Month: January 2012

Future First Lady: Martha Washington’s Childhood

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Like most kids, I learned a lot about George Washington in school. He was celebrated as an American hero and someone whose childhood we should all admire. I knew almost nothing about Martha Washington, except that she was a supportive wife to America’s first president.

Of course, when she was born, Martha had a different last name. The first born of nine children, she was named Martha Dandridge, but her family nicknamed her Patsy. She grew up on a plantation near Williamsburg, Virginia. In the 1700s, the word plantation meant property that was devoted to a single crop, not necessarily thousands of acres of land with a mansion. In Virginia, plantation owners like Martha’s father grew tobacco. Martha did not grow up in a fancy home, but it had two stories, two chimneys, and comfortably housed all the Dandridge children.

With a total of eight siblings, Martha learned to care for children at an early age. Her father John Dandridge had slaves who worked in the fields, but could not afford household slaves. As a result, Martha’s mother taught her how to do every necessary chore. With her mother Frances by her side, Martha learned to kill and cook chickens and other fowl, make clothes and bed linens, wash clothes in a big boiling kettle without burning them, and how to preserve food and make home remedies for illnesses. Based on later accounts of her work stitching clothes for U.S. army soldiers, she learned her lessons well.

In addition to chores, Martha learned the skills she needed to be a success in Virginia society. Dancing was an especially important social skill. Dancing masters traveled to various towns to teach young people, boys and girls, to dance. Learning to dance was a break from chores, but some of the dances had such complex steps that practicing them seemed like a chore. Conversation was also considered an art, and Martha took to it easily. She genuinely enjoyed other people and cared about them—an asset that served her well as First Lady.

Although Martha did not have the same academic education as some young women from New England, she learned to read and enjoyed books all her life. Her grammar and spelling were inconsistent, but she got her point across in letters. She did better in math, which came in handy when she had to manage the business accounts of her first husband, Daniel Custis.

At seventeen, Martha was considered an adult, and she became secretly engaged to Daniel Custis, a wealthy man twenty years older than Martha.  Though it seems strange to us that a young girl would marry someone so much older, young girls often got engaged to older men in the 1700s. Martha and Daniel also genuinely liked each other, which was probably less common.

According to a family account, even as a teenager Martha “excelled in personal charms, which with pleasing manners, and a general amiability of demeanor, caused her to be distinguished amid the fair ones who usually assembled at the court of Williamsburg.” She was not beautiful, but she was pretty and good-natured and conversed easily with everyone. Her charm also won over her future father-in-law John Custis, who originally objected to the match.

After she became a wife, mother, and then a widow, she was courted by George Washington.

Buffalo Bill Cody’s Steer Roping Cowgirl

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Though other women like Annie Oakley were called cowgirls, young Lucille Mulhall really lived up to the name by roping steers. As a child Lucille learned to ride a horse along with her brother Logan. After Logan’s death, Lucille became her father’s assistant on the family’s Oklahoma ranch. She learned to train horses, shoot, and brand cattle.

Despite all her talents, she excelled most in steer roping. Steer roping required her to ride her horse near a herd of cattle, and throw her lasso over the animal’s horns so the steer lay on its back. Then Lucille jumped off her horse and tied the feet of the steer together.

Luckily for Lucille, in the late 1890s and early 1900s the American West was full of opportunities for her to display her talent. Wild West shows were popular and performers traveled the country. Most performers were men, but Lucille’s father recognized that his daughter was unique. In 1899, Zack Mulhall created The Congress of Rough Riders and Ropers Wild West Show. Though Lucille was only a teenager, she and her horse Governor were the stars of the show.

Outside the show ring, the team of Lucille and Governor competed against some of the toughest cowboys. In 1903, Lucille set the world record by roping a steer in 30 seconds. At seventeen, she was the only female steer roper in the world.

Unlike other cowgirls, Lucille was considered ladylike and beautiful. She never wore pants; she always wore long skirts. Will Rogers, who rode in the Mulhall show, said Lucille “never dressed like the Cowgirl you know today, no loud colors, no short leather skirts and great big hat…her skirt was divided, but long, away down over her patent leather boot straps…a grey broadcloth, small stiff-brim hat and always a white silk shirt waist.” Her ladylike qualities attracted the attention of Buffalo Bill Cody, who had his own show. He tried to convince her to tour with him, but Lucille continued to work for her father.

