Best Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media Podcasts (2025)

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Episode 20: The Rebellion 1:08:41

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4d ago1:08:41

1:08:41

With tensions mounting in British America over Parliament's Coercive Acts, colonists begin losing faith in King George III, while British soldiers march out of Boston to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington and Concord. Featuring: Rick Atkinson, Fred Anderson, Wendy Bellion, Katherine Carté, Frank Cogliano, Brad Jones, and Andrew O'Shaughnessy. V…

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Episode 19: The Gambit 1:10:37

1M ago1:10:37

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With British authority collapsing in North America, Britons on both sides of the Atlantic including Benjamin Franklin, Caroline Howe, and Lord Dartmouth engage in desperate and secret negotiations to avoid all the horrors of civil war. Featuring: Julie Flavell, Mary Beth Norton, Michael Hattem, and Frank Cogliano. Voice Actors: Grace Mallon, Amber …

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Episode 18: The Resurrection 1:00:35

2M ago1:00:35

1:00:35

Fourteen years after British forces conquered New France during the Seven Years' War, Parliament's passage of the Quebec Act in 1774 resurrects old fears of French Catholic tyranny in Protestant British America. Featuring: Katherine Carté, Christian Ayne Crouch, Brad Jones, and Jeffers Lennox. Voice Actors: Jan Hoffmann, Craig Gallagher, Emmanuel D…

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Episode 17: The Tyranny 1:03:23

3M ago1:03:23

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In the wake of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passes a series of coercive and intolerable acts to punish the tea destroyers and bring order to British America.By R2 Studios

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Episode 60: Those Guardians of Liberty 33:02

4M ago33:02

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Dr. Lauren Duval joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Elizabeth Drinker to her husband Henry dated February 26, 1778. In 1777, not long before the British Army occupied Philadelphia, the Continental Congress exiled Henry and 19 other prominent Quaker men. In this letter, Elizabeth provides Henry with an update on life in occupied Philadelp…

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Episode 16: The Tea 1:08:39

4M ago1:08:39

1:08:39

British Americans' unquenchable thirst for tea and a looming financial disaster for the East India Company leads to a new crisis in North America when seven tea-laden ships are sent to the colonies in 1773, inspiring Bostonians to dump much of the cargo in Boston Harbor. Featuring: Benjamin Carp, James Fichter, Deepthi Murali, and Mary Beth Norton.…

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Episode 15: The Heavens Fall 1:19:59

5M ago1:19:59

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The detainment of a West African-born enslaved Virginian named James Somerset in London leads to a court case decided by England's most powerful judge that challenges the foundations of slavery in the British Empire. Featuring: Christopher Brown, Trevor Burnard, Julie Flavell, and Chernoh Sesay, Jr. Voice Actors: Amber Pelham, Anne Fertig, Gillian …

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Episode 14: The Corruption 1:26:24

6M ago1:26:24

1:26:24

Months after the Boston Massacre, British Americans calling themselves "Regulators" launch a rebellion in western North Carolina that threatens to engulf the colony in revolution and civil war. Featuring: Abby Chandler, Marjoleine Kars, Cynthia Kierner, and Nathan Schultz. Voice Actors: Sarah Donelson, Evan McCormick, Norman Rodger, John Terry, and…

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Episode 59: The Scheme I Undertake with Chearfulness 41:34

7M ago41:34

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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 th…

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Episode 58: Our Unnatural Enemies May Be Turned From Us 49:54

7M ago49:54

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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 smallpo…

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Episode 13: The Massacre 1:27:01

8M ago1:27:01

1:27:01

In response to rioting and protests over the Townshend Acts, the British deploy four regiments to Boston, leading to a deadly shooting on March 5, 1770, a massacre that wounds a family. Featuring: Serena Zabin and John McCurdy. Voice Actors: Anne Fertig, Grace Mallon, Evan McCormick, Adam McNeil, and Nate Sleeter. Narrated by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Music…

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Episode 57: Those Tumultuous Assemblies of Men 42:03

8M ago42:03

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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…

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Episode 56: The Most Dreadful Of All Enemies 38:50

9M ago38:50

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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 kidna…

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Episode 55: An Insurrection Was Hourly Expected 47:00

11M ago47:00

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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 bec…

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Episode 12: The Conspiracy 1:19:18

11M ago1:19:18

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In the wake of the Stamp Act Crisis, the British chart a new course for empire in North America by imposing taxes on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea, pitting British Americans against Parliament…and each other. Featuring: Patrick Griffin, Zara Anishanslin, Rosemarie Zagarri, and Christopher Minty. Voice Actors: Adam Smith, Melissa Gismondi, Grac…

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Episode 54: I Am Frightened When I Look At Her 39:11

11M ago39:11

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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. Wi…

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Bonus: A Humble Origin Story 3:27

12M ago3:27

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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 whic…

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Episode 53: By Being Almost Murdered 43:28

1y ago43:28

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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 …

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Episode 11: The Resistance 1:16:36

1y ago1:16:36

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With the Stamp Act defeated, the Sons of Liberty in New York City celebrate by raising a Liberty Pole in tribute to George III, William Pitt, and Liberty, provoking a violent confrontation with British soldiers quartered in the city's barracks, who see the wooden mast as a monument to mob rule and a symbol of sedition. Featuring: Wendy Bellion, Shi…

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Season 4: A Season of Revolution 1:17

1y ago1:17

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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. …

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Episode 10: The Stamp 1:13:58

1y ago1:13:58

1:13:58

In the mid-1760s, British fears that a new war with France was only a matter of time leads King George III and his ministers to draw up plans for a permanent army in North America, and a Stamp Tax on the colonies to pay for it, sparking massive protests in British America and beyond. Featuring: Jon Kukla, Patrick Griffin, Brad Jones, Abby Chandler,…

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Votes for Women! 2:20

1y ago2:20

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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 ga…

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Episode 9: The Sugar 1:09:26

1+ y ago1:09:26

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In the 1760s, Jamaica and the islands of the British Caribbean were the crown jewels of Britain's American Empire. And as King George III's ministers searched for solutions to a vexing imperial puzzle and moved to counter a pernicious threat in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, they looked west from London, to the islands of sugar. Featuring: …

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Episode 10: Between Hate and Hope 38:17

1+ y ago38:17

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In August 2017, white supremacists marched on Charlottesville, VA to silence the Jews, Black Americans, and other minorities whom they feared would "replace us." The Unite the Right Rally was one of many ominous signs of persistent antisemitic attitudes and violence in the United States, but in this history of hate, some Americans found reason to h…

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Episode 9: David and Goliath 51:29

1+ y ago51:29

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In the decades following the Six-Day War in 1967, anti-Zionism gained momentum in American academia and led to the rise of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement on college campuses. Nearly sixty years later, the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, revealed how antisemitism and progressive critiques of Israel's war in Gaza could find…

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Episode 8: The Synagogue of Satan 39:40

1+ y ago39:40

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In the early 1970s, two powerful men, President Richard Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham, held secret Oval Office conversations about Jews. "America's Pastor" and the 37th President of the United States didn't consider themselves antisemites, but they dredged up stereotypes and traded in conspiracy theories shared by many Americans about the "good…

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Episode 7: The Houses We Live In 49:37

1+ y ago49:37

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In post-war America, Bess Myerson became the first Jewish woman to win the Miss America competition, but she confronted bigotry and exclusion far more daunting than any pageant. Meanwhile, changing demographics of urban neighborhoods and the emerging civil rights movement led to unprecedented tensions between American Jews and African Americans in …

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Episode 6: Lower than Animals 41:12

1+ y ago41:12

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Despite the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and the threat of renewed war in Europe, most Americans remained resolutely opposed to higher levels of Jewish immigration. Even as Jews faced persecution and genocide, antisemitic beliefs delayed American efforts to assist Jewish refugees and resettle concentration camp survivors, with tragic results. …

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Episode 5: Conspiracies 44:19

1+ y ago44:19

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At the turn of the 20th century, conspiracy theories about Jews ran rampant in American society. Many Americans – from the famed automaker Henry Ford to officers in the U.S. Army – believed that Jews controlled media, dominated international banking, and were conspiring to foment a communist revolution in the United States. Featuring: Yair Rosenber…

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Episode 4: Exclusion 36:04

1+ y ago36:04

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In Gilded Age America, immigration from Europe rapidly grew the nation's Jewish population, convincing many Americans that Jews were a dangerous and undesirable race. As lawmakers debated ways to restrict immigration, business owners denied service to Jews in hotels, resorts, and other public accommodations. Featuring: Mitchel Hart, Zev Eleff, Brit…

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Episode 3: Merchants and Money 39:49

1+ y ago39:49

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The California gold rush enticed many Jewish merchants west in search of prosperity in the mid-19th century, but their success drew unwelcome attention from state legislators, who passed laws requiring all businesses to close on the Christian Sabbath. Meanwhile, in the early Jim Crow South, Jewish peddlers and landowners faced resentment and violen…

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Episode 2: Moral Citizens 37:51

1+ y ago37:51

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In 1809, North Carolina lawmakers tried to stop Jacob Henry from taking his seat in the state legislature because he was Jewish. Many Americans believed that Jews like Henry couldn't be moral citizens in a Protestant America, and this inspired them to donate vast sums of money in the early nineteenth century to religious societies dedicated to conv…

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Episode 1: No Sanction to Bigotry 28:32

1+ y ago28:32

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Before the American Revolution, Sephardic Jews like Aaron Lopez found economic opportunity and religious freedom in Newport, Rhode Island, but not full citizenship, nor the right to vote. What promise did an independent United States hold for American Jews and their hope that President George Washington would preside over a new nation that "to bigo…

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Episode 52: Screaming Among Her Fellows 45:20

1+ y ago45:20

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Catharine Maria Sedgwick to Eliza Cabot Follen, February 18, 1828. In which Sedgwick writes to her dear friend Cabot Follen about the need for a new minister, pieces she has recently read and written, and an exquisite Valentine. Featuring Dr. Patricia Kalayjian and Dr. Lucinda Damon-Bach of The Catharine Maria Sedgwick Online Letters project. Dr. K…

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Episode 8: The Trade 1:14:56

1+ y ago1:14:56

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At the dawn of a new era after the Seven Years' War, British officials envision commerce and colonies as the key to British independence and its rising glory, but trade in commodities and manufactured goods comes at an awful price. Featuring: Emma Hart, Scott Miller, Ann Smart Martin, Hannah Knox Tucker, Hannah Farber, and Zara Anishanslin Voice Ac…

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Episode 51: O Women of America! 35:15

1+ y ago35:15

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Woman's Political Future - An Address by Frances E. W. Harper to the Chicago World's Fair, 20 May 1893. In which Harper champions morality, civil rights, and civic duty in Jim Crow America. Featuring Chole Porche, Ph.D. candidate in the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia. Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is a production…

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Introducing Antisemitism, U.S.A.: A History 1:09

1+ y ago1:09

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Antisemitism has deep roots in American history. Yet in the United States, we often talk about it as if it were something new. We're shocked when events happen like the Tree of Life Shootings in Pittsburgh or the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, but also surprised. We ask, "Where did this come from?" as if it came out of nowhere. But antis…

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The End of the Trail 27:28

1+ y ago27:28

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Today's episode is bittersweet because we have reached the end of our hike. After three years and 50 episodes, we are wrapping up The Green Tunnel with something a little different. Every episode of The Green Tunnel has focused on some aspect of the history of the Appalachian Trail, but today we're looking forward. What will the AT's future look li…

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Episode 7: The Divide 1:01:26

1+ y ago1:01:26

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With a blueprint in place for transforming British America into an empire of order, George III's goverment begins sending an army of cartographers to map North America, while diplomats in the colonies open negogiations with native nations to draw a boundary line between British and Indigenous America. Featuring: Max Edelson, Maeve Kane, and Alexand…

