New York City in the Gilded Age: A Cultural History

The late 19th century in New York City was an era of exquisite mansions, palatial public buildings, and beautiful parks—magnificent markers of the Gilded Age. Yet the city was a study in dichotomies whose contrasting facets were noted in the writings of Edith Wharton and Henry James and exposed in the photographs of Jacob Riis. George Scheper, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, surveys this cultural panorama. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)