1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello would welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, Oh Tracy. 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: Today's topic was requested by listener Amy A long way back. 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: It's been on my list ever since, and finally, after 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: literal years, shuffled up. Uh. Lydia Mariah Child was a 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: writer of children's literature, historical novels, abolitionist tracts, and even poetry. 8 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: And her writing was prolific at times, it was very 9 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: divisive in its subject matter. And she's kind of unique 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: in that she wrote so many different types of books, right. 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: She wrote particularly basic, friendly advice books on one end 12 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: of her spectrum, and then like really hard nosed activism 13 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: on the other side, and a variety of things in between. 14 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: She also wrote literature for children. She penned holiday poem 15 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: that listeners are definitely going to recognize when we get 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: to it. Uh. And because she was so prolific and 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: from a very early age, there is a lot of 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: ground to cover with her, so we're just going to 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: jump right in. She was born Lydia Francis on February 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: two in Medford, Massachusetts. Her parents were Converse Francis, a Baker, 21 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: and Susannah Ran Francis. Lydia had five siblings, four of 22 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: whom survived childhood, and she was the baby of the family. 23 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: Her family was actually part of the abolition movement even 24 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: before Lydia was born. Her mother, Susannah, died when Lydia 25 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: was twelve, and that was just the beginning of a 26 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: series of tragedies to the family. Lydia actually recalled being 27 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: in a poor mood on the day that her mother died, 28 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: and she was consequently not attentive to Susannah as she 29 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: should have been. There's a story that her mother asked 30 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: her for a glass of water and at first she 31 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: was like, I don't want to go downstairs and get it. Uh. 32 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: This was a guilt that she carried with her throughout 33 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: her life. Her grandmother also died that same year, several 34 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: months after Susannah, and then in the fall of that year, 35 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: Lydia was enrolled in a Medford school called Ms. Swan's Academy. 36 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: She had been homeschooled prior to her mother's death, but 37 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: her time there at the academy was short. The following 38 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: summer she went to live with her sister Mary and 39 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: Mary's new husband, Warren Preston. Her brother, Convers Francis Jr. 40 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: Who was a Unitarian minister, was hugely influential in her 41 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: early years. Converse had gone to Harvard when Lydia was 42 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: just nine. Lydia looked up to him just immensely and 43 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: wrote him numerous letters while he was at school, primarily 44 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: about what she was reading. The two of them loved 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: to talk about literature together. When she was eighteen, Lydia 46 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: started teaching in Gardner, Maine, but the following year she 47 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,839 Speaker 1: moved in with Converse and his wife in Watertown, Massachusetts, 48 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: and that's where Converse was working. She was not fond 49 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: of her first name, and when she was baptized in 50 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,279 Speaker 1: her late teen years, she chose the name Lydia Mariah, 51 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: and she preferred at that point to be called Mariah. 52 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: So we are going to respect her wishes and call 53 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: her by that name as we go forward. The time 54 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: she spent with Convers Jr. Ended up setting her on 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: the path of writing. It was through a conversation with 56 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: her older brother that Mariah decided to write her first novel, 57 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: Hobba Mock, which was a story about life in the 58 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: early colonies. This book, which was published in eighteen twenty four, 59 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: features a romance between a white woman and an Indigenous man. 60 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: They marry and they have a child together, and then 61 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: the book follows their story as the woman and her 62 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: son become pariah's of white society. This book, which Mariah 63 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: wrote in just a month and a half, really challenged 64 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: other social norms. In addition to racist ideas about Native Americans, 65 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: examined the roles of women and the expectations they lived under, 66 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: and it told the story from a woman's perspective. She 67 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: also makes the case that the rigidity of Puritan life 68 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: was deeply problematic and a hindrance to the establishment of 69 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: the colonies. This story, of course, gave a mind early 70 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds did not sit well with a lot of people, 71 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: and it established Maria, who had published the book under 72 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: the author listing of an American, as something of a firebrand, 73 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: willing to tackle problematic subjects and stir the social pot 74 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: in doing so. And even though her name was not 75 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: on that initial printing of the novel, she was well 76 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: known in some of New England's literary circles thanks to 77 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: her brother's connections through Harvard, so it really was not 78 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: any kind of secret that it was her work. Additionally, 79 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: the book was supported by Boston literati George Tickner, which 80 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: lent it clout and gave it broader exposure. Her follow 81 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: up was a totally different type of book entirely. It 82 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: was Evenings in New England, intended for juvenile amusement and instruction, 83 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: was also released in eighteen twenty four. It's framed as 84 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: an aunt that's Aunt Maria telling didactic stories to two 85 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: children about issues of the day, including topics like slavery, 86 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: science and history. And this was a huge of success. Yeah, 87 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: she immediately like really hit on something with her her 88 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: works for the juvenile market. In Mariah's second novel, The 89 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 1: Rebels or Boston Before the Revolution, was published, and this 90 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: work was a melodrama, again centered on women, but it 91 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: led to a bit of confusion which persisted for quite 92 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: a long time. There was an oration that she wrote 93 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: for the book, which was historical fiction, but in the 94 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: book it was delivered by someone who was actually a 95 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: real historical figure and political activist, James Otis Jr. And 96 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: that oration she wrote was taken as historically accurate by 97 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: many readers, so much so that it actually ended up 98 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: in some school books, and many children in the eighteen 99 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: hundreds learned to recite this fictional speech as though it 100 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: were historically significant. Uh moment in time this um, this 101 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: reminds me of the very first episode I ever worked 102 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: on for this show, which was the one about Chief 103 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: Seattle's oration that he did not say at all. Um. 104 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: For a very brief period just through the winter, Mariah 105 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: attended a Boston boarding school called Madame Kanda's Academy. When 106 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: she returned to Watertown in the fall of eighteen twenty six, 107 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: she founded a children's magazine called Juvenile Miss Laney. She 108 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: used this as a platform to educate children about injustice, 109 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: and she also opened a school, although it lasted just 110 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: a year. She started writing short stories during this time 111 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: as well. Mariah meant and began a courtship with lawyer, 112 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: editor and political hopeful David Lee Child in eighteen twenty four. 113 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: He was, like her brother Converse, a Harvard graduate, and 114 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: David was eight years older than Mariah. He was well 115 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: traveled and was the editor of the Massachusetts Journal as 116 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: well as its publisher, and he was a very vocal 117 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: political activist. Mariah and David shared many interests, but they 118 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: were a very different temperaments. Mariah was frugal, romantic, and 119 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: drawn to mysticism. He loved to spend money, and his 120 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: idealism was dedicated to reform. The couple were engaged in 121 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: eighty seven, but the Francis family was really not in 122 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: favor of the marriage. David's irresponsibility with money was a concern, 123 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: But as this tension with the family was playing out, 124 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: Mariah started making more money through her own work as 125 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: a writer, so the issue of finances became a lot 126 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: less of an obstacle. She and David were finally married 127 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: in eight All that money things going to come up 128 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: a bunch. After their marriage, the newlyweds collaborated on each 129 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: other's projects. Mariah became more active in David's political work, 130 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: and she also started writing for the Massachusetts Journal. The 131 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: journal offered a platform for both husband and wife to 132 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: speak out against President Andrew Jackson's position regarding the people 133 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: of the Cherokee Nation and its culmination in the Trail 134 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: of Tears that, of course played out over years, and 135 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: throughout all of it they were writing articles and essays 136 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: for the Journal. About it, yet also included multiple indigenous 137 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: nations in addition to the Cherokee. So even before that, though, 138 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: the Childs were no strangers to controversy for their outspoken 139 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: political writings. But things became a little bit more serious 140 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: in eighty eight when David was charged with libel in 141 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: the case of the Commonwealth Versus David Lee Child for 142 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: publishing in the Massachusetts Journal a libel on the Honorable 143 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: John Keys. David had published several pieces and his periodical 144 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: and The Flyers, saying that John Keys, while serving as 145 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: Committee of Accounts chairman for the county, had misused and 146 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: manipulated county funds, including participating in a bid rigging scheme 147 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: to benefit himself. David Child was found guilty. He lost 148 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,959 Speaker 1: his appeal when he served six months of jail time. 149 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: He was also named in another libel suit during this 150 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: time as well, And coming up, we'll talk about how 151 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: Mariah dealt with the circumstance of her husband's legal and 152 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: financial difficulties, and we'll do that right after we pause 153 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: for us sponsor break. So this whole legal situation, which 154 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: of course led to a significant drop in subscriptions to 155 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,559 Speaker 1: the Massachusetts Journal, made it clearer than ever that Mariah's 156 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: income was really crucial to the child's financial stability. Knowing 157 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: about the differences in how Mariah and David handled money, 158 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: it is to me a little bit funny, or perhaps 159 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: just very telling that less than a year into her 160 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,199 Speaker 1: life as a married woman, Mrs Child published an advice 161 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: book titled The Frugal Housewife, dedicated to those who are 162 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: not ashamed of economy. In the beginning of the book, 163 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: she included the proverb economy is a poor man's revenue, 164 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: extravagance a rich man's ruin. The introduction of the book 165 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: opens with quote, the true economy of housekeeping is simply 166 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: the art of gathering up all the fragments so that 167 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time as well 168 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: as material. Nothing should be thrown away so long as 169 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: it is possible to make any use of it, however 170 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: trifling that use maybe, And whatever the size of the family, 171 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: every member should be employed either and earning or saving money. 172 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: And this book is full of useful, no nonsense tips, 173 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: like keeping up with your vegetables to make sure they 174 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: don't go bad. Tracy and I have often talked about 175 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,440 Speaker 1: her brilliant term aspirational vegetables that go bad in the 176 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: crisper I have them too. Mariah would be very disappointed 177 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: in us. She also talks about doing your own mending 178 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: rather than sending it out to a seamstress, and to 179 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: prioritize baking your own bread and cake rather than paying 180 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: for the convenience of the baker to do it. This 181 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: all sounds pretty obvious, but the writing here is important 182 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: because it's aimed at a lower income woman than most 183 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: of the books for ladies of the day were really doing, 184 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: and this was an astute approach. Child's writing appealed to 185 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: a far larger reader base with generally usable information shan 186 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 1: than most books about being a housewife. Those were often 187 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: directed at people who were more affluent, so this book 188 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: got into the real day to day tasks that a 189 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: wife and a mother without a staff might face at 190 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: a time when her own income was really important. She 191 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: saw that mass appeal was more lucrative than writing for 192 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: a more high brow crowd. The Frugal Housewife was very popular, 193 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: and it was followed up with two other advice books 194 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: with slightly different target audiences. In the introduction to her book, 195 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: The Mother's Book, Child commented on the market success of 196 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: her previous volume, writing quote, when I wrote The Frugal Housewife, 197 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: some booksellers declined publishing it on account of the great 198 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: variety of cookery books already in the market. I was 199 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,719 Speaker 1: perfectly aware of this circumstance, but among them all, I 200 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: did not know of one suited to the wants of 201 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: the middling class in our own country. I believed such 202 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: a book was needed, and the sale of more than 203 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: six thousand copies in one year has proved that I 204 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: was right in my conjecture. She also acknowledges that the 205 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: information that she shares, particularly in The Mother's Book, isn't new, 206 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: but that it comes from conversations with mothers. And this 207 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: book is interesting because it puts forth the idea that 208 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: the manner in which tiny babies are cared for has 209 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: a great deal of influence on their quote, future dispositions, 210 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 1: and characters. That was not a commonly held idea, and 211 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: so it was way ahead of its time. Her other 212 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 1: book that's usually grouped with The Frugal Housewife and The 213 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: Mother's Book is titled The Little Girl's Own Book, and 214 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: this book features games and advice for girls and foundational lessons, 215 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,080 Speaker 1: very much in line with those two previous books. It 216 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: includes a rather charming game called the French Role, in 217 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: which one player is the purchaser, one is the baker, 218 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: and all the other players form a line called the Oven, 219 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: with the last in line being called the French Role. 220 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: This was a sort of complicated variation on Duck Duck 221 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,319 Speaker 1: Goose and other games where one person has to outrun 222 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: another in an effort to move into a different category. 223 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: And according to child quote, this play is a very 224 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: active and rather noisy one. There are a lot of 225 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: games in this book, and and there's another contributor that 226 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 1: she mentions helped her with the games. But like they're 227 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,559 Speaker 1: all to me hilarious because they're like sort of needlessly complicated. 228 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: But I guess that would keep children active and also engaged. 229 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: But they are very, very funny. Mariah's writing was prolific 230 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: during this early time in her marriage, as she strove 231 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: to truly make a living at it, making her one 232 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: of the first women to do so in the US. 233 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,559 Speaker 1: She wrote another novel with similar themes to those in 234 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: Hobbamock in the new work, which was titled The First 235 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: Settlers of New England or Conquest of the Peaquad's, Narragansetts 236 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: and Poconoc. It's as related by a mother to her 237 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: children and designed for the instruction of youth. The story 238 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: here centers around white protagonists, the children finding that they 239 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: id n I find more with the indigenous people in 240 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,199 Speaker 1: the stories than the colonists. And this book was incredibly 241 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: radical at the time. Among other things, it once again 242 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: promoted the idea of interracial marriage. But it also was 243 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: kind of kept on the down low. It did not 244 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: have any published reviews, and perhaps because it was expected 245 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: that it would court a lot of controversy, it seemed 246 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: to have a very minimal and limited release. While Mariah 247 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: had grown up in an abolitionist household, it was meeting 248 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: William Lloyd Garrison through her husband David in eighteen thirty 249 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: one that really cemented her commitment to the cause. Garrison, 250 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: who started his paper The Liberator the same year, had 251 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: already published some of Child's writings, notably her essay Comparative 252 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: Strength of Male and Female Intellect. He gave her the 253 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: nickname the First Woman in the Republic. Child turned her 254 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: pen to the cause of abolition, and she wrote an 255 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: appeal in favor of that class of Americans called Africans 256 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty three. This book, which is considered uh, 257 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: you know, fairly important in in the lexicon, detailed the 258 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: history of enslavement in North America, and it advocated for 259 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: the end of slavery and for freed people who had 260 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: been enslaved to become part of society in the US. 261 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: She proposed a multi racial country of equality with educational 262 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: opportunities for all. An Appeal is often referred to as 263 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: the first anti slavery book. There had certainly been essays 264 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: and pamphlets before it, but this was a deeper and 265 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: more expansive examination of the topic than previous writings had 266 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: taken on, and it made Child a target in a 267 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: lot of ways. She was no longer welcome among many 268 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: of her white peers, and that mass appeal that she 269 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: had cultivated through her books for women and girls really 270 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: dried up pretty quickly after this. The year after An 271 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: Appeal was published, Juvenile Miscellany, which had lost a huge 272 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: portion of its subscribers due to Child's outspoken stance on abolition, folded. 273 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: She also lost her borrowing privileges at the Boston Athenaeum. 274 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: This did not diminish Mariah Child's dedication to ending slavery. 275 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: She made no effort to win back readers she lost 276 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: through her writing in an appeal, at least not initially, 277 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: and instead she just wrote more on the subject, including 278 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: the story collection The Oasis, which featured stories, poems, and 279 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: essays about black enslaved people, but it was intended for 280 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: a white audience. The idea that she had was that 281 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: these stories within it would help people see enslaved people 282 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: as people, and it might help stoke the fires of 283 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: abolitionist ideals in readers who had perhaps been reluctant to 284 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: join the cause. Amidst all of this, David's money problems 285 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: continued to mount. His law office had folded, and he 286 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: was arrested for his unpaid debts. For six months, the 287 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: Child's lived with Joseph and Margaret Carpenter, who were Quakers 288 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: in New Rochelle, New York. Mariah helped at the school there, 289 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: including working on its desegregation plan. She published another book, 290 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 1: Authentic Anecdotes of American Slavery, in eighteen thirty five, and 291 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: that book collects stories and accounts of witnesses to enslavement, 292 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: some of which are unsurprisingly incredibly dark in their content. 293 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: All of this done to illustrate the inherent in humanity 294 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: of the practice of enslavement. In one passage, child rights quote, 295 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: a prominent feature in the system of slavery is the 296 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: bluntness of moral feelings and the dimness of moral perception 297 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: inevitably induced by it. Even conscientious men and women often 298 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: find it difficult and apparently impossible to apply to this 299 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: subject the most universal rules of justice and the most 300 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: common maxims of humanity. This great evil originates in a 301 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: fixed habit of not regarding the colored race as brethren 302 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 1: and sisters of the human family. In eighteen thirty five, 303 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: Child's book Antislavery Catechism was published. This is, as its 304 00:17:56,359 --> 00:18:00,439 Speaker 1: name suggests, a series of questions regarding slavery and treatment 305 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: of enslaved persons answered an essay formed by the writer 306 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: debunking a lot of the myths and watered down accounts 307 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: of enslavement. Of note is the inclusion of the story 308 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: of the Lulltery Mansion in New Orleans burning and the 309 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: torture of enslaved people there that was revealed in the 310 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 1: aftermath of the blaze, and Mariah's writing she gets the 311 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: name wrong Instead of lulltery, she writes it as salary. 312 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 1: That fire happened on April tenth, thirty four, the year 313 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: before Antislavery Catechism was released, and the horrendous revelations of 314 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: it were undoubtedly on the minds of abolitionists. There's been 315 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,640 Speaker 1: some discussion about that particular discovery. The last time we've 316 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: talked about that on our social media, we had some 317 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: folks that became like lollery defenders um saying that a 318 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: lot of the descriptions were really overblown and it was 319 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: still a place where people were being bound and physically punished. 320 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: It's another one of those it wasn't that bad narratives 321 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: that are kind of horrifying when you really stop and 322 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: think about what they're talking about. In eighteen thirty six, 323 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: Child also published a historical romance called Philothea, which was 324 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: set in the fifth century b c. E. Early twentieth 325 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: century critic Carl Van Doren once described this book as 326 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: quote a gentle, ignorant romance of the Athens of Pericles, 327 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: the fruit of a real desire to escape from the 328 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: clang of current life. It was a little bit of 329 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: an escape for Mariah to write about something other than 330 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: than social justice issues at the time, but in the 331 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:37,880 Speaker 1: time that it was released, the reviews for Philothea were 332 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: really quite good Lydia Mariah Child did try to write 333 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: one more book of advice for women in eighteen thirty seven, 334 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,360 Speaker 1: that was The Family Nurse, but sales were port due 335 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: to her more controversial writings. While the reaction to her 336 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: work had immediate and unfortunate impacts on her life, including 337 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: her finances, she continued to champion abolition and Why an 338 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: Appeal and other writings cost her personally, they really helped 339 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: the movement gain support. Yeah, there were a lot of 340 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: of prominent people in her time who said, I read 341 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: an Appeal in it it really changed my mind about 342 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: how I thought about this issue. So, I mean there 343 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,439 Speaker 1: is documentation of it really having a strong influence in 344 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: its own contemporary writings, just as her audience for her 345 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: more sort of popular culture books was lagging, though she 346 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: did get a job offer. In eighteen forty one, Child 347 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 1: started working as the editor of the National Anti Slavery Standard, 348 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,399 Speaker 1: that was the weekly paper published by the American Anti 349 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: Slavery Society. David also joined the staff, but in eighteen 350 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: forty four they had reached a point where they had 351 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: some conflict with William Lloyd Garrison, who was running