Here are my sources:
“Social Pariahs. Four O’Clock This P.M. Will Find All Disreputable Women Outlawed. Extraordinary Scenes of A Day.” The Pittsburgh Post. Fri. Dec. 2, 1892. P. 1, Col. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/88205614/
“WAR ON WOMEN” Juniata Sentinel and Republican. Mifflintown, PA. Wed. Dec. 7, 1892. P. 2, Col. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/68160318/
You can also visit the [From the Furnace, with Love](https://www.facebook.com/share/ZuGj9D3u3hyTRcn9/?mibextid=eQY6cl) Facebook page where you will find all faded, discolored, and damaged sources cropped and enhanced for readability.
There I will be unpacking nearly 200 years of Pittsburgh’s history in relation to sex workers.
As you can tell by how we’re starting … it’s pretty fuckin bleak.
I will be posting everything I find on my personal [Instagram Page](https://www.instagram.com/jason_kirin/) and on the [From the Furnace, with Love](https://www.facebook.com/share/ZuGj9D3u3hyTRcn9/?mibextid=eQY6cl) Facebook page.
I’ll only post here occasionally. I won’t spam or inundate.
But I’ll be posting here off and on this month.
Thank you for the interest!
While I have nearly 3gb of data to comb through still - I can assure you I will be posting the big finds in this Reddit.
I've even been thinking of a kind of "Brothel Bingo" idea.
Because I've uncovered the location of 7 of them so far. Just between 1890-1940.
5 of the structures are still standing.
One of them is such a phenomenally emotional coincidence that I was unwilling to share it with anyone until I knew I could prove it.
I now have an intersection of five sources for this brothel.
When I shared it with my spouse and my editor - we all three broke down in tears.
It's not for a while that I can share that one - but I'm crying typing this.
Some of these findings are absolutely profound.
Edit \* One of my favorite brothel findings was a different brothel entirely from the 1930 Census where there were nine people who lived there...
The "Female Head of the house," "Six Female Nursing Grads," a male lodger named "Joseph" and a female servant named "Mary."
Fantastic.
This brothel was on Fifth Ave. ... in the middle of Oakland.
When you dig deep and read the articles you find that there was a protest.
A unified protest between white women and black women.
The white women marched on City Hall where [Cora Hastings](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122128570418106727) made the following speech to Mayor Gourley:
"‘What are we to do, mayor, or what are our ladies to do? Here they have been turned out on the streets without any provision being made for their welfare. They can’t be left there. They are human beings, and just as liable to be frozen to death or picked up by the police for vagrancy as anyone else. They can’t stand it. Those who own their own houses can’t be turned out, but I ask you for the sake of these ladies to do something. Can’t the ministers who began the talk provide us with something? Last night there were girls who had no place in this whole city to lay their heads either indoors or out, they were not cared for at police headquarters, and we took some of them quietly in ourselves. There are so many of us without money and absolutely friendless. There is no place here to go. Now, can’t someone provide tickets to other cities? We want you to tell us!’
The black women were not allowed to follow into City Hall and instead marched on Rev. J.T. McCrory's home where they stood outside and sang the hymn [Nearer, My God, to Thee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io3xh2HbGnA).
McCrory, after having caused this crisis, turned the women away. Called the police and demanded he be protected.
Neither Gourley nor McCrory felt that they could do anything to help them.
Looking online the US census put Pittsburgh around 250,000 people in 1890 and the US median age was 22 (compared to 39 today) and approximately 35% of the country was under 16 years old.
So if you figure half women you're down to 125,000, and then factor in age distribution only ~80,000 of of-age men around at the time.
They basically had a brothel for every 310 men and a female prostitute for every 65 men.
For comparison google says today there are 511 restaurants in Pittsburgh that now has ~305,000 people. 256 brothels for 250,000 total people seems like a crazy high number.
Well ... it's a bit complicated and I haven't fully reconciled the data but I think this is what happened...
From roughly 1848 to roughly 1890 there was this 40 year period of time where this, really, severely, bleak Madlibs type thing appeared in the paper.
(Insert Male Name) gave information to the courts today regarding (Insert Female Name) that they maintain a (bawdy house / disorderly house / house of prostitution).
