Episodes
Feb. 25, 2025
Episode 57: Those Tumultuous Assemblies of Men
Dr. Cynthia Kierner joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss a 1778 letter from Richard Henry Lee to his sister Hannah Lee Corbin. In a lost letter, Hannah previously expressed her frustrations that widows are being taxed without representation. In this...
Jan. 28, 2025
Episode 56: The Most Dreadful Of All Enemies
Dr. Jacqueline Beatty joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss The Petition of Belinda from 1783 in which Belinda Sutton petitions The Massachusetts General Court for the funds left to her by her enslaver Isaac Royall after he fled the colonies during the...
Dec. 20, 2024
Episode 55: An Insurrection Was Hourly Expected
Ramin Ganeshram joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss excerpts from Janet Shaw’s Journal of a lady of quality; being the narrative of a journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the years 1774 to 1776. Ganeshram and Gehred...
Nov. 26, 2024
Episode 54: I Am Frightened When I Look At Her
Mary Wigge joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Lucy Flucker Knox to her husband General Henry Knox in which she describes how she spends her days during the Revolutionary War. Lucy, a wealthy Tory's daughter whose parents and siblings have...
Nov. 5, 2024
Bonus: A Humble Origin Story
In this bonus episode of Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant, Kathryn Gehred dives into the podcast's origin story. While working as an editor of the Papers of Martha Washington, Gehred became very familiar with how people wrote letters in the...
Oct. 29, 2024
Episode 53: By Being Almost Murdered
Dr. Maeve Kane joins Kathryn Gerhred to explore Konwatsi'tsiaienni Molly Brant’s life during the American Revolution. Brant was a member of the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation, one of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kane and Gerhred...
Oct. 22, 2024
Season 4: A Season of Revolution
We are excited to announce that on October 29 Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant will be back with Season Four. This season, we're exploring revolutionary America through the words written by women. We'll follow along in letters as women...
Aug. 13, 2024
Votes for Women!
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant has been nominated for the Women in Podcasting Awards! We would really appreciate it if you would vote for the podcast in the history category. Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is up against some GREAT...
June 18, 2024
Episode 52: Screaming Among Her Fellows
Catharine Maria Sedgwick to Eliza Cabot Follen, February 18, 1828. In which Sedgwick writes to her dear friend Cabot Follen about the need for a new minister, pieces she has recently read and written, and an exquisite Valentine. Featuring...
May 22, 2024
Episode 51: O Women of America!
Woman's Political Future - An Address by Frances E. W. Harper to the Chicago World's Fair, 20 May 1893. In which Harper champions morality, civil rights, and civic duty in Jim Crow America. Featuring Chole Porche, Ph.D. candidate in the Corcoran...
April 16, 2024
Episode 50: The Feathers are the only Tolerable Ones
Martha Washington to Eleanor Parke Custis, c. February 1797. In which Washington warns her granddaughter that her dress may not arrive from Philadelphia in time for a Virginia ball. Featuring , Assistant Professor of History, St. Michael's...
March 19, 2024
Episode 49: Deposition of Phillis Tatton
Deposition of Phillis Tatton, 3rd November 1837 In which Phillis Hinkley Saunders Tatton appeared before the County of Probate in the state of Connecticut in an attempt to secure a pension for her late husband’s service during the American...
Feb. 21, 2024
Episode 48: Political Subjects are too often at Variance
Elizabeth Willing Powel to Elizabeth Parke Custis, February 28, 1816. In which Powel advises Martha Washington's pro-French granddaughter to avoid talking about politics with pro-British family members.
Jan. 16, 2024
Episode 47: To Persevere In Grace & Faith
Phillis Wheatley to Obour Tanner, October 30th, 1773 in which Wheatley discusses faith, her book, and a trip to England.
Dec. 19, 2023
Episode 46: The Ambassadress Is Nothing But Blunt
Abigail Adams to John Quincy Adams, 16 Febuary 1786. In which Abigail reports from London to her son on dining with wealthy South Carolinians and the tribulations of her daughter Nabby in matters of the heart.
Nov. 21, 2023
Episode 45: You Must Not Complain Of My Silence
Elizabeth Mason to Mary Barnes Mason, 3 March 1811. In which Elizabeth attempts to update her daughter Mary on the latest news from home while her family distracts her.
Oct. 17, 2023
Episode 44: I Am An Idiot About Play
Lady Georgiana Spencer and Caroline Howe, a series of correspondences. In which they discuss Lady Spencer’s gambling problem. Kathryn Gehred is joined by early American historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Scotland Dr. Julie...
Sept. 19, 2023
Episode 43: That B**** Maria Goodwin
Sarah E. Nicholas to Jane H. Nicholas Randolph, March 30, 1821 In which Sarah E. Nicholas writes to her sister Jane H. Nicholas Randolph about an incident in the streets of Baltimore. Kathryn Gehred is joined by Amelia Golcheski, the CEO and Executive...
Aug. 29, 2023
Season 3: A Season of Wit
We are excited to announce that on September 19 Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant will be back with a new season. We found some great letters to share with you this season that highlight the extraordinary wit of women in the 18th and early 19th...
Aug. 15, 2023
Episode 42: A Woman of Extraordinary Ability
The travel diary of Elizabeth House Trist, 1783. In which Elizabeth House Trist records her journey down the Mississippi River in 1783.
July 25, 2023
Episode 41: Very Eccentric & I Think a Little Crazy
Phoebe Pemberton Morris to Rebecca Wistar Morris Nourse, 28 February 1812. In which Phoebe Pemberton Morris writes to her sister Rebecca Wistar Morris Nourse about the many social events she is attending in the Federal City, including the birthnight...
June 27, 2023
Episode 40: How Dare You Not Answer My Letter
Eliza Monroe Hay to King Louis Philippe of France, 1839. In which Eliza Monroe Hay, James Monroe's daughter, requests assistance from the King Louis Philippe of France because of the aid her parents provided his mother during the French Revolution....
May 23, 2023
Episode 39 - Not One Single Subject To Entertain You With
Jemima Grey, Amabel Grey, and Mary Grey to Catherine Talbot, 15 November 1765. In which Jemima Grey and her two daughters, Bell who is 14 and Mouse who is 9, provide a very comical update about their life near Cambridge. Kathryn Gehred is joined...
March 14, 2023
Episode 38 — A Rumor That You Abandoned Me
Jannote Roustant to Jean Roustant, on 1 July 1745 and Johanna Frederica Telle to Abrosius Telle on 28 May 1798.