Her Half of History

The United States is gearing up for the Fourth of July, Independence Day. But in 1776, it was by no means certain that anyone would celebrate this day, or who would celebrate, or which day they would celebrate. John Adams wrote the news of the day to his wife Abigail Adams, and he was very dispirited about Canada. Also, he was dead wrong about which day we would celebrate. I am currently on resear...

The polls are closed! In this episode, I'm giving you the results of the Women Podcasters Awards and the topic of my next series to start later in the summer. (Hint, it's all good news!) Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, a...

In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr., gets a holiday partly because he challenged Americans to live up to their own ideals and extend freedom and equality to people of all races. Partly because he delivered this challenge peacefully, with no violence. Partly because he paid for this cause with his life. And partly because he had a great wife, who stood by him. Coretta Scott King was also...

Jiang Qing spent part of her life as an actress, part of it as an almost invisible housewife, part of it as a powerful leader in the Cultural Revolution, and part of it in jail taking the blame for actions that Mao certainly knew about and may have given orders for. Madame Mao is now notorious as the White-Boned Demon, and certainly she deserves some blame. But just how much blame she deserves is...

Zelda Fitzgerald basically defined the iconic image of a flapper from America's Jazz Age. She was immortalized in fiction by her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, who is (debatably) the great American novelist. Sadly, the way he portrayed the sadness behind the glitter and glitz was all too real as well. Zelda was beautiful, witty, charming, and talented, but mental illness, alcohol, financial worries...

Traditional histories give President Franklin Delano Roosevelt a lot of credit for guiding the United States out of the Great Depression. But his best move may have been appointing the first woman ever to join a presidential cabinet. As Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins won victories on public works for increased employment, 8 hour work days, minimum wage, Social Security, workplace safety stand...

Frank Lloyd Wright is among the most famous architects of all time, but the drawings which made him famous weren't necessarily drawn by him. Marion Mahony had more qualifications than he did and ultimately believed that he had stolen her work. Nevertheless, she had a successful career as an architect, mainly in Australia. Please vote for me in the Women Podcasters Awards! (https://bit.ly/43gK8Pt)...

Einstein met his first wife in college, where they were both studying math and physics. How much Mileva contributed to his groundbreaking papers is regularly debated. This episode explains what we know, and what we (sadly) don't know about her efforts. Please vote for me in the Women Podcasters Awards! I'm in the History category. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts,...

Gandhi is among the most documented figures of the 20th century. Most of these sources reveal astonishingly little about his wife Kasturba. But he actually credited her with teaching him the principles of nonviolent resistance. This episode tells the story of her transformation from an ordinary Hindu girl to a woman leading protests against the British Empire. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.c...

Robert Schumann is a big name in classical music. However, in his own lifetime, Robert Schumann wasn't “the” Schumann. His wife was the famous one. Clara Schumann was an internationally known virtuoso who delighted audiences for 60 years, including the periods before, during, and after her eight pregnancies, Robert's illness, and eventual death. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources...

The Wright brothers invented the world's first powered flying machine. Sure, they were geniuses, but even geniuses need a little help. Their sister Katharine managed the bicycle business, managed the media, managed the public, and more than pulled her weight in the family. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus...

It's a bye-week for the podcast, but I am announcing the winner of the gift certificate giveaway for Women's History Month, 2025. Many thanks to everyone who participated! Come back next week for regular content and the story of Katharine Wright, sister of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When her husband died, Jo was left with a small child, no job, not much money, and a lot of canvases that weren't worth very much. It was the effort of a lifetime, but Jo transformed van Gogh's artwork from something few people wanted to an international sensation. If you're listening before the end of March, 2025 there's still time to get in on the Women's History Month Giveaway. Take a look at P...

Vincent van Gogh is one of history's best known artists, but he wasn't during his own lifetime. His rise to fame came slowly through the efforts of the woman who inherited the vast majority of his paintings. Jo van Gogh-Bonger was a Dutch girl who considered herself not very well educated about art, and yet she managed to weave her way through the art world and bring us Vincent's exquisite beauty....

Alfred Nobel's original plans for his famous prize included physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature. But not peace. He thought the peace movement was ridiculous, a bunch of dreamers with no workable plan. But his friend Bertha von Suttner was the most famous person in the peace movement, and she played a big role in changing his mind. To celebrate Women's History Month, please support the sho...

March has been Women's History Month for decades! But this year, some government agencies and corporations have thrown its existence into doubt. Today's episode is a break from my usual. It's an opinion-editorial on why I think we still need women's history. Badly. This originally appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on March 1, 2025. To celebrate Women's History Month, please support the show...

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music for the Nutcracker, the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, multiple symphonies, several operas, and more. He is among the most popular composers of the 19th century. But as usual he didn't do it alone. He and his friend Nadezhda von Meck had a 13-year correspondence of 1200 letters. They shared (almost) everything with each other...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the quintessential child prodigy. He performed for European royalty at the tender age of six. But he wasn’t the only child prodigy in his family or even the first. Big sister Nannerl led the way as his first role model and collaborator. Some of his keyboard music was written with her in mind as the performer, and after his death she worked with his first biographer and...

Ben Franklin was the most famous American of his generation. He had a glittering career as a printer, a writer, a statesman, a diplomat, an inventor, a scientist, and more. But he didn’t do all of this without help, and he admitted as much himself. His wife Deborah was his partner in business when he was home, and kept it all running herself when he was not. She deserves enormously more credit tha...

Henry VIII was married to his first wife for 23 years. It took him only 15 years to blow through the next five wives. I covered the first two wives in episode 14.5. In this episode, I cover: Wife #3: Jane Seymour, who died of childbirth after providing Henry with his heir Wife #4: Anne of Cleves, who Henry called "loathsome" and was richly rewarded for going quietly Wife #5: Catherine Howard, who...

If Henry had stopped at two wives, my guess is that your average person wouldn't know any more about him than they do about Henrys #1-7. But he did have six wives, and that made him so famous that people write award-winning musicals about him. Or rather about his wives. He is the connecting thread, but they are the story. This episode tells the stories of the amazing Catherine of Aragon, who was m...

Isabella was a force of natura before Columbus ever set foot in her court. As a teenager, she negotiated her own marriage contract, married behind her guardian's back, and seized the throne of Castile with questionable legitimacy. As queen and in partnership with her husband, she defeated first Portugal and then Granada. At a time when all of Christianity felt threated by the various Muslim countr...

Genghis Khan's daughters are shadowy figures: we don't know exactly how many there were or what all of their names were, but historians have pieced together bits and pieces of a story. Enough to know that Genghis valued his daughters highly and they played an essential role in his strategy. An army-on-the-move needs someone to rule the lands they've already conquered, and the Great Khan's daughter...

Alexander the Great conquered much of the known-to-him world in lightning speed. But he probably couldn't have done it without the support of his mother, Olympias, who served as queen, regent, and many other roles. Her name was dragged through the mud by ancient writers who struggled with the idea of a powerful woman. That means it is hard to sort out the truth from the slander, but this is an att...

Constantine the Great had a long list of accomplishments, including making Europe Christian for centuries to come. But he didn't do it alone. He had a good mom. This is the story of Helena, a girl from a low-class background who rose to be the most important woman in the empire. And she had a lot to do with making Europe Christian too. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcri...