Footnoting History

On February 2, 2013, the first episode of Footnoting History went live. To celebrate our first anniversary, Nathan conducted a series of brief interviews with several of our historians (Lucy, Nicole, Christine, and Elizabeth) to help you get to know us a bit better. Listen in to learn what makes us tick and help us celebrate the anniversary we would never have reached without your support!

(Ryan) In 1862, William, Christopher, and Phillip Raber enlisted in Company K of the 9th Regiment, Virginia Infantry. As loyal Union men, they joined nearly one thousand other volunteers for three years' service to put down the rebellion of the Confederacy. One year later, Phillip was marched before a firing squad and executed. By war’s end, Christopher was an outlaw, and their mother had been arrested and placed in the county jail. Join us as we explore the Raber family's history and what it tells us about complex nature of loyalty and disloyalty during the Civil War era.

(Christina) They are warm, fuzzy beings that come in many different shapes and sizes, yet they all sense our emotions and thrive in our company. But they are also descended from wolves, fierce and elusive social predators. How did dogs become so integrated into human society? And how can we reconstruct any species’ prehistory? In the first installment of our new Doggy History series, we examine several theories about how dogs left the wolf pack and became part of ours instead, and find out that humans have been blaming it on the dog pretty much forever.

(Elizabeth) What was life like for those on the Canadian home front during WWI? Join Liz as she uses L.M. Montgomery's final book in her Anne series, Rilla of Ingleside, to answer questions about the ones who stayed behind.

(Esther) How did an unassuming office assistant from New York fool her way to the winners' circle of the 1980 Boston Marathon? The first major cheating scandal in long-distance running had nothing to do with drugs or endorsement deals, but with the shameless moxie of a woman whose journey into cheating infamy was probably more accidental than intentional.

(Samantha) In 1914 Europe's troops marched off to war expecting to be home by Christmas. When the holiday came and they found themselves stuck in the trenches for the foreseeable future many of them decided to take some time off and to fraternize with the enemy in what became known as the Christmas Truce.

(Lesley) Ever wonder why women shave their legs? Or why manly cigars gave way to slim, feminine cigarettes? The answer lies with people like Don Draper. Examine the history of advertising and how some of our personal traditions stem from a carefully-designed advertising campaign.

(Christine and Elizabeth) In Part II of the life of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, we follow him as he leaves prison, picks up his pen, and chases a new goal: revolutionizing British systems of colonization. Did people listen to a convicted felon? Were his dreams of colonizing Australia and New Zealand successful? Join us for the exciting conclusion to his life's story.

(Christine and Elizabeth) The abduction of Ellen Turner was the talk of  early 19th century England and at the center of it was Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a widower with dreams of a seat in Parliament. How did Wakefield lure the young heiress from her school and convince her to marry him? What happened when her family found out? And is there life after being British newspaper fodder? Join us for Part I of the life of Edward Gibbon Wakefield.

(Nicole)  Most people think of modern campaigns, such as propaganda posters during World War I, when they hear the word 'propaganda'. But did you know that during the Reformation Protestants and Catholics alike used images in their own propaganda campaigns? Find out more about Protestant Propaganda.

(Kirsti) For 28 years, the Berlin Wall stood as a monument to the division between East and West. In the summer of 1989, a the borders of Hungary, then Czechoslovakia opened, and thousands of East Germans fled westward. On the 9th of November, East Germany opened the Berlin Wall and the border, allowing free passage for the first time since 1961. What was it like to live in Germany at the time? This week, we explore history within living memory!

(Christine) How could a priest in medieval England, who was single at the time of his ordination, be guilty of bigamy? Can a person actually cheat on Jesus? Join us today as we discuss the ins and outs of this curious clause of canon law and how it brought the dreaded sentence of excommunication down on priests like William Gybbvuns.

(Esther) Country roads were rough, tough, and uneven. But the agile, handsome, and (sometimes) opulently dressed running footmen traversed these treacherous roads to scout, deliver messages, and honor their masters with their ultramarathon endurance. Holding a staff, an egg, and maybe a little white wine, was the running footman the first professional runner of the modern age?

(Lucy) In the 16th century, high taxes and fears of apocalypse went hand in hand, and from the fairly common practice of calling for church reform emerged a series of movements which have become known as the capital-R Reformation. This week we’ll be discussing insults to the Pope, the problem of identifying Lutherans, and how civic and ecclesiastical leaders accidentally created an agreement that was called the most important event in the history of the world.

(Lucy and Elizabeth) From the early to mid-twentieth century, queens of crime Sayers, Christie, Marsh, and Wentworth reigned supreme over British detective fiction. Their works not only reveal whodunit but give insight into how queer women lived in and were viewed by wider society from capital to countryside.

(Lesley) In the middle of the Reformation, Parliament passed a law criminalizing some forms of sexuality. This became known as the Buggery Law of 1533. Why would the government be interested in regulating sex? An investigation into official records reveals that it had less to do with the bedroom and everything to do with power, privilege, and piety.

(Nathan) An elephant may seem a strange thing to give as a gift, but these exotic animals--along with giraffes, lions, polar bears, and hyenas--were prized inhabitants of medieval and early modern menageries.  Join us as we look at the history of five pachyderms, including, Abul-Abbas, given as a gift to Charlemagne, and Hanno, the pet elephant of Pope Leo X.

(John) How did Hernán Cortés and his “300” soldiers topple the Aztecs? What motivated these conquistadores, and what legal justifications did they use to legitimize this conquest? Find the answer to these questions and more as we explore the clashing of the Aztec and Spanish empires.

(Kirsti) What’s the best approach to consolidating power and land within your family? The ambitious Habsburgs achieved greatness through marrying close relations—surely a sound policy that could have no consequences at all! This week we’ll talk about love (or the lack thereof), marriage, and the chin that sparked a war.

(Nicole) When many people think of Late Antique society, they think of powerful secular and ecclesiastical rulers; mighty emperors and archbishops. While the Archbishop of Ravenna certainly was a powerful person within the city, answering in theory only to the emperors' representative, the exarch, he had his fair share of problems with both the lay people of Ravenna and even his clergy! Find out more about the archbishop and exarch's struggles.