January 23rd at The Montauk Club: The story of a brazen Gilded Age scandal
Bowery Boys Talks at the Montauk Club presented by Bowery Boys Walks
The Scandalous Hamiltons chronicles a tawdry Gilded Age scandal involving Robert Ray Hamilton, a privileged great grandson of Alexander Hamilton, his marriage to Evangeline Steele, a woman with a dubious past, and their baby, Beatrice, who was plucked from an illegal orphanage.
Thursday, January 23rd at 7 pm
The Montauk Club in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Their story involved bigamy, bribery, sex and violence and played out on the front pages of dozens of New York City dailies, and hundreds of newspapers nationwide. The sordid courtroom drama that pitted Eva against the Hamilton family set off a frenzied hunt for breaking news and spicy stories, the more lurid the better. Had this scandal happened today, the wild accusations and conspiracy theories it spawned would have broken the internet.
Join Bill Shaffer, author of The Scandalous Hamiltons, for this gripping tale of Gilded Age mischief.
This talk will take place at the historic and beautiful Montauk Club, a Gilded Age gem established as a private club in 1889.
Talk Highlights:
- Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and the rise of tabloid journalism.
- The role of legendary New York police detective, Tommy Byrnes.
- A mysterious death in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- A cameo appearance by famed reporter, Nellie Bly.
- The eventual fate of Ray and Eva’s daughter, Beatrice Hamilton.
- The Hamilton Fountain in Riverside Park.
Tickets
$30 per person
Duration
Talk: Approximately 90 minutes including a Q&A and slide presentation
(Doors open at 6:30 pm, talk starts at 7 pm)
Location
Venue: Montauk Club, 25 8th Ave, Brooklyn
In addition to The Scandalous Hamiltons, Bill Shaffer is the contributing author of Baranger Motion Displays: 55 Moving Scenes of Love, Courtship and Surrender, published by Vitra Design Museum in 2022, and has been published on designobserver-dot-com and Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum online. He is also a licensed New York City tour guide.