Amended

The right to vote was only one of many demands that women made prior to the Civil War. Zooming in on another priority, the right to bodily autonomy, changes our understanding of who was at the forefront of the struggle for women’s rights.

Host Laura Free, a historian of women and politics, travels to Baltimore, Maryland, to spend a day with legal historian Martha S. Jones. They visit the Homewood Museum, a 19th century mansion once owned by a family of enslavers, to grapple with its legacy of slavery and sexual violence through the story of one enslaved resident, Charity Castle. Then Martha tells the stories of Celia (whose last name is unknown) and Harriet Jacobs, two other enslaved women who courageously fought for control of their own bodies within legal systems that denied them that right. Although few today know their names, Martha makes the case that all three women were part of the “vanguard” of women’s rights activism.

For a transcript and more about this series, visit amendedpodcast.com

Our Team

Laura Free, Host & Writer

Reva Goldberg, Producer, Editor & Co-Writer

Scarlett Rebman, Project Director

Kordell K. Hammond

Nicholas MacDonald

Joseph Murphy

Sara Ogger

Antonio Pontón-Núñez

Michael Washburn

Consulting Engineer: Logan Romjue

Art by Simonair Yoho

Music by Michael-John Hancock. Additional music by Pictures of a Floating World (CC).

A special thanks to Amy Mulvihill and the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins University.

Additional thanks to this episode’s advisors for their feedback: Carol Faulkner, Dominique Jean-Louis, Martha S. Jones, Alison Parker, and Kishauna Soljour.

Amended is produced with major funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and with support from Baird Foundation, Susan Strauss, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Phil Lewis & Catherine Porter, and C. Evan Stewart.

Copyright Humanities New York 2020

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How do we tell the story of the (unfinished) struggle for women’s voting rights? Who gave us the dominant suffrage narrative? And who gets left out?

Our host is Laura Free, a historian of women and politics. She reflects on the suffrage story she learned as a child, one that centers a few white women. She speaks with historians Bettye Collier-Thomas and Lisa Tetrault about the work they’ve done to show there is much more to the story. Next, Laura travels to Seneca Falls, New York, site of the 1848 women’s rights convention, with guest Judith Wellman. Dr. Wellman describes a movement that was both complex and diverse, and helps us to see an old story in an entirely new light.

This episode serves as the prologue to the series, inviting listeners to amend their understanding of women’s suffrage history.

For a transcript and more about this series, visit amendedpodcast.com.

Our Team

Laura Free, Host & Writer

Reva Goldberg, Producer, Editor & Co-Writer

Scarlett Rebman, Project Director

Kordell K. Hammond

Nicholas MacDonald

Joseph Murphy

Sara Ogger

Antonio Pontón-Núñez

Michael Washburn

Consulting Engineer: Logan Romjue

Art by Simonair Yoho

Music by Michael John Hancock and Live Footage

A special thanks to Stephanie Freese at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, Greg Cotteral at WEOS Studios in Geneva, NY, and the team at WESA, Pittsburgh.

Additional thanks to episode advisors for their feedback: Carol Faulkner, Dominique Jean-Louis, Martha S. Jones, Alison Parker, and Kishauna Soljour.

Amended is produced with major funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and with support from Baird Foundation, Susan Strauss, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Phil Lewis & Catherine Porter, and C. Evan Stewart.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 25, 1911, a fire swept through the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, claiming the lives of 146 workers. Most of the victims were young immigrant women from Eastern and Southern Europe. In the wake of the fire, a group of women labor activists fought to ensure that the tragedy led to concrete change.

In this episode, host Laura Free speaks with Dr. Annelise Orleck, author of Common Sense and a Little Fire, to learn about the women who agitated for better working conditions before and after the Triangle Fire. Rose Schneiderman, Pauline Newman, and Clara Lemlich had a shared vision for a more equitable society. Together, they organized unions, led strikes, and fought for labor legislation, combating sexist and classist attitudes every step of the way. To exercise their full political power, they needed to make an impact not just on the picket lines but also at the ballot box. They needed the right to vote.

For a transcript and more about this series, visit amendedpodcast.com. Visit the Amended store to get an Amended podcast mug, shirt, bag, phone case, and more.

Our Team

Laura Free, Host & Writer

Reva Goldberg, Producer, Editor & Co-Writer

Scarlett Rebman, Project Director & Episode 4 Co-Writer

Nicholas MacDonald

Joseph Murphy

Sara Ogger

Michael Washburn

Episode 4 Guest and Collaborator: Dr. Annelise Orleck

Consulting Engineer: Logan Romjue

Art by Simonair Yoho

Music by Michael-John Hancock, Live Footage, Emily Sprague, Pictures of the Floating World (CC), Yusuke Tsutsumi (CC) and Meydän (CC).

Archival footage courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives, WNYC, and the Kheel Center at Cornell University.

Special thanks to Janette Gayle, Susan Goodier, and Karen Pastorello whose scholarship helped frame the episode, and also to Davor Mondom, who consulted on this episode.

Amended is produced with major funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and with support from Baird Foundation, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Phil Lewis & Catherine Porter, and C. Evan Stewart. We received special support for this episode from Susan Strauss and Karen Gantz.

Copyright Humanities New York 2020

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1912, Mabel Lee, a teenaged immigrant from China, led a New York City suffrage parade on horseback. Ineligible for U.S. citizenship due to anti-Chinese immigration policy, Mabel nonetheless spoke out for American women’s political equality. She envisioned a world where all women had the right to vote—and she wanted white suffragists to pay attention to the discrimination and racism faced by Chinese American women.

In this episode, producer Reva Goldberg travels to Chinatown to meet with Reverend Bayer Lee, who honors Mabel’s legacy as the pastor of the church community that Mabel and her parents dedicated themselves to building. Host Laura Free speaks with Dr. Cathleen Cahill, author of Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement, to learn about Mabel’s political goals for women and for China. In the end, it’s clear that Mabel Lee forged a bold life according to her values.

For a transcript and more about this series, visit amendedpodcast.com. Visit the Amended store to get an Amended podcast mug, shirt, bag, phone case, and more.

Our Team

Laura Free, Host & Writer

Reva Goldberg, Producer, Editor & Co-Writer

Scarlett Rebman, Project Director

Nicholas MacDonald

Joseph Murphy

Sara Ogger

Michael Washburn

Episode 5 Guests and Collaborators: Dr. Cathleen Cahill and Dr. Bayer Lee

Consulting Engineer: Logan Romjue

Art by Simonair Yoho

Music by Michael-John Hancock, Emily Sprague, Pictures of the Floating World (CC), Yusuke Tsutsumi (CC), Meydän (CC), and Live Footage.

The work of Mary Chapman, Louise Edwards, Grace Li, and Timothy Tseng helped us immensely in framing our story. Special thanks to Connie Shemo, who consulted on this episode.

Amended is produced with major funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and with support from Baird Foundation, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Phil Lewis & Catherine Porter, and C. Evan Stewart.

Copyright Humanities New York 2021

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices