A Rose

This rose is dedicated to all the women used and abused in the Second City.

Karen Abbot’s Sin in the Second City – Chicago History Trip

Sin in the Second City tells the world in a thundering voice that the female gender is a victim, a third or fourth class citizen, less than a human being, nothing more than a commodity to be used, sold, and abused at will. Chicago was the perfect location being described as “a city that kept one eye closed in a perpetual wink while the other looked away.” The United States was supposed to be, finally, the land of the free except for women, apparently who were just another item of commerce. The women were discussed in the same tone and manner as if they were discussing animals. Some terminology used to speak of prostitutes include battleships, porthole, and million dollar teeth. The were used up just as the animals were in the stockyards. “Not one shred of flesh is wasted. She’s plied with alcohol and cocaine until her age trumps her market value and then drugged out of existence.” (p 123) Slavery is slavery–red, white, blue, or Black. Roe defined slavery as “as much as any people are slaves who are owned, flesh and bone, body and soul, by another person…That is what slavery is…”

At the turn of the 20th Century, the social position of women had advanced little from colonial America. Women still cannot vote. married women are under the rule of their husbands and single women, if still living at home, are under the rule of their fathers or brothers. As pointed our a few times by Karen Abbott, the Blacks were freed but the white women were not. Humans of the female gender were not only used and abused by men but by women as well. This is crystal clear as the thoughts of Minna and Ada Everleigh are revealed.

Minna and Ada were white slave traders as much as any of the big male characters on the Levee such as Ike Bloom, Big Jim Colosimo, and Maurice Van Bever. Politicians can also be included in the white slave trade category like Bathouse John Coughlin and Hnky Dink Kenna. There were some who thought they could walk the fence and satisfy both sides like Mayor Fred Busse.

Women were preyed upon by everyone. Some were tricked into the bordello by slave traders; some were seduced by their own girl friends; some were sold by their “beloved” husbands and fathers. Persons of the female persuasion were treading perilous ground at every turn. It was stated that a small number of women entered the sporting house life of their own free will. They probably had experienced a hellish life before.

Starting at the summit of the hierarchy, even the Everleigh Duo was a victim. Several versions are given as to their background and how they ended up becoming madams, but one element is sure. Minna and Ada had been victims at some point in life, most likely, more than once. By becoming successful madams they were able to establish monetary security for themselves as well as enact a large dose of revenge. Revenge on men, women, and society.

Society tends to praise and admire wealth and success. Some like to think that if something is done with class then it is acceptable even if it is illegal, immoral, and harmful. So the Everleigh Club was the creme de la creme in terms of price, physical plant, and amenities. The simple fact remains; it was a brothel not unlike the $5.00 or $1.00 house. One of the saddest aspects of female slavery is the hypocrisy of two categories of women. Men would speak affectionately about their mothers and children and with the same breath speak of the monetary value of prostitutes. Emma Goldman stated, “It is a conceded fact that woman has been reared as a sex commodity, and yet she is kept in absolute ignorance of the meaning and importance of sex.” Again this is an example of female on female crime. Women fell prey to the game and were hoodwinked by men. Minna and Ada deluded themselves into thinking their “butterflies” were professionals and, therefore, not a commodity. Minna is quoted, “A girl in our establishment is not a commodity with a market-price, like a pound of butter or a leg of lamb.”

Amidst all the abuse, maltreatment, and corruption, the slavers did not miss the racist card. Jews were discriminated against. Catholics and Italians were labeled as undesirables. Southern Europeans were classified as not assimilable. Foreign born persons were referred to as mongrels, alien races, and mixed bloods. America had not learned much from the Civil War about human rights or people being equal. In her own words Minna describes her level of acceptance, “Even if I am a Virginian, I am not intolerant… And as for Desdemona kissing Paul Robeson in Othello, that I don ‘t wish to see.” She told five of her employees not to cruise around town with boxer Jack Johnson or they would be banished. They chose to cruise and they were banished.

I did not like reading this book. It was more information than I was interested in. It gave me nightmares. Was any one happy to be a courtesan. Did anyone live happily ever after?