About this episode

Lucy Worsley explores the story of Cloe, a black enslaved teenager, and her desperate acts of resistance against brutal oppression.

Lucy Worsley looks at the crimes of women from the 19th and early 20th centuries from a contemporary, feminist perspective. In this episode, we hear the story of Cloe, a black enslaved teenager who lives with the Carothers family, Andrew, Mary and their 11 children, on their farm in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Cloe is worked to the bone, constantly beaten by her mistress and sneaked on by the children. Over the course of a week, she drowns two of the family’s youngest children, Lucetta and Polly. Were Cloe’s actions those of a cold-blooded killer or an act of desperate resistance against brutal oppression? We get to hear Cloe’s motives in her own words - that she wants to heap misery on her mistress so the beatings will stop. Lucy is joined by Dr Nikki M Taylor, Professor of African American History at Howard University in Washington DC and the author of Brooding Over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women’s Lethal Resistance. Nikki travels to Simmons Creek, the site of the murders and visits the Cumberland Historical Society to find out more about Cloe’s fate. Back in the studio, Nikki challenges the idea that enslaved women only took part in secret, non-violent forms of…

People in this episode

Host: Lucy Worsley

Guest: Dr Nikki M Taylor

Topics covered

• enslavement
• feminist perspective
• historical crime
• resistance
• justice
• African American history

Keywords

• Cloe
• enslaved women
• brutal oppression
• historical crime
• African American history
• resistance
• justice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Howard University, Cumberland Historical Society

Books & works: Brooding Over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women’s Lethal Resistance

Places: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

More episodes of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

• 60. True Crime on Trial · February 24, 2026 · 28 min
• 59. Kitty Newton - Killer Daughter · February 17, 2026 · 28 min
• 58. Mary Pearcey - Murderous Lover · February 10, 2026 · 29 min
• 57. Jessie McLachlan - Silenced Servant · February 3, 2026 · 29 min
• 56. Elvira Barney - Accidental Killer · January 27, 2026 · 28 min
• 54. Martha Brown - Domestic Violence · January 13, 2026 · 29 min

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