Emily dressed for court, circa 1894 by Charles-Émile-Auguste Carolus-Duran –she was more than “just” the bridge
Emily Roebling stepped in to facilitate the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband, its chief engineer, fell victim to a mysterious illness. Though her contributions were kept shadowed at the time, later generations have come to realize how critical she was to the project’s completion (and she did so much more afterward!)
Washington Roebling, circa 1899 by Théobald Chartran via wikicommonsEmily, Law Certificate recipient (we told you she was more than “just” a bridge) via wikicommons
****Shownotes under construction, please come back for all the books and sites we talked about during this episode!**
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Books!
Lofty, detailed and won’t make your eyes blurry by David McCoulloughFocuses on Emily by Marilyn E Weigold, PhDFor balance, by Erica WagnerGraphic non-fiction we both thought was cool by Peter J. Tomasi and Sara DuvallPart memoir, part biography, all photography by Barbara G. MenschFor kids, by Rachel Doughertyby Frieda Wishinsky and Natalie NelsonBy Anna LewisMore graphic non-fiction from Kazoo MagazineHistorical fiction by Tracey Enderson-Wood
The Bowery Boys podcast has A LOT of episodes about Brooklyn, the bridge, and some of the people involved in building it (Boss Tweed is a recurring subject for the Bowery Boys). Start with their episodes on Brooklyn Heights (episodes #298 and 299) for a background of the area where Emily lived in Brooklyn and why building the bridge was needed.
Break music: James Harper of Harper Active; end music: Cool Kids, Natalie Walker (used with permission)
We wrap up our two-part series on the life of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria! This is an epic tale of war (more than we’ve ever discussed) and family (also more than we’ve ever discussed!) We talk about the many steps she took as Maria Theresa reassembled the empire she had inherited and strategically laid the foundations of cultural reform that changed the course of history.
Destined from her cradle for a seat on the throne, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had to fight both the prejudices of her age and some of the greatest warriors of the time to secure her empire. Her life was so large, it’s going to require two episodes! In this one, we begin with a little background on her family, you may have heard of them? The Habsburgs? They of a 700-year dynasty? There were a lot of wars, fluid country lines, alliances, and lands that extended across modern-day Europe that helped shape the world that Maria Theresa was born into, and we give you an outline of that history.
For a few weeks a year, we head out of our ordinary lives to take a Field Trip. Like any decent Field Trip, we don’t go alone and offer up the opportunity to join us to you, Dear Listeners! This June we headed to Austria with 50 people who would become friends in a very short time. We toured Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstatt, and several locations in between with an accent on history and this week we opened up our mics to let those traveling with us tell their stories.
Gertrude Bell, a daughter of privilege took her enormous intelligence, unfathomable bravery, and an entire set of Wedgwood china into the uncharted parts of the Middle East, making maps, discoveries, and friends along the way. Her work helped pave the way for the establishment of the modern country of Iraq.
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell was born on July 14, 1868, in County Durham, England. She was the first child and only daughter of Sir Hugh Bell and Mary Shields Bell, and, after her mother passed away, was raised since childhood by her stepmother, Florence Olliffe Bell. Gertrude grew-up in a wealthy family of fairly progressive thinkers and was educated at Queens College and Oxford University (where they had only recently begun enrolling women and still didn’t give them actual degrees.)
She did follow some convention and, after being denied marrying the man she loved for the conventional reason of him not making enough money, she did her conventional debutant time doing traditional debutant activities. But, once she had aged out of “marriageable” and became “chaperone” age, her life really got going.
Gertrude traveled extensively for most of the rest of her life. And not all posh, typical travel (although she did travel with an entourage and glamping supplies) we’re talking about activities like mountain climbing and desert wandering in the Middle East. This was her favorite area to explore and live, made easier by being fluent in Arabic and not holding back from speaking her mind.
Her adventures were numerous, at times her numerous friendships were lifesaving, and her documentation of the people she met and the lands she loved aided in the establishment of modern-day Iraq and divvying up the freshly fallen Ottoman Empire, and guiding Great Britain through WW1.
Gertrude Bell, CBE: author, adventurer, archaeologist, museum creator, unofficial but effective diplomat, political advisor, and a woman who put (parts) of convention aside to live her life by her own rules died on July 12, 1926, at her home in Baghdad. She was 57 years old.
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
Books!
By Janet Wallachby Liora LukitzBy H.V.F. WinstonBy Pat Yale
Mary Cassatt may be best known for her paintings of women and children, but she lived a long life full of much more: bold moves, societal-norm evasion, adventure, a big family, and a bigger personality.
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born on May 22, 1844, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania the fourth of five children of Robert Simpson Cassett and Katherine Johnston Cassett. Her parents were quite wealthy and had a sort of wanderlust approach to residences, moving the family quite a bit, even to Europe for an extended time. Mary grew up multi-lingual, very curious, and very, very interested in becoming an artist.
She was able to begin working toward that goal at 16 when she entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadephia and continued when she (with her mama as a chaperone) moved to Paris in 1865 when she was 21 years old. She built her skills by copying masters’ paintings in the Louvre, studying with artists in Paris, and upped her game when she began to be selected to show at the prestigious Le Salon des Beaux Arts in Paris. She continued her education by traveling throughout Europe with friends to study the art of the area, practice, and in one case, complete a commission that made her the Belle of Parma for a season. She never stopped that education.
Mary’s first Salon acceptance, The Mandolin Player, 1868
Mary joined a small group of artists in Paris who were thinking the same thing that she was: there is another way to paint than the one, traditional way approved by the Salon judges. These folks even had a name for their merry band of artists: The Impressionists, and Mary joined them when she was 33 in 1874. Big names now like Degas, Monet, Pissaro, Renoir… while Mary wasn’t the only woman, she was the only American. With the Impressionists, she painted scenes of everyday life (in places where she, as a woman of a certain class, was allowed to go) and, eventually, began the work she is most famous for: women and children.
Mary’s mother, Katherine, reading the newspaper, Reading Le Figaro, 1878Look at the background of this, and the creeper staring at our heroine. In The Loge, 1878This painting caused quite a stir, one of the women’s faces is covered by a cup! Mercy! The Tea, 1880
For her entire life, Mary was always learning, always practicing, and always adapting her art as her mind, her life, and her body began to change. She made the decision to never marry, and (no shock) she had a full life of family and friends. In addition to becoming a world-renowned painter and printmaker, she assisted many people in the role of art consultant, helping them amass their art collections of various styles and artists, and made herself available to advise and support young artists.
Not only did Mary achieve her dream of an art career, she helped others achieve theirs.
One of both of our favorites, Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878Mary was always experimenting with her art, this is part of her print-making era. Woman Bathing, 1891This is the painting that Beckett was talking about that shows a very common Mom emotion. Breakfast in Bed 1897
Mary Cassatt died at her home, Chateau de Beaufresne in Le Mesnil-Theribus, France on June 14, 1926. She was 82 years old. She left behind an enormous body of work, much of which was in private collections and has since been donated to museums around the world.
****SHOWNOTES UNDER CONSTRUCTION, PLEASE COME BACK A LITTLE LATER FOR THE COMPLETE MEDIA LISTINGS****
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Books!
The biggie we used (literally and figuratively) by Nancy Mowll Mathewsby Griselda PollockLittle but thorough, by Georgette GouveiaAnd then we have some coffee table books…this one for The Art Institute of ChicagoCoffee table book by Judith A. Barter and Sue RoeBy William Cane and Anna Gabrielle
Web!
The Library of Congress has a listing of places where you can (virtually) see Mary’s work. We heart the Library of Congress.
There is a lot of information and a collection of (most) of her work at MaryCassatt.org.
Why did we keep saying that Impressionist painting was so radical? Here’s an article about that in The Week.
Very cool resource: Pieces Mary applied to be shown at the Salon in Paris, by acceptance and rejection. Impressionism.nl (and lots of other artists’ work, too!)
And we await a biopic (you know how to pronounce that, right?) let’s get on this film people, Mary had a big personality and lots of life material for a movie!
