Banjo Strings and Drinking Gourds

In this final episode of season three, we review Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas by noted geneticist, Jennifer Raff. While the book is about the first peopling of the Americas, something that the study of DNA and mtDNA has drastically changed, a large portion of the book is also devoted to the development of physical anthropology and the archaeological evidence for the earliest peopling of both Americas. This book gives a graduate course in interdisciplinary studies of who the first people were, where they came from, and how they got here in a readily accessible and sympathetic style. We highly recommend it!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Have you ever looked at something on your plate and wondered how it got there? In this episode, our guest, Misti Furr, talks about the movement of goods between the Americas, Africa, and Europe that had a significant impact on the world, both positively and negatively. The Columbian Exchange goes far beyond the humble potato or peanut!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

N.B.- This episode contains quotes from primary sources and may contain language considered offensive today.

Continuing on the topic of revolution and freedom, in this episode, we ask if the revolutionary rhetoric, the language used to discuss freedom from Britain, had any impact on slavery. Many founding fathers tended to compare British treatment of white male citizens of the colonies to slavery, yet slavery as an institution continued well into the 19th century in the newborn United States. Was there any sort of understanding of the hypocrisy involved? Did the prevailing themes of freedom and emancipation from Britain begin to echo in regards to race-based chattel slavery?

Also, please bear with us as the audio quality in this episode reflects our upcoming relocation of recording space.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Have you ever wondered about how some events in history could have turned out differently? In this episode, we introduce a counterfactual, or according to the Cambridge Dictionary, "a mental simulation where you think about something that happened, and then imagine an alternate ending." Just in time for the Fourth of July, our guests, Sam McGinty and Davis Tierney, discuss how the British could have won and what could have been the result.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Continuing our abolition series, Mark Mazzochi joins us to discuss the Haitian Revolution. While the revolt over slavery drastically impacted Haiti and it's economic conditions today, it had a surprising effect on the rest of the world as well.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

It's finally summer and that means it's time to indulge in some vacation reading. But have you ever picked up that guilty pleasure book or the classic you swear you'll make it through this year and wondered just how novels and fictional stories came to be? In this episode, we talk about how the art of fiction has changed forms over the centuries and just how the novel developed and proliferated. We'll also talk about the chronology of each genre, and some of those will surprise you with how far back they go!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Have you ever wondered just how the interpreters at the Frontier Culture Museum are able to talk about the why and how people left their homes for America? In this podcast, we talk about, and read from, primary sources about immigration. Letters, diaries, memoirs and more provide a detailed look into not only the push/pull factors behind the decision to leave Europe, or indeed return home, but also the fierce propaganda wars that were being waged. Accounts from enslaved persons provide a counterpoint to the relative luxury of choice the Europeans had in deciding whether or not to relocate to the colonies.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Italian Concerto BWV. 971. 2 Andante

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Smallpox is no joke. Having just experienced a world-wide pandemic of a virulent virus, we have a little more inkling about what people in the past faced with smallpox, but nowhere near on the same scale. Smallpox, while eradicated as an infectious agent at large, remains one of the deadliest diseases yet known. In this episode our guest, Lucy Abell, discusses just how dreadful smallpox was to historic populations, but also how smallpox was the inspiration behind our modern understanding of infections and vaccines.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Saint-Saens, Danse Macabre Op. 20, The University of Chicago Orchestra

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Today's episode takes you behind the scenes to our Costume Shop where our Costume Coordinator, Sam McGinty, researches, organizes, and produces the historically accurate clothing interpreters wear on site. Helping him are typically a quartet of interpreters who are familiar with or learning about hand sewing in a historic manner. Today, they discuss their current projects, how they produce garments for the interpreters, and their worst sewing mistake ever.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Happy April Fool's Day! In this episode, we treat you to some of the most infamous pranks and hoaxes in history. Everyone enjoys pulling the wool over someone's eyes and some of these notorious pranks and pranksters achieved heights of greatness most of us can only aspire to.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Mozart, Sonata KV 331 Rondo alla turca, Markus Staab

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

How many times have you stopped a conversation to either groan at or admire a pun? We all drop inadvertent puns into conversation. Sometimes we don't even catch them. Wordplay has been around as long as there has been language, but English really seems to lend itself to sly wit. In this episode, we discuss the rise and fall of the much maligned pun, playing with logic for riddles, and the advent of slang.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Saint-Saens, The Carnival of The Animals- XIV. Finale, Seattle Youth Orchestra 

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

We all have our routines, whether it be to grab a cup of coffee on the way to work or indulge in a cup of tea in the afternoon.  The luxury of our choices was surprisingly the same for colonial Americans. In this episode, we discuss the availability, popularity, and social context of each of the main non-alcoholic drinks of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. You might be surprised by some of it!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Georg Phillip Telemann, Trio Sonata for Flutes and Piano in A Minor, II-Allegro

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

In this second half, we discuss the changes cotton production brought to the United States. Mechanization and factory towns shifted the economics not only of sleepy agricultural communities, but the country as a whole. Of course, factory work brought its own significant problems, but we really can't deny the long-term impact of cotton on the formation of the modern world. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Beethoven, Sonata No. 4 in E Flat Major, Op. 7-III. Allegro, Paul Pitman

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

There are a lot of things that have changed the world. The Roman Empire, the Age of Sail, the printing press, etc. But cotton usually doesn't make that list. The unassuming seed of the cotton plant, covered in white, wispy fibers perfect for spinning into cloth isn't usually considered a major player on the world stage. But in actuality, the industrialization behind the production of cotton textiles made massive changes to the very fabric (pun fully intended) of the modern world. In this first of two parts, we talk about the mechanization of cotton production and the economic and social impacts that reverberated through the world.

Intro music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Georg Phillip Telemann, 4 Concerto for 4 Violins II. Grave, Viola Viva

George Friedrich Handel, Recorder Sonata in F, HWV 369, II. Allegro, Telemann Trio

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day 

Have you ever wondered how interpreters learn historic trades? Our guests today discuss how they learned, or are learning, historic trades like woodworking, tin smithing, and tailoring. They cover the historical context of their trade, just what contemporary tradesmen would be doing, how people learned historically, and how they themselves have learned. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Telemann Partita B flat, Largo, Telemann Trio

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

In this episode, our guest, Paige Hildebrand, talks about her research into Elizabethan Free Grammar Schools.  These schools were the foundation of our modern system of education and go back further than you might think! And Paige even found an interesting connection between her research and our English farm!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Did you know there was a time when Christmas was actually banned in England? Well, at least it was strongly discouraged. In this episode, we delve into the 17th century in England and just what was going on with Christmas, who the major players were, and some of the modern repercussions. 

Music: Second Suite for Military Band, Op. 28 no. 2 - IV. Fantasia on the 'Dargason'. Allegro Moderato, Gustav Holst, USAF Heritage of America Band

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Ever wanted to know the history of your favorite carols? This episode delves into the background of some of the best beloved carols. Some are more modern than you'd think, while others have a much older melody. So sit back with your favorite warm beverage and enjoy the history of Christmas carols.

In this episode, our guest, Naomi Akogwu, talks about her research into agricultural history and how our modern methods came out of the agricultural revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She details mechanization and methodological improvements happening at the time, as well as the growth of agricultural colleges and dissemination of knowledge available.  She also covers the challenges facing modern agriculture and how the rise of homesteading is giving some hope for the future.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Papalin, 25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances, Op. 17 - 22. Cow Call - So Lokka Me Over Den Myra 

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Welcome back to season three of Banjo Strings and Drinking Gourds! We have a fascinating season of episodes planned for you. This episode, we tackle some of the interesting and bizarre celebrations and holidays not often celebrated today. From agricultural based holidays to merry-making cobblers and smiths, this episode covers a wide array of time and space.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

On this second episode on abolition, we focus on British abolitionists. Britian abolished slavery long before the United States and enforced the ban on the international slave trade, but just how did that come about? Who was involved? We answer those questions.  

