As an enslaved man, Robert Smalls had one goal – to attain freedom for himself and his family. The odds were against him. He’d hoped to buy his wife and children from their enslaver, but saving that amount of money might take a lifetime. Then, when Robert’s home state of South Carolina seceded from the Union, freedom seemed even more out of reach. But then Robert got an idea. It would be bold. It would be dangerous. It would also require the cooperation, discretion, and skill of several other enslaved people. 

The craziest part? It worked.

Lineberry, Cate. Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls’ Escape from Slavery to Union Hero. St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

Miller Jr., Edward. Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915. University of South Carolina Press, 2008.

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.

T’was an OUTRAGE! An Illinois-based company was working on a film about Jesus Christ. The problem? The film would portray Jesus as a drunk bank robber, a “swinging homosexual,” and a big fan of Hitler. Oh, and he’d also be depicted as having an affair with Mary Magdalene.

… wouldn’t the affair with Mary Magdalene make him bisexual, you ask? DON’T ASK QUESTIONS. In fact, don’t bother fact checking any of this! This is all about rage, baby!

“Will Jesus Be Portrayed as Homosexual in an Upcoming Film?” By Barbara Mikkelson for Snopes.com

“That Jesus sex movie never existed,” by William Simbro for The Des Moines Register

“‘Jesus Sex Film’ rumor draws letters from 200,000 people,” by Carol Armstrong for the Dayton Daily News

“Crusade revives war on non-existent sex film,” by William Simbro for The Des Moines Register

“Jesus sex movie rumor hits state,” by Bernie Schoenburg for The Pantagraph

“‘Sex life of Jesus’ hoax snares Lodi mayor’s paper,” by Rod Leith for The Record

“Censor receives complaints about non-existent film depicting Christ as gay,” by Glenn McConnell for Stuff.com

“The Jesus sex film scandal,” by Wayne Dean for The Sydney Morning Herald

“No U.S. producer found for blasphemous movie,” by Stan Hastey for the Associated Press

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.

In the final episode of this series, we hear how it all shakes out. The trials end. The messy love square between the Donnellys and Reeds implodes. Kansas City Mafia boss Johnny Lazia meets his maker. The Donnelly Garment Company thrives, then dies. Through it all, Nell Donnelly Reed rises to untold prominence, but still manages to keep her secrets.

“Nelly Gone: KCQ traces the kidnapping of Nell Donnelly,” by Kate Hill for the Kansas City Public Library

The book, “More than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women,” by Elaine Warner

The book, “James A. Reed: Legendary Lawyer; Marplot in the United States Senate,” by J. Michael Cronan

The book, “Called to Courage, Four Women in Missouri History,” by Margot Ford McMillen and Heather Roberson

“First A Lady,” by Jennifer Wilding for the Kansas City Star magazine

“Nelly Don’s unexpected legacy,” for the Fashion Conservatory

“Nell Donelly Reed,” Historic Missourians

“Nelly Don’s zero-waste apron design,” run-sew-read

“Nelly Don: Self made in America,” seamwork.com

The book, “The Snatch Racket,” by Carolyn Cox

The book, “The Devil’s Tickets,” by Gary M. Pomerantz

Obituary for George Blair, Kansas City Star, June 10, 1977

“Causes for hate,” The Kansas City American, Dec. 24, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly is found, safe,” The Kansas City Times, Dec. 18, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly’s chauffeur tells of the kidnappers’ treatment of them,” The Kansas City Star, Dec. 18, 1931

“Link Mrs. Depew,” The Kansas City Star, Dec. 23, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly was released last Friday,” Southwest Mail and Weekly Post, Dec. 25, 1931

“Depew speaks for Mele,” The Kansas City Times, July 16, 1932

“Paul Donnelly is dead,” The Kansas City Star, Sept 8, 1934

“Estate of Donnelly v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue,” case-law.com

“Rich young widow weds,” The Windsor Star, Jan. 13, 1937

“Reed Ranch,” reed-ranch.com

“The murder of John Lazia,” ganglandwire.com

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.

James A. Reed was in federal court, about to argue his case, when a call came in from Kansas City. Nell Donnelly had been kidnapped. James panicked. To James, Nell was so much more than a celebrated fashion designer. She was his neighbor. She was his secret lover. She was the mother of his child. He’d do anything to save her – including threatening the head of the Kansas City mafia.

“Nelly Gone: KCQ traces the kidnapping of Nell Donnelly,” by Kate Hill for the Kansas City Public Library

The book, “More than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women,” by Elaine Warner

The book, “James A. Reed: Legendary Lawyer; Marplot in the United States Senate,” by J. Michael Cronan

“First A Lady,” by Jennifer Wilding for the Kansas City Star magazine

“Nelly Don’s unexpected legacy,” for the Fashion Conservatory

“Nell Donelly Reed,” Historic Missourians

“Nelly Don’s zero-waste apron design,” run-sew-read

“Nelly Don: Self made in America,” seamwork.com

The book, “The Snatch Racket,” by Carolyn Cox

The book, “The Devil’s Tickets,” by Gary M. Pomerantz

Obituary for George Blair, Kansas City Star, June 10, 1977

“Causes for hate,” The Kansas City American, Dec. 24, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly is found, safe,” The Kansas City Times, Dec. 18, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly’s chauffeur tells of the kidnappers’ treatment of them,” The Kansas City Star, Dec. 18, 1931

“Link Mrs. Depew,” The Kansas City Star, Dec. 23, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly was released last Friday,” Southwest Mail and Weekly Post, Dec. 25, 1931

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.

It was 6 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1931. Legendary fashion designer Nell Donnelly was headed home from work. Her chauffeur, George Blair, drove Nell’s lime green Lincoln through the streets of downtown Kansas City. When they arrived at her palatial home, George noticed a vehicle blocking the driveway. Two unfamiliar men stood on either side of it. George slammed on the brakes.

In seconds, one of the men charged at him with a gun. Two more men came running. One jumped into the backseat with Nell. The gunman took charge of the vehicle. The other man jumped in on the passenger’s side, effectively trapping George.

Nell screamed. She kicked. She fought. She thought for certain that someone would hear her. They didn’t. America’s best, most successful businesswoman, along with her chauffeur, had just been kidnapped.

“Nelly Gone: KCQ traces the kidnapping of Nell Donnelly,” by Kate Hill for the Kansas City Public Library

The book, “More than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women,” by Elaine Warner

The book, “James A. Reed: Legendary Lawyer; Marplot in the United States Senate,” by J. Michael Cronan

“First A Lady,” by Jennifer Wilding for the Kansas City Star magazine

“Nelly Don’s unexpected legacy,” for the Fashion Conservatory

“Nell Donelly Reed,” Historic Missourians

“Nelly Don’s zero-waste apron design,” run-sew-read

“Nelly Don: Self made in America,” seamwork.com

The book, “The Snatch Racket,” by Carolyn Cox

The book, “The Devil’s Tickets,” by Gary M. Pomerantz

Obituary for George Blair, Kansas City Star, June 10, 1977

“Causes for hate,” The Kansas City American, Dec. 24, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly is found, safe,” The Kansas City Times, Dec. 18, 1931

“Mrs. Donnelly’s chauffeur tells of the kidnappers’ treatment of them,” The Kansas City Star, Dec. 18, 1931

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.

Back in 1911, the Mona Lisa didn’t get a lot of attention. Art critics considered it an excellent example of a painting from the renaissance era, but the general public wasn’t nearly so enamored.

That changed in August of that year, when someone plucked it off the wall of the Louvre, busted it out of its glass box and frame, and took off with it.

“Who stole the Mona Lisa?” by Simon Kuper for Slate

“Stolen: How the Mona Lisa became the world’s most famous painting,” by James Zug for Smithsonian Magazine

“Stealing Mona Lisa,” by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler for Vanity Fair

The documentary “Mona Lisa is Missing”

“When Picasso went on trial for stealing the Mona Lisa,” by Ian Shank for Artsy.net

“The man who stole the Mona Lisa,” by Laura Cumming for The Guardian

“The Theft That Made The ‘Mona Lisa’ A Masterpiece,” NPR.org

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 a dark haired man showed up at the Hotel President one January afternoon in 1935, the hotel staff couldn’t help but take note. He showed up without luggage. He seemed nervous. He said his name was Roland T. Owen and that he was from Los Angeles, but he spoke with a southern accent.

At one point, the hotel maid overheard him speak on the phone with a man named Don. She spotted a note he’d written to a man named Don. Several times, she walked into his room, only to discover him sitting alone in the dark. Once, she discovered that he’d been locked in his room – from the outside.

On the second day of his stay, hotel staff found him alone in his room, badly beaten. He’d been stabbed multiple times. Clothesline had been wrapped around his wrists, ankles and neck. As he clung to life, he refused to name his attackers. After he died, investigators discovered that Roland T. Owen had been an alias. They couldn’t immediately identify the man, but someone seemed to care for him. Someone called the local funeral home, anonymously, to pay for his funeral and burial. A similar call came in to a local florist. The person requested 13 American roses to be sent to Roland T. Owen’s funeral. The card attached read, “Love forever, Louise.”

“The Mystery of Room 1046” John Arthur Horner for KChistory.org

“The Owen Case,” by Martin Cizmar for Kansas City Magazine

“The bizarre murder of Roland T. Owen in the Kansas City Hotel” for historicmysteries.com

“The mystery of what was in the box: Alabama man found dead 83 years ago,” by Leada Gore for Alabama.com

“Birmingham boy victim in ‘rose murder’,” The Birmingham Post, Nov. 2, 1936

“Mystery murder in room 1046,” The Newcastle Sun, May 22, 1943

“Youth killed in hotel here from Birmingham, Ala.,” The Kansas City Times, Nov. 2, 1936

“Owen’ slaying up again,” The Kansas City Star, Aug. 23, 1937

“Room 1046” episode of the Unresolved podcast

“The bizarre murder of Roland T. Owen in the Kansas City Hotel” for historicmysteries.com

“The story of Tom Pendergast,” kcyesterday.com

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.

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.

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.

Hello Fresh. Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/freeotp. Applied across 7 boxes, new subscribers only, varies by plan.

Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. TryMiracle.com/OTP

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.

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.

Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and save over 40% OFF. TryMiracle.com/OTP

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.