In this episode, Jake and Justin are joined by public historian Codie Eash of the Seminary Ridge Museum for a deep dive into one of the most contentious and misunderstood chapters in Gettysburg's postwar history: the fight over Confederate monuments on the battlefield.

What feels like a modern debate turns out to be anything but - Union and Confederate veterans arguing bitterly about memory, treason, and reconciliation as early as the 1880s.

The conversation centers on the first Confederate monument erected at Gettysburg, why it appeared when it did, and why Union veterans immediately pushed back. Along the way, Codie traces how battlefield monuments were negotiated, resisted, and weaponized - revealing that the "Lost Cause" argument didn't emerge quietly or uncontested, but sparked outrage from the very men who had fought the war.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• The first Confederate monument at Gettysburg—and why it caused an uproar
• Union veterans calling treason exactly what it was
• Bureaucracy, loopholes, and missing meeting minutes
• Why monument debates started long before the 21st century
• Bradley Tyler Johnson saying the quiet part out loud about the Lost Cause and power
• How Gettysburg became a battlefield for memory, not just history

Seminary Ridge Museum: https://www.seminaryridgemuseum.org/

Podcast Thumbnail: MD Center for History and Culture - 2nd MD Monument Group Portrait, October 28, 1894

In this special holiday episode, Jake, Justin, and Molly gather to talk about It's a Wonderful Life - not just as a Christmas classic, but as a deeply historical film shaped by war, economic depression, and the unsettled, unstable world of 1946. What starts as a cozy movie night quickly turns into a wide-ranging conversation about community, capitalism, trauma, and why Frank Capra's vision of America still hits a nerve nearly eighty years later.

The trio digs into the film's historical moment, Jimmy Stewart's wartime experience, and why Bedford Falls feels both comforting and painfully distant in 2025. Along the way, they wrestle with Mr. Potter, Mary Bailey, the Great Depression, and the unsettling realization that many of us may already be living in Potterville.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• It's a Wonderful Life as a post–World War II home-front story
• Jimmy Stewart, combat trauma, and why George Bailey feels so real
• Bedford Falls, Potterville, and the economics of community
• Mary Bailey as the emotional backbone of the entire film
• Why the FBI once thought this movie was communist
• "We don't want characters here"

Happy holidays - and here's to finding a little Bedford Falls wherever we can.

In this episode, Jake sits down with public historian EJ Murphy of the Destination Freedom Project at the Waverly Community House to talk about abolition, the Underground Railroad, and the way slavery's political shockwaves reached even the smallest Northern communities before the Civil War.

Jake and EJ dig into how Waverly became a key stop on a regional freedom network connecting places like Wilkes-Barre, Montrose, and the Southern Tier of New York. They also talk about the challenges of telling these stories with limited sources, what the Fugitive Slave Act changed on the ground, and why local history hits hardest when you realize it was never "just local."

Learn more about Waverly's Destination Freedom and plan a visit:

https://waverlywalkingtours.com/

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• Waverly's role in the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Pennsylvania

• The Fugitive Slave Act and why it radicalized communities in the North

• A letter about organized resistance - and "pockets loaded with pistols"

• George Keys and the growth of Waverly's Black community

• Native American paths that shaped escape routes and regional geography

• Why visitors keep saying: "I grew up here…and I had no idea"