The History Chicks : A Women's History Podcast

National I Love Lucy Day is October 15th, so join us in celebrating the life of this iconic woman with a supersized episode that combines all of our previous coverage of Lucille Ball! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Bernhardt began her life in France as the unwanted child of a heartless courtesan. She found her first true home in the theater; and through hard work, sheer luck, shocking eccentricity and her indomitable spirit, she transformed herself into the first A-list international celebrity the world had ever seen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The worldwide eradication of smallpox was not Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's only claim to fame; she discarded the life she knew and set out to remake herself, acquiring a reputation for eccentricity, adventures worthy of a modern motion picture, and unwanted literary superstardom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was brought up to believe that it was her face that was her fortune, and her place to be simply decorative. However, her uncommon intelligence, influence among the powerful, and her willingness to accept new ideas about medicine would save lives, help end smallpox, and transform the entire world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are quite a few parallels between Mary Mallon's story (a series of typhoid outbreaks) and our present-day pandemic, and so there are things we can learn from it. But was Mary a villain? Or simply a victim of circumstances? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A summer announcement and a song Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olympias is known for being the mother of Alexander the Great and for being Very Fond Of Snakes. She was subject to centuries of slander by the historians who followed her - but in this episode, we right some of the wrongs, give you some context for her actions, and reveal her connection to the Olympic Games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year, the Statue of Liberty's Little Sister is coming to the US for a lengthy stay. The 9' reproduction travels first to New York for the Fourth of July, then to Washington for Bastille Day...and the next ten years. We thought that this was a good time to revisit the OG, the icon, the symbol of freedom for millions over the last 135 years: Liberty Enlightening the World. Learn more about your...

Marjorie Merriweather Post was a natural philanthropist and organizer. Her fortune may have come to her by chance, and she is perhaps most famous for her outward signs of wealth, but she was no mere society butterfly. Rather than her extensive collection of jewels and artifacts, her true legacy is the multitude of people she was able to help with grace, dignity, and her natural capability for genu...

Marjorie Post was not *born* with a silver spoon in her mouth, but breakfast cereal sure provided her with one before her tenth birthday! She parlayed her father's company into a major food conglomerate, and lived like royalty as the Duchess of Washington DC and the Queen of Palm Beach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She was many things: an actress, a dancer, a chemist, an artist, and a pioneer in stage lighting and choreography. She was inquisitive and energetic, full of creativity and drive. She was always looking for ways to help her friends and was the belle of Paris and the Art Nouveau movement...but she is best referred to as La Loïe, THE Loïe, one of a kind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

For International Nurses Day, we're revisiting our coverage of Mary Seacole. While, technically, she wasn't a nurse, she was very much a brave medical caregiver, a "doctress," an entrepreneur, and one heck of a jam-maker who served those fighting at the front of the Crimean War (and so much more.) If you are interested in a more directly related nurse episode, we recommend our coverage of Florence...

In Part 3, Maya Angelou has stretched to fill many spheres of influence; she gathered accolades as she climbed and was generous with her experiences. Her lantern of wisdom shone all over the world, lighting the way ahead for others to follow.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 is a roller coaster! Maya Angelou faced some of her greatest challenges during this period of her life, and handled them all with the true grit we've come to expect of her. And then she triumphed in three separate spheres, one right after another; theater, journalism, and political activism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where is Maya Angelou Part 2? Likely in a landfill. Let me explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Throughout the twists and turns of her colorful life, Maya Angelou gathered the wisdom of the world and distilled it into a dynamic force with which to educate, to move, and to change society. Words have power! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Young and Tom Meyers, of The Bowery Boys New York City History podcast, share their 2020 coverage of early 1900s women's protests that were tied to the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calamity Jane, Belle Starr, and Annie Chambers were contemporaries of our previous subjects, the Harvey Girls and Fred Harvey, but they led very...very different lives. We've combined three stories from our archives into one Women of the Wild West episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Harvey Girls were not "just waitresses," they were adventuring, trailblazing, refined young women who helped settle the American West. And the story of these brave and hardworking women can't be told without discussing the man behind them: Fred Harvey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From a rough start on the streets of Harlem, to the Apollo stage, smokey clubs, years on the road and in recording studios Ella led the world through the trends and wild ride that was the musical scene during most of the last century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ten years ago, we met (literally MET!) to record our first episode. It's been a journey, and we thought as a milestone birthday celebration, we would ask listeners what The History Chicks have meant to you. Thank you so very much for the years of friendship. (sings) AND MANY MORE..... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once upon a time, there was a little moppet whose grit and optimism on screen gave the world the courage to endure the Great Depression. But time and fashion are fickle mistresses, and Shirley Temple had to reinvent herself as a star performer - in the world of diplomacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's shine the spotlight on Mrs. Claus, she's not the one-dimensional support character most imagine, a revisit from 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charlotte didn't let her circumstances and the discouragement of others stand in the way of her goal of becoming a published author; she got knocked down over and over before she was able to present the world with one of the most beloved heroines in literary history. Along the way, we have a chance to talk about the lives of her literary sisters: Emily and Anne. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Pocahontas did save lives... just not the way (or the one) that you've been taught. We revisit this 2017 episode to learn the real, not Disneyfied, story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices