Dirty Britches: Jane Swisshelm

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Taking a deeper dive into the dirty laundry basket of Jane Swisshelm. Often venerated in history as a feminist and abolitionist, Jane was also a down and dirty racist. Her anti-Native American writings and beliefs are frankly nauseating. Katy teaches us about the US-Dakota war in 1862 and Swisshelm's response and her continued demonization of Native people even as she worked for women's rights and the abolition of slavery. Jane deserves her spot in history, but not as a hero, rather a study of human contradiction and how we all should reflect on our own behaviors and beliefs. Even when good contributions are made, if damage is not acknowledged, let alone redressed, it lurks and it rots. Dirty. Laundry.