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| "The Gilded Age." HBO |
The Gilded Age is often remembered as a time of opulence and innovation a period spanning the late 19th century when railroad barons, steel tycoons, and financiers transformed America’s economic landscape. But what’s less known is how, in the shadow of steel magnates and oil tycoons, a Black aristocracy quietly emerged, creating new pathways to prosperity, education, and cultural influence for African Americans.
While the term "Gilded Age" often conjures images of white industrialists and society balls, Black Americans were simultaneously forging their own version of upward mobility one rooted in enterprise, education, and community empowerment. It was a movement of resilience and vision that helped lay the groundwork for the activism and intellectual flowering of the 20th century.
The Rise of a Black Business Class in Post-Emancipation America
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| Peggy Scott and her parents on "The Gilded Age." HBO |
In 1852, a writer under the pen name “Ethiop” captured a pivotal shift in a letter published in the Frederick Douglass Papers. He described a new wave of “enterprising Blacks” finding success across trades and professions, noting, “I call it an ARISTOCRACY.”
That early observation foreshadowed what would take root after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863: a Black elite who defied expectations by building wealth in the face of relentless racial barriers. In New York City and beyond, this group flourished through entrepreneurship, education, and cultural refinement.
As historian Carla Peterson, author of Black Gotham, explained: “The Black elite of the Gilded Age signaled that we, too, have taste. We too have education. We are like other citizens.”
Many in this emerging class were part of what Peterson calls a “shopkeeping aristocracy” entrepreneurs who owned retail stores, groceries, pharmacies, and restaurants. These businesses not only served their communities but became symbols of economic independence and social aspiration.
Notable Figures Who Redefined Black Success
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| Dorothy Scott, played by Audra McDonald, and Peggy Scott, played by Denée Benton, in "The Gilded Age." HBO |
Several individuals from this era embodied the spirit and ambition of the Black Gilded Age elite. Among them was Thomas Downing, the son of formerly enslaved parents, who turned oysters into a goldmine. In 1825, he opened the Thomas Downing Oyster House in New York City, transforming what had once been a poor man's food into a luxury cuisine. His restaurant became a favorite of politicians and businessmen, earning him the nickname “The New York Oyster King.” By the time of his death in 1866, Downing had amassed a fortune but still wasn’t granted full U.S. citizenship until the Civil Rights Act passed the day before he died.
Another trailblazer was Pierre Toussaint, born into slavery in Haiti and later freed in New York. Toussaint built a career as a renowned hairdresser for Manhattan’s elite, using his income to support orphans, immigrants, and charitable causes that provided education and employment opportunities for fellow Black New Yorkers.
On the West Coast, Mary Ellen Pleasant became one of the most remarkable self-made millionaires in American history. After moving to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, she parlayed her knowledge gleaned from listening to wealthy employers while working as a domestic into lucrative investments in real estate, laundromats, restaurants, and even shares of Wells Fargo. Her fortune, estimated at over $30 million in the 19th century, would be worth nearly $1 billion today.
Education as a Pillar of the Black Elite
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| African American baseball players from Morris Brown College in 1899. Library of Congress |
While wealth was one marker of success, it was education that truly distinguished the Black aristocracy of the Gilded Age. According to Peterson, education had long been a cornerstone of African American advancement. “Since Blacks came to this country, education has always been number one,” she told Truth Sider. “There is a belief that if you had ambition, you could do anything you wanted. And ambition started with education.”
This belief took tangible form with the creation of institutions like Cheyney University in Pennsylvania, founded in 1837 as the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) in the country. The majority of HBCUs were established between 1865 and 1900, providing access to higher education at a time when mainstream institutions excluded Black students.
This academic foundation helped produce a generation of doctors, pharmacists, teachers, and lawyers and also cultivated interests in the arts, literature, and politics. W.E.B. Du Bois famously argued for the nurturing of a “Talented Tenth” an educated Black elite that would uplift the race through intellect, leadership, and moral example.
Cultural Influence and Social Identity
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| Slum dwellings on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, circa 1885. Graphic House/Archive Photos/Getty Images |
Beyond their professional achievements, members of the Black elite expressed their status through culture and refinement. They embraced fashion, music, and etiquette as markers of self-worth and tools of resistance in a society that dehumanized them.
One character who illustrates this dynamic is Peggy Scott, from HBO’s The Gilded Age. A fictional journalist inspired by real historical figures like author Julia C. Collins, Peggy is the daughter of a wealthy pharmacist and an accomplished pianist. Her storyline offers a rare portrayal of a sophisticated, educated Black woman navigating post-Civil War society. It echoes the real lives of many women in the Black aristocracy who used education and art as forms of self-determination.
This rising class wasn’t merely imitating white upper-class norms they were crafting their own social identity, rooted in community values, respectability, and pride.
The Reality of Racism and Inequality
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| A portrait of a woman and her son, circa 1890. Heritage Images via Getty Images |
Despite their achievements, members of the Black elite were not immune to the racism of the era. In fact, their visibility often made them targets. Historian Willard B. Gatewood noted in Aristocrats of Color that even “exceptional Blacks were considered inferior to whites.” They were often seen as anomalies rather than representatives of racial progress.
While they built businesses and gained degrees, these men and women were still denied entry into many white institutions and social clubs. Wealth did not guarantee inclusion. As economist Henry George noted in 1886: “Chattel slavery is dead, but industrial slavery remains.” The Gilded Age was still defined by glaring racial and economic inequality.
Interracial Alliances and Emerging Activism
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| "The Gilded Age." HBO |
Still, some interracial collaboration existed. White and Black women worked side-by-side in organizations like The King's Daughters, a charitable network that supported people in need. Scholars like Carla Peterson point out that professional relationships and friendships between white and Black Americans like the one between fictional characters Peggy and Marian were not unheard of.
Historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar has also described how white suffragists maintained deep relationships with Black women from the abolition era through the early 20th century.
These bonds, as fragile as they were, helped create the foundation for later civil rights activism.
The Black Elite as Catalysts for Change
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| A portrait of a Creole gentleman from the late 19th century and a portrait of a lady circa 1890. Digital Collections, The New York Public Library; Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library |
The influence of the Black elite of the Gilded Age did not stop at personal wealth or cultural refinement. They helped spark a broader movement that would transform America in the 20th century. Their emphasis on education, self-sufficiency, and political awareness set the stage for monumental developments: the founding of the NAACP in 1909, the rise of publications like The Crisis, and the explosion of Black art and thought during the Harlem Renaissance.
“None of this could have happened without having had the 19th-century Black elite,” Peterson said.
In other words, the Black aristocracy of the Gilded Age wasn’t just a footnote in history it was a prelude to revolution, both social and intellectual.
