Bibliograph

Greed in the gilded age, the brilliant con of Cassie Chadwick, William Elliott Hazelgrove

Type

Label

Greed in the gilded age, the brilliant con of Cassie Chadwick, William Elliott Hazelgrove

Language

eng

resource.accompanyingMatter

technical information on music

Form of composition

not applicable

Format of music

not applicable

Literary text for sound recordings

other

Main title

Greed in the gilded age

Responsibility statement

William Elliott Hazelgrove

Sub title

the brilliant con of Cassie Chadwick

Summary

Greed in the Gilded Age is a Gatsby-esque tale of mystery, money, sex, and scandal. 'Millionaire' had just entered the American lexicon and Cassie Chadwick was front page news, becoming a media sensation before mass media, even eclipsing President Roosevelt's inauguration. Using these newspaper articles, Hazelgrove tells the story of one of the greatest cons in American history. Combining the sexuality and helplessness her gender implied, Chadwick conned at least 2 million dollars, equivalent to about 60 million today, simply by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of steel titan, Andrew Carnegie. Playing to their greed, she was able to convince highly educated financiers to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars, on nothing more than a rumor and her word. She was a product of her time and painting her as a criminal is only one way to look at it. Those times rewarded someone who was smart, inventive, bold, and aggressive. She was able to break through boundaries of class, education, and gend

Target audience

adult

Transposition and arrangement

not applicable

Classification