riot. As well as anti-Irish sentiment. But the most accurate assessment of the riot’s death toll, one based on a close reading of the press and death certificates, put the total at 119.

Among those killed were at least eleven African Americans. The racial pogrom aspect of the riot led more than half the city's black residents to flee. It would be years before the city’s black population returned to its pre-war level.

Not surprisingly, the city’s Irish population came in for harsh condemnation in the wake of the riot. A seething voice of indignation emanated from pulpit, meeting hall, and editorial page denounced the Irish for engaging in a treasonous riot against the government as it struggled to win a civil war. These critics ignored the fact that many of the rioters were German immigrants and German Americans, not to mention men of American birth. They also ignored the fact that many Irish soldiers, policemen, and priests helped stop the rioting.

But there still was a war to win, so city and state officials came up with a plan that eliminated the draft as a source of social unrest. They appropriated two million dollars to pay the commutation fee of any man who was drafted who did not want to serve. When the draft resumed on August 19, there was no violence.

Because there was a war that had to be won, New Yorkers and Americans in general did their best to forget about the Draft Riots. This became even easier once the war ended in Union victory. No one wanted to be reminded that the path to victory had been marred by disunity, protest, and violence. But the Draft Riots never quite disappeared from public consciousness, especially among America’s wealthy citizens, who viewed it as a nightmarish spectacle of social unrest that haunted their minds for several generations. For Irish Americans, their widely publicized role in the riots remained a black mark on their collective reputation for decades to come. For African Americans, the Draft Riots endured as a harrowing reminder of the depths of racial animosity in American life. It was not the first incident of massive anti-black violence and it would not be the last.

Sources:

Iver Bernstein, The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War (Oxford, 1990).

Barnet Schecter, The Devil’s Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America (Walker, 2005).

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Squire Tuck, “Nuthin’ Without You” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

The Rosen Sisters, “Gravel Walk” (Free Music Archive)

Soularflair, “Emotive Beautiful Irish Feel Gala” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Breakthrough” (Free Music Archive)

Cuicuitte, “sultan cintr” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the first great police scandal in US history. It occurred in the mid-1890s in New York City when an investigation into the NYPD exposed widespread corruption and brutality throughout the force, from its highest-ranking officers to the lowly beat cop. To walk us through this scandal, I speak with historian Daniel Czitrom about his book, New York Exposed: The Gilded Age Police Scandal That Launched the Progressive Era (Oxford U Press, 2016). It’s a story that makes clear that policing in the US has always been controversial.

Further reading about the history of scandals in American History

Daniel Czitrom, New York Exposed: The Gilded Age Police Scandal That Launched the Progressive Era (Oxford U Press, 2016)

Andy Hughes, A History of Political Scandals: Sex, Sleaze and Spin (2014)

George C. Kohn, The New Encyclopedia of American Scandal(2001)

Laton McCartney, The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country (Random House, 2009)

Mitchell Zuckoff, Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend (Random House, 2006)

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope That It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

The New Encyclopedia of American Scandal

A History of Political Scandals: Sex, Sleaze and Spin

The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country

Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at a legendary labor uprising by a mysterious group known as the Molly Maguires. They were Irish and Irish American coal miners in Pennsylvania in the 1870s who used vigilante violence to fight back against the powerful and exploitative mine owners. But in the end, the mine owners used their dominance over the political and legal establishment to see to it that 20 men, most of whom were likely innocent, were executed by hanging.

Feature Story: The Molly Maguires Hanged

On Thursday June 21, 1877 – 143 years ago this week - ten men went to the gallows in Pennsylvania. They were known as Molly Maguires – members of an ultra-secret society that used violence and intimidation in their bitter struggles with powerful mine owners. Arrested for their alleged role in several murders, they were convicted and sentenced to death on the basis of very thin evidence and questionable testimony. “Black Thursday” would long be remembered by residents of the Pennsylvania coal fields as an extraordinary example of anti-labor and anti-Irish prejudice.

The story of the Molly Maguires was one very much rooted in two specific places: rural Ireland and the anthracite region of PA. The latter was the main supplier of the nation’s coal, making it a vital component in American’s unfolding industrial revolution. By the 1870s, more than 50,000 miners – more than half of them Irish or Irish American – toiled in the region’s mines. It was hard, brutal work. They worked long hours for low pay in extremely dangerous conditions. Every year cave-ins, floods, and poison gas claimed the lives of hundreds of miners. In one fire alone in 1869, 110 miners were killed. It was in the struggle of these workers to improve their pay, hours, and conditions that the Molly Maguire saga began.

Irish immigrants and Irish Americans played key roles in virtually every aspect of the conflict, from the lowliest miner to the most powerful capitalist. Foremost was Franklin B. Gowen, the wealthy Irish American president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Tough and ambitious, he ruthlessly drove his competitors out of business in an effort to dominate the state’s two principle industries, coal and railroads. The only thing he hated more than rival businessmen was organized labor, especially the main miners union, the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association (WBA). Led by an Irish-born man named John Siney, the WBA had won several strikes in the late 1860s and early 1870s that resulted in wage gains and union recognition. Even though he shared an Irish heritage with most of his miners, Franklin Gowan had little sympathy for them. In industrializing America, class interests trumped everything, including ethnicity and culture, and Gowan treated his workers like they were the enemy.

Gowan waited for the right moment to attack, and that came in 1873 when the nation plunged into a severe economic depression that lasted until 1877. The hard times hurt his bottom line, but Gowen saw a silver lining: hard times also provided an opportunity to kill the miners’ union. In January 1875, Gowan announced a steep cut in wages, a move quickly followed by the region’s others coal operators. The wage cuts triggered a massive miners’ strike throughout the region that paralyzed coal production. But Gowen and other operators had prepared for the strike by stockpiling huge coal reserves that allowed them to continue to sell coal and wait out the desperate and half-starved striking miners. The “Long Strike,” as it came to be known, was doomed. It ended after five months in June with a total defeat for the workers and the destruction of the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association (WBA).

And here’s where rural Ireland figured into the story. Embittered by their loss, a group of Irish miners turned to an old custom – extra-legal justice, or vigilantism. Irish tenant farmers had for centuries used tactics of intimidation, vandalism, and murder to protest landlord abuses, primarily rent hikes or evictions. These types of tactics of resistance by powerless peasants have been called by anthropologist James Scott, “the weapons of the weak.” According to tradition, the original “Molly Maguire” had been a woman who thwarted her landlord’s attempts to evict her during the Famine. Many of the Irish miners in the Pennsylvania coal fields came from counties in Ireland where periodic agrarian vigilantism was a firmly rooted tradition.

Molly Maguire activity first arose in the anthracite region in the labor disputes of the early 1860s. But it subsided with the WBA’s success in gaining better wages and conditions for the miners. Now in the wake of the defeat in the Long Strike, the Mollies returned with a vengeance. Between June and September 1875, six people were murdered – all carefully targeted as agents of the mine owners and enemies of the miners.

Having destroyed the WBA, Franklin Gowen saw in the return of the Mollies an opportunity to permanently wipe out any miner opposition to his plans to consolidate power and wealth. And so, he unleashed a sweeping campaign against the secret society in which he branded all labor activists “Molly Maguires.” He also accused an Irish fraternal organization known as the Ancient Order of Hibernians of operating as a front for the organization. Eventually over fifty men, women, and children were arrested and indicted for their alleged roles in the Molly Maguire violence and murders.

Incredibly, the state of Pennsylvania played almost no role in this process. None other than Franklin Gowan served as the county district attorney and oversaw the investigation and prosecutions. A private company – the Pinkertons – conducted the investigation. A private police force employed by the mining companies carried out the arrests. And Gowan and coal company attorneys conducted the trials. As one historian commented, “The state only provided the courtroom and the hangman.”

The first trials began in January 1876. They involved ten men accused of murder and were held in the towns of Mauch Chunk and Pottsville, PA. A vast army of national media descended on the small towns where they wrote dispatches that were uniformly pro-prosecution. In an era of rising hysteria over labor radicalism, and the growing popularity of socialism and anarchism – much of it fueled by sensational stories in the mainstream press - the Molly Maguire story proved irresistible. And the coverage was universally negative. The NYT, for example, wrote about “the snake of Molly Maguire-ism,” while the Philadelphia Inquirer condemned the men as “enemies of social order.”

The key witness for the prosecution was yet another Irishman, James McParlan. He was an agent of the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency, an organization that would be more accurately described as a private army for hire that specialized in labor espionage and strikebreaking.

Franklin Gowan had hired the Pinkertons in the early 1870s as part of his masterplan of destroying the WBA. James McParlan had gone under cover to infiltrate the Mollies and gather evidence. And gather he did – or at least he claimed he did during the trials. On the stand he painted a vivid picture of Molly Maguire secrecy, conspiracy, and murder. With this testimony, combined with the fact that Irish Catholics and miners had been excluded from the juries, guilty verdicts were a foregone conclusion.

All ten defendants were convicted and sentenced to hang. And in order to send the most powerful message to the region’s mining communities, authorities staged the executions on the same day -- June 21, 1877 – in two locations. Alexander Campbell, Michael Doyle, Edward Kelly, and John Donahue were hanged in Mauch Chuck, while James Boyle, Hugh McGehan, James Carroll, James Roarity, Thomas Duffy, and Thomas Munley met a similar fate in Pottsville. Although the hangings took place behind prison walls, they were nonetheless stages as major spectacles that drew huge crowds and generated international news coverage, nearly all of it condemning the Mollies as murderous monsters who got what they deserved.

Still, the Molly Maguire episode was far from over. Ten more miners would be tried, convicted, and executed over the next fifteen months, bringing the total to twenty. While evidence suggests that some of them men were guilty of murder, the great majority of those executed were likely victims of hysteria and a profoundly unjust legal process.

In the end, Franklin Gowen and his fellow mine operators succeeded in stamping out the Molly Maguires, but not the violent clashes between labor and capital they represented. For more than a generation following the executions, miners in Pennsylvania and many other states would continue to fight -- both legally and extra-legally -- against oppressive conditions in the mines. And the mine owners, as they did with the Mollies, did their best to dismiss the agitation as foreign radicalism brought to America by misguided immigrants who did not understand the inherent goodness and justice of industrial capitalism. The miners, of course, knew better. They understood that unregulated capitalism, backed by the full weight of the law, the government, and the media, was neither just, nor democratic. It was exploitation, pure and simple.

Sources:

Anthony Bimba. The Molly Maguires (International Publishers, 1932).

Wayne G. Broehl, Jr., The Molly Maguires (Harvard University Press, 1964).

Kevin Kenny, Making Sense of the Molly Maguires (Oxford University Press, 1998).

IrishCentral.com, “Molly Maguires Executed, June 20, 2020 https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/molly-maguires-executed#.XvEIkuOULEA.twitter

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Squire Tuck, “Nuthin’ Without You” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

The Rosen Sisters, “Gravel Walk” (Free Music Archive)

Soularflair, “Emotive Beautiful Irish Feel Gala” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Breakthrough” (Free Music Archive)

Cuicuitte, “sultan cintr” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the podcast about American history and why it matters, we take a close look at Robert F. Kennedy. Here’s the lineup:
1) First up, it’s a short feature on the basics of the life of RFK.
2) Next, I speak with author Larry Tye about his biography, Bobby Kennedy: The Making of A Liberal Icon (2016, Random House). Tye is the author of many best-selling biographies and he’s at his best in this new look at RFK. One of the myths he’s eager to dispel is the notion that there were two, polar opposite Bobby Kennedys – the bad boy in the 1950s who worked for Sen. Joseph McCarthy and later waged war on organized labor and the saintly good guy in the mid-1960s who fought for social justice.
3. And we bring you two remarkable audio clips from the 1960s. First, an excerpt from RFK’s 1968 speech, “The Mindless Menace of Violence” and second, Ted Kennedy’s eulogy for RFK two months later.

About Larry Tye
His website http://larrytye.com/

Further Reading and Links

Thurston Clarke, The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America

Robert F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy in His Own Words: The Unpublished Recollections of the Kennedy Years

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy and His Times

Evan Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life

Larry Tye, Bobby Kennedy: The Making of A Liberal Icon (2016, Random House).

RFK’s 1968 speech, “The Mindless Menace of Violence”

Ted Kennedy’s eulogy for RFK, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, June 8, 1968

Music

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Epoch” (Free Music Archive)

Hyson, "Signals" (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon

The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America

Robert Kennedy in His Own Words: The Unpublished Recollections of the Kennedy Years

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at one of the most deadly incidents of anti-black violence in US history: The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. White mobs rampaged through Tulsa, Oklahoma’s African American neighborhood and burned it to the ground, killing between 100 and 300 black residents in the process. The incident was quickly covered up and driven from public memory. But in the 1990s activists and scholars began to unearth the shocking truth.

Feature Story: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921

On May 31, 1921 – 99 years ago this week – mobs of heavily armed white residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma rampaged through the city’s African-American district named Greenwood. They stole property, set fire to buildings, and indiscriminately killed black men, women, and children. When it was over, this pogram known as the Tulsa Race Massacre left between 100 and 300 people dead and 35 blocks in smoldering ruins. It was one of the single most deadly incidents of racist violence in American history. And yet, it was quickly driven from public memory.The years between the end of World War I in 1918 and the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 were marked by many incidents of extreme anti-black violence. This surge in violence was due to many factors. The end of World War I brought a massive strike wave as millions of workers walked off the job. Fear of socialism, communism, and anarchism surged as the nation plunged into one of its periodic Red Scares. Also contributing to the social tension was the fact that millions of African-Americans had in the previous decade moved to northern cities, part of what historians referred to as the Great Migration. Chicago’s black population, for example, jumped from 44,000 in 1910 to 110,000 in 1920. And on top of this, the Ku Klux Klan had re-emerged in 1915 as a vibrant national organization that by the mid-1920s would have 5 million members. Each of these trends contributed to surging anti-black racism that led to many incidents of violence against African-American individuals and neighborhoods.

In 1919 alone, there were 25 major anti-black riots in the US. One of the worst took place in Chicago in July 1919 that left 38 dead. There were also 76 African Americans lynched in the South in 1919, including ten black soldiers who had returned from active duty in World War I.

Up until May of 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma had been relatively peaceful. But it was an oil-rich city of 72,000 that was strictly segregated. In fact, when Oklahoma was admitted to the union in 1907, the very first laws passed by the state legislature imposed segregation and disenfranchisement upon its black population. Despite these laws and a climate of racial hostility, Tulsa’s African-American population was one of the most prosperous In the United States. In fact, the Greenwood section of Tulsa where most African-Americans lived, was nicknamed the Negro Wall Street. It was filled with thriving black-owned businesses ranging from barbershops and retails stores to law firms and doctor’s offices. Many white citizens of Tulsa resented this black economic success.

And it was this resentment that escalated the situation on May 31, 1921. Like so many incidents of anti-black racial violence in US history, this one began with an incident involving a black male and a white female. On May 30, a 17-year-old girl named Sarah Page, who operated an elevator in downtown Tulsa, accused 19-year-old Dick Rowland of assaulting her. Rowland was taken into custody and brought to the local courthouse. The next day, partly inspired by an inflammatory article about the incident in the local newspaper, a large crowd of angry white men gathered outside the courthouse. It was a scene that was a typical prelude to a lynching. Not surprisingly, rumors that Rowland was about to be lynched raced through the black community, prompting a large group of armed black men to arrive at the courthouse. A standoff ensued, and then shots rang out. Which side fired first remains an unanswered question. Both sides exchanged gunfire before dispersing. The clash left 12 killed, 10 white and two black.

Immediately word of the incident spread throughout the city. Within an hour, large crowds of heavily armed white men gathered. It was clear what they were planning to do. And yet, the city’s police force did nothing to stop them. In fact, research would later show that police officials handed out weapons to members of the mob and that many also joined in as it descended upon the black community in Greenwood.

As the attack began, many African-Americans managed to flee the district. But many were trapped and murdered by the mob. Some were shot and others stabbed, and still others were consumed by the flames set by arsonists. Members of the mob also looted homes and businesses before setting them on fire. The violence lasted all night and into the morning hours of June 1. It ended only when a large contingent of the Oklahoma National Guard arrived to impose martial law. Some 35 blocks of Greenwood were completely destroyed. Damages were estimated at $2.25 million, the equivalent of $32 million in 2020.

Adding insult to injury, local officials and national guardsmen rounded up nearly every African American in the city and placed them in hastily constructed detention camps. All were treated as perpetrators, rather than innocent victims. Some were held for weeks before being released.

And then there was the death toll. The official death toll was 36 African Americans killed. But African-American leaders at the time claimed the number was significantly higher, well over 100 and perhaps as high as 300. They also claimed that white officials, in an effort to cover up the enormity of the massacre, had hastily buried hundreds of black victims in a mass grave.

And the cover up worked. The staggering death toll, along with the city’s complicity in allowing the massacre to take place, were soon purged from public memory. At least white public memory. African-Americans certainly didn’t forget the trauma and loss, but in this era of Jim Crow, they were powerless, unable to obtain any justice or public recognition of the incident.

And it stayed that way for 75 years. The city of Tulsa never put up a historic plaque or memorial. Its school children never learned about the incident in their history classes. And the nation remained ignorant of this monstrous event.

But the silence about the Tulsa Race Massacre began to break in the 1990s as African-Americans gained more political power and begin to push for a full inquiry into the incident. In 1996, The 75th anniversary of the massacre, the state legislature created the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.

Note the title of the commission: it referred to the incident as the Tulsa Race Riot. This misnaming was significant and intentional. Nearly every massacre of African-Americans by white mobs in American history has been labeled a “race riot,” a name that suggests an equal culpability between violent whites and violent blacks attacking each other. But in every case, these so-called race riots Involved black communities being attacked by white mobs. Not surprisingly, as a more accurate and complete picture emerged of what occurred in Tulsa and other sites of anti-black violence, these incidents have been renamed to reflect what they really were: massacres.

The commission worked for five years, taking testimony and funding research into the massacre. In 2001, it released its official report. Among its many findings, the commission declared that Tulsa’s political leaders had conspired with the leaders of the mob to allow the massacre to unfold without any resistance by law enforcement. It also recommended that reparations be paid to any survivors and their descendants. City and state officials balked at the call for reparations, but the state did establish scholarships for descendants of victims and survivors of the massacre. It also provided funding for historical markers and a memorial park that was completed in 2010. More recently, just a few months ago, the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre was made on official part of the state of Oklahoma’s public school curriculum.

And the search for the truth about what actually happened and how many people were murdered that day continues. Just a few months ago, researchers announced that they had found several sites in Tulsa that appear to contain mass graves. Plans are in the works to excavate the sites to determine if they contain victims of the 1921 massacre. If they do, it will likely clarify the true death toll.

Finally, the Tulsa Race Massacre drew renewed interest this year when it was featured as the starting point for HBO’s hit TV series, “Watchmen.”

So what else of note happened this week in US history?

May 25, 1787 - The Constitutional Convention officially opened in Philadelphia with 55 delegates in attendance, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison. Over the next four months, they drafted a new Constitution for the United States to replace the initial Articles of Confederation which had been deemed weak and ineffective.

May 25, 1977 - the blockbuster film “Star Wars” opened in theaters.

May 26, 1924 - President Calvin Coolidge signed the National Origins Act that sharply restricted immigration for the next 40 years. It not only shrank the volume of immigration from as many as 1 million immigrants per year to about 200,000, the law also intentionally discriminated against undesirable immigrant groups like Jews and Italians. It was replaced by a more equitable immigration law in 1965.

May 30, 1922 - The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington DC.

And what notable people were born this week in American history?

May 26, 1895 - photographer Dorothea Lange. Her most famous photograph is Migrant Mother, which captured the desperate face of a struggling mother and her children during the Great Depression.

May 26, 1926 - jazz trumpeter Miles Davis

May 27, 1794 - railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt.

May 27, 1819 - poet and author Julia Ward Howe who is best known for writing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the Civil War.

May 27, 1907 - writer and marine biologist Rachel Carson who helped launch the modern environmental movement with her book, Silent Spring.

May 29, 1917 - 35th POTUS John F. Kennedy

May 31, 1819 - poet Walt Whitman

The Last Word

Let’s give it to Walt Whitman, who was born 201 years ago this week.

In his preface to his masterful collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, Whitman urged his readers to free themselves of ideas, conventions, and traditions that suppressed their true selves.

“re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Squire Tuck, “Nuthin’ Without You” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Memories Renewed” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Motion” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Breakthrough” (Free Music Archive)

Cuicuitte, “sultan cintr” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the famous Pullman Strike of 1894. It began as a protest over wage cuts in the midst of a severe economic depression and quickly grew to virtually paralyze the nation’s railroad system. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland sent in the military and smashed the strike. The workers lost the strike, but they did gain a new spokesperson – the socialist Eugene Debs – who would play an influential role in American society in the decades to come.

Feature Story: The Pullman Strike of 1894

On May 11, 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company, located just outside Chicago, went on strike. They walkout was in response to severe wage cuts that came as the nation descended into the worst economic depression in its history. But what started out as a local strike soon blossomed into a nationwide work stoppage that paralyzed the railroad system and caused a national crisis.

The Pullman Strike, one of the most famous in US history, marked a sharp turn in the fortunes and reputation of the Pullman Company’s owner. For well over a decade George Pullman had enjoyed a reputation as a benevolent industrialist. He established the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867 to manufacture luxury railroad cars. Pullman was an idealist who believed that workers and employers could work together in harmony for mutual benefit. Acting on this idea, he established the town of Pullman in 1880. It was a company town, built and owned by the Pullman corporation for its employees, who rented homes and patronized stores owned by the company. They also had to abide by many intrusive regulations imposed by the company on their personal activities. George Pullman earned widespread praise in the media for being a model capitalist who earned a vast fortune, but also provided decent wages and living conditions for his workers.

So long as the Pullman Co. remained profitable, its employees considered themselves relatively fortunate. But then a devastating economic depression struck in 1893. Known as the Panic of 1893, it wiped out thousands of businesses and sent the unemployment rate to over 20 percent. The railroad industry was hit especially hard. So Pullman laid off hundreds of workers and announced to the rest a wage cut of 30 percent. On top of this devastating news, workers learned that Pullman had refused to reduce their rents, which were deducted automatically from their paychecks. Some workers soon began receiving paychecks for less than one dollar per week to cover the cost of food, heat, and clothing.

And so it was that on May 11, 1894, the fed up and furious workers at Pullman voted to strike. George Pullman responded – as did most employers in that era – by refusing to negotiate with the workers. After six weeks, a man named Eugene Debs, the leader of the American Railway Union (ARU) announced that all of the union’s 125,000 members across the country, as an act of solidarity with the striking Pullman workers, would impose a boycott on the Pullman Company. They would refuse to handle any Pullman cars. Given the ubiquity of the Pullman cars, the ARU’s boycott soon slowed the nation’s railroad system to a crawl.

The heads of more than two dozen railroads united to support Pullman and break the ARU by hiring thousands of strikebreakers and pressuring the governor of Illinois, John Altgeld, to send in the state militia. When the governor refused out of sympathy for the strikers and a desire to avoid violence, the railroad magnates turned to Washington, D.C. for help, asking President Grover Cleveland to send in federal troops.

Grover Cleveland was not the first president to face the choice of whether to send federal troops to quell a labor dispute. President Andrew Jackson dispatched troops in 1834 to end a strike by disgruntled workers working on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. More recently President Rutherford B. Hayes had sent troops to crush the great railroad strike of 1877. Despite these precedents, however, Cleveland worried about the ideological and political ramifications of military intervention. For one, the use of the army against American citizens seemed to run counter to key republican principles—had not the Founding Fathers established the United States to escape an oppressive British government? Had they not also adopted a Bill of Rights that sharply limited the use of federal power? Cleveland also had to consider the possibility that the public would condemn such use of federal power—especially if violence ensued as it did in 1877. The President spent several agonizing days in late June and early July of, 1894, consulting with advisors and mulling over his options.

Despite harboring some misgivings about using federal troops to resolve a domestic dispute, President Grover Cleveland was a pro-business conservative, and his administration reflected his outlook. He authorized his Attorney General, Richard Olney, a man with extensive ties to the railroad industry, to obtain on July 2, 1894, a court injunction declaring the ARU boycott of Pullman cars a “conspiracy in restraint of trade” that unlawfully interfered with the movement of the U.S. mail. This last part about the mail was key – because delivery of the mail was a federal responsibility, the Cleveland administration claimed it had an obligation to the public to stop the boycott.

When Debs and the ARU members defied the injunction, Cleveland ordered the U.S. Army to intervene on behalf of the railroads to end the boycott and get the trains moving again. The arrival of federal troops touched off extensive violence. Workers clashed with soldiers and destroyed railroad property and the soldiers responded with rifle fire that left at least 37 workers dead and scores wounded.

Federal officials arrested Debs and several other ARU leaders and the boycott collapsed in mid-July. The Pullman strike lasted only a few more weeks before ending in early August in complete defeat for the workers.

Public opinion had by then turned against Pullman for his obstinate refusal to negotiate with his workers. As was the case two years earlier in the Homestead Strike involving Andrew Carnegie and his steel workers, the Pullman strike exposed the notion of a benevolent capitalist as a myth. Both Pullman and Carnegie were arguably better employers than many of their capitalist counterparts, but their benevolence ran a distant second behind their primary concern: profit. When profits were threatened by unions or economic downturns, the benevolence was replaced by ruthlessness.

In the aftermath, President Cleveland tried to restore his reputation with American workers by making Labor Day, a holiday established in the early 1880s, a federal holiday. He also established a federal commission to investigate the cause of the strike. Its report criticized Pullman for his handling of the strike and it argued that labor unions and government regulation were necessary as a way to curb the unrestrained power of corporations. But one year later, a very conservative and pro-business Supreme Court, ruled that the use of court injunctions to end strikes was constitutional. It would be another 40 years before legislation passed during the New Deal established legal protections for workers and labor unions.

There was one positive outcome of the strike for American workers. It launched the storied career of Eugene Debs who became an iconic labor leader and advocate of socialism for the next 30 years. Debs would run for president five times as the nominee of the Socialist Party of America. And he left a lasting influence on American society.

What else of note happened this week in US history?

May 11, 1934 - A massive dust storm begins to sweep across the Great Plains. Drought and high-level winds carried off from the so-called “Dust Bowl” some 350 million tons of topsoil, causing tens of thousands of poor farmers known as Okies to migrate to the west coast.

May 13, 1846 - After a questionable border incident between US and Mexican military forces, the US declares war on Mexico. The subsequent US victory allowed it to seize the northern half of Mexico, land that became the future states of CA, AZ, NM, and parts of NV, UT, TX and CO.

May 15, 1970 – 50 years ago this week – city and state police open fire on a crowd of African American students at Jackson State in Mississippi, killing 2 and injuring 12. This incident received a fraction of the attention given killing of 4 white students at Kent State 11 days prior.

May 17, 1954 - The SCOTUS issued its Brown v Board decision that declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Want to know more? Check out ITPL Episode 40 featuring my interview with historian Erin Krutko about her book, Remembering Little Rock.

And what notable people were born this week in American history? Two legends of the silver screen were born this week. May 12, 1907 Katharine Hepburn and May 16, 1905 Henry Fonda

May 13, 1914 heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis

May 17, 1903 baseball legend and Hall of Famer, James Thomas “Cool Papa” Bell. Bell retired from Negro League baseball in 1946, the year before Jackie Robinson broke the so-called color line. Nonetheless, Cool Papa Bell was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1974

The Last WordLet’s give it to an anonymous Pullman employee who said the following about the problem of living in a town completely controlled by one company:“We are born in a Pullman house, fed from the Pullman shops, taught in the Pullman school, catechized in the Pullman Church, and when we die we shall go to the Pullman Hell.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Squire Tuck, “Nuthin’ Without You” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Memories Renewed” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Motion” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Breakthrough” (Free Music Archive)

Cuicuitte, “sultan cintr” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Nancy Bristow about her book, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. In November 1918, even as millions of Americans and Europeans celebrated the end of World War I, their communities were being ravaged by a global influenza pandemic. Over the course of almost three years, somewhere between 50 and 100 million people were killed in the pandemic, including nearly 700,000 Americans. Nancy Bristow takes us back in time to explain the origins of the pandemic and how public health officials struggled to contain it. And she explores the reasons why the pandemic quickly faded from public memory.

In the course of our discussion, Nancy Bristow:

The origins of the great influenza pandemic that raged across the globe in 1918-1920.

How the movement of millions of people during WW1 contributed to the spread of the pandemic.

What made this particular strain of influenza so deadly.

How public health officials struggled to contain the pandemic by imposing bans on large public gatherings, including church services.

How nurses played a pivotal role in caring for the sick and dying.

Why the pandemic – which killed nearly 700,000 Americans — was largely forgotten in public memory.

Why experts fear the onset of another global influenza pandemic.

Recommended reading:

Nancy Bristow, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Oxford University Press).

Catharine Arnold, Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History

Alfred W. Crosby, America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918

David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society

More info about Nancy K. Bristow – website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

024 Michael Neiberg on World War I and the Making of Modern America

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Philipp Weigl, “Even When We Fall” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast – the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the original March on Washington. “Coxey’s Army” was a group of 500 men who amidst a terrible economic depression in 1894, marched from Ohio to the nation’s capital to demand that Congress provide employment through public works projects. They were turned away, but many of the Populist ideas that inspired them were enacted into law in the coming decades.

Feature Story: “Coxey’s Army” Arrives in Washington, DC

On April 30, 1894 a man named Jacob Coxey arrived in Washington, DC at the head of a group of about 500 men. By then the whole nation knew them as “Coxey’s Army.” They had set out weeks earlier from Coxey’s hometown of Massillon, Ohio in what was the first ever March On Washington.

So what was the fuss all about? The immediate answer was that in the spring of 1894 the United States was in the midst of the most severe economic depression in its history. It was triggered one year earlier by the financial Panic of 1893 which caused tens of thousands of businesses and farms to fail, and the unemployment rate to soar to 20% - and often. Double that in big cities like Chicago and New York. The US had seen its share of economic depressions in the 19th century – the panic of 1837, the panic of 1857, the panic of 1873, just to name a few. In each of these previous cases, political leaders agreed that the best policy was: do nothing. Depressions, the reasoning went, were like bad weather or an illness. Wait long enough, and the good times would return. The most dangerous thing the government could do was provide assistance to the people because, so the logic went, that would only foster dependence and lead the US down the path to socialism. Here’s how President Grover Cleveland put it in his second inaugural address, in March 1893. “The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned,” said Cleveland, “and the better lesson taught that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully support their Government its functions do not include the support of the people.”

But despite proclamations such as these, there was growing support among many Americans in this period known as the Gilded Age for the government to take a more active role in the economy to protect the vulnerable from exploitation and promote the greatest possible amount of opportunity for all. They argued that laissez-faire might have made sense back in the late-18th century when the US took form. But not anymore in an age of industry, wage work, mass immigration, huge cities, and giant corporations.

That was the view that inspired Jacob Coxey. He was no radical, at least compared to the socialists, communists, and anarchists of the day. He was a successful farmer who also bred horses for sale and owned a sand quarry business. But as a farmer in the 1880s, he’d gotten involved in the burgeoning protest movement among farmers that came to be called Populism. Its leaders argued that the only way to effectively battle the power of the monopolies and trusts was to create a political movement that would elect farmers or pro-farmer politicians to office, so they could use political power to curb the power of banks, railroads, and brokers and save the honest American farmer from ruin. And in 1892 they established a new national party called the People’s Party that called for a wide range of new government policies, everything from taking over the railroads and telegraphs, to the adoption of a graduated income tax that would make the rich pay their fair share. Its candidate for president that year polled a million votes and won four states. It was no joke.

So his embrace of Populism explains Jacob Coxey’s motivation behind his protest march. He advocated that, given the severity of the depression, the federal government must abandon its traditional commitment to laissez-faire and provide funding to states to create public works projects such as road building to alleviate mass unemployment and stimulate the economy.

Now, if this sounds familiar, it’s because Coxey was advocating an approach to economic crisis that 40 years later would be embraced by Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression. And succeeding administrations, of course, have turned to varying forms of “stimulus packages” to boost the economy and help workers in times of economic crisis.

To draw attention to this idea, Coxey organized his march to Washington, D.C. He actually got the idea from a fellow activist named Carl Browne who was more of a true blue radical. He not only came up with the idea of a march, but also the group’s official name, the “Commonweal of Christ,” which was intended to evoke both the ideals of the common good and Christianity. About 120 men gathered in Massillon, OH and on Easter Sunday 1894 they set off for the nation’s capital.

As the press picked up the story, the group acquired a new name, “Coxey’s Army.” It was meant on the one hand to evoke ridicule and on the other to stoke fears of radicalism and civil unrest. The press alternately dismissed them as a bunch of delusional cranks, or a dangerous group of losers who wanted handouts and a socialist revolution. But Coxey dismissed this talk and declared that his army’s campaign was one to save the republic and honest capitalism from the clutches of corporate trusts and the politicians they controlled.

Despite the negative press, as they marched, more men joined the ranks, including some African American men. Coxey had hoped to assemble an "army" of 100,000 men. But he had to settle for a peak of 500.

In some places they were met by hostile townspeople and policemen who threatened arrest if they set up camp. But in many places Coxey and his growing number of followers were greeted by enthusiastic supporters who offered money, food, clothing, and shoes, as well as words of support.

Finally, after walking 400 miles in 35 days, Coxey’s Army arrived in Washington on April 30, 1894. As this was the first ever protest march on Washington, apprehension was in the air as the men set up a makeshift camp. Hundreds of police and 1,500 soldiers stood by, ready for a confrontation. The next day, May 1, Coxey tried to enter the US Capitol to deliver a speech before Congress, but security guards turned him away. So, Coxey tried the next best thing: delivering the speech in front of the Capitol. But before he started speaking, police arrested him and took him off to jail. He was charged with “disturbing the peace,” but the charges were eventually reduced and he was convicted only for walking on the lawn of the Capitol grounds.

Had he spoken, Jacob Coxey would have said, in part: “We stand here to-day in behalf of millions of toilers whose petitions have been buried in committee rooms, whose prayers have been unresponded to, and whose opportunities for honest, remunerative, productive labor have been taken from them by unjust legislation, which protects idlers, speculators, and gamblers.”

While Jacob Coxey did not get what he came for in Washington DC, the larger Populist movement to which he belonged did influence a generation of reformers who, in what we now call the Progressive Era, achieved notable successes in enacting many of the Populist Party demands, and so much more, ranging from regulations on trusts to measures to improve working conditions, public health, and political reform.

And then there’s this - 50 years later to the day after he was arrested for trying to give a speech on the steps of the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, a 90-year old Jacob Coxey was allowed to deliver that speech. On May 1, 1944, he stood on the Capitol steps and said what had been on his mind back in 1894.

But by then, in the wake of the New Deal and its vast array of government programs to alleviate suffering during the Great Depression, Coxey’s speech seemed hardly radical at all. What a difference half a century makes.

So what else of note happened this week in US history?

April 28, 1967 heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali defies the draft and refuses to be inducted into the US military to fight in Vietnam. Ali argued that his religious beliefs prohibited him from participating in a war against the poor, nonwhite people of Vietnam. He was widely condemned for his stand, and subsequently stripped of his boxing title and sentenced to five years in prison. “I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs,” said Ali. “So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years.” The sentence was later overturned.

April 30, 1789 The first presidential inauguration took place in New York City. George Washington took the oath of office at Federal Hall on Wall St before a crowd of thousands.

April 30, 1975 South Vietnam fell to the forces of North Vietnam, marking the unofficial end of the Vietnam War. For Americans, this moment is captured in the photograph of people boarding a helicopter on the roof of the American embassy in Saigon. If you want to learn more about the Vietnam War, check out ITPL episode 39 featuring my interview with Ken Burns about his documentary on the war.

And what notable people were born this week in American history?

April 27, 1822 – Union Army general and 18th POTUS, Ulysses S. Grant

April 28, 1758 – 5th POTUS James Monroe

April 29, 1899 - composer and jazz orchestra leader Duke Ellington

May 2, 1903 - Dr Benjamin Spock, author of the best selling book on baby care

May 3, 1919 – folk singer and social justice activist Pete Seeger

The Last WordLet’s give it to Jacob Coxey, who 126 years ago this week arrived at the head of the first march on Washington.

Here’s a passage from the speech he hoped to deliver that day from the steps of the US Capitol.

