Elizabeth Robins Diary Podcast

Mayor Blake Bell, seventh generation Brooksvillian Andrea Hedick Read, and graphic designer Barry Meindl dig into Season One of the podcast with our host. The foursome will go from fun facts to philosophy, and what we should anticipate from the podcast moving forward.

This mini episode gives you a glimpse into our Season One wrap-up conversation with Andrea Hedick Read, Barry Meindl and Mayor Blake Bell.

Before the Robins christened their property Chinsegut, the Snow family had dubbed it Snow Hill. Charlotte Ederington Snow, the oldest child of the Ederington family who had first built the manor house, grew up there and then raised her seven children on the Hill. Even once the Snows sold the manor and bulk of the property to Elizabeth, they continued to own property right next to it and were pivotal in the Robins' renovation and restoration efforts. This double-length episode features two of Charlotte's descendants who provide insight into the still influential Snow family. The cover image was taken by Elizabeth in 1906 and features Ernest Snow on the left and his brother Mallory in the middle.

Music played an integral role at Chinsegut, from casual sing-a-longs around the piano, to the annual community sunrise Easter service, to concerts on the porch. In this episode, Elizabeth's diary provides proof of the surprising and welcome existence of the Snow Hill band.

The Rest Cure was a medical treatment combining various physical and mental treatments as well as a surprising diet. When Elizabeth continued to suffer side effects from a bout with typhoid, she underwent a couple rest cures. Out of those experiences came a novel, A Dark Lantern: A Story with a Prologue, that would be made into a film in 1920 starring Alice Brady and James Crane.

For much of the twentieth century, Brooksville, Florida identified itself as "Home of the Tangerine" and incorporated the fruit into their city stationery, police badges, and high school class rings. But why was the tangerine so embedded into the community identity and how did it impact Brooksville's development? Our special guest this episode is fifth generation Brooksvillian Jim Kimbrough. He is a descendent of Francis Ederington, who built the Chinsegut Manor House. His family and descendants would live on the property from 1851 until Elizabeth Robins purchased it in 1905.

FDR quickly implemented the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of his New Deal program and Chinsegut became a CCC Camp in 1937. While employing a couple hundred young men on the property in way millions of others would work on other CCC camps across the country, the CCC camp at Chinsegut also had some singular qualities.

In 1912, Elizabeth published a novel entitled My Little Sister in the US (titled Where Are You Going To? in the UK) regarding two sisters who are abducted into sex slavery.

Elizabeth was the oldest of seven siblings and Raymond was the youngest. Elizabeth remained his primary confidante throughout his life and because they were rarely together, much of their conversation was by letter and we are able to share in their confidences. While Elizabeth was living an artist’s life, Raymond was immersed in Progressive Era politics. You may not know his name, but his fingerprints are all over modern American government.  Today’s guest, Dr. James Clark, first discovered Raymond while researching Claude Pepper. That’s the launching point that takes this podcast through many famous figures and events.

In the battle for women’s suffrage, Elizabeth and some friends formed the Women Writers Suffrage League.  Their weapon? The pen.  Over the next decade the group would flood the market with suffrage literature of all types such as plays, novels, editorials, and poetry. How did they come up with this strategy? And more importantly, did it work?

Let us start this journey with the question everyone is dying to know the answer to– Why does Elizabeth Robins get her own podcast? Today we start the series off with special guest expert Joanne Gates as she joins Natalie to help introduce you to Elizabeth. In this episode, we explore a diary entry from March 18, 1895. Saddle up for this extraordinary ride in a special double length episode!