Perks Ep. 55 | Jennie Cole | The Stories History Tells Us | 8-12-20

Do you read historical fiction or narrative nonfiction and wonder where your favorite authors do their research for the books you love? Our guest this week, Jennie Cole, is an archivist with the Filson Historical Society. An archivist is like a highly specialized librarian who takes care of historical materials such as letters, diaries, transcripts, photos, or even objects and organizes them to preserve them for the public use. And the Filson Historical Society is just a different kind of library; a research library of the history of our region.

Jennie had a father who loved history and a mother who immersed herself in adventure novels. Combine the two and their influences produced in their daughter a booklover who is looking for the stories within the raw material of historical archives.

In this episode, we concentrate on the stories of public health. The Filson is encouraging the public to write down their experiences for posterity’s sake so future generations can know what the Covid era was like. But we also talk to Jennie about the local stories pertaining to the Spanish flu of 1918 as well as the Tuberculosis epidemic that brought Waverly Hills Sanatorium to prominence before it was known as one of the world’s most haunted places.

Jennie tells us how anyone can use the services of the Filson, how you can access all of their workshops and lectures for free during the quarantine, and the similarities and differences she sees in the Spanish Flu pandemic and our current Coronavirus reality.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

1- A White Wind Blew by James Markert
2- Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser
3- Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
4- Educated by Tara Westover
5- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
6- Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
7- The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
8- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer by Seth Grahame-Smith
9- These Honored Dead (A Lincoln and Speed Mystery #1) by Jonathan F. Putnam
10- A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

Podcasts mentioned:

1- The Past and the Curious
2- Stuff You Missed in History Class