Culture
THE CLUB: Have a Listen to This Exclusive Excerpt!
Join host Jennifer Dassell as she shares an exclusive excerpt from her upcoming book, 'The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris.' Discover the vibrant stori...
THE CLUB: Have a Listen to This Exclusive Excerpt!
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Speaker A
Hi everyone, Jennifer Dassell, your friendly art curious host here. And I am absolutely thrilled to share something very special with you today. As many of you know, I am releasing my latest book tomorrow, July 15, 2025. It's called the Club where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Epoque, Paris, published by Bloomsbury. And it's a story that's close to my heart. It's a vibrant, all true tale of a group of pioneering women artists who crossed the Atlantic to chase their dreams in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, at a time when the art world was dominated by men, these women found inspiration, camaraderie, and even a little scandal in the studios and salons of Paris. It's all about art, ambition, and the radical act of forging your own path. It's also about some really fascinating women who made it all happen. And today I want to give you a little taste of the audiobook, which I also had the great honor of narrating. It is available wherever books are sold and that includes your favorite indie bookstores via Libro FM and of course all the big stores too, or directly via Bloomsbury's website. So I wanted to present a little bit for you today so you can get a taste of it. And without further ado, here's an excerpt from the Club. I hope you enjoy it. Chapter 5 the Minister's Wife Prominent among the charitable work done by American women who reside in foreign countries stands that of Mrs. Whitelaw Reed, who is regarded by hundreds of American girl students in Paris almost as their patron saint for the American Girls Club filled a crying need and has more than justified its existence. The American Girls Club in Paris Town and Country 1909 the community of expatriate Americans living in Paris, colloquially known as the American colony, was abuzz with excitement, if not a small amount of apprehension. The newly elected U. S. President, Benjamin Harrison had finalized his cabinet and ambassadorial positions as he took office in March of 1889 and had just announced his minister to France, the politician and journalist Whitelaw Reed. Though Whitelaw Reed's assignment caused a stir, ultimately his tenure was mostly uneventful, save the removal of a ban on American pork, ending what was known as the Pork war, really. Instead, his wife's impact in France had a far longer legacy. During Whitelaw's Parisian tenure, Elizabeth Mills Reid took measures that would eventually change the lives of many. Though she certainly could not have foreseen her destiny when she joined Whitelaw alongside their two children, 7 year old Ogden and 5 year old Jean on the eight day voyage from New York to Le Havre aboard the ship Burgonne in May 1889. At the time, Elizabeth, an affluent yet devoted angel of the house, concerned herself primarily with supporting her husband's political career and her family's transition to the French capital. Born in October 1837 in Xenia, Ohio, to a poor family, Whitelaw Reed embodied a classic rags to riches narrative. Originally trained as a journalist, Reid honed his writing skills as a correspondent during the Civil War for the Cincinnati Gazette, where his coverage of the battle of Shiloh 1862 garnered national attention. In the years following the war, he joined the New York Tribune as an editor under the aegis of famed journalist and editor Horace Greeley. After Greeley's death, Reid purchased the paper, moving from editor to owner in a savvy career move, one that enabled him to focus on growing the paper's readership and employing new technology such as the Linotype machine to make printing more cost efficient and faster. The byproduct of this innovation was Reid's steadily accumulating wealth, propelling him into the upper class before he reached his 40s. Feeling thus secure in his finances and his position in the world, Reid made a bold, life changing decision. He was ready to marry Elizabeth Mills. The boldness of Whitelaw Reid's decision was not that he decided to marry, but whom he decided to marry. Elizabeth Mills, a sweet and shy 23 year old, hailed from one of the most prominent and prosperous families in the United States. Speaking of a rags to riches story, the transformation of Elizabeth's father from store clerk to the wealthiest man in California is a doozy. Darius Ogden Mills, called DO Mills, worked as a clerk in both general stores and banks in his home state of New York before following two of his brothers out to California as one of the 49ers of the gold Rush. He quickly amassed a fortune not simply in gold mining, but also in silver or as one of the trustees of the celebrated Comstock Lode. D O Mills also established the bank of California and invested heavily in railroads, both of which increased his status to the wealthiest man in California for a time, but also assisted in establishing the Golden State as an economic juggernaut. Mills and his wife, Jane Templeton Cunningham, made their homes in California and New York, and it was in New York City on January 6, 1858, that their second child and only daughter, Elizabeth, was born. Little is known about Elizabeth Mill's early years, save that she spent most of her childhood either in Sacramento, this author's hometown, coincidentally, or at her Father's country place, Millbrae in San Mateo county, about 15 miles south of San Francisco, with the occasional respite at the Hudson Valley enclave of her maternal grandparents. Though mostly educated at the hands of governesses, Lizzie, as she was known to her closest friends, attended classes in New York City at the Brackett School for Girls. But one wonders if another educational experience, her time as an etudiant in Paris in the 1870s was even more influential. As a teenager, Elizabeth Mills attended college, the French version of an American high school in Paris at a school run by Alphonsine Eulalie Gudemann, known as Aline Valette, who later gained recognition for her feminist publications supporting women's education and the rights of mothers. It is not difficult to draw a direct line from Villette's all girls school based in Montmartre to Elizabeth Mills eventual interest in women's education. Indeed, it may have developed there with Villette's encouragement and guidance. During her stint in Paris, Mills enjoyed connecting with the burgeoning American colony, particularly as a member of the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, known today as the American Cathedral in Paris, the most prominent English language Christian church in the capital. Mills was confirmed into the Episcopalian Church at the cathedral in 1874 alongside confirmation classmate John Singer Sargent, the lauded American painter. Upon completion of her formal education in New York and in Paris, she did not attend a university. Elizabeth Mills did. As was required of young ladies from wealthy families, she dedicated herself to philanthropy as the consummate daddy's girl. She looked to her father as an inspiration for her giving. D O Mills had an interest in funding health care and thus Elizabeth followed suit. Mills supported dozens of projects aimed at furthering medical training and care. Over her long philanthropic career she established several hospitals, formed chapters of the American Red Cross in multiple locations, opened training schools and dormitories for medical personnel, and even provided salaries for nurses. The dedication to medicine would be a common refrain for Elizabeth Mills and would essentially function as the heiress career, the only acceptable career for a woman of her social and financial status at that juncture. Of course, as a well to do young woman, she was also required to make a good domestic match. In the late 1870s, Whitelaw Reid, a Republican donor, visited Millbrae to connect with DO Mills, also a high ranking Republican donor. But Reed walked away with more than political camaraderie. He returned to New York sporting a sizable crush on Elizabeth, a five foot five blue eyed beauty. And it seems the feeling was mutual. Mills and Reed corresponded long distance for two years before their engagement and according to Whitelaw Reed's biographer, their relationship may not have been without its drama. Whitelaw Reid was 20 years Lizzie's senior, and though his purchase of the New York Tribune had made him wealthier, his financial magnitude was nowhere close to that of the Mills family. Still, theirs was a love match, and D O Mills was nothing if not partial to his daughter. By February 1881, he accepted Reid's request for Lizzie's hand in marriage. Or rather, he accepted Lizzie's insistence on the matter. In a letter to her betrothed, Elizabeth Mills wrote of their partnership, of course, I cannot flatter myself that my parents are wildly delighted, but we will make them so in time. On April 26, 1881, Lizzie Mills became Elizabeth Mills Reid, marrying Whitelaw Reed in her family's Fifth Avenue mansion in front of 250 guests. The reeds had not intended to find themselves in Paris in 1889. In the years following their marriage, Reed's political connections grew to include many influential figures, such as the soon to be American President Benjamin Harrison and the late President James A. Garfield. His clout had only increased with his connection to the Mills family, and the escalating power and influence of the Tribune heightened his status within Washington too. Though he once claimed little interest in holding office, the possibility of supporting his party by occupying a cabinet level or diplomatic position seemed appealing. He set his sights immediately upon the most desirable option, the ambassadorship to the Court of St James's the top diplomatic position to the United Kingdom. It was an appointment, though, that eluded Reid, at least for the time being. Instead, he was offered appointments as Ambassador to Germany on two separate occasions, both of which he declined. Feeling pressured to step up on behalf of his nation and his political party, he finally assented to a three year stint as Minister to France under Harrison, a position considered the second best option after The Court of St. James's somewhat grudgingly, whitelaw Reed thus relocated his young family to Paris in the spring of 1889. From the press coverage of the Reid's time in Paris, one might assume that Elizabeth did little but host lavish soirees for all manner of American and international dignitaries. Society pages around the United States reported on every party, every luncheon, and every afternoon tea held and attended by the minister's wife. The Sacramento Daily Union described one 1890 evening in glowing terms. The authors proudly crowing of Elizabeth Mills. Reid's status as hometown girl made good. The sumptuous hotel occupied by Mr. And Mrs. Whitelaw Reid on the Avenue Hoche was ablaze with light last evening and gay with music and dancing. It was the occasion of a ball given by the minister's hospitable wife, and was designed especially for the pleasure of her young friends, both French and American. Then, if never before, Colombia's fair daughters sojourning in Paris had an unlimited opportunity for waltzing, flirting, and possibly, in their delightfully unceremonious fashion, snubbing a choice collection of elegant French noblemen who rallied from various aristocratic faubourgs to meet them. Note the nod to young American women, Columbia's fair daughters as coquettish a reminder, though somewhat benign here, of the rampant stereotyping of American girls as flighty and whimsical. Such descriptions of events were fairly common in the 19th century, with ample column space dedicated to accounts of the opulent gowns and expensive jewels worn by partygoers and the who's who they mingled with on any given evening. Today chronicles like this are often relegated to the pages of magazines like Town and Country, Vanity Fair, or perhaps even People in the case of Celebrities, but in the fin de sicle they passed for news, and practically every newspaper of any city of size contained generous society sections. Elizabeth Mills Reid's endeavors and exploits were thus well known and widely reported in both the French and American press, though not as extensively publicized, other things besides hostess duties occupied the time of the minister's wife. Elizabeth Mills Reed threw herself enthusiastically into the heart of the American colony, a community so welcoming to her only 15 years prior during her college days. Though nowhere close to the populous peak it would reach in the 1920s, the American colony of the 1890s was extensive enough to be named as one of the largest expatriate communities in Paris, smaller only than the British, which the Americans nevertheless outranked in wealth and spending power. The kernels of the colony had been planted in the late 18th century, prior to the French Revolution, especially after the French allied so victoriously with the American colonists, the ones based in the newly formed United States, not its Parisian counterpart during the American Revolution. By the post Civil War era, the migration of newly wealthy expats to the French capital created the colony as it existed during Reid's youth in the 1870s and during her return in the 1890s, the colony existed in a bubble of sorts, a close knit community criticized by Americans as being too French and by the French as too American because although several clubs and social groups purported to support Franco American relations, the majority of American colonists kept to themselves. Colonists congregated on the right bank of Paris in the area surrounding the Paris Opera, now deemed the Opera Garnier, and over toward the Champs Elysees and the Place de l', Etoile, in which the Arc de Triomphe is centered. They relished partaking in French cultural events like several world's fairs and the yearly art exhibitions of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the Societe des Artistes Francais. But at the end of the day, colonists frequented American run teahouses and restaurants, made appointments with American dentists, shopped at the English language bookstore Britanos, still in existence today, read a Paris edition of the New York Herald, Friend and Guide of Americans abroad. One description read and socialized with fellow Yankees at events held by upper class hostesses like Elizabeth Mills Reed. Even an American baseball club was established, featuring players sourced from male art students at the popular Academy Julien. The colony thus presented the ideal home away from home for a subset of moneyed Americans. As author and activist Annie Adams Fields had noted during a trip through the city in 1859, it is almost like returning to Boston to come to Paris. At every turn and on every stair we meet Boston friends. Sure, they engaged with the natives, as historian Nancy Green Jocosely writes, but they did so on a shallower level than with their own countrymen. True to the spirit of America's puritanical Protestant roots, many of the colony's most important social connections were made at the two American run churches, the American Chapel, today called, somewhat confusingly, the American Church in Paris, and the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Reid's preferred house of worship. The cathedral, newly relocated in 1884 onto the Avenue de Lalma, now Avenue George, Sank and only a stone's throw away from the Champs Elysees, was the far more influential of the two religious institutions. With her original connection to the Episcopalian cathedral, it only made sense that Elizabeth Mills Reid would visit there to attend weekly services. It also had the benefit of being relatively close to Reed's home, based in a luxury hotel on the Avenue Auch, just around the corner from the Etoile. In her role as a diplomatic wife, she eagerly formed a kind of ministry of her own, meeting with cathedral congregants to formulate plans for charitable activities. It was within this religious environment that Elizabeth Mills Reed became acquainted with a certain Mrs. William Newell, and she learned about a secondary American colony, one with only a tangential link to the American colony at large and in much greater need of financial and moral support. I hope you loved that little glimpse into the world of the club. If you'd like to hear more or read the full story I would be so ever grateful if you would pick up a copy again. You can find it wherever books are sold. And as I mentioned, there is of course this audiobook version if you prefer to listen, and it's also available as an ebook for your favorite e reader. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm and your support and for being part of this journey with me. Until next time.