Kate Magruder as Dame Shirley: Women and the Gold Rush Part Two
When word that California had gold in its creeks and streams reached the United States of America in 1848, fortune seekers from all over the world soon began to arrive by boat, covered wagon, and on foot. Some people made their fortunes by selling provisions or services and very few actually found enough gold to take home. Louise Smith Clapp of Amherst, Massachusetts, using the name of Dame Shirley, wrote detailed and vivid descriptions of the life and ways of the gold seekers and of mid 19th century California. In this two-part program, we will talk to Dame Shirley in the person of Kate Magruder, a Chautauqua performer and participant with the California Council for the Humanities Sesquicentennial Project, Rediscovering California at 150.
In part one, Kate Magruder portrays Dame Shirley. In part two, Kate Magruder talks more about Dame Shirley’s life and times.
The book Dame Shirley recommends is “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.” The books Kate Magruder recommends are “Days of Gold,” by Malcolm Rhorbough and “The Shirley Letters,” by Dame Shirley.
This interview was originally broadcast on March 16, 1999.
Podcast: Download
Post a comment