Part
two of Karen Abbots " Sin in the
Second City" starts with reverend Ernest bell`s plan to destruct the Levee
district. Part one of the book was about prostitution in general but part two and three are about the rise and fall of
the Everleigh club and the politics surrounding it. The book moves forward with
great speed and never let go. It grips the attention of the reader with colorful
characters,suspense and interesting plot twist . The book is such a fluent read that
it's hard to put down once started. It is truly one of the most enjoyable novel
I have read in recent times.
This
novel is set in the height of the gilded age. Various social reforms in this
age transformed the society and gave rise to the progressive era. One of the
main characters of this novel, reverend Bell is a very influential reformer of
the time. In the first decade of the century, he amassed all his power to end
the "white slavery". He seeks the destruction of The Levee district
of Chicago. Along with other reformers, such as Clifford Roe, Arthur Farewell, Edwin
Simms, he wants to put an end to the world famous Levee district and its
shining beacon, the Everleigh Club, " Midnight
Mission’s next goal was the destruction of the South Side Levee, it made sense
to focus on its world-famous icon."1
 |
| The Levee District. |
The reformers
didn't have an easy path. The midnight mission with all its crusaders would
walk down the levee district every night, sometimes entering the parlor to pass
pamphlets. They were hurled obscenities by the harlots, sometimes even got eggs
thrown at them, but nothing skewed them from their path. Their only mission was
to destroy the levee and they would not stop for anything less. They seemed to believe
that "ends justifies the means", as they were not totally honest at times in spite of being men
of religion. Reverent bell would twist the world to fit his needs at times. In
one instance, “She
bade the crusaders good night, wondered if they would rearrange her words to create
a story she’d never told”.2
 |
| Ernest Bell preaching in the Levee |
The
trial of Mona Marshal opened the Pandora's box. Mona Marshal was one of the
unfortunate girls working in the levee.Like so many white slaves, she was deceived by a man and sold into slavery. Mona was seduced by a man named Harry
Balding and sold to a Levee dive. "One night in late May, feeling brave,
she scrawled, “I am a white slave,” on a scrap of paper and tossed it from her
window".3 Roe eventually took the case to court and he jury
found Harry ,the guy who kidnapped Mona along with others guilty and awarded
various punishments.4
 |
| Mona Marshal |
As the
story progressed, we can see the power of Levee leaders reducing. Ike Bloom and
Big Jim Colosimo became powerless against the wave after wave of attacks by the
reformers. When the political pressure became too intense, mayor Carter
Harrison II, who was a previous patron of the club, ordered it to close. After that the
sisters took a leave to Europe. Upon returning to Chicago, they tried various
ways to re-open the club, but it never materialized. They declined Ike bloom`s
offer to reopen the club, “We’ll make everything clean and respectable,” Bloom
insisted. “We’ll give the whole line your treatment. How’s that?”.5Soon
after the closing of the Everleigh Club, other clubs followed. All of the
madams got chased down, one after another. The sisters arch enemy, Vic Shaw`s dive
lasted a little more than the Everleigh club. In her later days she got
addicted to dope, spent some time in prison and eventually found "Jesus".
The
sisters chose to spend the next chapters of their life behind public eyes in Newyork.
They got a mansion in the upper west side of New York 6. The neighbors
got surprised by the procession of the goods, " neighbors peered from
windows to watch the movers carrying piece by curious piece: statues of Greek
gods, an entire library’s worth of books, lush tapestries and silk curtains,
wallsize oil paintings of Rubenesque models showing their naughty parts, two
marble-inlaid brass beds, a golden piano that shined up everything in its path.
".7 The sisters never opened up to the neighbors and lied about
their belongings. They ran a book club to kill their time. At first they didn't
have any visitors, but over the years some of their old Chicago confidants
visited them, most notably Charles Washburn. He made a habit of visiting them
every year on Minna`s birthday. Minna was the first of the sisters to die, Ada
died twelve years later.
 |
| Everleigh Sisters at rest |
The legacy
of Everleigh club is strong even today, more than a hundred years after its existence. It has even influenced the language. The root of popular euphemism "getting laid", which means having sex, can be traced back to
The Everleigh Club " I’m getting Everleighed tonight, eminent
men from around the country reportedly boasted ".8 The Mann act, which is one of the most influential
law regarding sex trafficking and still used today was motivated by Mourice Van
Beaver`s case. Bureau of investigation, which was created to regulate the
segregated district is the present day FBI. These crackdown of segregated
districts paved the way for open sexual discussion, that later opened up the
way for sexual revolution, " “A wave of sex hysteria and sex discussion
seems to have invaded this country”.9 The Everleigh club may be just
a high end brothel but the effect it had on American history is truly enormous.
I writer sympathized with the sisters a lot because they tried to bring honor to a profession
deemed ungodly by many.
1. Karen
Abbott. Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for
America's Soul (New York: Random House, 2007), 91.
2.
Abbott. Sin in the Second City, 103.
3. Abbott.
Sin in the Second City, 108.
4. Abbott.
Sin in the Second City, 113.
5.
Abbott, Sin in the Second City, 228.
6. Abbott,
Sin in the Second City, 235.
7. Abbott,
Sin in the Second City, 236.
8. Abbott,
Sin in the Second City, 34.
9. Abbott,
Sin in the Second City, 231.
No comments:
Post a Comment