Migrant cotton picker and her baby, Buckeye, AZ, 1940 (National Archives)

It’s BackStory’s birthday!

To mark our first year as a weekly program, we’re going back to our roots — and everyone elses! This episode on the history of birth in America was our first weekly broadcast last May.

Every birth is a new beginning, but in this episode of BackStory, we unpack the history of birth itself.

The Guys and their guests explore why American moms avoided the first maternity wards, and why the Puritans thought their newborns weren’t so much innocent bundles of joy, but damned from the outset. And they consider how birth interacts with ideas about citizenship, and of rights in general — sparking major controversies both in the past and the present. Plus, the reasons we don’t find a lot of kids named ‘Prudence’ or ‘Messiah’ today!

All this and more as we find out what it means to be “born in the USA.”

Guests Include:

• Laura Wattenberg, Founder, BabyNameWizard.com
• Peggy Bendroth, Congregational Christian Historical Society
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Professor of History, Harvard University
• Jessica Waters, Professor of Law, American University

Listen to individual segments from this episode.

Further Exploration:

Check out the additional resources we’ve put together — a wealth of information on the history of birth and babies!

And see a listing of music used in this episode.

The BackStory to this Episode…

Check out the online discussion that helped shape this show.

Wedding ceremony, 1908. Library of Congress

Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear challenges to two major laws on marriage — California’s Proposition 8 and the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act. Both define marriage as between a man and a woman, and both have sparked heated arguments over what marriage should mean in America today.

Of course, those arguments have a history. So in this hour of BackStory, we look at how past generations of Americans have defined and redefined marriage. We explore the 20th century origins of marriage counseling (and its dark side), as well as a panic over child brides that swept across the country in the late 1930s. We also take a look at how the experience of marriage changed for enslaved people after Emancipation. And we visit a modern-day wedding in Elkton, MD — the former get-hitched-quick capital of America.

Guests Include:

• Wendy Kline,  University of Cincinnati, on the dawn of marriage counseling

• Liz Regosin, St. Lawrence University, on federal regulation of freedpeople’s marriages

• Nicholas Syrett, University of Northern Colorado, on the 1930s panic over child marriage

Considering the stereotypes about Puritan New England, you might be surprised to learn that sweethearts in the 18^th century were not only allowed to sleep together before marriage – they were encouraged to! The catch? They had to do it within the parents’ home. It was known as “bundling,” and although sex was theoretically not involved, the practice coincided with a huge increase in premarital pregnancy. By the end of the century, 1/3 of all brides were pregnant by the time they reached the altar.

In this episode, the History Guys explore three centuries of pre-marital intimacy. Did economic considerations used to play a greater role in coupling? In what ways have dating practices challenged class & racial boundaries? Has the idea of “romance” itself morphed over time?

Guests Include:

• Beth Bailey, Temple University, author of From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in 20th Century America
• Pamela Epstein, blogger-in-chief, Advertising For Love

Show Segments:

Listen to individual segments from the episode.

Web Exclusive:

Extended Interview: Beth Bailey tells Brian about three generations of courtship in her own family…and why there are only two entries for the word “love” in the index of her book.

Further Reading:

Want to dig deeper into the history of dating? The BackStory team has compiled a comprehensive list of resources, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Dive in.

African-American wedding, 1908. Library of Congress

When President Obama became the first American president to publicly support same-sex marriage, he acknowledged a trend in American culture: that marriage–the laws, as well as social conventions and expectations surrounding it–have long been subject to change.

In this hour of BackStory, we commit ourselves to unpacking the history of the institution and its shifting definitions in America. By taking a look at everything from the founder of couples counseling to the town that was Vegas before Vegas was Vegas, the History Guys ask who’s been allowed to marry whom, and consider what has been at stake when couples break the rules. More than that, why have some disagreements about marriage melted away as others have become more contentious? And how have the rules we make about marriage changed the shapes of our families and influenced our society?

Guests Include:

• Wendy Kline, Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati

• Liz Regosin, Associate Professor of History at St. Lawrence University

• Nicholas Syrett, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Northern Colorado

Migrant cotton picker and her baby, Buckeye, AZ, 1940 (National Archives)

To mark the rebirth of BackStory as a weekly program, the History Guys set out to explore the earliest stages of life in America. They begin with a few of the basic assumptions we have about birth in America today, and spend the hour exploring how those assumptions came into being. How is it that hospital doctors moved in on what had been midwife’s exclusive territory? Why did Puritans think their newborns were damned from the outset? When did courts start ruling that fetuses had legal rights? Why have generations of Americans resisted the notion of birthright citizenship?

Guests Include:

• Laura Wattenberg: Founder, BabyNameWizard.com
  
• Peggy Bendroth: Congregational Christian Historical Society
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: Professor of History, Harvard University (A Midwife’s Tale)
• Jessica Waters, Professor of Law, American University

Show Segments

Listen to individual segments of the show.

Further Exploration

A wealth of additional resources on the history of birth and babies.

Consult the transcript of this episode.

Even Further…

• See the online discussion that helped shape this show.
• See a listing of music used in this episode.
• See a list of the works consulted for the show.

Considering the stereotypes about Puritan New England, you might be surprised to learn that sweethearts in the 18^th century were not only allowed to sleep together before marriage – they were encouraged to! The catch? They had to do it within the parents’ home. It was known as “bundling,” and although sex was theoretically not involved, the practice coincided with a huge increase in premarital pregnancy. By the end of the century, 1/3 of all brides were pregnant by the time they reached the altar.

In this episode, the History Guys explore three centuries of pre-marital intimacy. Did economic considerations used to play a greater role in coupling? In what ways have dating practices challenged class & racial boundaries? Has the idea of “romance” itself morphed over time?

Guests Include:

*Beth Bailey — historian and author of From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in 20th Century America

*Pamela Epstein — historian and blogger-in-chief, Advertising For Love

Features & Highlights

Hear more about dating in the 19th and 20th centuries in these extended interviews of Pam Epstein and Beth Bailey. Listen here.

Web Exclusive

Extended Interview: Beth Bailey tells Brian Balogh about three generations of courtship in her own family…and why there are only two entries for the word “love” in the index of her book.

Further Reading

Want to dig deeper into the history of dating? The BackStory research team has compiled a comprehensive list of resources for further exploration. Read On.

]]> http://backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-a-history-of-courtship-2/feed/ 2 economic history,economy,family,racism,religion,social history In this Valentine's Day special, BackStory delves into the history of courtship. From "bundling" to the back-seat, the History Guys explore three centuries of pre-marital intimacy. (http://backstoryradio.org/files/2009/12/loves-reward1.jpg)This episode was originally broadcast (http://backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-a-history-of-courtship/) in February, 2010. Considering the stereotypes about Puritan New England, you might be surprised to learn that sweethearts in the 18th century were not only allowed to sleep together before marriage – they were encouraged to! The catch? They had to do it within the parents’ home. It was known as “bundling,” and although sex was theoretically not involved, the practice coincided with a huge increase in premarital pregnancy. By the end of the century, 1/3 of all brides were pregnant by the time they reached the altar. In this episode, the History Guys explore three centuries of pre-marital intimacy. Did economic considerations used to play a greater role in coupling? In what ways have dating practices challenged class & racial boundaries? Has the idea of “romance” itself morphed over time? Guests Include: *Beth Bailey (http://www.temple.edu/history/bailey/index.html) -- historian and author of From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in 20th Century America (http://books.google.com/books?id=fqVre9_N2gkC&dq=from+front+porch+to+back+seat+bailey&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=6htaS_yUGdGZ8Abcq_j-BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false) *Pamela Epstein (http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/node/785/index.php?content=deptmem&name=adj_epstein) -- historian and blogger-in-chief, Advertising For Love (http://www.advertisingforlove.com/) Features & Highlights Hear more about dating in the 19th and 20th centuries in these extended interviews of Pam Epstein and Beth Bailey. Listen here (http://backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-features-and-highlights/). Web Exclusive (http://backstoryradio.org/files/2010/02/kissmequick.jpg)Extended Interview: (http://backstoryradio.org/beth-bailey-extended-interview/) Beth Bailey tells Brian Balogh about three generations of courtship in her own family...and why there are only two entries for the word "love" in the index of her book. Further Reading Want to dig deeper into the history of dating? The BackStory research team has compiled a comprehensive list of resources for further exploration. Read On (http://backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-further-reading/). BackStory with the American History Guys no 54:56 http://backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-a-history-of-courtship/ http://backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-a-history-of-courtship/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:00:11 +0000 Tony (BackStory Producer) http://www.backstoryradio.org/?p=867 Considering the stereotypes about Puritan New England, you might be surprised to learn that sweethearts in the 18^th century were not only allowed to sleep together before marriage – they were encouraged to! The catch? They had to do it within the parents’ home. It was known as “bundling,” and although sex was theoretically not involved, the practice coincided with a huge increase in premarital pregnancy. By the end of the century, 1/3 of all brides were pregnant by the time they reached the altar.

In this episode, the History Guys explore three centuries of pre-marital intimacy. Did economic considerations used to play a greater role in coupling? In what ways have dating practices challenged class & racial boundaries? Has the idea of “romance” itself morphed over time?

Guests Include:

*Beth Bailey — historian and author of From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in 20th Century America

*Pamela Epstein — historian and blogger-in-chief, Advertising For Love

Features & Highlights

Hear more about dating in the 19th and 20th centuries in these extended interviews of Pam Epstein and Beth Bailey. Listen here.

Web Exclusive

Extended Interview: Beth Bailey tells Brian Balogh about three generations of courtship in her own family…and why there are only two entries for the word “love” in the index of her book.

