This podcast from the Kansas Museum of History looks at a painting commissioned by Henrietta Briggs-Wall of Hutchinson, Kansas for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. The curators discuss the controversy surrounding this painting's representation of the rights of 19th century women in politics and society.
From the Bowery Boys website:
"We're playing Good Cop / Bad Cop this week, as we take a close look at four events from the early history of the New York Police Department. You'll meet shining stars of the force like Jacob Hays, who kept the peace in the early 19th century armed with a mean billyclub -- and the only man to ever hold the title of High Constable of New York. And then you'll encounter Joseph Petrosino, the Italian immigrant turned secret weapon in the early battles against organized crime.
Not all the early men in blue were so recommendable. During the Police Riot of 1857, cop turned against cop while the city burned and "Five Points criminals danced in the streets." And finally there's the lamentable tale of officer Charley Becker, the only member of the New York Police Department to be executed for criminal misdeed. But did he really commit the crime—commissioning the murder of a nervous gambler who was prepared to rat him out?"
From the Bowery Boys website:
"Avast ye mateys, there were indeed pirates in New York! Not only did they operate throughout the New York region in the 19th century, most of their grave misdeeds were focused around the East River waterfront, and in particular, Corlear's Hook.
Once a sandy beach, Corlear's Hook, at the bend in the river in lower Manhattan, has a history that include mass slaughter, innovations of the shipping trade, the heart of New York prostitution and the birth of the tenement. And in the last half of the 19th century harbored pirate gangs with names like the Daybreak Boys, the Hook Gang and the Tub of Blood Bunch."
This animated presentation from The Map as History visualizes the growth of the U.S. as it acquired North American territory, from the Louisiana Purchase up to the Civil War.
From PBS:
Wyatt Earp has been portrayed in countless movies and television shows but these popular fictions belie the complexities and flaws of a man whose life is a lens on politics, justice, and economic opportunity on the American frontier. He was a caricature of the Western lawman, and after his death in 1929, distressed Americans transformed him into a folk hero: a central figure in how the West was won, a man who took control of his own destiny.
From PBS:
Trapped in the Sierra Nevadas during the bitter winter of 1846, nearly 90 members of the Donner and Reed families longed for California's "Promised Land." But an untried shortcut became a death warrant for half of them—victims of madness, death, and cannibalism. This American Experience program re-creates the Donner Party's journey from family journals, newspaper accounts, and interviews with historians and descendants.
From PBS:
As the wife of the fourth president, James Madison, Dolley Madison played an important part in the political and social experiment that was the early American Republic. Long before women held any overt political power, she used her unelected position to legitimize the nation's new capital, to create a political and social style for the new country, and to give Americans a sense of their own national identity.
From PBS:
A four-hour exploration into the richness, the complexities, and the controversies of the Mormons' story as told through interviews with members of the church, leading writers and historians, and supporters and critics of the Mormon faith.
Professor Matthew Pinsker looks at the state of Lincoln studies, commenting on recent Lincoln texts and the growing number of digital resources on Lincoln available.
To listen to this presentation, follow the link below, scroll down to "Lincoln Theme 2.0" and click on the title, scroll down to September 2009 and click on the file link "200909.mp3."