Ella Gingles

Ella Gingles, the 20-year-old woman from County Antrim who took on the underworld of Chicago in 1909.

Introduction

​“I am telling this story in the hope of saving other girls, who like myself may be in danger from the beastly ‘slavers’ and a life of shame.”

These are the words of Ella Gingles, the twenty-year-old woman who took on the underworld of Chicago in 1909, exposed vice and government corruption, united the Orange and Green societies of Chicago and gave feminists the case they needed to demand new legislation to protect girls from sex trafficking — all of this 3,634 miles from home.

I am not the first to tell Ella’s story. An account by journalist Hal McLeod Lytle, who followed the case, has been widely distributed in America and is available on resources which are free to access online. While Lytle was on Ella’s side and sometimes approached the story with sensitivity, he opted for the journalistic style of his time and sensationalised parts of his narrative so that it was difficult to see who Ella was. I aim to reconstruct Ella into the flawed and courageous person that she was.

The reasons for writing this blog are:

1. ​Ella Gingles wrote her own story. I don’t know where the original document is, if it still exists, but her words are included in Lytle’s book. She states her reason for writing her own story as follows: “I am telling this story in the hope of saving other girls…” 
2. Ella Gingles’ story is universal. Women throughout history have been subjected to violence. Sex trafficking is as pertinent today as it was in 1909. 
3. This story is golden in that it fills a gap in women’s history. It is also compelling in the way that traditional Irish divisions were bridged in order to protect workers and women.

Who was Ella Gingles?

Ella Gingles was born on 6 November 1888 in Hightown, a townland in Kilwaughter, just outside Larne. Her parents were Thomas Gingles and Mary Jane Drummond. She came from a large farming family of thirteen children and crossed the Atlantic Ocean in November 1907, at the age of 19. She worked for some months as a housemaid in Canada before moving on to Chicago, where she hoped to secure a job as a lacemaker. She travelled via Michigan, apparently visiting a sister — most likely Elizabeth (b. 1885) —  and, on 15 November 1908, arrived in Chicago, a metropolitan boomtown battling high crime, high immigration and low investment in policing. 

Men in the top echelons of government ensured through their actions or passivity that sexual exploitation was integral to the capitalist foundations of the city of Chicago. The Chicago Vice Commission report in 1910 estimated that there were 1,020 brothels and at least 5,000 full-time prostitutes among a population of approximately 2 million, while a conservative estimate of trade was $16 million per year. A subsequent report in 1910 pointed to weaknesses in the commission, suggesting there were at least 20,000 prostitutes. 

The Vice Commission found that women's earnings averaged $6 a week, 40 percent less than was necessary for independent living. The average prostitute earned approximately $25 per week. The Wellington Hotel at the centre of Ella Gingles’ story was located close to the Levee, a red light district and centre of criminal activity. In 1909, only months after Ella’s attack, there was another scandal concerning a doctor who was found dead in the hotel where Ella claimed to have been abused. The Levee was broken up following a campaign from the Chicago Vice Commission (CVC) and the The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which had a department dedicated to rescuing women from sexual exploitation.

By reading on, you can come to your own view, but a basic understanding of the circumstantial evidence suggests that Ella Gingles could well have become a victim of interstate sex-trafficking. Ella accused Agnes Barrett of trying and failing to trap her into prostitution. Agnes Barrett, who ran a lace store in the Wellington Hotel, accused Ella Gingles of the theft of two items of handmade lace, which Ella said were her own. This charge, it was thought by feminists, unions and Irish societies, was part of the trap. 

A modern analysis of Ella’s predicament might point to her being ‘groomed’ by a criminal gang, the objective being to cause such shame and fear that Ella would have to submit and commit herself to a life of crime. The one crime Ella did commit was to travel to America on another girl’s ticket. Regardless of what happened, it is clear that Ella suffered much misfortune. The timing of her misfortune, however, was critical: she arrived in Chicago when the suffrage and temperance movements were strong and the various societies of Irish community confident. These groups were ready to take on Chicago’s vice. All they needed was a high profile case and strong publicity. Ella Gingles became the symbol of their campaign.

The next part of this blog is lengthy - around 10,000 words. If you're curiosity has been piqued, keep reading...

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