In each episode of History Fix, I discuss lesser known stories from history that you won't be able to stop thinking about. Need your history fix? You've come to...
Ep. 103 Radium Girls: How These Inspiring Women Stood Up To Their Abusers and Won
This week, we'll delve into a cautionary tale: the "Radium Girls." These women were employed to paint glow in the dark numbers on watch faces and dials in the 1920s and 30s using radium paint. Assured that the paint was safe, the girls were instructed to shape their paintbrushes into sharp points with their own lips. But, turns out, ingesting radioactive radium paint isn’t safe at all, and as the women became sick and sicker and died, the companies they worked for chose to gaslight them, refusing to take responsibility all while lining their pockets with profits. But these women fought back, standing up while laying down and their fight set an important precedent we can’t afford to forget. Let’s fix that. Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: International Atomic Energy Agency "What is Radiation"US Department of Energy "Nuclear Fuel Facts: Uranium"Library of Congress Blogs "Radium Girls: Living Dead Women"Wikipedia "Radium Girls"Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center "Hot Times in 'Radium Hospital'"Mariecurie.org "Marie Curie the scientist"American Physical Society "Henri Becquerel Discovers Radioactivity"Northern Public Radio "Ottawa's 'Radium Girls' At Forefront of Worker Protections"Encyclopedia Britannica "Radium Girls: The Women Who Fought For Their Lives in a Killer Workplace"Shoot me a message!
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Ep. 102 Richard Etheridge: How Keeper Richard Etheridge Served Always “On Behalf of Humanity”
This week, Joan Collins from the Pea Island Preservation Society joins me again to discuss Richard Etheridge, the first Black man to serve as keeper in the US Life Saving Service. Born into slavery, Etheridge fought for the Union army during the Civil War. Afterwards, he returned home to the Outer Banks of North Carolina where he re-entered service as a life saver, more specifically, surfman number 6, the lowest ranking position. Join me this week to learn how Etheridge distinguished himself time and again, climbing through the ranks despite all obstacles, despite the color of his skin, to lead, to serve, to fight, on behalf of humanity. Check out the Pea Island Preservation SocietySupport the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: "Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers" by David Wright and David Zoby (affiliate link)"Etheridge Homeplace: a History" by Penne SmithUnited States Coast Guard "Captain Richard Etheridge, Keeper, USLSS"National Park Service "Richard Etheridge"Wikipedia "Pea Island Life Saving Station"American Battlefield Trust "Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Life Saving Station"The Outer Banks Voice "Darrell Collins Passed to the Great Beyond"United States Coast Guard "The Long Blue Line 'To Never Halt or Falter'"Coastwatch "Pea Island Surfmen Prove Themselves on a Heroic Night"US Life Saving Service Heritage Association "History of the USLSS"Wikitree "John Burgess Etheridge"Shoot me a message!
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Ep. 101 Freedmen: How the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony Became More Lost to History Than the Lost Colony Itself
Between mainland North Carolina and the narrow stretch of barrier islands we call the Outer Banks, sits a tiny island, just 12 miles long and around 3 miles wide. Dotted with rich maritime forest and bordered by brackish salt marsh on all sides, it’s home to two sleepy towns aptly named Manteo and Wanchese. This is Roanoke Island of course, of Lost Colony fame. But some 300 years later, in the mid 1800s, it was home to another colony entirely, one you’ve probably never even heard of, a colony whose population soared to just under 4,000 people in a matter of a few years. That’s more than the combined populations of Manteo and Wanchese today. This was the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony and its history, its story, some might argue, has become even more lost than the Lost Colony itself. Let’s fix that. Check out the Pea Island Preservation SocietySupport the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources:"Ironclads and Columbiads: The Civil War in North Carolina" by William R. Trotter (affiliate link)"Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony" by Patricia C. Click (affiliate link)National Park Service "The Battle of Roanoke Island"National Park Service "Richard Etheridge"Wikipedia "Battle of Roanoke Island"National Park Service "The Freedmen's Colony on Roanoke Island"Wikipedia "Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island"roanokefreedmenscolony.comLetter from Richard Etheridge and William BensonRoanoke Island Festival Park "The Freedmen's Colony"National Park Service "Freedom Comes to Roanoke Island"Shoot me a message!
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Ep. 100 Benjamin Banneker: How An Impressive Human Being Was Transformed Into a Mythic Folk Hero
In this episode, we'll uncover the truly impressive accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker, a free Black man living in rural Maryland in the 1700s. Banneker was a self taught astronomer who helped to lay out the boundary for the construction of Washington DC. He also built his own working clock and wrote and published almanacs for the years 1792 to 1797. He also called Thomas Jefferson out for being a hypocrite, my personal favorite accomplishment. But, despite all of the truly impressive things he really did, he's mostly remembered for things he did not do: planning the city of Washington DC, constructing the first clock in America, writing the first almanac in America, etc. Join me to examine how and why his already impressive enough real life accomplishments have been embellished by historical telephone. Let's fix that. Check out RingTree here and use promo code historyfix to get 25% off your first month!Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: "The Life of Benjamin Banneker" by Silvio BediniThe White House Historical Association "Benjamin Banneker the Black Tobacco Farmer Who the Presidents Couldn't Ignore"Wikipedia "Benjamin Banneker"Wikipedia "Mythology of Benjamin Banneker"Encyclopedia Britannica "Pierre Charles L'Enfant"Shoot me a message!
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Ep. 99 Josephine Baker: How This Exotic Dancer Turned Spy Is Really So Much More Than That
This week, we'll delve into the mind blowing life of Josephine Baker, a Black performing artist who took Paris by storm starting in the 1920s. She sang, she danced, she barely wore any clothing, and she had a pet cheetah named Chiquita that regularly terrorized the orchestra pit. But Josephine Baker was so much more than that. from St. Louis street rat to world famous performer, first Black female movie star to French spy during World War II, entrepreneur to US civil rights activist, mother of twelve… I think you will find that Josephine Baker is nothing if not completely unexpected. Let’s fix that. Check out RingTree here and use promo code historyfix to get 25% off your first month!Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: The New Yorker "Josephine Baker Was the Star France Wanted - and the Spy It Needed"CBS News "The legacy of Josephine Baker"The Guardian "From the archive, 26 August 1974: An interview with Josephine Baker"Wikipedia "Josephine Baker"Slate "Josephine Baker's Rainbow Tribe"Spiegel International "Josephine Baker's Rainbow Tribe"The Conversation "Josephine Baker's 'Rainbow Tribe' and the pursuit of universal brotherhood"Shoot me a message!
In each episode of History Fix, I discuss lesser known stories from history that you won't be able to stop thinking about. Need your history fix? You've come to the right place.Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/historyfix or Venmo @Shea-LaFountaine. Your donations make it possible for me to continue creating great episodes. Plus, I'll love you forever! Find more at historyfixpodcast.com
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