100 Objects #5: Blue Back Speller
6/19/202646 min
In this episode, Roman and historian Imani Perry follow the Webster Blue Back Speller from the early days of the United States, to the heart of Black intellectual life. Through the lives of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, Roman and Imani uncover how a single object became a gateway to literacy, self-determination, and an enduring debate about what education, citizenship, and freedom should mean in America.
A History of the United States in 100 Objects is a production of 99% Invisible and BBC Studios.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Speaker 20:27
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Speaker 30:47
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Roman Mars· Host0:57
The year is 1783. The Revolutionary War is ending, the fighting on American soil finally tapering off. But what does it actually mean to be an American? If you ask anyone this question at the time, they more than likely wouldn't have a clear answer. Regular life is still chaotic. Classrooms, if they exist at all, are under-resourced, and the books students are using aren't even American. They're British, teaching British geography, British history, British ways of thinking.