History Fix

As we transition from Black History Month to Women's History Month, I've chosen a topic that encompasses both, a topic that addresses a major misconception in American history. What role did white women actually play in enslaving people? For a very long time, historians assumed that women were merely passive enslavers. They enslaved because their husbands enslaved. They were involved only because of their roles as housekeepers. But, when we look at the actual evidence - documents, letters, interviews, etc. - we are forced to consider another reality. In many cases, white women played an active, possibly even dominant, role in buying, selling, punishing, and hiring out enslaved people. Let's fix that. 
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Sources: 
From Naming to Knowing "Women as Enslavers"
New York Times "Scholars Thought White Women Were Passive Enslavers. They Were Wrong"
Michigan Law Review "A Different Type of Property: White Women and the Human Property They Kept"
From Naming to Knowing "Junius Brickle"
Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie Jones-Rogers
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Get ready for a wild ride because this story is bananas! This week, I uncover the unbelievable true story that is the life of Harriet Jacobs. Born enslaved in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813, Harriet would go on to escape from slavery in the most remarkable way. I'm talking, hoodwinking various prominent white men and hiding in an attic crawl space for 7 years remarkable. But, most importantly, Harriet would later tell her story to the world, becoming the first woman to author a fugitive slave narrative in the United States. However, despite her bravery in coming out with a story viewed as very taboo and even shameful at the time, the masses refused to believe that "Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl" was true or that it was written by Harriet herself for 120 years. Let's fix that. 
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Sources: 
"Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs
PBS "Harriet Jacobs"
Documenting the American South "Harriet A. Jacobs"
NCPedia "Norcom, James Sr."
Wikipedia "Harriet Jacobs"
Wikipedia "Lydia Marie Child"
Wikipedia "Nathaniel Parker Willis"
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In this episode, I unpack the dynamic character that is Dangerfield Newby, the real life inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's title character in the film "Django Unchained." For many years Dangerfield Newby was viewed as a villain. He took part in John Brown's 1859 raid on the military arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. These raiders took people hostage. They killed people. But when we take a closer look at their motives for carrying out these violent offenses, when we read the letter removed from the pocket of Dangerfield's lifeless body, a letter written by a desperate and terrified wife, the question emerges: were these men actually villains? Or were they heroes? 
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Sources: 
History.com “John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry”
History.com “John Brown”
Harriet Newby Letters
Black Past “Dangerfield F. Newby”
American Battlefield Trust “Dangerfield Newby”
Emerging Civil War “The Newby Family Fights for Freedom”
WTRF “Black History: Former slave and Ohioan Dangerfield Newby’s life story ranges from hopeful to horrific”
Wikipedia “Dangerfield Newby”
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Happy Black History Month! We're kicking off the month with a story that was suggested by Janice on Instagram. Nowadays, when you call for emergency services, you expect the speedy arrival of an ambulance staffed by personnel who have the skills to save your life en route if necessary. But, believe it or not, that's actually a new concept. Before the 1960s, your call would have been answered (quite slowly) by a police paddy wagon or even a hearse and there would be virtually no pre-hospital care other than basic first aid. It took until 1967 for folks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to realize that there had to be better way and the Freedom House Ambulance Service was born. If you've never heard of it, there's a reason for that. The Freedom House Ambulance Service was staffed by all Black paramedics, taken off the streets of Pittsburgh's impoverished Hill District. They were trained up and put to work and they absolutely killed it, revolutionizing emergency medical services country-wide. But history has a way of erasing these types of stories. So, let's fix that! 
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Sources: 
EMS1 "How Pittsburgh's 'Freedom House' Shaped Modern EMS Systems"
University of Pittsburgh "Freedom House Ambulance Service of Pittsburgh - Making Medical History"
University of California San Francisco "America's First Paramedics Were Black. Their Achievements Were Overlooked for Decades
Wikipedia "Freedom House Ambulance Service"
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Here it is! My first ever live History Fix episode! This live show was recorded at College of the Albemarle in Manteo, North Carolina on January 28th. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each person who braved freezing temperatures to see this show live. For all the rest, here is the recording. I do recommend watching the video version of this one as there are lots of great visuals to go along with it. That can be found on either YouTube or Patreon. Without further ado, I present to you the history of writing (which is really the history of history when you think about it!) 
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Sources: 
The Written World by Martin Puchner
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain
Scottish Book Trust "International Women's Day: the Fight to Read and Write"
International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences "The Evolution of Writing" by James Wright
British Museum "Who was Ashurbanipal?"
Harvard Magazine "Murasaki Shikibu"
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