the 352 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: American Anti Slavery Society, over the editorial direction of the 353 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,479 Speaker 1: paper The Child's Both resigned officially in eighteen forty four. 354 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: There were strains on their marriage during this period, though 355 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: David filed for bankruptcy in eighteen forty two. There his 356 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: law career tanks. He had tried to farm beats for 357 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: a while to provide an alternative to cane sugar because 358 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: of its ties to slavery. He had not done well 359 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: with this enterprise. He had also accreed a number of 360 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: other debts through poor management of his money, and early 361 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: eighteen forty three, Mariah chose to separate her finances from 362 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: his completely. She also made the choice that she was 363 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: going to stay in New York whether he did the 364 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: same or not. Yeah, you'll sometimes see this discussed in 365 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: biographies as like a break that was really ultimately good 366 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: for her because she did some of her best writing 367 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: in this gap where they were kind of not officially separated, 368 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: but they weren't together all the time. Letters from New 369 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 1: York was a two volume set that published in eighteen 370 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: forty three and eighteen forty five, and it featured an 371 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,679 Speaker 1: assortment of essays, mostly that child had written for the 372 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,159 Speaker 1: National Anti Slavery Standard while living in New York for 373 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: that job. And the title got its name from a 374 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: column that Mariah had written for the paper. And the 375 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: book covers a wide range of topics such as abolition, 376 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 1: women's rights, temperance, poverty, her first visit to a Jewish synagogue, 377 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: and the experience of ringing in the new year in 378 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: New York City for the first time. Her writing on 379 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: women's rights is sharp and at times it's biting, she wrote, quote, 380 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,199 Speaker 1: on no other theme, probably has there been uttered so 381 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: much false mawkish sentiment, shallow philosophy, and sputtering farthing candle wit. 382 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: When it came to the various ways in which men 383 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: treat women in social setting, she cut right through it 384 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,679 Speaker 1: in this book, writing quote, this sort of politeness to 385 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: women is what men call gallantry, an odious word to 386 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: every sensible woman, because she sees that it is merely 387 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: the flimsy veil which Foppery throws over sensuality to conceal 388 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: its grossness. So far is it from indicating sincere esteem 389 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: and affection for women that the profligacy of a nation 390 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: may in general be fairly measured by its gallantry. This 391 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: taking away rights and condescending to grant privileges is an 392 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: old trick of the physical force principle, and with the 393 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 1: immense majority who only look on the surface of things, 394 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: this mask effectually disguises an ugliness which would otherwise be abhorred. 395 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 1: We're about to talk about a slightly surprising event and 396 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: Child's life, but first we will pause for a little 397 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: break and a word from one of the sponsors that 398 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: keep Stuffy miss and history class going. As her essays 399 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: were being collected into letters from New York Lydia, Mariah 400 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 1: Child became involved in an attempted murder case. Also in 401 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 1: New York, a woman of twenty five named Amelia Norman 402 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,639 Speaker 1: had stabbed businessman Henry Ballard on the steps of the 403 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: Astor House hotel. Uh tried to kill him. Ballard survived, 404 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: but as the story of his relationship with Amelia Norman 405 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: came to light, he started to look too many people, 406 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: less like a victim and more like a predator. Ballard 407 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 1: had really pursued Norman until she started a relationship with 408 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: him when she had a child as a result of 409 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 1: this affair, he abandoned her when she was able to 410 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: see him again and asked him to support their child. 411 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 1: Ballard was said to have suggested that she turned to 412 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: sex work to support herself and the baby. Lydiam Ryan 413 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,919 Speaker 1: Child heard about Amelia's story while the young woman was 414 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: in jail awaiting trial, and she took up her cause, 415 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: and this was actually kind of a tricky space for 416 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: her to navigate. While Child was adamant that the treatment 417 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: of women, even in the most polite seeming societies, was 418 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 1: always based on a power imbalance, in part because of 419 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: the physical power many men had over women, she was 420 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: also staunchly anti violence. Norman had stabbed Ballard, that was 421 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,640 Speaker 1: not a question. She had openly admitted to not only 422 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,439 Speaker 1: having done so, but having regrets that she had not 423 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: actually managed to kill him, so that was not quite 424 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: in line with Child's non violent ideology. When Mariah wrote 425 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: an article about Amelia's story for The Boston Courier, she 426 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: was clear that she was not excusing or condoning the stabbing, 427 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: but made the case that it was an unsurprising reaction 428 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: of a desperate woman who had been the victim of 429 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:21,639 Speaker 1: the inherent violence of a sexist society. Child's support and 430 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,200 Speaker 1: similar writings of other journalists created a surge of more 431 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: public support, and by the time of the trial it 432 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: seemed like the whole thing was more about Ballard as 433 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: a seducer than Norman as an attempted murderer. So despite 434 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: all of the evidence involved, Amelia Norman was acquitted. From 435 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,440 Speaker 1: eighteen forty four to eighteen forty seven, Child published three 436 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: books in a series that were titled Flowers for Children, 437 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: and this project was, according to Child, a response to 438 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 1: many requests that she had had since the closing of 439 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: Juvenile Miss Laney to collect the works from that periodical, 440 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,679 Speaker 1: but most of this was new writing. The second volume 441 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: in Flowers for Children features a Thanksgiving poem that's incredibly 442 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: well known and has outlived most of her other work 443 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 1: in terms of popularity. It was called the New England 444 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: Boys Song about Thanksgiving Day, but listeners will probably recognize 445 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: it better by its first line, which is over the 446 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: river and through the wood. While most modern versions invoke 447 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: Grandmother's house as the destination, the actual first stanza was 448 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: written as over the river and through the wood to 449 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: Grandfather's house, we go the horse knows the way to 450 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow. I 451 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 1: feel like that song comes up everywhere all the time 452 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: during the holiday. Does um, it doesn't actually snow that 453 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: often in November in Massachusetts there. Maybe it did more 454 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:46,919 Speaker 1: back then, because we've seen plenty of evidence of spring 455 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: being earlier in winters being warmer over the last century 456 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: and however long, or maybe she just liked the idyllic 457 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: imagery of snow. Uh. This was, of course, not her 458 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: only writing project during that time time. Her book Fact 459 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: and Fiction came out in eighteen forty six, and this 460 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: group of stories kind of hints at what might have 461 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: been going on in the child's marriage, but that's generally 462 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: speculation by literary analysts. It's fiction, like many of her 463 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: works that explore real world issues, so it's hard to 464 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: know when she talks about marriage and and how women 465 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,360 Speaker 1: are treated in marriage, if she's talking about her own 466 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:26,200 Speaker 1: or just in general. This book did not do well 467 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: with critics. She talked about sexuality more than I think 468 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: most people were comfortable with at the time, which did 469 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: not help it. In eighteen fifty three, Lydia and David, 470 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: who had bounced around through various rental properties and the 471 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: homes of friends, both together and separately, moved together to Whaland, 472 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 1: Massachusetts and to Mariah's father's house. Maria looked after her 473 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: father for the remaining three years of his life, and 474 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: then after he died, Mariah and David remained there in 475 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: that home for the rest of their lives. Yeah, there's 476 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: a lot of um speculation about her relations and ship 477 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: with her father. He was kind of a brusque man, 478 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,119 Speaker 1: and she always felt like she never lived up to 479 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: what he wanted, and so some people thought it was 480 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: kind of interesting that the second he wanted her help, 481 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: she just ran to his side without question. Um. But 482 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: that's how that all played out. Uh. Another book, The 483 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: Progress of Religious Ideas through Successive Ages, came out in 484 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five, and this book is a history and 485 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: analysis of various world religions through time, and Child's hope 486 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: with it was that the three volume work would help 487 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: people tolerate one another's religious views, although it is really 488 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: quite clearly very pro Christianity in particular. In eighteen fifties, 489 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: seven autumnal Leaves, Tales and Sketches in pros and Rhyme 490 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 1: was published and This, like other works by Child, is 491 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: a collection of fictional shorts that address issues that she 492 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: had written about pretty often, including women's rights, abolition, and religion, 493 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: among others. So we've talked on a previous episode about 494 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in eighteen fifty nine, 495 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: and that attempted slave revolt galvanized a lot of abolitionists 496 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: into fresh action, and that included Maria, who wrote a 497 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: new pamphlet titled Correspondence between Lydia Mariah Child and Governor 498 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: Wise and Mrs Mason of Virginia, and this was published 499 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,720 Speaker 1: by the Anti Slavery Society. Prior to this point, Child 500 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: had kind of pulled away from her work with abolitionist 501 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: groups because there was constant in fighting. She still believed 502 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: in abolition, but she just didn't want to associate with 503 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: any of the organizations around it. Bickering factions among William 504 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: Lloyd Garrison's followers during her time editing the National Anti 505 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: Slavery Standard had really soured her opinions on the movement, 506 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: although certainly not the ideals of abolition. Inequality. In it, 507 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: Child denounced a myth that she had been trying to 508 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: break for years and that was the myth of the 509 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: benevolent and slaver. Leading up to this point, Senator James M. 510 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: Mason of Virginia had made a statement in a letter 511 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: to Child characterizing the treatment of enslaved people as kind 512 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: and caring, noting that white ladies of southern households often 513 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: assisted in enslaved women's births. Mason also went after Child herself, 514 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: suggesting that meddling in other communities instead of worrying about 515 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: her own, indicated that she was not a true woman, 516 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: and Child responded bitingly and famously that almost all of 517 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: the women she knew in the North cared for the 518 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: people in their communities in various ways, and that she 519 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: had quote never known an instance where the pangs of 520 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: maternity did not meet with requisite assistance. And here in 521 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: the North, after we have helped the mothers, we do 522 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: not sell the babies. More than three hundred thousand copies 523 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: of this pamphlet were distributed. Child and her husband were 524 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: advocating for an end to slavery right up to the 525 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: Civil War. She wrote a number of pamphlets in eighteen 526 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: sixty using different rhetoric aimed at different audiences. In eighteen 527 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: sixty one, and just as the tension in the country 528 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: over the issue of slavery was really boiling over, Harriet Jacob, 529 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: who had escaped enslavement and lived in terrifying conditions on 530 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: the run, told her life story in a book titled 531 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Lydia Mariah 532 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 1: Child edited this book and it opened up the discussion 533 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: about sexual abuse of enslaved women in a way that 534 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: had never really been done before. Yeah, it was so 535 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: frank in some ways that even some abolitionists were like, 536 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: this is very uncomfortable. I'm not sure we should be 537 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: publishing this um. But after the war, Mariah continued her 538 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: advocacy she had from the time of writing her book 539 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: An Appeal trumpeted the need for education for the black community, 540 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: as well as for the end of misgenation laws as 541 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: a way to truly enable full and equal integration. And 542 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: to help on the educational front, she published a book 543 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: called The Freedman's Book in eighteen sixty five. The Freedman's 544 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: Book opens with the following passage quote to the Freedman, 545 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: I have prepared this book expressly for you, with the 546 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: hope that those of you who can read, will read 547 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: it aloud to others, and that all of you will 548 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: derive fresh strength and courage from this true record of 549 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: what colored men have accomplished under great disadvantages. I have 550 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 1: written all the biographies over again in order to give 551 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: you as much information as possible in the fewest words. 552 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: I take nothing for my services, and the book is 553 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: sold to you at the cost of paper, printing, and binding. 554 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: Whatever money you pay for any of the volumes will 555 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: be immediately invested in other volumes to be sent to 556 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: freedmen in various parts of the country on the same terms. 557 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,880 Speaker 1: And whatever money remains in my hands when the book 558 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 1: ceases to sell will be given to the Freedman's Aid Association, 559 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 1: to be expended in schools for you and your children. 560 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: This book contains writings by Child, including, as she said, 561 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: biographies of notable black figures, including previous podcast subjects like 562 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: Ignatia Sancho and James Forton. And it also includes a 563 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: number of advice essays, similar to her early books for women, 564 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: so practical advice about everyday things like maintaining good health 565 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: by drinking water and getting fresh air and good nutrition, 566 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: or caring for animals, but it also contains writing by 567 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,479 Speaker 1: a lot of other people. The poem The Last Night 568 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,640 Speaker 1: of Slavery by James Montgomery is included, as is Frederick 569 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: Douglas is a Pertinent Question and Phyllis Wheatley's The Works 570 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: of Providence. In eighteen sixty seven, Child published a new 571 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: novel called A Romance of the Republic. This story, about 572 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,960 Speaker 1: two sisters and an enslaved New Orleans household, uses fiction 573 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: to once again examine the ideas of racism and patriarchy. 574 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: The idea of interracial marriage is held up as both 575 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 1: the natural thing and ultimately good for society, while she 576 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: works to show in egalitarian society is the ultimate goal. 577 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: We should mention that this definitely features black people in 578 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 1: the story integrating into white society by assimilating to white ways. 579 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: This novel was not a success in any way. She 580 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: also took up the cause of indigenous cultures in the 581 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: United States once again at this phase of her life, 582 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: publishing An Appeal for Indians in eighteen sixty eight. In 583 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,840 Speaker 1: this work mirrors an appeal in favor of that class 584 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: of Americans called Africans in that it calls out the 585 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: many ways that Indigenous people have been mistreated and offers 586 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: ideas about how justice might be brought to those communities. 587 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 1: David Child died in eighteen seventy four, and though they 588 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,759 Speaker 1: had bumpy phases over the years because of his financial 589 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 1: problems and their last years together, the couple had actually 590 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:35,320 Speaker 1: grown very close. David had become her best friend and supporter, 591 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,879 Speaker 1: and so his loss was acute. In eighteen seventy eight, 592 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,320 Speaker 1: Mariah wrote Aspirations of the World, a chain of opals, 593 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 1: which she referred to as her eclectic Bible. This was 594 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: a collection of religious stories from various cultures and various 595 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:53,360 Speaker 1: time periods, intended to show how similar humankind was around 596 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,720 Speaker 1: the world. Lydia Mariah Child died on October twentie, eighteen 597 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: eighty at her home in Whaland, Massachusetts. In two thousand seven, 598 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,800 Speaker 1: she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. 599 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:09,480 Speaker 1: I'm glad that you picked this one, me too. She 600 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 1: has never been like at the tippy top of my 601 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: to do list, but sometimes when I've been looking for 602 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: winter holiday themed episodes, she has come up, specifically because 603 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: of Over the River and through the Woods. But of 604 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: course there was a whole lot more to talk about 605 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: than that. Yeah, she's she's interesting for that reason obviously, 606 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: But I I had this moment where I was like, oh, 607 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:35,719 Speaker 1: should we have saved this for the holidays, But as 608 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,440 Speaker 1: I look at her story, that's such a tiny piece 609 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,320 Speaker 1: of it that it would have felt really weird. Yeah, tiny, 610 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,960 Speaker 1: tiny bit, and she is really interesting. We'll talk a 611 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,399 Speaker 1: little bit more in our behind the scenes about kind 612 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: of my perceptions of of her writing and where it 613 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: falls on the spectrum of um viewing all of these 614 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:58,359 Speaker 1: things through the lens of a white woman of the time, UM, 615 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: and how it's a little bit different than some other 616 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: writings in that regard, but also you know, someone similarity. 