35. Claim to Flame: Edmonia "Wildfire" Lewis and her Harem Scarem
History is Gay
Leigh Pfeffer
4.6 • 536 Ratings
🗓️ 22 March 2021
⏱️ 92 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of History is Gay Leigh and guest host Amanda Helton discuss Mary Edmonia "Wildfire" Lewis, the first internationally recognized African American and indigenous artist in the United States. Join us while we ponder how exactly a literal 2-ton sculpture goes missing, discuss the merits of lesbian drama in 1800s Rome, and did you know that blister beetles have been used as aphrodisiacs for centuries? Yeah... neither did we….
Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Amanda Helton, can be found at www.amandahelton.com or @oryxbesia on Instagram. You can also hear Amanda in our episode on Michelangelo!
Outline
0:00 – Introduction
7:18 – Socio-Historical Context
20:58 – Who were they? Bio Time
25:06 – 26:18 — Content warning: racial violence
30:29 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week
58:27 – Why do we think they're gay?
1:22:52 – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions
1:27:51 – How Gay were They?
1:30:53 – Closing and Where to Find us Online
We want to hear from YOU! Please fill out our first-ever History is Gay Listener Survey! We want to hear from YOU and your thoughts about the show! What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you want us to know? Go to www.historyisgaypodcast.com/survey to fill it out, and if you enter your email, you might win a free HIG tee!
Want to help us continue to make the show? Support us on Patreon and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! You can get super cool merch in our store! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things.
If you'd like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to www.historyisgaypodcast.com/transcribe to join the team of volunteers!
Find our full list of sources and bonus content at www.historyisgaypodcast.com. Get at us on twitter @historyisgaypod, tumblr at historyisgaypodcast, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, and welcome to History is Gay, a podcast that examines the underappreciated and overlooked |
| 0:05.9 | queer ladies, gents, and gentle enbies that have always been there in the unexplored corners of history, |
| 0:11.2 | because history has never been as straight as you think. |
| 0:39.7 | Okay. Hello, everyone. Welcome to today's episode. I'm your intrepid host, Lee, and I hope that you are enjoying your March and your 2021 and are all staying nice and safe and healthy. I'm joined today by a guest host that you've |
| 0:48.2 | heard on the show a couple episodes ago. I am joined again by Friend of the Pod and Friend in Real Life Amanda Hilton. |
| 0:56.1 | My Artie Nerdy friend. Hello. Hello. Nice to be here again. |
| 1:02.2 | You've come back to strengthen your brand and continue talking about sculpture. |
| 1:08.6 | My artie nerdy brand is strong. |
| 1:13.6 | How have you been doing since we talked about Michelangelo? |
| 1:16.9 | Oh, good. |
| 1:17.7 | I'm like super stoked to not be talking about a white dude, though. |
| 1:22.6 | I think it's always a good day in my life when white men are not like in the forefront of my mind. |
| 1:30.3 | It's pretty good. |
| 1:32.2 | So Amanda, why don't you introduce yourself for folks who have not gotten a chance to listen to the Michelangelo episode. |
| 1:39.5 | Just tell us a little bit about you and how we met and what you are super interested in in your life. |
| 1:47.4 | Yeah, well, I'm Amanda. |
| 1:49.0 | I use she her pronouns. |
| 1:50.7 | Originally from the southeast, generally speaking, East Tennessee, Severe County, the birthplace of Dolly Parton. |
| 1:56.5 | I will shamelessly plug again that I have met Dolly Parton more than once, and that's my only claim |
| 2:03.5 | to fame at this point in my life. I have a master's degree in art history with a concentration |
| 2:08.6 | of museum training from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. I work at an art museum |
| 2:13.8 | currently doing actually like digital strategy and technology so it's kind of a weird thing |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Leigh Pfeffer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Leigh Pfeffer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.