The Divorce Colony

February 28, 2022
Atlas Obscura editor White (Code of Ethics) delivers a colorful history of divorce in America focused on women who came to Sioux Falls, S.Dak., to end their marriages. Requiring only a three-month stay to establish residency, Sioux Falls was the epicenter of the controversy over “migratory divorce” and the “rampant immorality” it was presumed to foster. Noting that two out of every three divorce seekers were women, White profiles Maggie De Stuers, a descendant of John Jacob Astor who came to Sioux Falls to divorce her Dutch diplomat husband; Mary Nevins Blaine, whose father-in-law, Republican congressman and presidential candidate James Blaine, tried to invalidate her marriage in its first week; Blanche Molineux, an aspiring actor convinced her husband was a murderer; and socialite Flora Bigelow Dodge, whose short stories and plays “pok fun at the petty grievances, outdated mores, and gossip-fueled misunderstandings of the world she moved in.” Opposition voices included Episcopal bishop William Hobart Hare, who claimed that the presence of divorce seekers in Sioux Falls gave him “moral nausea.” White’s vivid character sketches and fluid storytelling buttress her argument that by seeking divorce, these women helped to democratize marriage. Women’s history buffs will savor this sparkling account. Agent: Andrea Blatt, WME.

April 1, 2022
An engaging portrait of a little-known time in American history when the phrase going to Sioux Falls was synonymous with divorce and select women had the rare opportunity to control their own destinies. In this absorbing, thoroughly researched account, White, a senior editor at Atlas Obscura and former editor at Smithsonian magazine, puts readers directly into the lives of four inspirational women in late-19th-century America. At a time when states determined their own divorce laws--and when it was often impossible for women to advocate for themselves--Sioux Falls, South Dakota, offered a chance for them to reclaim their freedom. They need only live in the frontier city for 90 days to establish themselves as residents, and then they were free to file for divorce and potentially unbind themselves from their partners, many of whom were ill-tempered, philandering, abusive, or even murderous. Husbands and wives weren't always at odds, however, as some colluded on the matter and worked toward a mutually beneficial end to their marriages. Interwoven with the biographical information about the women are in-depth examinations of what society, the church, and political figures felt about the Sioux Falls loophole and the increasing number of broken marriages, and White shows how those opinions factored into the creation of divorce laws throughout the U.S. Leaders of both church and state, writes the author "would attack this scourge with religious condemnation, legal obstacles and expense, new legislative restrictions, and the threat of ostracism." Particularly interesting are the opinions of suffragists of the day. What might seem to be a given--that women's rights activists would support fewer barriers to divorce--is in fact more problematic, as the author demonstrates. Other delightful insights include the women's various levels of commitment to the residency ruse. As always, divorce was easier for those with money and status. White effectively humanizes her subjects while remaining faithful to telling nothing but the fascinating truth.

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April 1, 2022

White follows four women (including an Astor and an aspiring actress) as they traveled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the late 19th century, all seeking the same thing: a divorce from their husbands. Sioux Falls attracted divorce-seekers from across the country--wealthy women in particular--with its five rail lines, its luxury hotel (rare on the frontier), and the most accomodating divorce laws in the U.S. The many Sioux Falls divorc�es, nicknamed "the Divorce Colony" in the press, were at the center of a national debate about divorce and the state of American family. The dramatic lives of this book's East Coast-socialite subjects will captivate White's readers the way it captivated the American public a century ago. Just as fascinating, White expertly weaves in the politics of divorce (from churches to the courts to the White House) and does justice to the Divorce Colony women who she says started a revolution simply by seeking divorce. VERDICT A spellbinding look into a forgotten history, with engaging storytelling that makes it feel like a dramatic novel instead of the well-researched nonfiction it is. A must for anyone interested in women's history.--Carleigh Obrochta

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2022
White discusses the phenomenon of migratory divorce in late nineteenth-century Sioux Falls. She focuses on a handful of wealthy white women who sought divorce for reasons ranging from adultery to cruelty to moral turpitude. The South Dakota city had one of the laxer divorce laws in the country, requiring only a 90-day residency. An outspoken bishop, William Hare, was vexed by its reputation as a "Divorce Colony" and succeeded in a campaign to tighten restrictions, eventually expanding the residency requirement to a year. By the 1930s, Nevada, particularly Reno, had supplanted Sioux Falls as the go-to destination for a quickie divorce. More and more women refused to forsake their own happiness or settle for a partnership in which they were subjugated, which was reflected in the country's booming divorce rate. The author acknowledges that Black women in particular had only recently been granted a legal right to a recognized marriage, and the right to divorce remained out of reach for those without financial means. Despite the book's somewhat rarified scope, this is a valuable and intriguing contribution to American social history.

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