Episode 89: The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes

"the cleverness of women" [SCAN]

When the Baker Street Irregulars finally made the watershed decision to admit women to its membership in 1991, Evelyn Herzog, BSI ("The Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet"), ASH ("Violet Hunter") and Susan Rice, 2s., BSI ("Beeswing"), ASH ("A Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations Upon the Segregation of the Queen") were there. And yet the history of what led up to that moment is not widely known.

From Evy's and Susan's perspectives, it began some three decades or more earlier, gaining momentum as they entered their college years in the Northeast and Midwest, respectively. And from the BSI's perspective, it was rooted in the traditionalism of a longtime leader. How the two vastly different outlooks clashed and eventually collaborated is what we discuss.

We've had the pleasure of knowing Evy and Susan for—well, let's just say for longer than any of us can remember. Together we explore the history of their journeys and uncover exactly what it was like to be outsiders in a world that very much should have included them much earlier. The story of Julian Wolff, BSI ("The Red-Headed League") and Tom Stix, Jr., BSI ("The Norwood Builder"), the leaders of the Baker Street Irregulars at the time, is both complex and delicate, and Evy and Susan do them both justice in the matter.

The history of the ASH is the subject of the 2004 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, and it its still available for sale. Also included in our interview are audio clips from the 1991 BSI Cocktail Reception, during which women first received investitures. And we might have another Easter egg for you.

Sponsors

This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and a special sponsor with us for the first half of this year:

The Wessex Press, featuring A Curious Collection of Dates, and The Baker Street Journal, where you should get your annual subscription in now to secure all four issues - now accepting 2016 subscriptions. And Paula Berinstein's Amanda Lester, Detective series for young adults.

Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find more information here.

Links:

• The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes (they have a new website!)
• The Serpentine Muse
• Dubious and Questionable Memories: A History of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes — the 2004 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual
• The I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Patreon page

Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard and Scoop.it sites at ihose.co/flipsherlock and ihose.co/scoopsherlock, as well as on the The Sherlock Holmes Community on Google+ (now over 2,800 members), as well as through our accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

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