“We stand here to declare by our march of over 400 miles through difficulties and distress…that we are law-abiding citizens, and as men our actions speak louder than words. We are here to petition for legislation which will furnish employment for every man able and willing to work; for legislation which will bring universal prosperity and emancipate our beloved country from financial bondage to the descendants of King George. We have come to the only source which is competent to aid the people in their day of dire distress. We are here to tell our Representatives, who hold their seats by grace of our ballots, that the struggle for existence has become too fierce and relentless. We come and throw up our defenseless hands, and say, help, or we and our loved ones must perish. We are engaged in a bitter and cruel war with the enemies of all mankind—a war with hunger, wretchedness, and despair, and we ask Congress to heed our petitions and issue for the nation’s good a sufficient volume of the same kind of money which carried the country through one awful war and saved the life of the nation.

… we appeal to every peace-loving citizen, every liberty-loving man or woman, every one in whose breast the fires of patriotism and love of country have not died out, to assist us in our efforts toward better laws and general benefits.”

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Squire Tuck, “Nuthin’ Without You” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Memories Renewed” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Motion” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

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Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the origins of Earth Day 50 years ago this week, and the two high profile environmental disasters in 1969 that helped to inspire it, the Santa Barbara, CA oil spill and the an oil fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH. Environmental activists took advantage of the media coverage of the events to form organizations like Greenpeace and start an annual conscience raising event called Earth Day. In the years that followed, the US enacted landmark environmental legislation ranging from the Clean Air Act to the Endangered Species Act. But contemporary efforts to roll back these regulations imperil the environment and public health.

Feature Story: The Birth of Earth Day - 50th anniversary

On April 22, 1970 – 50 years ago this week – 20 million Americans gathered in places all across the nation to commemorate the first Earth Day. This event was inspired by two high profile environmental disasters that took place the year before in 1969.

But before we dive into those stories, let’s first step back to do a quick, History of Environmentalism 101. While there were earlier environmentalist moments in US history, what we would recognize as environmentalism began to emerge in the late 19th century. And as it did, it represented the beginnings of a major shift in how Americans viewed private property rights.

So, what do I mean by that? Well, from the colonial period through to the late 19th century, most Americans shared the belief that private property rights were almost sacred. A person could do anything they wanted with their property and no government should have any say in the matter. And that was fine so long as the nation remained rural and its economy based in agriculture.

But it didn’t. A little thing called the Industrial Revolution happened and that raised all sorts of questions about property rights. Some Americans began to develop a critique of the absolute sanctity of private property rights. And they did so in response to mounting evidence that unfettered private property rights in a modern industrial capitalist setting had seriously negative consequences for society. They noted, for example, that complete and total freedom from regulation left property owners free to engage in strip mining of mountain ranges for coal, or clearcutting forests for lumber, or hunting various animals into extinction. Unrestrained private property rights also left them free to dump their toxic waste into the waterways that ran through their private property or into the air that hovered above their private property—even when this meant the waste would ultimately end up on someone else’s private property.

These critics were not anti-capitalist radicals. Rather, to make their case, they invoked a key republican ideal: the common good. They argued that societies and governments needed to protect other things besides individual private property rights. They noted the uncomfortable fact that one person’s freedom to use their private property any way they wanted could easily threaten another person’s freedom to live free of poisons. Or, put another way, they noted that individualism and the common good often came into conflict. And so they developed a philosophy that emphasized what has become a key idea in environmentalism – the idea of connectivity, that people are connected to each other and to the larger ecosystem. That one person’s actions, therefore, have consequences for others, and this fact needs to be taken into account as societies develop their laws and public policy regarding the economy and environment.

The first attempts to protect the environment mainly took the form of conservation—essentially saving the wilderness from economic development. People like Theodore Roosevelt believed it was essential to preserve large tracts of wilderness to allow future generations of Americans to enjoy it by hiking, camping, and hunting. Few people in the late-19th and early 20th century raised concerns over water pollution, air pollution, or endangered species.

By the mid-20th century a few concerns over the environment emerged—things like smog and roadside trash—but these were rare. The first significant change in public attitudes concerning the environment, the shift from merely supporting the idea of conserving nature in wildlife reserves and national parks, came in 1962 when Rachel Carson published her book, Silent Spring that revealed the devastating environmental effects of the widely used pesticide DDT, especially on birds.

Carson’s book became a bestseller and it led to the introduction of more than 40 bills to control pesticide use in state legislatures across the country. Another impact of Silent Spring was that it inspired many Americans to become environmentalists or to use the term more in vogue in the 1960s, ecologists. But it’s important to point out that environmentalism in the mid 1960s was still a fringe movement, one associated with hippies and tree huggers. But Silent Spring had planted a seed that would later blossom with the events of 1969.

Now let’s turn to the story of the two environmental disasters of 1969 that helped officially launch the modern environmental movement: the Santa Barbara oil spill and a fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH.

Let’s start with the oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA. It began on Jan 28, 1969 when workers on an oil rig forcefully extracted a drilling tube that had become stuck in the ocean floor. In so doing, they inadvertently created five gashes in the ocean floor. Over the next few weeks, more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into Santa Barbara channel. It took weeks to stop the gusher, and in that time, the incident drew significant television and newspaper coverage. Americans began to see for the first time what are now familiar scenes to us: oil-soaked birds, dead fish, and miles of blackened beaches.

What’s interesting is that this spill was not especially large, even for that time. And it’s absolutely tiny in comparison to the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But even though it wasn’t that big, the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 sparked widespread public outrage. Significantly, the anger focused on the lax government oversight of the oil rig, and on the callous attitude of the executives of the company involved, Union Oil. The President of Union Oil, for example, told a TV news reporter. “I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds”

This statement not only reveals the mentality of oil executives at this time, but also the power of imagery in social reform movements. Think about how abolitionists used illustrations of auctions and whippings of enslaved people to draw supporters to their cause. Or how pioneering photographers Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine used their cameras to draw attention to horrific slum housing and child labor. History is clear on this point: social reform movements need pictures.

And in 1969 the fledgling environmental movement got their first compelling images.

Out of this controversy arose a number of groups committed to environmental activism, including Greenpeace. It also prompted a group of citizens in Santa Barbara to write and issue “The Santa Barbara Declaration of Environmental Rights,” an environmental manifesto modeled on the Declaration of Independence. It began, “All men have the right to an environment capable of sustaining life and promoting happiness.”

That same year Americans witnessed another environmental disaster. This time it was a fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland was one of the main oil refining centers in America and its waterways showed it. In fact, the Cuyahoga River had caught fire many times, but these fires were treated as little more than curious incidents. That finally changed when the river caught fire on June 22, 1969. It lasted only 30 minutes. But as with the Santa Barbara oil spill five months earlier, this fire came with photographs and video. It captured the attention of the national media. Time magazine ran a story in its August 1, 1969 issue - “Some River! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows.” The coverage of the fire and the subsequent attention it drew to the dreadful condition of the river led to a famous photo of reporter Richard Ellers holding up his hand after having dunked it in the river. It looked like he’d dipped it in black paint.

The Santa Barbara oil spill and the Cuyahoga River fire helped launch the modern environmental movement, beginning a process that would move environmentalism from the fringes to the center of American society and political discourse. They inspired a small number of environmental activists to stage what they called conscience-raising events, which in turn inspired a major one they decided to call Earth Day. It had many “fathers,” but most people agree that Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin got the ball rolling when he proposed the first nationwide environmental protest to, in his words, “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda.” The idea caught on and on April 22, 1970 some 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day, which was marked by large rallies, cleanup efforts, and teach-ins.

Earth Day became an annual event and one of its most important effects was that it brought together lots of disparate groups that shared concerns about the health of the environment. These included people concerned about air pollution in cities, wildlife and endangered species, protection of wetlands and forests, and cleaning up toxic landfills.

Earth Day also raised public awareness of environmental concerns and slowly began to make them mainstream political issues. As with so many social reform movements, over time these environmental activists managed to transform their goal from a radical idea to mainstream one.

And some of the most important results occurred relatively quickly. The period from the late 1960s to the early 1970s saw the most environmental legislation passed in the nation’s history. Everything from the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. These and other laws have had an extraordinary impact over the past 50 years, leading to a more healthy environment and the saving of many endangered species, including most famously, the Bald Eagle.

But American businesses and property owners have never liked these laws. They claim they hurt business and infringe upon the liberties of property owners. And they’ve waged an unrelenting war on environmental regulations. They achieved some success in the 1980s with the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and in the 20-oughts with George W. Bush. But the most serious and successful efforts to roll back 50 years of environmental protection have occurred under the presidency of Donald Trump. Nearly 100 environmental rules on everything from toxic chemical emissions to fracking have been revoked or seriously limited. These moves all but guarantee that we will have greater environmental damage and harm to human health in the coming years. And because this administration has been mired in controversy from Day 1, few people seem to have noticed.

The story of environmentalism and Earth Day remind us that history does not move in a straight line of progress. One generation’s achievements can be undone by a later one. That’s why it’s never enough to just win a victory for voting rights, or equality before the law, or a healthy environment. Those victories must be maintained and protected by constant vigilance. Otherwise they can be rolled back.

So what else of note happened this week in US history?

April 20, 1914 – The Ludlow Massacre takes place in Ludlow, CO. Hundreds of Colorado national guard soldiers and a private security force employed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company - a company owned by the richest man in America, John D Rockefeller - attacked an encampment of 1,200 striking miners and their families. More than 20 people, including wives and children of the minders, were killed. This massacre set off a spiral or violence that left somewhere between 69 and 200 people dead in what came to be called the Colorado Coalfield War.

April 21, 1980 – 40 years ago this week – an unknown runner named Rosie Ruiz stunned the world by winning the Boston Marathon and doing so in record time. That is until it was revealed that she ran only the last half mile of the 26.2 mile course. Ruiz was stripped of her medal 8 days after the race.

April 22, 1864 - The U.S. Mint issued a 2-cent coin which was the first US currency featuring the slogan, “In God We Trust.”

And what notable people were born this week in American history?
April 21, 1838 - Environmental activist and conservationist John Muir

April 23, 1791 – President James Buchanan

April 26, 1822 – landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead

April 26, 1900 - seismologist and physicist Charles F. Richter

The Last Word
Let’s give it to the pioneering conservationist and environmental activist John Muir, who was born 182 years ago this week:

Here’s a passage he wrote that seems remarkably in sync with the idea behind Earth Day:

“Man must be made conscious of his origin as a child of Nature. Brought into right relationship with the wilderness he would see that he was not a separate entity endowed with a divine right to subdue his fellow creatures and destroy the common heritage, but rather an integral part of a harmonious whole. He would see that his appropriation of earth's resources beyond his personal needs would only bring imbalance and beget ultimate loss and poverty for all.”

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Memories Renewed” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at one of the biggest disasters in US history, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The tremors ripped apart the city’s water system, leaving it nearly defenseless against raging fires that soon broke out. The ensuing inferno destroyed a quarter of the city and killed 3,000 people. In the aftermath, city officials tried to take advantage of the disaster by getting rid of its Chinatown neighborhood that occupied 15 blocks of prime downtown real estate. But Chinatown residents organized and against all odds, forced the city to abandon the plan. Chinatown and the rest of the city were rebuilt.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Feature Story: The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

On April 18, 1906, at 5:13 am, the city of San Francisco was shaken by a tremendous earthquake. Later estimated as measuring about 7.9 on the Richter scale, it lasted 72 seconds, heaving streets up and down, opening and closing huge chasms, and shaking buildings big and small into piles of rubble. The city's 200,000 residents tumbled out of bed and into the streets in panicked confusion to survey the damage and find friends and family. The destruction was extensive and already dozens, perhaps hundreds had been killed. Few knew it at the time, but this was only the beginning of a larger, rapidly unfolding disaster, for fires had broken out everywhere and the city's water mains had been ruptured.

To make matters worse, the city lost its Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, Daniel T. Sullivan. He was crushed to death when a hotel collapsed onto the Fire Dept headquarters where he was sleeping. Sullivan was pulled from the wreckage, but he never recovered and died four days later.

The significance of the loss of Fire Chief Sullivan was lost on no one. With fire rapidly spreading throughout the city, the fire department desperately needed his experienced leadership. Instead, they would have to rely upon his replacement, a man named John Dougherty.

One inescapable irony regarding Sullivan's death was that he had spent much of his thirteen years as Fire Chief engaged in a futile crusade to get city officials to improve fire safety and preparedness. Just six months earlier, the National Board of Fire Underwriters issued a scathing report on the state of affairs in San Francisco. The refusal of City Hall to fund Chief Sullivan's requests for an improved water system and the establishment of an explosives team to blow up buildings in the path of a big fire had left the city flirting with disaster. “San Francisco has violated all underwriting traditions and precedents by not burning up,” asserted the report. “That it has not already done so is largely due to the vigilance of the Fire Department, which cannot be relied upon to stave off the inevitable.” Now the inevitable was upon them and the city's most knowledgeable fireman lay on his deathbed.

The earthquake not only destroyed the city's water system, but also its telephone, telegraph, and fire alarm systems. Fires broke out everywhere, started by overturned lamps and coal stoves and fed by ruptured gas lines and winds off the Pacific Ocean. That 90 percent of the city's housing was of wood frame construction only added to the disaster.

Fire crews raced through the rubble strewn streets to extinguish the fires, but everywhere found the same terrifying result: “Not a drop of water was to be had from the hydrants,” the fire department report recalled. For a while, they pumped water from tanks, pools, and even sewers, but these sources eventually went dry. Unable to fight the flames, firemen concentrated on pulling victims from collapsed buildings before the flames reached them. Thousands of terrified people looked on in horror as the inferno grew still larger and the city shook with aftershocks.

Acting Fire Chief John Dougherty soon decided to use explosives to stop the fire, using munitions from local US Army forts. If they could demolish a line of buildings, he reasoned, they might be able to contain the fire and save much of the city.

And here’s where a compelling story-within-the-story emerged, one driven by anti-Chinese racism. While diverting scarce water to wealthy white sections of the city, the mayor and acting Fire Chief chose to deploy the explosives in the city’s Chinatown. Scores of buildings were destroyed, but the explosions actually accelerated the fires. Within a day, all of Chinatown had been reduced to smoldering rubble and ash. This outcome was devastating to the 15,000 Chinese and Chinese American residents of the neighborhood, but it was seen as a godsend by the city’s powerful business and political elites. We’ll soon circle back to this point, but for now, let’s return to the larger story of the disaster.

At 3:00 p.m., as reports of looting mounted, Mayor Eugene Schmitz issued a “shoot to kill” proclamation, warning the populace that policemen and soldiers would show no mercy to anyone even suspected of looting. And that proved true, as dozens of people were shot or bayonetted to death, many of them innocent people trying to retrieve their own property. One Chinese American man went to his apartment to retrieve his birth certificate – a document vital to Chinese Americans fearful of deportation – and was bayonetted by a soldier. Thankfully he survived the assault.

It took three days and three nights to bring the inferno under control. By then one quarter of the city had burned (498 blocks), leaving 28,000 buildings destroyed. The human toll was originally put at about 700 deaths, but this was pure fiction. It reflected a desperate attempt by city officials to diminish the disaster in the public’s mind, as a way to preserve the commercial future of the city. More extensive research in recent years has raised the death toll to 3,000, making the earthquake one of the deadliest disasters in U.S. history. It was also one of the most expensive, costing at least $500,000,000 in 1906 dollars.

Now would be a good time to pick up the story-within-the-story about the fate of Chinatown and its 15,000 residents. We know that the political and business leaders of San Francisco saw the destruction of Chinatown as a silver lining in the disaster, because they said as much. Chinatown occupied 15 blocks of prime downtown real estate and for years the city’s business and political leaders talked of evicting the residents and turning it into a business district. In 1904, two years before the earthquake, the city’s Mayor, James Phelan, had paid the famed architect Daniel Burnham – the guy who planned the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 - to draw up a master plan for a newly redesigned San Francisco. The plans’ most striking feature? Chinatown was gone. Burnham somehow made it disappear. The city’s business community loved the idea. Here’s the headline from city’s Merchant’s Association Review, from February 1905: “San Francisco May Be Freed From The Standing Menace of Chinatown: Plans Have Been arranged, and a Corporation Formed to Turn the Chinese Quarter into a Business Section, and Build a New Oriental City on Bay Shore.” That last part was important – Chinatown would be moved to a remote edge of the city.

The justification for this plan was that Chinatown was a horrid cancer on the city, a place filled with opium dens, prostitution, and illegal gambling. White Americans had long come to see Chinatowns in US cities in this light. Stories in the popular press and dime novels, and even early versions of sensational walking tours led by white guides perpetuated Chinatowns as immoral spaces where vice and sin proliferated and an alien, unassimilable culture thrived.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Mayor Schmitz moved quickly to put into action the plan to get rid of Chinatown. He created a Committee of powerful businessmen and political figures to oversee relief efforts and to put into action the Chinatown removal plan. And he made former mayor James Phelan, the Committee’s chairman. Phelan, you will remember, is the guy who commissioned the plans for a revamped San Francisco that called for the removal of Chinatown.

But then something extraordinary happened. The residents of Chinatown, despite the long odds they faced as a despised and disenfranchised minority group, got organized and took action to stop the plan. Those who owned their building lots in Chinatown started rebuilding immediately. Community leaders hired lawyers and protested before city officials. One of them, a minister named Rev. Gee Gam, said, “Why should the Chinese be isolated any more than the people of Tar Flat? Why should they be singled out? The mayor has no power to isolate the Chinese. Chinatown should go back where it was – that would be nothing but justice.... We are objecting to the removal of Chinatown on the grounds that it is the Chinese right to remain where they own land.”

Residents of Chinatown also got in touch with the government of China and soon Chinese diplomatic officials were lodging formal complaints with the federal government in Washington, the governor of California, and city officials in San Francisco. And those officials listened, because even back then China was a significant trading partner of the US.

And the final and most important card the Chinatown residents played was this: they told San Francisco officials that if the city went forward with the plan to move Chinatown to the outskirts of the city, they would relocate en masse to another city like Los Angeles or Seattle and take with them their businesses. This was a significant threat as Chinese and Chinese American businesses constituted a major part of the city’s economy.

And all this resistance to anti-Chinese racism? It worked. Less than a month after the earthquake, the city dropped the plan to eliminate Chinatown from downtown San Francisco.

Chinatown was rebuilt, along with the rest of the city. And this new Chinatown had a distinct architectural style, one that would be replicated in other Chinatowns across the US. The merchants hired white architects who designed the district to look like what white Americans imagined China looked like – buildings festooned with brightly colored pagoda style roofs and carvings of dragons. The idea was to attract tourists and to promote a new image of Chinatown as a clean and wholesome place. It bore no resemblance to China, but the tourists loved it.

And there was one more legacy of the earthquake that affected the city’s Chinese population. The fires destroyed City Hall and virtually all vital records like birth certificates. This allowed Chinese immigrants to claim US birth and there was no way city officials could prove they were not. This new status allowed them to avoid deportation and to bring relatives from China to join them.

Over time, the city of San Francisco enjoyed a full recovery from the disaster. And as the city was rebuilt, many of Chief Sullivan's ideas for greater fire safety were implemented, as were tough building codes to make structures better able to withstand the next earthquake. That day came on October 17, 1989 when an earthquake measuring 7.1 of the Richter scale shook the city. Damage was extensive, but a relatively small number of people, 62, died.

So what else of note happened this week in US history?

April 14, 1865 - President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC by Confederate loyalist John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln lingered on the edge of death through the night and died the following morning on April 15.

April 15, 1912 - The ‘unsinkable’ luxury ocean liner, "Titanic," sank at 2:27 a.m. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.

April 19, 1775 – American colonists clash with British troops in the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The "the shot heard 'round the world" announced the start of the American war for independence.

And what notable people were born this week in American history?

April 13, 1743 – 3rd POTUS Thomas Jefferson

April 13, 1899 – Alfred Butts, the inventor of Scrabble

April 13, 1919 – atheism promotor Madelyn Murray O’Hair

April 14, 1840 - art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner

April 15, 1889 - labor and civil rights leader, A. Philip Randolph

April 18, 1857 - attorney Clarence Darrow

The Last Word

Let’s give it to Clarence Darrow, who was born 163 years ago this week. He made a career out of defending people in what appeared to be hopeless cases. Here’s how he explained his motivation:

“You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free.”

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

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Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

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Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

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Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

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The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

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Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the Fort Pillow Massacre that took place April 12, 1864 during the Civil War. A Confederate force led by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest overwhelmed the fort and when the 300 African American Union soldiers tried to surrender, they slaughtered them. It was an extraordinary war crime that was motivated by racist animosity. Not surprisingly, the movement to remove Confederate statues in recent years has taken particular aim at statues honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, who not only perpetrated the Ft. Pillow Massacre, but after the war became the leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the US entry into World War I and the launch of Apollo 13.

Feature Story: The Fort Pillow Massacre of 1864

On April 12, 1864 Confederate soldiers overran Fort Pillow in Tennessee and massacred hundreds of African-American Union soldiers. It was one of the most egregious war crimes in American history, one for which no one was ever charged or prosecuted.

Before diving into this story, it’s important to note the significance of the role played by African-Americans played in helping the Union win the Civil War. In total, about 180,000 African-Americans served in the Union Army. That’s about 1/12 of the Union army. Another 20,000 served in the Union Navy. And keep in mind, this service did not begin until mid-1863 – fully two years into the war. In other words, it came at a crucial moment in the war when the Union desperately needed more soldiers. Over the course of those two years of service, between 1863 and 1865, African-American soldiers would fight in hundreds of battles and skirmishes. And this service came at a high price, as over 1/5 of black soldiers – about 40,000 – were killed either on the field or battle or as a result of disease. In the end, African-American soldiers played a critical role in the Union’s triumph over the Confederacy.

And what about black Confederates? Well, hopefully you know that’s a complete and total myth. They never existed. And if you wanna learn more about it check out In The Past Lane episode 169.

Alright, on to Fort Pillow. It was an insignificant Union outpost, situated on the Mississippi River in Western Tennessee. But in the spring of 1864, it was attacked by the legendary Confederate cavalry leader, General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Before the war, Forrest had been a wealthy slave trader. He joined the Confederate Army as a private, but rose quickly through the ranks. By the spring of 1864, Forrest was a household name in both the North and South, known widely both for his strategic genius and ruthlessness.

In 1864, Forrest led thousands of cavalry on a raiding mission into Western Tennessee and Kentucky. By this time, the Confederacy was in desperate need of supplies, horses, and soldiers, so his primary objective was to capture horses, food, and military supplies, and to recruit new soldiers from among the pro-Confederate populace. In addition, Forrest was to cause maximum havoc in the region by disrupting the huge Union force being assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman near Chattanooga. Sherman’s objective was obvious – Atlanta – and it was critical to the Confederacy that he be stopped, or at least slowed down.

On April 12, 1864, the third anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter that announced the start of the Civil War – Nathan Bedford Forrest’s force of about 1,500 men set fire to a nearby camp of escaped slaves – mostly women and children – and then surrounded Fort Pillow. Inside the Fort were 600 or so Union soldiers. About half that number were African-American soldiers serving in Union artillery units. From a strictly military standpoint, these black soldiers knew they were in a very precarious position. But these men had an additional reason to be concerned, for one year ago in 1863, when the Union announced that it would recruit black soldiers to fight in the war, Confederate leaders responded by declaring that captured African-American soldiers would be executed or re-enslaved.

The Confederate assault begin at 11 AM and soon thereafter the Fort Pillow Garrison was reeling. Confederate snipers killed the fort’s commanding officer, and scores more. At 2 PM, Forrest sent a message demanding the Fort’s surrender. “Should my demand be refused,” he warned ominously, “I cannot be responsible for the fate of your command.”

Fort Pillow’s commander tried to buy time – hoping reinforcements would soon arrive – and asked for one hour to consider the demand. Forrest refused and gave him 20 minutes. The moment that deadline passed, Forrest’s men attacked. As they streamed into the fort, many of the outnumbered Union soldiers panicked and ran towards the river. But many other Union soldiers fought valiantly, even after the struggle seemed hopeless. But when it became obvious that they had been defeated, they surrendered.

Or at least they tried to. For the attacking Confederates were not about to treat black Union soldiers according to the rules of war. As one Confederate later testified, “The sight of Negro soldiers stirred the bosoms of our soldiers with courageous madness.” This “courageous madness” led them to slaughter wounded and surrendering black soldiers, and to chase down and kill those trying to escape. As one Confederate officer remembered: “The slaughter was awful… Words cannot describe the scene. The poor deluded Negroes would run up to our men[,] fall upon their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy. But they were ordered to their feet and then shot down.”

Nathan Bedford Forrest and other Confederates would deny claims that they had massacred soldiers that day. But there is abundant historical evidence – including testimony by Confederate eyewitnesses – that a massacre had indeed taken place that day. Just consider these statistics. Half the Fort Pillow Garrison, about 300 men, had been killed. That’s an extraordinary toll, especially when compared to other Civil War battles. Typically, the ratio of killed to wounded was 1:2. That is, for every soldier killed they were two wounded. But at Fort Pillow, the ratio was the reverse – for every wounded soldier, two had been killed. Only a massacre could explain such numbers.

The fact that it was a racially motivated massacre is made clear when one considers the statistics concerning those taken prisoner. Some 70% of white Union soldiers were taken prisoner compared to only 35% of black soldiers. The rest – 2/3 of all black soldiers – were killed. And it should be noted that while Fort Pillow was without question the worst instance of Confederates massacring black Union soldiers, it was by no means the only one.

Little wonder then, for the duration of the Civil War the Union’s African American soldiers often cried, “Remember Fort Pillow!” when attacking Confederate positions. They did so to honor the dead and to inspire the living on to final victory.

One of the reasons why this story is worth remembering is that Nathan Bedford Forrest enjoys an exalted place in Confederate history and memory, and as a consequence, there are many schools, streets, and public parks named in his honor, not to mention scores of statues. Thus, debates over the removal of Confederate monuments in recent years have often involved statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Defenders say the statues are a tribute to his brilliance as a cavalry commander and a general pride in southern heritage. Critics point out Forrest’s role in the Fort Pillow massacre, and one more thing – after the Civil War he joined the Ku Klux Klan and became its first Grand Wizard. You will recall that in last week’s episode we noted the major role of violent terrorist organizations like the KKK played in stripping recently freed African Americans of their civil and political rights. So, statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest represent many things, but first and foremost they represent white supremacy and the violence used to achieve it.

So what else of note happened this week in US history?

April 6, 1917 - After 2.5 years of remaining officially neutral and on the sidelines of WW1, the US declared war on Germany. President Woodrow Wilson had called for neutrality in the hope that after the war the US could play the role of impartial arbiter to help negotiate a lasting peace settlement. But when it became apparent that the Allies – principally France and England – might lose the war, AND German submarines resumed sinking US ships, Wilson changed his mind. The US must enter the war, the told the American people, “to make the world safe for democracy.”

April 9, 1865 - The Confederacy’s most renowned commander, General Robert E. Lee, surrendered his army to the Union’s Gen Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in VA. Even though the war did not officially end for a few more months, this surrender effectively ended the Civil War, a 4-year conflict that claimed the lives of some 750,000 soldiers and sailors, and brought about the end of slavery. Every now and again someone proposes that April 9 be made a national holiday to celebrate the defeat of the Confederacy and preservation of the Union. And this historian thinks that’s might be a good idea.

April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 blasted off on its mission to the moon. A mechanical malfunction nearly doomed the astronauts, but a little luck and a lot of ingenious improvising on the part of the crew and NASA officials brought them home safely.

And what notable people were born this week in American history?

April 6, 1866 – investigative journalist and author of Shame of the Cities, Lincoln Steffens

April 7, 1915 – legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday

April 7, 1912 - pioneering gay rights activist Harry Hay

April 10, 1847 - newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer

April 12, 1777 - one of the most influential politicians in the antebellum period, Henry Clay of KY

The Last Word

Let’s give it to Woodrow Wilson, who 103 years ago, asked the US Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Here’s the key excerpt:

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at Reconstruction, specifically the ratification of the 15th Amendment which took place 150 years ago this week. It was the third of three amendments added to the Constitution after the Civil War and it was specifically intended to protect African American voting rights. In these early years of Reconstruction, formerly enslaved people registered to vote, voted, and won election to office, including Congress. But just a few years after the 15th Amendment was ratified, southern whites, with the acquiescence of white northerners, dismantled the accomplishments of Reconstruction, including black political power, and re-imposed white supremacy.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the onset of the1918-1919 Spanish Flu Pandemic and Martin Luther King’s 1967 speech against the Vietnam.

Feature Story: The Ratification of the 15th Amendment

On March 30, 1870 - 150 years ago this week - the US Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, certified that the required 3/4 of the states had ratified the 15th amendment to the Constitution and it was now in effect. This was the third of three amendments added to the Constitution in the wake of the Civil War. The 13th amendment abolished slavery. The 14th amendment defined US citizenship, established voting rights for African-Americans, and established the principle of equality before the law. The 15th amendment was intended to strengthen the right of African-Americans to vote. It read: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

For African Americans and their white Republican allies, the 15th amendment was hailed as a key achievement in reshaping the US political system into a multiracial democracy. As President Ulysses S. Grant put it, the 15th amendment “completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most important event that has occurred since the nation came to life.”

Grant and his fellow Republicans were right in celebrating the revolutionary nature of the amendment, but some of them expressed an unfounded and naïve optimism about its ability to empower African Americans. They claimed that with the 14th and 15th Amendments in place, black Americans no longer needed federal protection from vengeful white southerners who bitterly resented the end of slavery and black freedom and equality.

Rep. James Garfield of Ohio, the Speaker of the House and future president, said the 15th Amendment “confers upon the African race the care of its own destiny. It places their fortunes in their own hands.” The message was clear: African Americans now had everything they needed to succeed. And if they failed to secure their place in American life then it was their own fault.

Well, let’s hold that thought for a moment. We’ll return to it shortly.

For now, let’s consider what had already happened in the years leading up to the ratification of the 15th amendment. First, African Americans had already gained the right to vote in 1867 under a Civil Rights Act passed by Congress. And this right was then made permanent in 1868 under the 14th Amendment.

Immediately, formerly enslaved people seized this new freedom. Some 700,000 African-Americans registered to vote, nearly all of them as members of the Republican party - the party of Lincoln, emancipation, and now civil rights.

And the results were remarkable: More than six hundred formerly enslaved men won seats in state legislatures and to other state and local offices. Still hundreds more served in all manner of posts, from register of deeds to justice of the peace. Some even went to Congress. Between 1869 and 1901 twenty-two African Americans would serve in the U.S. Congress (twenty in the House, and two in the Senate).

Let’s note just one example. On December 12, 1870, Joseph Rainey, a man born into slavery in South Carolina in 1832, was sworn in as a member of the US House of Representatives. A man who just a few years earlier was considered property and possessing no rights, was now a citizen and member of Congress. Historical change doesn’t get more revolutionary than that. That’s why I always refer to the first half of Reconstruction, roughly 1865 to 1872, as the Reconstruction Revolution.

The impact of this revolution in the South in the early years of Reconstruction was profound. Under Republican rule, southern states enacted progressive legislation designed to improve the lives of average citizens. Most states, for example, significantly expanded public education which had been woefully underfunded in the past. Many also passed laws protecting the civil rights of citizens and launched public works projects such as road building to boost economic growth. They also changed state tax codes lesson taxes on the poor and middle classes an increase them on the wealthy.

Not surprisingly, white southern resistance to these changes was intense, as were efforts to undermine and thwart black political power. The most vivid form of this resistance were vigilante groups like the Ku Klux Klan that used violence and murder to oppress African Americans and their allies.

This was the context in which the 15th Amendment was passed and ratified in 1870. It was a recognition by Congress that African American voting rights faced intense opposition.

And Congress did something else in 1870 to protect black civil rights: it passed the first of several so-called Force Acts that compelled the federal government to use its power and authority to defeat groups like the KKK. And it worked. Within two years, the federal government succeeded crushing these violent groups throughout the South.

And so, as I always say at this point when talking about Reconstruction, if we stop the clock at this point – say, roughly 1872 - the Reconstruction Revolution had achieved remarkable results.

It had won for African-Americans citizenship and full civil rights, including the right to vote.

It had seen hundreds of thousands of African Americans vote for the first time and many of them win election to public office.

It had seen them join with white allies in the South to form an extraordinary and unprecedented experiment in interracial democracy.

It had seen that interracial coalition pass laws and adopt policies in Southern states designed to protect civil rights and expand opportunities for average citizens.

But this exercise in "stopping the clock" is just that – an exercise that allows us to take stock of a historical situation. Because history doesn't stop. In marches on. And march on it did during Reconstruction.

And it was in the years after 1872 that saw many of the accomplishments of Reconstruction dismantled by a process one might call the Reconstruction Counter-Revolution.

Here’s what happened in a nutshell:

The single most important thing that allowed the Reconstruction Revolution to occur was the use of federal authority to protect civil rights. So long as the federal government remained committed to upholding civil rights and democracy in the South, the achievements of Reconstruction would endure and grow.

What happened, however, is that this commitment on the part of political officials in the north began to waver and eventually disappear altogether after 1872.

It did so for several reasons. First, the Grant administration became ensnared in a series of scandals involving high ranking officials, including members of Congress and cabinet officials. Second, the Panic of 1873 touched off five years of the most severe economic depression in US history to that time. Third, many conservatives began to argue that the federal government had done enough for the freedmen and that it was time to remove the US military from the South and leave African Americans to chart their own destiny.

Now would be a good time to recall that quote by James A Garfield, who said of the 15th Amendment that it, “confers upon the African race the care of its own destiny. It places their fortunes in their own hands.”

The combination of these three factors created a climate in which it became very difficult for Northern politicians to justify a continued federal commitment to protecting the rights of African Americans in the South.

As a result, after 1872 organized white resistance to Republican rule – both legal and illegal -- began to rise. This resistance, much of it involving violence by vigilante groups, had two goals:
1. to strip away the freedmen’s hard-won economic, social, and legal rights and
2. to prevent them from voting and holding office.

This violence reached full development in Mississippi in 1875 when armed groups of whites allied with the Democratic Party waged a carefully organized campaign of terrorism that came to be known as the Mississippi Plan. Through threats, beatings, and killings, they delivered an unambiguous message: blacks and their white allies who dared vote Republican risked their lives and livelihoods.

Alarmed, Mississippi governor Adelbert Ames asked the Grant administration to send troops to keep the peace and protect the polls. His request was rejected.

Not surprisingly, more than sixty thousand Mississippi voters—nearly all black and Republican—stayed away from the polls on election day. When fifteen hundred African Americans gathered to vote in Aberdeen, Mississippi, they were informed by the mob that “if they did not leave town within five minutes … the last man would be shot dead.”

Democrats swept to victory in Mississippi and took control of the state legislature for the first time since the Civil War. Immediately they threatened Governor Ames with impeachment and forced him to resign.

The success of the Mississippi Plan in intimidating black voters and demolishing the base of the Republican Party inspired other Southern states to employ their own version of it. And the political terrorism worked.

One by one the remaining Republican state governments fell to a new class of political leaders known as Redeemers. As the name suggests they cast themselves in almost biblical terms as saviors of Southern society. Saviors from black and Republican rule.

As one African American Republican named George Arnold put it, “It seems to me that we are drifting, drifting back under the leadership of the slaveholders. Our former masters are fast taking the reins of government.”

We can see the success of this counter-revolution in the career of the aforementioned Joseph Rainey, the former slave turned congressman. Rainey served four terms in Congress and played an important role in the debates over Reconstruction. In 1876, however, as the Mississippi Plan and the Redeemer movement gained momentum, Rainey barely won reelection against his white Democratic opponent. Two years later, that same Democratic challenger defeated Rainey, ending his political career.

The Counter-revolution was completed in the 1880s and 1890s as southern state governments devised clever ways to undermine the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. They imposed segregation and the US Supreme Court allowed it. They also imposed all manner of things to deprive black citizens of the right to vote, things like the poll tax and literacy tests. By 1900, African American voting in the South had been nearly eliminated. And that would remain the case until the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

And here’s a key takeaway from this story: laws, even constitutional amendments, are only valuable insofar as they are enforced. Laws and amendments that are not enforced are not worth the paper they are printed on. Sadly, we see evidence of this fact in 2020, as many states in recent years have enacted laws and policies intended to diminish the ability of people – especially people of color – to vote. The 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 say this is illegal. But it’s all about enforcement. That’s something to ponder on this, the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment.

