Once upon a time in New York City, there was a woman whose ambition to be recognized socially could not be ignored. Not only did she achieve wealth, status, and power, but she also campaigned for women’s rights.
A daughter of a wealthy Southern family, Alva Erskine Smith was born in Alabama in 1853. Her family, however, lost much of its wealth after the Civil War and moved to New York City, where it became evident to Alva that she needed to marry a wealthy man. William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius “The Commodore” Vanderbilt, was a perfect match for her. They wed in 1875 and had three children.
Once again Alva was wealthy and had a certain status, but she was unhappy due to the lack of inclusion by society maven Caroline Astor. To Caroline, the head of society in New York City, the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Carnegies, and others were “new money” and should be excluded from social events. She even reportedly had a list of 400 people who were considered acceptable.
This frustrated Alva, so she sought other ways of acceptance. As a result, she hosted one of the most opulent parties of the Gilded Age. She hosted the event in her newly finished home, Petit Château, which took up an entire city block and was built to impress and intimidate. Alva invited 1200 people to the masquerade ball, purposefully leaving the Astors off the list. This resulted in Mrs. Astor actually having to take socially appropriate measures to receive an invitation for her daughter and herself. The amount of money spent on the 1883 event would be about $6 million in today’s money.
Then the Commodore died and left Alva’s husband a fortune, about $65 million, in 1885. Determined to outshine the others, she started spending that money to impress society with her collections, her homes, and her yacht (the largest in the world at the time).
Ten years later, unhappy in her marriage, Alva took the audacious step of divorcing William K., this in a time when divorce was the kiss of death to a society woman. Yet, Alva refused to go quietly. Determined to have the life she wanted and to also make a way for other women who found themselves in bad marriages, Alva forged on. The next year she married Oliver Belmont, an old friend of her husband’s. She spent lavishly and continued her involvement in NYC society.
After Oliver’s death in 1908, Alva found new purpose by immersing herself in the women’s suffrage movement. The social set was horrified by this turn of events, but Alva pressed on. She opened her home for meetings, gave lectures, and led parades. Her lasting contribution was buying a headquarters for the National Woman’s Party in the nation’s capital, which is now preserved as a national monument, the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality monument.
There are many great books I have read in recent years about the Vanderbilt family and the Gilded Age society. I have added my favorites to the bookshelf here. This is an affiliate link; thank you for supporting my work.