The Bishop and the Butterfly, a gripping account of the murky underbelly of Manhattan, investigates and answers the intriguing question: did the 1931 assassination of a New York female instigate the downfall of Tammany Hall, the infamous Irish-heavy, corrupt political institution of the city? This was all happening as the Great Depression was taking hold, witnessed by those on the frontline of the clash between dishonest politicians and agents of change.
The murder victim, Vivian Gordon, was a sex worker, brothel owner, and blackmailer, whose body was discovered strangled in a Bronx-based park. Inspections of her living quarters led to the discovery of diaries inundated with entries about unwholesome individuals, dubious transactions and those who had stated their desire for her demise. The most shocking find, however, was an invitation to contribute information to an investigation revealing vice squad officers who, in connivance with hearing judges and attorneys, forced guiltless women accused of solicitation to pay in order to evade conviction and imprisonment.
Gordon’s murder and the subsequent media spectacle are vividly portrayed by Michael Wolraich, a journalist and writer who had previously delved into the historical context of American politics on the brink of the Jazz Age. Wolraich captures Tammany Hall’s desperate attempts to keep the unfolding scandal from unseating their selected mayor, the colourful and quick-witted Jimmy Walker.
The man leading the investigation into the vice squad of NYPD, former judge Samuel Seabury, known as “the Bishop” (and hence the inspiration behind the book’s title), entertained the notion that Gordon was killed to ensure her silence. Franklin Roosevelt, the governor of New York who was contemplating a presidential campaign in 1932, also had suspicions but dared not directly confront the forceful Tammany Hall. Therefore, the task of spearheading a broader investigation to expose the city’s criminal operators was left to Seabury.
Evidence connecting the police to Gordon’s murder was never found, despite her past experiences with an exploitative vice squad. A pair of ruffians faced trial for her death, with the theory emerging that her corrupt solicitor ordered the hit. Yet, New Yorkers, tired of civic corruption and unscrupulous law enforcement officers, began to see the murder as the embodiment of Tammany Hall’s audacious reign.
Wolraich posits that if Vivian Gordon hadn’t met her tragic end, Seabury’s campaign against corruption may have merely resulted in the dismissal of several judicial figures, attorneys, and police personnel. This gripping and extensively researched book unravels the story of how a solitary woman’s death infused courage in reformers, toppled a dishonest government, and revolutionised a metropolis.
Dean Jobb’s forthcoming book, A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue, is due for release in June, published by Algonquin Books.