Annie's Diary 1906 August 27th

August 27 – Monday

We thought that we were going home, so spent Monday morning in packing our trunks. And, after they were all done we found that we were not going right away.

After lunch Cousin Belle and I walked out Riverside Drive and sat down for a long time and watched the large steamboats cruise up and down the river. The scenery was beautiful.

As soon as dinner was over, we all took a long car ride down town and saw Broadway as it really is late at night and crowded with people. Quite a sight, especially for “country people” such as “we”.

Had pointed out to us the roof garden where the horrible Thaw – White tragedy occurred a short while ago.

Historical Notes and Photographs

Thaw - White Tragedy:

At the premiere performance of the musical revue Mam'zelle Champagne at the Madison Square Roof Garden, Stanford White was shot point blank in the face and killed by Evelyn Nesbit’s husband, Harry Kendall Thaw. The murder became known as the Trial of the Century. In the media coverage that followed the murder, details of White's indulgences fascinated the public. Evelyn described how she would swing nude on a red velvet swing built by White during their romance.

Having gained fame as a model and then on the stage in the early 1900's, Evelyn Nesbit was the Marilyn Monroe of her time and "supermodel" of the time. It was on Broadway that the 16 year old rising star caught the eye of the 52 year old Stanford White, the brilliant architect, who quickly became involved with the stunning beauty. The relationship lasted about a year.

Harry Thaw was called "crazy" long before he shot Stanford White; he was a cocaine addict which caused him to have a wild-eyed stare most of the time. The combination of Thaw's wild personality and Nesbit's wild past combined to fuel the murder of Stanford White. If the crime made the participants infamous, it also made Nesbit more famous than ever. The sensational details would play out in public over the course of two trials. A child of wealth, Thaw had the best council money could buy and he eventually became a free man. He divorced Nesbitt and died of a heart attack in 1945.