The Gilded Age Introduced a Major Figure in One of America’s First “Trials of the Century”

HBO has finally launched The Gilded Age, the new period drama from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, set in the United States (particularly New York City) during, well, the Gilded Age (from the 1870s to about 1900). The series deals with the social conflict between new money, represented by the Russell family, and old money, represented by the van Rhijn Family and the Astors.

There are lots of fun history nerd Easter eggs in the show, but one of my favorites so far has been the mention that the Russells’ large new house was designed and created by Stanford White.

Stanford White was a real person. He was a prominent New York architect who designed for many rich people, as well as popular landmarks in New York like the Washington Square Arch and Madison Square Garden. He was considered one of the prominent figures of the American Renaissance period.

He was also murdered at the Madison Square Theatre by Harry Kendall Thaw, for allegedly raping Thaw’s wife when she was a teenager.

Let’s back up.

Evelyn Nesbit was a famous model and chorus girl during this era. She was around 14/15 years old when she was introduced to White. Then, at 16/17, according to her, White drugged her when she was over at this house and date raped her. Due to the power he had and the financial benefits he gave her and her family, Evelyn felt pressured to maintain a relationship with White for a period of time.

White was married, but he conducted numerous “affairs,” including those with other underage girls. He had a velvet swing built in one of his living quarters that was part of his grooming tactics in being seen as a trustworthy figure.

Enter Harry Kendall Thaw, the son of a coal and railroad baron. He ended up falling in love with Evelyn, in a way that can be described as toxic and obsessive. Thaw was obsessed with her virginity and felt like White had “ruined” her. Thaw was already embittered towards White, and saw him as the reason why he never made it into part of the social elite of New York.

On June 25, 1906, Thaw shot White in front of a bunch of witnesses, and the love triangle and crime became a tabloid sensation that was labeled the “Trial of the Century”—the fourth ever to get this label and the second of the 20th century.

At Thaw’s trial, as written up by The Washington Post, his lawyers argued that he was not guilty because he was suffering from a form of temporary insanity they termed “dementia Americana.” It is—wait for it—”a disease that causes a red-blooded American male to go mad when he learns that someone has violated ‘the sanctity of his home or the purity of his wife.'”

The jury became deadlocked, and in a second trial, the jury found Thaw not guilty by reason of insanity. I guess that “dementia Americana” was #relatable.

Contemporary reporter Irvin S. Cobb explained the allure of the trial (via The Washington Post):

You see, it had in it wealth, degeneracy, rich old wasters, delectable young chorus girls and adolescent artists’ models; the behind-the-scenes of Theatredom and the Underworld, and the Great White Way. . . . the abnormal pastimes and weird orgies of overly aesthetic artists and jaded debauchees. In the cast of the motley show were Bowery toughs, Harlem gangsters, Tenderloin panderers, Broadway leading men, Fifth Avenue clubmen, Wall Street manipulators, uptown voluptuaries and downtown thugs.

Downton Abbey managed to jump through decades over its seasons, so if The Gilded Age continues, there is a chance we might get some lip service towards this huge moment in 20th century history.

(image: HBO Max)

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