So what else of note happened in US history this week?

March 31, 1776 Abigail Adams wrote her now famous letter to her husband John Adams, urging him and the members of the Continental Congress to “remember the ladies” in the making of laws for a nation that seemed on the verge of declaring its independence from England. Women, she wrote, in so many words, deserved liberty too.

April 4, 1967 - The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his “a time to break silence” speech against the Vietnam war at Riverside Church in New York City. “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” King was vilified by many for this speech, including President Lyndon Johnson.

Exactly one year later, on April 4, 1968 King was assassinated in Memphis, TN.

April 5, 1918 - The first report was published that noted the rapid spread of a deadly strain of influenza in Haskell, Kansas. It was the first indication in the US of what would come to be known as the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, one that killed 700,000 Americans and worldwide between 50 and 100 million people. And if you want to know more about this story, check out ITPL Episode 105.

And how about birthdays of some notable people?

March 31, 1927 labor leader Cesar Chavez

March 31, 1875 heavy weight boxing champion Jack Johnson

April 2, 1875 automobile magnate Walter P. Chrysler

April 4, 1802 pioneering advocate for humane treatment of the mentally ill, Dorothea Dix

Last word

Let’s give it to Abigail Adams, who 244 years ago this week, wrote to her husband John Adams urging him to push for greater rights for women in the soon-to-be independent United States of America.

“I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)

Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)

Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)

Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)

Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at one of the signal events in late-19th century America, the opulent Vanderbilt Ball of 1883 that announced the dawning of the Gilded Age. One thousand of the richest people in America attended the costume ball that celebrated the opening of the Vanderbilt’s new mansion on Fifth Avenue. It was a conspicuous display of wealth and power never seen before in the US and it marked a sharp departure from traditional republican values of egalitarianism and restraint in favor of conspicuous consumption and pretensions to aristocracy.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the 1915 quarantining of Mary Mallon, aka Typhoid. And birthdays, including

March 24, 1834 – explorer John Wesley Powell
March 24, 1919 – poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti
March 25, 1934 – feminist activist Gloria Steinem

Feature Story: The Vanderbilt Ball Ushers in The Gilded Age

On March 26, 1883 – 137 years ago this week – Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt hosted a gala ball at her mansion on 5th Avenue in New York City. There had been opulent balls and parties in NYC in the past, but nothing compared to this one. The event was held to celebrate the completion of the Vanderbilt’s new mansion, which in truth was more of a palace in the style of Louis XIV than a mere mansion. And then there was the price tag for the ball - $250,000 – or $6 million in today’s money. The Vanderbilt Ball of 1883 announced a new era in the US, one we now call the Gilded Age. And with this new era came new norms and values, ones that we are now quite familiar with in the 21st century.

So who was Mrs. Vanderbilt and what was she up to? Mrs. Vanderbilt was born Alva Erskine Smith in Alabama. She married William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of THE Vanderbilt, that is, the great railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. Like his grandfather, he was one of the wealthiest men in America. Alva Vanderbilt had it all.

Well, not quite. People like the Vanderbilts had one problem. They had boatloads of money, but no elite heritage like the old money families like the Astors and Roosevelts. So one of Mrs. Vanderbilt’s motivations behind her grand ball was to gain entry into elite society. The problem was that elite, old money New Yorkers shunned the nouveau rich like the Vanderbilts.

So Mrs. Vanderbilt worked up a plan. New York’s high society was dominated by Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, the queen of the old money set. She had taken it upon herself to determine who was “in” and who was “out” in terms of society. Her confidant and consultant in this matter was a guy named Ward McAllister who claimed that the TRUE elite in New York only numbered “Four Hundred.” Mrs. Astor was especially determined to prevent the Vanderbilt’s from entering this inner circle.

But then a crisis emerged. Carrie Astor—Mrs. Astor’s daughter – did not receive an invitation to the Vanderbilt Ball, while all her elite friends did. Alarmed over the implications of this snub, Mrs. Astor made some discreet inquiries. It turned out that Mrs. Vanderbilt’s response was that since Mrs. Astor had never formally called upon her, they were not formal acquaintances and thus it would be improper to invite her daughter to the ball. It was a brilliant move, for Mrs. Astor, seeing no alternative, swallowed her pride and called upon Mrs. Vanderbilt. The next day, Carrie Astor’s invitation to the ball arrived. The Vanderbilt’s were IN!

Mrs. Vanderbilt’s big bash was a costume ball. She invited 1,000 of New York’s wealthiest citizens to attend and they responded with ingenuity and enthusiasm, spending lavishly on their costumes. Some came dressed as animals and others as figures from history or literature, but the most popular theme was to dress as European royalty—Louis the XIV, Marie Antoinette, and many more.

Now building palaces and dressing up as European royalty signaled a major shift in American political culture. Ever since the American Revolution, American political culture focused obsessively on the need to adhere to republican values and to shun anything that suggested monarchy and aristocracy. These republican values stressed egalitarianism, which explains why Americans in the early 19th century stopped bowing to each other and instead adopted the handshake. Americans also shunned ostentatious displays of wealth and status, valuing instead republican modesty and restraint. For example, the richest people in NYC in the 1830s lived in a nice neighborhood called Gramercy Park. If you walked around it today, you’d be struck by the modest style of the homes of the rich that still stand there.

And republican values also permeated American politics where one of the worst things one could say about their adversary is that they harbored aspirations to be a king or an aristocrat, rather than a man of the people.

So, clearly something had changed by the 1880s. America’s super rich families tossed aside ideas like restraint and modesty and went all in on aping their European counterparts, working self-consciously to transform themselves into a new American aristocracy. The modest homes of the 1830s rich just a few miles downtown in Gramercy Park looked like tool sheds compared to the palatial mansions being built on Fifth Avenue, a place now nicknamed Millionaires Mile. And it was happening in every major American city, where rows of monumental homes were rising in places like Nob Hill in San Francisco, Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and the Main Line in Philadelphia.

When the Ball took place on March 26, 1883, yet another indication that a new era had dawned became obvious as thousands of everyday New Yorkers gathered on the sidewalks to watch the spectacle. The rich had become celebrities for – being rich. Mrs. Vanderbilt had skillfully cultivated media coverage, providing interviews and inviting reporters in to see the preparations for the big night. And they lapped it up. By the early 1880s the major newspapers had added what they called Society pages that chronicled in breathless detail the European tours of the Belmonts, Astors, and Lodges, the impending weddings of Morgans to the Satterlees and the Vanderbilts to the Whitneys. The scandals of high society—the usual things like affairs, divorces, bankruptcies, and suicides—also received intense media coverage. Basically, you can draw a straight line from this moment in US history right to the Kardashians.

Dancing began at 11:00 pm. Dinner—catered by the famous Delmonico’s restaurant—was served at 2am. The event finally concluded as the sun was rising.

Some of the press coverage the next day was a little scornful about the excess, but most offered giddy descriptions of the guests and the festivities. Mrs. Vanderbilt had vaulted to the upper echelon of New York society. As the kids say these days, Mrs. Vanderbilt had crushed it.

The success of the Vanderbilt Ball inspired other elite families to engage in a competition to see who could outdo everyone in terms of extravagant spending on galas, balls, soirees, parties, and weddings. They also built even bigger mansions in summer resort areas like Newport, RI.

It probably won’t surprise to you to learn that it was in this era that the term “conspicuous consumption” was coined by a sociologist named Thorstein Veblen. “Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods,” he wrote, “is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.”

And by the way, keep an eye out for a new television series coming to HBO this Fall. It’s called The Gilded Age and it’s the creation of Julien Fellowes, the guy who created Downton Abbey. It’s essentially a DA of an earlier era and set in New York rather than the UK. My bet is it’s going to be a huge hit and you better believe it will feature many of the themes discussed in this piece. I for one, can’t wait. In fact, I’m probably going to start a Gilded Age fan podcast. But more on that later.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at a curious but revealing scandal that emerged in New York City on St. Patrick’s Day n 1888. The mayor refused to attend the St. Patrick’s Day parade and to fly the flag of Ireland over City Hall and paid a heavy political price.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam, and Amelia Earhart’s final flight. And birthdays, including

March 16, 1751 - 4th POTUS James Madison
March 18, 1837 - the 22nd and 24th POTUS Grover Cleveland
March 17, 1777 - SCOTUS justice Roger B. Taney

Feature Story: The St. Patrick’s Day Scandal of 1888

On March 17, 1888 – 132 years ago this week - the mayor of New York City made a huge mistake. It was St. Patrick’s Day and yet, Mayor Abram Hewitt made good on his recent pledge to not review the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and not to fly the Irish flag over City Hall. The Mayor framed his decision as a stand for pure, enlightened political leadership that was above pandering to what he considered petty, special interests. But the city’s enormous Irish population did not see it that way and Hewitt would soon learn a painful lesson in late-nineteenth century urban politics.

Abram Hewitt was a wealthy industrialist and former congressman who had won election as mayor of New York in 1886. Although a member of the elite, “silk stocking” set, he ran as the candidate of Tammany Hall, the legendary political organization that drew its power from the city’s immigrant masses - especially the Irish. Tammany officials had selected him out of panic, because the election of 1886 had featured a stunning challenge by an upstart Labor Party that had selected as its candidate the reformer Henry George, a man immensely popular with the city’s laboring masses. Just as Tammany had hoped, Hewitt’s respectable image helped him garner just enough votes to narrowly defeat George.

Although elected on the Tammany Hall ticket and to a large degree by the Irish vote, Hewitt was a blueblood who abhorred the idea of ethnic politics. Unfortunately for him, he lacked the political good sense to keep this disdain to himself. So when a delegation of representatives of Irish organizations came calling on March 6, he did little to conceal his contempt.

The delegation had come in response to rumors that Hewitt would not review the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Parade. “The majority of Irishmen vote the Democratic ticket,” they reminded him, “and your vote came largely from Irishmen, a considerable portion of whom belong to the societies who will parade on St. Patrick’s Day.”

Hewitt was clearly irked by their suggestion that he owed the Irish an appearance at the parade. He snapped back, “Now let us understand each other. I am mayor of this city. You ask me to leave my duties and review your parade –”

At that moment he was interrupted by one of the delegation. “But Mr. Mayor, St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday.”

“It is not a legal holiday,” continued the mayor testily. “You ask me to leave my duties and review your parade, and you speak of the vote cast by the Irish in your societies for the Democratic candidates. I may be a candidate for mayor or for President next fall and may want all the votes I can get … But for the purpose of getting this [Irish] vote, I will not come down to the level of reviewing any parade because of the nationality represented. I will review no parades, whether Irish, German, or Italian as a Democrat. I will review parades only as mayor of the whole city and irrespective of party considerations.”

The delegation of Irishmen left the meeting angry and empty handed.

When word of the mayor’s refusal to review the parade hit the papers, the city’s huge Irish population reacted angrily. The tradition of having the mayor review the St. Patrick’s Day parade had begun nearly four decades earlier and since that time no mayor had ever refused the honor. Several critics pointed out that Hewitt actually had reviewed an ethnic parade a year earlier, when Italian societies marched in commemoration of Garibaldi’s defense of Rome. To the city’s Irish, the mayor’s decision was an insult that reflected elite New York’s low opinion of them.

The mayor’s blunt refusal to review the parade immediately called into question a second longstanding tradition in Manhattan: the flying of the Irish flag over City Hall on March 17. In anticipation of a fight, an Irish American Alderman named Patrick Divver authored a resolution calling for the Irish flag to be flown over City Hall on March 17 and it passed unanimously. A second resolution, clearly intended to force the mayor’s hand, was also passed, calling for the American flag to be flown at half-staff on March 16 in honor of the Kaiser William I of Germany who had just died.

Hewitt tried his best to navigate the political minefield before him, aware of the importance of both the Irish and German vote. He ordered the American flag flown at half-staff on March 16 as an expression of sympathy for the Kaiser and the following day ordered it raised to full staff in honor of Ireland. But no Irish flag was raised. Mentions of Hewitt’s name at the parade that day drew catcalls and hisses from the crowd.

That evening, Hewitt tried to mend fences with the Irish by attending the annual dinner of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. And he delivered a short address in which he said, “The day will come when you will see the flag of Ireland floating where it ought to float, over a free nation in a free Ireland.”

It was a nice gesture in support of Irish nationhood, but it did little to appease the city’s Irish population. And besides, Hewitt returned to his original form a few days later when the Board of Aldermen passed a law granting them the power to decide what flag would fly over City Hall on any given day. Hewitt vetoed the bill and issued a scathing rebuke to the Irishmen on the Board who were behind it. He noted that while the Irish-born made up 16.4 percent of the city’s population, they constituted an unnaturally high 27 percent of the Board of Aldermen and 28 percent of the police department. Even worse, continued the mayor, the Irish contributed an even greater percentage to the city’s prison and asylum populations. Apparently, Ireland hadn’t sent its best. “The facts above stated when properly considered,” concluded the mayor, “should impose a modest restraint [on the Irish] in claiming new privileges.”

The Board promptly passed the measure over Hewitt’s veto.

Well, mayors in those days served only two-year terms, so Hewitt faced re-election that fall. Tammany Hall, recognizing that Hewitt threatened to erode their Irish voter base, withdrew its support from him and nominated an Irish-born candidate named Hugh J. Grant. Hewitt nonetheless managed to secure the nomination of several Democratic and independent political organizations. The Irish turned out in droves on election day and sent Hewitt to a third-place finish behind Grant and the Republican candidate.

The St. Patrick’s Day affair of 1888 established an absolute rule for New York City politics: politicians who insulted the city’s largest ethnic groups did so at their peril. The dominant ethnic and racial groups have changed in the years since 1888 to include Jews, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Asians, and African Americans, but the rule remains the same.

And here’s a fun fact: While NYC’s St Patrick’s Day parade is huge and gets a lot of attention, it’s no longer the city’s largest ethnic parade. That honor goes to the annual West Indian Day parade that honors people from places like Jamaica, Grenada, and Trinidad. And you better believe the mayor never misses it.

Sources:

William V. Shannon, The American Irish: A Political and Social Portrait (1964), pp. 75-76;

Allan Nevins, Abram S. Hewitt: With Some Account of Peter Cooper (1935), pp. 465-7

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “I will Be There” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at one of the most perilous moments during the American Revolution: The Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783 that threatened to plunge the new republic into civil war. That is until George Washington intervened and defused the would-be revolt among officers of the Continental Army.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the 1862 battle between the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia and FDR’s first fireside chat in 1933. And birthdays, including

March 10, 1867 - progressive reformer and nurse Lillian Wald
March 12, 1922 novelist and poet, Jack Kerouac
March 15, 1767 - the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson

Feature Story: George Washington Defuses the Newburgh Conspiracy

On March 15, 1783 – 237 years ago this week - Gen. George Washington arrived at Newburgh, NY, which was the winter quarters of Continental Army. A peace treaty with England had yet to be signed, but combat between American and British forces had ended sixteen months earlier in October 1781 with the British surrender at Yorktown. But the mood among the men and officers was decidedly not celebratory. They were angry at Congress for not paying them and for providing poor provisions. They felt disrespected and ignored by the national government.

But Washington had not come to Newburgh to cheer them up. He had come to thwart a scheme that threatened to destroy the young republic that had just earned its independence. One of the key figures in that scheme – what came to be called the Newburgh Conspiracy - was Major John Armstrong, aide de camp to Washington’s chief rival, Horatio Gates. Five days earlier, Armstrong had issued an inflammatory address in which he said the time for politely pleading with Congress to fulfill its obligations to the army had come to an end. The officers of the army, said Armstrong, should issue an ultimatum. If Congress did not act, the army would either disband, leaving the nation vulnerable to renewed British attack, or it would refuse to disband once a peace treaty had been signed. This latter option was a thinly veiled threat of a military coup.

When Washington learned of Armstrong’s address and talk of mutiny among the officer corps, he sent a message urging the men to keep their cool and not do anything rash. He sympathized with the men and understood their anger, but he also feared that any unauthorized action could lead to civil war and the end of the American republic. Washington, like most of the Founders, knew that many revolutions in history were followed by a civil war, as the factions that had united against a common foe turned on each other.

To defuse this perilous situation, Washington called a meeting of the officers at Newburgh for March 15 to discuss the matter, implying that he would not be in attendance.

One can only imagine their surprise when, as their meeting was getting under way, in strode General Washington. The atmosphere was tense. A hush fell over the room and Washington began to speak, urging the men to resist the call to mutiny. For if they did act illegally, they would squander all the good will they had accumulated during the war:

“Let me entreat you, gentlemen, on your part, not to take any measures, which viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the dignity, and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained; let me request you to rely on the plighted faith of your country, and place a full confidence in the purity of the intentions of Congress.… By thus determining — & thus acting, you will pursue the plain & direct road to the attainment of your wishes. You will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies, who are compelled to resort from open force to secret artifice. You will give one more

distinguished proof of unexampled patriotism & patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the most complicated sufferings…”

When he finished, Washington reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. But as he scanned the text, he fumbled for his reading glasses, saying to the officers, “Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown old in the service of my country and now find that I am growing blind.” With that offhand reference to his personal sacrifice on behalf of the American cause, many in the room began to cry and the anger subsided. Washington had snuffed out the Newburgh Conspiracy.

Three days later, Washington wrote to Congress to assure them that the crisis was over.

Who exactly was behind the Newburgh Conspiracy and how serious was the talk of mutiny and insurrection, remains a mystery. But the crisis was significant for several reasons. One, it revealed how weak and ineffective the national government was under the Articles of Confederation, and therefore it played a role in spurring on the movement for what became the Constitutional Convention four years later. Second, the crisis provided one of several moments in this period where the leadership of George Washington proved critical. As one biographer put it, Washington was the “indispensable man” who at every critical moment in the nation’s founding, provided the steady hand, dignified demeanor, and selfless leadership that helped maintain unity and dedication to the common cause.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a look at the Boston Massacre on its 250th anniversary. In particular, we learn about the stories of two of the five men killed in that famous clash, and why we know their names today.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the 1807 law that ended the US participation in the African slave trade, the controversial election of 1876, and the Bloody Sunday clash that occurred in Selma, Alabama 55 years ago. And birthdays, including

March 2, 1904 Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss
March 3, 1847 inventor Alexander Graham Bell
March 4, 1888 football legend Knute Rockne

Feature Story: The Boston Massacre at 250

On March 5, 1770 – 250 years ago this week - British troops stationed in Boston found themselves face to face with a jeering crowd of men. The soldiers had been sent to rescue one of their number who had been cornered by the crowd near the Customs House. Bostonians hurled epithets, as well as snow and ice, at the soldiers, but there was little about the incident to suggest that blood would soon flow. That changed when one of the soldiers fired his musket – likely by mistake. Immediately his fellow soldiers, thinking an order to fire had been given, opened fire on the crowd, killing five and wounding six more.

The Boston Massacre, as the incident became known, did not come out of nowhere. Tensions had been rising steadily in colonial cities like Boston at least as far back as 1765, the year the British government imposed the Stamp Act to compel the colonies to pay some of the costs of their defense by the British military during the recently concluded French and Indian War. The colonists, having grown accustomed to little British interference in their affairs for most of the eighteenth century, protested the act and the many more that followed. Although the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, Parliament followed it with the Townsend Acts of 1768 which also imposed taxes and fees. This act likewise touched off protests and acts of vandalism in Boston. It also led to a boycott of British goods that was organized by the Sons of Liberty. In response to these disturbances, the British government sent 2,000 troops to Boston to maintain order. For a city of just 16,000 residents, 2,000 soldiers represented a major show of force and intimidation by Parliament.

Not surprisingly, Bostonians treated the soldiers with scorn from the very start. Minor altercations on the streets between citizens – usually young tradesmen and dock workers – and soldiers occurred frequently. By early 1770, tensions were running high. In early March several brawls broke out between workers and soldiers, fueling rumors of an impending crackdown by the soldiers on Sons of Liberty activity and a plan to cut down the Liberty Tree in South Boston.

This was the essential background to what led to the events of March 5, 1770. The “Boston Massacre,” as the more zealous patriots termed this clash, enraged colonists from New Hampshire to Georgia. This fury was stoked by skilled propagandists who quickly wrote and distributed a pamphlet titled, “A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre.” As the title indicates, they framed the incident not as one marked by confusion and miscommunication, but rather one where the British soldiers acted with malice and intentionally murdered the five victims. Paul Revere then added the final touch – an engraving that purported to show what happened on the night of March 5, 1770. It shows a crowd of well-dressed and well-behaved Bostonians on the left being shot – as if by firing squad – by a tightly organized line of British soldiers on the right. Both the pamphlet and image circulated widely throughout the thirteen colonies.

In Boston, officials moved quickly to prosecute the soldiers. The commander of the British soldiers, Captain Thomas Preston, and eight of his men were arrested and charged with murder. Samuel Adams, a leading figure in the Sons of Liberty movement, led the prosecution. His cousin John Adams defended the soldiers – not because he sympathized with British rule, but rather because he believed the defendants deserved a fair trial. Despite raging public hostility toward the defendants, John Adams succeeded in demonstrating that all the conflicting eye-witness testimony meant that the defendants could not be found guilty. Preston and six soldiers were declared not guilty, while two others were convicted of manslaughter but were soon released.

And soon, despite all the fury and angry talk against “British oppression,” the city of Boston returned to calm, as did the rest of colonial America. The five victims were buried in the Granery cemetery and then kind of forgotten. And here’s where things got interesting. Many decades later – long after the American Revolution - two of the men became famous. Alright, one of them became famous and the other somewhat better known.

Let’s start with the case of the better known man, Crispus Attucks. Surely you’ve heard of him. He’s the African American man who was the first to die the night of the Boston Massacre. Little is known about Attucks’ life, except that he likely was a slave who had either earned his freedom or simply run off from his owner. In any case, he was living as a free man in Boston when things between locals and British soldiers got sticky. We know his name today because his story highlighted the contradiction at the heart of the American founding: a nation that professed to be dedicated to liberty was also the world’s largest slaveholding society. How ironic, many a historian and commentator has noted, that the first blood shed in the cause of liberty was that of a man born into slavery and whose enslaved brothers and sisters represented fully 20% of the American population.

But here’s the thing: this observation about the significance of Crispus Attuck’s death did not emerge until the 1840s and 1850s – 70 to 80 years later – when African American abolitionists began to celebrate Attucks as an original American patriot as a way to bolster their demand for an end to slavery and the inclusion of blacks as full citizens of the republic. And from that point forward, through the Civil War and Reconstruction, the return of white supremacy under Jim Crow, and then into the 20th century, the legend of Crispus Attucks continued to grow, as African Americans pushed for civil rights and full membership in American life.

If you want the full story about the life and legend of Crispus Attucks, check out ITPL Episode 079 where I speak with historian Mitch Kachun about his book on the topic.

The less-well known victim of the Boston Massacre was Patrick Carr. He was born in Ireland and later emigrated to the colonies where he took up the trade of leather work.

The reason we know about Patrick Carr is that he was Irish. His name and story remained forgotten until the late-19th century when Irish Americans began digging into the historical record looking for colonial and Revolutionary heroes. Irish immigrants, of course, did not face anything like the oppression experienced by African Americans. Nonetheless, when they began to arrive in massive numbers in the 1840s and 1850s, they were confronted by seething anti-Irish and anti-Catholic nativism. The whole Know Nothing movement of this period was aimed at stopping the influx of Irish immigrants and making life very hard for those already here. The Irish were denounced for bringing crime, poverty, disease, election fraud, and godless popery to America. After a few decades, as an Irish American middle class emerged, the Irish began to enjoy rising levels of income, education, and political power. But the one thing they lacked was respectability.

Thus began the quest to find Irish heroes in the American past who would give the Irish a claim on American belonging. Irish American historians discovered that 3 of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were born in Ireland. They also touted Timothy Murphy as the hero sharpshooter whose helped win the pivotal Battle of Saratoga. They likewise wrote about George Washington’s favorite spy, Hercules Mulligan. And, of course, they celebrated Patrick Carr for his martyrdom at the Boston Massacre. Some writers even went so far as to claim – without any evidence - that as an Irishman and an American, Patrick Carr had TWO reasons for hating British tyranny.

These two stories from the Boston Massacre remind us that history has many uses. And one of them is as a tool for group advancement. African Americans and Irish Americans are hardly the only groups in America to seek acceptance by finding representative figures in the American past. German Americans, Jewish Americans, Italian Americans – you name it – have identified and celebrated people and moments in American history that reflect positively on them as early contributors to the American experiment.
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If you live anywhere near Boston, lots of events commemorating the 250th

https://revolution250.org/2020-boston-massacre-events/

https://www.masshist.org/features/massacre1770-2020

https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/250th-anniversary-of-the-boston-massacre-highlights-from-our-collections/

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

John Bartman, "African Bliss" (Free Music Archive)

Doc Turtle, "The Talons of Adventure, The Antlers of Romance" (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about the film “Gone With The Wind,” its dark racist themes, and how African Americans organized protests against the film when it debuted in 1939.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the landmark Supreme Court decision, Marbury vs. Madison, the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee by members of the American Indian Movement, and the swearing in of Hiram Revels as the first African American member of the U.S. And birthdays, including

February 24, 1928: Michael Harrington
February 26, 1846: Buffalo Bill
February 27, 1902: Marian Anderson

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Feature Story: Racism, History, and “Gone With The Wind”

Eighty years ago this week, on February 29, 1940, the film "Gone with the Wind" swept the Academy Awards. The blockbuster film, one of several classics to come out in the remarkable year of 1939 (which also included "Stagecoach" and "The Wizard of Oz"), was based on the best-selling book by Margaret Mitchell.

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1900. Her parents imparted to her very different influences. From her father, a prominent lawyer and president of the Atlanta Historical Society, she grew up listening to stories about old Atlanta and glories of the Confederacy. From her mother, a women of more radical leanings who was active in the suffrage movement, Mitchell developed her independent personality. After studying briefly at Smith College in Massachusetts, she returned to Atlanta and became one of the first women to land a job as a journalist for the Atlanta Journal. In 1925 she married John Marsh and one year later, while recovering from an ankle injury, she began writing a work of fiction that became Gone with the Wind.

Mitchell actually finished the 1,000-page manuscript in 1926, but had trouble finding a publisher. The book was finally published in 1935 and became an instant hit, selling one million copies within six months. The following year it won the Pulitzer Prize. By the time of her death in 1949, more than eight million copies had been sold in forty different countries.

The essential story is by now familiar to most. In the beginning, the reader is immersed in a idyllic world of the antebellum South and the plantation-owning elite. But when the Civil War breaks out, the brave sons of the South march off to fight the Yanks and the old South begins to crumble. Within this drama is the story of the tempestuous Scarlett O'Hara and her fight both to save her family plantation, the much-loved Tara, and to win the heart of the strong and dashing Rhett Butler.

With the success of the book, a film adaptation was inevitable. Mitchell sold the film rights to the producer David O. Selznick for $50,000, and later received another $50,000 in royalties. News of the forthcoming film generated a lot of excited anticipation among fans of the book. But not all Americans were thrilled. African Americans rightly understood Mitchell’s book as a deeply racist depiction of a “Lost Cause” version of slavery, the Confederacy, and Reconstruction. In her telling, enslaved African Americans were simple-minded people who were content with slavery and loved their white owners. And she celebrated the Ku Klux Klan as an organization that rescued the South from the alleged depredations of emancipated blacks and Northern carpetbaggers.

African Americans knew that it was this twisted version of the Civil War and Reconstruction that was used by white supremacists to justify Jim Crow, lynching, and segregation. So, they mobilized against GWTW long before the filming began. They wrote letters to David Selznick, the film’s famed producer, urging him to drop the project. "We consider this work to be a glorification of the old rotten system of slavery, propaganda for race-hatreds and bigotry, and incitement of lynching," wrote one group from Pittsburgh. Several African American newspapers threatened to organize a boycott of not just GWTW, but any film made by Selznick. The pressure didn’t stop the film from being made, but it did convince Selznick to – very reluctantly – delete the n-word from the script.

GWTW premiered on December 15, 1939 in Atlanta and quickly broke all existing box office records. For white Americans, the film represented a compelling fusion of romance and history. For many African Americans, however, GWTW was just what they feared it would be: a racist technicolor extravaganza that told a white supremacist version of the history of slavery, the Confederacy, and Reconstruction. It was, they charged, nothing more than a milder and prettier version of the original American blockbuster, The Birth of A Nation, which had been released in 1915. That infamous film celebrated the Ku Klux Klan as heroes who saved the South from the horrors of racial equality. GWTW avoided any references to the KKK, but it did present enslaved African Americans as happy and content people who loved their white “owners.”

These characteristics are embodied in the role of Mammy, an enslaved woman in the O’Hara household who remains cheerfully devoted to Scarlett and the family through all their travails. In the film, there’s no evidence of the violence, coercion, and exploitation that actual slavery was based upon. Mammy was played by Hattie McDaniel and she received both praise and criticism from African American leaders and writers. Some adopted a practical position, arguing that because there were so few roles in Hollywood available for African Americans, black actors should seize any opportunity that came their way. Others, however, said the portrayal of black characters in GWTW was demeaning and that it played to racist stereotypes. Hattie McDaniel herself admitted she was conflicted, but ultimately decided to make the most of the opportunity.

Nonetheless, many African Americans participated in protests outside of theaters showing GWTW. They carried signs that took aim at its rosy depiction of slavery. "YOU'D BE SWEET TOO UNDER A WHIP!" read one sign carried outside a Washington, DC theater. "Gone With the Wind glorifies slavery" read another.

At the Academy Award ceremonies in 1940, "Gone with the Wind" won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Its director, Victor Fleming, earned Best Director honors, while Vivien Leigh won Best Actress for her portrayal of Scarlett.

And here’s where things got complicated: Best Supporting Actress went to Hattie McDaniel for her portrayal of Mammy. On the one hand, McDaniel made history by becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award. On the other, she did so by playing what critics then and now saw as a racist caricature of an enslaved woman. Hattie McDaniel responded to the criticism by arguing that Hollywood would have found someone to play the role, if not her. And, she said, she did her best to portray Mammy as a positive character. As she put it: “You can best fight any existing evil from the inside.”

The next black woman to win an Academy Award? Halle Berry more than 60 years later in 2001.

As for Margaret Mitchell, she never wrote another novel (hence the expression, "that's all she wrote") and despite her fame, lived a quiet life with her husband. "Gone with the Wind," however, lived on. The book remained in print year after year through countless editions. The film likewise enjoyed several revivals.

But with the civil rights movement of 1960s and 1970s came more scrutiny of the racism in the book and film. This scrutiny intensified as a new generation of historians rejected the Lost Cause version of slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, in favor of an interpretation that exposed the violence and cruelty of slavery and the remarkable success of Reconstruction that was ultimately overthrown by a white supremacist counter-revolution that imposed the Jim Crow racial order.

GWTW still has fans – including, apparently, President Trump who just a few days ago slammed the Academy Awards for awarding a South Korean film, Parasite, the Best Picture honor. Trump said, “Can we get ‘Gone With the Wind’ back, please?”

But GWTW is now increasingly seen as a relic of a time when the nation was thoroughly segregated, when most African Americans could not vote, and when most white Americans considered the South’s defeat in the Civil War, not a victory for human rights and democracy, but rather a tragedy unjustly visited upon a noble people.

Some links:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/12/gone-with-the-wind-and-hollywoods-racial-politics/377919/

https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/99dec/9912leff2.htm

https://www.flickr.com/photos/washington_area_spark/15186756096

https://www.flickr.com/photos/washington_area_spark/sets/72157647077464017/

So what else of note happened this week in US history?

February 24, 1803 Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court John Marshall issued his landmark ruling, “Marbury vs Madison.” The specifics of the case are almost irrelevant. What mattered was that Marshall claimed – largely out of thin air – that the Supreme Court had the power of “judicial review” that is, the power to declare laws constitutional or unconstitutional. No such power is mentioned in the Constitution, but Marshall’s declaration went unchallenged and over time came to be accepted as fact. This, by the way, is a bit of history that will make any so-called “originalist” very uncomfortable. And if you want to learn more on this topic, check out ITPL Episode 94.

February 25, 1870 – 150 years ago – Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American sworn in as a member of the US Senate. Revels had been born a free man in 1827 and grew up to be an educator and minister. He settled in Mississippi after the Civil War and entered politics. His arrival in the Senate symbolized the revolution of multiracial democracy that was taking hold in the post-Civil War South during Reconstruction as millions of emancipated African Americans voted and hundreds won political office. But the racist opposition that Revels and the other African American members of Congress faced foretold the eventual counter-revolution that eventually re-imposed white supremacy in the South.

February 27, 1973 - some 200 members of the American Indian Movement occupied the town of Wounded Knee in South Dakota. They were demanding justice for Native Americans and chose Wounded Knee – the site of an 1890 massacre of hundreds of Native Americans by the US military – for its symbolic value. Police and federal marshals soon surrounded the protestors, beginning a prolonged standoff that involved frequent exchanges of gunfire. The protestors eventually surrendered after 71 days. Their demands were not met, but the incident did bring attention to the deplorable state of affairs on many reservations.

Quick Events

Feb 24, 1868 The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson

Feb 25, 1836 Samuel Colt received a patent for his repeating revolver

Mar 1, 1961 President JFK established the Peace Corps

Notable people were born this week in American history

Feb 24, 1836 - artist Winslow Homer was born in Boston, MA. Homer is one of this historian’s top two favorite American artists. He painted and drew some really important works in the post-Civil War American South, especially scenes depicting the lives of emancipated African Americans. Later he focused on seascapes along the New England coast. And I know you’re wondering – who’s my other top two artist? Edward Hopper, of course. And here’s a fun fact that might explain my affinities: both Homer and Hopper painted some of their most remarkable works in my hometown, the seaside city of Gloucester, MA.

February 24, 1928 - writer, social activist, and socialist leader Michael Harrington, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Harrington – who incidentally graduated from the college where I work – College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA - is best known for his landmark book about the extensive but hidden poverty in the United States, The Other America (1962). This work was a major inspiration for the anti-poverty measures undertaken by the JFK and LBJ administrations in the mid-1960s.

February 26, 1846 - western scout, buffalo hunter, and showman William Cody, aka “Buffalo Bill,” was born in LeClaire, Iowa. Cody was working in the west as a guide in the 1870s when a writer in NYC named Ned Buntline began publishing dime novels of western adventures featuring a character loosely based on him named Buffalo Bill. Cody eventually went to NYC to perform on stage as Buffalo Bill. And in 1883, now keenly aware of the insatiable appetite among Americans for tales of the Old West, he founded Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. Essentially a western-themed circus, it dazzled audiences for the next 35 years, playing a major role in popularizing many myths about the American west and the frontier.

Feb 27, 1902 the great African American singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia. Anderson was a world-famous contralto in the late 1930s when an effort to schedule one of her performances at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC was blocked by the group that controlled the venue: The Daughters of the American Revolution. They refused to allow an African-American to sing at the historic site. So, in stepped Eleanor Roosevelt, who arranged to have Anderson sing an outdoor, Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Thousands turned out for the concert and millions listened to it on national radio. Years later, Marion Anderson said, “I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose a lot of time hating people.”

Quick birthdays:

Feb 24, 1885 Admiral of the US Navy Chester Nimitz

Feb 25, 1888 diplomat and Sec of State John Foster Dulles

Feb 28, 1901 Nobel Prize winning chemist, Linus Pauling

The Last Word

Let’s give it to Hiram Revels, who 150 years ago this week became the first African American to serve in the US Congress.

Here’s an excerpt from a speech he gave in 1871 in which he noted the bitter racism that African Americans faced during Reconstruction:

“I find that the prejudice in this country to color is very great, and I sometimes fear that it is on the increase. For example, let me remark that it matters not how colored people act, it matters not how they behave themselves, how well they deport themselves, how intelligent they may be, how refined they may be—for there are some colored persons who are persons of refinement; this must be admitted—the prejudice against them is equally as great as it is against the most low and degraded man you can find in the streets of this city or in any other place.

This Mr. President, I do seriously regret. And is this prejudice right? Have the colored people done anything to justify the prejudice against them that does exist in the hearts of so many white persons, and generally of one great political party in this country? Have they done anything to justify it? No, sir.”