Her decision to dress like a lady did not mean she was weaker than other cowgirls, however. Steer roping was dangerous, but Lucille showed determination and strength in times of adversity. One reporter asked her, “Aren’t you afraid your horse will slip and fall?” She replied, “Oh, I expect that. I’m not afraid of getting hurt.” Sometimes Lucille did get hurt by hurting a leg or bruising a rib, but she always returned to the work she loved.

She continued to perform when she grew up. In 1916 she finally joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s Farewell Tour Program. This was Cody’s first chance to work with Lucille, and even though her career was ending he still thought she was one of the greatest women riders he ever had in his show.

Growing up Maya: The Roles of Boys and Girls in Mayan Culture

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Most people today remember the ancient Maya for their architecture, their skilled workers, or their predictions about the future. Yet the Maya should also be known for their love of children. Although family members did not give baby showers in Mayan culture, parents eagerly anticipated the birth of their children. Mothers prayed to the gods for numerous healthy babies. If the mother delivered a boy, his name was determined by the Mayan calendar. For example, if a child was born on the seventh day of the month and the name of the day was Ahau, he was named Seven Ahau. Historians don’t know how girls received their names.

Both girls and boys received a lot of affection from their parents and extended family members. Once they were around the age of five, however, they had to help with chores. Like many other ancient societies, Maya children’s tasks were determined by their gender.

Most families lived on farms, so boys helped their fathers plant maize–another name for corn. They also learned to fish, hunt, and make their own tools. A farmer’s son would be expected to work for the Mayan king constructing temples or other buildings when he grew up.

No public schools existed for Maya boys or girls; however, wealthy families sometimes sent their sons to live with members of the priesthood so he would learn how to serve the gods as a priest someday. Boys could inherit their father’s occupations, which meant that family members often passed down their knowledge to the next generation. For elite families, this meant that boys trained to become scribes—one of the few professions that required literacy—or artisans.

Girls had fewer opportunities to work outside the home than boys. They learned to weave cloth from cotton and wool and to cook food. They made clothes for the family (loincloths for the men, skirts for themselves) and cooked tortillas from maize and dough. When the tortillas were cooked, they were stuffed with beans or meat. Although girls did much of their work at home, they spent a lot of time at the local market. Women and girls brought homemade food and dyed clothing to the market to sell. Here, girls learned to trade and barter by watching their elders.

Job opportunities for Maya girls were limited, though some became midwives or matchmakers. Historical evidence indicates that some Maya women learned to read and write and a few may have been scribes.

Discoveries in King Tut’s Tomb

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On January 3, 1924, Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus [a coffin made of stone] of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. He had uncovered the pharaoh’s tomb two years before, but there were many different chambers inside. Carter’s team cleared these chambers, stuffed with furniture, clothing, and other items, before they entered the actual burial chamber. In the first few chambers, Carter said he found “strange animals, statues, and gold—everywhere the glint of gold.” So many items filled the tomb that it took Carter ten years to record everything inside.

The sarcophagus was considered the most spectacular discovery of Carter’s excavation. Finding a burial chamber of an Egyptian pharaoh still intact was a rarity already in the 1920s. Tomb robbers often tore coffins open because dead Egyptian rulers wore valuable jewelry under the mummy wrappings. Fortunately, Tutankhamen’s tomb remained hidden by debris from the excavation of another nearby tomb. Robbers didn’t have the chance to get this far into the tomb.

 

Howard Carter opening mummy of King Tut, 1925

Howard Carter opening mummy of King Tut

 

Inside the stone sarcophagus lay three smaller coffins. The first two were wooden but covered in gold. The final coffin, made of solid gold, held the body of the pharaoh. Its worth is estimated at over a million dollars. Inside this coffin lay the body of the pharaoh with his face covered in the now famous golden mask. Carter wrote, “The contents [of the coffin] were completely covered with linen shrouds. As the last shroud was removed a gasp of wonderment escaped our lips, so gorgeous was the sight that met our eyes; a golden effigy of the boy-king of most magnificent workmanship.”

Unfortunately, Tutankhamen’s body was in poor condition because of the ancient practice of pouring perfumes and oils over the mummy during the embalming process. Over time, the oils caused the pharaoh’s body to stick to the inside of the coffin. The golden mask covering King Tut’s face was also glued down; however, once Carter freed the mask with hot knives, he discovered that the mask had protected the pharaoh’s face.

Thanks to this preservation, later scientists successfully performed an autopsy. The test suggested that the pharaoh died at age eighteen, perhaps of a head injury. Exactly how he died is still debated among Egyptologists. Theories range from murder to an accidental wound which doctors at the time could not heal.