Unhinged History

What an episode of two indomitable people!

Today, Theresa kicks things off by telling the story of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. Dr. Dan is credited with completing the first open-heart surgery. This was in the mid-1800s, before the creation of rib spreaders, bypass machines, or any other devices that would make his life easier. Even better, his patient survives. To further boost his creds, this incredible human created the first racially integrated hospital and nursing school.
After that, Angie struggles with a transition to tell the story of Ona Judge. The tale begins with Ona being enslaved to Martha Washington, the wife of the first president. Well, after President Washington engages in some shady antics to keep Ona enslaved, she absconds. This gets old, George-y boy, to crash out. The rest, as they say, is history.

This story pairs well with
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Bass Reeves
Robert Smalls

Today’s mash-up of stories leads to some very unexpected places as Angie shares the story of Belle da Costa Greene. Belle ends up being the first Black female librarian of Mr. J. P. Morgan. This woman ends up being the Pepper Potts to Morgan, as she controls art and literature that gets bought and added to his personal collection.

Then, surprising no one, Theresa takes us in a very different direction as she recounts the tale of York, the Black man who accompanied Lewis and Clark on the expedition across the newly purchased land of the Louisiana Purchase. Like anyone who experiences travel, his trek changes him and gives him a sense of accomplishment, forever altering the power dynamic between him and his owner, William Clark.

This episode pairs well with:
Alice Roosevelt
Sacagawea

Few white dudes of history have ever earn so much respect from the Black community does, and for good reason.

This week, Theresa takes over the entire episode and shares the unhinged life of John Brown. Starting with his early years, raised in a home that was both steeped in religion and abolitionism, John Brown’s path led him to campaign to end slavery.
During his life, he would earn the respect of Fredrick Douglass, as he polarized the nation in their stances on ending the practice of slavery. Theresa continues to share how it was Brown’s post-conviction writing that furthered his cause, and not so much the raid at Harper’s Ferry.

This is a solid episode, if we say so.
This episode pairs well with:
The attack on Senator Charles Sumner

The stories we tell here at Unhinged History are predictable, and today offers no variation from the trend.

Theresa begins by telling the story of Elijah Parish Lovejoy. This abolitionist would believe two things in this life: that slavery is wrong, and as a journalist, he had the freedom of speech. These convictions would result in four printing presses getting destroyed by mobs and him getting shot five times.

Angie, while struggling to segue, transitions to Adrian Carton de Wiart, the unkillable soldier. This man joined countless conflicts, lost an eye and a hand, was shot countless times, survived five plane crashes, and still died of old age.

This episode pairs well with:
Senator Charles Sumner
Mad Jack Churchill
Paddy Mayne part 1
Paddy Mayne part 2
Paddy Mayne part 3

Sometimes the events covered in Unhinged History are as zany as they are unexpected. Other times, things get dark.

This week, Theresa shares the life of Charles Sumner, the senator who was beaten for giving an abolitionist speech. This attack would polarize the country and start it on the path toward the Civil War.

Angie apparently didn’t get the memo that Theresa was telling such a tale, because she takes us further into the darkness when she covers the Theresienstadt Ghetto. This WWII camp was established by the Nazis and, at one point, camouflaged as a “spa town” for older Jewish citizens.

This episode pairs with:
The Wide Awakes: How fashion led to Civil War
Josef Mencik – The Knight of Strakonice