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Hogs, Chipmunks, and Bears, Oh My! 33:11

1+ y ago33:11

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On today's episode of The Green Tunnel, we are exploring a central reason why hikers head to the Appalachian Trail in the first place, to see wildlife. We'll also talk about how the animals along the trail are changing the way hikers experience the AT and the ecology of the mountains the AT passes through.…

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Episode 50: The Feathers are the only Tolerable Ones 39:13

1+ y ago39:13

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Martha Washington to Eleanor Parke Custis, c. February 1797. In which Washington warns her granddaughter that her dress may not arrive from Philadelphia in time for a Virginia ball. Featuring Dr. Alexandra Garrett, Assistant Professor of History, St. Michael's College. Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is a production of R2 Studios, part of the R…

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Iconic Locations: The Katahdin Sign 14:14

1+ y ago14:14

14:14

What long-distance AT hiker hasn't dreamed of reaching that sign on the summit of Katahdin at the end of their hike? Today, we are headed to the top of the mountain to explore the history of the iconic sign.By R2 Studios

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Trail Writing 30:35

1+ y ago30:35

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The Appalachian Trail winds its way through Appalachia which is a place where people make sense of their world through stories. Stories of their lives in the mountains. Stories of the land and its riches. Stories, both fiction and non-fiction, about their journeys. In this episode of The Green Tunnel, we are exploring the history of writing about t…

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Episode 6: The Proclamation 1:05:39

1+ y ago1:05:39

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Against the backdrop of Pontiac's War in North America, George III's ministers in London draw on lessons learned in colonial Nova Scotia to begin drafting a blueprint for transforming British America into an empire of order. Featuring: Fred Anderson, Matthew Dziennik, Max Edelson, and Alexandra Montgomery Voice Actors: Grace Mallon and Beau Robbins…

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Episode 49: Deposition of Phillis Tatton 42:56

1+ y ago42:56

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Deposition of Phillis Tatton, 3rd November 1837 In which Phillis Hinkley Saunders Tatton appeared before the County of Probate in the state of Connecticut in an attempt to secure a pension for her late husband's service during the American Revolutionary War.By R2 Studios

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Iconic Locations: Priest Mountain Shelter 12:09

1+ y ago12:09

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Did you know a significant number of hikers confess their sins in the logbook in the shelter on Priest Mountain? Why do they do this and what do they confess? Find out on today's Iconic Locations episode.By R2 Studios

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Becoming a National Park 28:24

1+ y ago28:24

28:24

Benton MacKaye wanted to be sure that anyone who chose to spend a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks on the trail would have the opportunity to really get away from civilization. However, most of the lands MacKaye hoped to route his future trail through were in private hands, owned either by individuals or corporations. If an Appalachian Trail w…

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Episode 48: Political Subjects are too often at Variance 33:51

1+ y ago33:51

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Elizabeth Willing Powel to Elizabeth Parke Custis, February 28, 1816. In which Powel advises Martha Washington's pro-French granddaughter to avoid talking about politics with pro-British family members. Featuring Samantha Snyder, Research Librarian & Manager of Library Fellowships at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, and D…

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Iconic Locations: Delaware Water Gap 8:38

1+ y ago8:38

8:38

The Delaware Water Gap is one of the most breathtaking spots along the entire Appalachian Trail and has been a favorite subject of landscape painters since at least the middle of the 19th century. It's an important marker for northbound hikers, but it's also a torturous landscape that many hikers call "Rocksylvania."…

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Episode 5: The Uprising 1:14:27

2y ago1:14:27

1:14:27

As the British began to assert control over North America in the wake of the Seven Years' War, the actions of British American settlers and the messages of a native prophet convinced some Indigenous peoples throughout the Ohio Country and beyond that resistance through force was the best way to preserve their sovereignty and usher in the revitaliza…

Roy Rosenzweig Center For History And New Media Podcasts