Further Reading

Want to dig deeper into the history of dating? The BackStory research team has compiled a comprehensive list of resources for further exploration. Read On.

Valentine’s Day:

• Historian Stephanie Coontz sets the record straight on the history of Valentine’s Day
• Love, bon bons, and a brutal massacre
• The bidding is on for antique valentines at the National Valentine Collectors Association

18th Century:

• Love in ye olden days: Courtship, Sex, and the Single Colonist at Colonial Williamsburg
• A little lesson in bundling, plus a book-length treatment from 1871
• Historian Richard Godbeer’s eye-opening book, Sexual Revolution in Early America
• Overview of courtship in early America

19th Century:

• Courtship & the enslaved: books by Brenda Stevenson and Rebecca Fraser
• A collection of love letters from the Civil War
• Relationship advice from 1890
• A man’s advice to the “newly married lady” (1808)

20th Century & Beyond:

• A scandalous Edison film of two Victorian lovers “sparkin’” (kissing)
• Etiquette guru Emily Post on how to write a love letter (1922)
• Sex and tech: the blog of author Regina Lynn
• A film from the vaults reveals the wild world of cyber dating in 1997
• Educational films from the 1950s: This Charming Couple (1950);Choosing for Happiness (1950); Is This Love? (1957); How Do You Know It’s Love? (1950); How Much Affection? (1958)

Check out the music in our “Love Me Did” show.

Pam Epstein: 19th Century Personal Ads — Pam Epstein shares some of her favorite 19th century personal ads.

Beth Bailey: Origins of Dating — Beth Bailey talks about the origins of dating and its 20th century evolution.

SPECIAL WEB EXTRA: Beth Bailey tells Brian about three generations of courtship in her own family… and why there are only two entries for the word “love” in the index of her book.

Pam Epstein, a PhD candidate in history at Rutgers University and author of the blog Advertising for Love, shares some of her favorite 19th century personal ads with BackStory’s 19th Century Guy, Ed Ayers.

Excerpted from: Love Me Did: A History of Courtship

Some say motherhood is the hardest job in the world; turns out, there’s a lot of history to back that up. In this Mother’s Day episode, the Guys explore the changing expectations of mothers over three centuries. Historian Linda Kerber discusses the “founding mothers,” who were tasked with instilling future generations with good republican values. Ann Hulbert, an expert on parenting experts, explains why mothers in the 1920s were instructed not to smother their children with love. And reporter Nate DiMeo tells the tragic story of Anna Jarvis, the “mother” of Mother’s Day.

Guests Include:

• Linda Kerber, historian and author of Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America
• Ann Hulbert, author of Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children
  
• Nate DiMeo, writer & producer of the history podcast The Memory Palace

Web Exclusive

Worst Mother?
This episode explores what it has meant to be a “good mother” in American history. But we here at BackStory have been scratching our heads trying to think of some really bad mothers from our nation’s past. Who would you nominate as the Worst Mother in American History?

Further Reading

Want to dig deeper into the history of motherhood? Check out this list of resources compiled by the History Guys to learn more.

Check out the music in our “Motherhood” show.

Duet Solo Dancers
Charles Mingus
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Waltz No.10 in B minor, Op.69 No.2
Alice Sara Ott
Chopin Complete Waltzes

Piano Op. 12: Salut D’ Amour
Pablo Casals
My First Record

Great Big Bundle of Love
Brenton Wood
Brenton Wood’s 18 Best

My Funny Valentine
Artie Shaw
A Jazz Valentine

Love the One You’re With
The Supremes
Magnificent: The Complete Studio Duets

Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
Beyoncé
I Am…Sasha Fierce

Love Me Do
The Skatalites
Ska Mania

Love and Marriage
Frank Sinatra
This is Sinatra

California’s recent passage of a gay marriage ban suggests that many Americans subscribe to the idea of the “traditional” family — caregiver mom, breadwinner dad, and 2.5 children. But whose tradition is it, really? In this hour, the Guys hear dueling viewpoints — first from Focus on the Family, and then from a Columbia University historian of families. Historian Marie Jenkins Schwartz discusses the pressures and triumphs of enslaved families, and Stephen Talbot, who played Gilbert on Leave it to Beaver, talks about what it was like to grow up in the iconic American family.

Show Highlights

Family:  Myth v. Reality
Historian Steven Mintz busts some myths about “traditional” family values and their so-called “Golden Age” – the 1950s. He argues that contrary to popular belief, American families are more stable now, on the whole, than they’ve ever been.

Leave it to Gilbert
Filmmaker and former child actor Stephen Talbot, who played Beaver’s friend Gilbert on Leave it to Beaver, tells the History Guys what it was like growing up in the quintessential American family.

Related Links

• Read Stephen Talbot’s article, “Living Down Beaver”
• Find out “Why Children Need Father Love and Mother Love,” by Glenn Stanton
• Learn more about Steve Mintz’s “Family Images and Realities”