Episode 35: George Wiseacre Parke Custis

11/10/22 • 28 min

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

Eleanor Parke Custis (Lewis) to Elizabeth Bordley (Gibson), 14 May 1798 In which rumors are dispelled, patriotic songs are sung, and girls draw on large mustaches with burnt cork. Many thanks to returning guest Samantha Snyder for coming on the show to talk about this letter! Note: at the time of recording neither Samantha nor my book had come out yet. Now both of them have! Please do check them out. Thank you for your patience while I worked on this episode! Brady, Patricia. George Washington’s Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Curtis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851. Expanded ed. edition. Columbia, S.C: University of South Carolina Press, 2006. “Founders Online: From George Washington to George Washington Parke Custis, 15 A ....” University of Virginia Press. Accessed November 8, 2022. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0165. “Founders Online: To George Washington from George Washington Parke Custis, 2 Ap ....” University of Virginia Press. Accessed November 8, 2022. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0148. The Papers of Martha Washington. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5473. Women in George Washington’s World. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5720.

Previous Episode

Episode 34: That Evil Genius

Ellen Wayles Randolph to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 29 March 1819 In which Ellen Wayles Randolph passes quite a few judgments on some ladies in Richmond, and asks an old friend for a favor. My guest this week is the incomparable Danna Kelley, tour guide and house tour supervisor extraordinaire at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Further Reading: The Letter: https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1498 Alan Taylor, Thomas Jefferson's Education, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter in Queen Victoria's England: The Travel Diary of Ellen Wayles Coolidge, 1838–1839 Ellen Wayles Coolidge. Edited by Ann Lucas Birle and Lisa A. Francavilla. Mary Randolph Randolph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Randolph#:~:text=Mary%20Randolph%20(August%209%2C%201762,books%20of%20the%2019th%20century.

Next Episode

Episode 36: I Should Be Glad To Leave The School

Mary Secutor to Eleazar Wheelock, 28 July 1768 In which a woman of the Narragansett tribe politely but firmly departs from Moor's Indian Charity School. Thank you so much to my guest, Dr. Ivy Schweitzer, professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College, for telling me about this fascinating letter and the wonderful Occom Circle project! Resources: The letter, Mary Secutor to Eleazer Wheelock: https://collections.dartmouth.edu/occom/html/diplomatic/768428-2-diplomatic.html Edward Deake to Eleazer Wheelock, 21 June 1768: https://collections.dartmouth.edu/occom/html/diplomatic/768371-2-diplomatic.html Wyss, Hilary E.. "Mary Occom and Sarah Simon: Gender and Native Literacy In Colonial New England." New England Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 3, 1 Sep. 2006, pp. 387 - 412.