The Elizabeth Robins Diary Podcast

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The Elizabeth Robins Diary Podcast Elizabeth Robins kept 70 years of diaries we use to uncover life in the Gilded Age through the Golden Age.

151 years ago today, on May 14, 1875, Elizabeth submitted a story to her teacher at Putnam Female Seminary in Zanesville...
14/05/2026

151 years ago today, on May 14, 1875, Elizabeth submitted a story to her teacher at Putnam Female Seminary in Zanesville, Ohio.
Elizabeth's brilliance is on clear display. Scholars, including her biographer, Joanne Gates, believe this is the first use of the word "herstory" (you can hear us discuss this in Season 1, Episode 1). I thought since the story includes George Washington it would be great to include in our America250 bonus content.
Listen to her story here: https://youtu.be/RIyabt93UDc

Our podcast is eager to announce we have commissioned Renata Villemaire to paint a Life Palette honoring Margaret Robins...
27/04/2026

Our podcast is eager to announce we have commissioned Renata Villemaire to paint a Life Palette honoring Margaret Robins Harris. Renata will be creating it live during the Emancipation Celebration on May 16 at Chinsegut Hill. Margaret was the eldest child of Fielder & Precious Ann Washington Harris. She was born and raised on the land where her grandmother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Washington had been enslaved. Margaret was the first in her family to receive formal education as a child and furthered her schooling at Tuskegee Institute. Margaret's godparents were Margaret & Raymond Robins and she is one of the most photographed people of Chinsegut. She was close friends with the Robins' gardener, Lisa von Borowksy (they were about the same age). The two girls enjoyed camping and kayaking at the Robins' property off Bayport "Bimini Island." In fact, their names are the most frequent in the Bimini guestbook!

Stuff is just Stuff unless someone knows its story. While transcribing Elizabeth's 1876 diary, I found it also contained...
26/04/2026

Stuff is just Stuff unless someone knows its story. While transcribing Elizabeth's 1876 diary, I found it also contained notes from 1880-1911. This page describes her costume from an early on stage production in New York with Eugene O'Neills Company. As soon as I read it, I recognized the gauntlets she described as those at Chinsegut. We pulled them out of the archive box yesterday to check - and it also contained the whip! A 145 year old story waiting to be told. Further reinforcing the name Chinsegut, "a place where things of value that were lost are found again."
P.S. the handle of the whip is extraordinary

Reflecting in her diary on her early days as an actress in New York City, Elizabeth wrote about "the rare delicious lunc...
29/03/2026

Reflecting in her diary on her early days as an actress in New York City, Elizabeth wrote about "the rare delicious luncheons at Bartholdi’s, oyster soup milky & rich with plenty of “oyster” crackers to crumble in." This menu is a decade later than Elizabeth's time, but still features her beloved soup! Menu is housed in the New York Library, Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/010f3c80-c536-012f-3dea-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0

Early mornings, evenings and weekends I've been transcribing Elizabeth's 1876 diaries for an upcoming episode on her chi...
26/03/2026

Early mornings, evenings and weekends I've been transcribing Elizabeth's 1876 diaries for an upcoming episode on her childhood. Then TODAY NYU library sent 250 scanned letters from George to Elizabeth in 1885. I had to ignore the scans during the workday. But now comes the big conflict - do spend tonight in 1876 or 1885?

I like to think of us as the Little Podcast That Could. Onward and Upward in 2026! Here's some stats from Spotify.
13/01/2026

I like to think of us as the Little Podcast That Could. Onward and Upward in 2026! Here's some stats from Spotify.

Happiest of Christmases from Chinsegut.
25/12/2025

Happiest of Christmases from Chinsegut.

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