35. Claim to Flame: Edmonia "Wildfire" Lewis and her Harem Scarem

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

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