In this final episode of our series on Pocahontas, we see Pocahontas navigate life as a kidnapped young woman. She gets a marriage proposal. She ushers in an era of peace for her people. She gives birth. She’s taken to England. At one point, she tells off that douchelord, John Smith.

Her life story presents challenges for historians, not just because Native American oral history conflicts with English sources, but because she held so many roles in her short life – often at the same time. She was a survivor, a victim, a diplomat, a spy, an adventurer, a mother, a wife, a peacekeeper, an aristocrat, and a curiosity. Through it all, one thing is certain: Pocahontas’s life was remarkably short, but her impact is incalculable.

Custalow, Linwood, and Angela L. Daniel. The True Story of Pocahontas. Fulcrum Publishing, 2007.

“John Rolfe | Historic Jamestowne,” n.d. https://historicjamestowne.org/history/pocahontas/john-rolfe/.

Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas’s People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia through Four Centuries. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.

“Thomas Rolfe | Historic Jamestowne,” n.d. https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/thomas-rolfe.htm.

Townsend, Camilla. Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemna. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Woodward, Grace Steele. Pocahontas. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

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In this episode, tensions rise and true crime abounds. And, like an old timey episode of Dateline, it starts off peachy keen! Pocahontas married a warrior. She had a child. She lived what seemed to be a happy, normal life. But being the favorite daughter of Chief Wahunsenaca put a target on her back. It wasn’t long before English settlers decided to kidnap her.

Custalow, Linwood, and Angela L. Daniel. The True Story of Pocahontas. Fulcrum Publishing, 2007.

“History Timeline | Historic Jamestowne,” n.d. https://historicjamestowne.org/history/jamestown-timeline/.

“Jane | Historic Jamestowne,” n.d. https://historicjamestowne.org/archaeology/jane/.

“John Rolfe | Historic Jamestowne,” n.d.

“Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend,” n.d. https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/pocahontas-her-life-and-legend.htm.

Townsend, Camilla. Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemna. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Woodward, Grace Steele. Pocahontas. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

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Chief Wahunsenaca was in a tough spot. English settlers were camped out nearby, desperate for food but heavily armed. He thought he might bring them under his fold by offering them food and community.

To help ensure meetings remained peaceful, he sent his favorite daughter, Pocahontas, as a sign of trust. Over the next year, Pocahontas frequently visited Jamestown. She brought food, taught the settlers her language, and played with the English kids.

Despite this offering, John Smith, the leader of the settlers, wasn’t willing to cede control. He made false promises. He reneged on negotiations. And he even got a lil’ creepy with Pocahontas!

“Captain John Smith - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service),” n.d. https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/life-of-john-smith.htm.

Custalow, Linwood, and Angela L. Daniel. The True Story of Pocahontas. Fulcrum Publishing, 2007.

“History Timeline | Historic Jamestowne,” n.d. https://historicjamestowne.org/history/jamestown-timeline/.

Townsend, Camilla. Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemna. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Woodward, Grace Steele. Pocahontas. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

When the English popped up on the shore of the “New World,” they were in rough shape. They didn’t have much food, knew next to nothing about their surroundings, and had a boatload of diseases. The English also brought with them an interesting worldview. They figured that Native Americans would be thrilled to: Give them food, work for them, change religions, and one day pay taxes to the King.

They thought wrong.

Custalow, Linwood, and Angela L. Daniel. The True Story of Pocahontas. Fulcrum Publishing, 2007.

“The Lost Colony - Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service),” n.d. https://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/historyculture/the-lost-colony.htm.

“The Virginia Company of London - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service),” n.d. https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/the-virginia-company-of-london.htm.

Townsend, Camilla. Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemna. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Woodward, Grace Steele. Pocahontas. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Over the years, Pocahontas’ life story has become distorted, sensationalized and mythologized. Hell, it even got turned into an exceptionally crappy Disney movie! In this series, Norm separates fact from fiction as he delves into the complicated, fascinating life of Pocahontas.

Custalow, Linwood, and Angela L. Daniel. The True Story of Pocahontas. Fulcrum Publishing, 2007.

Henricus. “Making a House a Home in Powhatan Indian Communities,” January 31, 2020. https://henricus.org/2020/01/31/making-a-house-a-home-in-powhatan-indian-communities/.

Townsend, Camilla. Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemna. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Woodward, Grace Steele. Pocahontas. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Teri Horton didn’t mince words. The $5 thrift store painting she’d picked up for a friend was ugly. Very ugly. It wasn’t even what she’d call art. It looked like blobs and sprays of paint flung willy-nilly on a massive canvas. So, when Teri’s friend didn’t want the painting, Teri wasn’t offended. But Teri was sure surprised when an art teacher told her she might have purchased a genuine Jackson Pollock painting.

Teri’s response was quick. “Who the f*** is Jackson Pollock?”

The documentary, “Who the #$and% is Jackson Pollock?”

