Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant: A Women's History

Cornelia Jefferson Randolph to Jane H. Nicholas Randolph, 18 January 1818. One of Thomas Jefferson's granddaughters writes to her sister-in-law about parties, shallow friendships, and an embarrassing incident on the dance floor. Kathryn is joined this week by Mary Wigge, a research editor of Martha Washington's papers. You can read the full transcribed text of this letter (along with the original handwritten document!) here: http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/754 For more information on Cornelia Jefferson Randolph visit here: https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/cornelia-jefferson-randolph And for more information on Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph visit here: https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jane-hollins-nicholas-randolph

Eleanor Parke Custis (Lewis) to Elizabeth Bordley (Gibson), Washington City, Feb. 7th, 1796. What does George Washington's granddaughter have to do with the invention of race in the early U.S. republic? Find out in this week's episode! Many thanks to Allison Robinson, a PhD. candidate at the University of Chicago and predoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution for sharing her knowledge and being a lovely guest! Further Reading: The text of the letter is from "George Washington's beautiful Nelly : the letters of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851," edited by Patricia Brady, University of South Carolina Press, 1991, pg. 23-25 This episode would not be possible without the INCREDIBLE RESEARCH of Rosemarie Zagarri of George Mason University. Her chapter "The Empire Comes Home: Thomas Law's Mixed Race Family in the Early Republic," pp. 75-108 in the book "India in the American Imaginary, 1780s-1880s", edited by A. Arora and R. Kaur, 2017, is where we got all of our information on Thomas Law. Eleanor Parke Custis: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/eleanor-nelly-parke-custis/ Elizabeth Parke Custis: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/elizabeth-parke-custis-law/ Japanning: https://www.britannica.com/art/japanning NARRATIVES/COUNTERNARRATIVES: TWO CENTURIES OF RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS IN AMERICAN MATERIAL CULTURE: https://voices.uchicago.edu/reproducingraceandgender/ John and Abigail Adams Letters: https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17960223ja&hi=1&query=nabob&tag=text&archive=all&rec=1&start=0&numRecs=3 https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17960305aa&rec=sheet&archive=all&hi=1&numRecs=3&query=nabob&queryid=&start=0&tag=text&num...

Henrietta Marchant Liston to Dick Ramage, 6 March 1813 In which Henrietta Marchant Liston, married to diplomat Robert Liston, writes to her nephew about her experience so far in Constantinople. "We are out of your world it is true; but we are in the Oriental one." Many thanks to BOTH of this week's guests, Dora Petherbridge and Patrick Hart, two of the editors of Henrietta Liston's journals. More Sources: For the print edition of Henrietta Liston's Turkish Journals: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-henrietta-liston-s-travels.html For the FANTASTIC digital resource, featuring Liston's journals and letters, as well as interactive maps, videos, and essays: https://digital.nls.uk/travels-of-henrietta-liston/listons/index.html

Elizabeth Sharaf-un-Nisa to "Philo" In which a Mughal woman who co-habitated with and eventually married a white employee of the East India Company writes to her son about fat babies and beautiful black pigs. I am joined by Dr. Megan Robb, the Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor of South Asian Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, who is creating a digital archive of Sharaf-un-Nisa's letters. This fantastic project is called Unstable Archives, and you can visit it here: https://unstable-archives.com/