The large-scale migration of young, single women to urban areas that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century is a major theme in The Devil in the White City. What factors motivated these women to move? What made them so susceptible to the nefarious intent of someone like Dr. H. H. Holmes?

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Hadassah Kane

23 February, 02:04

The large-scale migration of young, single women to urban areas that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century is a major theme in The Devil in the White City. What factors motivated these women to move? What made them so susceptible to the nefarious intent of someone like Dr. H. H. Holmes?

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Reyna Lamb · Answer 1

Question 1:

There are plenty of factors that motivated young women to migrate to urban areas during those years, but we can identify three main ones:

1. The growth of cities was the main one. Just like men, women from rural areas would migrate to cities searching for better opportunities. They would often do this alone and for economic reasons, both of which would make them particularly vulnerable.

2. The changes in gender roles were significant as well. While women were not considered as equal to men as they are now, they were allowed to be part of society in a much greater way during those years than they had ever been before.

3. Finally, the rise of "celebrities" was a strong force for many young people to move to cities. With better communication, actresses, dancers, singers and other types of performers were achieving fame and fortune that had never been seen before. This led to a lot of people moving to cities to try to achieve that level of success.

Question 2:

These women were particularly susceptible to criminal activities for several reasons. One of the most obvious ones is due to the nature of the prosecution at that time. Fields such as forensics were not as developed, and as the cities experienced increasing crime, they were not always able to find the culprits. The inherent complications of investigations gave criminals like H. H. Holmes a great advantage.

A second reason was the type of life these women led. As they had moved away from their family, they often lived alone, or in places like guesthouses. This meant that people would be less likely to notice their absence than if they had lived at home. Finally, these women would often be in a bad economic position, which would put them in a vulnerable situation.