Hillary Clinton’s historic turn as first woman presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party has sparked renewed interest in Victoria Claflin Woodhull. Victoria who? Back in 1872, when Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for President of the United States, nobody would have asked that question. Considered a visionary by some, a…
Oliver Belmont and … Jazz?
What does a Gilded-Age millionaire have in common with the Newport Jazz Festival? Bear with me … In 1891, Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont was a thirty-two-year-old divorced socialite who wanted to build a summer home in Newport. He hadn’t really accomplished much. He’d attended the United States Naval Academy, resigning after a brief and uneven…
Superstorm Sandy and Love Locks
Newport’s Cliff Walk is one of my all-time favorite places. What’s not to like? It’s a 3.5 mile public access walkway that skirts the ocean, offering phenomenal views of not only the sea but many of Newport’s Gilded Age mansions as well. It wasn’t always like this, of course. Historians suspect that the original path…
