Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age takes some creative liberties with its storytelling, but many of the plots, characters and events are rooted in true stories and historical context.
Season 1 of the show, named after the period coined by Mark Twain in a novel, starts in 1882, and it tackes themes of old money vs. new money social tension, racims after the abolishment of slavery, upstairs and downstairs dynamics with servants and much more.
RELATED: ‘The Gilded Age’ Cast Throughout The Seasons Of The Period Drama
Find a brief list below — with additions as Season 3 progresses — of nods to history found in all three seasons of The Gilded Age so far:
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The Russells vs. The Van Rhijns
Image Credit: HBO Max The Russell and van Rhijn families — who are set up in Season 1 as the main characters followd throughout the show in a dueling nature — are entirely fictional, but that isn’t to say that there weren’t people like them during the actual Gilded Age that inspired the characters. Several figures in the show are based on real-life people.
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T. Thomas Fortune (Sullivan Jones)
Image Credit: HBO Max Sullivan Jones’ T. Thomas Fortune was a real Black newspaperman during the Gilded Age. He was born enslaved in Florida in 1856, and he attended Howard University briefly before moving to New York City in 1879.
In the show, Denée Benton’s Peggy works for Fortune at the New York Globe, reporting on topics from Tuskegee to suffrage. Season 2 watched their relationship get romantically complicated.
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Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy)
Image Credit: HBO Max There really was a Mrs. Caroline Astor as well, and she was at the top of society at this point in time. Her full name was Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, and she was sought after by many new money New Yorkers who wanted to break into the upper echelon of society.
Rather than a Bertha Russell, it was Alva Smith Vanderbilt who socially challenged the real-life Mrs. Astor, who, in Season 3, deals with not just Amy Forsythe’s Carrie Astor but another daughter Charlotte Augusta Astor (Hannah Shealy). The real-life Mrs. Astor had five children — four daughters and a son.
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Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane)
Image Credit: HBO Max Mr. Ward McAllister existed as an observer of society and the New York elite as well, and he was Mrs. Astor’s right-hand man.
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Electricity
Image Credit: HBO Max The display of electricity in Season 1 is on par with when the element was harnessed historically. If the interiors in the first season of the period drama seem dim, it’s because that is meant to be, as without electricity, candlelight was the only other available light source.
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Brooklyn Bridge Architect – Emily Warren Roebling (Liz Wisan)
Season 2 Episode 5 brought about a major revelation that is true to history. When George Russell (Morgan Spector) asked his son Larry (Harry Richardson) to represent him as a trustee of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was built during The Gilded Age, Larry paid a visit to Mr. Roebling, chief engineer behind the construction, but he made the discovery that it was really Roebling’s wife who was actually the brains of the operation. Larry only was able to realize this after trying to find Mr. Roebling at his office and approaching their home to meet with the man.
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Union Railroad Strike
Image Credit: HBO Max Also in Season 2, Mr. Russell has a railroad union strike on his hands, and this event was based on real history. Though taking place in different years, two major strieks around the time of the Gilded Age were The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and The Pullman Strike of 1894.
In the show, it was steelworkers in Pittsburg going on strike, and it takes place in 1883, but the 1892 Homestead Strike that took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania most closely resembles the context of the show’s strike, in which Mr. Russell is more sympathetic in his negotiations with Bill Henderson (Darren Goldstein), the union leader in Season 2. The laborers unionized in the show for an 8-hour work day and better wages.
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