The American Epistles podcast explores our history through the letters, journals, and diaries of “ordinary” Americans. It is the story of our country, one letter at a time.

Series

Women Homesteaders

“See that shack over yonder?”

Elinore Pruitt Rupert

1 | “Everything is just lovely for me.”	5 | “The ‘rheumatiz’ would get all the money …”
2 | “Such a snowstorm I never saw!”	6 | “The wind was shrieking, howling, and roaring.”
3 | “I am making a wedding dress.”	7 | “A very angry Aggie strode in…”
4 | “I had a confession to make …”	8 | “…We were almost starved.”

West Virginia Mine Wars

1 | “The worst of the explosion occurred in Mine No. 8.”

2 | “They hit me and they threw me down.”

3 | “They’re going to bomb us!”

Enslaved Americans’ Pursuit of Literacy

1 | “I would take my child and hide in the mountains.

2 | “It was only by trickery that I learned to read.”

3 | “The more I read, the more I fought against slavery.”

Freedom Summer

1 | “Mississippi is going to be hell this summer.”

2 | “We are afraid to speak for our rights.”

Women’s Welfare Work in WWI

1 | “We washed the men and the floors.”

2 | “Don’t drop them pies!”

3 | “We fed them what we had.”

The Great Migration

1 | “We have to be shot down here like rabbits.”

2 | “We will do any kind of work.”

3 | “Nothing here but money.”

Mini Episodes

“Our child cries for you.” (Loved Ones of Black Civil War Soldiers)

“My wound is all healed.” (The 372nd Infantry)

“I have the right not to vote.” (Women’s Suffrage)

“I was awakened … by the low roar of guns.” (Hello Girls)

“His Intelligence from the Enemy’s Camp were Industriously Collected …” (James Armistead Lafayette)