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)
The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)
Andy G Cohen, “Bathed in Fine Dust” (Free Music Archive)Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about the February 20, 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was organized by a pro-Nazi, pro-fascist organization called the German American Bund and it drew a capacity crowd of 20,000. The event fused professions of American patriotism with vile antisemitism and pro-Nazi sentiment. But the Bund’s rally did not go unchallenged. As many as 100,000 anti-Nazis filled the streets around MSG to register their outrage. The negative publicity caused the Bund to lose members. Then six months later World War II started and the Bund was on its way into the dustbin of history.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like John Glenn’s history making orbit of the earth, the assassination of Malcolm X, and the publication of The Feminine Mystique. And birthdays, including

February 17, 1942: Huey Newton
February 21, 1936: Congressman Barbara Jordan
February 22, 1732: George Washington

Feature story:

On February 20, 1939 – 81 years ago this week – 20,000 people gathered in New York City‘s Madison Square Garden for what was billed as a “Pro American Rally.“ Upon entering the stadium, attendees saw a 30-foot tall banner featuring the image of George Washington. Red, white, and blue American flags were everywhere and the festivities began with a rousing rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

But this was no ordinary political gathering. Indeed, interspersed among all the symbols of American patriotism were swastikas, Nazi uniforms, and banners that read: Stop Jewish Domination of Christian Americans. It was 1939, six months before the start of World War II, and 20,000 American Nazis had come together to praise Hitler, pledge loyalty to America, and denounce Jews as a threat to white Christian America. It was one of the most flagrant and vile displays of anti-Semitism in U.S. history.

The group behind the rally was the German American Bund – bund being the German word for federation. This German American organization had been founded in 1936 by a man named Fritz Kuhn. It wrapped its pro-fascist, pro-Nazi, anti-Semitism in the mantle of American patriotism. They presented themselves as defenders of America from subversive communists and Jews who were plotting to undermine American values and Christianity. The Bund held summer camps for families, published pamphlets and magazines, and held high profile public events like parades and rallies. Within a few years, the organization boasted tens of thousands of members, and countless more supporters and sympathizers.

But in 1939, as American opposition to Hitler and the Nazi regime grew, Bund membership began to decline. So, in an effort to boost its fortunes, the German American Bund booked a rally in the nation’s premier venue: Madison Square Garden. The Bund’s founder, Fritz Kuhn, knew the event would spark outrage and protest. But he didn’t care. Controversy was just what he wanted. It was free advertising and, he thought, it would surely bring more Americans to support Nazism and fascism.

New York City officials were less than thrilled about the event. Nonetheless, they rebuffed calls to stop the rally. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reasoned that the negative publicity from the event would actually hurt the Bund’s popularity.

So instead of cancelling the event, the city put 1500 policeman in and around Madison Square Garden on the night of the rally. The heavy police presence proved a wise move, as tens of thousands of anti-Nazi protesters showed up, many looking for a fight.

Inside Madison Square Garden, the rally went off perfectly – just as Fritz Kuhn had planned. There was music and speeches, interspersed by frenzied cheering, emphatic Nazi salutes, and shouts of Heil Hitler! The grand finale was a speech by Fritz Kuhn himself. He denounced Jews and communists as menaces to America. He likewise denounced President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, referring to him repeatedly as "Franklin Rosenfeld," and his popular New Deal programs as the "Jew Deal." Roosevelt, of course, wasn’t Jewish, but fascists like Kuhn saw him as an agent of Jewish-inspired socialism. “We, with American ideals,” shouted Kuehne, “demand that our government shall be returned to the American people who founded it” - implying, of course, that Jews were in control of the country and that they were not then, and never could be, true Americans. He continued, “If you ask what we are actively fighting for under our charter: First, a socially just, white, Gentile-ruled United States. Second, Gentile-controlled labor unions, free from Jewish Moscow-directed domination.” The crowd roared in approval and thousands of arms shot fourth in the Nazi salute.

But then, something extraordinary occurred. A Jewish American man named Isador Greenbaum jumped on stage to denounce Kuhn and his hateful movement. Policemen and Bund guards pounced on Greenbaum and pummeled him with their fists before dragging him off stage. Greenbaum’s newly suicidal act of protest didn’t stop the rally. But it stands out as an incredibly courageous and selfless act in defense of America’s ideals of democracy, tolerance, and inclusion. For his troubles, Greenbaum was arrested and fined $25 for disorderly conduct. Several dozen more protesters outside were also arrested for scuffling with police and Nazis.

The Bund’s membership declined rapidly as the American public became more and more aware of the evil actions of the Nazi regime and as a full-blown anti-Nazi movement took hold in the US. Fritz Kuhn was soon arrested for embezzlement of Bund funds and sent to prison. During World War II, he was stripped of his US citizenship, and following the war, deported to Germany.

To most 21st-century Americans, this story of American Nazis is alarming and hard to believe. Photographs of Bund events are especially shocking. I’ll post a link in the show notes to a photo essay that appeared in The Atlantic that shows thousands of Americans in suburban New York and New Jersey giving the Nazi salute as a German American Bond parade goes by.

This story of the 1939 Madison Square Garden rally and these photos reveal a dark truth about American history: that forms of fascism, authoritarianism, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism have long attracted large followings, even if they’ve remained out of sight. We all became aware of that in 2017 when thousands of neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Virginia.

But this story also reveals a brighter side of American history: that brave Americans - like Isador Greenbaum and the thousands of anti-Nazi protesters who showed up outside Madison Square Garden – have always stood up in the face of injustice.

If you want to know more about the 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, I highly recommend an episode by the magnificent podcast, The Memory Palace. It’s titled, Episode 109: The Year Hank Greenberg Hit 58 Home Runs.
I also recommend the 2017 documentary about the rally titled “A Night at the Garden.” I’ll put links in the show notes to both these things.

Links:

The Memory Palace - Episode 109: The Year Hank Greenberg Hit 58 Home Runs

“A Night at the Garden” https://anightatthegarden.com/

“American Nazis in the 1930s—The German American Bund,” The Atlantic, June 5, 2017

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and one incredible rescue of a man who had escaped slavery, Shadrach Minkins. In 1850, Minkins was seized by federal marshals in Boston as an escaped slave. But a group of black abolitionists stormed the courtroom, took hold of Minkins, and spirited him away to freedom in Canada. It was one of many such dramatic rescues and attempted rescues in those years leading up to the Civil War.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the origins of gerrymandering, the founding of the NAACP, and the sinking of the naval vessel, the Maine in 1898. And birthdays, including
Feb 12, 1809 Abraham Lincoln
Feb 15, 1820 Susan B. Anthony

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about the strange election of President John Quincy Adams in 1824. His presidency was a bust, but then he did something remarkable – he won a seat in the House of Representatives and served for 17 years where he earned distinction for his opposition to slavery.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the FDR’s court packing scheme and Margaret Sanger’s arrest. And birthdays, including
Rosa Parks, Tom Paine, and William Tecumseh Sherman.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
Social Media management: The Pony Express
Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates
Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight
© In The Past Lane, 2020

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about Fred Korematsu, the courageous young man who in 1942 stood up the US government to oppose Japanese Internment during World War II. He ultimately lost his case, which went all the way to the US Supreme Court. But over time, as the nation eventually confronted the terrible harm done by Japanese Internment, Fred Korematsu was vindicated. He dedicated the rest of his life to fighting for civil rights.

And we also take a look at some key events that occurred this week in US history, like the 1960 civil rights sit-ins in Greensboro, NC and the 1990 opening of the first McDonald’s fast food restaurant in the Soviet Union. And birthdays, including -
Jan 30, 1882: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Jan 30, 1909: Saul Alinsky
Jan 31, 1919: Jackie Robinson
Feb 1, 1902: Langston Hughes

Main Story: Fred Korematsu and the Fight Against Internment

On May 30, 1942, 23-year old Fred Korematsu was walking with his girlfriend on a street in San Leandro California. A police officer approached, asked to see his papers, and then announced he had to come with him to the police station for questioning. Hours later Korematsu was arrested for violating a federal law that mandated that all persons of Japanese ancestry voluntarily surrender to the government to be sent to internment camps.

Just six months earlier, the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor Hawaii had been attacked by Japanese forces, plunging the US into World War II. It also plunged it into a fit of racist fear and paranoia about Japanese Americans. Baseless rumors, many of them put forth by government officials and spread by the media, suggested that Japanese Americans could not be trusted – that they were likely loyal to the enemy Japanese government and therefore posed a security threat.

And so on February 19, 1942, just 10 weeks after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that called for all persons of Japanese ancestry to be sent to so-called Relocation Centers for the duration of the war.

Significantly, even though the US was also at war with Germany and Italy, no such relocation order was applied to Americans of German or Italian ancestry.

Leaders in the Japanese American community urged cooperation. They argued that resistance to internment would only validate claims by white Americans that they were disloyal. And so in the coming months, more than 110,000 people – a majority of them American citizens - were sent to one of 10 internment camps, each surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by armed guards.

Many Japanese Americans lost everything – their homes, businesses, and farms. – and never recovered from it. They also experienced humiliation and a sense of rejection by their country. As Korematsu put it, “I lost everything when they put us in prison. I was an enemy alien, a man without a country.”

It was one of the greatest violations of civil liberties in American history.

And that’s the way an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union saw it at the time. Ernest Besig read about Fred Korematsu’s case and went to visit him in jail. He asked him: Would you be willing to fight your conviction? Even all the way to the supreme court if necessary? Yes, said Fred Korematsu.

As he later recalled thinking, “I was an American citizen, and I had as many rights as anyone else.”

Besig filed a case on June 12, 1942, arguing that executive order 9066 violated the constitutional rights of Japanese Americans because it was based on racism. The state court summarily rejected their effort to overturn Korematsu’s earlier guilty verdict. So they appealed in federal court and lost again. The last stop was the US Supreme Court. The High Court heard the case in October, and issued their ruling on December 18, 1944. By a margin of 6-3, the majority rejected Fred Korematsu’s appeal and upheld the constitutionality of internment, saying it wasn’t motivated by racism, but rather “military necessity.”

While the decision was disappointing, the three dissenting justices – doubtless recognizing that this case, Korematsu versus US, would one day be ranked with other ignominious Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott and Plessy vs. Ferguson, issued a blistering dissent.

Justice Frank Murphy wrote: "I dissent, therefore, from this legalization of racism. Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life.” And Justice Robert H. Jackson concurred: “The Court for all time has validated the principle of racial discrimination in criminal procedure and of transplanting American citizens. The principle then lies about like a loaded weapon, ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need.”

World War II came to an end the following year, and eventually Japanese Americans were released to begin the process of rebuilding the shattered lives. Fred Korematsu get married, found work as a draftsman, and fell out of public consciousness - a forgotten civil rights hero. In fact, Korematsu told no one about his experience, including his children. They learned about his fight against Internment and his US Supreme Court case when one of them read about it in a US history textbook in school in the 1960s.

But in the 1970s, as a new generation of Japanese Americans begin to break the silence over their mistreatment at the hands of the US government - and eventually seek reparations - Fred Korematsu was rediscovered.

In 1983, with the help of a legal scholar who had unearthed a mountain of evidence about the racist motives behind internment - evidence the US government had suppressed during the trials - Fred Korematsu had his conviction overturned in federal court. He was vindicated.

Empowered by this turn of events, Fred Korematsu became a vocal civil rights activist for the rest of his life. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded him the presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Fred Koremastu died in 2004.

Seven years later in 2011, the state of California named January 30 – Fred Korematsu’s birthday – as Fred Korematsu Day. It was the first instance in US history that a day had been named in honor of an Asian American. Since then, five more states have recognized named January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day.

Fred Korematsu once said, “It may take time to prove you're right, but you have to stick to it.”

Further Reading:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fred-korematsu-fought-against-japanese-internment-supreme-court-and-lost-180961967/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Korematsu

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/fred-korematsu-arrested/

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with Holly Jackson about her new book, American Radicals: How 19th Century Protest Shaped The Nation.”
Jackson is an associate professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She has written widely on US cultural history for scholarly journals, as well as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe.

In the course of our discussion, Holly Jackson explains:

How American radicals – from abolitionists and free thinkers, to women’s rights advocates to socialists – reshaped American society in the 19th century.

How these radicals justified their critique of US society by invoking the Founders and calling upon Americans to live up to their high ideals of liberty, equality, and justice.

How some Americans resisted the emerging capitalist economy by forming cooperative societies based on socialist principles – places like Brook Farm and New Harmony.

Why some radicals attacked mainstream religion as an impediment to social progress, either for advocating superstitious ideas or upholding evil practices like slavery of women’s subjugation.

Why it’s important to acknowledge that the American past – just like the present – has been rocked by radicals demanding major social change.

Recommended reading:

Holly Jackson, American Radicals: How 19th Century Protest Shaped The Nation (Crown, 2019)

Howard Brick and Christopher Phelps, Radicals in America: The U.S. Left since the Second World War

Michael Kazin, American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation

Timothy Patrick McCarthy, John Campbell McMillian, et al., The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Radical Tradition

Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United StatesMore info about Holly Jackson - website

Follow In The Past Lane on -

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

© In The Past Lane, 2019

American Radicals: How Nineteenth-Century Protest Shaped the Nation

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Ryan Swanson about his new book, The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt in the Making of the American Athlete.

To say that the US is a sports-obsessed nation would be an understatement to say the least. Just consider some numbers:
* In 2019 the four major sports leagues – NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL - will rake in revenues in excess of $28 billion.
* Americans will illegally bet more than $150 billion on college and professional sports.
* And this year about 45 million children in the US will participate in competitive sports.

I could go on, but you get the point. All this obsession with sports raises an interesting question: How did it happen? Well, historical trends are always driven by multiple causes. And in the case of our obsession with sports, one of those factors was the influence of Theodore Roosevelt.

While we often associate Theodore Roosevelt with military exploits in the Spanish American War, efforts to conserve the environment and natural resources, and struggles to enact progressive social legislation, Theodore Roosevelt should also be remembered for his promotion of sports and physical fitness.

Ryan Swanson is an associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico. He’s the author of several books on sports history, including When Baseball Went White: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Past Time.

He’s with me today to discuss his latest work, The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt in the Making of the American Athlete.

In the course of our discussion, Ryan Swanson explains:

How Theodore Roosevelt used athletics to overcome childhood infirmity including asthma.

How the story of Roosevelt remaking his body became a key part of his public persona as a man of zeal, courage, and accomplishment.

Why Theodore Roosevelt and many other Americans in the Gilded Age grew concerned that the nation was growing soft and effeminate, and that one solution – short of a war - was athletics.

How Roosevelt used tennis during his presidency as a way to stay fit and to conduct his personal brand of politics.

How Roosevelt’s love of football helped save the game when critics condemned it as dangerous and called for its abolition.

And how in this era, promoters of physical fitness created the bond between education and sports that exist to this day.

Recommended reading:

Ryan Swanson, The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt in the Making of the American Athlete (Diversion Books, 2019)

Richard O. Davies, Sports in American Life: A History

Elliott J. Gorn, The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America

Michael MacCambridge, America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation

John J. Miller, The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football

Dave Revsine, The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation

Steven A. Riess and Thomas G. Paterson, eds., Major Problems in American Sport HistoryMore info about Ryan Swanson - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, “Acoustic Meditation” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

© In The Past Lane, 2019

The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Kevin Levin about his new book, Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth. The story behind this myth that tens of thousands of free and enslaved black men fought on behalf of the Confederacy is fascinating. And in light of recent conflicts over the Confederate flag and Confederate monuments, it’s a very timely and important book that examines why the myth was developed in the late 1970s and how it has been used to argue that slavery was not the cause of the Civil War.

In the course of our discussion, Kevin Levin explains:

How the Black Confederate myth emerged in the 1970s in response to the civil rights movement and new historical scholarship that emphasized slavery as the cause of the Civil War.

How the Confederate military effort relied on the labor of tens of thousands of African Americans – but as enslaved workers, not soldiers.

Why many white Confederates brought enslaved men to accompany them as servants during their service in the Civil War.

How and why historic photographs and official government records are either misinterpreted or willfully misrepresented as “evidence” of Black Confederate soldiers.

How the Black Confederate myth has found its way into history textbooks and public history exhibitions.

And why the current popularity of the Black Confederate myth reveals how Americans have not yet come to terms with race, slavery, and the Civil War.

Recommended reading:

Kevin Levin, Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth (UNC Press, 2019)

Douglas R Egerton, Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America

Stephanie McCurry, Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South

James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Amy Murrell Taylor, Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps

More info about Kevin Levin - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth (Civil War America)

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, it’s time for a special Labor Day episode where I speak with historian Erik Loomis about his new book, “A History of America in Ten Strikes.” The annual Labor Day holiday is often marked by last trips to the beach and backyard barbecues. But Labor Day was established by American workers in 1882 to draw attention to three things: First, the essential role of workers in creating all of the nation’s wealth and abundance. Second, that American workers faced constant threats to their well-being by abusive and greedy employers who forced them work long hours for inadequate pay. And third, that if workers succumbed to this oppression, America would cease to be a democracy. Rather, it would gradually resemble an old world society ruled by a small aristocracy. Long before 1882 and certainly ever since, American workers have had to fight for fairness, justice, equality, and dignity in the workplace. And these concerns are very much alive in 2019. So, as we debate issues like the $15 minimum wage, Medicare for all, Social Security, corporate taxation, automation and robots, and so on, we’d do well to look into the long history of workers and their struggles for a slice of the American dream.

In the course of our discussion, Erik Loomis explains:

Why the history of work and workers is central to US history.

How the onset of the industrial revolution created new conditions for the exploitation of workers – and as a consequence – the first strikes.

Why We should think of the groundswell of self-emancipation of enslaved people during the Civil War as, in the words of WEB DuBois, a general strike.

Why laissez-faire is a myth that obscures the fact that the role of the government in labor-capital conflicts nearly always determines their outcome.

How and why racism has been a persistent obstacle to workers of different racial and ethnic backgrounds uniting along class lines against their employers.

Why workers in the Gilded Age believed in capitalism, but also believed that it had become rigged in favor of business over workers.

How small but influential groups of socialists, anarchists, and communists within the labor movement have benefited workers, but also exposed the labor movement to persecution in the name of anti-communism.

How federal policies and court decisions since the 1950s – especially Ronald Reagan’s firing of 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers in 1981 - have dramatically weakened the American labor movement.

And, finally, what are we to make of recent labor actions – especially walkouts and strikes by teachers.

Recommended reading:

Erik Loomis, A History of America in Ten Strikes (The New Press, 2018)
Philip Dray, There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America

Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World

Steven Greenhouse, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor

Emily Guendelsberger, On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane

David Montgomery, The Fall of the House of Labor

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age

More info about Erik Loomis - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

© In The Past Lane, 2019

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about American history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened this week in American history - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Saul Cornell, author of “A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America.” The recent mass shootings in Dayton, OH and El Paso, TX have reignited the national debate over gun control, so this seemed like a good time to do an episode on the history of the Second Amendment. Because plunging into this history makes clear that there is a great deal of mythology around what the Founders had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment. Exposing this mythology as something at odds with the historical record reveals that the Second Amendment does not prohibit gun control.

In the course of our discussion, Saul Cornell explains:

The two main myths about the Second Amendment that gun rights advocates invoke, namely: 1) that the amendment was intended to allow the citizenry to rise up and overthrow the federal government by force of arms if they deemed it tyrannical and 2) that it established an individual’s right to possess and bear arms.

Why the framers of the Constitution were chiefly concerned about the need for strong state militias and not an individual’s right to arms.

How gun control in the late-18th and early 19th century was both extensive and intrusive.

How this regulation was justified in the name of an ideal the Founders subscribed to: the right of citizens to live in a peaceful society.

How the Second Amendment underwent a radical reinterpretation in the 1970s, one that emphasized a libertarian claim to a near absolute right of an individual to possess and bear arms.

And, finally, an assessment of the current state of the gun control movement.

Recommended reading:

Saul Cornell, A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America (Oxford U. Press)

Saul Cornell, Whose Right to Bear Arms Did the Second Amendment Protect?

Saul Cornell, “The Second Amendment Case for Gun Control,” The New Republic, August 4, 2019

Saul Cornell, “Gun Anarchy and the Unfree State: The real history of the Second Amendment,” The Baffler, October 3, 2017.

Jeffrey Toobin, “Politics Changed the Reading of the Second Amendment—and Can Change It Again” The New Yorker, August 5, 2019

More info about Saul Cornell - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Hyson, “Signals” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Jeffrey A. Engel, co-author of “Impeachment: An American History.” With all the talk about impeachment over the past two years, this seems like a superb moment to do an episode on the history of this rarely-used constitutional mechanism.

In the course of our discussion, Jeffrey Engel explains:

Why the Founders’ fear of potential abuse of power by a president or high government official led them to include an impeachment provision in the US Constitution.

Why the Founders made a key distinction between maladministration – essentially doing a bad job as president – and actions taken by the president that harm the nation. Only the latter required impeachment.

How the Founders meant by “high crimes and misdemeanors” actions that might not be illegal, but are judged to be harmful to the nation.

Why Republicans decided to impeach President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and how Johnson’s own actions and personality played a key role in his near removal from office.

What Richard Nixon did to merit the commencement of impeachment proceedings against him – a process he avoided by resigning.

How in the aftermath of Watergate, Congress changed the rules to allow future special prosecutors investigating alleged presidential wrongdoing greater freedom and independence.

And how that reform led to the wide-ranging investigation of President Bill Clinton that started with a sketchy land deal in Arkansas and ended up focused on an affair between the president and a 22-year old intern named Monica Lewinsky.

And in turn, how that experience led to new rules that restricted the independence of special prosecutors, leading to the current day complaints by some that SC Robert Mueller was not allowed to fully investigate the many charges against President Trump.

And, finally, what it means that we might soon witness the third impeachment effort in the last 50 years, after having only one impeachment in the first 185 years of the nation’s history.

Recommended reading:

Jeffrey Engel, et al, Impeachment: An American History (Modern Library Press)

Howard Fields, High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Nixon Impeachment— Roadmap for the Next One

Richard A. Posner, An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton

David O. Stewart, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy

Cass R. Sunstein, Impeachment: A Citizen’s Guide

Jeffrey Toobin, A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President

Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz, To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment

Brenda Wineapple, The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation

More info about Jeffrey Engel - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America. It’s a fascinating history of the beef industry and how it changed not just America’s diet, but also its culture and politics. Beef was not always a centerpiece of the US diet. Prior to the Civil War, the most common meat source was pork. But after the Civil War, as white migrants, the railroads, and the US Army spread out across the Great Plains, cattle ranching emerged as a major industry. Over time, as entrepreneurs and investors figured out how to get cattle from Texas onto the Great Plains, then to the great slaughterhouse operations in Chicago, and then how to move large slabs of beef to regional wholesalers, who then sold to local butchers, who in turn sold retail cuts of beef to local customers, beef became affordable and widely available. Americans came to expect beef several times a week. So, too, did immigrants, who wrote letters home to their homelands in Europe extolling America as a place of freedom, opportunity, and beef. Today, even though beef consumption has declined by about one third since the mid-1970s, Americans still consume more red meat than any nation in the world.

In the course of our conversation Joshua Specht explains:

How beef went from a special occasion food that was raised locally, to an everyday staple produced by a vast, national market.

How dispossessing Native Americans of their land was a crucial early step in the formation of a booming beef industry.

How that process relied not on plucky pioneers, but rather the raw power of the federal government via the US military and support for a national railroad network.

How and why massive, heavily capitalized industrial ranching in the Gilded Age failed, causing investors to shift capital to the meat processing industry, centered in Chicago.

How as beef became cheap and plentiful in the late 19th century, it became a key cultural marker for white middle-class success, especially along immigrants to the US.

The emergence of the four great beef packing companies, including Swift and Armour, and how they used new technology and government policy to revolutionize their industry.

How the insistence on low prices led the beef packers to ruthlessly exploit their workers, a process famously chronicled by Upton Sinclair in The Jungle.

How one of the great challenges today is to reconnect the costs of low beef prices to the conditions that make them possible – exploited workers, government subsidies, and environmental damage.

Recommended reading:

Joshua Specht, Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America (Princeton University Press)

James R. Barrett, Work and Community in the Jungle: Chicago's Packinghouse Workers, 1894–1922.

Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West

Jimmy K. Skaggs, Prime Cut: Livestock Raising and Meatpacking in the United States, 1607–1983.

Louise C. Wade, Chicago's Pride: The Stockyards, Packingtown, and Environs in the 19th Century.

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)

More info about Joshua Specht http://joshuaspecht.com/

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America (Histories of Economic Life, 3)

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

It's Independence Day! The perfect occasion for a special episode of In The Past Lane! This week, we take a close look at the document at the heart of the July 4th celebration -- the Declaration of Independence. There's a lot more to this patriotic piece of parchment than you might think. So here's the lineup: we'll start with a look at three key things about the Declaration and how it came to be -- including the fact that America's actual Independence Day is July 2, not July 4. Next, we examine the fascinating story of how American's understanding of the Declaration changed after 1800 and as a consequence, how it has inspired countless rights movements in the US (women's rights, labor rights, civil rights, etc) and around the world for more than 200 years. Happy July 4th to all!

Episode 154 notes and credits

Recommended Reading

Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89

Backstory podcast, "Pursuits of Happiness" - especially the feature on Frederick Douglass and his famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, "Impact Moderato" (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, "I Am History" (Free Music Archive)

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Jill Lepore, author of a one-volume history of the United States titled, These Truths: A History of the United States. Lepore is one of the nation’s most prolific and widely read historians. She combines a brilliant and engaging writing style, with extraordinary reading, research, and analysis. Over the past 20 years she’s written books on everything from King Philip’s War that tore apart New England in the 1670s to the history of Wonder Woman. She also writes insightful essays on history for the New Yorker. This latest work, a sweeping, 900-page one volume history of the United States, has garnered widespread praise and a spot on the NY Times bestseller list.

In the course of our discussion, Jill Lepore explains:

Why she chose the phrase, “These Truths” from the Declaration of Independence as the book’s title.

What those three key truths are – political equality, natural rights, and consent of the governed.

How concepts of rights like liberty and equality develop over time.

How these key American ideals were defined and codified to guarantee them to some Americans, while at the same time denying them to others.

Why she chose to emphasize and weave together both political and social history, rather than treating them separately.

How US history has been shaped by famous people like Thomas Jefferson, as well as lesser known people who lacked formal political rights like Maria Stewart.

How developments in technology has played a key – and often underappreciated – role in US history.

How social media and a 24/7 news cycle in contemporary society has diminished Americans’ sense of the past.

Recommended reading:

Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States (WW Norton)

Jill Lepore, The Story of America: Essays on Origins

James West Davidson, A Little History of the United States

Robert V. Remini, A Short History of the United States: From the Arrival of Native American Tribes to the Obama Presidency

Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States

More info about Jill Lepore - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

These Truths: A History of the United States

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Terry Golway, author of, Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance That Created the Modern Democratic Party. It’s a remarkable story of two unlikely allies – one a patrician who went to Harvard and the other the son of immigrants who did not graduate 8th grade – and how they came together to remake the Democratic Party in the 1910s and 1920s. This transformation led to the New Deal, a revolutionary period in American history that changed the relationship between the American people and the federal government.

In the course of our conversation, Terry Golway explains:

Who Al Smith was and how he played a key role in the transformation of the Tammany Hall political machine into an agent of reform in the 1910s and 1920s.

How Franklin Delano Roosevelt transformed from an elitist, good government reformer to a committed advocate of progressive reform.

How Al Smith and FDR pioneered in making the New York State Democratic Party the agent of progressive reform and how these ideas and programs formed the foundation of the New Deal.

How Al Smith played a key role in resisting the KKK’s influence in the Democratic Party.

How Al Smith and FDR, once great allies, had a falling out once FDR became president. And how they later reconciled.

How the constituency that made up the new Democratic Party – the urban, immigrant, African American working-class – came to be known as the New Deal Coalition and how it played a key role in national politics from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Recommended reading:

Terry Golway, Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance That Created the Modern Democratic Party (St. Martin’s Press)

Robert Chiles, The Revolution of ’28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal

Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939

Terry Golway, Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics

William E. Leuchtenburg, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: 1932-1940

Eric Rauchway, Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash Over the New Deal

Robert A. Slayton, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith

More info about Terry Golway - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Follow the Course” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance That Created the Modern Democratic Party

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with Pulitzer Prize winning military historian, Rick Atkinson, who’s just published the first of a 3-volume history of the American Revolution: The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777. This project represents a new focus for Atkinson, as it follows a prize-winning trilogy on the history of World War II. This new book examines the first two years of the American war for independence. It’s a fascinating conversation that I’m sure you’re going to love.

In the course of our conversation, Rick Atkinson explains:

How George Washington had to learn on the job how to organize, manage, and command the Continental Army.

How one of George Washington’s key leadership insights was his awareness that American soldiers could not simply be driven. Rather they needed to be led.

How George Washington was not only effective on the field of battle, but also in managing the politics surrounding the American revolutionary effort.

How vital but unlikely figures emerged during the war, like Henry Knox, Benedict Arnold, and Nathaniel Greene.

How the British both overestimated the percentage of colonists who remained remain loyal to the Crown,

and underestimated the fighting effectiveness of the Continental Army.

How and why the Continental Army enjoyed a lot of success in 1775, but then nearly lost the war in the summer and fall of 1776.

How George Washington’s bold decision to cross the Delaware River into New Jersey to surprise attack the British at Trenton and later at Princeton in late December 1776 and early January 1777, stopped British momentum and boosted American morale.

Recommended reading:

Rick Atkinson, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777 (Holt, 2019)

Andrew O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire

Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789

Dean Snow, 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga

Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804

Related ITPL podcast episodes: 017 Alan Taylor, American Revolutions

023 Stephen Knott on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington
028 Carol Berkin on the Crisis of the 1790s

041 Dean Snow on the pivotal Battle of Saratoga

049 Gordon Wood on the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

065 Andrew O’Shaughnessy on “The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire.”

More info about Rick Atkinson - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Bathed in Finest Light” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

What defines a US citizen? Remarkably, no official definition existed until 1868 -- some 80 years after the ratification of the Constitution. That's the year the 14th Amendment was ratified. Its opening line reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside." The origins of this form of citizenship, known as "birthright citizenship," are in large measure due to the efforts of free African Americans who, in the decades before the Civil War, developed and promoted a claim on US citizenship based on the fact that they had been born on US soil. To learn more about this fascinating backstory to birthright citizenship, I speak with historian Martha S. Jones, author of, Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America.

In the course of our conversation, Martha S. Jones explains:

Why the city of Baltimore, with its large free black population, location at the nexus of North and South, and connection to the Atlantic world as a seaport, made it an ideal focus for her study.

How free African Americans in the antebellum era forged a notion of birthright citizenship, in part by asserting their rights in local courts and, in effect, "performing citizenship."

How African American newspaper editors and pamphleteers developed and spread arguments in favor of birthright citizenship.

How efforts by white Americans to force free blacks to resettle in Africa inspired the latter to assert a right to stay based on their birth in the US.

How Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney's experience living in Baltimore shaped his understanding of race and citizenship, leading to his infamous majority opinion in the 1857 Dred Scott case.

And how this backstory to the concept of birthright citizenship provides important insights that are relevant to contemporary debates over birthright citizenship.

Recommended reading:

Martha S. Jones, Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America (Cambridge University Press, 2017)

David Blight, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

Anna-Lisa Cox, The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America's Forgotten Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality

Kellie Carter Jackson, Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence

Gerard N. Magliocca, American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment

Manisha Sinha, The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition

Shirley J. Yee, Black Women Abolitionists: Study In Activism, 1828-1860

More info about Martha S. Jones - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Hyson, "Signals" (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America (Studies in Legal History)

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about the long political struggle before the Civil War to rid the US of slavery. I speak with historian Graham Peck, author of Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom. It’s a fascinating conversation about how during the 70 years between the ratification of the Constitution and the Civil War, opponents of slavery gradually pushed the US to become an antislavery nation. But as Peck makes clear, this was no easy task, as proponents of slavery demanded its protection and pushed for its expansion.

In the course of our discussion, Graham Peck discusses:

How political struggles between antislavery and proslavery settlers in Illinois in the 1820s presaged the national debates over slavery in the 1840s and 1850s.

How and why antislavery leaders were content to leave slavery alone where it existed, but were adamantly opposed to allowing its extension into the American west.

Why the controversy generated by the Kansas-Nebraska Act proved to be a key tipping point in the mobilization and unification of political antislavery into what became the Republican Party.

How Abraham Lincoln emerged at this time as a leading advocate of what Peck calls an “antislavery nationalism” that argued that the US had been founded upon the principles of universal freedom with an eye toward to eventual eradication of slavery.

And that this position was actually conservative, and that it was proslavery activists who wanted to expand slavery who were the radicals who threatened the nation’s wellbeing.

Recommended reading:

Graham Peck, Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom (Univ. Illinois Press, 2017)

Anna-Lisa Cox, The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America's Forgotten Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality

Andrew Delbanco, The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War

Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War

Manisha Sinha, The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition

More info about Graham Peck - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, Perceptions

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we dive into the fascinating story of the daughters of Thomas Jefferson. Ever since the revelations in 1998 – courtesy of modern DNA analysis – that Thomas Jefferson did indeed have a longterm sexual relationship with an enslaved woman named Sally Hemings, historians have examined the 3rd president in a new light. And his historic home, Monticello, has transformed the way it presents the life of Jefferson, devoting increasing amounts of attention and space to Sally Hemings and the many hundreds of other enslaved people who lived and worked there. But what of the six children Hemings and Jefferson had? What was their fate in a nation dedicated to slavery? To explain one of these lives, Harriett Hemings, and to compare it to that of her white half-sisters Martha and Maria Jefferson, I speak with historian Catherine Kerrison, the author of a new book, Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America.

Recommended reading:

Catherine Kerrison, Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America (Ballantine, 2018)

Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination (WW Norton)

Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton, 2009)

Annette Gordon-Reed, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (University Press of Virginia, 1997)

Shannon Lanier, Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family

More info about Catherine Kerrison - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

Each week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, host and Historian-at-Large, Edward T. O’Donnell, brings you news, stories, interviews, and special features on all things U.S. history. His aim is to be both engaging and thought-provoking, inspired by the notion that history explains the world we live in and provides insights into how to achieve a more prosperous, peaceful, and just future. So come along with us as we journey In The Past Lane. www.InThePastLane.com www.EdwardTODonnell.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a close look at America’s early colonial origins. Most Americans tend to think of their nation as beginning in Massachusetts with the 1620 establishment of a colony at Plymouth by the Pilgrims. But this view overlooks Jamestown, Virginia which had been established 13 years earlier in 1607. Why? Because, apart from periodic wars with local Native Americans, Massachusetts thrived, while further south in Virginia the Jamestown colony suffered through several periods of starvation and near extinction. And then in 1619 – 400 years ago this year – Jamestown was the site of the arrival of the first shipload of enslaved Africans. Plymouth, MA came to be seen as the New World utopia in contrast to the Jamestown dystopia. But there’s a lot more to the Jamestown story that’s really important to know about when considering the origins of the United States and American democracy. To explain this overlooked chapter of US history, I speak with Joseph Kelly, the author of a new book, Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America’s Origin.

Recommended reading:

Joseph Kelly, Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America’s Origin (Bloomsbury, 2018)

James Horn, 1619: Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy

James Horn, A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America

William M. Kelso, Jamestown, the Buried Truth

Benjamin Woolley, Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America

More info about Joseph Kelly - his website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, looks into the little known and yet hugely significant development of the ice and refrigeration industries in US history. 1) first we tell the story of the Frederick Tudor, The "Ice King," who single-handedly invented the ice industry way back in 1806. This development radically redefined the American life, especially the American diet. 2) Then we check in with historian Jonathan Rees, the nation's leading authority on all things related refrigeration, to learn how mechanical refrigeration and machine-made ice accelerated this transformation of everyday life. 3) Finally, we take just a few minutes to visit a unique bar in New York City. It's called Minus 5 and with the exception of the floor and ceiling, it's made entirely of ice and kept at a temperature of Minus 5 centigrade (minus 19 F). Yeah, I know ...

Episode 127 notes and credits

Further Reading about the history of ice and refrigeration

Oscar Edward Anderson, Jr. Refrigeration in America: A History of a New Technology and Its Impact (Princeton University Press, 1953).

Mariana Gosnell, Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance (Knopf, 2005)

Jonathan Rees, Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise in America (John Hopkins University Press, 2013)

Jonathan Rees, Refrigerator (Bloomsbury, 2015)

Carl Seaburg and Stanley Paterson, The Ice King: Frederic Tudor and His Circle (Massachusetts Historical Society and Mystic Seaport, 2003).

Gavin Weightman, The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story (Hyperion, 2003)

Music:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, "On The Street" (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, "Jenny's Theme (Free Music Archive)

Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise in America (Studies in Industry and Society)

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we look at the largely unknown story of Black nationalist women in the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice in the mid-20th century. To explain this history, I speak with historian Keisha N. Blain about her new book, “Set The World On Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom.” As she explains, in the 30+ years before the emergence of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, women like Amy Jacques Garvey. Mittie Maude Lena Gordon, Celia Jane Allen, and Audley "Queen Mother" Moore kept alive and broadened the reach of black nationalist thought and activism.

So just what is black nationalism? According to Keisha N. Blain, it’s “the political view that people of African descent constitute a separate group or nationality on the basis of their distinct culture, shared history, and experiences.” Over the last nearly 200 years, black nationalists have advocated a wide range of initiatives, including back to Africa movements, anti-colonialism, racial separatism, black pride, political self-determination, and economic self-sufficiency.

In the United States, black nationalism has its origins in the late 1820s and 1830s with the writings of David Walker and Maria Stewart. They were followed in each succeeding generation by new advocates of black liberation, self-determination, and racial pride – people like Bishop Henry Turner. Black nationalism reached a high point of popularity among African-Americans and recognition by white Americans in the early 20th century when a Jamaican immigrant named Marcus Garvey launched an organization called the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914. His goal was to unify people of African descent worldwide and to encourage the migration of African-Americans to move to the African nation of Liberia. But 1920 Garvey’s organization counted some 4 million members who were attracted by his message of black liberation.

But this was the 1920s, at the height of white supremacy and Jim Crow. So it wasn’t long before J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Bureau of Investigation – the precursor to the FBI –decided to bring Garvey down. Garvey was charged with committing mail fraud, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison. When he was released in 1928 he was immediately deported back to Jamaica.

In the traditional history of black nationalism in the United States, it’s said that after Garvey’s downfall, black nationalism in the US went fallow for the next 30+ years until it re-emerged – seemingly out of nowhere – with the appearance of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers in the 1960s.

But now, with the publication of Keisha Blain’s new book, we know this is to be untrue. Black nationalism did not go into hibernation. It was kept alive, both in the US and internationally, through the efforts of black nationalist women in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

Keisha Blain teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh and serves as editor-in-chief of The North Star, a recently re-booted version of Frederick Douglass’ 1847 newspaper of the same name. She’s also the editor of a collection of essays and resources titled, Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence. In this episode she talks about her latest book, Set the World On Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom.

Recommended reading:

Keisha N. Blain, Set The World On Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom (U. Penn Press, 2018)

Wilson J. Moses, Classical Black Nationalism: From the American Revolution to Marcus Garvey

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity

Ula Yvette Taylor, The Veiled Garvey: The Life and Times of Amy Jacques Garvey

William L. Van Deburg, Modern Black Nationalism: From Marcus Garvey to Louis Farrakhan

More info about Keisha N. Blain - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Stay the Course” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we look at a #MeToo incident from the Gilded Age. It involved a powerful congressman and a mistress he kept for ten years. But when he broke his promise to marry her, she did the unthinkable – she sued him for “breach of promise.” The scandal and subsequent trial captivated the nation. To explain how this young women took down a congressman, I speak with Patricia Miller about her new book, “Bringing Down The Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the ‘Powerless’ Woman Who Took on Washington.”

The #MeToo movement originated in 2007 when civil rights activist Tarana Burke coined the phrase to unite women who were victims of sexual violence. But it really took off in 2017 with revelations in the New York Times and New Yorker magazine about women coming forward to accuse film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and rape. It has since gained increased momentum and legitimacy as more and more powerful men have been exposed for their abusive and often criminal behavior towards women.

It’s quite common when stories of this magnitude make the news for journalists to look to the past for historical precedents. Think of the many stories about past financial scams that were written up in the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal. Or past environmental disasters in the wake of the catastrophic B.P. Oil spill in 2010.

Not surprisingly, the #MeToo movement has likewise elicited stories about sexual predators from the past, including re-examinations of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair and a renewed debate over filmmaker Roman Polansky who in 1977 pled guilty to raping a 13-year old girl and then fled the country to avoid prison. He’s continued to make films, several of which have been honored with Academy Awards.

But as any good historian will tell you, one can always go much further back in time to find individuals and incidents that connect with our present. For example, have you ever heard of Elizabeth Jennings? Well, in 1854 – 101 years before Rosa Parks resisted a racist segregation policy on a Birmingham, Alabama bus, Elizabeth Jennings did much the same on a New York City streetcar. And like Parks, her resistance led to the desegregation of the city’s streetcars.

Well, in this episode we meet Madeline Pollard, a young woman who in the 1890s stood up to the patriarchy and took down an abusive and exploitive congressman. Here to tell us more about it is Patricia Miller, author of the new book, Bringing Down The Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the “Powerless” Woman Who Took on Washington.

In the course of our conversation, Patricia Miller discusses:

How women in the Gilded Age began to take on new roles, including the pursuit of higher education, entry into the paid workforce, and participation in a wide array of reform movements.

How a 47-year old Kentucky lawyer and Congressman named Col. William Breckinridge began a sexual relationship with a 17-year old girl named Madeline Pollard. And how this relationship lasted a decade and produced two babies until it was exposed.

Why the woman at the center of this story decided, despite the likelihood that she would be condemned as a gold-digging harlot, to go public in 1894 and sue Col. Breckinridge.

How and why wealthy and socially prominent women supported Pollard in her lawsuit against Col. Breckinridge.

How in the aftermath of the trial, women in Washington, DC and Kentucky successfully mobilized to bring about the political demise the Col. Breckinridge.

Patricia Miller is an award-winning author and journalist. Her work on the interplay of politics and sexual morality has appeared in The Atlantic, Salon, The Nation, Huffington Post, and Ms. Magazine. She is with me today to talk about her first book, Bringing Down The Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the “Powerless” Woman Who Took on Washington (Sarah Crichton Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Recommended reading:

Patricia Miller, Bringing Down The Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the “Powerless” Woman Who Took on Washington (Sarah Crichton Books, 2018).

Jean V. Matthews, The Rise of the New Woman: The Women's Movement in America, 1875-1930

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age

Martha H. Patterson, Beyond the Gibson Girl: Reimagining the American New Woman, 1895-1915

Cecelia Tichi, What Would Mrs. Astor Do?: The Essential Guide to the Manners and Mores of the Gilded Age

Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896

More info about Patricia Miller - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

044 Historian Richard White talks about his book, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age

052, 053, 054 a three-part series on What Was the Gilded Age?

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we look at the decades following World War II when the federal government passed civil rights laws and enacted social programs concerning public health, housing, education, transportation, and anti-poverty initiatives that aimed to provide opportunity and spread prosperity to the greatest number of citizens. To explain how this era of activist government succeeded – and then how it was scaled back after 1980, I speak with historian David Goldfield about his new book, The Gifted Generation: When Government Was Good.

For the past few decades in the US, anti-government rhetoric has become a major force in American politics. Conservatives insist that government has grown too big and too expensive. Many also claim that it tramples the liberty of individuals through onerous regulations concerning the environment, the economy, the workplace, and education.

But there was a time in the not too distant past when Americans liked and benefitted from big government. It started in the 1930s when President FDR’s administration responded to the Great Depression with a vast array of policies and programs known as the New Deal. But it really ramped up from 1945 – 1969 during the administrations of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. In those decades an activist federal government enacted laws and policies promoting civil rights, public health, housing, education, transportation, and anti-poverty programs. This era of activist government greatly expanded opportunity for success and upward mobility for millions of Americans, boosted the economy, and extended life expectancy.

But then in the 1970s, a conservative political movement that had been gaining momentum since the 1960s, began to push back against activist government, denouncing it as socialist and wasteful. And before long, the US began to shrink or eliminate the programs that had opened up opportunity for so many in the postwar years.

To learn more about this history of the rise and fall of activist government in US history, I’ll speak with historian David Goldfield, author of The Gifted Generation: When Government Was Good.

In the course of our conversation, David Goldfield discusses:

How three presidents, Truman, Eisenhower, and Johnson in part due to their own humble origins, supported laws that expanded civil rights and access to education, as well as programs that reduced poverty.

How these programs emanated from a commitment to the Commonwealth ideal - the notion that the purpose of government is to enact laws and policies that promote the general welfare of the citizenry.

How and why in the 1970s American conservatives began to demonize activist government and preach a doctrine of radical individualism and free market capitalism.

How the presidency of Ronald Reagan began a decades long retreat from programs and policies that reduced inequality and provided broad opportunity to the largest number of Americans.

David Goldfield is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of 16 books, including Black, White, and Southern: Race Relations and Southern Culture and Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers: Southern City and Region, both of which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Recommended reading:

David Goldfield, The Gifted Generation: When Government Was Good (Bloomsbury, 2017).

Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 (2019)

David McCullough, Truman (1993)

Julian E. Zelizer, The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society (2015)

More info about David Goldfield - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

018 Nicole Hemmer talks about the rise of conservative media before 1980

036 Christine Woodside, author of the book, Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books
046 Richard Rothstein The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we explore the fascinating backstory of the most popular Christmas song of all time, “White Christmas.” Did you know that this song, which topped the charts more than 75 years ago in late 1942, was in many ways a war song? It’s true—and it has everything to do with the context in which it was released. In fact, the connection between “White Christmas” and World War II is but one of several surprising details related to the song’s origins.

Take for example, the fact that it was written by a Jewish songwriter. Remarkably, this was the case with many American Christmas songs, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “The Christmas Song” -- or what’s popularly known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” In the case of “White Christmas,” it was written by Irving Berlin. This legendary songwriter was born Israel Baline in1888 in Siberia, Russia. He emigrated to the US with his family in 1888 at the age of 5 and they settled on New York’s Lower East Side, at the time the largest Jewish enclave in the world.

But not everyone in the neighborhood was Jewish. It included families from places like Germany, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and China. In Irving Berlin’s building there lived an Irish family and they took a liking to the young “Izzy” and often invited him into their apartment. And that’s how it came to pass that in December 1893 5-year old Irving Berlin witnessed his first Christmas in America. It was a warm a delightful experience that he never forgot. Later as an adult, he married an Irish Catholic woman named Ellin Barrett. They raised their children Catholic, so with each passing year Irving Berlin’s love of the Christmas holiday – its secular trappings anyway – grew more intense.

Now let’s jump ahead a few decades to 1940. Irving Berlin is a famous and prolific songwriter. And in January that year he wrote “White Christmas.” He sat on the song for more than a year, unsure of what to do with it. Then, as fate would have it, he was approached by a Hollywood studio to write the score for “Holiday Inn,” a musical that featured songs about each of the major holidays. With one song already in hand – and word that the famous singer Bing Crosby had been cast as the lead, Berlin said yes.

We should note here that Bing Crosby played a key role in making White Christmas a hit song. By the time of the filming of “Holiday Inn,” Crosby was the most famous singer in America, perhaps the world. His manly, yet emotive crooning was unlike anything that preceded it in the world of pop music. This was due in part to Crosby’s extraordinary voice, but also to his technique. He was the first singer to embrace and then master the microphone, a new medium for broadcasting and recording introduced in the 1920s. Historians of pop music invariably speak of Crosby’s uncanny “caressing” of the microphone with his voice, creating an unparalleled intimacy and connection with his listeners.

Crosby recorded “White Christmas” in the decidedly non-Yuletide season of May 1942. “Holiday Inn” opened in August and became an instant hit at the box office. So, too, was its centerpiece song, “White Christmas” (the only one sung twice in the film). “White Christmas” hit the Top 30 charts on October 3 and kept right on marching upward until it hit #1 on October 31, a position it held for an unprecedented eleven weeks. Decca, the label that produced the record, was swamped with orders and barely kept up with demand.

Irving Berlin’s skill as a songwriter and Bing Crosby’s talent as a singer had combined to produce an American classic. But there was one additional factor that helps explain the phenomenal success of “White Christmas”—timing. As Jody Rosen writes in his book, White Christmas: The Story of an American Song, the fall of 1942 was the first holiday season away from home for millions of American servicemen. Demand by American GI’s for “White Christmas” records exploded in September – fully three months before the holiday. And the reason is clear: the song acknowledged their longing to be home with their families. “In the song’s melancholic yearning for Christmases past,” writes Rosen, “listeners heard the expression of their own nostalgia for peacetime.”

And so it was that this song of peace and love soon became a most unlikely war anthem. Unlike George M. Cohan’s World War I call to arms, “Over There!”, “White Christmas” did not appeal to the martial spirit or vengeance. Rather, it reminded Americans on both the frontline and homefront what was at stake in the war. Here’s how one newspaper, the Buffalo Courier-Express, put it: “When Irving Berlin set 120,000,000 people dreaming of a White Christmas, he provided a forcible reminder that we are fighting for the right to dream and memories to dream about.” Not surprisingly, when Crosby visited the troops in Europe in late 1944, his rendition of “White Christmas” brought tears to the eyes of the most battle-hardened soldiers.

For the next five years the Crosby-Berlin classic surged to the top of the charts each Christmastime, hitting #1 in 1945 and 1947. All told, it made the Top 30 sixteen times in the three decades that followed its release. The song’s popularity and staying power proved irresistible to Hollywood executives who, in 1954, released the hit feature film “White Christmas” starring Danny Kaye and – wait for it – Bing Crosby.

Long after the film disappeared, “White Christmas” kept going, Crosby’s recording sold more than 30 million copies – more than any other pop song in history. Dozens of singers, from Loretta Lynn to Destiny’s Child have recorded versions of the song, pushing total worldwide sales past 160 million – and counting.

None, of course, compare to the original as sung by Bing Crosby in 1942, a song of peace, love, and fond memories of times “merry and bright” that arrived just when the nation needed it.

One last thought to consider: the U.S. has engaged in many wars since 1945 and each has generated its share of popular songs. But none of them conjure up warm and fuzzy feelings like “White Christmas.” Indeed, some of the most popular songs were anthems that protested war—think of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” during Vietnam. The reason is simple: World War II was the last war in U.S. history to begin and end with overwhelming popular support.

In the course of our conversation, we discuss:

How Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant to the U.S., came to write a famous song about Christmas

How “White Christmas” first debuted in 1942 as part of the film, “Holiday Inn.”

How Bing Crosby’s great talent and technique as a singer helped popularize “White Christmas.”

How the nostalgia and warm memories at the heart of “White Christmas” touched a nerve among the American public in the fall of 1942, the first holiday season when millions of US servicemen and women would be away from home for the first time.

Recommended reading:

Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (Zondervan, 2001)

Edward Jablonski, Irving Berlin: American Troubadour (Holt, 1999)

Penne L. Restad, Christmas in America: A History (Oxford, 1996)

Jody Rosen, White Christmas: The Story of an American Song (Scribner, 2007)

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we take a close look at a long forgotten chapter in US history – the story of tens of thousands of African Americans who, in the 70 years before the Civil War and the end of slavery, settled on what was then the western frontier and today we know as the Midwest. They established successful farms and created thriving communities of black families. But intensifying racism in these antebellum years meant that these African Americans also faced efforts by white Americans in states like Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to deprive them of their citizenship, land, and opportunities to get ahead. To dig into this story, I speak with historian Anna-Lisa Cox. She’s the author of a new book, The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America’s Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality.

In the course of our conversation, Anna-Lisa Cox explains:

How the Northwest Territory -- what is now much of the Midwest – was established by Congress in 1787 and constituted the largest territory established in the New World that prohibited slavery.

How thousands of free African Americans migrated to this territory to establish farms and small businesses. And how many of them thrived and became prosperous – and a few quite rich.

How many enslaved African Americans worked extra hours for wages to gradually buy their freedom and the freedom of loved ones.

How these migrants initially enjoyed full rights of citizenship, including voting rights and freedom from racist laws limiting their civil rights.

How over time, however, as larger numbers of white settlers arrived and states like Ohio and Indiana were established, they succeeded in passing racist laws that prevented black migration or made it financially very difficult.

How white violence, as exemplified by the so-called Cincinnati Race War of 1829, challenged African American freedom and their right to economic opportunity.

And how in the early 20th century, long-established communities of black farmers began to disappear due to economic hardship and the rise of organizations like the Ku Klux Klan.

Recommended reading:

Anna-Lisa Cox, The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America’s Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality (Public Affairs, 2018).

More info about Anna-Lisa Cox - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

068 featuring my conversation with Ed Ayers about his book, The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America

074 where I speak with Linda Gordon about the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century.

077 where I speak with Patricia Limerick about the New Western History

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Bathed in Finest Dust” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, we bring you Part 2 of our commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1. Our previous episode explored the history of the great influenza pandemic of 1918-1920 that swept the world in the wake of the war, killing tens of millions. In this episode, we turn our attention to the question of how Americans responded to the nation’s participation in the Great War. Joining me in this discussion is Andrew Huebner. He is an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama whose work focuses on American military history. He’s the author of many books and scholarly articles, including the book, The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era. I speak with him about his latest work, Love and Death in the Great War.

In the course of our discussion, Andrew Huebner explains:

How Americans shifted from opposing US entry into the war to supporting it once the US decided to join the conflict.

How popular discourse on why Americans needed to fight in the war focused on defending the American family.

Why social turmoil in the US in the years leading up to the war led many Americans to believe US participation in WW1 would restore traditional values, racial hierarchies, and gender roles.

How the experience of US soldiers in WW1 varied significantly by race.

How Americans struggled to make sense of the loss of loved ones in the war.

How the memory and meaning of WW1 changed in the 1920s and 1930s.

Recommended reading:

Andrew Huebner, Love and Death in the Great War (Oxford University Press).

David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society

More info about Andrew Huebner - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

024 Michael Neiberg on World War I and the Making of Modern America

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Nancy K. Bristow about her book, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. In November 1918, even as millions of Americans and Europeans celebrated the end of World War I, their communities were being ravaged by a global influenza pandemic. Over the course of almost three years, somewhere between 50 and 100 million people were killed in the pandemic, including nearly 700,000 Americans. Nancy Bristow takes us back in time to explain the origins of the pandemic and how public health officials struggled to contain it. And she explores the reasons why the pandemic quickly faded from public memory.

In the course of our discussion, Nancy Bristow:

The origins of the great influenza pandemic that raged across the globe in 1918-1920.

How the movement of millions of people during WW1 contributed to the spread of the pandemic.

What made this particular strain of influenza so deadly.

How public health officials struggled to contain the pandemic by imposing bans on large public gatherings, including church services.

How nurses played a pivotal role in caring for the sick and dying.

Why the pandemic – which killed nearly 700,000 Americans -- was largely forgotten in public memory.

Why experts fear the onset of another global influenza pandemic.

Recommended reading:

Nancy K. Bristow, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Oxford University Press).

Catharine Arnold, Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History

Alfred W. Crosby, America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918

David M. Kennedy, Over Here: The First World War and American Society

More info about Nancy K. Bristow - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

024 Michael Neiberg on World War I and the Making of Modern America

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday, The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in just about 5 minutes. We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Craig Bruce Smith talks about his new book, American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era. Throughout the era of the American Revolution, Americans spoke of honor all the time, most famously in the Declaration of Independence, the last sentence of which reads, “we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” But what did the Founders mean by “honor”? Craig Bruce Smith explains that honor was a crucial concept that shaped the way Americans came to understand their struggle for independence and to establish an enduring republic.

In the course of our discussion, Craig Bruce Smith:

What honor meant in 18th century American political culture – and why it was such an important concept in the era of the American Revolution.

How GW and the patriots framed the Am Rev as a struggle to defend the honor of the Americans against a dishonorable attempt by the British to oppress them.

And how GW likewise depicted the treason of Benedict Arnold as evidence of the dishonorable nature of the British cause.

How women and the enslaved, and not just elites, appealed to honor to gain greater respect and rights.

How at the end of the war, Washington defused a potential mutiny of Continental Army officers by invoking their sense of “sacred honor.”

How honor in the young republic was gradually transformed from something tied to high birth and status, into something one could earn by honorable conduct.

Why honor, in the era of the Revolution, denounced dueling as a thoroughly dishonorable practice – and then how that changed as a very different definition of honor emerged in the early 1800s.

Recommended reading:

Craig Bruce Smith, American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era (University of North Carolina Press, 2018)

More info about Craig Bruce Smith - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

014 The Declaration of Independence

023 Stephen Knott on Alexander Hamilton and George W

028 Carol Berkin on the fractious politics of the 1790s and how they led to the formation of an American nationalism

041 Saratoga – tipping point of the Am Rev

065 Andrew O’Shaughnessy on why the British Lost the Revolution

079 Mitch Kachun on the life and legend of Crispus Attucks

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Philipp Weigl, “Even When We Fall” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, I speak with documentary filmmaker, Michelle Ferrari, writer and producer of “The Eugenics Crusade,” which airs on PBS’s American Experience series on October 16, 2018.

These days, eugenics is a discredited pseudoscience, one associated with deeply racist ideas and social policies, and the genocidal, master race ideology of Nazi Germany. But back in the early 20th century, eugenics was viewed by many Americans as a respectable, legitimate branch a biological science – one that had great potential for human betterment.

In its most basic definition, eugenics was a program that aimed to improve the overall physical and mental health of society by controlling human reproduction. In a word, its proponents sought to limit or stop altogether people they deemed “unfit” from having children. Part of what made eugenics so alluring was its aura of science and rationality. No one at the time knew that eugenics would one day become a key plank in the diabolical creed of Nazism. In the early 20th century, the Progressive Era, Americans placed great faith and science, data, and experts to solve social problems. So when proponents of eugenics claimed it could help eliminate poverty, disease, alcoholism, mental illness, imbecility, and feeblemindedness, they garnered legions of followers.

These included some very famous and influential people, including Andrew Carnegie and Margaret Sanger. Sanger, of course, was the reformer who fought for women’s rights and the legalization of birth control. But because she was a reformer, she was drawn to eugenics. Now, it’s important to point out that if you Google “Margaret Sanger and eugenics,” your search will turn up a lot of fake quotes attributed to her, or quotes by other people misattributed to her, most of them propagate by modern day opponents of abortion. They see Margaret Sanger as the patron saint of abortion.

But those false claims cannot hide the fact that the historical record include statements by Margaret Sanger such as these: In a 1921 article, Sanger wrote that, “the most urgent problem of today is how to limit and discourage the over fertility of the mentally and physically defective.” In a later publication, she wrote: “Eugenics aims to arouse the enthusiasm or the interest of the people in the welfare of the world fifteen or twenty generations in the future. On its negative side it shows us that we are paying for and even submitting to the dictates of an ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all –– that the wealth of individuals and of states is being diverted from the development and the progress of human expression and civilization.”

As you’ll hear Michelle Ferrari say in our upcoming conversation, the story of the eugenics crusade is a cautionary tale if there ever was one.

In the course of our discussion, Michelle Ferrari explains:

The British origins of eugenics and how the ideas caught on in the United States.

How the late 19th century rediscovery of research into heredity by an Augustinian friar named Gregor Mendel inspired eugenicists.

How eugenics was seized upon by nativists who ultimately succeeded in achieving a sharp reduction in immigration in the 1920s.

How proponents of eugenics popularized its ideas through publications, conferences, college courses, and “fitter families“ contests at county fairs.

How the popularity of eugenics led 32 states to adopt policies that resulted the sterilizing of tens of thousands of Americans for being poor, sick, mentally ill, cognitively impaired, sexually deviant, or imprisoned.

And how the work of American eugenicists caught the attention of the architects of the Nazi regime in the 1930s.

Recommended reading:

Michelle Ferrari, “The Eugenics Crusade: What’s Wrong with Perfect?” PBS American Experience DVD.

Alison Bashford and Philippa Levine eds., The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics

Edwin Black, War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race

Adam Cohen, Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck

Thomas C. Leonard, Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics, and American Economics in the Progressive Era

Philippa Levine, Eugenics: A Very Short Introduction

More info about Michelle Ferrari - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Follow the Course” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

American Experience: The Eugenics Crusade DVD

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Margaret M. Mulrooney about her new book, Race, Place, and Memory: Deep Currents in Wilmington, NC. It’s a book that examines more than 300 years of a southern city’s history of racial oppression and the ways in which its citizens have obscured this legacy with distorted and self-serving versions of events. The supreme example of this trend was the 1898 massacre and coup in which white supremacists massacred scores of African Americans and then overthrew the local government in the only recorded coup d’etat in US history. Mulrooney shows how city officials justified this event by reframing it as an uprising of African Americans that needed to be suppressed, calling it the “Wilmington Revolution” and downplaying the violence. Mulrooney came to this project because in the mid-1990s she was involved in a public history initiative to commemorate the centennial of the massacre and coup. That work stirred a lot of controversy because Mulrooney’s work challenged the convenient cover story for what happened in November 1898 by demonstrating that it was a naked and calculated act of white supremacist political violence. That experience prompted Mulrooney to write Race, Place, and Memory to examine the long sweep of the city’s history to reveal many incidents of white supremacist violence, both before and after 1898, that were either forgotten or misremembered. It’s both a history of a representative southern city and a consideration of the role of public history in fostering an accurate vision of the past and insights into the challenges facing American society in the present.

Recommended reading:

Margaret M. Mulrooney, Race, Place, and Memory: Deep Currents in Wilmington, NC (University of Florida Press, 2018

Leon Prather, We Have Taken A City: The Wilmington Racial Massacre and Coup of 1898

More info about Margaret M. Mulrooney

https://mmulrooney.net/

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter @InThePastLane

Instagram @InThePastLane

Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast

YouTube: InThePastLane

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Cellophane Sam, “Run Hound” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Race, Place, and Memory: Deep Currents in Wilmington, North Carolina (Cultural Heritage Studies)

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Andrew Shankman about his new book, Original Intents: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and the American Founding. It’s a conversation that’s perfectly timed for the Senate hearings on President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. That’s because Kavanaugh adheres to a judicial philosophy known as originalism that argues judges must make their rulings based on a close reading of the Constitution that determines the original intent of the Founders. It’s a neat and tidy idea that suggests a commitment to objectivity and a faithfulness to the vision of the Founders. But as Andrew Shankman makes clear, there was no single, original intent because the Founders disagreed on nearly everything when it came to the Constitution.

In the course of our discussion, Andrew Shankman explains:

How Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison initially agreed on many things, including a fear that the republic needed a stronger central government to avoid a descent into anarchy.

How eventually major differences emerged among these men over whether the government could exercise unstated but “implied powers” of the Constitution, or only powers that were explicitly enumerated in the document.

Why it’s impossible, despite what so-called originalists claim, to deduce an original intent of the Founders in the Constitution.

Why originalism is ahistorical and ignores the historical process and historical context.

Why we shouldn’t revere the Founders and more than they revered each other.

Recommended reading:

Andrew Shankman, Original Intents: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and the American Founding (Oxford University Press, 2018)

Akhil Reed Amar, America's Constitution: A Biography

Richard Beeman, Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution

David O. Stewart, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution

Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787

More info about Andrew Shankman - website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter
@InThePastLane

Instagram
@InThePastLane

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/InThePastLanePodcast/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZMGFqoAASwvSJ1cpZOEAA

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, "Acoustic Meditation,” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I take a deep dive into the origins of Labor Day. It's a holiday that most Americans these days take for granted. But it was born out of the crisis of the Gilded Age, that tumultuous last third of the 19th century that saw both the US economy boom as never before and social upheaval take place on an unprecedented level.

This unique holiday was first celebrated on September 5, 1882. On that day thousands of workers in New York City risked getting fired for taking an unauthorized day off to participate in festivities honoring honest toil and the rights of labor.

This first commemoration of Labor Day testified to labor’s rising power and unity in the Gilded Age as well as its sense that both were necessary to withstand the growing power of business and industry.

The Labor Day holiday originated with the Central Labor Union (CLU), a local labor federation – essentially a union of unions - formed in NYC in January 1882 to promote the interests of workers. The CLU immediately became a formidable force in New York, staging protest rallies, lobbying state legislators, and organizing strikes and boycotts. By August 1882 membership in the organization boomed to fifty-six unions representing 80,000 workers.

But CLU activists wanted to do more than simply increase membership and win strikes. They wanted to build worker solidarity in the face of jarring changes being wrought by the industrial revolution in the Gilded Age – the period in American history covering roughly the last 3rd of the 19th century. During this period the United States was transformed from what today we’d call a “developing nation” in 1865 to the world’s leading economic power by 1900. The favorite word of politicians and business leaders in this era was “progress.” But along with this tremendous increase in national wealth came a problem: widespread poverty.

Evidence of this troubling duality could be found everywhere, but especially in New York City where mansions of big business tycoons like Vanderbilt, Morgan, and Carnegie arose along Fifth Avenue, while in the rest of the city two-thirds of the population lived in cramped and squalid tenements. In short, the establishment of Labor Day signaled that Gilded Age America faced a crisis over growing inequality.

The motivation to establish Labor Day also came from a growing sense of alarm among American workers over the growing power of employers over their employees and frustration over the unwillingness of political leaders to do anything about it. Employers were free to increase hours, slash wages, and fire workers at will – practices that rendered workers powerless and pushed more and more of them into poverty.

These developments, noted labor leaders, called into question the future of the American republic. As the CLU put it in its constitution: “Economical servitude degrades political liberties to a farce. Men who are bound to follow the dictates of factory lords, that they may earn a livelihood, are not free. … [A]s the power of combined and centralized capital increases, the political liberties of the toiling masses become more and more illusory.”

In other words, workers in the Gilded Age began to argue that in this new world of industry – one that was so very different from the agrarian world of the Founders - mere political equality (one man, one vote) was no longer adequate to maintain a healthy republican society. Modern industrial life, with huge corporations, global markets, and increasing numbers of people working for wages, required a recognition that republican citizenship included an economic dimension – not just a political one.

As the reformer and labor activist Henry George wrote in 1879, “In our time…creep on the insidious forces that, producing inequality, destroy Liberty.” The fact that all male citizens possessed the vote and equality before the law, George continued, no longer guaranteed them the blessings of republican citizenship. If one was forced to work 60 or 80 hours a weeks and yet did not earn a living wage, his right to vote was meaningless. He had sunken into what workers in that er called, “industrial slavery.” Extreme inequality, in other words, would destroy American democracy.

So these were the concerns that in 1882 prompted labor activists affiliated with New York’s CLU to establish Labor Day as a day that would celebrate workers and inspire them to reclaim their dissipating rights. As John Swinton, editor of the city’s only labor paper wrote, “Whatever enlarges labor’s sense of its power hastens the day of its emancipation.”

Now, we should pause here to note that the precise identity of the CLU leader who in May 1882 first proposed the idea of establishing Labor Day remains a mystery. Some accounts say it was Peter “P. J.” McGuire, General Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (and future co-founder of the AFL), who proposed the idea. Others argue that it was another man with a similar last name, machinist Matthew Maguire. Well, we’ll probably never know the answer to which Maguire deserves the title of the “Father of Labor Day,” but it is clear that both men played key roles in promoting and organizing the original holiday.

And so it was that after months of preparation the chosen day – Tuesday September 5, 1882 – finally arrived. Optimism among the organizers ran high, but no one knew how many workers would turn out. Few could expect their employers to grant them a day off and many feared getting fired and blacklisted for labor union activity.

When William G. McCabe, the parade’s first Grand Marshall and popular member of the International Typographers Union, arrived an hour before the parade’s start, the situation looked grim. Only a few dozen workers stood milling about City Hall Park in lower Manhattan.

But to the relief of McCabe and other organizers, by the time the parade touched off at 10:00 a.m., about 400 men and a brass band had assembled. In the early going, the small group of marchers faced ridicule from bystanders and interruptions in the line of march because policemen refused to stop traffic at intersections. But as the parade continued north up Broadway, it swelled in size as union after union fell into line from side streets. Soon the jeers turned into cheers as the spectacle of labor solidarity grew more impressive.

Marchers held aloft signs that spoke both to their pride as workers and the fear that they were losing political power and economic standing in the republic:

To the Workers Should Belong All Wealth

Labor Built this Republic. Labor Shall Rule It

Less Work and More Pay

Eight Hours for a Legal Day’s Work

All Men Are Created Equal

Many workers wore their traditional work uniforms and aprons and walked behind wagons displaying their handiwork. Others dressed in their holiday best for the occasion.

Midway through the parade, the throng of workers – now numbering 5,000 -- passed a reviewing stand at Union Square. Among the many dignitaries was Terence Powderly, Grand Master Workman of the Knights of Labor, the most powerful labor organization in the nation.

It then continued up Fifth Avenue, past the opulent mansions of the new super rich of the era – the Vanderbilts, Morgans, Goulds and so on, before ending at 42nd Street and Sixth Ave. From there participants headed to a large park on Manhattan’s Upper west Side for a massive picnic. By late afternoon some 25,000 workers and their families jammed the park to participate in the festivities which consisted of live music, stirring speeches on workers’ rights, and consumption of copious amounts of food and beer.

Thrilled with the success of this first effort, CLU leaders staged a second Labor Day the following year in 1883 and the event drew an even larger number of participants. The next year, in 1884, the CLU officially designated the first Monday in September as the annual Labor Day, calling upon workers to, “Leave your benches, leave your shops, join in the parade and attend the picnic. A day spent with us is not lost.” Upwards of 20,000 marched that year, including a contingent of African American workers (the first women marchers appeared in 1885).

With such an impressive start, the tradition of an annual Labor Day holiday quickly gained popularity across the country. By 1886 Labor Day had become a national event. Some 20,000 workers marched in Manhattan, and another 10,000 in Brooklyn, while 25,000 turned out in Chicago, 15,000 in Boston, 5,000 in Buffalo, and 4,000 in Washington, D.C. Politicians took notice and in 1887 five states, including New York, passed laws making Labor Day a state holiday. Seven years later – just a dozen years after the first celebration in New York — President Grover Cleveland signed into law a measure establishing Labor Day as a holiday for all federal workers.

Labor Day caught on so quickly among Gilded Age workers because unlike the traditional forms of labor activism like striking and picketing, or civic holidays commemorating victories in war,

Labor Day drew together workers for the purposes of celebration. As P. J. McGuire later wrote of the parade, “No festival of martial glory of warrior’s renown is this; no pageant pomp of warlike conquest … attend this day. … It is dedicated to Peace, Civilization and the triumphs of Industry. It is a demonstration of fraternity and the harbinger of a better age – a more chivalrous time, when labor shall be best honored and well rewarded.”

In the twentieth century, Labor Day parades grew into massive spectacles of pride and power. These annual events reflected the growing power and influence of organized labor in American society. The labor movement and social reformers pushed for policies aimed at limiting the power of big corporations and the wealthy, while protecting and enhancing the opportunity for the average citizen to live a decent life. These policies included the 8-hour day, increased workplace safety, collective bargaining rights, expanded public education, unemployment insurance, and Social Security. Their success reflected a growing acceptance of the idea that for republican citizenship to be real, it had to include a baseline of material wellbeing. By the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enshrined “Freedom from Want” as one of the nation’s essential Four Freedoms. “True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence,” he said. “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

Roosevelt’s New Deal and subsequent moments of reform like President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” boosted the wellbeing of the average American. So, too, did the influence of a strong labor movement. Labor’s power was on full display on Labor Day in 1961 when 200,000 workers processed up Fifth Avenue behind Grand Marshall Mayor Robert Wagner, passing on the reviewing stand dignitaries that included Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Senator Jacob K. Javitts, and former President Harry S. Truman.

The result of reforms and strong unions was the steady decline of extreme wealth inequality. Whereas in 1890 the top 1 percent of Americans owned 51 percent of all wealth, by 1979 the 1 percent owned 20.5% of all wealth.

But since 1980 the trend has shifted dramatically back toward increased wealth and income inequality. This trend has many sources, including deindustrialization, cuts to social programs, and the deregulation of Wall Street. But a key one has been the decline of the power of organized labor. In 1955 union membership reached its historic highpoint with 39% of the American workforce belonging to a union. Today, union membership hovers around 10 percent.

And wealth inequality? In 1979, as we just noted, the share of wealth possessed by the 1 percent had fallen to about 21%. Today, it’s closing in on 40% -- and rising. This trend explains why so many Americans have taken to calling this era, the Second Gilded Age.

So this weekend, as millions celebrate Labor Day by not laboring, Americans would do well to reflect on the core claims of the early labor movement that invented Labor Day: Gilded Age workers and those who followed them argued that the nation’s democratic values and republican institutions were threatened by economic policies that left a small number of people extremely wealthy and powerful, while the great majority of citizens struggled to obtain or hold onto a piece of the American Dream. Today, this concern animates calls for a $15 minimum wage, single payer health care, tougher regulations on corporations, banks, and Wall Street, and greater investment in infrastructure and public education.

So, Labor Day should remind us that while, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, all are created equal, they also grow up to live in a society shaped by policies and laws that determine whether opportunities for success are focused on the great majority of citizens, or merely on the 1 percent.

Happy Labor Day, people.

Recommended reading:

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (Columbia Univ. Press, 2015)

Jonathan Grossman, “Who Is the Father of Labor Day?,” Labor History, 14, no. 4, (1973)

Michael Kazin and Steven J. Ross, “America’s Labor Day: The Dilemma of a Workers’ Celebration,” Journal of American History (Mar 1992)

P.J. McGuire, "Labor Day — Its Birth and Significance", The Union Agent [Kentucky], vol. 3, no. 9 (Sept. 1898).

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter
@InThePastLane

Instagram
@InThePastLane

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/InThePastLanePodcast/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZMGFqoAASwvSJ1cpZOEAA

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

Episodes 052, 053, 054 – a three-part series on the Gilded Age

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter,” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian James E. Lewis, Jr. about his book, The Burr Conspiracy: Uncovering the Story of an Early American Crisis. Most people these days know that Aaron Burr was, as his character says in Hamilton, The Musical, “the damn fool” who in 1804 shot and killed Alexander Hamilton.

More specifically, Burr was the sitting VP who shot a former Secretary of the Treasury in a duel resulting from a personal feud. Think about it. That’s the equivalent of VP Mike Pence killing former Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geitner or Jack Lew.

But amazingly, Burr went back to Washington DC and finished out his term, leaving office in March 1805.

One of the statements by Hamilton about Burr that contributed to their feud and duel was Hamilton’s warning that Burr had no morals and was a man driven by pure ambition.

To one friend he wrote:

“As to Burr there is nothing in his favour. His private character is not defended by his most partial friends. He is bankrupt beyond redemption except by the plunder of his country. His public principles have no other spring or aim than his own aggrandizement…. If he can, he will certainly disturb our institutions to secure to himself permanent power and with it wealth. He is truly the Cataline of America.”

Hamilton later wrote to another friend that Burr’s ambition for power was boundless. He was, said Hamilton, “sanguine enough to hope everything – daring enough to attempt everything – wicked enough to scruple nothing”

Was Hamilton right? Was Burr a power hungry demon?

Well, his critics would say yes. And for evidence, they’d point to not only his killing of Hamilton, his chief political rival, but also the bizarre plot he got involved in just months after leaving office in 1805. To this day, scholars are divided in their assessment of just what Aaron Burr was up to in 1806 - 1807. Burr headed out to the recently acquired Louisiana purchase territory and begin recruiting men and building ships for some sort of expedition. Some evidence suggests Burr was planning to launch a military campaign to seize a chunk of the lower half of the LP, plus Spanish Mexico, whereupon he would declare it an independent nation with himself as its leader. Other evidence indicates that Burr was floating variations on this scheme by British officials, urging them to support it. And there’s ample evidence that this scheme also had the backing of General James Wilkinson, the highest-ranking officer in the U.S.

For his part, Burr claimed he was merely assembling men and equipment to establish a colony in the new territory.

In any case, as we will hear in my conversation with historian James E. Lewis Jr., the significance of the alleged Burr conspiracy is not that it existed, but that people believed it did. As a result, the Burr conspiracy constituted a major crisis in the early republic, one that suggested the young and fragile American experiment was on the verge of collapse. This incident is a vivid reminder of just how dicey things were for the United States in its earliest days. If you remember my interview with Carol Berkin in episode 28 of ITPL, the 1790s were marked by bitter political feuding, vicious partisan media, and social unrest that nearly plunged the young nation into civil war. Then in 1804, Burr killed Hamilton. Then just a few years later, the alleged Burr conspiracy was uncovered. Five years later, in 1812, the US went to war against Great Britain for a second time. Two years later, 1814, the British attacked Washington DC and burned the White House.

It’s worth keeping these incidents in mind when we think about the early Republic. The founders may have set up a remarkable political system based on the Constitution, but there was no guarantee that it would succeed. Indeed, the founders were keenly aware that all previous attempts at republican government had failed. This historical awareness, plus the context of near constant political turmoil, made the crisis of the Burr conspiracy of 1806-1807 an alarming and consequential event.

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter
@InThePastLane

Instagram
@InThePastLane

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/InThePastLanePodcast/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZMGFqoAASwvSJ1cpZOEAA

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter,” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Rebecca Erbelding about her new book, Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe. It’s a fascinating book about a forgotten World War II story about the War Refugee Board, a US agency created in 1944 to help save European Jews from the Nazi genocide. Historians and other scholars have long argued that the US could have done more to disrupt the Nazi efforts to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Erbelding acknowledges the validity of this claim, but says that it’s not the same as saying the US did nothing. She chronicles the work of the War Refugee Board and how it managed, often through creative and off the books ways, to save tens of thousands of Jews in the last 20 months of World War II.

In the course of our discussion, Rebecca Erbelding explains:

Why US government officials initially resisted demands that it do something to save European Jews from the Nazi genocide.

How the War Refugee Board was created by the US government in 1944 to save Jews from the Holocaust.

Why President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the creation of the War Refugee Board to save as many European Jews as possible during World War II.

How the US government used threats of post-war prosecution via propaganda to dissuade Europeans from carrying out atrocities against Jews.

How the War Refugee Board used deception to get food and medicine into Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

How the Nazis, aware that Americans wanted to save Jews from the concentration camps, offered to release some in exchange for money, food, and war equipment.

How the Goodyear Tire Company secretly helped the W.R.B. save thousands of lives during World War II.

Recommended reading:

Rebecca Erbelding, Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe

Deborah E. Lipstadt, Beyond Belief: The American Press And The Coming Of The Holocaust, 1933- 1945

Haskel Lookstein, Were We Our Brothers' Keepers?: The Public Response of American Jews to the Holocaust, 1938-1944

Barry Trachtenberg, The United States and the Nazi Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remembrance

More info about Rebecca Erbelding website

Follow In The Past Lane on

Twitter
@InThePastLane

Instagram
@InThePastLane

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/InThePastLanePodcast/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZMGFqoAASwvSJ1cpZOEAA

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

084 with James Q. Whitman on his book, Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Bathed in Finest Dust” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPo

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with legal historian James Q. Whitman about his book, Hitler's American Model: The US and the Making of Nazi Race Law. Many people are aware that the American civil rights movement served as an inspiration to freedom movements around the world. But Whitman’s book examines the flip side of that phenomenon – that the very system of Jim Crow racial oppression that the civil rights movement sought to dismantle also inspired efforts around the world to create white supremacist societies, including Nazi Germany. As Whitman demonstrates, Nazi lawyers and public officials studied America’s Jim Crow laws such as those prohibiting interracial sex or marriage and borrowed from them to create the 1935 Nuremberg Laws that stripped German Jews of most of their civil and legal rights. It’s a dark but important chapter in American history, but one that’s very relevant given the recent upsurge in white nationalist and neo-Nazi activity in the US and Europe.

In the course of our discussion, James Q. Whitman explains:

How and why Nazi lawyers and public officials studied America’s Jim Crow (eg., prohibitions on interracial marriage) to create the Nuremberg Laws that stripped German Jews of most of their civil rights.

How Nazis pointed to the existence of the Jim Crow system of racial oppression in the US as a justification for creating their own version in the 1930s.

How Nazi leaders were inspired by America’s conquest of the West and subjugation of Native Americans as a model for German conquest of Europe.

How Nazi officials argued that some aspects of Jim Crow policy actually went too far.

How and why Hitler praised the US for its Jim Crow and immigration restriction laws.

How many Nazis claimed that the American Revolution was the first step in a global movement to establish white supremacy.

Why German historians have been reluctant to write about the American influences in the development of Nazi race laws.

Recommended reading:

James Q. Whitman, Hitler's American Model: The US and the Making of Nazi Race Law

Carroll P. Kakel, The American West and the Nazi East: A Comparative and Interpretive Perspective

Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Stefan Kuhl, The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism

Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow

More info about James Q. Whitman - website

Follow In The Past Lane on Twitter and Instagram
@InThePastLane

Related ITPL podcast episodes:

074 Linda Gordon on the second coming of the KKK

040 Richard White on the rise of the Jim Crow order

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with Historian Andrew W. Kahrl about his new book, Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America’s Most Exclusive Shoreline. Beaches, like any public space in the US, have long been contested public spaces. That’s because throughout American history, the definition of the public – the citizenry – has never been agreed-upon, leading to the marginalization and exclusion of various racial, ethnic, and economic groups, not to mention women. And so attempts to access and use public spaces by these various marginalized groups have often been met with resistance. No doubt this brings to mind classic images of civil rights activists being violently attacked for sitting at whites-only lunch counters across the south during the 1950s and 1960s. Or Rosa Parks being arrested for refusing to yield her seat to a white man on a public bus.

But beyond these high profile incidents, there were many, many efforts to gain access to public spaces by African-Americans another marginalized groups. In the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, African-American civil rights activists, whose names you will never know, battled to disaggregate public golf courses, public pools, and public parks. And, yes, public beaches.

As we learn in my conversation with historian Andrew Kahrl, some of these battles took place in the deep South, but others occurred in the north, in elite parts of New England like Greenwich, CT. In these instances, African Americans didn’t encounter explicit sign saying “whites only.” But they did face innumerable barriers that were subtle, but also very effective at limiting access by people deemed “outsiders.”

In the course of our discussion, Andrew Kahrl explains:

How for centuries the “public trust doctrine” considered waterfront land to be public property open to all.

How after WWII, as suburbanization flourished and long-neglected shoreline property suddenly became valuable, communities with beaches began to restrict access to residents or members of private beach associations.

How in the same era marked by public policies like redlining that promoted residential and school segregation, similar initiatives excluded people of color from beaches.

How the Open Beaches movement emerged to oppose efforts to privatize parts of the American coastline and to restrict access by the public.

How Ned Coll became in the 1960s and 1970s a civil rights activist who worked to force Connecticut communities – including elite towns like Greenwich, CT – to open their public beaches to all.

How “wade-ins” at segregated beaches became the equivalent of “sit-ins” at segregated lunch counters during the civil rights era.

Why a 2001 state Supreme Court decision that forced Connecticut communities to make their public beaches open to non-residents has led those communities to develop new exclusionary policies that perpetuate the exclusion of the poor and people of color.

Why recent incidents involving white Americans calling the police on African Americans who are using public parks, pools, golf courses, and beaches is part of a long tradition of using minor ordinances to police black bodies.

Recommended reading:

Andrew W. Kahrl, Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America’s Most Exclusive Shoreline (Yale University Press, 2018)

Andrew W. Kahrl, The Land Was Ours: How Black Beaches Became White Wealth in the Coastal South

Andrew W. Kahrl, “The North’s Jim Crow,” New York Times, May 27, 2018 https://nyti.ms/2xkcpsF

Gregory W. Bush, White Sand Black Beach: Civil Rights, Public Space, and Miami’s Virginia Key

Robert J. Robertson, Fair Ways: How Six Black Golfers Won Civil Rights in Beaumont, Texas

Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

Shirley A. Wiegand and Wayne A. Wiegand, The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism

Follow In The Past Lane
@InThePastLane Related ITPL podcast episodes:

041 Erin Krutko Devlin on the Little Rock Crisis of 1957

035 Richard Rothstein the Color of Law

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America’s Most Exclusive Shoreline

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Mitch Kachun about his book, The First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory. Attucks was the man of African American and Native American heritage who was among the five people killed in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. To this day, very little is known about Crispus Attucks. So Mitch Kachun’s book focuses, as the subtitle suggests, on the memory of Attucks and how it’s changed and evolved over nearly 250 years of history.

In the course of our discussion, Mitch Kachun explains:

Who Crispus Attucks was and what we know about why he was killed in the Boston Massacre.

How for many decades after the Boston Massacre and American Revolution, Crispus Attucks was a forgotten figure in US history. That is, until African American abolitionists in the 1840s and 1850s began to celebrate Attucks as a patriot as a way to bolster their demand for an end to slavery and the inclusion of blacks as full citizens of the republic.

How and why in the decades after the Civil War, as the freedoms won by African Americans were stripped away and replaced by Jim Crow white supremacy, black Americans clung to Crispus Attucks as a hero. As part of this process, they embellished his biography to make him appear every bit a patriot as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.

How the US government used this image of Crispus Attucks the patriot as a way to recruit African Americans to fight in US wars.

How African American historians worked to have Crispus Attucks included in US history textbooks, something that finally began to happen in the 1960s during the era of the civil rights movement.

How some radical African American civil rights activists like Stokely Carmichael rejected Crispus Attucks as a model for black liberation.

How the story of Crispus Attucks and his presence – along with many other people of color – at the Boston Massacre serves as a reminder that American society has been diverse from the very beginning.

Recommended reading:

Mitch Kachun, The First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory.

Eric Hinderaker, Boston’s Massacre

Holger Hoock, Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth

Gerald Horne, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America

Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789

Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804
Related ITPL podcast episodes:

065 Andrew O’Shaughnessy on How the British Lost the American Revolution

049 Gordon Wood on the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

041 Dean Snow on the pivotal Battle of Saratoga

028 Carol Berkin on the Crisis of the 1790s

023 Stephen Knott on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington

017 Alan Taylor, American Revolutions

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Doc Turtle, “Thought Soup” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart

The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Patricia Nelson Limerick about her iconic book, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. When this work was first published 30 years ago in 1987, it sent shock waves through the community of historians whose work focused on the American west. Up to that time, much of the history of the West had focused on narrative histories of events like the famed Long Drive that established the ranching industry and biographies of famous white men like Kit Carson and Billy the Kid. This work ignored or misrepresented the stories of women, Native Americans, African Americans, and immigrants. It also glossed over the ugly aspects of westward expansion, like violence, dispossession, racism, exploitation, failure, and environmental degradation. Limerick’s book reframed the understanding of the American West, insisting that these themes were essential elements of that story. Her book infuriated many old guard scholars. But it also inspired a whole generation of new scholars who went on to transform the study of western history from a sleepy subfield into one of the most dynamic fields of US history. In this episode, I begin by first explaining the core aspects of the Old Western History – it’s key myths and myopias – many of them originating in the work of entertainers like Buffalo Bill and Hollywood westerns. Then I sit down with Patricia Nelson Limerick for a fun and fascinating conversation.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How and why was our understanding of the American West shaped by Buffalo Bill and Hollywood for much of the 20th century?

How did New Western History scholars like Patricia Nelson Limerick radically reshape our understanding of the American West?

Who was Buffalo Bill and how did his Wild West show come to exert a profound influence on the way Americans understood the history of the West?

Historian Patricia Nelson Limerick reflects on the 30th anniversary of her landmark book, Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West.

Why the history of the American West is incomplete without women, immigrants, Native Americans, and African Americans.

How the New Western History challenged the heroic Manifest Destiny narrative of westward expansion by emphasizing violence, dispossession, racism, exploitation, failure, and environmental degradation.

Related ITPL podcast episodes: Episode 044 with historian Richard White talking about his book, The Republic for Which It Stands.

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Andy G. Cohen, “A Human Being” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Recommended History Podcasts

Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart
The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod

Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio

Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod

99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg

Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl

The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace

The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast

The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist

Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof

Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote

The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean

More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab

Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell

Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries

DIG history podcast @dig_history

The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show

Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow

Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory

The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod

American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1

The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys

Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW

The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris

The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now

Retropod with @mikerosenwald

The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Linda Gordon about her new book, The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition (Liveright, 2018). Most Americans are familiar with the first version of the KKK, the one that was founded in 1866, right after the Civil War, in order to uphold white supremacy in the South through campaigns of terrorist violence. Once the Jim Crow system of racial oppression was in place by the 1890s, the KKK faded away. But a new KKK emerged in 1915, inspired in part by the debut of, “The Birth of A Nation,” a deeply racist film that hailed the KKK as the savior of the white South. As Linda Gordon explains, this KKK was different from the original in that it was national in scope and it expanded its message of hate to target, in addition to African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. It also promoted itself as a legitimate patriotic organization and focused its efforts on mobilizing political power. It’s a fascinating conversation and one – in light of Charlottesville and the emergence of the Alt-Right – incredibly relevant to 2018.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

What was the original Ku Klux Klan that emerged in the wake of the Civil War?

Why did a second version of the KKK arise in 1915 and how did it differ from the original?

How the KKK broadened its message of hate to target not only blacks, but also Jews, Catholics, and immigrants.

Why were so many women drawn to the KKK in the 1920s?

How evangelical ministers played a key role in boosting KKK membership to more than 4 million by 1927.

How the KKK in the 1920s presented itself as just another patriotic fraternal society and not a hate group.

How the KKK was a vast business that raked in more than $25 million a year at its peak.

How the climate of intolerance in the 1920s has many similarities with contemporary America.

Recommended reading:

Linda Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition (Liveright, 2018)

Kathleen M. Blee, Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s

Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939

Roger Daniels, Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882

Felix Harcourt, Ku Klux Kulture: America and the Klan in the 1920s

Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan in the City 1915-1930

Nathan Miller, New World Coming: The 1920s And The Making Of Modern America

Peter Schrag, Not Fit for Our Society: Immigration and Nativism in America
Related ITPL podcast episodes: Episode 003 with historian Lisa McGirr about her book on Prohibition Episode 013 on the history of the Pledge of Allegiance

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

Here’s what happened in American history the week of June 4, 2018.

BIRTHDAYS

June 5 1919 - Richard Scarry born in Boston, MA

Children’s book author who brought us characters like Glip and Glop, Pip Pip, and of course Lowly Worm.

June 6 1755 - Nathan Hale born Coventry, CT

Hale was an important spy in the early months of the Rev War. But he was captured by the British and hanged in Manhattan in Sept 1776. But not before he allegedly said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

June 9 1768 - Samuel Slater born in Belper, England

Slater is considered the “father of the industrial revolution” in America. As a youth, he worked in a textile factory. In 1789, armed with this knowledge, he immigrated to the United States. Four years later in 1893 in Pawtucket, RI he established the first successful textile mill in the US, a feat that essentially launched the industrial revolution in America.

June 9 1916 - Robert McNamara born San Francisco, CA

McNamara was a very successful business executive with the Ford Motor Company. But he’s mainly remembered for his service as the Secretary of Defense, from 1961 to 1968, during which time he presided over the controversial and ultimately disastrous Vietnam War.

June 10 1895 - Hattie McDaniel born Wichita, KS

McDaniel was the first African American to win an Academy Award. She earned the honor for her role as Mammy in the 1939 blockbuster film, Gone With The Wind.

June 10 1915 - Saul Bellow born in Canada Bellow was a prolific and highly decorated novelist. He won all the major honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, and National Book Award, for novels such as Humboldt's Gift and The Adventures of Augie March. Saul Bellow once said, “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”

EVENTS/ ANNIVERSARIES

June 4 1942: The Battle of Midway (June 4-7) begins. This was a major US victory just 6 months after Pearl Harbor. Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz the US Navy inflicted devastating losses on Imperial Japan’s Navy, losses it never recovered from. US forces sank 4 carriers and 1 heavy cruiser, while also destroying 248 aircraft.

June 6 1968 Sen Robert F. Kennedy dies from a gunshot wound sustained just minutes after he was declared the winner in the California primary in the race for President. “There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.”

If you want to learn more about RFK, check out Episode 006 of In The Past Lane where I speak with Larry Tye, author of Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon.

June 6 is also the anniversary of D-Day, which began June 6, 1944. On that day, Allied forces launched a massive amphibious invasion of Nazi-occupied France. It was the beginning of a long and bloody, but ultimately successful effort to defeat Nazi Germany. Anyone who’s seen the movie “Saving Private Ryan” has a sense of the human cost of this epic battle.

June 6 1933: the first drive-in movie theater in the US opens in Camden, New Jersey.

June 10, 1935: Dr. Robert Smith and his friend William G. Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous.

June 10, 1752: Benjamin Franklin conducted his famous experiment that demonstrated the electrical nature of lightning. Franklin flew a kite during a thunderstorm and collected an electrical charge in what was called a Leyden jar. He published the results and soon became an international celebrity.

LAST WORD

Let’s give it to Dwight D. Eisenhower. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, he issued the following Order of the Day: Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force:

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.

The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.

In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But ... The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

OK, people. That’s your history fix for the week.

Now put it in drive and go make your own history.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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What happened in American history the week of May 28, 2018? Better turn to The Pit Stop, a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you about the people born this week and the key events that transpired - in about 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak to two historians about their new book on Hamilton: The Musical. Claire Bond Potter and Renee Romano’s book, Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America’s Past, features 15 essays by historians that examine many aspects of the Broadway sensation. For example, historian Joanne Freeman – some of you know her from the Backstory podcast – has written an essay, “Can We Get Back to Politics? Please? Hamilton’s Missing Politics in Hamilton.” Patricia Herrera’s essay is titled, “Reckoning with America’s Racial Past, Present, and Future in Hamilton.” Jim Cullen’s essay, “Mind the Gap: Teaching Hamilton,” focuses on the challenges and opportunities of using Hamilton in the classroom. Twelve additional essays, including one each by Claire Potter and Renee Romano, examine the blockbuster musical from many angles, including gender, social media, and the business of Broadway.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How “Hamilton: The Musical” Plays into “Founders Chic”

How is it that “Hamilton: The Musical” appea

ls to both Mike Pence and Michelle Obama?

How Hamilton: The Musical kept Alexander Hamilton on $10 Bill

Just how revolutionary is “Hamilton: The Musical”?

How Lin-Manuel Miranda uses a savvy social media strategy to cultivate the #HamFam phenomenon for “Hamilton: The Musical”

In casting people of color as Founders, does “Hamilton: The Musical” inadvertently erase the black past?

How teachers are using “Hamilton: The Musical”

Recommended reading:

Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter, eds, Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America’s Past (Rutgers, 2018).

Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (2004)

Valerie Estelle Frankel, Who Tells Your Story?: History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon Hamilton (2016)

Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams, Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America (2015)

Dona Herweck Rice and Emily Smith, Hamilton: An American Musical: An Instructional Guide for Literature (2016)

Related ITPL podcast episodes: 017 Alan Taylor on his book, American Revolutions

049 Gordon Wood on the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

041 Dean Snow on the pivotal Battle of Saratoga

028 Carol Berkin on the Crisis of the 1790s

023 Stephen Knott on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington

065 Andrew O'Shaugnessy on the men who lost America -- essentially the British version of the American Revolution.

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical Is Restaging America's Past

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we engage with the questions: What was the experience of ordinary people -- men and women, white and black, free and enslaved, civilian and soldier, Northerner and Southerner -- during the American Civil War? These questions are ones historian Edward L. Ayers has been trying to answer for more than 25 years. Since the mid-1990s, his extraordinary project, the Shadow of the Valley (http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/), has created a vast archive of primary sources drawn from newspapers, diaries, personal letters, and more that are connected to the residents of two counties that straddled the North-South divide during the war and after. And this archive has, in turn, allowed Ayers to produce a masterful, two-volume history of the Civil War and Reconstruction, with a particular focus on the issue of emancipation. In 2004 he published the Bancroft Prize–winning book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America, 1859-1864. Now in 2018, Ayers is back with volume 2: The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America (W.W. Norton). Like volume 1, it tells the story of the last half of the Civil War and Reconstruction from the perspective of the people who lived through it. It's a conversation you won't want to miss. And -- as a bonus -- Ed also talks about his experience as a co-host of the popular US history podcast, Backstory. So, strike the tents, people - your journey In The Past Lane is about to begin.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

The extraordinary Civil War history project, In the Shadow of the Valley, that has gathered tens of thousands of primary source documents that chronicle the lives of the residents of two counties that straddled the North-South divide during the Civil War and after.

How key military victories in late 1864 helped Abraham Lincoln win re-election in November 1864 and allowed him to continue the Union’s push to final victory.

How a critical mass of Northerners, always a minority, came to embrace both emancipation and full civil rights for African Americans.

How two groups of Americans – Northerners and Southerners – came to embrace as necessary and virtuous the death and destruction wrought by the Civil War.

How African Americans played a decisive role in their emancipation and in achieving full citizenship and rights.

Why Reconstruction was a success when viewed from the successful ways that African Americans achieved and then defended – even in the face of decades of Jim Crow oppression – their right to equality and civil rights.
Recommended reading:

Edward L. Ayers, The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America (W. W. Norton and Company).

Edward L. Ayers, In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America, 1859-1864 (2004).

Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (1988)

James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988)

Related ITPL podcast episodes: 059 Anne C. Bailey on “The Weeping Time”

044 Richard White on the period of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age

035 The story of Albert Cashier, a transgender soldier who fought for the Union

020 Douglas Edgerton on African American soldiers in the Union Army

004 Manisha Sinha on the history of the abolition movement

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Borrtex, “Perception” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in about 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we explore look at the American Revolution from a different angle – the British angle. The reasons why the Americans won the Revolution are well known. But if we step back from this event and think about it in a larger, global context, one very large question emerges: how did Great Britain, a nation well on its way to becoming the greatest global empire in history, a nation that in 1776 was the foremost military power in the world, how did it lose the American Revolution? How did it lose a war to a small and disorganized collection of 13 colonies that began the war with no established army, no real means of financing a war, and no allies? Well, to help us arrive at the answer, I speak with historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy about his award-winning book, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

The myth that the British lost the American Revolution because its military and political leaders were a bunch of bungling Brits.

Why a British army of conquest (vs. an army of occupation) triggered intense and widespread popular resistance among the American colonists.

How the efforts of everyday Americans as part of an insurgency helped to wear down and defeat armies of experienced British soldiers.

Why the leadership of George Washington was key to the American victory in the Revolution.

How it was the Continental Army and not the citizen Minutemen forces that defeated the British.

How in many ways the American Revolution was a civil war.

Why a sharp decline in support for the war effort in Parliament led the British to cut their losses and agree to negotiations the led to American independence.

How the loss of America in the Revolution was a minor setback in Britain’s rise as a global power.

Recommended reading:

Andrew O’Shaughnessy about his award-winning book, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (Yale Univ. Press, 2013).

Related ITPL podcast episodes: 017 Alan Taylor, American Revolutions

049 Gordon Wood on the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

041 Dean Snow on the pivotal Battle of Saratoga

028 Carol Berkin on the Crisis of the 1790s

023 Stephen Knott on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

View Details

This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we explore the rise of hoaxes, humbug, plagiarists, phonies, post-facts, and fake news, beginning in the early 19th century. All societies are susceptible to hoaxes and scams, but there seems to be something about America’s culture of striving and reinvention that makes its people particularly vulnerable to the wily ways of tricksters, from P.T. Barnum to Bernie Madoff. To make sense of this fascinating thread that runs through US history, I speak with Kevin Young, author of, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News. We discuss famous hoaxes, including the Moon Hoax of 1835, P.T. Barnum’s fakeries like Joice Heth, whom he claimed was the 168-year old former slave nursemaid of George Washington. We also talk about famous imposters, including Grey Owl, a famous Native American from the early 20th century and the more recent case of Rachel Dolezal, an African American activist, both of whom, surprise turned out to be white. As this last point indicates, race has been at the heart of American hoaxes. And Kevin Young also gives us a lot to think about when it comes to understanding how modern day hoaxes are both similar to those in the past, and yet also different in some disturbing ways.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

What is bunk, or humbug?

How did P. T. Barnum popularize the hoax?

Why are Americans seemingly particularly susceptible to hoaxes and frauds?

How were hoaxes and fakeries in the 19th century early versions of reality TV?

What was the Moon Hoax of 1835?

What was the Cardiff Giant Hoax of 1869?

Why race and racism have long been the inspiration of hoaxes and fakeries.

How contemporary hoaxes and fake news stories are different from those in the 19th century.

Recommended reading:

Kevin Young, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News (2017)

Philip B. Kunhardt Jr., P. T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman (1995)

Ian Tattersall and Peter Névraumont, Hoax: A History of Deception: 5,000 Years of Fakes, Forgeries, and Fallacies (2018)

Scott Tribble, A Colossal Hoax: The Giant from Cardiff that Fooled America (2008)

Podcasts mentioned in this episode

Past Present website

Ben Franklin’s World website

Flatbush + Main website

A Great Woman and Her Time website

Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we explore the story of the largest slave auction in American history when some 436 enslaved people were sold in a two-day auction in 1859. To the people sold and the people they left behind, it would forever be known as “the weeping time.” This wrenching event involved the Butler family, a prominent southern family with ties to the Founding, as well as a famous British actress and abolitionist, Fanny Kemble. And of course, it involved hundreds of enslaved people who were sold to pay the debts of Pierce Butler. To help us make sense of this event and the subsequent memory of it, I speak with historian Anne C. Bailey, author of The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History published by Cambridge University Press. She draws upon a rich set of primary source materials, including a detailed firsthand account written by a New York Tribune reporter posing as a buyer. Bailey also tracks the story of the people sold after the Civil War as they tried to reconstruct their families. She also interviews a number of the descendants of the people sold. The result is a remarkable examination of this extraordinary event and the wider story of slavery, slave auctions, and historical memory.

More about:
Anne C. Bailey - website

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

What was “the weeping time,” the largest slave auction in US history?

How did auctions shape the lives of enslaved people?

What strategies did enslaved people deploy when faced with the auction block?

How the auction block loomed over the enslaved as an ever-present threat.

When the famed British actress and abolitionist Fanny Kemble married Pierce Butler, one of the nation’s largest slaveholders.

How freed people who were split up during slavery tried to reconstitute their families during Reconstruction.

Recommended reading:

Anne C. Bailey, The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Edward E. Baptist, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism (2015)

Catherine Clinton, Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars (2000)

Fanny Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation - 1838-1839.

Peter Kolchin, American Slavery: 1619-1877 (2003)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Bathed in Finest Dust” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" via the Free Music Archive

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

View Details

The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, It’s our annual St Patrick’s Day episode. In this episode, we explore the stories of two Irish Americans very few people remember, but who in their day were quite famous. One is William Joyce, who was known during World War II as Lord Haw Haw. He was the voice of Nazi propaganda that Germany broadcast to England during the course of the war. And the other is Virginia Tighe, who in the late 1950s was also known as Bridey Murphy. This was due to a famous incident involving hypnosis and the specter of reincarnation. You won't want to miss these two intriguing stories that involve Nazis and reincarnation.

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The Pit Stop is a weekly mini-episode from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Every Monday The Pit Stop tells you what happened in American history this week - in under 5 minutes! We drop these minis in between our full-length episodes that feature interviews with historians about their latest books, feature pieces, and more.

For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com

Production Credits for The Pit Stop

Original music and Voice Over by Devyn McHugh

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we present Part 3 of our multi-episode examination of the Gilded Age. In this episode, we look at some of the people and organizations that took on the problems that arose in the Gilded Age. In the case of the former, we examine reformers like Henry George and Mary Elizabeth Lease. And in the latter, we tell the story of the Knights of Labor and the People’s Party. Taken together, these people and organizations pushed the nation to rethink its commitment to small and decentralized government, arguing that to let big business and banks operate with no regulations would lead to the disintegration of American democracy. This three-part series on the Gilded Age should remind us that all the things Americans value in their nation – all the rights, laws, norms, and liberties that we would never want to live without – have come from struggle. None of them fell from the sky. Rather, they’ve always come from the hard work, sacrifice, and vision of people who worked against the odds to push the nation to live up to its high ideals.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How did reformers in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era push the nation to redefine its understanding of the role of government vis-a-vis liberty?

Who was Henry George and why did he wield such influence in the Gilded Age?

How America has two competing traditions, individualism and the common good.

What was the Knights of Labor and what did its members want?

What was the extraordinary Henry George campaign for Mayor of NYC in 1886 about?

What was the People’s Party insurgency of the 1890s?

How did Gilded Age activists set the table for Progressive Era reformers?

Recommended reading:

Sven Beckert, The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850-1896 (2001)

Rebecca Edwards, New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age: 1865-1905 (2006)

Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920 (2003)

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (2015)

Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era (1987)

Heather Cox Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901 (2001)

Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford, 2017)

Related ITPL Podcast Episodes:

Episode 44 with Richard White on the Gilded Age and Reconstruction
http://inthepastlane.com/episode-044/

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Tyler Ferolito

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we present Part 2 of our multi-episode examination of the Gilded Age. In this episode, we take a hard look at the dark side of the Gilded Age – all the troubling trends that challenged the ebullient celebration of progress in the late 19th century. We’ll start by talking about the broad fear that the US was becoming Europeanized – not ethnically, but rather politically and socially. If the great fear in the 20th century was that America might descend into communism, the 19th century equivalent was that America would regress towards Europeanism – that is, become a society dominated by an entrenched aristocracy, fixed social classes, stifled opportunity, and incessant social unrest. Then we’ll examine the key trends that stoked this fear of creeping Europeanization – the rise of powerful corporations, the extraordinary and undemocratic political power wielded by industrialists, the sense among workers and farmers that upward mobility was diminishing due to manipulation of the economy by big business, the troubling arrogance of “robber baron” industrialists, and the soaring incidence of labor-capital conflict.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

What troubling trends in the Gilded Age challenged the notion that it was an era of progress?

What was different about the modern corporations that emerged in the Gilded Age.

Why some Americans have always feared monopoly power.

Why did many Americans in the Gilded Age fear the US was regressing towards a European-style society of inequality, aristocracy, and stifled opportunity?

How and why the wealthy of the Gilded Age adopted the opulent lifestyles of European aristocrats.

Why many Americans in the Gilded Age were concerned about the soaring number of labor strikes.

Why American workers and farmers in the Gilded Age believed that big business was stifling their opportunities for success and upward mobility.

How Gilded Age Americans came to fear the undemocratic political power of Big Business.

Recommended reading:

Sven Beckert, The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850-1896 (2001)

Rebecca Edwards, New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age: 1865-1905 (2006)

Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920 (2003)

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (2015)

Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era (1987)

Heather Cox Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901 (2001)

Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 *(Oxford, 2017)

Recommended Viewing:*

PBS's American Experience documentary, "The Gilded Age"

Related ITPL Podcast Episodes:

Episode 052 What Was the Gilded Age? Part 1
http://inthepastlane.com/episode-052/

Episode 044 with Richard White on the Gilded Age and Reconstruction
http://inthepastlane.com/episode-044/

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we begin a multi-episode look at that fascinating period known as the Gilded Age. This seemed a good time to do it because PBS just aired its new documentary called The Gilded Age. I was lucky enough to be one of the featured historians. The premiere on Feb 6 drew a big audience and rave reviews. And it’s not too difficult to see why: there are so many parallels between the Gilded Age (1870-1900) and the era in which we now live. The nation then and now was consumed with intense debates over wealth inequality, labor unions, immigration, terrorism, women’s rights, family values, money in politics, voter disenfranchisement, Wall Street recklessness, political polarization and paralysis, religion vs. secularism, individualism vs. the common good, free market capitalism vs. regulation and wars of choice vs. diplomacy. Many people these days want to know: are we living in a second Gilded Age? Well, the best way to find out is to learn more about the first Gilded Age. So let’s do it.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

What was the Gilded Age?

What were the positive aspects of the Gilded Age that led many Americans see it as an age of progress?

What were the negative aspects of the Gilded Age that promoted many Americans to worry about the future of the republic?

Are we in 2018 living in a second Gilded Age?

Recommended reading:

Sven Beckert, The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850-1896 (2001)

Rebecca Edwards, New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age: 1865-1905 (2006)

Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920 (2003)

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (2015)

Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era (1987)

Heather Cox Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901 (2001)

Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford, 2017)

Related ITPL Podcast Episodes:

Episode 44 with Richard White on the Gilded Age and Reconstruction
http://inthepastlane.com/episode-044/

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we look at the complicated history of black athletes in US history. I’ll speak with historian Louis Moore, author of two new books on African American athletes, I Fight for a Living: Boxing and the Battle for Black Manhood, 1880-1915 (University of Illinois Press), and We Will Win The Day: The Civil Rights Movement, The Black Athlete, And The Quest For Equality (Praeger). In the first half of our conversation, we discuss the emergence of black boxers in the late nineteenth century. These men overcame poverty and racism to compete in the ring with fellow African Americans, but also white Americans. For black boxers, success in the ring earned them financial success and the opportunity to engage in a vibrant “sporting” culture. Their success also symbolized the African American quest for respect and equal rights. The most famous of these men was Jack Johnson who became heavy weight champion in 1908. His success, and his flashy lifestyle, in an a when Jim Crow was being imposed across the nation infuriated many white Americans. When no white boxer could defeat Johnson in the ring, federal authorities used the legal system to end his career. In the second half of our chat, Louis Moore walks us through the long history of African American athletes and the Civil Rights movement. He talks about the well-known incidents like John Carlos and Tommy Smith raising their fists in the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, as well as many protests by people lost to history. Suffice it to say that Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem is part of a long tradition of black athletes and protest.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

The emergence of African American boxers in the 19th century.

