If you have been watching "The Gilded Age" on HBOmax then today's episode will be just what you are looking for to get a little extra information on some of the characters.  Mrs. Russell in the series is based on the real life of Alva Vanderbilt.  She was a determined and strong women who knew what she wanted for herself and her family and would do almost anything to get it.  Once her family was grown she moved on to suffrage and used her money and notoriety to advance this cause.

Stay tuned because next week we will dive into the life of Consuelo Vanderbilt who is represented in the series as Gladys Russell. 

Works Cited

“A Forgotten Vanderbilt Finally Gets Her Due.” Garden & Gun, 12 Oct. 2018, https://gardenandgun.com/articles/forgotten-vanderbilt-finally-gets-due/. Accessed 10 Mar. 2022.

Faeder, Eric. “Women’s History Month Spotlight: Alva Vanderbilt Belmont.” Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service), 31 May 2021, https://www.nps.gov/vama/blogs/womens-history-month-spotlight-alva-vanderbilt-belmont.htm. Accessed 10 Mar. 2022.

Krick, Jessa. “Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) and the House of Worth.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrth/hd_wrth.htm (October 2004)

MacColl, Gail, and Carol McD. Wallace. To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery in the Gilded Age (An Inspiration for Downton Abbey). Workman Publishing, 2012.