Virginia Historical Society Podcast

On November 2, 2017, Brian Burns delivered a Banner Lecture at the Virginia Historical Society entitled “Richmond’s Gilded Age: The Grit Behind the Glitz.” In the aftermath of the Civil War, Richmond entered the Gilded Age seeking bright prospects while struggling with its own past. During a labor convention in conservative Richmond, white supremacists prepared to enforce segregation at gunpoint. Progressives attempted to gain political power by unveiling a wondrous new marvel: Richmond’s first electric streetcar. Handsome lawyer Thomas J. Cluverius was accused of murdering a pregnant woman and dumping her body in the city reservoir, sparking Richmond’s trial of the century. And after Jefferson Davis’s death in 1889, elites launched an arduous monument-building campaign. Author Brian Burns takes us on a romp through the River City as it headed toward a new century. Brian Burns recently published his third book, Gilded Age Richmond: Gaiety, Greed and Lost Cause Mania. His previous titles include Lewis Ginter