‘The Gilded Age’ Explores a Rarely Seen Chapter of Black History
The New York Times
The HBO period drama wanted to depict an elite class of 19th-century Black New Yorkers with historical accuracy. Its cast and creative team worked to portray them with dignity.
In this week’s episode of “The Gilded Age,” the HBO period drama set in late 19th-century New York, the young aspirant Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) makes an unannounced visit to the Brooklyn home of her new friend, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), hoping to surprise her with a gift of sorts: a bag of old used shoes.
But Marian, who is white, receives the real surprise. She discovers that the Scott family, which is Black, is wealthy and educated. Peggy’s parents, Arthur (John Douglas Thompson), a pharmacist, and Dorothy (Audra McDonald), a pianist, live in an opulent brownstone with its own staff, and they are definitely not in need of the shoes.
The existence of an elite Black population in this era of the city — Black men and women who had careers, money and influence — is a factual reality, though one that is not often explored in popular culture.
