Connie Foss , 1908 Wallace , 1907
Wallace ’ s brothels not only didn ’ t recruit local girls , they didn ’ t accept them . All applicants had to come from out of town . Intending to keep organized crime out of Wallace , the police ran thorough background checks , took fingerprints , and kept photos on file . Nellie Stockbridge probably photographed more prostitutes than the great E . J . Bellocq , who left an unforgettable record of New Orleans ’ Storyville district in the early 20th century . The difference is that while Bellocq ’ s women are unmistakably prostitutes , Stockbridge ’ s could be secretaries , shopgirls , or even schoolteachers . Nothing in their clothing or cosmetics hints at their profession . Effie Rogan , for example , was the madam who ran a house of ill repute called the Reliance in the 1890s . She posed for Stockbridge in a tasteful dress with a high neckline and leg-of-mutton sleeves . Her hair is closely cropped , and her only jewelry appears to be a wedding ring . She could be a preacher ’ s wife .
Another Madam , Josie Morin , looks downright prim in her Stockbridge portrait . During World War I , a little girl came to Madam Morin ’ s establishment to collect a donation to the Red Cross . She reported that “ I rang the bell and a very nice lady asked me to come in . Her living room had pink shaded lights and a lot of shiny satin pillows , and she seemed very friendly and very pretty … she was a very generous lady .” Some of Stockbridge ’ s subjects , like Connie Foss , are dressed a little more provocatively , but even they wear no jewelry or conspicuous makeup .
As far as Nellie Stockbridge was concerned , prostitutes made good customers . She was an astute businesswoman who not only took photos but sold china , picture frames , figurines , and calendar art in her studio shop . She appreciated the disposable income they carried , just as she did in her millinery store in Illinois . Of all the thousands of photographs she took , none show the inside of a Wallace brothel , and those that show the outside are as unrevealing as her portraits . One shot of snowy parked cars on Cedar Street , taken in 1937 , offers no hint that the brick buildings behind them , old even then , are in a red-light district . The twostory building on the far left is the Oasis , which was one of Wallace ’ s most successful bawdy houses until prostitution was finally decriminalized in 1988 . The former madam sold the building to a businessman in 1993 , and he opened it to the public in much the same condition as she left it .
Wallace still brings in hordes of visitors every year . The demographics are different now , and so are the reasons they come . They still want to see the Oasis , but they also want to see the vast trove of images held by the Barnard-Stockbridge Museum . It ’ s just not Wallace without the silver , the brothels or the photographic work of Nellie Stockbridge
46 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE