Fans of the HBO show the “Gilded Age” have come to admire the plucky writer, Peggy Scott, played by actress Denée Benton. But did you know she was inspired by multiple iconic Black women of her time?
For those who haven’t watched The Gilded Age, the show chronicles the lives of wealthy old-money families during the late 1880s. It also takes a look at the lives of prominent Black families and people, including Scott, who is an aspiring writer and journalist.
So, who inspired the intrepid young Peggy Scott? Well, here’s a hint. According to the show’s creators, she was inspired not by just one person.
“Julian was intentional about drawing from multiple women’s lives in order to create a fictional character who embodies the spirit of the 1880s for young Black women in the elite,” Erica Armstrong Dunbar, a historical consultant on the show, told the Los Angeles Times.
The most obvious inspirations for Scott’s character appear to be intrepid author and activist Ida B. Wells and Julia C. Collins, a prominent Black teacher and famed author.
Wells, the more well-known of the two figures, was born into slavery in Mississippi in 1862. Wells was freed after the Civil War and eventually pursued an invaluable career as a writer and activist. After the lynching of one of her friends, Wells dedicated much of her work to covering the horrors of racism and white mob violence. She later founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Club.
We know less about Collins’ early life. However, historians believe that she was born a free woman in the Northern part of the United States. Collins was a prolific writer, and her books The Curse of Caste and the Slave Bride are considered the first novels written by an African American woman.
While these certainly aren’t the only inspirations for Peggy Scott, it gives an interesting peek into the real-life history behind an adored fictional character.