Rewriting Madams back into Herstory

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, a widely held misconception is that men are responsible for holding women against their will in brothels. However, I have found that women are also  in fact running the brothels that are sexploitating so many helpless victims around the world. When I thought about this, I was so perplexed. “What sort of woman could do that to a fellow woman or child?” I asked myself. And so I went on a small venture to study famous madams across history who have made a living by selling sex. Some of these women have fascinating stories. Although their “success”  is in a profession that some may conceive as reprehensible, madams are an important part of women’s herstory. These women have established businesses for themselves and generated revenues for other women at times when women were restricted to jobs such as house servant, washerwoman, and seamstress. As I have investigated some of history’s most fascinating madams, I must admit that even if their successes may have been achieved under unscrupulous circumstances, these madams were strong and very powerful women.

As we embark on a small voyage to discover what it means to be a madam, it is only fitting to begin our quest in the Crescent City, otherwise known as New Orleans. New Orleans was a city that was built on the backs of “loose lady” citizens and wayward sailor denizens. In the 19th century, red-light districts were found in most cities of the United States. As our forefathers were discovering the West, ladies of the evening headed in the same direction to earn their keep in brothels, shacks, and other houses for “ill-reputed women.” But as author Al Rose tells us in the book Storyville, New Orleans, the Big Easy was home to the only legalized red-light district in the U.S. Rose’s book continues to uncover the truth that King Louis XIV and Louis XV were actually the ones responsible for shipping women of ill-repute to marry colonists of New Orleans. From the beginnings of its settlement, prostitution was a ubiquitous vice of the city.

Law-makers were unable and perhaps unwillingly to quell the rancor of New Orleans red light district. Sidney Story was the politician who wrote the legislation to delegate a section of the city where prostitutes could live and work. Al Rose’s book goes on to explain that the legislation by the City Council did not “legalize” prostitution per say. But, it did allow for the section of the city around Basin Street to be a contained center of lascivious practice. Outside of the parameters set by legislation, prostitution was not allowed. Probably to his dismay, the red light district of New Orleans would be called Storyville after Sidney Story. Storyville is the first and only example of a legally sanctioned section of a city in the United States that was permitted for such activities to take place within its boundaries. Storyville would see the rise and fall of successful madams such as Hattie Hamilton, Kate Townsend, Minnie HaHa, Josie Arlington, and Emma Johnson. Rose’s book credits Kate Townsend with adding the element of luxury to sporting houses in Storyville.

Of course, wherever there are illicit activities, crime and danger will surely follow. Storyville was perhaps one of the most dangerous places in U.S. history. 800 murders took place on Basin Street from 1820-1850. Human trafficking even took place in New Orleans, most notably by Spanish Agnes at 98 Burgundy Street during the earlier days of prostitution in the Big Easy. In Al Rose’s book, he speaks of a Mary Thompson who used her cigar store to ”procure” young virgins. The women who ran these bordellos, whorehouses, and brothels had to be incredibly adept and well connected in order to not be consumed by the mire of Storyville life. What characteristics and survival mechanisms did these women posses to stay afloat during such tumultuous and reckless times?

To answer this question I turn to Karon Abbot’s book Sin in the Second City. Her book is a historical account of two of the U.S.’s most acclaimed madams, the Scarlet Sisters Everleigh. Minna and Ada Everleigh were the women wonders who conquered Chicago’s Levee District with their world renowned Everleigh Club. The appeal of having a high class madam such as these was attracting the clientele the wealthy to the Everleigh brothel. If you’re going to be a lady of the evening, why not be a classy one? A quote in Abbot’s book from one of the sisters commenting on choosing the life of a madam reads something like: “It’s better to create the fantasy of someone else than living in one…” As Kate Townsend of New Orleans, the Everleigh sisters encouraged their high-class clientele to establish credit accounts. Their system of checking credit was as efficient as the modern day credit bureau although calculated by illegitimate means, writes Al Rose.

The Everleigh sisters attracted clientele such as the King of Prussia who began the fad of drinking champagne from a woman’s shoe. Everleigh girls were schooled in the works of Balzac, proper grooming, presentation, and all other aspects of being “a lady”. Girls were banging down the door to work for the Everleigh sisters. There was no real competition with other madams although underhanded antics by the likes of a Madame Vic Shaw would annoy the sisters. Using prowess, shrewdness, and sheer genius, women like Minna and Ada Everleigh and their contemporary madams survived the culture of whoring.

They boasted famed bordellos with exquisite decor and all the girls dressed impeccably. It was an honor to be considered an Everleigh girl. The security of working for a high-end madam was the safety from street life, abusive madams and sketchy clients. The appeal of madams such as Minna and Ada were their efforts to refine their ladies. In a profession considered so vile, they endeavored to restore esteem.  With connections to underworld bosses and city politicians, the sisters operated for several years and won worldwide acclaim. Their legacy still lives in our culture today. The term getting “laid” can be drawn back to the common phraseology of their clientele. Visitors of Chicago with superior social standing would proclaim: “I’m getting Everleigh-ed tonight”. That eventually was shortened as people now saying: “I’m getting laid tonight.”

Abbot’s book explains how New York City became known as the Big Apple. Apparently, a prestigious madam by the name of Eve attracted her clientele by advertising the “apple bottoms” of her girls. Hence, people would traverse to New York for a bite of one of Eve’s “big apples”.

I find the work of these women to be incredibly fascinating. On the one hand, I feel that madams subjected women horribly. However, on the other hand I realize that prostitution was and remains an unavoidable part of nearly every society. These women were strong enough to shelter girls, refine them, and offer them a glimpse at a lifestyle that would have been unthinkable otherwise. Most girls could never have dreamt of learning to read and write, never mind quoting Balzac and maintaining intelligent conversation.

Madams like the ones mentioned economically empowered themselves, albeit by illegal means. Even if their practice was immoral in several respects, should we still credit these madams for protecting their girls from the evils outside of their bordello and brothel walls? Are madams completely evil and should they be stricken from Women’s Herstory as they mostly have been? Or should we attempt to study the past of these women (many were prostitutes) to discover why they would perpetuate the cycle of what most would identify as sexual violence? Knowing what the life of a whore brought, why would they encourage, coerce, and maintain women and young girls in keeping the same sort of lifestyle?

Please stay involved in our Herstory Month Series!

Hawaii’s Queen

The Herstory of Somaly Mam

What it takes to make a modern woman

The Bonnie Behind Clyde

The Herstory of the Taj Mahal

The Herstory of Madame Mao

Is it still a man’s job to approach a woman?

Women complimenting other women

My life was so boring til’ I started whoring-NA

Other Posts by Eryn:

Human Trafficking Domestic and Abroad

Black History’s Leading Literary Lady

Making a Madam

Burning Black Wall Street

The Black Panther Party For Self Defense

In the name of Science…

Intelligence of Interference? COINTELPRO and the Black Panther Party

“How they sold Marcus Garvey for rice”-LH

Trippin on X

Yes you’re a woman…just a different kind

Justin Bua and Urban Realism

And then there was hip hop

Vote to Discontinue Black History Month

So Soulful

Black and Gay? No Way!

Colored People’s Time

Where’s my Forty Acres and a Mule

Too black to be white, too white to be black

I don’t date outside my species!

Caging the Khosian Woman

Branding the Black Woman

Savagely Celebrating the Negro National Anthem

Awakening A’Lelia Walker