The Backstory: Female spies: fascinating secret heroes

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Don't we all find spies stories kind of intriguing? What's
that about? Is it the idea that somebody can just
slip through the cracks, gather intelligence and not be found out,
or maybe we just want to see them get caught. Well,
it turns out some of the most effective spies of
the past two hundred years have been women who used
intelligence and sex to get the info they wanted. I'm

(00:22):
Patti Steele Undercover Female Heroes. Next on the backstory. We're
back with the backstory. Why do we all love movies, books,
TV shows about espionage? Well, I kind of think it's
because it's exciting, exhilarating, and honestly, it's kind of sexy.

(00:43):
I mean, we're fascinated by people who are willing to
take a risk. James Bond movies are a perfect example
of how much we love this genre and how sexy
we think it is. In over sixty years, Double O
seven movies have earned well over twenty one point three
billion dollars at the box office by today's measure. Yeah,
we definitely love it. And now that Daniel Craig has

(01:06):
hung up his tucks and parked his Aston martin dB five,
there's constant disagreement about who the next bond should be.
Some think it should be a woman, while others say
that just doesn't make any sense. The story has always
been about a guy, guys or spies, but let's take
a peek at the real world of espionage. Women have

(01:27):
played and continue to play, a really important role. Most
of the time. It seems they're overlooked, but maybe that's
exactly why they've been so successful. In the lead up
to the Civil War, the roles of women were traditionally
all about home, raising the kids, maintaining the house, cooking, sewing,
that kind of stuff. But honestly, it was during this

(01:50):
horrific conflict that female spies came to the forefront. Think
about it. Giant lacy, silky dresses with ridiculously full skirts,
lots of flitting fans cooling those blushing faces. Women in
the seats of power during the war were intelligent conversationalists
and terrific party givers at best, and gorgeous playthings at worst,

(02:15):
but they had access to the war's secret underbelly. They
were around powerful men who called the shots when those
men were at their most vulnerable, liquored up at parties,
formal dinners and dances and in romantic situations. Rose Greenhouse
was a widow and a social powerhouse in Washington, d C.

(02:35):
In the eighteen fifties and sixties. She invited prominent men
to her townhouse and eventually managed to squeeze tons of
valuable information out of them. She had romantic liaisons with
some warm friendships with others, but the goal was always
to get whatever info out of them she could and
send it South. Even after she was arrested and placed

(02:57):
under house arrest and put her in prison, she continued
to get info to the Confederates until she was finally
locked up in a Union prison, but it was a
nice one. Eventually she was freed and traveled to Europe,
representing the South in meetings with Queen Victoria and Napoleon.
She was considered a Southern hero. Yet another Southern bell

(03:18):
who spied for the rebels. Well it's eighteen sixty one
in the Shenandoah Valley, seventeen year old Bell Boyd known
as the Cleopatra of the Secession interesting she was one
of the Confederacy's most fearless spies. Her legacy included shooting
a Union soldier dead just for insulting her mother, but

(03:38):
she had social standing and charm, and she used that
to get critical information from the Union officers that she
cozied up to and then relay it to Confederate generals
who would suspect a charming teenager. Now on the other side,
Elizabeth van Lew was a Union spy in the heart
of the Confederacy. A high society philanthropist in Richmond, Virginia

(04:01):
who was an avid abolitionist. She masterminded a major spy ring,
including placing Mary Bowser, a brilliant former slave, right under
the noses of the racist Confederate big shots. Mary had
an extraordinary memory, and Elizabeth got her a job in
the Confederate White House. Together they funneled vital secrets back

(04:23):
to the Union in the North, and women have continued
to play a huge role in the world of espionage.
In World War One, there was the notorious Madhari. She
was an exotic dancer from Holland who was convicted of
being a spy for Germany and executed by firing squad.
Now it's World War II. Virginia Hall was an American

(04:45):
who joined the British Special Ops. She had lost her
leg in a hunting accident, but that did not slow
her down. She was instrumental in organizing the French resistance,
putting together jail brakes, training guerrilla forces, and leading aabotage
operations against the Nazis. Around the same time, another name
sent chills down the spines of the Gestapo, Nancy Wake,

(05:09):
also called the White Mouse. During her journey from journalists
to the heart of the French resistance, she saved hundreds
of lives, participated in daring raids, and regularly evaded capture.
Then the Cold War began at the end of World
War II, and the era of spy games like we
see in all those great James bondflicks got underway. Intelligence

(05:31):
became as powerful as firepower, and again female spies played
huge roles, and once again the lack of respect by
the enemy played to their advantage. That was certainly the
case of Melita Norwood. She was an eighty seven year
old British great grandmother when it was discovered that she
had been flying way under the radar for decades as

(05:54):
a spy, passing such valuable information to the Soviet Union
that it was set She was instrumental in the Soviets
rise as a nuclear power. Why wasn't she discovered earlier
in her almost fifty years as a Soviet spy? Well,
when she began her undercover career in the nineteen thirties,
one of the early British mi I five female spies

(06:17):
expressed some suspicion about Melita, but her superior blew it off,
saying women were incapable of being effective spies. So it
seems that the ability to blend in can mean life
or death in the world of espionage. Pretty obvious, and
when certain people are overlooked and undervalued, they are perfect

(06:38):
for undercover roles. So does it really surprise you that
some of the most successful spies in history were female.
Got a story you'd like me to look into and share?
All you have to do is DM me on Facebook

(06:58):
at Patty Steele or on Instagram at real Patty Steele.
I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new

(07:18):
episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out
to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram
at reel Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know