As Peggy Scott prepares to say ‘I Do,’ the Black women who fought to tell her story deserve their flowers, too

Peggy Scott and “The Gilded Age” fanbase are preparing to celebrate her big day. We unpack who has made it even possible.

Brocade gowns, delicate overcoats, hats, gloves, and full skirts were on full display as some of New York’s finest gathered at the iconic Central Park Boathouse to celebrate a bride-to-be whose impending nuptials have become the talk of high society.

The guest of honor was none other than Peggy Scott, of course, an accomplished journalist who has managed to find love among New York’s Black elite, even if her future mother-in-law isn’t entirely sold on the match. But despite what the above description suggests, this wasn’t a bridal luncheon in 1880s Manhattan. No, it was modern-day New York.

On Monday, Nov. 9, HBO, in collaboration with Da Gild, the show’s official Black fan community founded by activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham, hosted a lavish bridal luncheon for the fictional bride-to-be in the network’s hit period drama “The Gilded Age.”

“Peggy’s getting married, so naturally, we made an afternoon of it,” began the caption of a post shared on the show’s official Instagram page .

Some 100 guests arrived dressed in their finest Gilded Age-esque attire and delighted in food, decadent cakes, drinks, and a special conversation featuring members of the show’s cast, including Denée Benton—who has brought Peggy to life since the first season—Cynthia Nixon, and Jessica Frances Dukes, alongside executive producers Sonja Warfield and Davita Scarlett, and historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar.

The afternoon also celebrated Black content creators and featured several Black-owned businesses, including Brooklyn Blooms, BCakeNY, The Oyster Lover, Pastry Box, and Gladys Bookshop, just to name a few. Guests were also treated to an advance screening of the third episode of the show’s fourth season and sent home with hardcover journals inspired by Peggy’s first novel, “Friends in These Times.”

“We were so honored to help celebrate this auspicious occasion!! Founder @mspackyetti and Parlor Talk co-host @slynnyoung led a most beautiful conversation with stars of stage and screen, and our beloved members of Da Gild did indeed, as one might say, show up, and show out!” the fan community shared in the comments.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Gilded Age (@gildedagehbo)

It’s not lost on many how this moment in Peggy’s evolution from shy, demure secretary and aspiring writer to an accomplished journalist and the future Mrs. Kirkland wouldn’t be possible without the Black women who have been fighting to bring Peggy to life in full color behind the scenes.

Among them have been Warfield, the writer and executive producer who has helped shape Peggy’s storyline; director and executive producer Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who has brought her world to life on the screen; Dunbar, whose historical expertise has worked to ensure her story is told with accuracy; and, of course, Benton, who has fought to give the character the same depth and opportunities as her white co-stars.

Peggy was initially envisioned as a domestic worker with a much smaller role in the series among the larger upstairs-downstairs of American society, but Benton and Dunbar pushed for a more expansive portrayal, including a career befitting her education and a life that extended well past the homes of wealthy white New Yorkers. Benton also advocated for Black women to have a greater say behind the scenes, helping bring Warfield into the writers’ room and elevate Richardson-Whitfield and Dunbar to executive producer roles.

“There are some things that I can’t mention, but there were parts of Peggy that were entrenched in limited white imagination and entrenched in stereotypes,” Benton told Harper’s Bazaar in 2022.

The result has been a character whose story has evolved rapidly since viewers first met her while she was working as a secretary for Agnes van Rhijn, played by Christine Baranski. Drawing inspiration from pioneering Black writers like Ida B. Wells and Julia C. Collins, Peggy has since become an accomplished journalist at the New York Globe, published her first novel, and navigated family tensions, heartbreak, and eventually a healthy love with Dr. William Kirkland, played by Jordan Donica.

Her journey has also given audiences a glimpse of the Black New York that existed outside the Van Rhijn household, from her parents’ prosperous Brooklyn home to the offices of the New York Globe and the families, professionals, and social circles that made up the city’s thriving Black upper class. Phylicia Rashad joined the series as Peggy’s now soon-to-be mother-in-law, bringing even more color and candor, especially as she disapproves of Peggy for everything from her complexion to her career and growing activism.

“These are stories that haven’t been told,” Warfield told the Los Angeles Times in 2022 , adding how her own family’s history of prosperity is among her inspiration.

As Peggy’s story has grown on the screen, so has the enthusiasm among Black viewers, who have embraced both her character and the rich history depicted through her experiences in droves. That affection has grown into an official fan community, Da Gild, and its companion podcast, “Parlor Talk.”

Because, truthfully, Peggy has been something of an unexpected invitation for Black viewers to recollect a chapter of American history rarely afforded such an elegant treatment on screen. For once, the Black characters in a major period drama aren’t simply colorblind additions to an otherwise white world, nor are their lives exclusively depicted through their oppression at the hands of their white counterparts. They have their own society, and plenty of drama to go around.

It’s an invitation to remember that while racism and oppression were very much about the everyday realities of the late 19th century, Black life wasn’t always defined by it. And with Peggy’s wedding on the horizon, it’s one invitation we’re more than happy to accept.

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