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The Bowery Boys: New York City History

#295 Saving the City: Women of the Progressive Era

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Tom Meyers

Places & Travel, History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.73.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2019

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

EPISODE 295: This is a podcast about kindness and care. About the Progressive Era pioneers who saved the lives of people in need -- from the Lower East Side to Washington Heights, from Hell's Kitchen to Fort Greene. Within just a few decades – between the 1880s and the 1920s – so much social change occurred within American life, upending so many cultural norms and advancing so many important social issues, that these years became known as the Progressive Era. And at the forefront of many of these changes were women. In this show, Greg visits two important New York City social landmarks of this era --Henry Street Settlement, founded by Lillian Wald in the Lower East Side, and the Cabrini Shrine, where Mother Frances X. Cabrini continued her work with New York's Italian American population. Then he pays a visit to the Brooklyn Historical Society and their exhibition Taking Care of Brooklyn: Stories of Sickness and Health, featuring artifacts from the borough's surprising connection to medical and social innovation -- from settlement houses to the birth control revolution advocated by Margaret Sanger. If you have ancestors who came through New York City during 1880s through the 1920s, most likely they came into contact with the efforts of some of the women featured in this show. From the White Rose Mission, providing help for young black women, to the life-saving investigations of 'Dr. Joe' aka Sara Josephine Baker, leading the city's fight for improvements to public health. Greg is joined by several wonderful guests helping to tell this story, including Tanya Bielski-Braham (currently of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh), Beckett Graham(of the History Chicks podcast), Julie Golia (Vice President for Curatorial Affairs and Collections at the Brooklyn Historical Society), Cherie Sprosty (director of liturgy at the Cabrini Shrine) and Katie Vogel (public historian at the Henry Street Settlement).  boweryboyshistory.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

And speaking of live shows, I'm happy to announce that I and Tom Myers will be headed back

0:08.0

to Joe's pub at the public theater for another live edition of our Ghost Stories of Old New

0:15.5

York.

0:16.5

We had such a great time last year that we are doing it again with five all-new ghost

0:21.8

stories.

0:22.8

Now, we have three shows announced two on Sunday, October 27th, and one on Halloween, October

0:29.8

31st.

0:30.8

Now, all the shows last year were sold out, so get your tickets today.

0:35.4

Just visit the website for Joe's pub at the public to get your tickets, or you can head

0:39.7

over to our website, barriboyshistory.com for more information.

0:44.6

And we'll see you there.

0:46.7

The BarriBoys Episode 295, saving the city, the New York women of the Progressive Era.

0:53.7

Hey, it's the BarriBoys!

0:55.7

Hey!

0:56.7

Support for the BarriBoys is provided by our listeners.

1:00.4

Join us for as little as $1 a month by visiting patreon.com slash BarriBoys.

1:10.7

Hi there.

1:11.7

Welcome to the BarriBoys.

1:12.7

This is Greg Young.

1:14.3

I swear, this is Tom's last week away from the show.

1:18.6

But I will be joined in this episode by several guests who will help me tell a very special

1:25.1

story within just a few decades between the 1880s and the 1920s.

...

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