This episode examines a Christmas letter Sam Clemens sent to his wife Olivia in 1871, full of good wishes for the season---and urging her to get her smallpox vaccination. Erin's guest on this episode is Kelly O'Donnell, lecturer in History at Yale University. Note: This episode contains discussion of child death. Read more here: https://marktwainhouse.org/2021/06/08/ss-get-vaccinated Offer your thoughts on the current short here: https://www.marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts Episode transcript: https://marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts/e01 Music in this episode: "Grace & Beauty Rag," composed by John Scott, recorded by Giorgio Di Campo for FreeSound Music http://freesoundmusic.eu https://youtube.com/freesoundmusic Equilibrium I (cello version), by David Horowitz, CC NC 4  "Wistful Rain" by Ghostrifter Official | https://soundcloud.com/ghostrifter-official, Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported "Wall Street Rag," composed by Scott Joplin, performed by Constantin Stephen, CC NC 4  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sams-shorts/message

Sam's Shorts, a project of the Mark Twain House & Museum, explores the unfamiliar, unconventional, and uncensored writings of Sam Clemens--better known as Mark Twain. You can offer your thoughts on the current Sam’s Shorts any time by visiting www.marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts GRACE & BEAUTY RAG royalty free Music recorded by Giorgio Di Campo for @FreeSound Music  http://freesoundmusic.eu https://www.facebook.com/freemusicfor... https://youtube.com/freesoundmusicoriginal video:  https://youtu.be/a039-Mc7q_I --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sams-shorts/message