Change can be exciting. It can also be unsettling. During the Gilded Age, change was happening at a pace unmatched in American history. 

In this six-part series at The Breakers – a place that epitomizes the Gilded Age – we will journey through an era that gave shape to the country we know today. Our distinguished guest speakers will illuminate the period between the Civil War and the dawn of the 20th century, examining the people, events and inventions that forever shaped our nation’s cultural fabric.

Lecture Schedule:

The Gilded Age: Past and Present

When: April 13, 2023 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm

Are we living in a second Gilded Age? The transformative years of the late 19th and early 20th centuries left a lasting legacy for our world today.

The Gilded Years: The First Information Age

When: April 20, 2023 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm

Technologies like the telegraph, phonograph, photography and even the sewing machine revolutionized communication, connecting and shrinking the world.

The Many Playgrounds of an Industrial Age

When: May 4, 2023 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm

Visit the heyday of Northeastern vacation spots from the Adirondacks to Coney Island, from Martha’s Vineyard to the Catskills, and from Saratoga to Newport.

Age of the Machine: The Fight to Reinvent Democracy in the Gilded Age

When: May 18, 2023 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm

The Gilded Age is notorious as a time of rampant political corruption. It was also a time when reformers ignited a reinvention of American democracy.

Creating a New American Image: Architecture, 1870-1910

When: June 1, 2023 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm

The first tall commercial buildings and the grandest of mansions are icons of the Gilded Age, but they were not the only architectural changes taking place.

Under the Gold-Plating: Everyday Americans in the Gilded Age

When: June 15, 2023 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm

Who were the everyday people in this period of industrialization and urbanization? What were their struggles and triumphs?

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Nothing says Gilded Age like beautiful, vast, and private gardens. The Blue Garden is open to the public once a week - every Thursday from June 15 - October 12. The Olmsted Brothers firm originally designed the property in 1908, after many years of neglect it fell into disrepair and was later restored in 2014 to its original glory.

The garden incorporates a palette of blues and purples and has something in bloom each month the garden is open. The Blue Garden is known today as a classic example of American landscape art and a triumph of historic preservation. There are three tours a day, exclusively on Thursdays and costs $20 per person.

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Step into the parlor or the library at the sophisticated Vanderbilt Hotel and order one of The Vanderbilt's specialty cocktails. Choose from a signature punch bowl or a seasonal bubbly large-format aperitif, which pay homage to cocktails from the Gilded Age infused with The Vanderbilt's playful spirit.

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Enjoy reading in a library visited by Gilded Age greats.

Literary legends like Edith Wharton, Henry James and poet Julia Ward, who also co-founded the American Woman Suffrage Association, visited the library. Today the library is free to the public and offers lectures, exhibitions, fine arts displays and other educational activities.

ICYMI: The Redwood Library and Athenaeum celebrated its 275^th birthday in 2022.

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Fans of HBO's "The Gilded Age" will love this guided tour of locations in the Newport Mansions where the show was filmed. 

Interested now? Find an episode deep-dive breakdown here.

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Gilded Age Getaway

Escape to the Gilded Age and walk in the steps of the ladies of Bellevue Avenue. This package includes breakfast at One Bellevue, $50 Credit to Spa Fjör, and Newport Mansion tickets.
 

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Available at any open property during tour hours.

The Newport Mansions invite their guests to bring a picnic to enjoy on the grounds as part of their Newport Mansions experience. Bring your own picnic basket, cooler, blankets and lawn chairs and choose the perfect spot to savor the million-dollar view! Available to Preservation Society members and Newport Mansions tour ticket holders.

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The HBO® Gilded Age Locations Tour

The secret is out. Set in the 1880s, the HBO® smash hit The Gilded Age® (both season 1 and 2) was filmed largely in Newport. Let Newport Jaguar Tours, with a private guided tour in a classic Jaguar motorcar, show you where key scenes were filmed, including difficult to find series’ locations. With insider knowledge, once you get the lay of our own Hollywood-land, we can even help you with guidance to secure interior locations tours. This is a half or full-day tour, personally designed for you. 

The Scandalous Newport Tour

Get the Gilded Age scoop while being driven around in a Jaguar. Your guide and driver will share some of the more scandalous stories surrounding Newport families during this era. The Newport Jaguar Tours’ fleet of classic British motorcars offers guided, private tours. The local Newport guides have extensive knowledge about the area and era.

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Don’t miss a chance to experience a sport most people have only read about or seen on television. Visit The International Tennis Hall of Fame for some friendly competition. Step back in time on the grass grounds where croquet enthusiasts have been playing since the late 19^th century.

A croquet pro will oversee this classic lawn game played on the property’s historic grass courts. Also, take the opportunity to play tennis on three grass courts open to the public.

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Earn your sea legs aboard the 1929 classic motor yacht, Elco (Rum Runner II), with Classic Cruises of Newport. Rum Runner II was built in 1929 during the height of Prohibition, for the purpose of smuggling cases of rum and other contraband alcohol along the East Coast. Today, she is fully restored, and offers the luxury of a classic motor yacht and the thrill of a high-speed bandit—with a history all her own.

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The Newport Historical Society offers a variety of tours including one about Newport’s Gilded Age summer colony and how the city transformed socially and economically during that period. Learn how Newport supported and encouraged religious freedom. 

Find out about the early history of Newport’s people of color, enslaved and free. You can pack in a lot of history in these tours that range from 60 to 90 minutes. Step outside and learn about Newport’s rich and storied history.

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