The late nineteenth century, spanning the Gilded Age (1877-1893) and the Progressive Era (1890-1919), is a fascinating period of U.S. history. I decided it was the perfect era for my Concordia Wells mystery series.
It was a world of haves and have-nots, and the heightened social consciousness that went along with it. A person of that time period would see strikes, rallies, and parades galore – for worker safety, fair wages, and women’s rights (especially suffrage); perhaps be among the many activists who worked to expose government corruption, or seek to reform laws that exploited children, immigrants, and the poor; attend temperance meetings or join “improvement” societies; or benefit from the formation of settlement houses and women’s colleges.
It was also a world of brilliant inventors and con men; quack remedies and forward-thinking devices ranging from the humble zipper (1891) to the world-changing airplane (1903).
Entrepreneurs of the late nineteenth century harvested the fruits of the industrial age to become formidably wealthy and powerful. This was the age of Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan: men who controlled the banks, the railways, the steamers, and the steel mills.