Today we’re talking about a charming 1835 letter—recently found in a New England attic and purchased by the shop—from Ralph Waldo Emerson to a girl named Lucia. In the letter, Emerson exhorts his young correspondent to listen in solitude to the voices of nature, to the “great old gray ocean” and the “withered leaves that chatter in the cold March wind.” These themes would recur in his 1863 essay, Nature, a foundational text of the Transcendentalist movement. Although this particular letter is not in perfect condition, the author’s voice shines through, kindly and respectful, carrying a message that can still touch our lives today.
Brattlecast #188 - The Southern Workman
Today we’re looking at an issue of The Southern Workman, a monthly journal published from 1812–1939 by Virginia’s Hampton Institute Press. Founded shortly after the Civil War as the Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, the Hampton Institute trained Black and Indigenous students to become teachers and community leaders, as well as offering vocational skills that would enable them to support themselves in the impoverished South. One of their most famous alumni was Booker T. Washington, who returned to teach at the school before moving on to the Tuskegee Institute. Interest in Black history-related books and ephemera is growing, and items like this—undervalued for too long—are waiting to be archived, studied, and discovered by collectors.
Brattlecast #112 - African American Periodicals
Today we’re talking about historic African American periodicals. These newspapers and magazines often had smaller circulations than their white, mainstream counterparts, making them harder to find and more collectible today. It’s a broad and varied field, which includes the abolitionist newspapers of the early 1800s like Freedom’s Journal and The North Star, the literary journals of the Harlem Renaissance, and more recent lifestyle magazines like Ebony and Jet. These periodicals were influential in promoting the social movements of their times and can provide an important parallel history directly from the Black voices that were all too often excluded from and ignored by the mainstream American press.
Brattlecast #95 - The Liberator & The North Star
Finally, some good news! Today we’re taking a look at the abolitionist newspapers of the 1800s. The Liberator was published here in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison, and argued that the institution of slavery was so deeply immoral that it must be ended immediately, a radical position at the time. Although it had a relatively small circulation, The Liberator was influential, shaping abolitionist thought and inspiring others to start their own publications, including Frederick Douglass, who founded his anti-slavery newspaper, The North Star, in 1847. Today, as a new chapter in America’s troubled civil rights history unfolds, these antique newspapers remain impressive for their fierce moral clarity in the face of violent opposition and for their insistence on emancipation and full equality.
Brattlecast #11 - Black and White and Read All Over
When did you last pick up a newspaper? Hopefully after 1851. Ken brings Jordan some authentic 19th century newspapers, and outlines the evolution of print periodicals in America. Learn about competing publications in Richmond and New York covering the Civil War, as well as the rise of mass print advertising, and its unfortunate side effect on slavery. There’s nothing quite like getting history right from the source.
