The Lethe Tanner Was Here podcast, tells the story of a woman born enslaved in 1781 but through self-determination and guile, she frees not only herself but over 18 family and friends from enslavement in Washington DC. Lethe’s resolve and tenacity continued after she attained her freedom as she became an integral figure in supporting educational, religious, and community-based organizations that helped the early Black community in Washington. The podcast is researched, written, produced, sound edited, and narrated by Susan Cook, who is a descendent of Lethe Tanner’s sister, Laurana.
For more information about Alethia, please visit, AlethiaTanner.com (http://www.alethiatanner.com)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
At the beginning of the 1700s, as the transatlantic slave trade picked up pace, and labor from enslaved people became the dominant labor force in the American colonies, those initial landowners in the colony of Maryland enacted ever-restrictive laws that formalized and centered slavery upon the concept of one’s race and determined that they “shall serve Durante Vita.”
It’s important to take the time now to explore this aspect of early American history, as It is very important to understand the patterns that emerged during this era because these are the underpinnings of the laws, economics, and social structures that are vital to understanding Lethe Tanner’s world ….and our own.
This podcast is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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RESEARCH SOURCES
Kulikoff, Allan. Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680-1800. University of North Carolina Press, 1986.
SlaveVoyages.org (https://www.slavevoyages.org/), An excellent source for searching all sorts of data about the transatlantic slave trade.
Law , Robin (ed.). The English in West Africa: The Local Correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681-1699, Part 1,2, 3. Oxford, Oxford University Press , 2007 (https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/18057#tocto1n1)
Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of our Discontent (https://www.nationalbook.org/books/caste-the-origins-of-our-discontents/), Random House, 2020
Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/)
Land records from Maryland State Archives (https://msa.maryland.gov/) and Maryland State Archives, Land Records (https://guide.msa.maryland.gov/pages/viewer.aspx?page=landrecords)
Prince George’s County Historical Society (https://www.pghistory.org/PG/PG300/settled.html)
VOICEOVER CREDITS:
All the voiceover actors who helped bring this episode to life.
Stacy Thomas (https://www.fiverr.com/stacyethomas)…..reading Slave Auction poem
JP Wright (https://www.fiverr.com/jpwrightvoice)…..as Commander Towgood
Pete McGiffen (https://www.fiverr.com/petemcvo) …..reading Royal African Company charter
Bobby Lax (https://www.fiverr.com/boblax?)…..as Captain Phillips
Bud Lucas (https://www.fiverr.com/budlucas?)…..as Francis Nicholson
Uni V. Sol (https://www.fiverr.com/univsolmc)…..reading Maryland Gazette
Talitha Huddleston (https://www.fiverr.com/talitha7)..…..reading from Caste
Autumn Holley (https://www.fiverr.com/autumnholley1)…..reading punishments against women
Matt Davies (https://www.fiverr.com/matt_davies_vo)…..as Joseph Belt
Eric Little (https://www.fiverr.com/eric19604545)…..reading Maryland laws defining slavery/miscegenation
Grace Diane Jensen…..as Mary Belt
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2 May 2023
Episode 1: Whose Land
Episode 1 lays the foundations for the economic structures, the cultural practices, and the changing land and peoples that inhabit the world into which Lethe Tanner was born. Providing the context to later understand and appreciate the journey that Alethia took towards her self-empowerment and that of her community.
SOURCES FOR EPISODE 1 can be found on
LetheTannerWasHere.com (https://www.alethiatanner.com/)
Help support the Lethe Tanner Was Here podcast, by subscribing on the LETHE TANNER WAS HERE Patreon page (https://patreon.com/LetheTannerwashere). I'm just getting it going but will be posting additional information, research updates, and questions and answers. Thank you!!
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Lethe Taner Was Here was researched, written, edited, produced, and narrated by Susan Cook
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Special thanks to all the voices who helped bring this episode to life.
So first, thanks to Patricia Williams, my lovely neighbor who read a passage from Margaret Walker’s poem, For My People.
To the amazing Medicine Singers whose track Sunset I have used in this episode. They sing in an Eastern Algonquin dialect, so I’m thrilled to be able to use their song.
Thanks to my dear friend Robin Kouyate and her beautiful daughter Jasmine for their voices.
And to the wonderful voice over actors whom you can find on fiverr.com. They are
Linton Tulloch (https://www.fiverr.com/vocalvelvet?)
Richard Stibbard (https://www.fiverr.com/rmstibbard?)
Peter Walters (https://www.fiverr.com/peterrwalters?)
Grace Jensen (https://www.fiverr.com/gracedjensen/)
Soraya Martin (https://www.fiverr.com/rayascribbles?)
TJ Trueh (https://www.fiverr.com/tjtrueh?) I want to give a special thanks to TJ who read the list of inventory which given the content was a difficult ask. But he gave it such beautiful and soulful reading that really gave the proper homage to those people who were enslaved
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
14 Mar 2023
INTRO: Lethe Tanner was here
Follow the amazing life of Lethe Tanner, known today as Alethia Tanner, a woman born enslaved on the outskirts of Washington DC, who was able to purchase her own freedom.
Join me in this multi-part podcast, Lethe Tanner was here, as I delve into Lethe’s story from the plantation in Upper Marlboro, Maryland to the City of Washington, where she not only gains her freedom but finds enough financial successes to purchase and free over 18 family and friends from slavery. You’ll also hear about the environment in which she lived. The beginnings of a ‘less than rural’ City of Washington, the pandemics, the powerful politicians and powerbrokers, new immigrants, the racial grievances and the free and enslaved Black community. Alethia moved through it all. She began her life at the dawn of new country and lived just long enough to see the Emancipation Proclamation signed into law.
For more information, please visit - LetheTannerwashere.com (http://www.lethetannerwashere.com/)
Lethe Tanner was here.
Written, edited, and produced by Susan Cook
Joseph Dougherty was voiced by Damien Burke.
Please find Damien at https://www.fiverr.com/damo161? (https://www.fiverr.com/damo161?)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
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