How middle-class African Americans initially opposed black boxers but gradually came to embrace them as symbols of achievement.

Why interracial boxing matches in the early 20th century, in large measure due to the dominance of black boxers over white opponents, were outlawed.

How African American athletes were purged from many sports in the Jim Crow era.

The rise and fall of the great African American boxer, Jack Johnson.

Why riots broke out across the US when African American boxer Jack Johnson defeated Jim Jeffries in 1910.

The long tradition of African American athletes using sports and protest to further Civil Rights.

How protests and boycotts by the black community in cities like Washington, DC and New Orleans forced NFL franchises to bring on black players.

How the NFL required cities like Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans to desegregate before awarding them a football franchise.

Where Colin Kaepernick fits into the history of protest by African American athletes.

More about Louis Moore - website

Recommended reading:

Louis Moore, I Fight for a Living: Boxing and the Battle for Black Manhood, 1880-1915 (University of Illinois Press).

Louis Moore, We Will Win The Day: The Civil Rights Movement, The Black Athlete, And The Quest For Equality (Praeger).

Amy Bass, Not the Triumph But the Struggle: 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete (2002).

Harry Edwards, The Revolt of the Black Athlete (2017)

Douglas Hartmann, Race, Culture, and the Revolt of the Black Athlete: The 1968 Olympic Protests and Their Aftermath (2004)

William C. Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete (2006).

Geoffrey C. Ward, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004).

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Escape the Profane” (Free Music Archive)

Andy G. Cohen, “A Human Being” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we look at the history of one of the more troubled regions in American history, Appalachia. In particular, we’ll examine the backstory to how Appalachia became one of the poorest places in the US, and why it has stayed poor. I’ll speak with historian Steven Stoll about his new book, Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia. Stoll takes us back in time to when immigrants from northern Europe settled the region and developed an agrarian society that was self-sustaining and based on kinship networks. These backcountry people were the quintessential pioneers of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, clearing land on the frontier, establishing farms, building log cabins, and developing kinship networks that helped them survive. Much of the economy was based on barter and the livelihoods of the people depended on open access to vast tracts of forests (primarily for hunting) they treated as commons. Whiskey made from rye was a key source of cash that allowed them to buy tools, guns, and other finished goods. This was the world of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. But after the Civil War, this world was upended by the arrival of big business. Lumber companies clear cut most of the forests and the coal companies enticed or forced people off the land, turning them from independent agrarians into dependent coal miners working for wages. This story of the decisions and policies that led to Appalachia’s impoverishment raises important questions about how we think about the sources of poverty and our notions of what capitalism is. And as a consequence, Steven Stoll’s book, Ramp Hollow, offers an important corrective to some of the underlying assumptions found in the bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, by J. D. Vance.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

The agrarian society that developed in Appalachia before the arrival of big business.

Why whiskey became so important to the people of Appalachia and why Hamilton’s tax sparked the Whiskey Rebellion.

How after the Civil War, coal mining companies forced the agrarian people of Appalachia off the land and into the mines.

How big business brought coal mining -- and poverty -- to Appalachia.

How the story of Appalachia reveals the important ways in which Americans misunderstand capitalism.

What J. D. Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, gets wrong about Appalachia.

More about Steven Stoll - website

Recommended reading:

Steven Stoll, Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia (Hill and Wang, 2017)

J. D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Elizabeth Catte, What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia

Ronald D Eller, Uneven Ground: Appalachia since 1945

William Hogeland, The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty

Robert Shogan, The Battle of Blair Mountain: The Story of America's Largest Labor Uprising

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

PCIII, “Cavalcades” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we look at the fractious and imperfect, but also quite revealing relationship between two of the most brilliant Founders, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The two men came from radically different backgrounds – Adams was the striver from a middle class family in Massachusetts, Jefferson was the entitled one from Virginia. And yet, both became ardent revolutionaries in the 1770s, both served in the Continental Congress, and both were named to the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. During the war, both served as diplomats in Europe, and it was there that they developed a warm friendship. Back in the U.S. after the war, both men went on to become Vice President and then President. But it was during these latter years in the fractious 1790s that the friendship between Jefferson and Adams disintegrated into bitter enmity. After Adams lost the Election of 1800 to Jefferson, he returned to Quincy, Massachusetts. Eight years later, Jefferson completed his presidency and returned to Monticello. And it seemed there was little chance they’d ever see each other again, much less become friends. But through the intervention of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the two resumed their friendship in 1812 – through a vibrant correspondence over the next 14 years by way of some 150 letters.

To help us make sense of these two very important – and very different – men, and their very different visions of the form and future of the American republic, I sit down with historian Gordon Wood to talk about his latest book, Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How the wealthy and privileged Thomas Jefferson and the middle-class and striving John Adams became allies and friends during the Revolution.

Why the fractious politics of the 1790s shattered the friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson – and what eventually reunited them.

How the friendship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams was rekindled and led to their famous correspondence

How Thomas Jefferson established and promoted the idea of American exceptionalism.

Why Thomas Jefferson the idealist dominates the Founding Father landscape (and John Adams, the realist and pessimist, not so much).

How the realism of John Adams and the idealism of Thomas Jefferson embody the primary duality of the American mind.

More about Gordon Wood - website

Recommended reading:

Gordon Wood, Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (2017).

Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (1969).

Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1991)

Gordon Wood, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin (2004)

Gordon Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (2009)

Joseph J. Ellis, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 (2015).

John Ferling, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (2004).

David McCullough, John Adams (2001).

Related ITPL Podcast Episodes:

Episode 28 with Carol Berkin on the tumultuous 1790s

Episode 25 with Annette Gordon-Reed on Thomas Jefferson

Episode 23 with Stephen Knott on Alexander Hamilton

Episode 17 with Alan Taylor on American Revolutions

Episode 9 with William Hogeland on the Whiskey Rebellion

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Follow the Course” (Free Music Archive)

Hyson, “Whispers” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we look at how in the decades before the Civil War, proslavery southerners dominated US foreign policy and promoted a vision of an ever expanding empire of slavery, both within the US but also throughout the western hemisphere. I’ll speak with historian Matthew Karp about his new book, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy.

Let’s start with some key background to this period. Between 1820 and 1860, the US was an emerging industrial power with the rise of factories, railroads, and large cities. But in those same years, the US enjoyed the status of the world’s most prominent slave holding society. Between 1820 and 1860, the population of enslaved people grew from 1.5 million to 4 million. Cotton production soared from 400,000 bales in 1820 to 4,000,000 bales in 1860. As southerners liked to say, Cotton was King.

But while slavery grew more prominent and profitable, it also grew more controversial. The abolitionist movement grew more vocal in its condemnation of slavery. As it did so, it helped spark controversy after controversy in the 1830s through the 1840s and 1850s – controversies that often dominated national politics. Most of us remember some of the key ones: the Gag Rule, the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, and the Dred Scott decision. Throughout these controversies over the future of slavery, proslavery southerners used their political influence to defend slavery and demand the right to extend it throughout the US.

But as Matthew Karp makes clear in his book, these proslavery southerners did not confine to their vision of slavery’s future to the United States. They developed in these decades before the Civil War a bold and enthusiastic vision of slavery’s growth and expansion elsewhere in the world. And to make this vision a reality, proslavery southerners pushed for US territorial expansion. Hence, the war with Mexico in 1846 that allowed the US to seize what is now much of the western United States.

Equally important, they also exerted their political power to use US foreign policy and military power to protect other slaveholding societies like Brazil, Cuba, and in the years before it was annexed by the US, the independent slaveholding republic of Texas.

One of their top priorities was to thwart efforts by Great Britain to end the practice of slavery. For centuries, Great Britain was one of the world’s foremost participants in slavery and the international slave trade. But in the early 1830s, Great Britain abolished slavery in its empire and made global abolition a top foreign policy concern. This move infuriated proslavery southerners and made them suspect British plots at every turn - plots they were prepared to use US power to foil.

So while proslavery southerners defended slavery and pushed for expansion within the United States, they also used American power to defend slavery in places far beyond US borders, and to push for its global expansion.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How proslavery southerners shaped US foreign policy to protect slaveholding societies like Brazil and Cuba and to promote the global expansion of slavery.

Why US proslavery policy versus British antislavery efforts resembled a 19th century Cold War.

Why proslavery southerners feared Great Britain would push Texas to abolish slavery.

How proslavery southerners were sectionalists in domestic policy, but nationalists in foreign affairs.

How proslavery southerners rejected abolitionist claims that slavery was a relic of barbarism, arguing that history was on their side.

More about Matthew Karp - website

Recommended reading:

Matthew Karp, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy (2017).

Drew Gilpin Faust, The Ideology of Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Antebellum South, 1830-1860 (1982)

Paul Finkelman, Defending Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Old South: A Brief History with Documents (2003)

Michel Gobat, Empire by Invitation: William Walker and Manifest Destiny in Central America (2018)

Robert E. May, The Southern Dream of a Caribbean Empire, 1854-1861 (1973)

Robert E. May, Slavery, Race, and Conquest in the Tropics: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Future of Latin America (2013).

Related ITPL Podcast Episodes:

Manisha Sinha talks about her book, The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition http://inthepastlane.com/podcast-episode-004-the-abolitionist-movement-more/

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we look at a crucial war in American history that’s often overlooked, the War of 1812. I’ll speak with historian Willard Sterne Randall about his book, Unshackling America: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution. As you’ll hear, he argues that the American Revolution didn’t really end in 1783. Rather, it wasn’t until the US won the War of 1812 that the nation truly gained its independence. That’s because after the US gained its independence in the American Revolution, Great Britain was committed to dominating its former colony economically, seeking to control it like a semi-independent satellite state.

That really became a problem when war between Great Britain and France broke out in 1792 and continued nearly unabated until 1815. The US declared itself neutral in the conflict and claimed the right to trade with both sides. But the British rejected this claim. It blockaded French ports and then began seizing US ships it suspected were trading with the French. And, to make matters worse, the British also seized thousands of American sailors and forced them to serve in the British navy, a policy known as impressment. President Thomas Jefferson wanted to avoid war at all costs, so in 1807 he imposed an economic embargo that closed all US ports and maritime commerce. The embargo proved to be a disaster for the United States economy, and it failed to strengthen US neutrality. The British kept seizing US ships and forcing thousands of American sailors into the British Navy. Finally, in 1812, under a more hawkish President James Madison, the US declared war on Great Britain.

It was the ultimate David Goliath matchup, featuring the tiny and weak United States versus the world’s foremost military power. Fortunately for the US, Great Britain was locked in a global military struggle with Napoleonic France. The US managed to build a navy and create an army out of scratch. Then it scored enough victories on land and water to convince the British to agree to a peace treaty in 1815. This US victory, says Willard Sterne Randall, finally achieved national independence.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

Why the American Revolution Didn't End Until the US Won the War of 1812.

Why US Victory in the War of 1812 Spelled Disaster for Native Americans.

Why the British burned Washington, DC in the War of 1812.

Why the American victory on Lake Champlain is far more significant than Andrew Jackson’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans.

How Dolley Madison managed to save the Declaration of Independence when the British burned Washington, DC

How Francis Scott Key came to write the Star Spangled Banner during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.

More about Willard Sterne Randall - website

Recommended reading:

Willard Sterne Randall, Unshackling America: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution (2017)

George C. Daughan, 1812: The Navy's War (2011)

Allan W. Eckert, A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh (1993)

Donald R. Hickey, Glorious Victory: Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans (2015).

Douglas R. Pratt and Donald R Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (1989)

Robert V. Remini, The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory (2001)

Alan Taylor, The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies (2010).

Related ITPL Podcast Episodes:

Carol Berkin talks about her book, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism http://inthepastlane.com/episode-028/

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism

Unshackling America: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution

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Last week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we focused in the Pilgrims in the early 1600s. This week, we jump ahead 4 centuries to the mid 20th century to look at the history behind the unending problem of racial segregation in American society.

I’ll speak with scholar Richard Rothstein about his book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. As you’ll hear, he lays out in meticulously researched detail, some uncomfortable truths about the history of racial segregation: First, that it was everywhere in 20th century America not just in the Jim Crow South. Second, and here’s the key, most of it was due not to poverty nor the personal preferences of individuals to live with people of their own race. Rather, the single-most important factor driving racial segregation in 20th century America was the federal government. That’s right. It’s largely driven by explicit government policy that mandated the separation of people by race. And third, these pro-segregation policies – perhaps more than anything else – have perpetuated African American poverty and increased the wealth gap between white and black Americans.

It’s not a pretty story, people. But it’s one we need to know if we truly believe in the idea of forming a more perfect union.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How government-mandated residential segregation worsened and perpetuated African American poverty and the wealth gap between white and black households.

How the rules of FHA loans promoted residential segregation and excluded African Americans from the American Dream

Why white Americans embrace the myth that residential segregation is the product of personal choices (de facto) and not explicit government policy (de jure).

How federal public housing projects promoted racial segregation in 20th century America.

The role of restrictive covenants barring African Americans from home ownership and the rise of suburban developments like Levittown.

How large non-profit organizations like universities, hospitals, and churches enjoyed tax-exempt status from the IRS while promoting racial segregation.

More about Richard Rothstein - website

Recommended reading:

Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (Liveright, 2017).

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul (2016)

Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (1984).

Ira Katznelson, When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America (2005)

Beryl Satter, Family Properties: How the Struggle Over Race and Real Estate Transformed Chicago and Urban America (2009).

Thomas J. Sugrue, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (1996).

Documentary:

Race: The Power of An Illusion (PBS) - in particular, Episode 3, "The House We Live In"

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

PCIII, “Cavalcades” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

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This week at ITPL, the American history podcast, we examine the history behind the first Thanksgiving in 1621. In particular, we look at a little-known event that preceded the arrival of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts. It was an epidemic that raged across southern New England for four years, beginning in 1616. The disease came from European traders and it devastated the Native American population of southern New England. And as a result, this epidemic helped pave the way for the success of the European migrants who would soon begin arriving in the region, starting with the Pilgrims in 1620. We’ll explore the origins of the epidemic and how it reshaped the political and military landscape of southern New England – and in so doing, set the stage for an event that brought English settlers and local Wampanoag Indians together for a feast -- the first Thanksgiving celebration in 1621. Then I’ll close out this episode with a fun piece on trivia related to the history of Thanksgiving.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

The origins of the Great Epidemic of 1616.

Why Native peoples in the Americas were so vulnerable to European diseases like small pox and plague.

How early English explorers and settlers found evidence of the impact of the Great Epidemic in abandoned Indian settlements and farms.

How the devastating impact of the Great Epidemic on the Wampanoag tribe led them to seek an alliance and peace treaty with the Pilgrims, a move that explains why some of them attended the first Thanksgiving in 1621.

Why the turkey is called a turkey.

How President Franklin D Roosevelt triggered a Thanksgiving controversy by moving the holiday to the third Thursday in November.

How 19th century artists created the popular – and largely false – image of the Pilgrims as people who wore black clothes and funny hats, and who hated fun.

Further Reading

F. Cook, “The Significance of Disease in the Extinction of the New England Indians,” Human Biology (1973) 45: 485–508.

John S. Marr and John T. Cathey, “New Hypothesis for Cause of Epidemic among Native Americans, New England, 1616–1619” Emerging Infectious Disease (Feb 2000) http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/2/09-0276.htm

William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England (New York: Hill & Wang; 1983).

Donald R. Hopkins, The Greatest Killer: Smallpox in History (University of Chicago Press, 2002).

Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (Knopf, 2005)

Charles C. Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created (Knopf, 2011)

George Rosen, “Epidemics in Colonial America,” American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health 44.2 (February 1954)

Michael Willrich, Pox: An American History (Penguin, 2011)

My piece on Black Friday

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “A Storm at Eilean Mor” (Free Music Archive)

Scott Holmes, “Happy Ukulele” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week at ITPL, the American history podcast, we take on the last third of the 19th century, a period known as both Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. As many of you know, the Gilded Age is the period of US history that I specialize in. I know I’m biased, but to me, this is the most fascinating and compelling period in US history. It’s when the United States leaves behind the agrarian republic envisioned by founders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and plunges headlong into an industrial age that even Alexander Hamilton could not have imagined.

It’s a time of incredible wealth production (hence, the Gilded label), as the United States surges to become the world‘s foremost industrial economy.And along with that comes the rise of great cities like New York and Chicago, and unprecedented immigration from Europe and Asia. It’s also an exciting age of revolutionary new technology. The railroad spreads across the continent, along with the Internet of the day, the telegraph. Electricity and electric lights begin to transform every day life.

And yet, despite all this exciting progress, the last third of the 19th century was a deeply unsettling time. The rise of big business alarmed many Americans, because industrialists like John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie acquired stupendous wealth – and with that wealth came extraordinary power. They could use that power to compel Congress or state legislatures to do their will. And they could force their workers to accept long hours, low pay, and dangerous conditions.

And if those workers went on strike? Industrialists could count on the local police, state militia, or even federal troops, to crush it. And there were a lot of strikes in this area – 37,000 between 1880 and 1900. And some of them – like the Great Uprising railroad strike of 1877 – were huge and resulted in scores of people killed. And in between strikes, the evidence of rising levels of poverty and unrest was everywhere.

The situation out in the heartland was just as fraught. American farmers struggled against the usual things like drought and locusts, but also predatory banks and railroads. So as urban workers join unions like the Knights of Labor, farmers joined Farmers Alliances that demanded the government regulate banks and railroads. Both movements represented popular resistance to an economy and political system that they believed had become rigged in favor of the rich and powerful. It would eventually lead to the rise of the Populists and the People’s Party insurgency of the 1890s.

And there was great turmoil and violence elsewhere, in the American south and west. In the south, the first decade after the Civil War saw African-Americans gain full citizenship and civil rights. And they used these rights to build new lives as free people and to exert political power. But by the mid-1870s white southerners rose up to overthrow Reconstruction and impose white supremacy, establishing a racist and oppressive social order known as Jim Crow.

And in the west, the US Army launched the final, bloody campaign to defeat Native Americans and forcibly remove them to reservations.

I think you'll agree, there’s a LOT happening in the Gilded Age and Reconstruction, that last third of the 19th century. In many ways, it’s the period when modern America takes form. And because this transformation marked a new era in US history, it raised compelling and troubling questions about democracy, equality, and citizenship.

To explore these questions and the answers and how Americans in the late 19th century struggled to answer them, I speak with historian Richard White, author of a new book on the period, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896.

Among the many things we discuss in this conversation:

How Reconstruction and the Gilded Age are inextricably linked.

The Republican Party’s post-Civil War vision of eliminating regional differences and creating a unified, homogeneous republic.

How and why the Republican Party initially fought during Reconstruction to create a multiracial republic based on equal citizenship but then allowed white supremacists to overthrow it.

How Buffalo Bill created the popular (and convenient) narrative of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny.

How John Gast’s famous painting, “American Progress” (1872), became the iconic image of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny, despite “getting it all wrong.”

Why resistance to the onset of wage labor explains so much of the civil unrest in the Gilded Age.

Why most Americans in the Gilded Age feared the rich and worried that plutocracy and inequality would destroy the republic.

How “cooperation” (and socialism) emerged as a unifying ideal in the Gilded Age among those who feared the rise of inequality and corporate power.

Why all three major political parties (Republican, Democratic, and Populist) by 1896 agreed that the challenges posed by industrialization and big business required a stronger federal government.

What Americans living in the second Gilded Age can learn from the first Gilded Age.

About Richard White – website

Further Reading

Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford, 2017)

Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (1988)

Edward T. O’Donnell, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (2015)

Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era (1987)

Heather Cox Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901 (2001)

Heather Cox Richardson, West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War (2007)

Elliott West, The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story (2009)

About the John Gast painting – Picturing History

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “I Will Be There” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford History of the United States)

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This week I speak with historian Karen Cox, author of a new book titled: Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South. It tells the incredible story of a murder that took place in Natchez, Mississippi in 1932. It’s a captivating tale in its own right, but as you’ll soon hear, the Goat Castle story reveals a great deal about the US in the early years of the Great Depression, everything from mass media and sensationalism, to Jim Crow racism and popular nostalgia for the Old South.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

What was the 1932 Goat Castle murder in Natchez, MS?

How the 1932 Goat Castle murder reveals the injustice at the heart of Jim Crow.

How white privilege and ties to the old planter aristocracy allowed two citizens of Natchez to get away with murder – and even profit from it.

Why the 1932 Goat Castle murder in Natchez, MS captivated the nation.

How modern media turned the 1932 Goat Castle murder in Natchez, MS into a national sensation.

How nostalgia for the Old South remained strong in the 1930s.

About

Karen Cox – website

Further Reading

Karen Cox, Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South (UNC Press, 2017)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, I interview historian Joshua Clark Davis about his new book, From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs. Davis takes us through a fascinating examination of 4 types of what he calls activist entrepreneurship: African American bookstores, feminist businesses, head shops, and organic food markets. His work challenges the notion that political activists on the left rejected capitalism and the market.

Rather, they sought to use the market to further political change; and to demonstrate that businesses could be run in ways more humane, democratic, and community-oriented than traditional businesses that focused primarily on profits and growth. One of centerpiece features of this book is the story of the rise of Whole Foods in the late 1970s as an activist, alternative business that was dedicated to social change and how over time it morphed into a more traditional profit-seeking corporation.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

Why some activists on the left in the 1960s and 1970s turned to small business enterprises as a way to build community and promote social change.

How the growth of African American bookstores in the 1960s and 1970s was closely tied to the Black Power movement.

Why the growth of head shops in the 1960s and 1970s represented more than merely the rise of marijuana use.

How some feminists in the 1970s founded businesses like book stores and publishing houses to promote feminism, women’s voices, and independence.

How activist entrepreneurs established bookstores and other enterprises to promote more a humane, democratic, and community-oriented business model that stood in contrast to traditional profit seeking one.

How Whole Foods turned from being an activist, alternative business dedicated to social change to become a more traditional profit-seeking corporation.

How large corporations have co-opted the language (“organic” and “artisan”) and image (“local” and “mission-driven”) of independent activist entrepreneur enterprises.

How gentrification played a key role in reducing the number of independent activist entrepreneur enterprises like bookstores and organic food suppliers.

About Joshua Clark Davis – website

Further Reading Joshua Clark Davis, From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs

John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia, Conscious Capitalism (2013)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs (Columbia Studies in the History of U.S. Capitalism)

Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

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This week marks the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Saratoga,

So I’ll speak with Dean Snow, author of a new book titled, 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga. It’ll give you a new appreciation of how this often overlooked battle was in many ways, the decisive moment in the American Revolution. It led the many British military leaders to argue that they could not win this war because the American colonies constituted too large a geographic area, and because American soldiers in the Continental Army were the equal of British regulars. Even more important, the victory convinced France and other European powers to back the American Revolution with troops, supplies, and money.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How a brilliant British military plan on paper turned into a disaster on the battlefield at Saratoga.

How Benedict Arnold, before turning traitor, was a hero at the Battle of Saratoga.

Why the Saratoga battlefield deserves the same recognition as Gettysburg.

How Gen. Horatio Gates managed to surround and defeat Gen. John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

Why the 1777 Battle of Saratoga proved to be the turning point of the American Revolution.

Why the significance of many pivotal battles in history is primarily political and not military.

About Dean Snow – website
Further Reading

Dean Snow, 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga (Oxford, 2016).

Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War (1997)

Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (2005)

Nathaniel Philbrick, Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution (2016)

Maps to accompany Dean Snow’s book, 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga (Oxford, 2016) - click here

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Escape the Profane” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Pat Dog” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week we look at a story that calls into question just how successful the Civil Rights Movement really was. It’s the iconic story of the Little Rock Nine, the courageous African American students who began the process of desegregating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. They faced a hostile state governor, Orville Faubus, who called out the state’s National Guard to prevent the federally-mandated desegregation order. Then, after the Eisenhower administration sent in troops from the 101st Airborne to take control of the situation and enforce the order, the students were confronted by raging mobs calling out racial slurs and threatening violence. And all of this was captured on camera. We’ve all seen the images. But there’s a lot more to the story of Little Rock in 1957 and that’s our focus today.

This topic is important because racial segregation in the nation’s public schools is still a huge problem – and it’s getting worse. And the problem isn’t just segregation, because data shows that segregated schools offer fewer college prep courses, and fewer courses and programs in the arts, compared to white majority schools. Segregated schools also have lower graduation rates and higher rates of suspensions and expulsions for discipline problems. In other words, students in these schools in 2017 are being offered an education that is, separate and unequal.

How is this possible? How did we get here?

Well, part of the reason is that many Americans – remembering uplifting moments like the Little Rock Nine desegregating Central High School 60 years ago this month – believe the problem of segregation in public schools was solved decades ago. It’s in the past. It turns out, that happy memory of a Civil Rights victory in 1957 is actually one of the things that stands in the way of our confronting and resolving the scourge of segregation.

To help us understand the long and complicated history of Little Rock and desegregation efforts, I speak with historian Erin Krutko Devlin, author of the new book, Remember Little Rock (Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2017).

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How the Little Rock crisis of 1957 is part of a problematic triumphant narrative of racial progress.

Why celebrating iconic civil rights victories can bolster a misperception that racism is a thing of the past.

Why 60 years after Little Rock, many public schools in the US remain segregated and unequal.

How opponents of integration in Little Rock and elsewhere turned from Massive Resistance to Passive Resistance to stymie desegregation efforts.

How public officials in Little Rock, Arkansas successfully conspired to thwart meaningful school integration after 1957.

How conservative judges after 1980 began to roll back desegregation programs imposed by lower courts.

What Little Rock in 1957 can tell us about Charlottesville in 2017.

Little Rock and the emergence of Civil Rights tourism.

How Little Rock and the National Park Service site and museum commemorate the #PublicHistory of the Civil Rights movement.

About Erin Krutko Devlin – website
Further Reading
Erin Krutko Devlin, Remember Little Rock (University of Massachusetts Press, 2017)

Karen Anderson, Little Rock: Race and Resistance at Central High School (2010)

Derrick Bell, Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform (2004)

Elizabeth Huckaby, Crisis at Central High, Little Rock, 1957-58 (1980)

Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (2012)

Jonathan Kozol, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (2005).

Carlotta Walls Lanier, A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School (2010).

Greg Toppo, “GAO study: Segregation worsening in U.S. schools,” USA Today, May 17, 2016

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, “Acoustic Meditation”

Hefferman, “Winter’s Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week I speak with America's most acclaimed documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns, about his new project, The Vietnam War. This 10-part, 18-hour epic debuts on PBS on September 17, 2017. Vietnam has long been one of the most divisive events in recent US history. And yet, after making films on the two most popular wars in US history, the Civil War and World War II, Ken Burns has taken on this extraordinarily complicated and emotion-filled topic. It's sure to generate a lot of commentary and -- as he and I discuss in this interview -- hopefully, many conversations in homes across the US. This episode begins with a short set-up piece, kind of a Vietnam 101, and then moves on to the main event, my interview with Ken Burns. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did.

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

Why Ken Burns chose to tackle the Vietnam War.

Why Americans initially supported the Vietnam War.

What eventually made the Vietnam War so controversial.

Why Ken Burns thinks his film has the potential to bring a divided America together.

How the Vietnam Wall went from controversy to sacred space.

About Ken Burns – website
Further Reading Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The Vietnam War: An Intimate History (2017)

David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest (1972)

Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History (1991)

Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (1989)

Smithsonian, The Vietnam War: The Definitive Illustrated History (2017)

Karen Gottschang Turner, Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam (1998)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Blue Dot Sessions, “Sage the Hunter” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Winter’s Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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It's September, so this history podcast is rolling out its annual back-to-school episode. This go around, we address the question: What do the controversies in the 1960s and 1970s surrounding sex education and bilingual education have to do with each other? Well, quite a bit, as it turns out. And that's why I'll sit down with historian Natalia Petrzela to talk about her book, Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture (Oxford University Press). It's a fascinating examination of the history of education policy and how it both reflected and shaped political discourse about immigration and diversity, as well as attitudes about sex and sexual mores, in the mid-20th century. We also talk about Natalia's role as a co-host of another fabulous history podcast, Past Present (http://www.pastpresentpodcast.com).

Among the many things discussed in this episode:

How political conservatives in the 1960s advocated bilingual education and cultural exchange with Mexico.

Why bilingual education became more controversial, in part, due to increased political activism by Latino rights groups like La Raza.

How efforts to promote bilingual education also led to increased acceptance of Latino culture and diversity in public schools.

How and why sex education became politicized in the 1960s.

How some conservatives in the 1960s linked sex education to promoting communism.

Why, despite great opposition, both sex education and bilingual education gained wide acceptance by the 1980s.

What Natalia Petrzela enjoys most about co-hosting the Past Present podcast.

About Natalia Petrzela – website
Further Reading
Natalia Petrzela, Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture (2016).

Carlos Kevin Blanton, The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas, 1836-1981 (2007).

Jessica Fields, Risky Lessons: Sex Education and Social Inequality (2008).

Janice M. Irvine, Talk About Sex: The Battles over Sex Education in the United States (2004).

Adam Laats, The Other School Reformers: Conservative Activism in American Education (2015).

Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., Contested Policy: The Rise and Fall of Federal Bilingual Education in the United States, 1960-2001 (2004).

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture

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This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we respond to the virulent anti-semitism that was on display during the neo-Nazi and white supremacist march in Charlottesville,VA by bringing to you an episode about a remarkable history research project. It’s called, History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust, and it’s bringing to light thousands of articles that appeared in US newspapers between 1933 and 1945 that told American readers in vivid detail about the Nazi campaign to persecute and exterminate millions of Jews in Europe. And here’s a truly remarkable feature of this project -- anyone can participate as a researcher – including you, or your students, if you’re a teacher. So give a listen to my conversation with Elissa Frankle of History Unfolded and learn how this new digital research initiative is changing the way we understand the American response to the Holocaust.

Website: History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust

Further Reading
Robert H. Abzug, America Views the Holocaust, 1933-45 : A Brief Documentary History (1999)

Michael Berenbaum, The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as Told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2006).

Leonard Dinnerstein, Antisemitism in America (1995)

Henry Feingold, Bearing Witness: Holocaust: How America and Its Jews Responded to the Holocaust (1995).

Deborah E. Lipstadt, Beyond Belief: The American Press And The Coming Of The Holocaust, 1933- 1945 (1993).

Christopher Mathias, “All The Swastikas And Broken Glass Since Charlottesville,” HuffPo August 25, 2017.

Arthur D. Morse, While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy (1998)

David S. Wyman, The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941-1945 (2007)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Follow the Course” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Epoch” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week we take on the topic of libertarianism, an ideology that in recent years has gained many adherents, including political conservatives and people in business, especially the high tech industry. But it's worth asking, what is libertarianism and where does it fit in the history of American political culture? Is it a mainstream ideology with deep roots in American history? Or is it one on the fringe? And what accounts for its surging popularity in recent years?

Well, to answer these questions, I’ll first give my historian's take on libertarianism. Spoiler alert: I'm not a big fan. I'll point out how libertarianism occupies a place on the very outer fringe of American political ideology. And that it's mainly an ideology of recent origin (ca 1945) and that it's popularity has a lot to do with the efforts of millionaires and billionaires, as well as large corporations, that fund pro-libertarian initiatives. The US has always revered individualism, but not the radical individualism that defines libertarianism. It's an individualism that has always been tempered by an equally important commitment to the common good.
Then I'll speak with Christine Woodside, author of the book, Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books. Wait, what? Little House on the Prairie has something to do with libertarianism? Yes. In fact, as you’re about to hear, it has quite a bit to do with it. Let's just say that it's a story that includes not only Laura Ingalls Wilder, but also Ayn Rand, the Koch brothers, and the Libertarian Party.

About Christine Woodside – website

Further Reading
Christine Woodside, Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books (2015

Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America (2017)

Colin Woodard, American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good (2015)

Daniel Cluchey, “The Founding Fathers Were Not Libertarians,” Huffington Post, May 25, 2011

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “I Will Be There” (Free Music Archive)

Doc Turtle, “Thought Soup” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books

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President Trump's announcement via Twitter that transgender personnel would no longer be allowed to serve in the US armed forces provides an excellent opportunity to take a look at the history of female and trans soldiers who have fought in past US wars. Most people would be surprised to learn that there are over 100 documented cases of women who served in the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War. In this episode, we look at the story of Albert Cashier, possibly the best known transgender soldier in US history who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. It's a remarkable story that provides us with some important historical perspective on the current #TransBan debate.

Among the many things we discuss:

Who was Albert Cashier?

How did he manage to serve in the Union Army for 3 years without anyone suspecting that he was born in Ireland with the name Jenny Hodgers.

How Cashier maintained his male identity for more than 40 years, only to have his “secret” discovered near the end of his life.

How when word got out about Cashier’s birth identity, the U.S. Pension Bureau considered revoking his pension, but opted to maintain it when they determined that Hodgers and Cashier were one in the same.

Further Reading
De Anne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War (2003).

Lon Dawson, Also Known as Albert D. J. Cashier: The Jennie Hodgers Story, or How One Young Irish Girl Joined the Union Army During the Civil War (2005)

Bonnie Tsui, She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War (2003)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Hyson, “Traces” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Discovery” (Free Music Archive)

Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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With the mainstream news media under siege these days, and with some people – including one particularly powerful and influential person – denouncing it as so-called “fake news,” this seems like a good time to explore the history of a free press. Just consider how central the free press has been to American history. So many key moments in American history have derived from, or somehow involved, the freedom of the press.
* The abolitionist press and the eventual end of slavery.
* Muckrakers at the turn of the 20th century and the exposure of abuses by big business.
* The Pentagon Papers and the withdrawal of the US military from Vietnam.
* The Watergate investigation and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

These are just a few examples of the vital role a free press has played in American history. And they raise the question: How did this idea of a free press get enshrined in the First Amendment? And how did it come to be seen as a fundamental principle of American democracy?

It’s a long and fascinating story, but it began with the arrest and prosecution of a little known New York newspaper publisher named Peter Zenger in 1735. And that’s the story we’ll focus on in this episode of In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters.

Among the many things we'll discuss:

How the British defied “seditious libel” in the 18th century – and how American colonists began to develop a very different understanding of it.

The biography of Peter Zenger, the unknown printer at the center of the famous 1735 trial that bears his name.

How the 1735 trial of Peter Zenger popularized the idea of freedom of the press

How the legacy and memory of the Zenger Trial led to the inclusion of freedom of the press in the 1st Amendment.

How Americans came to see a free press as essential to maintaining a healthy democracy.

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This week at In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters, we look at the fascinating history of the Ten Commandments in the U.S. You might think that a history of the Ten Commandments would be situated in Israel, but it turns out that it’s a very American story. In fact, over the last 150 years Americans have found many imaginative ways to embrace, reimagine, and repurpose the Ten Commandments. To learn more about this story, I’ll talk with historian Jenna Weissman Joselit about her book, Set In Stone: America's Embrace of the Ten Commandments.

Among the many things we'll discuss:

The great Ten Commandments Hoax of 1860.

How Americans came to embrace the Ten Commandments as an icon of religious devotion.

How the Ten Commandments have served as an emblem of order and stability in times of wrenching social change in US history.

Why Jewish Americans after World War II promoted the idea of an American Judeo-Christian tradition with the Ten Commandments as its iconic expression.

How some late-19th century Americans supported a proposal to make knowledge of the Ten Commandments a requirement of US citizenship and a proposal to create a national holiday to honor the Ten Commandments.

How the famous 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film, “The Ten Commandments,” helped promote the idea of erecting Ten Commandments monuments in the US.

How Americans have come to use the Ten Commandments as a template for everything from the Ten Commandments of Safe Driving to the Ten Commandments of Healthy Relationships.

Why monuments of the Ten Commandments have become the focus of so many First Amendment controversies.

About Jenna Joselit Weissman – website
**https://history.columbian.gwu.edu/jenna-weissman-joselit

Further Reading
Jenna Weissman Joselit about her book, Set In Stone: America's Embrace of the Ten Commandments (Oxford, 2017).

Katherine Orrison, Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic, The Ten Commandments (1999).

Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Stewart Vogel, The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God’s Laws in Everyday Life (1998).

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

David Szesztay, “Joyful Meeting” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week we step up to the plate to take on the origins and history of baseball, and how the sport has both reflected and shaped American society.

Among the many things we'll discuss:

Early bat and ball games that date back as 14th century Europe (and one involving nuns and monks!).

How British immigrants in the 18th century brought early forms of baseball to North America, including rounders and cricket.

Why baseball emerged as a popular sport in US cities, and not in the pastures of rural America.

Why Alexander Cartwright and NOT Abner Doubleday is the the true "father of baseball."

How the American Civil War played a key role in popularizing not just baseball, but the so-called "New York" version that eventually became the standard.

Why the early promoters of baseball insisted it remain an amateur sport played by men of good character --and why they eventually lost the battle to the forces of commercialization.

How as many as 50 African Americans played major league baseball in the 1870s and 1880s before the surging racism of the day led owners to purge black players and segregate baseball. And why Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first African American to play major league baseball, 60 years before Jackie Robinson re-integrated baseball.

Why the individualism of baseball both sets it apart from other major team sports and reflects a core American value.

How there are dozens of words and phrases in the American lexicon that trace their origins to baseball, everything from "rain check" to "big league" to "screwball."

Further Reading
Block, David. Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game (University of Nebraska Press, 2005).

Nemec, David. The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball. 2nd ed. (University of Alabama Press, 2006).

Peterson, Robert. Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams (Gramercy Books, 1999).

Rielly, Edward J. Baseball and American Culture: Across the Diamond (Haworth Press, 2003).

Riess, Steven A. Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era (University of Illinois Press, 1983. Revised 1999).

Rossi, John. The National Game: Baseball and American Culture (Ivan R. Dee, 2002).

Thorn, John. Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game (Simon & Schuster, 2011).

Tygiel, Jules. Past Time: Baseball as History (Oxford, 2000).

Voigt, David Q. America Through Baseball (Nelson Hall, 1976).

White, G. Edward. Creating the National Pastime: Baseball Transforms Itself, 1903-1953 (Princeton University Press, 1996).

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

David Szesztay, “Joyful Meeting” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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This week, In the Past Lane explores the fascinating and little-known story of an American colony that developed on a small island off Cuba following the Spanish American War of 1898. The Isle of Pines attracted some 2,000 American settlers in the early 20th century. Many of them viewed the island in the same way earlier generations of Americans saw the trans-Mississippi west -- as a place brimming with opportunity for adventure, self-reinvention, and economic advancement. At the heart of their ambitions was the hope that the United States would annex the island. To tell us all about this colony and its rise, transformation, and fall in the 20th century, I speak with historian Michael Neagle about his new book, America's Forgotten Colony: Cuba's Isle of Pines (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

About Michael Neagle – web

Further Reading Michael Neagle, America's Forgotten Colony: Cuba's Isle of Pines (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Steven Kinzer, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire (Henry Holt, 2016)

Jane McManus, Cuba's Island of Dreams: Voices from the Isle of Pines and Youth (2000)

Louis A. Perez, Jr. Cuba Under the Platt Amendment, 1902-1934 (Pittsburgh, 1986)

Louis A. Jr. Perez, The War of 1898: The United States and Cuba in History and Historiography (UNC, 1998)

Evan Thomas, The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 (Little, Brown and Company, 2010)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, "Acoustic Meditation"

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire

Cuba's Island of Dreams: Voices from the Isle of Pines and Youth

America's Forgotten Colony: Cuba's Isle of Pines (Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations)

Cuba under the Platt Amendment, 1902–1934 (Pitt Latin American Series)

The War of 1898: The United States and Cuba in History and Historiography

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This week at In The Past Lane, we talk about the American presidency – specifically the history of how US presidents have endeavored to communicate their positions on key issues of the day. To use modern political parlance, it’s the history of “spin,” that important but sometimes tawdry business of crafting and communicating a political message in such as way that it enhances your political standing. American presidents have struggled to do this since the days of the Washington administration. To help us understand what spin is and how and why it’s played such a critical role in the evolution of the modern presidency and in the success or failure of individual presidents, I talk to historian David Greenberg. He’s the author of a fascinating new book, Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency.

Among the many things we discuss:

How Theodore Roosevelt created the original permanent White House spin apparatus.

Why Woodrow Wilson’s Committee on Public Information during World War I is unfairly characterized as a nefarious propaganda machine.

Why FDR’s “fireside chats” proved so effective in promoting Roosevelt’s New Deal agenda.

How Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first president to embrace the new medium of television.

Why image making became so essential to presidential success in the age of JFK.

How Jimmy Carter -- yes, Jimmy Carter – was hailed early on in his presidency as a master communicator and manipulator of the media.

Why spin is not inherently negative but rather an essential element of presidential leadership.

Why the mainstream media is held in such low regard these days.

About David Greenberg – website

Further Reading
David Greenberg, Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency (WW Norton, 2016)

Katz and M. Barris, The Social Media President: Barack Obama and the Politics of Digital Engagement (2013)

William E. Leuchtenburg, The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton (2015)

Stephen Ponder, Managing the Press: Origins of the Media Presidency, 1897-1933 (1999)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency

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This week, In The Past Lane is in Chicago to check out a cool history exhibition and speak with John Russick of the Chicago History Museum. The exhibition, "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America," was originally created by the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC in the wake of September 11. The idea behind it was to explore the way the United States has handled the challenges posed by internal threats -- terrorists, spies, saboteurs, hate groups, etc -- while at the same time protecting civil liberties. Some of the many incidents it explores includes: the Oklahoma City bombing, the Palmer Raids, the Weather Underground, the Haymarket bombing, Japanese Internment, the KKK, German sabotage efforts during World War I, Soviet spying and McCarthyism, and the militia movement. It's an exhibition well worth seeing. Here's a link with more info. I also took a lot of photographs, so if you'd like to see what the exhibition looks like, just scroll down a bit.

After I toured the exhibition, I sat down with John Russick, Vice President of Interpretation and Education at the Chicago History Museum, to talk about why the museum decided to host "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs" and why the issues it raises are so very important to our democracy. It's a really interesting conversation about history and how it should inform the present. Among the many things we discuss:

Why Americans are really good at forgetting the past (and why it's the job of public history institutions to help them remember).

How so many issues that we wrestle with in contemporary American society -- immigration, terrorism, radical movements, violations of civil liberties, debates over security vs. liberty -- are not new.

How the desire for security in America during tumultuous times has always been in tension with our civil liberties, especially free speech and free thought.

How America has always struggled to define itself and its citizens -- What rights are essential? Which ones are the most important? Who should enjoy them? "The work of being a free and fair society," says Russick, "is never done."

Why "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs," which was created 13 years ago, is still very relevant in 2017.

Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-029/

Photos of the exhibition: scroll down

Information on the exhibition: here

Further Reading:

"Exhibit on U.S. spies and traitors hopes to speak to present day," Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2017.

Description of the exhibition from the International Spy Museum - link

Credits:

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Ketsa, “Escape the Profane” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, "Discovery" (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Devyn McHugh

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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In this episode, we dive into the tumultuous and critically important years of the 1790s, a time when the very fate of the new republic hung in the balance.

First, I’ll do a short set-up segment on the really perilous political scene in the United States in the 1790s. It's a lively period when many of the key Founders like George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson clashed bitterly over foreign and domestic policy, so much so that many people feared civil war was imminent.

Second, I’ll sit down with historian Carol Berkin to talk about her new book, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism.
She focuses on four major crises that threatened the young nation: the Whiskey Rebellion, the Genet Affair, the XYZ Affair, and the Alien and Sedition Acts. Historians have long discussed these controversies as crises that ultimately doomed the Federalist Party. But the real story of the crises of the 1790s, says Berkin, is the way that these four crises all contributed to the formation of American national identity. The US at this time was a new and fragile nation, made up of people who more often than not, identified with their states rather than their nation. So while these crises were divisive and controversial, they also led more and more Americans to see themselves as Americans, and to defend national institutions like the Presidency and the Constitution. My conversation with Carol is fun and deeply interesting and I think you’re going to love it.

Among the things Carol Berkin discusses:

How the crises of the 1790s helped forge U.S. national identity.
How Americans in the fractious 1790s came to respect not just Washington, but the office of the president.
How the Whiskey Rebellion threatened the legitimacy of the federal government and how George Washington used a combination of firmness and leniency to defuse it.
How the Genet Affair threatened US sovereignty in the 1790s.
How John Adams bungled the XYZ Affair but ultimately benefitted from the nationalist outrage it produced.
Why the Alien and Sedition Acts were not very repressive in practice.
How the Federalists deserve credit for guiding the fragile American republic through the tumultuous 1790s.
How the brutal partisan media and fake news shaped the politics of the 1790s.
What we in 2017 can learn from the fractious politics of the 1790s.

Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-028/

About Carol Berkin – website

Further Reading Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism (Basic Books, 2017)

Ronald Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (2004)

Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (2000)

Joseph J. Ellis, The Quartet: Orchestrating The Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 (2015)

William Hogeland, The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty (Simon & Schuster, 2006)

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Scott Holmes, “The Light Between Us” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Associate Producer: Devyn McHugh

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

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In this episode, in recognition of John F. Kennedy's 100 birthday -- I know, 100?, Really? -- we dive into the life and legacy of the nation's 35th President. Every couple of years, we read about a poll that ranks the presidents of the United States from best to worst. These surveys generally attract a lot of public attention, and they do so for two reasons. First, lots of people want to know where recent presidents rank (where's Obama? Bush?).

And second, many people want to know who’s in the top 10. They want to see if Lincoln ranks number one versus Washington, but they also seem keenly interested in the ranking of presidents like John F. Kennedy. JFK often lands in the top 10. In fact, a recent CNN Poll of historians put Kennedy at #8. But this result often leaves historians and political scientists scratching their heads. Kennedy, after all, served less than one full term. And he had his share of personal flaws and political failures. Well, there’s no simple answer to this question. But part of this answer is certainly tied to the way JFK created a magnetic political persona on his way to becoming President and then, following his assassination, the way Kennedy loyalists carefully crafted and preserved a certain kind of historical image of JFK.

That's our focus in this episode. Here's the lineup:

First, I sit down with historian Michael J. Hogan to talk about his latest book, The Afterlife of John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Biography. Hogan is a distinguished professor of history at the University of Illinois, Springfield and an emeritus professor of history at Ohio State University.
Second, I visit the museum dedicated to the JFK assassination, the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza to talk to some of the people who visit the site.

Show Page and Credits
http://inthepastlane.com/episode-027/

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In this episode, we take a close look at a small war that had a massive impact on American history - the Spanish American War that began in 1898. In fact, the US is still dealing with its effects at this very moment, since there are thousands of American military personal stationed all around the world, most notably in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Korea. At the heart of this story is the question: Why in the 1890s did the US abandon a century of isolationist foreign policy to become an imperialist (or interventionist, if you prefer) power?

This episode has two parts:

1) First, I’ll start with a brief overview of traditional US foreign policy before 1890 and what changed at the end of the 19th century.

2) Second, I’ll talk to historian Stephen Kinzer about his latest book, titled: The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. This book takes a close look at the Spanish-American War, the great debate it triggered over imperialism, and how its resolution marked a new and troubling chapter in US history.

Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-026/

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In this episode, we take a close look at another Founding Father - Thomas Jefferson (Episode 23 focused on Alexander Hamilton). And why not? Jefferson was born in the month of April – April 13th to be precise – and he’s Thomas Jefferson, maybe the most multi-talented of the Founders. He was part businessman, philosopher, writer, naturalist, theologian, statesman, architect, and inventor -- among other things. To help us understand Jefferson and why he still matters – despite all the Hamilton mania these days – this episode has two parts:

1) First, I provide a brief overview of the life of Thomas Jefferson. In so doing, I’ll raise some of the many key questions about the 3rd President, most especially: how could the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence also own 600 slaves? And have children with one of them (Sally Hemings)?

2) Then, I’ll sit down with award-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, co-author of the most recent major book on Jefferson, "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. It’s just been released in paperback. It’s a deep and compelling examination of this most important and most enigmatic of Founders.

Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-025/

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This week we mark the 100th anniversary of the US entry into The Great War, or what we’ve come to know as World War I. The US declaration of war in April 1917 marked a decisive turning point in American history, as for the first time the US engaged in a European war. This decision marked a decisive break with the nation’s longstanding tradition of isolationism when it came to European affairs. But at the outset of the war in 1914, that spirit of isolationism was running high in the US. Reflecting this view, President Woodrow Wilson announced that the US would remain neutral. But over the course of the next three years, many events transpired that gradually moved a majority of Americans to accept US involvement in WWI as inevitable. To help us understand this crucial period in US history from 1914-1917, this episode has two segments.
1) First, I provide a brief overview of the isolationist tradition in US history and how it changed by 1917. To illustrate this transition, I look at two hit songs from the period. In 1915, the top song in the US was explicitly anti-war: “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be A Soldier.” But two years later, the #1 song in the US was “Over There!,” a rousing patriotic ditty extolling America’s commitment to military victory in WWI penned by the famed songwriter George M. Cohan.

2) Second, I talk to historian Michael S. Neiberg about his new book, The Path to War: How the First World War Created Modern America. It’s a close examination of the years between 1914 – when WW1 began in Europe – and 1917, when the US finally chose to enter the conflict. It’s a fascinating and largely forgotten period in American history.

Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-024/

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In this episode of ITPL, we focus on Alexander Hamilton. You may have noticed that Hamilton has become the hottest Founder in recent years – and it’s all due to the smash Broadway hit, “Hamilton: The Musical.”

So here's the lineup:
1. First, I provide a brief backgrounder on the remarkable life of Alexander Hamilton. 2. Second, I sit down with historian Stephen F. Knott to discuss his book, Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America (Sourcebooks, 2015). He and his co-author Tony Williams argue that the relationship between Washington and Hamilton had a major impact on the outcome of the American Revolution and the subsequent creation of the American republic.
3. Finally, I drop by the one permanent site in Manhattan that’s dedicated to the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. It's the Hamilton Grange in Harlem. I speak with National Park Service ranger Liam Strain about the site’s history and how “Hamilton: The Musical” has dramatically increased visitor traffic at the site. You can find show notes for this episode and more information about the podcast at www.InThePastLane.com
In The Past Lane is a production of Snoring Beagle International, Ltd.

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Why are so many Americans in prison? Right now, there are 2.3 million Americans held in US prisons. That's a HUGE number, relative to the overall US population. The US makes up just 5% of the world's population, but we hold 25% of the world's prison population. Put another way, 1 in 4 people held in prison around the world is an American citizen. And a disproportionate number of these inmates are people of color, mostly African American and Latino. Furthermore, this phenomenon of mass incarceration is a relatively recent one. In 1970 the incarceration rate in the US was roughly 150 people per 100,000. In 2017 it's well over 700 people per 100,000! How did we get here? What happened around 1970 that sent us down this path?
To answer these questions, I speak with historian Elizabeth Hinton, author of the book, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America (Harvard University Press). She'll help us see the key public policy decisions regarding crime and criminal justice -- and the assumptions about race and poverty that shaped them -- that caused the US prison population to explode after 1970.
Show page with links, suggested readings, credits, and music at http://inthepastlane.com/episode-022/

From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America

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How did it come to pass that in the United States that we imprison more people than any nation in the world? That's right - the US comprises 5% of the world's population, but it holds 25% of the world's prison population. That's more people in US prisons than Russia, China, Iran -- you name it. How did it come to pass that we've put 2.3 million of our fellow Americans in prisons? Well, in this first of a two-part exploration of the origins of mass incarceration, I visit the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA. It's a famous prison built in the 1820s that closed in the 1970s and then later was turned into a museum. I take a tour of this fascinating institution with staff guide Lauren Bennett. I took A LOT of photographs so you'll want to check them out at www.InThePastLane.com. And keep in mind, this is part 1 of a deep dive into the history of prisons and criminal justice in American history. In part 2, I speak with historian Elizabeth Hinton about her book, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America (Harvard University Press). You won't want to miss it!

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In this episode of ITPL, we focus on the experiences of African Americans who joined the Union Army during the Civil War and the profound impact they had on the war's final outcome -- and on American society in the decades that followed. There's a lot more to this story than what you may have seen in the award-winning film, "Glory" (1989). So here's the lineup:
1. First, I provide a brief backgrounder on the basic details regarding African Americans and their service in the Union Army and Navy.
2. Second, I sit down with historian Douglas Egerton to talk about his new book, Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America (Basic Books, 2016).
3. Finally, I present a feature on the Ft. Pillow Massacre, perhaps the grimmest incident in the whole Civil War.
You can find show notes for this episode and more information about the podcast here.
In The Past Lane is a production of Snoring Beagle International, Ltd.

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This week at ITPL, I speak with historian Andres Resendez about his new book, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered History of Indian Slavery in America. The enslaving of native peoples in the Americas began the moment Christopher Columbus arrived. And it was no small venture. Some 2.5 – 5 million Indians were enslaved (compared to approximately 12 million Africans). In my interview with Professor Resendez, he explains how and why this system of exploitation started and why it somehow remained hidden, both at the time and later in the historical record. This recovery of the story of Indian slavery has major implications for the understanding of not just the history of American slavery, but for all of American history. Show page with notes, readings, songlist at www.InThePastLane.com

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This week at In The Past Lane, we talk to historian Nicole Hemmer about her new book, Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (Penn Press, 2016). Hemmer, who also co-hosts the terrific history podcast, Past Present, provides a fascinating look into the 30 years of American political history before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. We learn that long, long before the rise of Rush Limbaugh (1988) and FoxNews (1996), conservative "media activists" were hard at work establishing magazines, radio and TV programs, and other forms of media and institutions to promote the modern conservative movement. Given this crazy election season, with the many questions it’s raised about the state of the Republican Party, the conservative movement, and key conservative media outlets like Fox News, this is a remarkably well-timed book. Join Nicole Hemmer and me for a lively and informative conversation.
For show credits, links, and further reading, see this episode's show page.

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This week at In The Past Lane, we take a new look at a familiar event - the American Revolution. Think you know this key chapter in American history? Think again. For as our special guest, historian Alan Taylor, argues in his new book, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804, the American Revolution was also a civil war. And it had an impact far beyond the 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast. We also talk to Jim Moran, Director of Outreach at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA, about a little-known but important chapter in the story of American independence.

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This week, as the Democratic National Convention prepares to make history by nominating a woman for the presidency, In The Past Lane takes a close look at women who have sought the nation’s highest office. Here’s the lineup: 1) First, I bring you a short segment on a curious voting controversy that few people have ever heard of. 2) Next, I speak with historian Ellen Fitzpatrick about her terrific new book, The Highest Glass Ceiling: Women’s Quest for the American Presidency. 3) Finally, I speak with William Hazelgrove, author of a forthcoming book, Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson. Wait, does that mean the United States already had a woman president? Listen and learn! Show page with credits etc

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This week, in honor of the G.O.P. Convention, In The Past Lane explores the fascinating history of the Republican Party. I speak with historian Heather Cox Richardson, author of a superb history of the Republican party. She’ll take us on a fascinating journey through eras when the GOP was the party of big business and Wall Street and when it periodically shifted to become the party of the people and the common good. And she'll bring her analysis all the way to the present to help put Donald Trump in historical perspective.

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It's the Independence Day weekend edition of In The Past Lane! Happy July 4th to all! This week, we take a close look at the document at the heart of the July 4th celebration -- the Declaration of Independence. There's a lot more to this patriotic piece of parchment than you might think.
So here’s the lineup: We'll start with a look at three key things about the Declaration and how it came to be -- including the fact that America’s actual Independence Day is July 2, not July 4.
Next, we examine the fascinating story of how American’s understanding of the Declaration changed after 1800 and as a consequence, how it has inspired countless rights movements in the US (women's rights, labor rights, civil rights, etc) and around the world for more than 200 years.

Episode 014 notes and credits

Recommended Reading

Joseph J. Ellis, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89

Backstory podcast, “Pursuits of Happiness” – especially the feature on Frederick Douglass and his famous speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

Music for This Episode

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

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This week, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Flag Day, we take a look at several intriguing flag-related stories. Here’s the lineup: 1. Why Do We Pledge Allegiance? Here’s the little-known story behind this revered American ritual and the fears that inspired it. Did you know the Pledge was written by a socialist? Or that it’s wording has been changed twice? Or that the original salute was dropped during World War II because it too closely resembled the fascist salute of Nazi Germany? 2. Next, I interview Kimberly Staub, the Manager of Collections and Exhibitions at the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia. She’ll tell us how Betsy Ross was “discovered” as the woman who made the first American flag in the 1890s – more than a century after the flag was created. And she’ll tell us how the museum has changed it’s focus over the past decade to tell a larger story of colonial women in the late-18th century. 3. Finally, I drop some fun and interesting flag-related facts on you. Do the flag's colors red, white, and blue officially symbolize anything like courage or sacrifice? Listen and learn, people.

Show page with credits:

Episode 013 notes and credits

Recommended Reading

Jeff Gammage, “Flag Day loses importance but lives on in Philadelphia,” Philadelphia Enquirer, June 14, 2008.

Jeffrey Owen Jones, “Meet the Man Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance,” Smithsonian Magazine (November 2003)

Marc Leepson, “Five myths about the American flag,” Washington Post, June 12, 2011

Kelli Marshall, “The Strange History Behind The Pledge Of Allegiance,” Talking Points Memo (September 15, 2015)

Marla R. Miller, Betsy Ross and the Making of America

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “How Betsy Ross Became Famous: Oral Tradition, Nationalism, and the Invention of History,” Common-Place (October 2007).

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, “Acoustic Meditation” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

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June is Pride Month in the US, so in this episode we examine the history of the gay rights struggle. Here's the lineup: 1) a short piece on the notion of "hidden history." 2) an interview with Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, an organization that has played a key role in getting historical landmark status for the famous Stonewall Inn. 3) an interview with historian Jim Downs about his extraordinary new book, Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation (Basic Books, 2016).

Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-012-the-struggle-for-gay-rights-in-us-history/

Episode 012 notes and credits

Further reading about the history of the Gay Rights Movement in US History

Michael Bronski, A Queer History of the United States

David Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution

Jim Downs, Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation(Basic Books, 2016).

Vicki L. Eaklor, Queer America: A People’s GLBT History of the United States

Lillian Faderman, The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle

Patrick Moore, Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality

Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

Randy Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

Johnny Townsend, Let the Faggots Burn: The Upstairs Lounge Fire

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

Let the Faggots Burn: The Upstairs Lounge Fire

The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle

Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation

Queer America: A People's GLBT History of the United States (New Press People's History)

A Queer History of the United States (ReVisioning American History)

The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th-Anniversary Edition

Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality

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Who doesn't love a good scandal - so long as it doesn't involve them? This week at In The Past Lane we examine the important -- and often positive -- role scandals have played in American history. Here's the lineup: 1) a short segment on the role of scandals in US history 2) an interview with historian Daniel Czitrom about his new book, New York Exposed: The Gilded Age Police Scandal That Launched the Progressive Era (Oxford U Press, 2016). We talk about the famous Lexow Commission investigation into allegations of widespread corruption involving the political machine Tammany Hall and the New York City Police Dept. Dan also draws important links to key issues confronting American society in 2016 - police violence and the origins of the so-called "blue wall of silence" and voting suppression efforts. 3) a look at the scandal in the meatpacking industry triggered by the publication in 1906 of Upton Sinclair's famous novel, The Jungle.

Show notes page http://inthepastlane.com/episode-011-scandal-in-american-history/

Episode 011 notes and credits

Further reading about the history of Scandals in American History

Daniel Czitrom, New York Exposed: The Gilded Age Police Scandal That Launched the Progressive Era (Oxford U Press, 2016)

Andy Hughes, A History of Political Scandals: Sex, Sleaze and Spin (2014)

George C. Kohn, The New Encyclopedia of American Scandal(2001)

Laton McCartney, The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country (Random House, 2009)

Mitchell Zuckoff, Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend (Random House, 2006)

Andrew Burt, “The 1826 Kidnapping, Allegedly by a Cabal of Freemasons, That Changed American Politics Forever,” Slate.comMay 15, 2015

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope That It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

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This week at the In The Past Lane history podcast, we take up some timely questions: Who was Harriet Tubman and why did the U.S. Treasury Dept. choose her as the first woman to appear on the $20 bill? And why has President Andrew Jackson been demoted to the backside of the bill? Along the way, we’ll speak with the historian who literally wrote the book on Harriet Tubman, historian Catherine Clinton. We’ll also check in with historian Stephanie Yuhl in our History Skinny segment where we discuss history that’s made headlines. So put the top down and join us for another informative and fun journey In The Past Lane.

Episode 010 notes and credits

Further reading about the history of Harriet Tubman, Andrew Jackson, and the Underground Railroad

Catherine Clinton, “The Long Journey from the Age of Jackson to Harriet Tubman on the Twenty” History News Network
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/162628

Catherine Clinton, Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (2004)

Catherine Clinton’s website: http://www.catherineclinton.com/

Feminista Jones, “Keep Harriet Tubman – and all women – off the $20 bill,”The Washington Post, May 14, 2015

Eric Foner, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad (Norton, 2015)

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)

Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

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This week at In The Past Lane, in honor (if that's the right word) of Tax Day, we take a close look at the history of the fraught relationship between Americans and their taxes. This episode features three segments:
1) an interview with historian William Hogeland about his terrific book on one of the biggest tax revolts in US history, the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.
2) the story of a one-man, one-day tax revolt by Henry David Thoreau that -- eventually -- exerted a tremendous influence on social justice struggles around the world, including women's suffrage and civil rights for African Americans in the US.
3) a fun grab bag of things related to the history of taxes in US history, including - wait for it - a reason to be thankful for taxes ... seriously ...

Episode 009 notes and credits

Further reading about the history of taxes and tax revolts

Charles Adams, Those Dirty Rotten Taxes: The Tax Revolts That Built America (1998).

William Hogeland, The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America’s Newfound Sovereignty (2010)

Thomas P. Slaughter, The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution (1986)

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Civil Disobedience, and Other Writings, William Rossi, Ed. (2008)

Some History Podcasts to Check Out

Ben Frankin’s World with Liz Covart
http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/

Past Present with Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Petrzela, and Neil Young
http://www.pastpresentpodcast.com/

Slate’s History of Slavery with Rebecca Onion
http://www.slate.com/articles/slate_plus/history_of_slavery.html

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with John Fea
http://www.philipvickersfithian.com/

BackStory with the American History Guys
http://backstoryradio.org/

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope That It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, “Acoustic Meditation” (Free Music Archive)

The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty (Simon & Schuster America Collection)

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This week In The Past Lane looks into the little known and yet hugely significant development of the ice and refrigeration industries in US history.
1) first we tell the story of Frederick Tudor, the "Ice King," who single-handedly invented the ice industry way back in 1806. This development radically redefined the American life, especially the American diet.
2) Then we check in with historian Jonathan Rees, the nation's leading authority on all things related refrigeration, to learn how mechanical refrigeration and machine-made ice accelerated this transformation of everyday life.
3) Finally, we take just a few minutes to visit a unique bar in New York City. It's called Minus 5 and with the exception of the floor and ceiling, it's made entirely of ice and kept at a temperature of Minus 5 centigrade (minus 19 F). Yeah, I know ...

Episode 008 notes and credits

Further Reading about the history of ice and refrigeration

Oscar Edward Anderson, Jr. Refrigeration in America: A History of a New Technology and Its Impact (Princeton University Press, 1953).

Mariana Gosnell, Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance (Knopf, 2005)

Jonathan Rees, Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise in America (John Hopkins University Press, 2013)

Jonathan Rees, Refrigerator (Bloomsbury, 2015)

Carl Seaburg and Stanley Paterson, The Ice King: Frederic Tudor and His Circle (Massachusetts Historical Society and Mystic Seaport, 2003).

Gavin Weightman, The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story (Hyperion, 2003)

Music:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, “Jenny’s Theme (Free Music Archive)

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With St. Patrick's Day (March 17) being celebrated this week, In The Past Lane takes a look at some fascinating Irish American history.
1) We start with a feature piece on why Americans in the late 19th century associated Irish immigrants with terrorism. That's right, long before 9/11, the Irish inspired fear among Americans as a dangerous immigrant group that committed acts of terrorism.
2) Next, we present a feature on Hercules Mulligan, the Irish immigrant who served as a trusted spy against the British during the American revolution. You might recognize his name if you've seen "Hamilton, The Musical," or listened to the soundtrack.
3) Then we turn to The History Skinny, the segment where we talk about news stories that relate to history. This week we chat it up with In The Past Lane's Senior Historical Correspondent, Stephanie Yuhl. 4)and finally, it's on to a short piece on the dozens of American slang terms (47 to be precise) that start with the word "Irish." Ever hear of Irish confetti?

Show notes and credits at: www.InThePastLane.com

Episode 007 notes and credits

Further Reading about the Irish and the Fenian Movement

Terry Golway, For the Cause of Liberty: A Thousand Years of Ireland’s Heroes (2000).

Shane Kenna, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa: Unrepentant Fenian (2015)

K.R.M. Short, The dynamite war: Irish American bombers in Victorian Britain (1979).

Peter Vronsky, Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada (2011)

Patrick Freyne, “‘O’Dynamite’ Rossa: Was Fenian leader the first terrorist?” The Irish Times, Aug 1, 2015 http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/o-dynamite-rossa-was-fenian-leader-the-first-terrorist-1.2303447

Niall Whelehan, “Scientific warfare or the quickest way to liberate Ireland’: the Brooklyn Dynamite School,” History Ireland, Nov/Dec 2008.http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/scientific-warfare-or-the-quickest-way-to-liberate-ireland-the-brooklyn-dynamite-school/

Music:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Howie and Ann Mitchell, “Irish Washerwoman” (Free Music Archive)

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, we take a look at the history behind something that's dominating the news these days: political primaries. Their origin dates not to 1787 and the Constitutional Convention, but rather to ca. 1900 and the efforts of Progressives to reduce political corruption and increase the voice of the people in elections.
Here's the lineup:
1) The origin and history of the political primary
2) History Skinny segment where we discuss how history has made headlines in recent days, everything from Donald Trump relating a story about an incident from the Spanish American War that never happened, to Mississippi declaring April Confederate Heritage Month. 3) Mercy Street Rewind - ITPL's Senior Correspondent, historian Megan Kate Nelson, provides her insightful assessment of Episode 6 of "Mercy Street." Note - to avoid spoilers, Mercy Street Rewind appears as a separate segment in this podcast feed.

Show notes and credits at www.InThePastLane.com

Episode 006 credits:

Suggested Readings about the History of Political Primaries:

Geoffrey Cowan, Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary (2016)

David W. Moore and Andrew E. Smith, The First Primary: New Hampshire’s Outsize Role in Presidential Nominations (2015)

Alan Ware, The American Direct Primary: Party Institutionalization and Transformation in the North (2002)

Links for stories Discussed in The History Skinny segment:

Donald Trump and the Pig Blood Myth
Donald Trump cites dubious legend about Gen. Pershing, pig’s blood and Muslims

Mississippi Declares April Confederate Heritage Month
Historian Kevin Levin weighs in via his blog, Civil War Memory

New data shows declining American interest in historic sites
http://humanitiesindicators.org/content/indicatordoc.aspx?i=101

National Geographic –Science Helps Trace Slaves to Their African Homelands

“What if Washington, Hamilton, Lincoln and Kennedy had Twitter?”http://flip.it/.gMmL

Music:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com) Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

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This week at In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters, we take a close look at Robert F. Kennedy. Here's the lineup: 1) First up, it's a short feature on the basics of the life of RFK.
2) Next, I speak with author Larry Tye about his new book, Bobby Kennedy: The Making of A Liberal Icon (2016, Random House). Tye is the author of many best-selling biographies and he's at his best in this new look at RFK. One of the myths he's eager to dispel is the notion that there were two, polar opposite Bobby Kennedys - the bad boy in the 1950s who worked for Sen. Joseph McCarthy and later waged war on organized labor and the saintly good guy in the mid-1960s who fought for social justice.
3. And we bring you two remarkable audio clips from the 1960s. First, an excerpt from RFK's 1968 speech, "The Mindless Menace of Violence" and second, Ted Kennedy's eulogy for RFK two months later. Show page with notes and credits http://inthepastlane.com/005/

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, we focus on the movement to abolish slavery. We start with a thinkpiece titled, "The Daunting Challenge the Abolitionists Faced in Taking on Slavery." Abolitionism is one of the most remarkable movements in United States history. And yet, few Americans can name more than one or two abolitionists – maybe William Lloyd Garrison, or Frederick Douglass, or Sojourner Truth. Why is that? And why is it also true that few people remember any key events of the abolitionist movement? Why do we remember only one bare fact: that the abolitionists ultimately won their struggle?The main reason, is that to people living in the 21st-century, slavery is so self-evidently wrong and evil, they can’t imagine the abolitionist movement failing. But this sense that abolitionists were destined to succeed because they were right is not only false – slavery might have lasted many more decades – but it also serves to undermine and diminish the extraordinary efforts of the men and women who fought against incredible odds to end slavery. What do I mean by incredible odds? Well, you'll have to listen to this segment and to my interview with Historian Manisha Sinha about her new book, "The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition." It’s a masterful, far-reaching new interpretation of the movement to abolish slavery. Finally, we end this episode with a History Heads Up with historian Stephanie Yuhl (history-related events to keep an eye out for) and some fun with the upcoming President's Day holiday.

Show credits and links

More information about historian Manisha Sinha

Manisha Sinha’s new book:
Manisha Sinha, The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition (Yale University Press, 2016)

Episode 004 credits:

Music:
Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition

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This week's episode focuses on American prohibitions. That’s right, Prohibitions in the plural. Even though Americans think of themselves as a people who have always prized individual liberty, history shows that there are MANY examples where one group of Americans tried to stop another group of Americans from engaging in a particular behavior.
So here’s the lineup:
1. First, a feature on a little-known prohibition crusade from the early 20th century that tried to ban cigarettes.
2. Then I interview historian Lisa McGirr about her new book, The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State.

Show notes and credits at www.InThePastLane.com

Episode 003 credits:

Music:Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Lisa McGirr: The War on Alcohol : Prohibition and the Rise of the American State (Hardcover); 2015 Edition

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In this episode of In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, we look at a little-known aspect of American immigration history - the story behind the Statue of Liberty and how it came to symbolize America's tradition of welcoming immigrants.
Next, I speak with historian Vincent Cannato about why immigration is now - and seemingly always has been - a hot-button political issue; Finally, it's The History Skinny, the segment where historian Stephanie Yuhl and I examine how history has made the headlines in recent days.

Show page and credits at www.InThePastLane.com

Suggested Readings:

Vincent Cannato, American Passage: The History of Ellis Island

Elizabeth Mitchell, Liberty’s Torch: The Great Adventure to Build the Statue of Liberty

Edward Berenson, The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story (Yale, 2012).

John Higham, “The Transformation of the Statue of Liberty,” in John Higham, Send These to Me: Immigrants in Urban America (Johns Hopkins, 1984).

Yasmin Sabina Khan, Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty (Cornell, 2010).

The New York Times, October 28, 1886.

Music Credits for Episode 002
Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story (Icons of America)

Liberty's Torch: The Great Adventure to Build the Statue of Liberty

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island

Send These to Me: Immigrants in Urban America

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This week at In The Past Lane, the American history podcast, we take on the American Civil War. Not the whole thing but rather a specific aspect of this massive military conflict: medicine and death. This episode has three parts:
1) a short thinkpiece on death and medicine and the Civil War
2) an in-depth interview with Lisa Wolfinger, co-creator ad executive producer of "Mercy Street"
3) Mercy Street Rewind - ITPL's Senior Correspondent, historian Megan Kate Nelson, provides her insightful assessment of the first episode of "Mercy Street." Note - to avoid spoilers, Mercy Street Rewind appears as a separate segment in this podcast feed.

Episode 001 credits:

Music:
Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer

Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson

Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions

Photographer: John Buckingham

Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci

Website by: ERI Design

Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Social Media management: The Pony Express

Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates

Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight

In The Past Lane - The Podcast About History and Why It Matters: Recent Episodes

Edward T. O'Donnell