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Untold Histories Blog

April 30, 2020

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Explore new perspectives on life in the Gilded Age.

This blog series considers life behind the scenes at the Frick mansion and introduces some of the many people not named Frick who lived and worked at 1 East 70th Street when it was a private home.

  • Untold Histories: The Push of a Button

    In this installment of Untold Histories, explore the relics of the Fricks' extensive annunciator system. This network of call bells connected the family to its staff and offers a glimpse into the rhythms of domestic service at 1 East 70th Street.

  • Untold Histories: Minerva Stone, Housekeeper (Part 2)

    Housekeeper Minerva Stone is integral to the story of those who kept the Fricks’ Gilded Age home running. Though no personal accounts survive, we can paint a picture of Stone’s larger biography, lending context to the years she spent at the crossroads of her employer’s immense wealth and majority-immigrant staff.

  • Untold Histories: Minerva Stone, Housekeeper (Part 1)

    In this entry, we meet Minerva Stone, who occupied the post of housekeeper for nearly the entire time Henry Clay Frick lived at 1 East 70th Street. Stone oversaw the management of the family’s new home with meticulous attention to detail, eventually becoming the second highest-paid member of the household staff.

  • Untold Histories: A Parallel Household

    The debut post of "Untold Histories" introduces the behind-the-scenes staff of the Frick residence, a private home from 1914–31. Associate Museum Educator Caitlin Henningsen considers what remains of this domestic life in the museum today and examines the 1915 state census entry that inspired this ongoing project.
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