The Gilded Age: Get to Know the Real History That Inspired Season 2

When HBO's The Gilded Age returns for Season 2 on Oct. 29, it will bring with it all the world-class social climbing and stunning costumes that made Season 1 extravagantly and addictively watchable.

But this season, the series from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes is even more committed to living alongside the historical era for which it is named. Season 2 opens in the spring of 1883 and once again convenes the warring families battling for supremacy in the upper echelon of New York City society. On one side stands Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), a product of the old money that built the Big Apple and the country. On the other side is Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), the eager embodiment of the new money of industries like the railroad her husband George (Morgan Spector) built into empires. Think the Rockefellers and the Morgans.

While Season 1 ended with Mrs. Russell receiving her hard-fought warm welcome from the high society that initially gave her a cold shoulder, the new season will largely revolve around the railroad baron's wife mounting an even tougher feat. This time, she's taking on Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), the epitome of powerful old money whom she charmed and clawed acknowledgement out of last season. And she's opposing her right where it hurts — by supporting a different musical venue than the societal maven.

When Mrs. Russell is denied a box at the famed Academy of Music, she decides to back its rival, the soon-to-open Metropolitan Opera House — therefore declaring cultural war on Mrs. Astor and the Academy's other illustrious patrons like Mrs. van Rhijn. While this seems like #firstworldproblems, the battle for the box was real in the high-class circles of 1880s New York City and only one venue was left standing. It is just one of the real stories that defined the American age of 1883 and will play a major role in the new season of the series.

To prepare for the latest melodramatic history lesson from The Gilded Age, here's a quick catch-up on the real history that it plans to bring to life.

The Opera House War of 1883

Nothing said class like having a box at the Academy of Music in New York City for the latter half of the 1800s. The grand 4,000-seat venue was built at East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan in 1854, a gathering place of wealth and status to appreciate the best in international works and performers. But after the Civil War, self-made men started to arrive in the city to throw around their might and money in communities like Manhattan. It threatened the establishment that occupied the high perches of spaces like the Academy.

Eventually, the musical venue became a lightning rod of the societal division among the upper class leading those outside the established circles to build a grander palace of entertainment. This is where The Gilded Age will join the story. People like the Russells (although fictional) backed the construction of the Metropolitan Opera House at 39th and Broadway in the 1880s. It was bigger, bolder, and positioned itself as the venue for the new world order. The run up to its opening on October 22, 1883 will serve as the backbone for Season 2 as Mrs. Russell becomes the driving force behind its completion as a means of ascending further up the social ladder — even if that means kicking others and the Academy down a few pegs.

As the season progresses, expect to see real facets of Metropolitan's grand debut come to life, including an appearance by Christina Nilsson, a Swedish opera singer who took the stage for its opening night performance of Faust. 

The World of Lina Astor

If Mrs. Russell is to take New York City for herself, she will first have to supplant Mrs. Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, known to her friends as Lina. No one held a tighter grip on the keys to the proverbial kingdom that was New York like Mrs. Astor. She was the unchallenged leader of the Four Hundred, a literal list of the chosen high society members written by her friend Ward McAllistar (played by Nathan Lane in the series). It is suggested that number was chosen because it was the capacity of Mrs. Astor's ballroom, but others say it was just an arbitrary number that let Mrs. Astor determine who was worthy of inclusion.

Beyond the Mrs. Astor viewers know from The Gilded Age, many people know the name Astor she married into as the real estate magnates of New York. Mrs. Astor also carried a name and wealth in her own right when she was the matriarch of society. But most probably recognize Astor from one of the most infamous tragedies in history — the sinking of the Titanic. John Jacob Astor IV, Lina's youngest son, was the most notable casualty of the doomed ship in 1912, leading the headlines of its sinking across the world. The series is set many years before this would ever happen, and Mrs. Astor would be spared the news of it. She died in 1908.

The Work of Booker T. Washington

Far from the ballrooms and infighting of New York City was the seismic work of Booker T. Washington in Alabama. A former slave who became one of the most important voices for Black citizens after the Civil War, Washington intersects with The Gilded Age's timeline as he assumes leadership of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Following her venture into journalism last season as a writer with The New York Globe, Peggy (Denée Benton) will see the reality of the Black experience outside of New York (and the confines of wealth) when she travels to Alabama to meet with Washington and see the progress being made at the institute. A place for Black residents of the South to pursue a higher education, the Tuskegee Institute was built by its students, who constructed its buildings before transitioning to pupils in its classrooms. Through the spaces and communities like the institute, which he ran until 1915, Washington's contributions to the relationship between races in the South were unparalleled in the latter half of the 19th century.

The Lavish Community of Newport, Rhode Island

The only place name checked more than New York in Season 2 of The Gilded Age is Newport, Rhode Island. A few hours from Manhattan, the summer destination of choice for the elite class was this seaside community where the houses and the lifestyles knew no bounds. Lavish mansions decorated the shoreline for the millionaires — new and old — to bring to life when the weather got warm and the streets of New York grew too crowded.

Newport was prominently featured in a few episodes of Season 1, but Season 2 doubles down on the escapism and grandstanding the beach community provided the rich. When the ballrooms on the Upper East Side proved to be small, it was Newport where the real money could be put on display.

The Wonder of the Brooklyn Bridge

One of the monumental events that enraptured New York City in 1883 was the long-awaited completion of the Brooklyn Bridge. Stretching over the East River, the bridge that connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn was spoken of as a new wonder of the world when it was constructed starting in 1870.

The bridge became the image of architectural progress for New York in the late 1800s. But it suffered numerous setbacks over the course of its decade-plus construction, including the death of its original designer John A. Roebling in 1867 before work ever began. His son, Washington Roebling, took over his father's post but fell ill himself in the 1870s and became incapable of visiting the build site. During this period, his wife and fellow architect Emily Warren Roebling worked to maintain her husband's post and even oversaw day-to-day operations through its completion in 1883. It officially opened in May 1883, with every corner of New York watching as the future of man's potential was unveiled.

The Gilded Age Season 2 premieres Sunday, Oct. 29 at 9/8c on HBO and Max.