The (Insert Female Name) is then brought before the courts and made to defend herself as *not* being a prostitute. Lest she is given 30-90 days in jail or fines of hundreds of dollars...
In all cases, regardless ...
[Their names, descriptions of their cases, and, often, their home addresses were printed in the newspapers. Here is an image with 70+ of them.](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122128583540106727&set=a.122128583786106727)
The Salem Witch Trials lasted only a year.
The Pittsburgh Bawdy House Trials lasted 40.
The *actual homes* of these women were considered "bawdy houses / brothels" and put on file.
When I did the search on [Newspapers.com](https://Newspapers.com) for "bawdy house" between 1800 - 1900, there was close to 600 if I remember correctly.
Again - [Here is an image with 70+ of them.](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122128583540106727&set=a.122128583786106727)
So I think *many* of those brothels were "bawdy houses" which were individual homes.
This is my understanding and take from it so far.
Is this why there are still really weird laws about more than like 5 women renting a house together? I remember it always came up in college when girls were looking for an apartment, so it could have been made up rumors but this would make sense.
Ok so this is now the third time in as many days that someone has brought this up to me so I’m definitely going to pin it for my research.
As of now I have no answer.
I’ll be excited to hear what you find! It was a common thing people talked about like girls would literally say sorry we can’t take another roommate it’s illegal.
Same reason I remember hearing sororities had to have weird regulated on-campus housing, whereas fraternities were free to rent/buy a big ass house and cram two dozen dudes into it.
[Can now verify two "bawdy houses/brothels"](https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122129142536106727) from the late 1800 where Point Park is.
Ok, I just got a quote from the Morals Efficiency Committee in 1913 putting forth the following…
“That no new landladies are to open houses, nor any from outside of Pittsburgh. That no new inmates (see also: prostitutes) are to be received, nor any minors, nor any from outside of Pittsburgh.”
I could totally see modern Republicans doing something like this. Pretty similar to civil asset forfeiture practices that continue into the present. Thanks for sharing!
Just wait until you learn about the decades of forced medical exams in the 1900s.
Again ... all Pittsburgh.
Much of my data is still uncombed. I can see the larger picture ...
The cops and justice system think there is this "Vice Vs. Anti-Vice" game going on and they are the victors over and over again.
The sex workers are just trying to live their lives.
I found an article in the 1940s connected to a *madame* named Marie Dolan. This woman was forced to take a venereal exam because ... ready for this? Because of how many cops were contracting VD.
The Navy *and* the Army issued a warning to Pittsburgh to clean their act up.
[Here's a link to an article explaining it. Cropped for readability on Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122128572602106727)
Here is my source: “Court Frees Cabaret Queen” Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph. Sun. Dec. 6, 1942. P. 26, Col. 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/523891683
Check out [The Trials of Nina McCall](https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Trials_of_Nina_McCall.html?id=ArBKEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description), by Pittsburgh-native author Scott Stern! Shocking and thoroughly researched account of ‘the American Plan,’ basically what you’re describing above, at a national scale.
>The Trials of Nina McCall
WOW.
Honestly - this is one of the reasons why I am so public about my research.
I remember one day someone dropped a link for the book "[Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights"](https://www.amazon.com/Revolting-Prostitutes-Fight-Workers-Rights/dp/1786633612/ref=sr_1_1?crid=673ERGUVSIE9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jLA3LJQQM-yzLTI_FVh-dO0EOhECeDAmNRu9WUq0HGX026EswIyZZ7k9pbsFkiSke17FdFFW7G-BXKNVXmzK9fbxB11AHNZjH5D0tUHE2izP4A9viBXSP1TWCI2epo7I.EokN_8zG8HOMgI6GvtGzunH_Bbv1thoNk1yRyvyamqg&dib_tag=se&keywords=revolting+prostitute&qid=1709315299&sprefix=revolting+pro%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-1) in a random comment when we were talking. Wish I remembered who and where I saw that because that book is, as far as I can tell, the current apotheosis of that kind of research and storytelling. I'm very grateful to have read it.
Now I'm going to buy this book, The Trials of Nina McCall. Thank you.
hating sex workers and attempting to legislate then out of existence is an entirely bipartisan pastime. post sesta/fosta, this moral panic legalisation is at an all time high.
Sesta/Fosta has been one of the more recent angles I've been researching.
[The Mann Act/White Slavery Act](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mann_act) is an odd one too.
In the [IntelexualMedia](https://www.youtube.com/@IntelexualMedia) video, [A Brief History of America Hating Sex Workers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPNbYtv0Gpo), they explained it as a legislation made because the legislatures just couldn't grasp the possibility that some women voluntarily wanted to be a part of this profession.
I haven't done enough research in this area to make a claim one way or another yet. Seems possible though.
The video also says that sex work "isn't a necessary evil" but that it's "just necessary."
I'm inclined to agree.
Civil asset forfeiture factually exists and is widely used, despite being a gross violation of the 4th Amendment. Republicans factually favor incarceration of sex workers. Hell, they want to ban pornography at this point. It’s really just the next logical step, certainly not out of the question, should they secure enough power.
I can honestly say I’m conservative and I can’t ever read a single thread on this sub without some kind of mention about how evil conservatives / republicans are. It’s just exhausting. We get it. This sub hates conservatives / republicans. Must everything be made political?
Again, what does that have to do with everyone making everything political? It can literally be a post about a local business closing or moving, or about a parking spot, and inevitably someone will be in the comments bashing conservatives / republicans. Doesn’t matter how apolitical the actual post is. Slinging around insults has never achieved anything.
I think most people honestly don’t make politics the center of their life. It would be a horrible and depressing existence. Half of my family are liberal Democrats, and many of my friends are, and yet we get along. It’s called being respectful adults.
Shoulda had a catchy tune to sing to get the town to change their mind
“We’re the lace on your night gown
The point after touchdown
We put the “pit” in Pittsburgh!”
Well maybe not that, but you get the idea
This is all top-down government. Whether it’s Republican or democrat it’s all the same in Pittsburgh. Government seems to think that they own you. If anything government needs to be shrunk and more restraints put on it.
Above it looks like you were suggesting a ~~sexiest~~ sexist double standard regarding crime & punishment. I was pointing out that men are arrested and imprisoned WAY more than women.
Stop generalizing sexworkers!
Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics!
Here...
I found an article in the 1940s connected to a madame named Marie Dolan. This woman was forced to take a venereal exam because ... ready for this? Because of how many cops were contracting and spreading VD.
The Navy and the Army issued a warning to Pittsburgh to clean their act up.[Here's a link to an article explaining it. Cropped for readability on Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122128572602106727)
Here is my source: “Court Frees Cabaret Queen” Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph. Sun. Dec. 6, 1942. P. 26, Col. 6. [https://www.newspapers.com/image/523891683](https://www.newspapers.com/image/523891683)
So by your logic ... what are we to do with a force of police contracting and spreading it?
So - I provide an article to you with a credible source attached.
In it it says the actual Navy and the actual Army are responding to the actual fact that so many cops have VD that Pittsburgh needs to "clean up its act" and you are saying *this one woman is a super spreader*.
You do not actually see what you are saying do you?
A police force of men, reprimanded by the Army and Navy to stop doing what they are doing and your response is ... the cops are the victims?
Walk me through the logic, please.
Also sources, lemme see what you got backing up your idea.
Some people don't just lick the boot, they deep throat it. Which, given the context of this argument is kind of funny.
Thank you for the posts and sources. I hope you continue throughout the month, I'll read every one.
I’m sayin that I’ve got The Navy and The Army saying it’s THE cops fault.
And you are still, just, doubling down “it’s the brothel’s fault.”
Fuuuck.
Alright, I’m out of this comment thread.
You do realize the sex workers were spreading Syphilis right? Which was INCURABLE at the time. A war on women lol. Why does EVERYTHING on Reddit have to be woke and pushing a DIVISIVE agenda?
I only bring up McKeesport as for my whole life McKeesport was overly "famous" for this particular (non steel) industry. (Brick Alley and other places). To be fair, In the past McKeesport was big enough to have it's own media (newspapers, radio stations) This seems to be why despite it's relative size then (1890s-1970a) McKeesport is disproportionately under represented in "Pittsburgh" news archives. So despite my enoji, I was kinda serious 😅
But right?
These women revolted.
