Curator's Choice

 This week we are in New York speaking with Joseph Malek, the Visitor Experience Specialist at the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center. Join us as we talk about the (not so underground) Underground Railroad and the important role Niagara Falls played in the fight for freedom. The Heritage Center focuses on the stories of individual freedom seekers, shining light on the dark history of slavery. 

 We learn about Nancy Berry, and how she crossed the river to freedom during her enslavers honeymoon at Niagara. Nancy escaped with the help of the black free men working at the infamous Cataract House. The Cataract House only hired black men and was once the premier hotel and dining of Niagara Falls, even serving Abraham Lincoln! It was an important “stop” along the Underground Railroad, with connections in free Canada, just a ferry ride away. 

We also talk about the brave men at the Cataract Hotel, who were an integral part of the Underground Railroad, helping men like Patrick Sneed. The Cataract Hotel only hired black men and these workers had a strong network to help people cross the border to Canada.

Episode Links:

• Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center official webpage: https://www.niagarafallsundergroundrailroad.org/

• Folklife article about Quilt Codes of the Underground Railroad: https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/underground-railroad-quilt-codes

• The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lucy Delaney’s book “Struggles For Freedom’: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

This week we are at the Historic Oakleigh House Museum in Mobile, Alabama. We speak with Marye Newman and Paula Lenor Web and learn about two significant works of art housed at the museum, which was built in 1833 on what was the outskirts of Mobile. 

The first artifact is a painting created by Emma Langdon Roche called “Man in Brown Hat”. Much as the name implies, this painting is of a man in a brown hat, but who was he? Mobile was the site of the last known slaving voyage from Africa. It was an illegal voyage in 1860 where 110 West Africans (primarily from Ghana) were smuggled into the South on the vessel Clotilda. They were soon freed when slavery finally became illegal in the States and most stayed in the local area, creating Africa Town. Emma Roche worked closely with these individuals, learning from them and even publishing their story in her book “Historic Sketches of the South”. (Click here to read it online) Roche often interviewed the founder of Africa Town, Cudjo Kazoola Lewis, and it is speculated by many that the “Man in Brown Hat” is actually Cudjo. You can see the comparison below with the painting and the photograph of Abaché and Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis at Africatown in the 1910s.

The second artifact is an impressive painting created by Thomas Sully of Miss Octavia. This beautifully painted snapshot shows us but a glimpse of the intriguing and historic life of Madam Octavia Walton LeVert. No one describes her better than Paula Lenor Web, who wrote “Such a Woman-The Life of Madam Octavia Walton LeVert”. Paula shares with us the impact of this iconic Southern Belle and some fun snippets of her life, such as a poem dedicated to her by Edgar Allen Poe!


Episode Links:

• Historic Oakleigh House Museum official webpage: https://www.historicoakleigh.com/

• Africa Town Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africatown

• “Historic Sketches of the South” by Emma Roche, 1914-Book digitized by Google from the library of the New York Public Library and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb: https://archive.org/details/historicsketche00rochgoog/page/n84/mode/2up

• Paula Lenore Webb’s book “Such a Woman-The Life of Madame Octavia Walton LeVert”: https://suchawomanbook.com/

• Octavia Walton Le Vert Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Walton_Le_Ver

• Historic Mobile Preservation Society: https://www.historicmobile.org/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

Today we are back in Nevada at the National Automobile Museum speaking with Jay Hubbard. Bill Harrah was an entrepreneur who created a money-making empire in Reno that began with good ol' bingo. He became a very rich man who had the money and the passion to amass one of the largest collections of automobiles in the world. When he died in 1978, 175 of those automobiles was set aside and given to the Museum.

From the Harrah's Collection, we talk about the 1906 Adams Farwell, the only one of it's kind still in existence today, and it's unique rotary engine. Then, we talk about the 1907 Thomas Model 35 Flyer, which was one of six automobiles entered in the New York to Paris race of 1908. This vehicle traveled over 13,000 miles in a worldwide sponsored race (which was meant to increase newspaper sales) and experienced quite an adventure!

Episode Links:

• National Automobile Museum's webpage: https://automuseum.org/

• The Thomas Flyer 1908 New York to Paris Auto Race  on This Car Matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffS8YDFgkTg

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

This week we are at the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Richmond, Virginia, speaking with Ethan Bullard. We learn all about the wonder woman Maggie Walker: A strong black woman who was the Nation's first black female bank president, a civil rights activist, an advocate for social progress for women, an educator, a philanthropist, and a downright inspiration.

Ever heard of the graphotype, addressograph,  or metered mailing machine? I had not, but we learn all about how they function, what they are, and how Maggie utilized them to spread her word. We also discuss the hockey-puck-sized pocket bank used as a fundraising device for loans for black youths seeking education.

Episode Links: 

• Official Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site webpage: https://www.nps.gov/mawa/index.htm

• "Maggie L. Walker's story" orientation film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR3CexPZXEk

• Virtual tour of Maggie's Home: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/in-her-footsteps-a-virtual-tour-of-maggie-l-walker-s-home-maggie-l-walker-national-historic-site/awLS_Z9D-zGYLw?hl=en

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

This week we are at the University of Nevada, Reno (my alma mater!) speaking with Garrett Barmore at the W.M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum. Speaking of mouthfuls, we learn all about the helicoprion with its spiraled jaw, as well as John William Mackay and his spectacular silver collection of over 1,200 pieces, and some giant sloth footprints!

