Was dating any easier in the past? Nichole Hill joins Gene Demby and B.A. Parker, hosts of NPR's Code Switch, to put this question to the test by traveling back in time to 1937, using archival personal ads from the Washington Afro-American newspaper. Together, the trio gets a small taste of what it was like for Black folks to date almost a century ago. Turns out, the ancestors were messy, too!

• Support this independent production and access bonus content at https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com
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• Follow the show on Instagram at @ourancestorsweremessy
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• Listen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@OurAncestorsWereMessy 

A musical prodigy from Kansas becomes a renowned race woman in Chicago, a tabloid sensation in Harlem, and an internationally renowned musical force. These are the many lives and loves of one of the most famous women of the era: Nora Holt.

• Support this independent production and access bonus content at https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com
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• Follow the show on Instagram at @ourancestorsweremessy
• Learn more about the show at https://ourancestorsweremessy.com
• Listen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@OurAncestorsWereMessy 

SOURCES

1. Nora Holt: The Most Famous Woman You've Never Heard Of by Imani Perry
2. Nora Holt by Matthew Guerrieri
3. Nora Holt: New Negro Composer and Jazz Age Goddess by Cheryl A. Wall
4. "Strange What Cosmopolites Music Makes of Us": Classical Music, the Black press, and Nora Douglas Holt's Black Feminist Audiotopia by Lucy Caplan

Host Nichole Hill shares updates about the future of the show.

To learn more about the show and keep in touch, check out https://ourancestorsweremessy.com

To access bonus content and support this independent production visit  https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com

To stay in touch email [email protected] or follow the show @ourancestorsweremessy on Instagram

In 1920, Emperor Jones was a bona fide Broadway hit. The controversial play’s lead is Charles Gilpin, the first Black man to head up an integrated cast on the Great White Way. Gilpin enjoys fame, accolades, and universal acclaim…but he does have a note for his playwright Eugene O’Neil. A note that will make and break careers and change the course of Black history!

• Support this independent production and access bonus content at https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com
• Stay in touch at [email protected]
• Follow the show on Instagram at @ourancestorsweremessy
• Learn more about the show at https://ourancestorsweremessy.com
• Listen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@OurAncestorsWereMessy 

SOURCES

1. The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neil
2. Preserving African-American Cinema: The Case of The Emperor Jones by Jennie Saxena with contributions from Ken Weissman and James Cozart
3. "The Truth About Haiti: An NAACP Investigation" by James Weldon Johnson
4. Charles Gilpin. The Kennedy Center
5. Jackson Ward and its Black Wall Street. National Park Service
6. Beyond Tulsa: The Historic Legacies and Overlooked Stories of America's Black Wall Streets. Time Magazine
7. The Richmond Planet is digitized and stored at The Library of Congress. 

In the summer of 1932, Anna and Percy learn that their scandalous love affair has been exposed on the front page of the most popular Black newspaper in DC. They were on their way to making history but now that the secret’s out, their futures hang in the balance.

• Support this independent production and access bonus content at https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com
• Stay in touch at [email protected]
• Follow the show on Instagram at @ourancestorsweremessy
• Learn more about the show at https://ourancestorsweremessy.com
• Listen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@OurAncestorsWereMessy 

SOURCES

1. Julian the Trailblazer by Peter Tyson
2. Forgotten Genius. Nova. PBS
3. "Reclaiming a Black Research Scientist's Forgotten Legacy" by Felicia R. Lee
4. "DuSable Exhibit Highlights Juilan 'Power Couple'" by Robert Felton
5. You can read the Washington Afro American newspaper which is still in print and holds the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously published Black newspapers in America
6. You can support the archiving and sharing of this newspaper at Afro Charities

Host Nichole Hill shares how listeners can support the show and a sneak peek at next week's episode.

To learn more about the show and keep in touch, check out https://ourancestorsweremessy.com

To access bonus content and support this independent production visit  https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com

To stay in touch email [email protected] or follow the show @ourancestorsweremessy on Instagram

Zora Neale Huston and Langston Hughes finally set to work writing their play but outside influences and crossed wires spell trouble for this historic pair.

• Support this independent production and access bonus content at https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com
• Stay in touch at [email protected]
• Follow the show on Instagram at @ourancestorsweremessy
• Learn more about the show at https://ourancestorsweremessy.com
• Listen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@OurAncestorsWereMessy 

SOURCES

1. Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal by Yuval Taylor
2. Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston
3. In Search of Zora Neale Hurston by Alice Walker
4. The Complex Literary Friendship Between Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston by Yuval Taylor
5. Check out The Interstate Tattler digitized and stored by the New York Public Libraries
6. Read the archives at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Host Nichole Hill shares how listeners can support the show and a sneak peek at next week's episode.

To learn more about the show and keep in touch, check out https://ourancestorsweremessy.com

To access bonus content and support this independent production visit  https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com

To stay in touch email [email protected] or follow the show @ourancestorsweremessy on Instagram

It's the summer of 1927 and Zora Neale Huston and Langston Hughes are driving across the South searching for folklore, swapping stories, and enjoying being the newfound stars of the Harlem Renaissance.

• Support this independent production and access bonus content at https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com
• Stay in touch at [email protected]
• Follow the show on Instagram at @ourancestorsweremessy
• Learn more about the show at https://ourancestorsweremessy.com
• Listen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@OurAncestorsWereMessy 

SOURCES

1. Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal by Yuval Taylor
2. Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston
3. In Search of Zora Neale Hurston by Alice Walker
4. The Dinner Party That Started the Harlem Renaissance by Veronica Chambers and Michelle May-Curry
5. The Complex Literary Friendship Between Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston by Yuval Taylor
6. Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
7. Jackson's classic collection of Black "toasts" is resurrected by Patricia Donovan
8. Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me: Narrative Poetry from Black Oral Tradition by Bruce Jackson
9. Check out The Chicago Defender digitized and stored at The Library of Congress
10. Read the archives at The Chicago Defender Archives

Host Nichole Hill shares a research tip, updates for the Household aka the donor community, where to find bonus material, and a sneak peek at next week's episode.

To learn more about the show and keep in touch, check out https://ourancestorsweremessy.com

To access bonus content and support this independent production visit  https://ourancestorsweremessy.supercast.com

To stay in touch email [email protected] or follow the show @ourancestorsweremessy on Instagram

THE A-TEAM
The show is hosted by Nichole Hill (https://www.nicholelhill.com/)
Executive Producer A.A. Hernandez
Story Producer Martina Abrahams Ilunga (@m_tina)
Research Producer Chioke I'Anson (https://www.chiokeianson.com/)
Story Editing by Shonte Hill 
Show art by Aseloka Smith (@naturallyherown)  

BONUS STORY

• To access the bonus story check out this article: Black history emerges from 1897 time capsule.
   

Episodes release bi-weekly.