Michael Gawlik

In October 2015, I decided researching and writing about a single topic for 15 months would be a fun way to spend the halcyon days of my junior and senior years.

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I was curious to learn more about a New York brothel murder that took place in 1836. This case, in which prostitute Helen Jewett was slain by her paramour, Richard Robinson, captured the attention of newspapers throughout the country and ignited America's first sex scandal. I soon realized that Jewett's case had already been extensively researched, and that there was little I could contribute to that discussion; but relatively untapped was the issue of how prostitution in general was treated by popular news sources of the antebellum era. My research took me into brothels and seedy hotels, allowed me see through the eyes of outraged moral reformers and aroused male clients.

 

As I read more and more sources, I came to see that in every popular account, blame for prostitution was assigned in distinct ways.  Some stories blamed prostitutes themselves, while others faulted their seducers; mothers, madams, and the public could be placed at fault as well.  As I argue in my thesis, these patterns of blame tell a great deal about who the public imagined as being responsible for sin, and contributes to a greater understanding antebellum ideas of gender, morality, and change.

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If you'd like to read my thesis, you can find it below.