La Jaguarina
This week, we cover the swashbuckling Californian adventures of Ella Hattan, aka La Jaguarina - flamboyant 19th century California dueller extraordinaire. Show notes! Sources & more reading: Colonel Thomas Monstery, and the Training of Jaguarina, America’s Champion Swordswoman La Jaguarina!, Houghton Library Blog The Jaguarina-Wiedermann Battle, Journal of Manly Arts, 2002 (the irony) Women's History Spotlight: Jaguarina and Colonel Monstery Jaguarina at Pacific Beach World Renown Champion Amazon: Jaquarina Los Angeles Herald, 1890-1893, October, 1892 Godey's magazine (1896), HathiTrust Digital Library Indianapolis Journal, December 1897 Images (also accessible via @bustleswordpod) Horseback fencing here and here Fight uniform More fanciful version of it THAT fencing picture Jaguar outfit Further context: Mara Laura Keire, For Business and Pleasure: Red-Light Districts and the Regulation of Vice in the United States, 1890–1933 for more context on the Ladies' Alimony's Club lithograph kept at Library of Congress. As mentioned, this lithograph also shows examples of racist and antisemitic caricatures - corresponding to the racism of American theatre. This article from National Black Theatre is a snapshot overview of the history of Black theatre in the US.