Note: This episode contains contemporary quotes that use language which today is considered offensive. 

Opening Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: 

Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 3, N. 2, I. Adagio

Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor, BWV 1067, 7. Badinerie

Henry Purcell, The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Thus Happy and Free, Papalin

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

In this episode, our guests delve into the history of Staunton. They cover who was living here, who came here, how it was founded, and more. They even answer that pressing question: why isn't it pronounced "Stawn-ton"? 

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

Close Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

NB: This episode contains contemporary accounts of events that may reference period attitudes towards marginalized groups. 

Being located in the Shenandoah Valley, we don't often talk about ships and the navy. For this 4th of July, however, we thought we'd bring in our ship expert, Mark, to talk about the role of navies during the American Revolution. In this episode, we'll discuss shipbuilding, sailor impressment, and just how a small, upstart American fleet managed to mostly hold its own against the strongest navy in the world.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Das Orchester Tsumugi, Mozart, Symphony no. 40 in G minor, K. 550, Molto Allegro 

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Today's episode focuses on the earliest movement toward abolition. Who were the movers and shakers who started a movement that changed the world? In this first of two parts, we discuss just who was involved in protesting slavery and its egregious loss of life and liberty from the earliest moments. Britain's empirical aspirations rested firmly on the backs of enslaved persons throughout her colonies, yet from the beginning, a few brave souls stood up to protest on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Content Warning: The contemporary sources quoted in this episode contain language now considered offensive. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

We decided that with summer vacation coming up, we'd help out with the often-tiresome search for that beach read. In this episode, we review Matt Siegel's 2021 book, The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat. As historians, there were a few nit-picky things, but overall, this was an enjoyable, easy read that we highly recommend for all your summer reading needs!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition: Handel, Alexander's Feast, 1736

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Despite Alex's promise to never again produce an episode on the amorphous idea of a single century, here we have a brief, scattershot attempt at introducing the 18th century. It's a pretty sure bet that there will be many episodes springing off the topics raised in this podcast, hopefully in the far distant future.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music:  European Archive: Henry Purcell, The Fairy Queen Z. 629, Monkey's Dance

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

In this episode, our guest, Steve Frysinger, discusses medical interpretation. He explains the difference between medical interpretation and reenactment, how someone can learn about historic medicine, and some interesting anecdotes about medicine in the past. Medical history is not for the squeamish!

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Lights, camera, action! In this episode, we take a peek at what kind of discussions can happen around the breakroom table at the Frontier Culture Museum regarding pop culture. Movies, books, TV shows, video games, toys...all of these are vehicles for historical content and of course, historical interpreters have a lot of feelings about all of it. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Closing Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

To finish our special Women's History Month series, Mary Kate describes an unusual aspect of women's history: women in trades. As one of the Frontier Culture Museum's blacksmiths, Mary Kate is well-versed in the historical role of women participating in the so-called men's trades. In this episode, she describes a fictional blacksmithing family and the role of the women with that trade.

Continuing our Women's History Month series, Makayla details the life of a Virginia farmer's wife in the mid-19th century. Her recounting includes actual quotes from contemporary sources, like the American Frugal Housewife, first published in 1828. Be sure to compare this Day in the Life to the others across time and place.

Music: Zac Bell

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

We're continuing our set of episodes for Women's History Month. Today, Misti describes a spring day in the life of women of the Eastern Woodlands. Seasonal and year-round activities each have their own place in the day and the visitor to a village can observe the rhythms of life.

For Women's History Month, we thought we'd change things up a bit and give you a taste of what a typical day would be like for some of the women we talk about at the Frontier Culture Museum. This month, we'll be bringing you four short episodes, in both first and third person, that paint a picture of daily life for women of the past. This week, we start in the 17th century with a typical spring day for a yeoman farmer's wife.

