Black Gilded Age: Millionaires, Oysters & Schooling, Oh My!
So let me get this straight... right after the Emancipation Proclamation, while America was busy congratulating itself, a Black aristocracy was quietly assembling in NYC, owning pharmacies and calling themselves an 'aristocracy,' as 'Ethiop' bravely noted. HBOâs The Gilded Age throws shade on classic rich-vs-rich drama but also spotlights figures like 'the New York Oyster King' Thomas Downing and Peggy Scott, whose family thrived despite a society that treated them like museum exhibits. As historian Carla Peterson said, 'The Black elite of the Gilded Age signaled that we, too, have taste.' Taste! In oysters that isâmic drop.
Share the Story
Oh, Iâm sorry, did I miss the part where 'The Gilded Age' was a history book that only taught about white tycoons? Nah, turns out there was a Black oyster king, millionaire pharmacists, and authors schooling the elite way before Hulu caught on.
So the Gilded Age was basically Monopoly, but with actual Black moguls flipping businesses and schooling everyone while the rest were busy decorating their gold-plated sadness with inherited diamonds? Mind blown.
Imagine realizing richer-than-your-wildest-dreams Black families were thriving post-Emancipation while we got handed potboilers about captains of industry. HBO pulled back the velvet curtain, and yeah, we were here too.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 8/2/2025 | Author: Gabbi Shaw,Yoonji Han
More Articles in US News
CES 2026: The Worldâs Largest Tech Flex in the Las Vegas Desert
Sydney Sweeney's $1M Flop, Trump-Approved Jeans & Bathwater Soap Fiasco
America Adds 50,000 Jobs, But Those 70,000 Stayed Home for Holidays
Trump Declares War on Wall Streetâs Single-Family Home Monopoly, But Not the Homes They Own
Federal Agents Shoot, Portland Leaders Debate Whoâs More Overreach-y
Federal Agents Play Hide-And-Seek With Guns, Accidentally Shoot People
ICE Agent Did Exactly What He Was Taught, But No One Knows What That Means
