In the Shadow of the Great Bridge: A Women’s History Tour of Late 19th-Century Brooklyn Heights

“These were Brooklyn’s most turbulent years. Sexual fever infected all classes, and religious and political contention combusted into war. Courtrooms and meeting-rooms and even schoolrooms shook with controversy.” — Robert Murphy, Historian

Led by Atlas Obscura’s Ariel Azoff, guests will embark on a two-hour walking tour of Brooklyn Heights that follows the lives of three women who lived there during the years the Brooklyn Bridge was being built (1869-1883). The tour tells their stories and talks more broadly about what life was like for the women of the neighborhood during that time. One of them is Emily Roebling, of the bridge-building Roeblings, one is a black real estate mogul named Elizabeth Gloucester, and one is Lib Tilton, the mistress in the adultery trial of Henry Ward Beecher. The tour includes an interactive portion where guests will act out an abbreviated version of the Beecher/Tilton scandal.

$30

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

  • Meetup is at the Roebling Inn Bar, which was named after the builders of the bridge. Guests are welcomed to purchase a beer or snack as they wait for the tour to begin.
  • Mostly outdoors, so dress appropriately.
  • Includes access to the Brooklyn Historical Society.
  • Tour ends at the Promenade.
  • This tour is rain or shine.










When: Sun., Nov. 11, 2018 at 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

“These were Brooklyn’s most turbulent years. Sexual fever infected all classes, and religious and political contention combusted into war. Courtrooms and meeting-rooms and even schoolrooms shook with controversy.” — Robert Murphy, Historian

Led by Atlas Obscura’s Ariel Azoff, guests will embark on a two-hour walking tour of Brooklyn Heights that follows the lives of three women who lived there during the years the Brooklyn Bridge was being built (1869-1883). The tour tells their stories and talks more broadly about what life was like for the women of the neighborhood during that time. One of them is Emily Roebling, of the bridge-building Roeblings, one is a black real estate mogul named Elizabeth Gloucester, and one is Lib Tilton, the mistress in the adultery trial of Henry Ward Beecher. The tour includes an interactive portion where guests will act out an abbreviated version of the Beecher/Tilton scandal.

$30

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

  • Meetup is at the Roebling Inn Bar, which was named after the builders of the bridge. Guests are welcomed to purchase a beer or snack as they wait for the tour to begin.
  • Mostly outdoors, so dress appropriately.
  • Includes access to the Brooklyn Historical Society.
  • Tour ends at the Promenade.
  • This tour is rain or shine.
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