John Mackay was an Irish immigrant that became one of the “Four Bananza Kings” from his success in Nevada silver mining. Though he came from humble beginnings, upon his death he had amassed an immense fortune of $150 million dollars in the 1870s (or around $4.6 billion dollars today). His statue can be found in front of the museum building holding a symbolic pickaxe.

We also talk about the amazing helicoprion spiral jaw fossil, which created quite a stir in the fossil community. They have only been found in Nevada, Arizona, and California. The museum also houses giant sloth tracks from the Carson City Trackway (which are the only giant sloth tracks in North America). These tracks, from around 50,000 years ago, come from the Harlan’s Ground Sloth, which stood about 10 feet tall!

Episode Links:

• W.M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum’s webpage: https://www.unr.edu/mackay/keck-museum

• Mineral Monday series with Garrett Barmore: https://vimeo.com/showcase/4949353

• Helicoprion article from Scientific American: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/prehistoric-ghost-shark-helicoprions-spiral-toothed-jaw-explained/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

Part 2

For the final installment of our two-part series from the National Museum of the Marine Corps, we meet with Ben Kristy, the Collections Chief and Aviation Curator. We discuss the incredible restoration stories of the World War II Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber and the Vietnam-era Sikorsky UH-34D vignette.

It is really remarkable the amount of work that is done at this museum during restoration to make them as historically accurate as possible and we really "dive" into some of the background work done to achieve this accuracy. We even hear about marines being pelted with toilet paper rolls from the sky as they are "doing their business" and a misplaced thumb that causes the breaking and recasting of an exhibit piece.

Episode Links:

• National Museum of the Marine Corps: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/

• Ben Kristy's article about the Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/douglas-sbd-3-dauntless.html

• Ben Kristy's article about the Sikorsky UH-24D: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/sikorsky-uh-34d.html

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

Hello Podcast Family. I am very sorry to announce that this weeks episode will have to be postponed until June 14th. I have learned my lesson from this and will always have another episode ready on the back burner in case I have this issue again, but unfortunately for now, I will just have to postpone.

I really appreciate you as a listener and I will do better next time! Thank you so much for your patience!

Sincerely,

Your Host, Ayla Anderson

Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

Hello everyone! I am terribly sorry but do to a technical difficulty, I am unable to upload the episode today. However; Never Fear! I am working on the problem and will publish the next episode as soon as possible! Thank you so much for your understanding and I am sincerely sorry for the delay!

Ayla
Curator's Choice

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

Part 1

This week we meet with Owen Conner for the first in a two-part series at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Conner is the Curator of Uniforms and Heraldry and talks to us about the interactive immersion exhibits in the museum, as well as one of the most iconic photographs in Marine history.

The history of the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph by Joe Rosenthal has a rather tumultuous story. There has been much historical debate on who the soldiers were in the photographs, whether the moment was staged, and how accurate the story of the flag raising was. Owen shares with us the controversy and final Marine Corps conclusion.

We also discussed the reverse scavenger hunt many curators have to do in order to fully understand the amazing stories behind artifacts, including a sweetheart bracelet that was found in a rose garden and the tale of two lovers.

Episode Links:

• National Museum of the Marine Corps: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/

• The Story of a WWII Identification Bracelet: Major L.D. Everton: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/the-story-of-a-wwii-identification-bracelet-major-ld-everton.html

• World War II and the Origins of Diversity by Owen Conner and Charles Grow: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/blog/world-war-ii-and-the-origins-of-diversity

• The Drinks of the Marine Corps: The Bees Need “Martini” Cocktail: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/blog/drinks-of-the-marine-corps-the-bees-nees-martini-cocktail

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

This week we meet with Julian Charity in a single-room museum entirely dedicated to one amazing woman: Virginia Randolph. Miss Randolph began her young adult life as a teacher and never left that role, developing new curriculum for black schools that would be adopted countywide.

" However, this day was of particular importance: Miss Randolph accepted a new position offered by Henrico County School Superintendent Jackson T. Davis to serve as the industrial teacher of all the African-American schools in the county."

Below is a timeline of Virginia Randolph’s Legacy and the work of Henrico County from the Henrico County Virginia Museum’s page:

1892 – Virginia E. Randolph begins her teaching career in Henrico at this location. The Mountain Road School was a one-room African-American schoolhouse.

1908 – Miss Randolph becomes one of the first Jeanes Supervising Industrial Workers. These workers were teachers paid with funds established by Anna T. Jeanes specifically for rural African-American schools.

1929 – The Virginia Randolph Training Center, later called High School, was built with Rosenwald funds. The Rosenwald fund was established by Julius Rosenwald, CEO of Sears and Roebuck, to improve learning environments for African-American schools in the South.

1937 – Built as the Home Economics cottage for the Virginia Randolph Training Center, the structure also served as an office for Miss Randolph.

1950s – Virginia Randolph Foundation is established to perpetuate the legacy of the renowned educator following her retirement in 1948.

1969 – Virginia Randolph High School is closed with the integration of Henrico Schools.

1970 – The Museum in Memory of Virginia Randolph is dedicated. The museum housed in the cottage is dedicated to preserving the work of Miss Randolph.

1974 – Virginia Randolph Museum is designated as a National Historic Landmark, which the highest recognition from the U.S. Department of Interior.

2011 – Henrico County Recreation & Parks takes over management of the museum from Henrico Schools and the interior exhibits are updated.

Episode Links:

•  Virginia Randolph Museum’s webpage: https://henrico.us/rec/places/virginia-randolph-museum/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers