The Tragic Story of Evelyn Nesbit and the Murder of Stanford White

The fact that White's secret entrance to one of his hidden apartments was in a toy store is chilling.

The "everyone always thought it would be a father" line is so unsettling

This was horrible. Two childish, spoiled men abusing Evelyn and countless others without consequence, and a world that mythologised the very lies her abusers told themselves. Thank you Kaz, as always, for setting the record straight in such a human, truthful way...

It boggles my mind that she died in 1967….in my brain she lived in a world far from me (early 1900s) but then she also got to be on tv and died two years before we landed on the moon. Crazy. 😳

It mystifies me that in a situation in which this child is lured to the home of a man over twice her age with the lie of there being a dinner party, given drugged wine, and being taken advantage of in that drugged state, somehow she's the one to blame. So gross.

I remember reading about this story several years ago, and I always thought the way several articles portrayed Evelyn, as this wicked temptress or "femme fatale" type, was really dishonest and sad because they failed to acknowledge that she was a vulnerable young girl being used and taken advantage of by two grown men. It's just a really sad story for her overall.

I was similarly drugged and R’ed, in 2012. The police didn’t take it seriously, and the R-ist wasn’t convicted of anything. I sure wish people would evolve already. It’s been over one hundred and twenty years, and people still act like this doesn’t happen—and when it does, it’s just a misunderstanding. I didn’t misunderstand anything. I don’t think Evelyn did, either.

Evelyn’s story is so sad but in a way I’m glad she was able to outlive both of those terrible men. Also wild that she died so relatively recently. Idk seeing her actually on film was so surprising

I was in a production of Ragtime (the musical) some years ago and, can confirm, that show and the novel do Evelyn REAL dirty. The lady playing her in the musical shared a dressing room with me and several other female cast members, and I remember her telling us about just how much of Evelyn’s life had been left out of or changed for the musical, and being shocked, not to mention utterly horrified. There was a long pause. Then one of the other women, a black woman who sang the song “Til We Reach That Day” in the show, remarked something along the lines of, “Damn. If that’s how they (‘they’ referring to the writers of the novel/script) treated a famous young white socialite, what the hell did they do to us?” (‘us’ referring to BIPOC and other marginalized groups- like immigrants and Jewish people, for example- who are portrayed in the show) There was another long silence as we all considered what other horrors had been swept under the rug bc a writer, or editor, or production team considered it unimportant or somehow irrelevant to the story they were trying to tell. Or maybe, that they didn’t know about it at all. Maybe they had taken the salacious fictions of the contemporary tabloids as facts, never considering them beyond face value- lady sexy = lady bad, man rich = man good- and then portrayed that fiction as historical fact to millions of audience members. I won’t speak for my cast mates, but I know I was unsure which explanation would have been worse. I’m a bit ashamed that I didn’t immediately go out and research everything I could about the ACTUAL history behind the fictional story of Ragtime. I was a full time student at that time, balancing 18 credit hours of coursework with 4 hour nightly rehearsals, 2 part time jobs, being designated as the unpaid chauffeur for many a (drunk) friend/roommate as one of the few students with a car on campus, and struggling with the aftermath of a s.a. Evelyn’s real story was a horrible gut punch, but I’m glad I learned about it. The ladies and enbies of that dressing room quickly formed a kind of Evelyn Nesbit fan club, and sought to uplift and support each other the way we hoped Evelyn and her chorus girl friends would have. We became very close, I recall a Facebook group which at one time was called Nesbit’s Ninnies in jest but also as an attempt to reclaim such terms. It was a genuinely very positive and accepting group of people, tho we wouldn’t hesitate to correct or call each other out when we had made a mistake/done something wrong. It was surprisingly healthy and lovely, and while much of my time with that musical I now look back upon and cringe, Nesbit’s Ninnies, while imperfect, is certainly an odd sort of bright, positive memory. Thank you for expanding my knowledge of her story Kaz. You, as always, have done a wonderful job.

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but as a transmasc nonbinary, I really appreciate the non gender specific language you use in your videos!!!! Not to mention in general your videos are incredibly informative and nuanced. Thank you for your videos!! <3 <3

Older wealthy powerful men preying on young women. Victim blaming. Nothing has changed. Thanks for another great video

Gosh she was so angelic and ethereal. She looked like an immortal fairy and she didn't deserve the life she got handed. Hope she's in peace now

So many horrible, traumatizing things happened to her :( Thank you for giving her and her story the respect and authenticity it deserves

If it wouldn't take attention away from the horrible trauma and tragedy the victim endured, one might have called this "The Tale of Two R*pists." Or stalkers or whatever you wanna call it. Because that's all they are and all they should ever be known for.

I am a simple woman. I see Kaz Rowe upload a new history video and I will drop everything (including office work) to watch it.

This is why women need to be able to make decisions for themselves!! This poor woman just was at the mercy of two terrible men and had no power to escape!

Poor Evelyn was victimized by so many around her, it’s terrible she had no one looking out for her. The way she describes her assaults were just heartbreaking. Sad that stuff like this still goes on.

What's interesting is that Stanford White was featured on a few episodes of the HBO series "The Gilded Age," as the builder for the Russell family. They're basically a fictional take on the Vanderbilts. I'm REALLY intrigued to see if the show will explore Evelyn and this situation in a future season. It would be really compelling to watch the fallout from that scandal, and see its impact on society and various characters connected to both Evelyn and Stanford.

I have just seen another video on this lady today, having never heard of her before. A fascinating story. I'm glad that both you and the other channel chose to treat her story with respect, as you say it's a shame she was not shown any during her lifetime.

Her story has always made me so sad. I’m glad she found independence and artistry in her later life.