In this episode, we take a turn for the serious in observance of Black History Month. Mark, who has been a guest previously discussing navigation and shipping, talks to us about the traumatic and often deadly journey from freedom to enslavement via the Middle Passage. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Close Music: Jean-Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Have you ever thought about how easy it is to buy clothes in the modern world? Or how much automation goes in to making them? In the past, of course, everything was more labor intensive, particularly in the pre-industrial periods. But that labor intensity meant that finished products often held a higher societal and economic value. In this episode, we (attempt to) figure out just why clothes were worth so much more and explain the production process from raw material to wearable garment. We may even answer the question: which costs more comparatively, car or clothes?

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

Closing Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

For another episode on current topics, we feature Makayla Baker Paxton discussing the long history of inoculation and vaccines. Featuring such notable figures as Catherine the Great, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, the story of vaccines, ever present in our minds today, has many similarities with the situation under COVID-19.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

In this episode, we talk about archaeology: what it is, why we care, and how it interacts with history. Archaeology and the archaeological record is a valuable resource for knowing how people lived in the past. When written records are scarce or misleading, archaeology can fill in the gaps. The physical traces left behind by people tell their own stories.

Open Music: Zac Bell

Close Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find out more at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

This episode, we invite the Executive Director of the Frontier Culture Museum, Dr. Megan Newman, to talk about some exciting up-coming projects and improvements to the museum. We also discuss some of the impact COVID-19 has had on the FCM and Dr. Newman's favorite visitor experience.

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us at frontiermuseum.org, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram

Ever heard the old chestnut that women in the past often died by flaming petticoat? How about the one that people were shorter in the past? Ever wondered if everything "they say" is true? Then this is the episode for you! We're busting, or not, some of the commonly held perceptions and common wisdom about the past. Be prepared to be surprised!

We're also going to be taking a short hiatus from podcasting during our busy season. Join us again in October for a brand new season of historical content. Please subscribe to get the newest episodes as soon as they drop!

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

Happy Independence Day! In this episode, we've veered off the traditional focus on the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence to focus on the bigger picture of martial conflicts in the years before 1776. Just what was happening to help form the crucible that would produce open rebellion against England? Our guests detail conflicts you may not have heard of that happened on American soil or involved colonists in wider geopolitical issues.

Music: Zac Bell and Davis Tierney

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

You may have heard of Juneteenth, which just became a Virginia state holiday. But what is so special about that date? Join us as we explore the meaning behind the observance of the day, the traditions involved, and some of the music important to the day.

Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana and Mark Mazzochi

           Modified: Work, John Wesley, Fisk University Jubilee Singers, Alfred Garfield King, Noah Walker Ryder, and J. A Myers. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. 1909. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-128141/. Used under the Fair Use Clause.

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Have you ever wondered how a museum decides what goes into a historic house? Or when to use artifacts or reproductions? Then this is the episode for you! Joining us is our Curator, David Puckett, who will answer our questions about what curation is, how decisions are made, and all the research that goes into every object a visitor sees on site.

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us online at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

Alcohol, as troublesome as it can be, is a prominent drink in modern society. It tends to be a large part of social interactions. But how did that happen? In this episode, we address the rise of alcohol in history, the historic beer brewing process, and other bevvies that developed along the way.

Title from The Hudribrastick Brewer Or, A Preposterous Union Between Malt and Meter. A Satyr Upon the suppos'd Author of the Republican Procession; or the Tumultuous Cavalcade, by Edward Ward, 1714

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram!

Do you or I or anyone know how oats and grains and barley grow? How about the more important question: why? In this episode, we discuss the use of grains, peas, and other plant matter around the world as some type of flour or meal. Some of them might surprise you!

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us online at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

We can all agree that 2020 was a long year. And it probably seemed like the worst year ever. That got us thinking about the people we talk about at the museum and what they might have considered as the worst years of their lives. So bear with us as we discuss some of the truly awful years of the past.

Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Find us online at frontiermuseum.org, on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube