Her Half of History

She had many names: Salome, Alexandra, Shelamzion, and Schlomtzion, but the last monarch of an independent kingdom of Judea was a Queen Regnant. She ruled from (roughly) 78 to 69 BCE. Her time was remembered for generations as the golden age before Rome. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you follow the royal news, you may be aware that we had a queen abdicate last month. Or possibly, you missed it because it wasn’t in the British royal family. It was Margrethe II of Denmark. I am researching last queens for series 12, fully aware that the word “last” is a little ambiguous here, but I must confess, the connection with this current event, never crossed my historically minded brain. Until I read a blog post on exactly that connection, and a definition of “last” I had not considered. There are currently no queen regnants in Europe at all! Author Cheryl Ciucevich graciously agreed to allow me to publish her work here on the podcast. Please check out Cheryl’s blog at hrhprincesspalace.blogspot.com. You can also find Cheryl on social media as Palace Princess or Princess Palace Blog on Twitter, Threads, Instagram, and Facebook. The feature image today is by Aalborg Stift / Casper Tybjerg - Flickr: Bispevielse, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Black History Month, and we're looking at LaVern Baker, the pioneering R&B singerLaVernBaker. Today's episode is a guest episode from the fabulously named Dead Ladies Show, which celebrates women - both overlooked and iconic, through live history storytelling on stage in Berlin, and beyond. Check out other episodes from The Dead Ladies Show on their website (https://deadladiesshow.com/podcast/) or wherever you get your podcasts. Visit my website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kelly Chase of the History Detective Podcast interviewed me last year about how and why my podcast is produced. Here is our conversation about podcasting and history and why it is important. Kelly is also the author of History, Her Story, Our Story, a fantastic resource for middle and high school students and teachers, as well as anyone who wishes their knowledge of history included a few more women. Her Website: (https://historydetectivepodcast.com/) X: https://twitter.com/HistoryDetect Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historydetective9/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSAftC8g3O1FfYmR0xGpFaw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historydetectivepodcast Amazon: https://www.amazon.com.au/History-HER-story-Our-Inspirational/dp/1990566715/ref=monarch_sidesheet I am currently on research break because Series 11, the History of Girlhood is over, and Series 12, the Last Queen is still in the works, but stay tuned for more interim content!

For most of human history, teenagers have been lumped in with children or with adults, depending on which way was most convenient at the time. People between the ages of 13 and 19 didn't become "teenagers" until the 20th century. In this episode, I talk about: how the Classical writers defined the difference between childhood and youth/adolescence how important it was for girls of that age to maintain virginity or marry, nothing in between how in 1904 an American psychologist informed us that adolescence was a time of "storm and stress" how the invention of the high school and the car allowed young people to develop a shared culture around dating, dancing, movies, slang, and personal appearance how Margaret Mead informed the West that "storm and stress" was the result of Western culture and chastity requirements, not an inherent part of the adolescence and how the post World War II culture in the West became increasingly dominated by teenagers (a word that only became common in this period). This marks the end of Series 11, so there is also an announcement on the results of the poll for Series 12 topic. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History.

Girls have always been reaching puberty, but what that meant for her has varied. In this episode we look at the age of menarche (when girls start their period) and whether that was cause for shame or celebration: In ancient Greece, girls at puberty "acted the she-bear." In Rome they dedicated their dolls to Venus. In many cultures girls entered a period of seclusion and fasting at menarche. In 18th and 19th Western cultures, menarche meant the begining of concealment, discomfort, and danger. But in several Native American tribes (Hupa and Mescalero Apache, for example), the whole community gathered to celebrate and welcome the girl into womanhood. The poll for a Series 12 topic is open until January 9th. You can vote on Spotify, on Patreon (you don't have to be a subscriber), or on the Discord server if you are an Into History subscriber. The options are: Women Take Flight (such as Sophie Blanchard, Amelia Earhart, and the Mercury 13 women) Last Queen of Her Country (such as Boudicca of the Iceni, Lili’uokalani of Hawaii, and Shlomtzion of Judea) Spiritual Leaders (such as Rabi’a the Muslim Sufi saint, Saint Clare of Assisi, and Anne Hutchinson) Other (get in touch with your suggestion) Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History.

The Industrial Revolution did not invent child labor, but it changed how people viewed it. A growing middle and upper class provided their kids with long childhoods filled with play, education, and preparation for a productive adulthood. The poorer classes sent their children to work in factories and fields where they worked long hours at dangerous jobs and learned very few skills. Girls in particular worked in textile mills, breathing in lint and climbing over whirling machinery. But girls also worked in fields to supply the factories. Reformers argued for child labor laws almost as soon as the Industrial Revolution set in, but the new laws had very little effect until after World War One. Even today, child labor remains a problem, especially in Asia and Africa, but also even in the United States. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History.

Child labor has existed since the beginning of humanity. Poor girls, both slave and free, worked as cleaned, carried water, cared for other children, and worked in the fields, often with long hours under harsh treatment. Most of their stories went undocumented but this episode does have anecdotes from Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Jemison, and others about what it was like to be a working girl. The Industrial Revolution was initially hailed as a great and wonderful thing because it made children "more useful." Girls signed up in droves to work in factories and canneries, and only afterwards did anyone wonder whether this was really what we want for our girls. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History.

St Lucia’s Day is December 13th. It is celebrated in a number of countries, but today is specifically about the Swedish celebration. You may have seen a picture of a beautiful blond girl, dressed in a white dress with a red sash and a wreath on her head with burning candles? That is St Lucia, as celebrated in Sweden or countries influenced by Sweden. But the origin of the story is in Italy. In 304 CE, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered a persecution of Christians. That much is history. St Lucia is one of the martyrs, and her particular story is historically sketchy. But true or not, she became the patron saint of light and vision and she was celebrated on the winter solstice, which was December 13th at the time. The Swedes were not yet Christian, but they had their own traditions surrounding the winter solstice. When Christianity did arrive, those traditions blended beautifully with the celebration of St Lucia. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History. Feature image is by Claudia Gründer - Claudia Gründer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3221537

The underlying question behind educating girls is: Why? Why are you educating them? Throughout history, there have been varying answers to that question, and each answer has produced a wildly different strategies on how to do it. This episode covers the major strategies, from home tutoring to convent schools to governesses to listening in on your brother's lessons. All of these methods continued even as the 18th century saw the rise of boarding schools (of dubious value) and the 19th century saw the rise of public elementary schools that did not become compulsory until into the 20th century. Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. Support the show on myPatreonpage for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. JoinInto History(intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content. Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows. Follow me on Twitter (X) as@her_half. Or onFacebookorInstagramas Her Half of History.