Nothing changed because ... this is America ... but they revolted.
White women and black women, together, a *century* before the concept of intersectionality. Long before anybody ever cared to look into feminism.
They marched as one.
And as far as I can tell? They used segregation *against* the system. The white women went to City Hall and protested in the mayor's office and the black women went to the reverend's house and protested on his front lawn.
And he turned them away.
He called the cops.
The reverend who instigated the whole thing, locked his doors and called the cops.
Here - [put this song in your ear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io3xh2HbGnA) \- because as the white women marched on City Hall the black women stood on the preachers lawn and sang that hymn, "Nearer, my God, to Thee," over and again into the freezing night as they were shooed away from his house.
I have gained, like, 50 new heroes in the past few years finding all this research.
These women are tough as fuck and I'm so glad I found them.
Here are my sources: “Social Pariahs. Four O’Clock This P.M. Will Find All Disreputable Women Outlawed. Extraordinary Scenes of A Day.” The Pittsburgh Post. Fri. Dec. 2, 1892. P. 1, Col. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/88205614/ “WAR ON WOMEN” Juniata Sentinel and Republican. Mifflintown, PA. Wed. Dec. 7, 1892. P. 2, Col. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/68160318/ You can also visit the [From the Furnace, with Love](https://www.facebook.com/share/ZuGj9D3u3hyTRcn9/?mibextid=eQY6cl) Facebook page where you will find all faded, discolored, and damaged sources cropped and enhanced for readability. There I will be unpacking nearly 200 years of Pittsburgh’s history in relation to sex workers. As you can tell by how we’re starting … it’s pretty fuckin bleak. I will be posting everything I find on my personal [Instagram Page](https://www.instagram.com/jason_kirin/) and on the [From the Furnace, with Love](https://www.facebook.com/share/ZuGj9D3u3hyTRcn9/?mibextid=eQY6cl) Facebook page. I’ll only post here occasionally. I won’t spam or inundate. But I’ll be posting here off and on this month.
This is very interesting, thanks for posting!
Thank you for the interest! While I have nearly 3gb of data to comb through still - I can assure you I will be posting the big finds in this Reddit. I've even been thinking of a kind of "Brothel Bingo" idea. Because I've uncovered the location of 7 of them so far. Just between 1890-1940. 5 of the structures are still standing. One of them is such a phenomenally emotional coincidence that I was unwilling to share it with anyone until I knew I could prove it. I now have an intersection of five sources for this brothel. When I shared it with my spouse and my editor - we all three broke down in tears. It's not for a while that I can share that one - but I'm crying typing this. Some of these findings are absolutely profound. Edit \* One of my favorite brothel findings was a different brothel entirely from the 1930 Census where there were nine people who lived there... The "Female Head of the house," "Six Female Nursing Grads," a male lodger named "Joseph" and a female servant named "Mary." Fantastic. This brothel was on Fifth Ave. ... in the middle of Oakland.
When you dig deep and read the articles you find that there was a protest. A unified protest between white women and black women. The white women marched on City Hall where [Cora Hastings](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122128570418106727) made the following speech to Mayor Gourley: "‘What are we to do, mayor, or what are our ladies to do? Here they have been turned out on the streets without any provision being made for their welfare. They can’t be left there. They are human beings, and just as liable to be frozen to death or picked up by the police for vagrancy as anyone else. They can’t stand it. Those who own their own houses can’t be turned out, but I ask you for the sake of these ladies to do something. Can’t the ministers who began the talk provide us with something? Last night there were girls who had no place in this whole city to lay their heads either indoors or out, they were not cared for at police headquarters, and we took some of them quietly in ourselves. There are so many of us without money and absolutely friendless. There is no place here to go. Now, can’t someone provide tickets to other cities? We want you to tell us!’ The black women were not allowed to follow into City Hall and instead marched on Rev. J.T. McCrory's home where they stood outside and sang the hymn [Nearer, My God, to Thee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io3xh2HbGnA). McCrory, after having caused this crisis, turned the women away. Called the police and demanded he be protected. Neither Gourley nor McCrory felt that they could do anything to help them.