617 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 1: So but I did find her really really charming and fascinating, 618 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: and I love that she was not afraid. She's so 619 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: smart about calibrating who she thought the reader of any 620 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:19,880 Speaker 1: given piece might be, to make it as impactful as 621 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:24,319 Speaker 1: possible for them and like appeal to their sensibilities. But 622 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: I love that once she got into that that last pamphlet, 623 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 1: she just was not afraid to throw the way amity 624 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: blam at all and was just like, no, you're horrible. 625 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:39,080 Speaker 1: Let me tell you all the ways you're horrible. Prior 626 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:42,320 Speaker 1: to that She had really seemed to try to foster 627 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,040 Speaker 1: this idea of like, surely we can find some kind 628 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: of compromise between the Northern States and the Southern States. 629 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,720 Speaker 1: And by that point she was like, there's no compromise possible, 630 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: Like this is wrong and we have to end it 631 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,239 Speaker 1: right now. Um, which is why she is So. I 632 00:36:57,239 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 1: don't know if tart is the right word in her 633 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: her writing in it, but she is. She's not holding 634 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 1: back at all. Uh. I encourage people to read her writing. 635 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,879 Speaker 1: It is because it's across so many genres. Sometimes it's 636 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: very charming and sweet, and other times it is very 637 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 1: biting and direct, and and it's I saw one thing 638 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,319 Speaker 1: that mentioned that she was not what anyone would call 639 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 1: a phenomenal writer in terms of being a word smith, 640 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:26,200 Speaker 1: but she was very smart about how she put together 641 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 1: narrative and like I said, who who might be reading it? 642 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:33,160 Speaker 1: So I really enjoyed doing the research on this one. Um. 643 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: I have fun listener mail about another show that I 644 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: had really enjoyed doing the research on, which is the 645 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,600 Speaker 1: Tacoma Naro's Bridge episode. Uh. And that is from our 646 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 1: listener Jeff, who writes, Hi, Holly and Tracy, my husband 647 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: and I always enjoy your show. We were fortunately able 648 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:49,480 Speaker 1: to see you live on stage before the pandemic at 649 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,040 Speaker 1: You're Buried, a live show at the Neptune Theater in Seattle. 650 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: It was such a great crowd and so fun to 651 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: see all the different people who enjoy the show. I 652 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 1: couldn't agree more. I miss touring so much. Um. He 653 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: goes on to say, we recently listened to your episode 654 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,720 Speaker 1: on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I had no idea. Gertie 655 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,719 Speaker 1: opened the same week as the first floating bridge over 656 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:13,200 Speaker 1: Lake Washington. That bridge, originally the Lake Washington Floating Bridge, 657 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:16,840 Speaker 1: eventually renamed Lacey V. Marow Memorial Bridge, was the world's 658 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,839 Speaker 1: longest permanent floating pontoon bridge when it opened. At over 659 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: sixty feet long, it connected Seattle with its eastern suburbs 660 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:28,759 Speaker 1: over what eventually became I ninety. However, it, like the 661 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,719 Speaker 1: first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, also suffered an unfortunate fate in 662 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,680 Speaker 1: it sank after workers accidentally left the pontoon doors opened 663 00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: during a windstorm over the long Thanksgiving weekend while the 664 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:44,480 Speaker 1: bridge was being resurfaced. Local TV news footage at the 665 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,800 Speaker 1: time shows floating cars and accounts of people narrowly escaping 666 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 1: the collapse. Part of the sunken bridge still lies in 667 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:54,400 Speaker 1: shallow water underneath its replacement, now the home of many crawdads. 668 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,600 Speaker 1: I have attached some photos of the bridge from when 669 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,760 Speaker 1: we scuba dived it several years ago, and he linked 670 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,600 Speaker 1: us to his his Flicker account. Um one, thank you 671 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,040 Speaker 1: so much for writing. I actually didn't know that much 672 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: about the bridge over Lake Washington, like I said, even 673 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:10,239 Speaker 1: though I lived there when I was a kid. For 674 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,440 Speaker 1: some reason, that one was never really on my radar. 675 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 1: But I have to say this, Jeff's pictures of craw 676 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: dad's managed to make them look like the cutest things 677 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:22,520 Speaker 1: on earth. And I enjoy ocean creatures, but these are 678 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,520 Speaker 1: like animated film level cuteness. In some cases, some of 679 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:28,640 Speaker 1: them are really really adorable. So thank you so much 680 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:32,600 Speaker 1: one for sharing that info about the other bridge in 681 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 1: the area that didn't go so well, although because of 682 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:40,799 Speaker 1: a moment of forgetfulness rather than a structural error. Uh. 683 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,399 Speaker 1: And also for sharing these adorable pictures. Thank you, thank 684 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,520 Speaker 1: you so much. If you would like to write to us, 685 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:48,240 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at iHeart radio 686 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,400 Speaker 1: dot com. You can also find us on social media 687 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,160 Speaker 1: as Missed in History. If you would like to subscribe, 688 00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:54,920 Speaker 1: that is easiest pie You can do it on the 689 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 1: I heart Radio app, at Apple podcast or wherever it 690 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:04,880 Speaker 1: is you listen to your favorite shows. M Stuff you 691 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,640 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 692 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 693 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:14,000 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 694 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:15,600 Speaker 1: favorite shows. H