(slaps a bag of popcorn into the faculty/staff lounge microwave and sets it for 3min, leans on counter)

Any of our resident Native North American/South American historians have some thoughts on J.K. Rowling's use of history in her Native American Magic piece? News link for those who somehow aren't active in critlit fandoms around children's books.

Super-duper informal poll:

Would AskHistorians readers be interested in a feature on history grad school?

I was thinking some kind of roundtable or Monday Methods series on demystifying the admissions process, tips for success, comparisons between US and UK-style systems, and maybe what's the point (although the last is a hard topic for current grad students to discuss freely, because many programs still take the line that "you must be aiming for a tenure track job"--since PhD programs traditionally justify their existence based on % of graduates in TT professorships).

/r/AskScience does these frequently as AMAs, and there are plenty of threads here if you want to hunt through the archives, of course. I'd like to know what the need or desire among AH readers would be for a new, focused feature. :)

IT IS OVER, MY FRIENDS

I'VE COMPLETED THE ROUGH DRAFT OF MY DISSERTATION

topples over

https://gunlord500.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/gunlords-dissertation-saga-episode-15-season-1-finale-at-last-victory/

I go into some detail about my feelings on completing it (even if it's only a rough draft) and, uh, compare it to my other "magnum opus," a one million word Fire Emblem fanfic written over the span of 9 years. But more relevant to historians' interest, hopefully, I also copied the email I sent to my advisors when I sent them the draft, so you can get an idea of what some of the writing/style things I'll have to polish up in future drafts, along with some of the primary sources I'll have to look for in all liklihood later on--assuming those primary sources are still extant ;_; Maybe next week I'll make another longer entry on the writing of the dissertation, but for now, it's time for me to relax! I'm so tired, as you can imagine~

What are your favourite history themed blogs? I'm bored, unwell and looking for some reading material.

My favourites are probably In the Middle which focuses on the Middle Ages and theories like ecocriticism etc, and also deals with academic life and controversies and issues in academia. I also love this blog which mainly deals with women and crime, but with the Georgian era more generally.

On the theme of my flair, I've been looking at a case in a local court in the 18th century involving theft by magic trick.I also searched the Old Bailey and found four other cases which also involved magic tricks and theft, and all five times, the accused were women, in all of the Old Bailey cases their punishment was transportation and in my woman's case, she was acquitted. The first one involved Honour Penery, who, in 1738, with an accomplice, used a rather nifty magic trick to steal the clothes of a young woman named Jane Ellard.

The events (according to Ellard) went like this:

On the 19th of March I was going along one of the new Streets near Grosvenor-Square, and two Women came up to me from the other Side of the Way, and told me I had a mighty pretty Gown on; - pray, says one of them, what did it cost a Yard? I informed them what I gave for it; Oh! 'tis a sweet pretty Thing they said, - pray which Way are you walking? I told them I was going to look after a Place; they said I should have the Refusal of two or three very good Places, and if I would tell them where I liv'd, they certainly would come and give me Directions about them.

I told them that I should be very much obliged to them, and that I lodged at Mr. Pullen's, in George-Alley , by the Ditch Side. The next Day as the Bells rung Eleven, they came up Stairs; I am very positive to the Prisoner; the other Woman that was with her pass'd for the Prisoner's Mistress.

I asked them about the Place they were to help me to, but they told me they were Apprentices to Sir Isaac Newton [who was dead] , at Turnham-Green, and that they must first calculate my Nativity; so out they pull'd a great Book with Heads and Hands in it; they told me a vast deal out of the Book with the Heads and Hands in it, and said I must bundle up all the Things I had, - Rings, Money, and Cloaths.

I have but little Money, says I, and I don't Care to bundle up my Cloaths, that can relate nothing to my Fortune, - that's quite silly, and if any body should hear this Business besides our selves, they would laugh at us. Well, they argued with me a great while, and said it must be done, and began to be angry because I would not do it. Why, - says one of them, suppose you were Sick, and a Physician comes and prescribes Physick for you, - if you won't take it, what Good can he do you? 'Tis all the same Thing, we can't pretend to do you any Good, unless you'll do as you are ordered.

At last I bundled up all my Cloaths, and they went away, but they returned again, and asked me if I had done as they bad me? I said I had, and that I had put them in my Trunk. Then now, says the Prisoner's Mistress, - with the Blessing of God take them out of your Trunk; I did so: Now, says she, with the Blessing of God, get a Ha'p'orth of Brown Paper. I did not care to go for the Paper, so she went herself, and did up all my Cloaths, telling me they must be done up very close, and not a Breath of Air must come upon them.

