by Karin Tanabe
At the end of the nineteenth century, only three of the Seven Sisters schools accepted African-American students: Radcliffe, Wellesley, and Mount Holyoke. By the time Anita entered Vassar in 1893, Wellesley had had two African-American graduates, Harriet Rice in 1887 and Ella Smith in 1888. Mount Holyoke had graduated one African-American student, Hortense Parker in 1883, but at the time the school was a seminary (not the college it became in 1888) and the race of Miss Parker was only discovered when she arrived. Radcliffe had not graduated any African-American students when Anita entered Vassar, and would not until 1898, the same year that Mount Holyoke graduated an African-American from its college, but Radcliffe did not have the same restrictive policy as Vassar.
Because of these painfully low admissions statistics for African-Americans, I believe that Anita, her best friend, Bessie Baker, and Bessie’s younger sister Gertrude planned together where to apply to college for the best chances of acceptance. As Anita, Bessie, and Gertrude were coming into college in the classes of 1897, 1898, and 1900 respectively, they could not have been accepted to the same school, as even progressive Wellesley had never had three African-American students enrolled at the same time and would not for several decades. Anita, being the lightest of the three, had the best chance to pass as white, and thus by going to Vassar, Anita left spaces open for the Baker sisters at Radcliffe and Wellesley. I also think that the Bakers and Anita knew about Alberta Scott—a fellow gifted African-American student—and her intentions to apply to Radcliffe the same year that Bessie was hoping for admission at Wellesley, since Alberta was from Cambridgeport and grew up close to the Baker sisters.
Anita’s decision to attend Vassar was therefore motivated by much more than wanting the best education; it also allowed her equally gifted friends to attend Seven Sisters schools. (Smith, Barnard, and Bryn Mawr did not graduate African-Americans until the twentieth century—1900, 1928, and 1931, respectively—and if you do not count Anita Hemmings or Ellen Love, Vassar did not graduate an African-American student until 1944, the very last of the Seven Sisters to do so.)
Although I do not include much about Anita’s life after Vassar in the book (except for my last chapter, which focuses on her daughter Ellen), it was a large part of my research and proved to be just as fascinating as her Vassar years.
Anita and her husband, Andrew, who were married in 1903, did end up living in Tennessee, but were back in Massachusetts in 1905 when Andrew was a postgraduate student at Harvard for the summer. The couple finally settled in New York City, where their children attended elite private schools, including Horace Mann and Friends Seminary. (Their son Andrew later transferred to Mount Hermon in Massachusetts.) Though Anita and her husband desperately wanted their children to be more academically inclined, Ellen and Andrew Jr. ended up inheriting their mother’s love for performing. Ellen went on to a successful Broadway career, opening in Oklahoma! and testing for Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, according to Jillian. Andrew Jr. inherited Anita’s voice and good looks and was a successful musician on radio and TV. He sang for band leader Mitch Miller, as well as with his band the Tune Twisters, and wrote many well-known commercial jingles.
I had many unexpected discoveries while researching this book, but one of the most important was the friendship between Anita and Bessie Baker. Bessie may not have finished Wellesley, but she went on to guide her children’s educations in Massachusetts and Paris and to support her husband’s distinguished career. William Henry Lewis was not only the first African-American all-American football player (as I mention in the book), but went on to be the first African-American appointed as an assistant U.S. attorney and then was appointed assistant attorney general in 1910. He was also a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt and a leading voice for civil rights.
Bessie and William had three children together, and their son William Henry Lewis Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps, attending Harvard Law School and practicing with him. Their eldest daughter, Dorothy, graduated from Wellesley in 1920 and went on to marry a Belgian nobleman, while their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, earned a B.A. and an M.A. from Radcliffe, but met a tragic end—hanging herself at her parents’ home in 1926 soon after she began working as a teacher at the Cambridge Latin School.
