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In 1917, Katharine Gibbs rebounded from personal tragedy in an unusual way: she decided to train a subversive, feminist army. Nearly broke and with only a high school education, Gibbs trained women as executive secretaries, building a famous school in just a few years. "Gibbs Girls" were so intelligent, competent, and polite, that no one could justify the dusty old notions that women belonged at home. The American workplace was changed forever. Our guest is Vanda Krefft, author of Expect Great Things! How the Katharine Gibbs School Revolutionized the American Workplace for Women. ____________________ Check out our upcoming TOURS: witness women's history with What'sHerName and find your people! Music in this episode: Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, "If I Had You" and "All By Yourself in the Moonlight"; Nat Shikret & The Victor Orchestra, "The Things That Were Made for Love"; Johnny Marvin, "True Blue Lou"; Arden & Ohman, "We'll Be the Same"; Paul Whiteman Orchestra, "Love Me"; Fred Rich & His Orchestra, "Nobody But You"; Leo Reisman & His Orchestra, "I Kiss Your Hand Madame"; Amulets, "Resolver"; JVNA, "Athena". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Biographer Vanda Krefft returns to the show to celebrate her wonderful & illuminating new book: EXPECT GREAT THINGS!: How the Katharine Gibbs School Revolutionized the American Workplace for Women (Algonquin Books). We talk about the turn of the (20th) century origins of Katharine Gibbs & her school, the legacy of her executive secretarial course for generations of women, "Gibbs Girls'" descendants' desire to honor their family members, the incredible quality of faculty Gibbs was able to recruit, the risks women had to take to enter the professional workforce, and the Trojan Horse campaign of teaching women to learn how businesses work until they're able to run them themselves. We get into Vanda's desire to write about people who were overlooked in history, how this book veered away from her initial idea, how it required a different mode than her biography of William Fox, the challenges of century-old research into women's lives, what she had to learn about the history of women in America, the myth that the 1920s were liberating for women, and her interest in mid-century America. We also discuss how the Gibbs school declined when the family finally sold it in the late '60s, what she'd like her next book to be about, her experience living in Santa Monica during the LA fires, a lengthy aside about publishing and the changes I've seen, getting inspired by Howard Fishman's book on Connie Converse, and a lot more. Follow Vanda on Instagram • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe, Patreon, or Paypal, and subscribe to our e-newsletter
In this episode we have a compelling conversation with Vanda Krefft about one of the original studio moguls William Fox. Vanda has written a comprehensive book titled: The Man who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox. Vanda previews her book with us and she knows her stuff. Enjoy! Recorded in 2019https://www.vandakrefft.com/#Thanks for listening!
In this week's episode, we interview Vanda Krefft, author of The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox. This interview was recorded during BIO's May 2018 annual conference in […]
When you hear “Twentieth Century Fox,” I doubt you know where the source of “Fox” in the name. In her book, The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017), Vanda Krefft presents a detailed biography of one of the founders of the American film industry, whose successes are largely unknown because of his ultimate downfall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When you hear “Twentieth Century Fox,” I doubt you know where the source of “Fox” in the name. In her book, The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017), Vanda Krefft presents a detailed biography of one of the founders of the American film industry, whose successes are largely unknown because of his ultimate downfall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When you hear “Twentieth Century Fox,” I doubt you know where the source of “Fox” in the name. In her book, The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017), Vanda Krefft presents a detailed biography of one of the founders of... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When you hear “Twentieth Century Fox,” I doubt you know where the source of “Fox” in the name. In her book, The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017), Vanda Krefft presents a detailed biography of one of the founders of the American film industry, whose successes are largely unknown because of his ultimate downfall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When you hear “Twentieth Century Fox,” I doubt you know where the source of “Fox” in the name. In her book, The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017), Vanda Krefft presents a detailed biography of one of the founders of the American film industry, whose successes are largely unknown because of his ultimate downfall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Matthew Sweet is joined by critics Ryan Gilbey and Ellen E Jones to look at the films nominated for this year's Academy Awards and the tradition of films with a campaigning message. Film historian Vanda Krefft charts the complicated life of William Fox, the man who founded the Fox Film Corporation. Comedian Lucy Porter and author Steve Massa celebrate the women of the silent era who starred alongside the likes of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox is by Vanda Krefft. Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy is by Steve Massa. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith
Three dozen of the year's Virtual Memories Show guests tell us about the favorite books they read in 2017 and the books they hope to get to in 2018! Guests include Pete Bagge, Kathy Bidus, Sven Birkerts, RO Blechman, Kyle Cassidy, Graham Chaffee, Howard Chaykin, Joe Ciardiello, John Clute, John Crowley, John Cuneo, Ellen Datlow, Samuel R. Delany, Nicholas Delbanco, Barbara Epler, Joyce Farmer, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, Paul Gravett, Liz Hand, Vanda Krefft, Michael Meyer, Cullen Murphy, Jeff Nunokawa, Mimi Pond, Eddy Portnoy, Keiler Roberts, Martin Rowson, Matt Ruff, Ben Schwartz, Vanessa Sinclair, Ann Telnaes, Michael Tisserand, Gordon Van Gelder, Shannon Wheeler, Wallis Wilde-Menozzi, Matt Wuerker . . . and me! Check out their selections at our site! Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal
