Breakfast with Mom

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Tonight, we tell the story of Helen Brach — candy heiress, socialite, horse enthusiast — and the mystery that still lingers nearly fifty years later. Was it kidnapping?  Was it murder?  Or was it something even darker? Sources:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Brach https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7576712/helen-marie-brach http...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today’s episode is about warmth — not just the kind that fills a room on a winter night, but the kind that comes from innovation, persistence, and vision. This is the story of Alice H. Parker — the woman whose groundbreaking heating system laid the foundation for the central heating systems we rely on today. Let’s travel back to the ea...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! In 1871, a woman stood accused in a courtroom that did not fully recognize her as a legal equal—or, in many ways, as a full person.  The charge against her was serious. But what mattered just as much as the alleged crime was who she was believed to be: a wife, a woman, and—according to the State—someone who had stepped far outside her...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom.   Today’s story has a connection to the assasination of Abraham Lincoln.  Do you recognize the name Eugenia Surratt or Elisabeth Surratt or Mary Surratt? Anna: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9723985/eugenia_susanna-tonry https://civilwartalk.com/threads/anna-surratt-%E2%80%9Ca-daughter-is-a-daughter-for-all-her-life%E2%80%9D.17081...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! It’s been a while since we have been able to record.  Life has been wild since Thanksgiving between work and family stuff. Today, we have the Teen Daughter with us.  I wanted today’s episode to be festive with this going live the week of Christmas.  I have the history of the Christmas tree and a story about a Christmas Tree along with...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today, we’re stepping back into the 1940s, to a moment in World War II when the United States desperately needed pilots.  Not just any pilots, but more pilots.  Faster and in larger numbers than ever before. What came next was an unexpected revolution in military aviation. This is the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots known si...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom. Today’s story is about a woman I stumbled upon in my research about someone else.  I found this woman interesting and deserving of her own episode rather than a highlight in someone else’s.  Here is the back story of how I found Doris.  I found a list of names I made 3 years ago.  My list contained the names and links to the 11 confirm...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Happy Halloween, and until next time—stay curious, and stay safe. All the things:  Music: Scary Horror Music    SoundGalleryByDmitryTaras https://pixabay.com/music/scary-childrens-tunes-scary-horror-music-118577/ Logo Artwork: Strawbeary Studios https://www.youtube.com/@StrawbearyStudios/featured Episode was researched, written and edi...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! In honor of Halloween, we will dive into the eerie life — or rather, afterlife — of one of the most infamous figures in American folklore: The Headless Horseman.  The Headless Horseman — a figure that has galloped through the imaginations of generations — is best known from Washington Irving’s classic story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollo...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today, we dive into the remarkable life of Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard — a woman whose courage not only challenged the 19th-century mental health system but also became a beacon for women's rights and legal reform. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Packard https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biograp...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today we’re focusing on a woman whose quiet courage changed the course of history — Miep Gies. You might know her as the woman who helped hide Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. But Miep’s life story is much richer than that moment alone. It’s a story of compassion, bravery, and moral conviction in...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today, we travel back to the blood-soaked fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania — July, 1863. The Civil War is raging. Muskets crack. Cannons thunder. And amid the chaos, a 20-year-old woman kneads bread dough in her sister’s kitchen. Her name is Jennie Wade, she will become the only direct civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg. J...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome to Breakfast with Mom!  Today we talk about one of the most destructive fires in American history, The Peshtigo Fire of 1871.  Please leave of a review of this episode wherever you listen- it helps us to reach new listeners. Sources-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo,_Wisconsin https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1750 https://www.weather.gov/...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome to Breakfast with Mom!  Today we talk about the complicated life of Harry Allan.  People can sometimes be compared to an onion and how we have many layers.  With Harry there were definitely layers.   Sources: https://www.cascadepbs.org/culture/2019/03/nell-pickerell-transgender-youth-knute-berger/ https://www.kuow.org/stories/nell-pickerell-trans-man-seattles-rou...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom West Dallas is an area consisting of many communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas, United States. West Dallas lies just west of Downtown Dallas, north of Oak Cliff, and east of Irving and Grand Prairie. Largely lying in the Trinity River floodplain, the area's history has been largely defined by its relationship to the river...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today’s episode is something I have wanted to cover for a while and with this being the 32nd anniversary of the death of Mia Zapata and thought this would be the best time to dive into her life, death and legacy. Mia Katherine Zapata was an American musician who was the lead vocalist for the punk rock band The Gits. After gaining prais...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom!  Today I want to tell you about Florence Clementine Thornton Butt, she was an American businesswoman best known as the founder of what would become the H-E-B Grocery Company, one of the largest privately owned supermarket chains in the United States. Resources: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43093117/florence_clementine-butt https...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! This one will be a short but sweet episode. Sadie "The Goat" Farrell is a legendary figure in New York City's 19th-century criminal folklore, renowned for her audacity, cunning, and fierce independence. Her story, though steeped in myth, offers a glimpse into the gritty underworld of the era. Resources: https://en.wikipe...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom ! stories: https://www.reddit.com/r/offbeat/comments/1kqs9dg/man_sues_whataburger_for_almost_1m_over_noonion/ https://www.reddit.com/r/offbeat/comments/1krcj2e/florida_man_shoots_neighbors_cow_5_times_after_it/ https://www.reddit.com/r/offbeat/comments/1kud3fj/hot_diggity_dog_wienermobiles_put_on_riveting/ https://www.reddit.com/r/offbe...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom Today I have three more Hall of Fame inductees I want to tell you about.  All my resources can be found in the show notes. The lasting legacies of Arleene Johnson Noga, June Peppa and Sophia Kurys for women in sports continue to inspire. Their dedication to excellence, leadership, and community involvement has left an undeniable mark on...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom Today I have three Hall of Fame inductees I want to tell you about.   Claire Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Schillace https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/145625803/claire-joan-donahoe https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11548982/?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/claire-schillace-donahoe-clara/36...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom Today we are continuing our girls of baseball series.  This is the story of the OG girl ball player Lizzie Murphy, a trailblazing figure in American baseball history. Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Murphy https://www.milb.com/news/lizzie-murphy https://riheritagehalloffame.com/elizabeth-murphy/ https://www.baseball-refe...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom With the start of baseball season I thought it fitting that we would do our next series on the organization that came to be known as The Women’s American Baseball League or All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  In today’s episode I will tell you about the birth and demise of the league, then I will break our next episodes do...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom Today we have a returning quest at our table.  With us we have the Teen Daughter!  In today’s episode the Teen will share with us a project she just presented in her AP Seminar class.  For those that would like further reading of the sources cited here please let me know by sending us an email or by leaving us a message on any of our so...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back to Breakfast with Mom! Today I want to tell you about Constance Kent and the murder of her almost 4 year old half brother Francis Saville Kent.  Trigger warning, today’s story will tell about child murder, please take heed when listening.   Constance Kent was an English woman whose name became widely known due to her involvement in one of the most notorious...