Vanderbilts: An American Dynasty

The Vanderbilts chronicles the history of one of America's richest families. Beginning with Cornelius Vanderbilt's dogged ambition and cut-throat business tactics and concluding with the contemporary Vanderbilt entrepreneur, Gloria, the film traces the rise of the family's fortunes in the nineteenth century, records several public scandals associated with the Vanderbilts, and provides in-depth portraits of some of the most prominent Vanderbilt men and women.

• Themes
• Victorian
• elite
• heedless
• magnate
• novelty
• philanthropic
• pious
• robber baron
• suffragette
• tyrannical

1. Describe Cornelius Vanderbilt. Which among his personal qualities help to explain his great financial success? Why wasn't his family accepted by the elite of New York City? What type of father and husband was he?

2. Why did Cornelius Vanderbilt purchase the New York railroad? How did he expect to make money with it?

3. Describe William H. Vanderbilt. How did his public image contrast with his personal life? Why did the media represent him as a robber baron? Why was the public willing to accept this image?

4. The very rich, like the Vanderbilts, make up just a small portion of American society at any given time. Why do scholars study the lives of the very rich? What can we learn about the larger society by looking at the Vanderbilts? Why are people today still fascinated by the wealthy of a century ago?

5. Why was Alva Smith Vanderbilt considered a particularly unusual woman, even among the very rich of her day? What drew her to the suffrage movement?

6. By the 1890s, the Vanderbilts were considered America's royal family. Does every generation have a royal family? Who might be considered the royal family of today? Why in the United States, which is a democracy and not a monarchy, do we seem to seek out royalty?

7. In the fight over custody of "little" Gloria Vanderbilt in the 1930s, why did the public appear to side with Gloria's mother, Gloria Morgan? How did events of the time, particularly the Great Depression, shape public perception of the trial?

1. Imagine you are a servant working at the great ball hosted by Alva Smith Vanderbilt in her New York City chateau. Write a letter or journal entry in which you describe the ball, the costumes, the guests, and your feelings about the event.

2. Draw a timeline tracing important events in the life of the Vanderbilt family. Include some of the other significant events in American history, such as the Civil War, WWI and the Great Depression.

3. Why is the late nineteenth century called the Gilded Age? Why were people like the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers called "robber barons?" Explain why much of the public was both fascinated and angered by stories about the Vanderbilts.

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