Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant

17/07/2025

New Episode alert!

In 1777, not long before the British Army occupied Philadelphia, the Continental Congress exiled Henry Drinker and 19 other prominent Quaker men. In today's letter, Elizabeth Drinker provides her husband, Henry, with an update on life in occupied Philadelphia and the Scottish officer who has recently taken up quarters in the Drinker home.

In this episode, Dr. Lauren Duval joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss this 1778 letter from Elizabeth Drinker to her exiled husband. Listen now on your favorite podcast app!

Dr. Lauren Duval joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Elizabeth Drinker to her husband Henry dated February 26, 1778. In 1777, not long before the British …

04/07/2025

On this episode of Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant, Dr. Emily Sneff joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Polly Palmer to John Adams dated 4 August 1776. In this letter, Palmer thanks Adams for sending her one of the earliest printings of the Declaration of Independence. In this episode, we explore Palmer and Adams’s lifelong friendship, their experience getting inoculated for smallpox together, and military movements during the War for Independence.
Listen now on your favorite podcast app or at

Dr. Emily Sneff joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Polly Palmer to John Adams dated 4 August 1776, in which Palmer thanks Adams for sending her one of th…

22/04/2025

New episode alert! On this episode, Katy Gehred is joined by Diane Ehrenpreis, Curator of Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, to discuss a letter from Martha Jefferson to a Mrs. Madison dated August 8, 1780. In this letter, Mrs. Jefferson encourages women to join together to raise funds to support the Continental soldiers. This letter is one of only four known correspondences in Mrs. Jefferson’s hand, and in this episode, Diane and Katy discuss some of the ways Mrs. Jefferson’s words have been misinterpreted in the past.

Listen Now on your favorite podcast app or at

Diane Ehrenpreis joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Martha Jefferson to a Mrs. Madison dated August 8, 1780 in which Mrs. Jefferson encourages women to j…

15/04/2025

Kathryn Gehred, host of Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant, recently joined Pamela Toler Author on History in the Margins to talk about how women's history is "real" history. You can read their entire conversation here:

Talking About Women’s History: Three Questions and an Answer with Kathryn Gehred By Pamela | March 27, 2025 | 0 Kathryn Gehred has a master’s degree in Women’s History from Sarah Lawrence College and was part of a team of editors who completed The Papers of Martha Washington, a transcribed col...

27/03/2025

New episode alert!

Dr. Emily Sneff joins Katy Gehred to discuss a letter from Polly Palmer to John Adams dated 4 August 1776. In this letter, Palmer thanks Adams for sending her one of the earliest printings of the Declaration of Independence.

In the episode, Gehred and Sneff explore Palmer and Adams’s lifelong friendship, their experience getting inoculated for smallpox together, and military movements during the War for Independence.

Listen now on your favorite app!
https://www.r2studios.org/show/your-most-obedient-humble-servant/Episode-58-our-unnatural-enemies-may-be-turned-from-us/

Read the full letter on the Massachusetts Historical Society's website https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-02-02-0047

Dr. Emily Sneff joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss a letter from Polly Palmer to John Adams dated 4 August 1776, in which Palmer thanks Adams for sending her one of th…

25/02/2025

New Episode Alert! On today's episode, George Mason University's Dr. Cynthia Kierner joins Katy Gehred to discuss why 18th-century widows who legally owned property had no say in how it was taxed. They dive into a letter from Richard Henry Lee to Hannah Lee Corbin dated March 18, 1778, which comes from Stratford Hall's collection. In the episode, we also explore religious conversion, cohabitation, and inflation! Listen now on your favorite podcast app.

https://www.r2studios.org/show/your-most-obedient-humble-servant/episode-57-those-tumultuous-assemblies-of-men/

Dr. Cynthia Kierner joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss a 1778 letter from Richard Henry Lee to his sister Hannah Lee Corbin. In a lost letter, Hannah previously e…

28/01/2025

New episode alert! In today's episode, Dr. Jacqueline Beatty joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss The Petition of Belinda from 1783. Using poetic language, Belinda Sutton petitions The Massachusetts General Court for the funds left to her by her enslaver Isaac Royall after he fled the colonies during the Revolutionary War she also describes her kidnapping and enslavement.

Listen now on your favorite podcast app and if you enjoy the show, please tell a friend!

https://www.r2studios.org/show/your-most-obedient-humble-servant/episode-56-the-most-dreadful-of-all-enemies/

Dr. Jacqueline Beatty joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss The Petition of Belinda from 1783 in which Belinda Sutton petitions The Massachusetts General Court for t…

20/12/2024

NEW EPISODE ALERT! "An Insurrection Was Hourly Expected" is now playing. Ramin Ganeshram joins Katy Gehred to discuss excerpts from Janet Shaw’s Journal of a lady of quality; being the narrative of a journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the years 1774 to 1776. Ganeshram and Gehred explore life under martial law in North Carolina and the fear and paranoia among white colonists because of a supposed insurrection by enslaved people.

https://www.r2studios.org/show/your-most-obedient-humble-servant/episode-55-an-insurrection-was-hourly-expected/

Ramin Ganeshram joins Kathryn Gehred to discuss excerpts from Janet Shaw’s Journal of a lady of quality; being the narrative of a journey from Scotland to the West …

19/12/2024

In the wake of the Stamp Act Crisis, the British chart a new course for empire in North America by imposing taxes on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea, pitting Bri…

10/12/2024

Looking for another great podcast? Check out Finding Jane Austen, the latest series from R2 Studios, on your favorite podcast app.

You've heard of Jane Austen. She's in our movie theaters, our high school classrooms, even on the British pound, she's inspired more than 400 novel adaptations and probably more than a few of your favorite movies and series. You might even consider yourself a big fan of Jane Austen. But do you know who Jane Austen was? Like, really, who was she as a person? In this podcast, we're finding Jane Austen. We're solving the mystery of one of the most important writers in the English language through the clues she left behind.

03/12/2024

Thank you for listening to Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant! This podcast is only possible because of the support of our listeners. If you are able, please make a donation to R2 Studios so we can keep making the best history podcasts.

Make a Donation History for Everyone: At R2 Studios we’re on a mission to democratize history through podcasting, but making The Green Tunnel, Worlds Turn…

26/11/2024

New Episode Alert! In this episode, Mary Wigge joins Katy Gehred to discuss a letter from Lucy Flucker Knox to her husband General Henry Knox in which she describes how she spends her days during the Revolutionary War. Lucy, a wealthy Tory's daughter whose parents and siblings have returned to England, expresses her loneliness and longing for Henry, who is with the army in Philadelphia. Oh and Abagail Adams Smith uses some choice words to describe Lucy's appearance.

Listen Now! https://www.r2studios.org/show/your-most-obedient-humble-servant/episode-54-i-am-frightened-when-i-look-at-her/

Image Credit Massachusetts Historical Society