People Hidden In History

This episode will present a very complete view of Hutchinson, from her early adoption of certain religious beliefs to her clash with Gov. Winthrop.  Dr. Hermes will provide not only the story of her life but the religious and social background of the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the 1630's. Though the early years of the Bay Colony are often depicted as a haven for religious freedom, you will learn of philosophical divides and t...

Welcome to the People Hidden in History Podcast series, You will hear a brief preview of an upcoming podcast episode – to be recorded and released later this fall. 

This is to be a follow-up episode from August 2022, which was an interview with Mark Ludwig, Director of the Terezin Music Foundation. The episode focused on Viktor Ullman, a composer and music critic, who was a prisoner at the Terezin concentration camp. 

Howev...

This episode is an interview with Catherine Musemeche who wrote a fascinating biogrpahy on Mary Sears, titled: Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II. It tells the story of how the U.S. Navy was unprepared to enact its island-hopping strategy to reach Japan when World War II began and how oceanographers came to the rescue. Our efforts were severely hindered in that there was inadequate data o...

Sharing with my listeners some updates:
1) I have an upcoming webinar on Amalia Kussner, offered through the New York Adventure Club (www.nyadventureclub.com, category Gilded Age). It will offer recent research on Kussner and many images, detailing her life and the Gilded Age.  Date is Aug. 14th but content is available for a week. Please join my virtual audience!!
For further background: Kussner Podcast 1, Kussner Podcast ...

This episode will provide the background to the successful exoneration (by the passing of Resolution HJ 34 in Connecticut). You'll hear from the same 4 people that were interviewed in my series (from July 2022) and the tremendous efforts it took to get this bill passed. There were many components to this positive outcome - working w/ local representatives (including Rep. Jane Garibay), many volunteers and the power of various ...

You will hear about a fascinating artist – J. C. Leyendecker- who's illustrations epitomized the lifestyles of America in the early 20th century. Note: this will be a PG rated episode. His commercial art – primarily in magazines, became an iconic art style from the 1900's through the 1930’s.

Leyendecker was also a major influence for Norman Rockwell, one of America’s most beloved 20th century artists. You will l...

I am doing something different for this episode and this will not be a profile of any one fascinating person. But you will hear a 3-way interview with two other accomplished women podcasters and myself. What we all have in common is a love of history, though each of our series is unique in format and content. And we are recording in March which is  Women’s History Month, and that's perfect timing.  So sit back, listen,  and le...

As with my earlier podcast episodes, this episode will have a more personal slant – telling my listeners about a memorable college professor. This came about since I connected again recently with my alma mater – the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. On my first visit to the campus in about 40 years, I was flooded with memories, especially those of professor and superb educator – Dr. Cecil J. Schneer. I was fortunate to tak...

Maxfield Parrish is one of the most iconic artist of the Golden Age of Illustration. He was most well known for his calendar covers in the 1920's and 1930's. These would been seen across America's homes at the time, and often the calendar artwork would be saved and framed, after that year had passed. He was also commissioned for many magazine covers, book illustrations and commercial artwork (such as for Jello). But ...

Flora MacDonald (1722-1790) played a role in two different revolutions, first in Scotland and later in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. She was most famously known for hiding Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) to avoid being captured by government troops after the Battle of Culloden (1746), and of course putting her own life at risk. And later, she and her husband, through the offer of land in North Carolina,...

The history of slavery in New England is not well known, but did exist. And while the colonies were rebelling against England and wanting "their" freedom, many New England households had enslaved peoples. In one such household, in western part of the Massachusetts colony,  there lived Elizabeth Freeman as a slave.  She had already been enslaved in that household there for many years, and as with the unrest and coming rebe...

This is the story of Viktor Ullman, a composer and music critic, and others who were prisoners in the Terezin concentration camp (1941-1945). You will learn about Ullman and some of the other accomplished artists - who lived under the constant threat of deportation to Auschwitz but continued to create music and artwork. Their story will be told  by Mark Ludwig (Executive Director of the Terezin Music Foundation), who is an accompli...

I will be covering history that is past, current and future.  The historical topic being the mostly unknown 1600’s witch trials that occurred in Connecticut - since they are far less well known - than Salem Mass and surrounding towns  - Witch Trails of 1692. You will hear interviews with descendants from both Connecticut and Massachusetts.  And I'll report on these descendants' current efforts to exonerate - and effective...

This is a wonderful story - detailing many aspects of a Navy WAVES* (of course from WW2) as told by her granddaughter (Larisa) and also some details from her own diary during that era. You’ll hear about her life before enlisting,  much about her life as a WAVES and nurse serving the Navy, and then  finally some about her adjustments to life after the war. This woman is affectionately known by her family as "GG" - for grea...

Otto Antoine – was a German Impressionist painter and a distant relative of mine.  Antoine’s life intersected with many key parts of artistic and political history – having connections with Kaiser Wilhelm II – prior to WWI, as a court painter. And later having some interactions with 3rd Reich in the 1930’s , with their cultural dictates that had to be adhered to by German artists.  And we'll discuss his rebellious activities t...

The inspiration for this episode was from researching my husband’s relatives from Massachusetts (especially his distant cousin - Annie Thurston) which then leads to many interesting historical connections in the mid-19th century. Early in this episode to illustrate some of this history – we’ll have an interview with Dr. Robert Forrant from the University of Massachusetts, with his extensive background on the Abolitionist Movement i...

This is the 2nd episode on Amalia Kussner, the famed miniature portrait artist of the Gilded Age. We will discuss her professional and personal life after 1900. Very little is published about this time, however we’ll detail that she was still quite active and continued to be “the” sought after artist of era. We’ll also discuss the family she married into - The Couderts (most famously known for the international Coudert Law Firm). W...

This podcast will be the incredible story of Eva Mozes Kor, who was a Holocaust survivor. She and her twin sister, Miriam, were also part of a medical experimentation program at Auschwitz, run by Dr. Josef Mengele. As an adult, and to deal with her trauma and grief, Eva started a Holocaust museum in Indiana (CANDLES*). Through an in-depth and fascinating interview with Leah Simpson, the Education Director of that museum, you will h...

Gen. Laurence Kuter, was instrumental in the founding of the Air Force. Though not your typical "ace flyer", his organizational abilities and expert handling of crises - placed him at critical junctures in our 20th century military history. You'll hear how he was a key participant in many historical events, spanning pre-WW2 through the Cold War, and finishing his career as the 2nd commander of NORAD.  His fascinating...