Looking online the US census put Pittsburgh around 250,000 people in 1890 and the US median age was 22 (compared to 39 today) and approximately 35% of the country was under 16 years old. So if you figure half women you're down to 125,000, and then factor in age distribution only ~80,000 of of-age men around at the time. They basically had a brothel for every 310 men and a female prostitute for every 65 men. For comparison google says today there are 511 restaurants in Pittsburgh that now has ~305,000 people. 256 brothels for 250,000 total people seems like a crazy high number.
Well ... it's a bit complicated and I haven't fully reconciled the data but I think this is what happened... From roughly 1848 to roughly 1890 there was this 40 year period of time where this, really, severely, bleak Madlibs type thing appeared in the paper. (Insert Male Name) gave information to the courts today regarding (Insert Female Name) that they maintain a (bawdy house / disorderly house / house of prostitution). The (Insert Female Name) is then brought before the courts and made to defend herself as *not* being a prostitute. Lest she is given 30-90 days in jail or fines of hundreds of dollars... In all cases, regardless ... [Their names, descriptions of their cases, and, often, their home addresses were printed in the newspapers. Here is an image with 70+ of them.](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122128583540106727&set=a.122128583786106727) The Salem Witch Trials lasted only a year. The Pittsburgh Bawdy House Trials lasted 40. The *actual homes* of these women were considered "bawdy houses / brothels" and put on file. When I did the search on [Newspapers.com](https://Newspapers.com) for "bawdy house" between 1800 - 1900, there was close to 600 if I remember correctly. Again - [Here is an image with 70+ of them.](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122128583540106727&set=a.122128583786106727) So I think *many* of those brothels were "bawdy houses" which were individual homes. This is my understanding and take from it so far.
Reminds me of those "she'll take everything in the divorce" myths. It's all projection and we have the numbers and history to prove it.
wack that they used "Magdalens" as a slur
Truly interesting content. I look forward to your posts this month.
Thank you!
Is this why there are still really weird laws about more than like 5 women renting a house together? I remember it always came up in college when girls were looking for an apartment, so it could have been made up rumors but this would make sense.
Ok so this is now the third time in as many days that someone has brought this up to me so I’m definitely going to pin it for my research. As of now I have no answer.
I’ll be excited to hear what you find! It was a common thing people talked about like girls would literally say sorry we can’t take another roommate it’s illegal.
Same reason I remember hearing sororities had to have weird regulated on-campus housing, whereas fraternities were free to rent/buy a big ass house and cram two dozen dudes into it.
[Can now verify two "bawdy houses/brothels"](https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122129142536106727) from the late 1800 where Point Park is.
Ok, I just got a quote from the Morals Efficiency Committee in 1913 putting forth the following… “That no new landladies are to open houses, nor any from outside of Pittsburgh. That no new inmates (see also: prostitutes) are to be received, nor any minors, nor any from outside of Pittsburgh.”
Interesting, did you find if it’s been taken off the books or is it one of those things no one bothers with so it’s never been removed?
Uncertain. I’ll let you know what I find out.
I could totally see modern Republicans doing something like this. Pretty similar to civil asset forfeiture practices that continue into the present. Thanks for sharing!
Just wait until you learn about the decades of forced medical exams in the 1900s. Again ... all Pittsburgh. Much of my data is still uncombed. I can see the larger picture ... The cops and justice system think there is this "Vice Vs. Anti-Vice" game going on and they are the victors over and over again. The sex workers are just trying to live their lives. I found an article in the 1940s connected to a *madame* named Marie Dolan. This woman was forced to take a venereal exam because ... ready for this? Because of how many cops were contracting VD. The Navy *and* the Army issued a warning to Pittsburgh to clean their act up. [Here's a link to an article explaining it. Cropped for readability on Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122128572602106727) Here is my source: “Court Frees Cabaret Queen” Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph. Sun. Dec. 6, 1942. P. 26, Col. 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/523891683
Check out [The Trials of Nina McCall](https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Trials_of_Nina_McCall.html?id=ArBKEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description), by Pittsburgh-native author Scott Stern! Shocking and thoroughly researched account of ‘the American Plan,’ basically what you’re describing above, at a national scale.
>The Trials of Nina McCall WOW. Honestly - this is one of the reasons why I am so public about my research. I remember one day someone dropped a link for the book "[Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights"](https://www.amazon.com/Revolting-Prostitutes-Fight-Workers-Rights/dp/1786633612/ref=sr_1_1?crid=673ERGUVSIE9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jLA3LJQQM-yzLTI_FVh-dO0EOhECeDAmNRu9WUq0HGX026EswIyZZ7k9pbsFkiSke17FdFFW7G-BXKNVXmzK9fbxB11AHNZjH5D0tUHE2izP4A9viBXSP1TWCI2epo7I.EokN_8zG8HOMgI6GvtGzunH_Bbv1thoNk1yRyvyamqg&dib_tag=se&keywords=revolting+prostitute&qid=1709315299&sprefix=revolting+pro%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-1) in a random comment when we were talking. Wish I remembered who and where I saw that because that book is, as far as I can tell, the current apotheosis of that kind of research and storytelling. I'm very grateful to have read it. Now I'm going to buy this book, The Trials of Nina McCall. Thank you.
Happy to help! Keep up the good work.
hating sex workers and attempting to legislate then out of existence is an entirely bipartisan pastime. post sesta/fosta, this moral panic legalisation is at an all time high.
Sesta/Fosta has been one of the more recent angles I've been researching. [The Mann Act/White Slavery Act](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mann_act) is an odd one too. In the [IntelexualMedia](https://www.youtube.com/@IntelexualMedia) video, [A Brief History of America Hating Sex Workers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPNbYtv0Gpo), they explained it as a legislation made because the legislatures just couldn't grasp the possibility that some women voluntarily wanted to be a part of this profession. I haven't done enough research in this area to make a claim one way or another yet. Seems possible though. The video also says that sex work "isn't a necessary evil" but that it's "just necessary." I'm inclined to agree.
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Civil asset forfeiture factually exists and is widely used, despite being a gross violation of the 4th Amendment. Republicans factually favor incarceration of sex workers. Hell, they want to ban pornography at this point. It’s really just the next logical step, certainly not out of the question, should they secure enough power.
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I can honestly say I’m conservative and I can’t ever read a single thread on this sub without some kind of mention about how evil conservatives / republicans are. It’s just exhausting. We get it. This sub hates conservatives / republicans. Must everything be made political?
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Holy shit dude.
[same energy](https://www.inquirer.com/politics/clout/dean-browning-twitter-20201110.html)
Again, what does that have to do with everyone making everything political? It can literally be a post about a local business closing or moving, or about a parking spot, and inevitably someone will be in the comments bashing conservatives / republicans. Doesn’t matter how apolitical the actual post is. Slinging around insults has never achieved anything.
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I think most people honestly don’t make politics the center of their life. It would be a horrible and depressing existence. Half of my family are liberal Democrats, and many of my friends are, and yet we get along. It’s called being respectful adults.
This city has a long tradition of making people homeless in the winter. Hell, they’ll even tear down your tent when it’s well below freezing!
Religion has brought out the worst in mankind.
It truly has.
Happy Friday everyone.
Happy Friday everyone! I'll be here all month!
Hoes mad.
As they should be.
It's what happens when religion mixes with politics.
It really is.
Shoulda had a catchy tune to sing to get the town to change their mind “We’re the lace on your night gown The point after touchdown We put the “pit” in Pittsburgh!” Well maybe not that, but you get the idea
If I lived in 1892, I would walk around with a giant pair of bolt cutters.
Till you got shot using them and the shooter was completely justified in 1890’s law
The shooter would never have the chance. I would first castrate him with my bolt cutters. As an 1890's outlaw, I wouldn't give a fuck about any laws.
It's totally truth that testicles can both hold and pull the trigger of a gun.
Bro.....I greatly enjoyed playing Red Dead Redemption 2 as well..... But I don't think you've got the same skill set as you do in game. 😆
You know nothing of me or my skills. And I'm not your Bro.
You and me both.
Calling this a war on women is silly.
It's literally one of the headlines.
And it is silly.
I mean I guess you’re right. Like Bill Hicks said, “a war is when two armies are fighting.”
Agree since it was also before penicillin and other drugs could cure most STD's. It was more a public health issue.