When this was done they bid me down upon my Knees and say the Lord's Prayer; I refused at first, but by fair Means and foul they made me at last say the Lord s Prayer.

Then they bid me turn about and open the Windows, which we had shut, for fear any body should see what we were about. I opened the Windows, and in the mean Time they chang'd the Bundle, and left this in the Room of it, - 'tis full of nothing but Hay and Straw; my Bundle was made up exactly like this Bundle, and they carry'd it quite off.

After they had put down this Bundle instead of mine, the Prisoner's Mistress said she must treat with me upon such a Spot of Ground, and bid me, - because it rain'd, - put on my Hat, least I should catch Cold.

I went out with them as far as the Royal Bed, the Corner of Holborn, there they told me a young Man was to meet me, and would give me a Gold Ring, charging me not to look at my Bundle 'till Eight o'Clock at Night; at Eight o'Clock I found myself a great Sufferer by them, for all my Cloaths were gone, that I had worked for a great while.

The second Old Bailey case occurred in 1771, but was brought to court in 1773. It involved the theft of a watch and some money from a butler. Mary Smith, the accused, had come to the house of the butler's employer, looking to sell muslins, unsuccessfully. She later returned to speak to the butler himself- called John Cummings- saying he had something important to tell him. They arranged to meet at a pub, and she asked him to take as much money as he could with him. What happened next:

I counted the money I had made up, 40 l. 8 s. 6 d. she bid me put it in a handkerchief; I did so, and she tied it up in three or four knots as I thought, and desired me to tie up a knot or two besides.

She gave me the money as I thought, and bid me take it home and put it in my box, and desired me to swear solemnly I would not look at it till next morning.

However, when he looked at it next morning, he discovered his money had disappeared, and all that remained was a forged half pence.

But why on earth would you hand over money to be tied in a handkerchief? Apparently

She took such solemn oaths, and I was foolish enough to believe her, that there was a quantity of plate lodged for some years in the cellar.

I was to make it appear that I had so much money; that I was worth so much, or else she could not tell me any thing of the matter.

This explanation still doesn't make sense to me.

As for the loss of the watch, that wasn't any strange misdirection like the handkerchief trick, it was just taking advantage of forgetfulness and the easily distracted human mind.

I took it out to see what was o'clock; she said it was a pretty watch; I gave it her to look at; I forgot to ask for it again; I never saw it again.

Mr Cummings only saw her by chance when she came into the pub he owned two years later. He evidently remembered her face vividly because after two looks, he sent for a constable and a couple of patrons came to assist in restraining her. He had learnt from his experience and was apparently much more cynical. He evidently had been deeply hurt and had earlier described his watch quite lovingly. It's amazing and incredibly unlucky (for Mary) that the case ever ended up in court and that she was ever identified.

I was simple enough then to believe it; it was the first time and I imagine it will be the last.

Then there is the case of Margaret Skylight, or as she liked to be called, Scarlett Skylight, who was 72 when she was accused of grand larceny in 1743. The victim was Winifred Segalas.

She [Skylight] asked me if I had any old Clothes to sell; I told her no. Says she, you have a lucky Planet in your Face, I will tell you your Fortune: I said come in; she asked for some Coffee, but I had none; so she said she had a Law Suit depending, and she must make an end of it; that she could not stay then, but would come another Day;

and when she came she made me say, In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that I would do all that she proposed to me. She asked me if I had any Paper that was never wrote on; I told her I had; I fetched her a Sheet, and she divided it into three Parts. She asked me for some Salt; I fetched some Salt, and she said by the Virtue of that Salt the Mould was to rise in the Cellar, and the Money was to come up.

I cannot tell the Sum of Guineas she mentioned to my Husband, besides broad Pieces, and Silver; then she asked me if I had got the 20s. that I told her I would get against that Day. She made me make that Bargain with her before, but I did not intend to give her the 20 s.

She asked me if I had the Value of 20 s. about me; I told her I had a good deal more; that I had a pair of Diamond Ear-Rings; she asked me how much they were worth; I told her they cost me 3 Guineas; then she said, In the Name of the Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, put them into this Paper, and then she said, God Almighty prosper what we are a going upon: Then she asked if I could say the Lord's Prayer, and said I must fall down on my Knees and say the Lord's Prayer three Times over, and by Virtue of this the Mould in the Cellar was to rise, and I should find the Treasure.

