81. The Woman Who Influenced a Nation with Melanie Kirkpatrick
The Strong Women Podcast
Sarah Stonestreet
2.4 • 602 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2021
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The same woman who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb" also influenced popular American traditions like having a Christmas tree in your home and women wearing a white wedding gown for their marriage ceremony. She also is considered the godmother of our Thanksgiving because of her relentless petitions to Presidents and lawmakers to create the National holiday, which finally happened under President Lincoln. But do you even know her name?! In this week's episode, we talk with Melanie Kirkpatrick, author of the book "Lady Editor: Sarah Josepha Hale and the Making of the Modern American Woman." Melanie shares Hale's story of being a writer, an activist for education for women, and an editor of "Godey's Lady's Book", the most popular women's magazine in the early years of our country. This story will fascinate and inspire you as we learn about the life and times of this remarkable woman.
Melanie Kirkpatrick Show Notes:
The Hudson Institute: https://www.hudson.org/
Lady Editor by Melanie Kirkpatrick: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lady-editor-melanie-kirkpatrick/1137284560?ean=9781641771788
Thanksgiving by Melanie Kirkpatrick: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thanksgiving-melanie-kirkpatrick/1123362923?ean=9781641772129
Escape from North Korea by Melanie Kirkpatrick: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/escape-from-north-korea-melanie-kirkpatrick/1110913342?ean=9781594036460
Books by Sarah Josepha Hale: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Sarah%20Josepha%20Hale%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-women-and-other-novels-louisa-may-alcott/1025050486?ean=9781435167179
Godey's Lady's Book: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=godeylady
Books by Edgar Allan Poe: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/edgar%20allan%20poe
Books by Nathaniel Hawthorne: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/nathaniel%20hawthorne
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/uncle-toms-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe/1116705392?ean=9781593081218
Everlasting Song by Ha Jin: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-song-everlasting-ha-jin/1137975039?ean=9781524748791
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Erin and her husband, Brett, run Maven which "exists to help the next generation know truth, pursue goodness, and create beauty, all for the cause of Christ." Check out more about Maven here: https://maventruth.com/
The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what's happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them. Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Strong Women Podcast, where we explore a deeper understanding of the humanity, |
| 0:07.8 | value, intellect, and creativity of women. |
| 0:11.1 | I'm your host Sarah Stone Street, and I'm your co-host, Erin Kunkel. |
| 0:19.2 | On the Strong Women podcast today, our guest is Melanie Kirkpatrick. |
| 0:24.1 | She is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, which is a Washington think tank. |
| 0:29.7 | She is a writer and a journalist, and we're going to talk about her books in a minute, |
| 0:34.2 | but she's been a writer for the Wall Street Journal. |
| 0:39.2 | She did that for 30 years and has co-edited several journal series. She spent 10 years in Asia and also lived in Canada |
| 0:48.1 | because she got her master's degree in English from the University of Toronto and her bachelor's degree from Princeton University. |
| 0:57.3 | And she is married to her husband, Jack David, who also is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. |
| 1:04.1 | And we invited Melanie on because we want to talk to her about actually a couple of her books. |
| 1:10.3 | We're going to focus in on one because we are to talk to her about actually a couple of her books. We're going to focus in on one. |
| 1:12.2 | Because we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, one of her books she wrote is called Thanksgiving, |
| 1:19.7 | The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience. |
| 1:23.8 | She also wrote a book called Escape from North Korea, |
| 1:26.8 | the untold story of Asia's Underground Railroad. |
| 1:31.0 | And her third book that we are going to talk to most with her today is called Lady Editor, |
| 1:37.9 | a biography about Sarah Josepha Hale and The Making of the Modern American woman. So, Melanie, thank you so much for being on |
| 1:47.6 | our podcast today. It's a pleasure to be with you both. So before we get into the heart of talking |
| 1:53.9 | about this lady, Sarah Josepha Hale, we want to hear about your story, Melanie. Did you grow up in a Christian home? |
| 2:01.6 | I did. The church was a very big part of my life growing up. My parents, my grandparents, my sisters, outside of school, life really revolved around the church. |
| 2:13.6 | And it had a big influence on me, of course. It set me, I think, on a good track, the right track. |
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