“Gilded is not golden,” explains historian Nell Irvin Painter in the introduction of the documentary that aired on PBS’s American Experience in 2018.

“Gilded has the sense of a patina covering something else. It’s the shiny exterior and the rot underneath.”

The documentary explores the era known as “The Gilded Age” in the late 19th century that saw a small group of massively wealthy individuals and families controlled the American economy and political with an iron grip.

This era in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal fields saw the continued combination of industry against the working class in the region, with labor unions unable to gain a foothold. It also led to violence, most infamously the Lattimer Massacre of September 1897 near Hazleton.

The documentary provides a great primer on the era’s history, the rise of the fabulously wealthy industrialists, and the factors that led to the Progressive Era that followed.

What do you think of the documentary? What do you want to know about this era?

Let me know in the comments below!

---