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On July 15, 1787, 14 year old Sally Hemings arrived in Paris, France with Martha "Patsy" Jefferson. For the first time in her short life, she was on free soil. As a young woman owned by Thomas Jefferson, she'd never had the possibility of freedom in front of her before. She and her brother James were paid wages by Jefferson while in Paris, setting into motion a legacy she wouldn't see realized until 36 years later.

Upon leaving Paris, Sally was pregnant with Jefferson's child. According to her son Madison, she refused to return to the United States with him. Sally agreed to return after Jefferson promised that she would receive "extraordinary privileges" and that her children would be freed at 21 years old.

Sally had 4 children that survived to adulthood and in 1998 were proven by DNA evidence to be fathered by Thomas Jefferson.

Come along with us as we explore the life of this extraordinary woman revealed by scientific evidence, debate, and a mother's love through history and astrology!

This episode contains discussions of slavery, non-consensual sex, coercion, graphic violence, and abuse.

Sources

Articles:

• “Sally Hemings: Writing the Life of an Enslaved Woman” by Anette Gordon-Reed in The Routledge Companion to Black Women’s Cultural Histories
• "Slavery Legalized" by Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia (https://vascw.org/cool_timeline/slavery-legalized/)
• "The Slaves' Story" (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/slaves/)
• “Statement on the TJMF Research Committee Report on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings” by Daniel P. Jordan, Ph.D. (https://monticello-www.s3.amazonaws.com/files/old/inline-pdfs/jefferson-hemings_report.pdf)
• "Thomas Jefferson as Governor of Virginia" in Encyclopedia Virginia (https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jefferson-thomas-as-governor-of-virginia/)
• "When the Past Speaks to the Present: Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings" by Annette Gordon-Reed (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/when-past-speaks-present-thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings)

Books:

• Many Thousands Gone by Ira Berlin
• Reclamation by Gayle Jessup White
• Sally Hemings: Given Her Time by Leigh Fought
• Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy by Anette Gordon-Reed

Digital Media:

• "The Founding Mothers, 2: Martha Jefferson & Sally Hemings" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDh5pWqBIxs)
• "Unearthing Sally Hemings' legacy at Monticello" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gm3HtijrMQ)

Primary Sources:

• "An act concerning Servants and Slaves" (1705) (https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/an-act-concerning-servants-and-slaves-1705/)
• The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
• "Jefferson Condemns the Slave Trade in the Declaration of Independence" (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/jefferson-condemns-slave-trade-declaration-independence)
• “Laws of Virginia, Act XII (1662)” (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/origins-enslavement/laws-virginia-act-xii-1662)
• “The Memoirs of Madison Hemings” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html)

Websites:

• “The Life of Sally Hemings” (https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/)
• “Reproduction and Resistance” (https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/hidden-voices/resisting-enslavement/reproduction-and-resistance)
• "Sally Hemings" (https://jamesedwardmills.substack.com/p/sally-hemmings)

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Astronomer, philosopher, and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria echoes down the centuries through a love of learning. The daughter of the last Librarian of Alexandria, Hypatia committed her life to science and outshone her father in all ways. Some knew her as teacher, others as counsel, some as philosopher. After studying with Plutarch the Younger in Athens and Italy, she taught mathematics at the Neoplatonic School of Alexandria.

Students from across Europe, Asia, and Africa attended her lessons to study the big questions of her time. Hypatia had her students create scientific instruments and carry out the scientific method through experiments. She authored several works, now lost to history, and was known for her new understanding of the rotation of the stars.

Come along with us as we discuss Hypatia's scholarly pursuits, students, and personality in the complex mosaic of ancient Alexandria through history and astrology!

Content Warning: murder, graphic bodily mutilation, extreme misogyny

Sources

Articles:

• Astrodienst Ephemeris for 331 BCE
• "The Legendary Library of Alexandria: History and Rare Treasures" (https://egyptra.com/library-of-alexandria/)
• “The School of Hypatia and the Problem of the Gendered Soul” by Aistė Čelkytė in The Routledge Handbook of Women and Ancient Greek Philosophers
• “Snapshots from the History of Mathematics: Hypatia of Alexandria” by Jenny Ramsden in Mathematics in School, vol. 44, no. 3

Books:

• The Alexander Romance by Anonymous
• Hypatia by JD Arden
• Hypatia: Her Life and Times by Faith L. Justice
• Hypatia of Alexandria for Beginners by Zachary Willis
• Hypatia of Alexandria: Her Context and Legacy edited by Dawn LaValle Norman and Alex Peaks
• Hypatia: the true story by Silvia Ronchey
• The Unforgotten Sisters: Female Astronomers and Scientists before Caroline Herschel by Gabriella Bernardi
• Women in the History of Science: A sourcebook, eds. Hannah Wills, Sadie Harrison, et. al.