I stepped out and told my Husband, that I had a Fancy the Woman wanted to steal my Ear-Rings, so he bored a Hole through the Door to watch her, and if he found I could not deal with her, he was to help me.

She had the Ear-Rings in a Paper, I looked at her and saw her slip them away, and I thought changed the Parcel: They were to be tied up in this Handkerchief, and I was to swear that I would not open the Handkerchief before she came again; my Husband seized hold of her Hand, gave me a Paper, and said to me, look what you have got there, and in the Paper there was a pair of brass Buttons;

when my Husband seized hold of her Hand, he said my Wife's Diamond Ear-Rings are here; she denied it, spoke a great many scandalous Things, and swore and cursed very much; but in the Skirmish one of the Ear-Rings fell down and broke in two, and the other he took in her Hand.

Margaret Skylight was sentenced to transportation.

It's that time of the year when I start panicking over carefully considering how I'm going to make it through the summer with no income and a weird schedule (thanks to archive trips). I've been poking around summer job listings, and I came across one for an "archival digitization specialist" for Ancestry, which seems to entail photographing records all day long and inputting them into their system. Has anyone done this before?

Hey all, I was considering being a history major, and yet I'm worried about my financial future in being able to raise a family while working for a doctorate/masters degree. My age is 28, and my soon-to-be wife will want kids. Might there be anyone who can provide guidance? History is somewhat of a passion for me, but if I have to support a family at some point, can I do it on a teacher or professor's salary? Can I actually pursue archaeology? Tough questions imo

Hello r/askhistorians.

I'm interested in learning more about Hungary, and in particular the city of Budapest. I'd like to learn more about the culture and what life was like, in particular, the interwar period between the Two World Wars. Do you know any resources I should check out?

Hey all, I'm looking for a good e-reader, something that I can put books on and take with me for convenience. What do you guys use and recommend?

While writing thesis stuff, I have been increasingly listening to Yugoslav 80s rock. If you are a fan of 80s rock music stuff that is non-English language, you should check it out. And start with the band named Električni Orgazam.

How accurate do the majority of historians view the bible, especially the old testament, in terms of humanity's past?

I know there are records for certain kings and prominent people but it is easy to see how stories about burning bushes and giant arks may be over-exaggerated a bit. Is society's acceptance of the bible as a generally accurate depiction of those times something that just evolved to happen or is there enough outside evidence to corroborate the stories?

I just learned that Henry Kissinger will be coming to my class on April 1, and while I'm not sure if I can ask this as a submitted question to this sub, I did wanna ask if anyone has questions that I could pose to him.

The first question I was gonna ask is: "Given your historical training and perspective, which of your actions or assumptions constituted a success on or a mistake on your part? What lessons can the future generation learn from your triumphs and failures?"

I'm teaching a history of the British empire next fall, and I'm UTTERLY STUMPED for books on Victorian imperialism. Like, I have great readings for the students in the 18th century and the 20th century, but for whatever reason my mind refuses to come up with anything good on the 19th century. Help. Please.

I've been trying to write a blog post on early 19th century corsetry for, I think, weeks, and it is just not coming together. All I've managed to do is explode everything I thought I knew. It seems like a lot of construction aspects are more about fitting the corset to an individual rather than indicating its date of origin. I don't even know what I think anymore, I'm mentally exhausted on the subject.

It really doesn't help that I've started translating a book on corset-making (among other things) from 1827, and the instructions it gives in some cases sound like nothing I've ever seen. Or that I've seen once, kind of. I just have no idea at this point.

All I wanted to do was write "this other page is wrong" without having to explicitly call out the page out of nowhere! FML.

My take on why the merchant class was despised in middle ages China was that they were socially mobile (in other words, they might make good money and start showing up in places where only hereditary landowners expected to find each other).

How does this sound? Did they really hate merchants for not using their hands?

I found a hardcover book for free at a bookstore. The title is The Jobbank Guide to Employment Services, 2000-2001. It lists over 6,700 employment service firms, their address, their contact information, what jobs they cover, and the expected salary.

Is this useful to any historian/museum/library?

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, how many similar large-scale collapses of government have happened since? I apologize if this is not the place for this question!

Who can tell me some little-known facts about the Great Depression? I want to write a history paper that doubles as a way to help the homeless today.

Hello historians, after you finished your education, what work did you start doing? I'm most likely gonna start studying history in university in a year so I'm very interested