Newport, Rhode Island has been an important center for the evolution of America's African heritage community. -- from its earliest days of the 18th century slave trade to the late 19th century years of the Gilded Age,

Viewers of HBO Max's The Gilded Age follow the character of Peggy Scott and her family to Newport and into the center of its wealthy, thriving Black community in the late 19th century.

Joining The Gilded Gentleman to trace this extraordinary history of Newport's African heritage community is Rhode Island's historian laureate Keith Stokes. Keith is a 9th generation Newporter and is descended from many of the major players that were trailblazers in civic government, education, medicine and science during Newport's Gilded Age.

The stories of the Astor and Vanderbilt families along with many others of the New York elite is only part of the story of Newport and its pivotal role in American history. This episode hopes to reveal another.

For more Gilded Age adventures, listen to the Gilded Gentleman podcast and the Bowery Boys podcast. You can also find Tom Meyers on the Official Gilded Age Podcast.

This episode was edited by Keiran Gannon.

The divine Mamie Fish, the eagle-eyed, sharp tongued social arbiter that regularly appears in the HBO series The Gilded Age, was indeed a real Gilded Age socialite,known for her incisive wit and no-nonsense comments on the glittering world around her.

In this encore episode, Carl sits down with actor Ashlie Atkinson who plays Mamie in the series and listener favorite historian Keith Taillon to talk about the real Mamie Fish and both what the real and fictional Mamie are really like.

Visit the website for more information and subscribe to the Gilded Gentleman podcast for more amazing stories of the Gilded Age.

This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.

During the late 19th century, nearly 200 wealthy young American women were caught up in marriages with members of British and European nobility.

The goal was to secure aristocratic titles that would create a solid social position for the American family wishing to climb through the snobbery of Gilded Age society. The European gentlemen, meanwhile, wanted the American funds to shore up crumbling wealth and in some cases quite literally repair the ancestral estate.

But many of these forced marriages ended in sadness, divorce or even tragedy although some grew into true love matches.

Join Carl for this ENCORE episode as he unravels the social politics of some of the most famous Gilded Age Million Dollar Princesses including the model for The Gilded Age's Gladys Russell herself - Consuelo Vanderbilt who became the Duchess of Marlborough with her marriage to the Duke. .