Episode 39: Not One Single Subject To Entertain You With
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Release Date: 05/23/2023
Episode 59: The Scheme I Undertake with Chearfulness
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Diane Ehrenpreis joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Martha Jefferson to a Mrs. Madison dated August 8, 1780 in which Jefferson encourages women to join together and raise funds to support the Continental soldiers. This letter is one of only four known correspondences in Jefferson’s hand. In this episode, Diane and Katy discuss some of the ways Jefferson’s words have been misinterpreted in the past. Diane Ehrenpreis is the Curator of Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. She has worked in the Curatorial Department at Monticello for...
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Episode 58: Our Unnatural Enemies May Be Turned From Us
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Dr. Emily Sneff joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Polly Palmer to John Adams dated 4 August 1776, in which Palmer thanks Adams for sending her one of the earliest printings of the Declaration of Independence. In this episode, Gehred and Sneff explore Palmer and Adams’s lifelong friendship, their experience getting inoculated for smallpox together, and military movements during the War for Independence. Dr. Emily Sneff is a historian and leading expert on the United States Declaration of Independence. She is a consulting curator for exhibitions planned for the 250th anniversary of...
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Episode 57: Those Tumultuous Assemblies of Men
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Dr. Cynthia Kierner joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss a 1778 letter from Richard Henry Lee to his sister Hannah Lee Corbin. In a lost letter, Hannah previously expressed her frustrations that widows are being taxed without representation. In this response, Richard explains the cultural and legal barriers that prevent Hannah and other widows from voting. Dr. Cynthia Kierner is a professor of history at George Mason University. She is a a specialist in the fields of early America, women and gender, and early southern history. She is the author of many books and articles including...
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Episode 56: The Most Dreadful Of All Enemies
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Dr. Jacqueline Beatty joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss The Petition of Belinda from 1783 in which Belinda Sutton petitions The Massachusetts General Court for the funds left to her by her enslaver Isaac Royall after he fled the colonies during the Revolutionary War. Beatty and Gehred discuss Sutton’s use of poetic language to describe her kidnapping and enslavement. Dr. Jacqueline Beatty is an Associate Professor of History at York College of Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses in Early American, Women’s and Gender, and Public History. Her book, explores the ways in which...
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Episode 55: An Insurrection Was Hourly Expected
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Ramin Ganeshram joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss excerpts from Janet Shaw’s Journal of a lady of quality; being the narrative of a journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the years 1774 to 1776. Ganeshram and Gehred explore life under martial law in North Carolina and the fear and paranoia among white colonists because of a supposed insurrection by enslaved people. Ramin Ganeshram is the executive director of the Westport Museum for History and Culture in Westport, Connecticut. She is an award winning journalist and historian, and she specializes in...
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Episode 54: I Am Frightened When I Look At Her
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Mary Wigge joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Lucy Flucker Knox to her husband General Henry Knox in which she describes how she spends her days during the Revolutionary War. Lucy, a wealthy Tory's daughter whose parents and siblings fled to England, expresses her loneliness and longing for Henry, who is with the army in Philadelphia. Wigge is a Research Editor at the Papers of James Madison and was previously an editor with The Papers of Martha Washington and The Papers of George Washington. Lucy Knox to Henry Knox, Boston, Massachusetts, 23 August 1777. The Gilder...
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Bonus: A Humble Origin Story
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
In this bonus episode of Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant, Kathryn Gehred dives into the podcast's origin story. While working as an editor of the Papers of Martha Washington, Gehred became very familiar with how people wrote letters in the 18th and early 19th centuries. She noticed that people often abbreviated the closing of their letters which she found very relatable. This inspired the podcast and why Gehred presents women through an entire letter or another document, offering a deeper understanding of their personalities. Find the official transcript . Your...
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Episode 53: By Being Almost Murdered
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Dr. Maeve Kane joins Kathryn Gehred to explore Konwatsi'tsiaienni Molly Brant’s life during the American Revolution. Brant was a member of the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation, one of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kane and Gerhred discuss Brant’s pivotal diplomatic efforts to maintain the Mohawk’s alliance with the British during the American War for Independence, and the turmoil Indigenous women like her faced during Sullivan’s Campaign in the late 1770s, as they read two letters from Brant to her step-son-in-law, Daniel Claus. Kane is an Associate Professor of...
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Season 4: A Season of Revolution
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
We are excited to announce that on October 29 Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant will be back with Season Four. This season, we're exploring revolutionary America through the words written by women. We'll follow along in letters as women questioned their loyalties, challenged authority, sought freedom, and aided and resisted revolutionary change. We're going to dive into the lives of Indigenous women, Scottish women, plantation owners, milliners, women who were enslaved, loyalists, patriots and so much more. We've interviewed leading scholars and have great stories to share with you. Join...
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Votes for Women!
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant has been nominated for the Women in Podcasting Awards! We would really appreciate it if you would vote for the podcast in the history category. Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is up against some GREAT podcasts, so your support would be really meaningful! Your vote would go a long way in helping the podcast gain visibility and get these letters out into the world. Here's how to vote: Step 1: Click on the to vote by October 1, 2024 Step 2: Find the History category drop-down menu and select our show from the options. Note: There is no fee...
info_outlineJemima Grey, Amabel Grey, and Mary Grey to Catherine Talbot, 15 November 1765
In which Jemima Grey and her two daughters, Bell who is 14 and Mouse who is 9, provide a very comical update about their life near Cambridge. Kathryn Gehred is joined by Dr. Natasha Simonova, Gwyneth Emily Rankin Official Fellow and Lecturer in English at Exeter College, University of Oxford.