Gilded Age Unit

I have just started listening to a podcast by The History Chicks and am completely hooked!

I’ve always been fascinated by history but have a hard time reading non-fiction histories or biographies as they can sometimes be dry and just not as exciting as fiction. Listening to a podcast is so much easier, especially with an active almost seven month old baby to take care of. The History Chicks are great! Each episode focuses on a discussion about one woman from history (and sometimes even a fictional character like Cinderella).

As I was making my way through their earlier episodes, I became inspired by a series they did on the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age, a term coined by Mark Twain originally, characterizes an era in America from about the end of the Civil War to the beginning of World War I. The country was becoming more and more industrialized and fortunes were being made.

I’ve decided to create my own thematic unit on this particular period of time.

Here’s my reading list so far:

• To Marry an English Lord: or How Anglomania Really Got Started by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
• Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Mother and a Daughter in the ‘Gilded Age’ by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart
• The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess—in her Own Words by Conseulo Vanderbilt Balsan
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton and Marion Mainwaring

And my movie/tv list:

• The Age of Innocence (1993)
• The Buccaneers  (1995)

Finally, podcasts:

(Really- you should check out The History Chicks if you are interested in history. Even my husband enjoyed listening to them with me!)

• Episode 8: “The Mrs. Astor”
• Episode 9: Gilded Age Heiresses
• Episode 10: Jennie Jerome Churchill 
• Moviecast: The Age of Innocence 

I think this will keep me busy for awhile!