“The Case for Jackson Pollock,” by PBS Digital Studios

“The Mark of a Masterpiece” by David Grann for the New Yorker

“Jackson Pollock: Demystifying America’s Most Influential Painter,” by The Conspiracy of Art YouTube channel

“$50-million question,” by Louise Baring for The National Post

“‘Ugly’ painting’s creator still disputed; now artists claim it,” by Kristina Sauerwein for The Los Angeles Times

“A thrift-shop Jackson Pollock masterpiece?” 60 Minutes

“‘Bakersfield Mist’ pits art misfit against art maven,” by Barbara Yoresh for the Indian River Press Journal

“Costa Mesa woman known for the fight to authenticate a possible Jackson Pollock painting dies without selling it,” by Susan Hoffman for the Daily Pilot

“After 25 years, Costa Mesa woman still holding out for a ‘fair price,’” for the Daily Pilot

Frances Perkins wasn’t just the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She was also America’s longest serving Secretary of Labor. The only thing that overshadows her status as a trailblazer is what she accomplished in office. She’s the reason we have Social Security. She led the fight to end child labor, to establish a minimum wage and to create the 40-hour work week. She tried to establish universal health care… but hey, she was only human.

Ready for the sad part? She did all of that while under constant personal attacks. Her political opponents tried to impeach her. They spread a rumor that she hadn’t been born in America. Hmm… does any of that sound familiar? Ya know what Paula Abdul says… two steps forward and two steps back…

The documentary, “Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare.”

The book, “The Woman Behind the New Deal,” by Kirstin Downey

The Frances Perkins Center website

“Frances Perkins” entry on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website

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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She’s the reason we have Social Security. She led the fight to end child labor, to establish a minimum wage and to create the 40-hour work week. In this episode, we find out how this remarkable woman got her start. Did it help that her birth name was Fanny??? Possibly! Bad names build character!

The documentary, “Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare.”

The book, “The Woman Behind the New Deal,” by Kirstin Downey

The Frances Perkins Center website

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Walter Jackson Freeman wanted to do something *big.* As a neurologist for the nation’s largest psychiatric hospital, he saw patients who desperately needed help. But, absent any major medical breakthroughs, Walter was powerless to do much of anything.

So he spent years searching for *the thing* that separated people with mental illnesses from the normies. He studied brains. He measured them. He compared. In the end, he came up with nothing. He was devastated by his lack of progress. Then, in 1936, he came across the research of a Portuguese neurologist named Antonio Egas Moniz. Antonio had just developed a new procedure called a leucotomy. He’d performed it on 20 patients, and it had helped some of them.

Walter wasn’t the least bit skeptical. He took the leucotomy, gave it a little spin and a new name, and began performing it with reckless abandon. It would be years before people understood the risks of the lobotomy.

“The Lobotomist” episode of American Experience

“Rosemary: the Hidden Kennedy Daughter,” book review by Meryl Gordon for The New York Times

“D.C. Neurosurgeon Pioneered 'Operation Icepick' Technique,” by By Glenn Frankel for the Washington Post

“Walter Jackson Freeman, Father of the Lobotomy,” By Al Ridenour for Mental Floss

“My Lobotomy” episode of StoryCorp

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

America’s first Olympic games were bad. But just how bad were they???

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were part of a World’s Fair that featured human zoos, a display of premature babies, a racist athletic event called “Anthropology Days,” and more! The actual Olympic competitions were disorganized and featured mostly American athletes. And for the turd on this poo sundae - a marathon event that almost killed competitors.

But despite all this, some historians feel the 1904 St. Louis Olympics have been misjudged. Let’s find out!

AICO. “1904 OLYMPIC GAMES ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI : OFFICIAL MEDALS & BADGES,” n.d. https://aicolympic.org/collectors_library/1904-olympic-games-st-louis-missouri-official-medals-badges/.

Boykoff, Jules. Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics. Verso, 2016.

DiMeo, Nate. “Olympic-Sized Racism.” Slate, August 21, 2008. https://slate.com/culture/2008/08/remembering-the-anthropology-days-at-the-1904-olympics.html.

Holroyd, Steve. “Lacrosse at the 1904 Summer Olympics: Correcting the Record.” Crossecheck (blog), March 16, 2019. https://crossecheck.com/2019/03/16/lacrosse-at-the-1904-summer-olympics-correcting-the-record/.

ISOH. “The Evolution of the Early Olympics,” n.d. https://isoh.org/cause-view/the-evolution-of-the-early-olympics/.

Johnson, Walter. “The Largest Human Zoo in World History.” Roundtable (blog), April 14, 2020. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/largest-human-zoo-world-history.

Kahler, Abbot, and Ellen Wexler. “How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time.” Smithsonian Magazine, August 7, 2012. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-1904-marathon-became-one-of-the-weirdest-olympic-events-of-all-time-14910747/.

Matthews, George R. America’s First Olympics: The St. Louis Games of 1904. University of Missouri Press, 2018.

Populous. “Populous Magazine | The Bizarre Tale of the 1904 St. Louis Marathon,” n.d. https://populous.com/article/the-bizarre-tale-of-the-1904-st-louis-marathon.

Runner’s World. “The Unbelievable True Story of the Craziest Olympic Marathon,” August 6, 2021. https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a37039437/1904-olympic-marathon/.

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.