Of late, I have been working on a history of Tucson's redlight districts, Maiden Lane (1865 - 1892) and Gay Alley (1893 - 1916). Though these restricted districts lasted for nearly half-a-century, very little has been written about them. I have already pitched the idea to my publisher, McFarland, and they seem interested (if I can keep the manuscript to a reasonable length). Unfortunately, the stories of the women who worked as prostitutes during this time are few. Generally, all that is left of them is rather biased newspaper accounts, arrest records, court documents, and other governmental/legal paperwork. Despite this, I think I can put together a book which conveys want life was like for the women of the demimonde in Tucson in this era.
I was telling my dear friend, Kristin Crowley, I have found I need to empathize with someone to write about that person. Edna Loftus, Augustine Chacón, and even John Heath (though I would not consider Heath a good man, I do believe he was innocent of the crime they lynched him for committing) excited my compassion, as do the women of Tucson's red light districts. The white. patriarchal, Christian, societal construct of that era condemned these women to lives of degradation and ignominy, and then exploited them. They were seen as less than human. By way of example, committing assault and battery against a prostitute (a common occurrence) was a misdemeanor, and would result in a fine of seven to fifteen dollars.
This is also the reason I keep laying aside my manuscript about the Arizona Rangers, though it is very close to finished. I honestly just do not like the men I am writing about. I consider them to be nothing more than thugs with badges, enforcing the laws drafted by moral reformers and the monied elite which were racist, misogynistic, and inequitable. The Rangers, in my opinion, were nothing more than "muscle for the bosses," who violently enforced their will on others.
In working on the manuscript about the demimonde of Tucson, I have run across some interesting characters. Among them was Annie Eva O'Sullivan, who was better known in her time as Eva Blanchard (pictured here). Eva was a remarkable businesswoman who invested in real estate and was politically active. She was also a generous philanthropist. However, Eva's primary business was prostitution. She was the madame who founded and ran the notorious "No. 12" brothel in Gay Alley. Not surprisingly, her name is never found in lists of the notable businesswomen and trailblazers of Arizona.
It is generally forgotten how much the women of the half world, like Eva, contributed to establishing Tucson. These women paid their fair share into the city coffers via business licenses, taxes, and court fines, not to mention their charitable donations. Eva regularly gave to the Catholic charities and other programs which assisted the impoverished. I would argue, without the women of the demimonde, Tucson would not have grown into the metropolis it is today. The more I read about Eva, the more I cane to admire and respect her. Eva certainly held her own in what was essentially a man's world, in a culture which sought to debase and discredit her. She did not think twice about going toe-to-toe with the Tucson City Council, the courts, or even the wily newspaper editor who described her as " “fat, fair, and fully forty.” At one point, Eva went before the council and threatened to move her brothel into the very center of downtown if they did not enforce the ordinance they passed which established the restricted district.
Elizabeth Sophia “Lillie” Healy, nee Schneider knew Eva Blanchard, and described her thus: “(W)hen I was there in 1902, Eva Blanchard was. They called her Madame then, and she was – Madame Blanchard. And she was well educated. Not only that, she played very well on the piano. And she was a very kind woman, a very generous woman. And she wasn’t pretty, but she was very good looking. And she was rather stout, because at that time they liked stout women. And she dressed well and wore large hats, with plumes, and she continued to wear them even when they went out of style. When she walked... in a store, you’d think she was as opera singer walking. She kind of strolled across.”
Eva retired from the sporting life in 1903, married her gambler-paramour, Joseph Lee "Joe" Wiley in 1905 (to say their relationship was tumultuous would be an understatement), and then returned to Tucson as Annie O'Sullivan Wiley. She lived off her real estate investments until her death in 1957. She was interred in Holy Hope Cemetery. Needless to say, I could not pass up a story this good, and it is time Eva Blanchard received the consideration she deserves as one of the women who built Tucson. I expect to finish the article I am writing about her by the end of the year. The Arizona Historical Society in Tucson has files on both Eva and Joe, and I need to see what they contain. I have pitched the article to both The Journal of Arizona History and the Journal of the Wild West History Association, and both seem interested. I will let my readers know when it comes out and where they can get a copy. Lastly, I would like to say thank you to all of you who read by blog. I appreciate your interest in what I am writing and in keeping the history of this state alive. Regards, David The photograph of Eva is courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society, Buehman-Portraits-Eva, B4762. Ironically, Henry Buehman, who took this photograph, while he was mayor of Tucson, tried everything he could think of to shut down Gay Alley. I guess he didn't mind taking Eva's "dirty" money and making her portrait. Buehman also rented properties he owned in Gay Alley to prostitutes.
another interesting one my friend