This week weâre digging into our archives to bring you discussions of three Bostonian ladies who forged new paths for women. Katherine Nanny Naylor was granted the first divorce in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, allowing her to ditch an abusive husband and make her way as an entrepreneur. Annette Kellerman was a professional swimmer who popularized the one-piece swimming suit and made a (sometimes literal) splash in vaudeville and silent films. And Amelia Earhart took to the skies after humble beginnings as a social worker in a Boston settlement house.
Tag: 20th Century
Bohemian Boston’s Gay Grampa (episode 109)
Prescott Townsend was a classic Boston Brahmin. He was born into Bostonâs elite in 1894, graduated from Harvard, and served in World War I.  All signs pointed to a very conventional path through life, but Townsendâs trajectory would take him far from the arc followed by his contemporaries from the Cabot, Lowell, or Adams families.  Instead, Prescott Townsend would be active in radical theater, experimental architecture, and, surprisingly late in his life, he would help found the American gay liberation movement and lead the first Pride parade in 1970.
Continue reading Bohemian Bostonâs Gay Grampa (episode 109)
Miss Mack, from Wellesley to the WAVES (episode 106)
In honor of Veterans Day, weâre talking about the women who served in World War II in a Navy outfit called the WAVES. Â Specifically, their commanding officer, Mildred McAfee (later Mildred McAfee Horton). Â When the war started, she was president of Wellesley College, but before it was over, she would be the first woman to become a commissioned officer in the US Navy, commanding a force of nearly 100,000 people.
Continue reading Miss Mack, from Wellesley to the WAVES (episode 106)
The Iron Lung (episode 104)
In 1928, researchers at Boston Childrenâs Hospital demonstrated a groundbreaking medical advancement â the iron lung. Prior to the arrival of the polio vaccination in 1955, the deadly disease was the most feared illness in America. With this invention by two Harvard faculty members, the diaphragm paralysis that accompanied polio no longer had to be a death sentence.
Riot Classics (episode 101)
For this weekâs show, weâre revisiting three highlights from Bostonâs long and storied history of rioting. Weâll include stories from past episodes covering the 1919 Boston police strike, 1747 impressment riots, and the 1837 Broad Street riot.
Boston’s Wild West (episode 99)
Brighton is one of our westernmost neighborhoods, and itâs often associated with Bostonâs large and sometimes unruly student population, but in the mid 19th century, Brighton was home to all the elements of a western movie.  There were cattle drives, stockyards, saloons, and stampedes through the streets. Before it was tamed, unruly Brighton was our own wild west.
Margaret Sanger, Uncensored (episode 98)
This week, weâre discussing Margaret Sangerâs thwarted attempt to present a lecture on birth control to the good citizens of Boston in April of 1929. Â The 1920s were a fairly liberating time for women â women were voting, drinking alcohol socially, cutting their hair short, and dancing the Charleston in short dresses. However, Boston was slow to let its hair down under the stern gaze of the Watch and Ward Society, and birth control remained one of the ultimate taboos.
September 1918, with Skip Desjardin (episode 96)
This week, author Skip Desjardin tells us about his new book September 1918: War, Plague, and the World Series.  He introduces us to a pivotal month, when world history was being made in Boston and Bostonians were making history around the world.  The cast of characters ranges from Babe Ruth to Blackjack Pershing to EE Cummings. During our discussion, youâll learn about the Massachusetts National Guardsmen who fought the first American-led battle in World War I, youâll hear about the uncertainty surrounding the 1918 World Series, and youâll encounter more details about the deadly 1918 influenza outbreak.
Continue reading September 1918, with Skip Desjardin (episode 96)
Pandemic 1918! (episode 95)
On August 27, 1918 Boston became acquainted with the epidemic that has gone down in history as the âSpanish flu.â  A more accurate name for this disease outbreak might be the âBoston flu,â because our city is where this influenza variant mutated and first turned truly deadly.  The first cases of this new and deadly disease were reported in South Boston 100 years ago this week. Soon, Boston would suffer nearly a thousand deaths per week as the disease peaked. Before it was over, up to 20% of the worldâs population would be infected.  With up to 100 million people killed, the 1918 flu was the most deadly disease in human history.
Amelia Earhart in Boston (episode 94)
You probably know about Amelia Earhartâs famous career as a groundbreaking aviator, and you almost certainly know about her famous disappearance over the Pacific. But you may not know about Amelia Earhartâs first career as a social worker in one of Bostonâs many settlement houses. This week, we discuss her early exposure to aviation, the famed Friendship crossing, and also her reflections on her career of service to newly immigrated Americans.