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iHeartPodcasts

Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

Stuff You Missed in History Class

This 2022 episode covers the 1901 discovery of Ada Maria Redpath and her son Jocelyn Clifford dead in their home. What exactly happened between the two of them is something we will likely never understand.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SYMHC Classics: Redpath Murders

Holly and Tracy talk about how frequently the U.S. Post Office has stopped criminals, and about E. Virgil Neal using his intellect for shady business dealings.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Behind the Scenes Minis: Piece of Work

In the early 20th century, Neal's company Force of Life was investigated for fraud. But somehow, Neal managed to get through the scandal and went on to found a cosmetics company that became very successful. 
 
Research:
 
 • “Can’t Find E. Virgil Neal.” New York Times. January 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496816.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “Claimed to Raise the Dead.” Kansas City Star. Jan. 13, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/653825670/?match=1&terms=%22Claimed%20to%20raise%20the%20dead%22
 • Conroy, Mary Schaeffer. “The Cosmetics Baron You’ve Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal and Tokalon.” Third Edition. Altus History Publishing. 2014.
 • “E. Virgil Neal Passes Away at Geneva June 30.” The Sedalia Democrat. July 3, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sedalia-democrat-e-virgil-neal-obit/185827307/
 • “False Advertising Chief ‘Stimulant’ in Nixated Iron.” New York Tribune. Dec. 16,1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894241833/?terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Force of Life Charges Dismissed.” Buffalo News. April 24, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/329115069/
 • “FORCE OF LIFE'S WIND-UP.; E. Virgil Neal Still Missing, but Offices Are Being Dismantled.” New York Times. Jan. 17, 1906. https://www.nytimes.com/1906/01/17/archives/force-of-lifes-windup-e-virgil-neal-still-missing-but-offices-are.html
 • “Force of Lifers Sent Many Decoy Letters.” New York Times. February 7, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/02/07/101765677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “Here’s a Hyopnotic Bank.” New York Sun. March 3, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/207217198/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy
 • “How Force of Lifers Did a Rush Business.” New York Times. Jan. 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496815.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “James R. O’Beirne.” Fordham University. Office of the President. https://www.fordham.edu/about/leadership-and-administration/administrative-offices/office-of-the-president/about/hall-of-honor/james-r-obeirne/
 • “Jury Disagrees Cartilage Case.” Buffalo Courier Express. May 5, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352806300/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Medical Mail-order Frauds.” American Medical Association. 1915. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=Cyq6AAAAIAAJ&vq=neal&source=gbs_navlinks_s
 • “Medicine: From Sedalia.” Time Magazine. Dec. 25, 1933. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,746617-1,00.html
 • “A Message to the Sick.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Feb. 9, 1900. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238292/?match=1&terms=vitaopathy
 • “Most Beautiful Woman in Paris.” The Times-Union. October 6, 1909. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1278623430/?match=6&terms=To-Kalon
 • Neal, E. Virgil and John H. Moore. “Modern Illustrative Banking.” American Book Company. 1904. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/modernillustrati00neal/modernillustrati00neal/
 • Neal, E. Virgil and C.T. Craig. “Modern Illustrative Bookkeeping.” American Book Company 1901. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/illustratimodern00nealrich/page/16/mode/2up
 • “Neal, of ‘Nuxated Iron’ Fame, Held on Fraud Charge.” Times-Transcript. April 15, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106273916/?match=1&terms=%22Neal%20of%20Nuxated%20Iron%22
 • “Neal Returns for Business.” Post-Standard. April 30, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091107180/
 • Bennet, James. “Tokalon.” Cosmetics and Skin. Jan. 26, 2025. https://cosmeticsandskin.com/companies/tokalon.php
 • “Gigantic Swindle Probably Bared.” Nebraska City Weekly. Jan. 16, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/728074626
 • “In Force of Life Case.” Houston Post. Jan 13, 1907. https://www.newspapers.com/image/94975109
 • “Nuxated Iron Sellers in Libel Suit.” The Times-Transcript. June 10, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106285753/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Part I: The 1906 Food and Drugs Act and Its Enforcement.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/changes-science-law-and-regulatory-authorities/part-i-1906-food-and-drugs-act-and-its-enforcement
 • “Personal Magnetism.” San Francisco Examiner. March 8, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457762995/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy
 • “Pope Receives O’Beirne.” New York Times. Sept 25, 1910. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20505640/?match=1&terms=%22pope%20receives%20o%27beirne%22
 • Schwarcz, Joe, PhD. “The Prince of Quackery.” McGill Office for Science and Society. July 16, 2025. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-history/prince-quackery
 • “Thought Waves Between ‘Em.” New York Sun. April 12, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-and-the-a/185828789/
 • “Tribune’s Answer in Libel Suit Calls E. Virgil Neal a Quck.” New York Tribune. June 23, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/469171423/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Vain Search for Neal.” New York Times. January 16, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/16/101763032.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “WORRIED ABOUT NEAL & CO.: Depositors, You See, Don’t Like Hypnotism in Banking.” New York Sun. March 4, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-hypnotic/176427712/
 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E. Virgil Neal: Hypnotist, Fraudster, Tycoon, Part 2