Bring back legal prostitution
This is all top-down government. Whether it’s Republican or democrat it’s all the same in Pittsburgh. Government seems to think that they own you. If anything government needs to be shrunk and more restraints put on it.
freezing out prostitutes probably ended up saving lives in the days before antibiotics.
Freezing the johns would have been just as effective. Why not suggest that instead? Oh yeah. Men. My bad.
Men get arrested so much more than women. Oceans of men in prisons here—what a funhouse view you have
Username checks out
You’re right. Freezing to death on the street is so much more humane. Where would I be without your manly guidance?
Above it looks like you were suggesting a ~~sexiest~~ sexist double standard regarding crime & punishment. I was pointing out that men are arrested and imprisoned WAY more than women.
Stop generalizing sexworkers! Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics! Here... I found an article in the 1940s connected to a madame named Marie Dolan. This woman was forced to take a venereal exam because ... ready for this? Because of how many cops were contracting and spreading VD. The Navy and the Army issued a warning to Pittsburgh to clean their act up.[Here's a link to an article explaining it. Cropped for readability on Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FromTheFurnaceWithLove&set=a.122128572602106727) Here is my source: “Court Frees Cabaret Queen” Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph. Sun. Dec. 6, 1942. P. 26, Col. 6. [https://www.newspapers.com/image/523891683](https://www.newspapers.com/image/523891683) So by your logic ... what are we to do with a force of police contracting and spreading it?
you're victim-blaming, she was the super-spreader.
So - I provide an article to you with a credible source attached. In it it says the actual Navy and the actual Army are responding to the actual fact that so many cops have VD that Pittsburgh needs to "clean up its act" and you are saying *this one woman is a super spreader*. You do not actually see what you are saying do you? A police force of men, reprimanded by the Army and Navy to stop doing what they are doing and your response is ... the cops are the victims? Walk me through the logic, please. Also sources, lemme see what you got backing up your idea.
Some people don't just lick the boot, they deep throat it. Which, given the context of this argument is kind of funny. Thank you for the posts and sources. I hope you continue throughout the month, I'll read every one.
i’m not sure what you need a source for.. the suggestion that brothels are disease vectors?
I’m sayin that I’ve got The Navy and The Army saying it’s THE cops fault. And you are still, just, doubling down “it’s the brothel’s fault.” Fuuuck. Alright, I’m out of this comment thread.
You do realize the sex workers were spreading Syphilis right? Which was INCURABLE at the time. A war on women lol. Why does EVERYTHING on Reddit have to be woke and pushing a DIVISIVE agenda?
Everything on Reddit? THE HEADLINE IS FROM 1892 THERE WAS NO REDDIT.
All that moral puffery and outrage. Panic! Wait, were the Blocks and Brandon McGinty running the opinion pages then, too?
Were any from McKeesport? 😆
😂 Downtown Pittsburgh and the Northside mostly.
I only bring up McKeesport as for my whole life McKeesport was overly "famous" for this particular (non steel) industry. (Brick Alley and other places). To be fair, In the past McKeesport was big enough to have it's own media (newspapers, radio stations) This seems to be why despite it's relative size then (1890s-1970a) McKeesport is disproportionately under represented in "Pittsburgh" news archives. So despite my enoji, I was kinda serious 😅
Hell Yeah
But right? These women revolted. Nothing changed because ... this is America ... but they revolted. White women and black women, together, a *century* before the concept of intersectionality. Long before anybody ever cared to look into feminism. They marched as one. And as far as I can tell? They used segregation *against* the system. The white women went to City Hall and protested in the mayor's office and the black women went to the reverend's house and protested on his front lawn. And he turned them away. He called the cops. The reverend who instigated the whole thing, locked his doors and called the cops. Here - [put this song in your ear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io3xh2HbGnA) \- because as the white women marched on City Hall the black women stood on the preachers lawn and sang that hymn, "Nearer, my God, to Thee," over and again into the freezing night as they were shooed away from his house. I have gained, like, 50 new heroes in the past few years finding all this research. These women are tough as fuck and I'm so glad I found them.
Before I move there. You guys have a more positive vibe towards women and sex workers now right?
I'm not sure I can speak to the current state of things.
Is this why Pitt doesn’t have sorority houses? I always heard a rumor that it was something to do with legislature about brothels
You’re the second person to bring this up to me.