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Typhoid Mary
There were many ways to die in the overcrowded disease ridden cities of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Typhoid was one the most terrifying ones simply because of the speed it could spread through a household. It’s initial symptoms could be anything- fever and some abdominal cramping. Then the fever got higher and blood clots formed under the skin. The patient becomes delirious and the brain and the intestines hemorrhage. The death rate was recorded anywhere from one in ten to three in ten. It was frightening. Doctors were building on the advances in the young science of epidemiology led by pioneers like Dr. John Snow. (For…
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The Current Wars
AC/DC- It’s not just a band. It was the culmination of the struggle between two geniuses. In the late 19th century, electricity was the hot new technology. Thomas Edison had begun work with this field and in the 1870’s invented the first practical light bulb. Arc lamps were used in cities on larger scales, but were not suitable for a business or a home. Edison’s light bulb filled that niche. To power all these new electric light bulbs, Edison created the investor-owned Edison Illuminating Company. One problem. These all used direct current or DC, which had a major drawback of a very short transmission range. Customers had to be less…
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The Fox Sisters
Spiritualism was sweeping the United States in the late 1840’s. As discussed in the book Occult America, this was the first chance for women to exercise any type of religious or political leadership. There were many women who were involved with the Spiritualist practices of seances and spirit channeling. The first American-born woman to become a recognized public preacher was Jemima Wilkinson or the Publick Universal Friend as she preferred to be called (For more on her, please see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/publick-universal-friend/ ) The Fox Sisters were American women that took up the mantle o f Spiritualism and their legacy is shrouded in accusations of fraud. In March 1848, strange…
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Ida B. Wells-Barnett
I don’t know about you, but there are days I get very discouraged. People are rude, everything I do fails and nothing goes my way. Then I read about people like Ida B. Wells, and I realize I need to suck it up. My life is pretty easy in comparison. This woman is the epitome of rising on your own steam and is a true badass. Born in 1862 in Holly Springs, Ida B. Wells was the daughter of two slaves- James and Lizzie Wells. This made her a slave too. Luckily when she was six months old, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, which made young…
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Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was another straight up badass. When you look at his life on paper, it is impressive- rising from slavery to famous orator and abolitionist. However, in reading Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman (if you haven’t read it, go now), it struck me as it struck the author exactly what a feat that was. The bare bones of it are amazing, but the details truly show what this man accomplished. Born as a slave on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey had a tough time from the start. He never knew his father, who was rumored to be…