I have yet to discover if Bessie and Anita’s friendship was maintained after Anita and Andrew began living as white in New York, but I sincerely hope that it was. With fervency, I will continue to dig into their stories, even as I move on to other books, for after immersing myself in Anita’s bright, brilliant, turn-of-the-century world, I know she will never leave me.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest gratitude to Kari-Lynn Rockefeller, my beloved friend, Vassar scholar, and the best research partner one could ever hope for. Kari, your passion and intelligence never cease to amaze me. Mary-Alice Farina, I am indebted to you for your help and constant encouragement. You were my other half at Vassar and always will be. Keisha Nishimura, thank you for lending your wisdom to this book and to my life. Juan Acosta, Marcus Barnes, Rebecca Brizi, Kristin Dailey, Christian Gabriel, Paola Mantilla, Dalia Rahman, Jamilyah Smith-Kanze, Kavita Srinivasan, Rashida Truesdale—your love and support continue to bolster me and my writing.
If it were not for Jillian Atkin Sim, Anita Hemmings’s great-granddaughter, Anita would be just another gifted, yet mostly unknown, African-American woman. I am so grateful for Jillian’s passion for her family history and for giving Anita a second life.
My editor, Sarah Cantin, yet again made my writing so much better with her superb edits. Sarah, your positivity and excellence in everything you do bring me infinite joy. Also at Atria, a giant thank-you to president and publisher Judith Curr, Tom Pitoniak, Carla Benton, Haley Weaver, Arielle Kane, and Tory Lowy.
Bridget Matzie, my wonderful, always insightful agent, deserves all the credit for giving this book legs and seeing the literary potential in Anita’s remarkable life from the very start. I’m also indebted to Elizabeth Ward, the first editor of this book, for her sharp eye and for helping me refine Anita’s story. Gilda Squire and Simone Cooper put their powerhouse PR and marketing skills behind me and my writing, and I’m so thankful to have such intelligent women on my side.
My research was hugely aided by the gifts of time and knowledge from Peter Weis, school archivist at Northfield Mount Hermon, who made Anita’s pre-Vassar education and the beauty of her prep school come alive for me. Dean Rogers and Ronald Patkus of the Vassar Archives & Special Collections Library deserve a world of appreciation, as they aided me in piecing Anita’s Vassar years together. And I’m thankful for the assistance of Patricia Hurley at Trinity Church Boston, Laura Reiner at Wellesley College, Myles Crowley at MIT, and for the research done by Nora Nercessian at Harvard Medical School.
I am indebted to my always supporters—Rebecca Frankel, Georgia Bobley, and the women of the Georgetown Book Club—and to my fantastic parents and my brother, Ken, who founded Loving Day, an annual celebration of Loving v Virginia, which struck down U.S. anti-miscegenation laws. I often thought of his tireless work for racial equality as I wrote. My husband, Craig Fischer, deserves buckets of gold for his patience and encouragement with this project. Craig, thank you for loving me as much as I love you.
And lastly, I am grateful to the staff of the Georgetown branch of the District of Columbia Public Libraries, where I scribbled much of this book and where I hope to write many more.
THE GILDED YEARS
KARIN TANABE
A Readers Club Guide
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. At the end of the novel, Ellen Love remarks of Vassar College that “part of us will always be here”. What is the significance of location in the novel? How do Vassar, Manhattan, and Boston shape Anita and Lottie? In your own experience, are there places that you feel have shaped you in similar ways? Do you think you’d be willing to give up part of who you are to keep those places in your life?
2. The Gilded Years depicts a time when th
e attitude toward women’s education and the prioritization of marriage was shifting in the United States. Did anything surprise you about characters’ opinions on these topics? Were they more or less similar to your own feelings or goals than you expected? If so, how?
3. “It is not an escape. . . . When one passes for a higher purpose, it’s worth it. . . .”. Do you agree with this sentiment? Why or why not?
4. At Bessie’s wedding, Anita considers the paths she and her friend have taken given their similar backgrounds, and wonders what her life would be like if she had made different choices. Do you think she would have been happy living a life more like Bessie’s? Why, or why not? How do the decisions they both make impact their friendship? Do you have friends with whom your paths have diverged, or ones who you feel are on a “shared path” with you?
5. In what ways does the revelation that Joseph Southworth is half Japanese differ from or parallel the reaction to the discovery that Anita is not white? Do you think these differences are the result of differing attitudes toward Japanese people and black people? The characters’ class backgrounds? Discuss these and any other factors you think were contributors (e.g., gender, having a white father, etc.).
