In this episode, Joanne, Brian, and Nathan discuss stories of love that challenged social norms and transcended class, race, and gender. They explore how people subverted laws banning interracial marriage, and why a wave of heiresses running away with their coachmen caused a moral panic in the Gilded Age.
Defiant Brides
Joanne talks with writer Nancy Rubin Stuart about two Revolutionary-era women whose choice of romantic partner put them at odds with their family and country.
Malays, Not Mongolians
For centuries, dozens of states implemented anti-miscegenation laws prohibiting people of color from marrying whites. While the overarching reason behind the laws were to control the color line, the details of each statute depended on a state’s geography and racial makeup. Nathan talks with scholar Rachel Moran about the 1933 case Roldan v Los Angeles County and how Filipinos living in California were able to fight for their right to marry across racial lines.
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Lady Lovers
The 1920’s have become synonymous with prohibition, flappers, and economic prosperity. But the decade also marked the emergence of the first queer black community networks. Nathan talks with historian Cookie Woolner about how African American blues singers like Ethel Waters and “Ma” Rainey were able to express a queer identity to mainstream audiences.
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Another Elopement of the Familiar Sort
During the Gilded Age, elite families were in the grips of a moral panic. Wealthy heiresses were abandoning their inheritances and running off with their family’s coachmen – who, although young and handsome, were of exceedingly lower status. Historian Carolee Klimchok explains how these elopement scandals became a national sensation.
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