Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Special Event: NYC According To 'The Gilded Age's Peggy Scott

Air Date: March 25, 2026
Guests: Danae Benton (actor, “Peggy Scott”), Leslie Harris (historian), Marquise Taylor (Tenement Museum), Annie Pollard (Tenement Museum President)
Live at: The Greene Space, WNYC, in partnership with the Tenement Museum

Episode Overview

This special episode revisits New York City’s Gilded Age through the eyes of Peggy Scott, a fictional but deeply researched Black journalist from HBO’s "The Gilded Age." The panel explores real Black New York history, focusing on tenement life, migration, class, the Black press, and women’s roles. Much of the public conscious on the Gilded Age centers on wealthy white families, but this conversation re-centers the narrative to include Black New Yorkers and their contributions to the city’s culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction & Event Purpose

• Annie Pollard (02:35): Framing Peggy Scott as “an interruption in the way we typically think about the Gilded Age”—not the parvenus or aristocrats, but a perspective rooted in Black, educated, working-class New York.
• The importance of telling less-heard stories: “We want to keep interrupting and we want to keep expanding our view of New York City.” (03:10)

Peggy Scott’s Creation and Nuance

(Danae Benton & Alison Stewart, 07:54–10:15)

• Early script drafts cast Peggy in more stereotypical roles; input from Black women (notably historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar) helped deepen her characterization and historical context.
• Danae Benton on evolving Peggy’s role:
  “We were like, well, she comes from wealth. Is there room for her to maybe use some of her skills as an educated woman? Can she be a secretary? Can she be working for a newspaper?” (08:05–09:21)
• Writers incorporated Black history sources—Carla Peterson’s “Black Gotham” influenced Julian Fellowes’s vision for the character (08:05).
• Benton praised how Black journalism’s centrality was brought into Peggy’s story.

Peggy’s Arc and Approach to Race, Class, and Friendship

(09:21–14:04)

• The show’s development was season-to-season; Benton and Dunbar advocated for authentic, lived experiences amidst fraught racial dynamics.
• Benton on code-switching and peril:
  “Every moment you chose to speak up for yourself… you chose to challenge anything… she’s always walking this very specific tightrope.” (10:15)
• Insight into the “infamous shoe scene”—Benton and Louisa Jacobson (Marian) insisted the fallout be real, not glossed over, which made the evolving interracial friendship believable.
  “We really wanted to fight for that moment to be earned.” (13:36)

Black New York Geography and Migration

(Leslie Harris & Marquise Taylor, 14:18–20:00)

• Weeksville in Brooklyn was a key Black neighborhood, yet Black New Yorkers weren’t uniformly segregated. Integration with white and immigrant neighbors (especially Irish) was more common than often remembered (14:27–15:45).
• The 1863 Draft Riots pushed many Black families from Manhattan to Brooklyn—a rarely highlighted cause of migration within the city (15:09).
• Marquise Taylor detailed the 8th Ward (SoHo), Five Points, and Little Africa (Greenwich Village) as vital centers of Black life and institutions (17:20).
• Black and Irish lived side-by-side; some public schools survived by integrating Irish and Black students (18:41).

Labor, Community, and Class Tensions

(Marquise Taylor & Leslie Harris, 18:59–23:43)

• Black men’s most common jobs: waiter and coachman. Black women often worked as washerwomen or in domestic roles, with some attaining positions as teachers or principals (18:59; 32:34).
• Class distinctions existed within the Black community: “elites” founded newspapers and churches, sometimes protecting or trying to “uplift” recently arrived Southern Blacks, but not always without tension (22:22–23:43).

The Black Press: Power, Research, and Framing

(Danae Benton & Marquise Taylor, 23:55–26:30)

• Black newspapers, especially the New York Globe (T. Thomas Fortune), were essential to social and political movements.
• Benton read period Globe articles, highlighting the Black press’s impact on everything from education activism to countering mainstream media stereotypes.
• Taylor: Black press corrects dominant narratives, documents economic activity, and preserves community history:
  “The black newspapers… provide a perspective that is black centered… They do the work of correcting what mainstream, non black newspapers are saying about black people.” (25:00–26:30)

Women’s Roles and Wash Day:

(James McCune Smith article read by Danae Benton, 33:33)

• Touching, vivid description of a Black washerwoman’s life—her strength, exhaustion, dignity—and the cultural world she sustains.
  Notable quote (33:33):
  “That small and delicately formed hand and wrist swell up with knotted muscles and bursting veins…”
• Most Black women in the 8th Ward were washerwomen, but some were teachers and professionals (32:34; 32:58).

Influential Real-Life Black Educators

(Leslie Harris & Marquise Taylor, 29:37–31:43)

• Sarah Garnet: Principal, suffragist, wife of abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet, community leader.
• Fannie Tompkins: Taught in African Free Schools and public colored schools, created night school opportunities, merged education with social justice (31:46).
• Women used limited professional roles as platforms for community activism and student advancement.

Audience Q&A Highlights

Peggy's Resonance for Modern Women

(37:17–38:05)

• Danae Benton:
  “If Peggy can do it, I can do it. So ‘What would Peggy do?’ definitely stays with me.” (37:44)

Immigration in the Gilded Age & Today

(Marquise Taylor, Leslie Harris, Danae Benton; 39:46–44:48)

• Emerging Black immigration from the Caribbean; by 1930s, a third of Harlem’s Black population was foreign-born (39:46–41:01).
• Economic exploitation paralleled for immigrants and Black Americans.
• Leslie Harris:
  “We are in another moment of desperately needing the labor of immigrants—and now demonizing. That was definitely… for the massive European immigration…” (41:01)
• Danae Benton questioned the language of “immigrant” and “American,” pointing out both the persistence of exclusion and the economic motives underlying both historic and current policy (42:49–44:48).

Interracial Friendship in Public

(Leslie Harris, Danae Benton, Alison Stewart, 44:52–47:09)

• Such friendships would have been rare and potentially dangerous; social codes and physical safety were real concerns.
• Scenes in “The Gilded Age” reflected actual necessity for code-switching and the delicate social dance Black women performed.

Media, Journalism, and Objectivity

(Leslie Harris, 47:18–50:07)

• 19th-century press was openly partisan and activist. The “objectivity” ideal is a 20th-century development.
• Fragmented media allowed marginalized voices to be heard—then and now—but local journalism is still essential.

Portraying Real Historical Figures

(Danae Benton, 50:07–51:03)

• On T. Thomas Fortune: The show avoided a love story arc as the real Fortune was married; instead, focused on intellectual sparks and professionalism.
  “I was kind of happy we got to see Peggy’s passionate bad girl side.”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Danae Benton, on historical accuracy: (10:15)
  “Dr. Dunbar always does a really good job at reminding us just how life and death every moment really was… she [Peggy] always is walking this very specific tightrope.”
• Marquise Taylor, on the black press: (25:00)
  “The black press has been indispensable… super helpful for us to get a really good understanding of the aims and priorities of Black New Yorkers at this time.”
• Leslie Harris, on journalism then and now: (47:57)
  “It did mean that they could [raise] voices that wouldn’t be heard otherwise… It doesn’t feel like fracture, it feels like patchwork.”
• Danae Benton, on personal resonance: (37:46)
  “‘What would Peggy do?’ definitely stays with me.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:35–06:32 — Opening, introducing purpose and focus on Peggy Scott
• 07:54–14:04 — Danae Benton discusses Peggy’s development, race, class, and friendships
• 14:18–20:00 — Geography: Black neighborhoods, migration, integration
• 23:55–26:30 — Black press and historical research
• 33:33–35:58 — Dramatic reading: “The Washerwoman” by James McCune Smith
• 37:17–38:05 — “What would Peggy do?”—inspiration for modern Black women
• 39:46–44:48 — Immigration’s role then and connection to today
• 44:52–47:09 — Interracial public interactions and social dangers
• 47:18–50:07 — Media environment, objectivity, and fractured journalism
• 50:07–51:03 — Portraying T. Thomas Fortune and adapting for TV

Conclusion

This event-filled episode reframes the Gilded Age through the lens of a Black woman—realistically, contextually, and with empathy. The discussion highlights the vibrant community life, institutional leadership, labor realities, and cultural contributions of Black New Yorkers—especially women—while continually connecting historical realities to present-day struggles and aspirations in NYC and beyond.