Bryan Simpers and Bereni New, of Colonial Williamsburg, interpret the married couple Alexander and Barbry Hoy. As Alexander and Barbry, they discuss their struggles as a middling family adjusting to the changes brought by the Revolution.
Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.
Kelly McEvoy, Colonial Williamsburg peer teacher in the volunteer dance department, describes the social importance of dancing in colonial society, and the education of children in dance.
Historian Cathy Hellier explains the differences between modern American English and the English of the colonists during the 1700s; she looks also at new ideas on the dialect of African Americans in the Williamsburg area at the time. Click here to learn more about 18th century speech.
Colonial Williamsburg museum educator Anne Willis discusses the youths and marriage of Edmund Randolph and Elizabeth Nicholas, a colonial couple, married in 1776, whose families stood on opposites sides of political and religious ideology.
Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.
Scholars in Action presents case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence. "Two White Horses Standin' in Line" (sung by Smith Cason) and "Worry Blues" (sung by Jesse Lockett), both recorded in 1939 by folklorist Alan Lomax, are known as "blues" songs.
The blues emerged as a musical form among African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and gained the attention of folklorists and record companies. Historians have studied blues and other African American musical forms to gain insight into the experiences and perspectives of poor and working-class African Americans who left few written records about their lives.
Eric Arnesen, Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Chicago addresses the interplay between the African-American experience between Reconstruction and the Great Migration, the U.S. Constitution, and shifting democratic ideals.
Audio and video options are available.
Michael Willrich of Brandeis University investigates the birth of the modern welfare state, exploring a time when so many ideas we now regard as "common sense" found their origins. Willrich pays special attention to two court cases: Lochner v. New York (1905) and Muller v. Oregon (1908).
Audio and video options are available.
Michael Willrich of Brandeis University investigates the birth of the modern welfare state, exploring a time when so many ideas we now regard as "common sense" found their origins. Willrich pays special attention to two court cases: Lochner v. New York (1905) and Muller v. Oregon (1908).
Audio and video options are available.
Paul Finkelman of Albany Law School presents a wide-ranging discussion of the Constitutional history of citizenship in the United States. In the second part, Finkelman focuses on the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Video and audio options are available.
Eric Arnesen, Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Chicago addresses the interplay between the African-American experience between Reconstruction and the Great Migration, the U.S. Constitution, and shifting democratic ideals.
Video and audio options are available.