E. Virgil Neal’s career started out with writing successful textbooks, but then took a turn into being a stage hypnotist and then a series of dicey mail-order businesses.
 
Research:
 
 • “Can’t Find E. Virgil Neal.” New York Times. January 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496816.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “Claimed to Raise the Dead.” Kansas City Star. Jan. 13, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/653825670/?match=1&terms=%22Claimed%20to%20raise%20the%20dead%22
 • Conroy, Mary Schaeffer. “The Cosmetics Baron You’ve Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal and Tokalon.” Third Edition. Altus History Publishing. 2014.
 • “E. Virgil Neal Passes Away at Geneva June 30.” The Sedalia Democrat. July 3, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sedalia-democrat-e-virgil-neal-obit/185827307/
 • “False Advertising Chief ‘Stimulant’ in Nixated Iron.” New York Tribune. Dec. 16,1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894241833/?terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Force of Life Charges Dismissed.” Buffalo News. April 24, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/329115069/
 • “FORCE OF LIFE'S WIND-UP.; E. Virgil Neal Still Missing, but Offices Are Being Dismantled.” New York Times. Jan. 17, 1906. https://www.nytimes.com/1906/01/17/archives/force-of-lifes-windup-e-virgil-neal-still-missing-but-offices-are.html
 • “Force of Lifers Sent Many Decoy Letters.” New York Times. February 7, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/02/07/101765677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “Here’s a Hyopnotic Bank.” New York Sun. March 3, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/207217198/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy
 • “How Force of Lifers Did a Rush Business.” New York Times. Jan. 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496815.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “James R. O’Beirne.” Fordham University. Office of the President. https://www.fordham.edu/about/leadership-and-administration/administrative-offices/office-of-the-president/about/hall-of-honor/james-r-obeirne/
 • “Jury Disagrees Cartilage Case.” Buffalo Courier Express. May 5, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352806300/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Medical Mail-order Frauds.” American Medical Association. 1915. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=Cyq6AAAAIAAJ&vq=neal&source=gbs_navlinks_s
 • “Medicine: From Sedalia.” Time Magazine. Dec. 25, 1933. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,746617-1,00.html
 • “A Message to the Sick.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Feb. 9, 1900. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238292/?match=1&terms=vitaopathy
 • “Most Beautiful Woman in Paris.” The Times-Union. October 6, 1909. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1278623430/?match=6&terms=To-Kalon
 • Neal, E. Virgil and John H. Moore. “Modern Illustrative Banking.” American Book Company. 1904. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/modernillustrati00neal/modernillustrati00neal/
 • Neal, E. Virgil and C.T. Craig. “Modern Illustrative Bookkeeping.” American Book Company 1901. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/illustratimodern00nealrich/page/16/mode/2up
 • “Neal, of ‘Nuxated Iron’ Fame, Held on Fraud Charge.” Times-Transcript. April 15, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106273916/?match=1&terms=%22Neal%20of%20Nuxated%20Iron%22
 • “Neal Returns for Business.” Post-Standard. April 30, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091107180/
 • Bennet, James. “Tokalon.” Cosmetics and Skin. Jan. 26, 2025. https://cosmeticsandskin.com/companies/tokalon.php
 • “Gigantic Swindle Probably Bared.” Nebraska City Weekly. Jan. 16, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/728074626
 • “In Force of Life Case.” Houston Post. Jan 13, 1907. https://www.newspapers.com/image/94975109
 • “Nuxated Iron Sellers in Libel Suit.” The Times-Transcript. June 10, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106285753/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Part I: The 1906 Food and Drugs Act and Its Enforcement.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/changes-science-law-and-regulatory-authorities/part-i-1906-food-and-drugs-act-and-its-enforcement
 • “Personal Magnetism.” San Francisco Examiner. March 8, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457762995/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy
 • “Pope Receives O’Beirne.” New York Times. Sept 25, 1910. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20505640/?match=1&terms=%22pope%20receives%20o%27beirne%22
 • Schwarcz, Joe, PhD. “The Prince of Quackery.” McGill Office for Science and Society. July 16, 2025. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-history/prince-quackery
 • “Thought Waves Between ‘Em.” New York Sun. April 12, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-and-the-a/185828789/
 • “Tribune’s Answer in Libel Suit Calls E. Virgil Neal a Quck.” New York Tribune. June 23, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/469171423/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22
 • “Vain Search for Neal.” New York Times. January 16, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/16/101763032.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
 • “WORRIED ABOUT NEAL & CO.: Depositors, You See, Don’t Like Hypnotism in Banking.” New York Sun. March 4, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-hypnotic/176427712/
 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E. Virgil Neal: Hypnotist, Fraudster, Tycoon - Part 1