Primary Sources:

• Synesius, Letter 016 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-016/)
• Synesius, Letter 033 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-033/)
• Synesius, Letter 081 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-081/)
• Synesius, Letter 124 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-124/)

Websites:

• Astropro Interactive Multimedia Astrology (https://www.astropro.com/)
• Bibliotheca Alexandrina (https://www.bibalex.org/en/default)
• "Does Anything from the Library of Alexandria Still Exist?" (https://www.historyhidden.org/does-anything-from-the-library-of-alexandria-still-exist/#google_vignette)
• “Exoplanet Hypatia” (https://www.go-astronomy.com/exoplanet.php?Exo=36)
• Hypatia Catalog (https://hypatiacatalog.com/hypatia_
• Hypatia of Alexandria (https://www.worldhistory.org/Hypatia_of_Alexandria/)
• "Kom el Dikka: Roman and Byzantine civic complex in Alexandria" (https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sites/kom-el-dikka/)
• “Neoplatonism” in Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy

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On July 10, 1799, Equaysayway, an Ojibwe woman, received the baptismal name Madeline Cadotte. As part of the Crane clan, Equaysayway represented the powerful connections to fur-rich lands on the Great Lakes. Her skills as an Indigenous woman were invaluable to the fur trade, so much so that experienced fur traders sometimes blamed missions gone wrong on women not being present.

Equaysayway married her husband, Michel Cadotte, in the tradition of à la façon du pays, meaning "according to the custom of the country." The couple married without religious ceremony and were a power couple until the very end. As a mother, Equaysayway instructed her children in Ojibwe language and customs, ensuring her legacy persisted long after she was gone.

Today, Madeline Island on Lake Superior is named after her.

Come along with us as we cover Equaysayway's part in building a fur trade enterprise, representing her Ojibwe kin, and defining life in two worlds through history and astrology!

Sources

Articles:

• “1827 Deed for Old La Pointe” by Amorin Mello
• “She’s on a mission to keep her Ojibwe heritage and family history alive” by Audrey Korte, October 12, 2022 (https://www.startribune.com/on-a-mission-to-keep-her-ojibwe-heritage-and-family-history-alive/600214979)

Digital Media:

• Madeline Island: A Documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bYWVJIePUY)
• Marge Hebring talks about history of the Ojibwe and the Cadottes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVjmG18eFb4)

Books:

• Brule River Forest and Lake Superior by Jane Grimsrud
• The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior by Robert Silbernagel
• Exploring Ojibwe Spirituality by Mark Anthony Reynolds
• History of the Ojibway People by William W. Warren, 1984 edition
• Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community by Brenda J. Child
• Many tender ties: women in the fur trade by Sylvia Van Kirk

Websites:

• Madeline Equaysayway Cadotte (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12715657/madeline-cadotte)
• Madeline Island Chamber of Commerce (https://www.madelineisland.com/)
• Madeline Island Museum: About Us (https://madelineislandmuseum.wisconsinhistory.org/explore/#About_Us)
• Michel Cadotte | The Canadian Encyclopedia (https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michel-cadotte)
• Ojibwe People's Dictionary (https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/)
• Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/red-cliff-band-of-lake-superior-chippewa/)

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In 1791, French writer and feminist Olympe de Gouges published The Declaration of the Rights of Woman. She declared it was time for women to have equal rights and called them to demand a place in the National Assembly. The French Revolution saw France torn apart by turmoil and Olympe was right there, calling out the injustices needing to be fixed.

Olympe wrote plays calling for the abolition of slavery and advocating for women's autonomy, rubbing elbows with the elite in the fashionable salons of Paris. She ignored the warnings of her friends when she began making powerful enemies. Revolutionary figures including Robespierre and Bourdon attacked her for being too outspoken.

She met her end by the guillotine on November 3, 1793. As Revolutionary politicians attempted to erase her legacy, Olympe's voice prophetically echoed from her tomb. Today, she's remembered as one of the most radical feminists that called for reforms that weren't realized until 200 years after her death.

Come along with us as we explore Olympe's writings, life, and legacy through history and astrology!

Sources

Articles:

• “French Revolution: History, Timeline, Causes, and Outcomes” by James Hardy (https://historycooperative.org/the-french-revolution/)
• “Olympe de Gouges” by René Viénet (https://www.quercy.net/olympe-de-gouges/#gsc.tab=0)

Books:

• Feminism's and Abolitionism's First Tragic Victim: Olympe de Gouges by Phillip Thomas Tucker, Ph.D.
• Women's Rights and the French Revolution by Sophie Mousset

Digital Media:

• "The Execution of Olympe de Gouges That Shook the French Revolution" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0dLgSV7Qk)
• “History of Fashion Design: Late 18th Century ‘a la victime’ fashion” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5SC5i6iA0)
• “Olympe de Gouges”, In Our Time, BBC Radio 4 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016hdj)
• “Olympe de Gouges”, Queens Podcast (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4L4oHB6EEmRtN2B5rQJxCR?si=Q0VWn-HiRiO2FFMn3nyzjQ)
• "Olympe de Gouges | The Woman History Tried to Erase" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1h1r0yK6DE)

Primary Sources:

• Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen by Olympe de Gouges
• Heroic action by a French woman or France saved by women by Olympe de Gouges
• Les Trois Urnes by Olympe de Gouges
• Olympe de Gouges to the Revolutionary Tribune by Olympe de Gouges
• Prognostic of Maximillen Robespierre, by an Amphibious Animal by Olympe de Gouges
• “The Trial of Olympe de Gouges”from Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789-1795
• Une Patriote Persecutee a la Convention Nationale by Olympe de Gouges

Websites:

• Gouges, Olympe de (https://iep.utm.edu/gouges/)
• The Guillotine Headquarters (https://guillotine.dk/)
• Olympe de Gouges: Timeline (https://olympedegouges.eu/timeline/)

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On a cold February day in 1807, Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake met for the first time. In era where women were expected to marry men and become mothers, they would spend the next 44 years building a life together in rural Vermont until Charity's death in 1851.

As teaching opportunities for women expanded after the American Revolution, Charity and Sylvia embraced the independence those careers offered. Charity was subjected to fierce gossip because of her "mannish" appearance and intense romantic friendships with other women. When Sylvia moved in with her sister Polly in 1807, she was dodging questions about when she'd get married.

Come along as we explore queer identity, romantic poetry, and gender roles in Early America through history and astrology to celebrate Pride!

This episode contains discussion of sexual content.

Sources

Articles:

• “About Charity and Sylvia (the people)” by Vermont Humanities (https://www.vermonthumanities.org/programs/book-a-program/vermont-reads/vermont-reads-2026/about-the-people/)
• “Charity Bryant and the Queer Affordances of the Early American Acrostic” by Jennifer Putzi (https://www.jstor.org/stable/27235251)
• “New roadside marker in Weybridge commemorates 1800s same-sex couple” by Mary Williams Engisch (https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-06-20/roadside-marker-weybridge-commemorates-1800s-same-sex-couple)
• “Read the Revolution: Charity and Sylvia” (https://www.amrevmuseum.org/read-the-revolution/charity-and-sylvia)

Digital Media:

• Charity and Sylvia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4nVNb0d-2Y)
• Drawing on the Archive: Tillie Walden's Charity and Sylvia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqlfs3R2lbI)
• 013: Rachel Hope Cleves, Charity & Sylvia: Same-Sex Marriage in Early America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D82ogbip-Ac)
• U6L3: Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6pt7fUyJWI)

Books:

• Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America by Rachel Hope Cleves

Websites:

• Charity Bryant (1777-1851) (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112580287/charity-bryant)
• Charity and Sylvia (https://www.charityandsylvia.com/)
• “Charity and Sylvia: A Weybridge Couple” (https://www.henrysheldonmuseum.org/charity-and-sylvia)
• Sylvia Drake (1784-1868) (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112580393/sylvia-drake)

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Forcibly removed to the Jerome War Relocation Center following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Yuri Kochiyama was deeply involved in her community. During high school she volunteered and taught skills, all while seeing America through "American Eyes." She was Nisei, the first generation born to Japanese immigrants, and had citizenship while her parents could never obtain it. While assembling in Santa Anita, California, she assisted Japanese junior high girls in writing letters to some 1,300 Nisei service members.

After the war, she moved to New York City after her husband was released from the Army. In 1951, she and her husband founded the Nisei Service Organization, leading to weekly open houses in their home. There she launched into activism, attending demonstrations for integrated schools and against US imperialism. In 1963, she met Malcom X and learned about the parallels of Asian and Black issues.

In the 1980s, she helped earn redress for forcibly interned Japanese Americans. In 1988 the Civil Liberties Act authorized $20,000 in reparations to each internment camp survivor. By the end of her life, Yuri was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and was granted an honorary doctorate.

Come along with us as we explore Yuri's enduring spirit, widespread activism, and legacy through history and astrology.

Sources

Articles:

• “The Passionate Harlem Activist Yuri Kochiyama, New York, 1921-2004”
• “Yuri Kochiyama, Activist and Former World War II Internee, Dies at 93” by Hansi Lo Wang
• “Yuri Kochiyama: Timeline”
• “Yuri, Tupac, and a Harlem House” by Taiyo Na

Books:

• Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama by Diane C. Fujino
• Infamy: The Shocking Story of Japanese American Internment During World War II by Richard Reeves
• Passing It On: A Memoir by Yuri Kochiyama
• Strangers From a Different Shore by Ronald Takaki

Digital Media:

• "Japanese Internment Camp Survivors Speak Out"
• "The Revolutionary Impact of Yuri Kochiyama"
• "Yuri & Bill Kochiyama: on the road in Mississippi"

Primary Sources:

• “Civil Rights Activist Yuri Kochiyama on Her Internment in a WWII Japanese American Detention Camp” by Democracy Now
• Executive Order 9066
• Japanese Relocation government film (1943)

Websites:

• Jerome - Densho
• Jerome - Exploring America's Concentration Camps
• Rising Above in Arkansas

Support Us!
Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/makingmythpodcast