6. On page 229, Lottie asserts that “Porter Hamilton was never a goal of mine. . . . I think my ego was crushed and I needed male reassurance. I’m much weaker than you are. No one over voted me the class beauty.” Do you believe her explanation and apology in this scene? Why or why not?
7. Did you notice any foreshadowing of Lottie’s betrayal? In retrospect, what moments hint at Lottie’s eventual actions? Alternately, what moments led you to believe she wouldn’t turn on Anita?
8. Anita reflects that Lottie has seemed “the most modern of women”. What does it mean to be “modern” in 1897? Does the same idea hold true today? In your own experiences, have you come across someone who espouses modern ideas but balks when confronted with situations that veer from tradition? Do you think Lottie was more concerned about Anita’s identity or her own reputation? Why?
9. Why do you think that Anita and her husband, Andrew, ultimately decided to pass as white again in New York and raise their children that way? Do you think it affected their relationships with their families? Should it have?
10. Many characters, such as William and Bessie, suggest to Anita that she has a duty to the black community as an intelligent and educated woman, and that her Vassar education will help her be a figure of progress. Did you agree that she owes something to the community she was raised in? Why or why not?
11. Lottie quips, “The faces in New York change, but the last names seldom do”. The notion of legacy figures prominently throughout the novel, from Vassar’s Society of the Granddaughters and wealthy family names, to Lottie’s fear of being forgotten. What does legacy mean to you? What is the significance of legacy in the novel?
12. We see only a brief glimpse of Anita’s daughter Ellen as she also passes for white at Vassar. Do you think this experience was easier for her because her family also passed? What challenges might have been different or similar to her mother’s situation? Were you surprised that Anita allowed her daughter to attend the school?
13. If you haven’t already, read the Afterword from Karin Tanabe about her research on the real Anita Hemmings. Are there any distinctions between the true story and the novel that struck you? Why do you think Tanabe made the changes she made?
ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB
1. As a group, look at images of (or consider visiting!) some of the locations in The Gilded Years, such as Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York; Oak Bluffs (known as Cottage City before 1907) on Martha’s Vineyard; or the places Anita visits in New York. Do they appear as you imagined them while reading?
2. Consider reading A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by Allyson Hobbs as a group for more historical background on the issue of passing. Discuss how Anita Hemmings fits into the large picture of passing in America.
3. When did your alma mater, or the colleges closest to your hometown, start admitting black students? What are their racial makeups today? Have there been any recent controversies with regards to racial tension at colleges in your state? How might things be improved for black students attending college today?
4. Try reading The Price of Inheritance by Karin Tanabe as a group, and compare the depictions of wealth with those in The Gilded Years. Discuss how Tanabe’s writing differs or remains the same in the entirely fictional contemporary novel compared with this historical novel based on a true story.
For more beautiful, gripping novels from Karin Tanabe, check out . . .
In this riveting debut novel, a behind-the-scenes look at the tangled worlds of media and politics, a journalist uncovers a juicy affair between a prominent politician . . . and her own business rival.
The List
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A young woman working in the high-end art world stumbles upon a rare antique—and an irresistible man with a dark past.
The Price of Inheritance
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ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!
JULIAN BARTON
Karin Tanabe is the author of The List and The Price of Inheritance. A former Politico reporter and a graduate of Vassar College, she lives in Washington, D.C.
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ALSO BY KARIN TANABE
The List
The Price of Inheritance
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Karin Tanabe
Cover design by Ploy Siripant
Building illustration by Joel Holland
Cover image © Natallia Litovchenko/Shutterstock; © ivangal/Shutterstock
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First Washington Square Press trade paperback edition June 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tanabe, Karin, author.
Title: The gilded years: a novel / Karin Tanabe.
Description: First Washington Square Press trade paperback edition. | New York : Washington Square Press, 2016.
Classification: LCC PS3620.A6837 G55 2016 | DDC 813/.6—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015037370
ISBN 978-1-5011-1045-0
ISBN 978-1-5011-1046-7 (ebook)
nbsp; Karin Tanabe, The Gilded Years