This 2022 episode covers Hortense and Marie Mancini, who tried to make a place for themselves in 17th-century Europe, defying all kinds of conventions along the way. 

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SYMHC Classics: Mancini Sisters

Tracy talks about a book that she didn't use for research on Viola Roseboro'. Holly talks about how wealth inequality has shaped science history.

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Behind the Scenes Minis: The Apostrophe and the Rich Guy

Boyle is frequently described at the first modern chemist, but his work encompassed much more than that. Among other things, he was a founding member of the Royal Society.
 
Research:
 
 • Boyle, Robert. “An account of Philaretus during his Minority.” Accessed online: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/E650001-100.html
 • Boyle, Robert. “New experiments physico-mechanicall.” Oxford. 1660. https://archive.org/details/chepfl-lipr-AXA74/mode/1up?q=proportional
 • Boyle, Robert. “New experiments physico-mechanical, touching the air.” London. Richard Davis. 1682. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A29007.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext
 • Boyle, Robert. “The Sceptical Chymist.” London. J. Crooke. 1661. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/22914/pg22914.txt
 • “Copy of Sir Robert Boyle's Will.” Brief History of Blue. https://omekas.prattsi.org/s/HistoryofBlue/item/109
 • “December 31, 1691: Death of Robert Boyle.” This Month in Physics History. APS News. Dec. 1, 2016. https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2016/12/this-month-in-physics-history
 • Henderson, Felicity. “What Scientists Want: Robert Boyle’s To-do List.” The Royal Society. August 26, 2010. https://royalsociety.org/blog/2010/08/what-scientists-want-boyle-list/
 • Highmore, Nathaniel. “The history of generation. Examining the several opinions of divers authors, especially that of Sir Kenelm Digby, in his Discourse of bodies ...” 1651. Accessed online: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/kv5tr2uz/items
 • Martin, Christy. “Full Boyle.” Distillations Magazine. Science History Institute Museum and Library. May 13, 2012. https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/full-boyle/
 • Masson, Flora. “Robert Boyle: A Biography.” London: Constable & Company Ltd. 1914. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/73234/pg73234.txt
 • Principe, Lawrence M.. "Robert Boyle". Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Boyle
 • “Robert Boyle (1627-1691): Sherborne School library benefactor.” The Old Shirburnian Society. https://oldshirburnian.org.uk/robert-boyle-1627-1691/
 • “Robert Boyle: wishlist of a Restoration visionary.” The Guardian. June 3, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/03/robert-boyle-royal-society-wishlist
 • “The Royal Society of London.” National Museum Australia. https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/exploration-and-endeavour/royal-society-london
 • Sweeney, Patricia E. “Robert Boyle.” Ebsco. 2022. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/robert-boyle
 • West, John B. “The Original Presentation of Boyle’s Law.” Journal of Applied Physiology 1999 87:4, 1543-1545. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jappl.1999.87.4.1543
 
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Robert Boyle

Viola Roseboro’ isn’t well-known today, but she played a big behind-the-scenes role in the careers of a lot of American writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shaping what’s thought of as the American literary canon. 
 
Research:
 
 • “4 New Features.” Washington D.C. Evening Star. 4/29/2013. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1913-04-29/ed-1/?sp=10&r=-0.115,-0.055,1.648,0.596,0
 • Dykeman, Wilma. “Tennessee Women: An Infinite Variety.” Newport. Wakestone Books. 1993.
 • Gorton, Stephanie. “The Strange, Forgotten Life of Viola Roseboro’.” The Paris Review. 2/24/2020. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/02/24/the-strange-forgotten-life-of-viola-roseboro/
 • Gregorie, Anne King. “Reviewed Work(s): Viola, The Duchess of New Dorp: A Biography of Viola Roseboro by Jane Kirkland Graham.” The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Apr., 1956). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27566059
 • Howell, Isabel. “Reviewed Work(s): Viola, the Duchess of New Dorp, a Biography of Viola Roseboro' by Jane Kirkland Graham.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, December, 1956. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42621315
 • McClure, S. S. “My Autobiography.” London: J. Murray. 1914. https://archive.org/details/myautobiography00mcclrich/
 • New York Times. “VIOLA ROSEBORO', FICTION EDITOR, 87; Former McClure's, Collier's Executive Dies--Helped O. Henry Get Start Bought Tarkington Stories Praised by Will Irwin.” 1/30/1945. https://www.nytimes.com/1945/01/30/archives/viola-roseboro-fiction-editor-87-former-mcclures-colliers-executive.html
 • Osborn, Scott C. “Reviewed Work(s): Viola, The Duchess of New Dorp: A Biography of Viola Roseboro by Jane Kirkland Graham.” The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 22, No. 2 (May, 1956). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2954261
 • “Person Annotations.” From “#0088: Transcription of Letter from Willa Cather to Viola Roseboro', June 14 [1903].” The Complete Letters of Willa Cather. Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. https://cather.unl.edu/writings/letters/let0088#ref001
 • Robinson, Phyllis C. “Willa: The Life of Willa Cather.” New York. Doubleday. 1983.
 • Roseboro, Viola. “Begging as an Avocation.” New York World. 12/11/1887. Via New York University “Undercover Reporting.” https://undercover.hosting.nyu.edu/s/undercover-reporting/item/13733
 • A. W.. “Reviewed Work(s): Viola, the Duchess of New Dorp. A Biography of Viola Roseboro' by Jane Kirkland Graham.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring,1956). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40189490
 • Schmalhofer, Stephen. “The Making of My Ántonia.” First Things. 12/17/2018. https://firstthings.com/the-making-of-my-ntonia/
 • Schmalhofer, Stephen. “Viola Roseboro’s literary garden.” The New Criterion. 12/12/2018. https://newcriterion.com/dispatch/viola-roseboros-literary-garden-10164/
 • Skaggs, Merrill M. “Viola Roseboro': A Prototype for Cather's ‘My Mortal Enemy’.” The Mississippi Quarterly , Winter 2000-01, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Winter 2000-01). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26476820
 • Skaggs, Merrill Maguire. “Willa Cather's New York: New Essays on Cather in the City.” Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. 2000.
 • Tarbell, Ida M. “All In The Day S Work An Autobiography.” The Macmillan Company. 1939. https://archive.org/details/allinthedayswork010810mbp/
 • The Georgia Historical Quarterly. “Reviewed Work(s): Viola, The Duchess of Nenx Dorp. A Biography of Viola Roseboro'. Two volumes in one by Jane Kirkland Graham.” Vol. 40, No. 2 (June, 1956). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40577676
 • Adkins, Gilbert R. “Two Daughters of Tennessee.” Franklin County Historical Review. 1986: XVII:1, 30-42.
 • Johanningsmeier, Charles. “Unmasking Willa Cather's ‘Mortal Enemy.’” Cather Studies. Vol. 5. https://cather.unl.edu/scholarship/catherstudies/5/cs005.johanningsmeier
 • Williams, Jay. “Author Under Sail: The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902.” University of Nebraska Press, 2014. Project MUSE. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/35026.
 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Literary Life of Viola Roseboro'

This 2016 episode covers the May 30, 1948 flood that destroyed Vanport, Oregon. What really makes the story more than a historical footnote is how it ties into the racial makeup of both Portland and Oregon at the time.

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SYMHC Classics: Vanport Flood

Tracy talks about a strange statement in a paper she read while working on the Carlos J. Finlay episode. Holly shares her amusement at the pact Hartlib and his friends made.

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SYMHC Classics: Vanport Flood

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