Historian to discuss America's first celebrity murder case
On Wednesday, April 27, McHenry County College will host Barry Bradford, a nationally-recognized speaker and award-winning historian, who will present "The Crime of the Century - The Supermodel, the Architect, and the Insane Millionaire," a multimedia presentation from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the college's Luecht Conference Center, 8900 Route 14 in Crystal Lake.
Bradford will unravel a story of murder and madness, sex and celebrity at the dawn of the 20th century. Seemingly like a movie, the setting is a swanky society gathering on the roof of Madison Square Garden.
The players include Stanford White, a charming rogue who was America's greatest architect, and Harry K. Thaw, the drug addicted scion of one of America's wealthiest families, and his wife, Evelyn Nesbit, a teenage chorus girl who was America's first supermodel.
In fact, this story has been fictionalized in two movies: "Ragtime" and "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."
The lecture is free. Walk-ins are welcome; no registration is required.
For more information, call the MCC Conference Center office at (815) 479-8764 or visit www.mchenry.edu/conferences.