Quick: Who is the "Fox" in 20th Century Fox? You'd know if you read Vanda Krefft's fantastic new book, The Man Who Made The Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper)! Vanda joins the show to talk about William Fox's contributions to the movies, why he's virtually unknown today, and how she discovered his story. We also get into her decade-plus experience of researching and writing the book, Vanda's transition from journalist to biographer, the limits of historical records, the damage Fox wrought on his extended family by supporting them, the biographer's need to correct for hindsight, the influence of Nancy Drew on her writing career, the contrasts of her early life in Canada and her adult life in the US, and more! • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal
Though not a figure in the public imagination today, William Fox is a man whose legacy is visible in the numerous media enterprises that bear his name. Vanda Krefft‘s biography The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017) leads readers through the remarkable arc of Fox’s life, one that took him from the slums of New York City to the glittering lights of Hollywood. The immigrant son of Hungarian Jews, Fox got his start in the entertainment industry in 1904 as an exhibitor. Enjoying success but chafing under the restrictive terms of film distributors, in 1915 he expanded into production, creating the Fox Film Corporation. As Krefft explains, Fox favored a director-centric approach to film making, working with such legendary figures as John Ford and F. W. Murnau to produce some of the greatest films of the silent era. By the late 1920s he had built a vast entertainment empire, only to lose first his fortune and then his company in the economic collapse at the end of the decade, which left him to watch as others turned his studio into 20th Century Fox, one of the big six studios in Hollywood today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Though not a figure in the public imagination today, William Fox is a man whose legacy is visible in the numerous media enterprises that bear his name. Vanda Krefft‘s biography The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017) leads readers through the remarkable arc of Fox’s life, one that took him from the slums of New York City to the glittering lights of Hollywood. The immigrant son of Hungarian Jews, Fox got his start in the entertainment industry in 1904 as an exhibitor. Enjoying success but chafing under the restrictive terms of film distributors, in 1915 he expanded into production, creating the Fox Film Corporation. As Krefft explains, Fox favored a director-centric approach to film making, working with such legendary figures as John Ford and F. W. Murnau to produce some of the greatest films of the silent era. By the late 1920s he had built a vast entertainment empire, only to lose first his fortune and then his company in the economic collapse at the end of the decade, which left him to watch as others turned his studio into 20th Century Fox, one of the big six studios in Hollywood today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Though not a figure in the public imagination today, William Fox is a man whose legacy is visible in the numerous media enterprises that bear his name. Vanda Krefft‘s biography The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017) leads readers through the remarkable arc of Fox’s life, one that took him from the slums of New York City to the glittering lights of Hollywood. The immigrant son of Hungarian Jews, Fox got his start in the entertainment industry in 1904 as an exhibitor. Enjoying success but chafing under the restrictive terms of film distributors, in 1915 he expanded into production, creating the Fox Film Corporation. As Krefft explains, Fox favored a director-centric approach to film making, working with such legendary figures as John Ford and F. W. Murnau to produce some of the greatest films of the silent era. By the late 1920s he had built a vast entertainment empire, only to lose first his fortune and then his company in the economic collapse at the end of the decade, which left him to watch as others turned his studio into 20th Century Fox, one of the big six studios in Hollywood today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Though not a figure in the public imagination today, William Fox is a man whose legacy is visible in the numerous media enterprises that bear his name. Vanda Krefft‘s biography The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017) leads readers through the remarkable arc of Fox’s life, one that took him from the slums of New York City to the glittering lights of Hollywood. The immigrant son of Hungarian Jews, Fox got his start in the entertainment industry in 1904 as an exhibitor. Enjoying success but chafing under the restrictive terms of film distributors, in 1915 he expanded into production, creating the Fox Film Corporation. As Krefft explains, Fox favored a director-centric approach to film making, working with such legendary figures as John Ford and F. W. Murnau to produce some of the greatest films of the silent era. By the late 1920s he had built a vast entertainment empire, only to lose first his fortune and then his company in the economic collapse at the end of the decade, which left him to watch as others turned his studio into 20th Century Fox, one of the big six studios in Hollywood today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Though not a figure in the public imagination today, William Fox is a man whose legacy is visible in the numerous media enterprises that bear his name. Vanda Krefft‘s biography The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017) leads readers through... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Though not a figure in the public imagination today, William Fox is a man whose legacy is visible in the numerous media enterprises that bear his name. Vanda Krefft‘s biography The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox (Harper, 2017) leads readers through the remarkable arc of Fox’s life, one that took him from the slums of New York City to the glittering lights of Hollywood. The immigrant son of Hungarian Jews, Fox got his start in the entertainment industry in 1904 as an exhibitor. Enjoying success but chafing under the restrictive terms of film distributors, in 1915 he expanded into production, creating the Fox Film Corporation. As Krefft explains, Fox favored a director-centric approach to film making, working with such legendary figures as John Ford and F. W. Murnau to produce some of the greatest films of the silent era. By the late 1920s he had built a vast entertainment empire, only to lose first his fortune and then his company in the economic collapse at the end of the decade, which left him to watch as others turned his studio into 20th Century Fox, one of the big six studios in Hollywood today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Vanda Krefft, author of The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox