A Short History

In the Season 2 finale, we recount the story of Robert Ray Hamilton and the bizarre saga of his marriage, divorce, and death. Hamilton, a great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, caused a stir in Victorian society after marrying Eva Steele Mann, a bordello worker. Drama, lies, violence, prostitution, and child trafficking are just some of the deeds of this "notorious woman". **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

New York City, 1895. Turn of the Century NYC isn't just a hotbed of immigration, it's also a hotbed of crime. Maria Barbella, a young Italian immigrant, becomes a fitting example of this when she murders her abusive lover in broad daylight. But can a jury of Victorian men condemn a proper young lady to the electric chair? **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Adele Ritchie was born for the stage, a vaudevillian diva and director, she craved attention and adoration. After Adele's friend, a beautiful and wealthy divorcee got a taste of the limelight, Adele got a taste for revenge. The tragic events that followed, are truly worthy of the theatre. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the Victorian era, women had little other options, other than marriage, to get ahead in life. Young Frenchwoman Adelaide Bartlett was no exception, and when her husband tried to get in the way of her own education and self improvement, the results were downright deadly. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week we have a mother-daughter act. Grace Fortescue and her spoiled daughter Thalia Massie were socialites and the cream of D.C. society. After Thalia married a Navy officer and was whisked away to Hawai'i, her selfish machinations bring about both a murder and a miscarriage of justice. Don't worry, mother always cleans up after her daughter. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week we recount a tale of betrayal, love, and possibly murder in the Deep South. A thoroughly modern woman, Ruth Dean became one of the first female medical school graduates at UVA and seemed to have a bright future ahead of her. Then Ruth met the married Dr. John Preston Kennedy, soon realizing that while love is the sweetest thing . . . it can also be the deadliest. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week we tell the story of Florence Bravo, a woman testing the limits of Victorian propriety: conducting affairs, divorcing without consent . . . oh, and possibly murder. Hear the sensational story that captured the attention of 1870s London. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

1856. A young socialite falls for a poor shipping clerk. Girl meets boy. Girl meets another man. Boy meets arsenic. This week we bring you an account of Victorian intrigue, taboos, and murder: the story of Madeleine Smith. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

On this season of the podcast, we'll be traveling back in time between a series of crimes from the Victorian era to the 1930s. One era is known for its refinement and primness. We'll counter that with the 1930s, just after the first modern sexual/female revolution when flappers marked an enormous change in how women dressed, acted, worked and dated. 1931. A woman attempts to exit a bustling L.A. train station. After being stopped by a baggage inspector, she flees, abandoning several large trunks. Upon opening the trunks, the LAPD makes a gruesome discovery. This week's episode recounts the ghastly crime, and the media circus that followed the trial of Winnie Ruth Judd, murderess. **Original music is thanks to Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

" . . . To reach the goal of one's ambitions must be tragic. " - N.C. Wyeth In this bonus episode, we take a look at an American artistic dynasty: the Wyeths. Based in the Brandywine Valley, the Wyeths' works graced the walls of museums around the world and the covers of popular literature such as "The Saturday Evening Post". Simultaneously, they lived a complicated and dysfunctional life together. Join us as we look at the lives of N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth and the other members of one of the most celebrated American artistic families. Show notes are available on our Facebook, Instagram and Homepage: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

In our season finale (But wait! There's a Bonus episode coming!) we explore what happens when your perfect day doesn't go so, well, perfect. From public confrontations, scandalous secrets and revelations, and a runaway bride, we present a few stories that would lead anyone to ask to be taken off the invite list. Our show notes are available on our homepage, Facebook, and Instagram: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

In this episode we examine the darker side of associating with royalty. Old world rulers get their brutal revenge on a political enemy, Persian princes are left out in the cold, and American Royalty the Vanderbilts drive an idealistic woman to a tragic demise. Show notes are available on our homepage, Facebook, and Instagram: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

This week's episode presents stories of housewives gone quite mad. From a reverend's wife's mysterious disappearance, the bizarre family plan of a mentally unstable newlywed, and the twisted plot of murder and deception between a husband and wife. Show notes are available on our Instagram, Facebook and homepage: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

We all know the Hollywood of yesteryear was full of scandals and secrets swept under the rug by the studio system. In our seventh episode, we take some of these skeletons out of their closets and discuss some shocking and sensational scandals involving murders, affairs and mysteries of some of Tinseltown's brightest stars.

*Advisory: This episode does not contain any graphic content, but does include some tawdry details from divorce cases. Episode 6 provides some historical examples of the not-so-new phenomenon of "slut-shaming". Our three stories concern the messy divorces and real-life heartbreak cases of a real estate magnate in the roaring 20s and his child bride, the glamorous movie star Mary Astor, and an up and coming Follies girl and her millionaire boyfriend. Visit our homepage for show notes at: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

Our fifth episode is all about fire: whether to clean up a murder, evict some unwanted guests or cleanse away those pesky sins, our subjects all turn to the flames for assistance in their deadly and bizarre schemes. Visit our homepage for show notes: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

For our special Valentine's Day episode, we're diving into some less than romantic stories of jilted lovers, bizarre trysts, and tragic romances. We'll be discussing a young couple's bizarre suicide pact and an aviatrix's scandalous romance which ended in murder. Visit our homepage for show notes!: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

In Episode 3, our topic is explorers off course. First, we trek through the arctic on several dangerous expeditions with noted Norwegian explorer Hjalmar Johansen, then we discuss the story of explorer Leonidas Hubbard's tragic death and his wife's ultimate revenge. Visit our homepage for show notes at: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast

In our second episode, we dive into the strange world of eccentrics. First, we recount the story of the "Sugar King", the son of the richest man in France, who imagined himself a king and terrorized his own family in increasingly strange ways. Then we discuss Anna Kingsford, a woman who claimed to possess the ability to will people . . . to death. The newsreel covers more eccentrics covered in newspapers in the recent past. Visit Our Homepage: www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast for show notes!

In our first ever episode of "A Short History", our topic is deaths, specifically strange and bizarre ends that newspapers have covered. We first discuss Clement Passal, a Parisian con artist who met his end . . . buried alive. Next we explore the story of Annie Temple, a pretty 17-year old, whose story captivated the newspapers with her mysterious disappearance and murder. Our newsreel covers news clippings reporting on other untimely and bizarre ends. Visit our Homepage: http://www.ashorthistoryblog.com/podcast