7.1.07 Sin in the Second City
Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history—and a catalyst for a culture war that rocked the nation. Operating in Chicago’s notorious Levee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club’s proprietors, two aristocratic (or so they said) sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, attracted the elites of the world with their opulent parlors and stunning courtesans. While lesser whorehouses specialized in deflowering virgins, beatings and bondage, the Everleighs spoiled their harlots with couture gowns, gourmet meals and extraordinary salaries. Not everyone appreciated the sisters’ attempts to elevate the industry. Rival madams hatched numerous schemes to ruin the Everleighs, including attempts to frame them for murder. But the sisters’ most daunting foes were the Progressive Era reformers, who whipped the entire country into a frenzy with lurid tales of “white slavery.” It was a furor that shaped America’s sexual culture and had repercussions all the way to the White House, even leading to the formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. With a cast of characters that includes Jack Johnson, John Barrymore, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Theodore Dreiser, William Howard Taft, and Al Capone, Sin in the Second City is Karen Abbott’s portrait of the maverick Everleigh sisters, their world-famous Club, and the perennial clash between our hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots.
Karen Abbott worked as a journalist on the staffs of Philadelphia magazine and Philadelphia Weekly, and has written for Salon and other publications. A native of Philadelphia, she now lives with her husband in Atlanta, where she’s at work on her next book for Random House, a portrait of Gypsy Rose Lee and Depression-era New York City. Visit her at www.sininthesecondcity.com.
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[…] Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul by Karen Abbott: I cannot gush about this book enough. Give me whores (from the classy to the camp), glamour, carriages, a rags-to-riches story, corrupt politicans, greed, genius and heartbreak and I’m sold. This deftly researched book examines one of the most colorful periods in turn of the century Chicago: the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history. You MUST read, read, read this book. And do join me this Sunday as I chat with the author on Writers Revealed. […]
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Question for author:
Can you explain how you went about reseaching for this book?
What made you decide to write about the Everleigh club? How did you come across its existence in the Chicago area?
Why Chicago? What sparked your interest in that city in particular, rather than, say, New York or Philadelphia?
If the Everleigh sisters operated today, how different or similar would their strategy be?
Obviously when it comes to the worlds oldest profession there are valid points to be made on both the criminalize and decriminalize sides of the argument. In what ways do you think the cultural landscape of America would differ today had the government taken a cue from the Everleigh sisters and decided to regulate some class into ‘the business’ as opposed to abolishing it altogether?
Were you able to use any original sources i.e. diaries or letters from the real life working girls?
The sisters high class brothel reminds of the old teahouses and brothels in Chinese history. This idea seems out of place with the stereotypes we associate with prostitution. During your research did you find other cultures who had similar types of brothels?
So, uh, hookers. A sensationalist topic or a passionate interest?