Let’s go back in time to the late 1800s and into the early 1900s which is the era in which this beautiful woman lived her youth. Her name was, Evelyn Nesbit. Don’t know how big a fan you are of vinage American advertising illustration art, but she was the model for the “Gibson Girl” created by the famous illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. But that story is for another post.
More interestingly she was a Pittsburgh native, (alright Tarentum), who made it big as a chorus girl on Broadway during the early 1900s. She caught the attention of many rich and influential men in New York city, two of which were Harry K. Thaw, who was also from Pittsburgh, and the other was a famous architect called Stanford White of the famous architectural firm McKim, Mead & White.
To cut a long post short, the three got messily involved and in 1906, on the roof of Madison Square Garden of all places, Harry shot and killed Stanford. A scandal like that got a lot of media attention even in those days. The trial that followed became known as “the trial of the century”. Harry pleaded temporary insanity and was acquitted.
There’s a show on PBS called “The American Experience” that once featured the story of this love triangle, but I cannot find a link to that episode on their website. To read more about it click here and here.
joe@joewinklerart.com
JoeWinklerArt.com
