Samantha Wilcoxson's Blog, page 10
March 18, 2021
Mosaics of Ravenna - An Artist's Delight
Guest Post from historian Toni Mount!
"For lovers of colour, art and history, you can’t go wrong in Ravenna; your greatest difficulty will be deciding what to look at first."
"For lovers of colour, art and history, you can’t go wrong in Ravenna; your greatest difficulty will be deciding what to look at first."
March 17, 2021
Hercules Mulligan, Gentleman & Spy
Can you think of a better way to celebrate St Patrick's Day than hanging out talking about everyone's favorite Irish-American revolutionary? I can't either!
Hercules Mulligan, Gentleman & Spy
Hercules Mulligan, Gentleman & Spy
March 10, 2021
Battling the Radium Industry
Employers in Illinois, Connecticut, and New Jersey utilized a variety of arguments to escape liability for instructing their employees in the use of the deadly substance. At a time when worker compensation laws were not robust and some still believed in a worker beware approach to dangerous jobs, knowing radium was poisonous was not enough. Those suffering from contact with radium had to prove it was the cause AND prove that their employers should be held responsible for it.
KEEP READING
KEEP READING
March 3, 2021
Life Between the Wars
📚 Guest Post 📚
"The 1920s, the first modern decade, was the most exciting of periods. In this decade, there was not only economic growth, but also a boom in consumer goods. By the end of the decade, women’s lives had been transformed, and women had a voice at last!"
KEEP READING
"The 1920s, the first modern decade, was the most exciting of periods. In this decade, there was not only economic growth, but also a boom in consumer goods. By the end of the decade, women’s lives had been transformed, and women had a voice at last!"
KEEP READING
March 1, 2021
Writing A Dangerous Life
"My fascination for the dark underbelly of the entertainment business has been evident since I first started writing back in the 1970’s."
READ MORE from today's guest, Len Maynard.
READ MORE from today's guest, Len Maynard.
February 25, 2021
History behind Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl
As a historical fiction author, one of the most common questions I am asked is 'How much of that story is true?' In all of my novels, I strive for historical accuracy as much as possible and try to fill in the gaps in a way that fits with historical figures' personalities and circumstances. Since Luminous takes place in a much more recent era than my previous works, I was blessed with source material from newspapers, personal letters, and even a visit to Ottawa, Illinois, where Catherine Wolfe Donohue and her friends lived. KEEP READING
February 16, 2021
December 10, 2020
A Lady Merchant in the New World
Participating in the Coffee Pot Book Club tours is such a great way to meet new authors and learn about parts of history I would have never discovered otherwise. My guests today have written a fascinating story about a Dutch female merchant who joins the adventurers embracing their future in the New World. Anas Hamshari and Caroline Snodgrass are here to discuss the history behind their story.
KEEP READING
KEEP READING
October 27, 2020
Luminous Women: Margaret Looney
Margaret Looney started work at Radium Dial in 1923, not long after Catherine Wolfe (Donohue) and Charlotte Nevins (Purcell). Her friends called her Peg. She was 17-years-old, too young to be working at Radium Dial according to their stated rules, but she was far from the only one. Some women remembered girls as young as 11 working in the studio as long as they were able to perform the fine work. Peg was quite capable, cheerful, and dedicated to earning an income that would help feed her large family of seven siblings (and counting!).
KEEP READING
KEEP READING
October 20, 2020
Luminous Women: Charlotte Purcell
Charlotte worked at Radium Dial for 13 months as a teenager, but it impacted the rest of her life.
READ MORE
READ MORE
