NY NY - Dorothy Arnold, 25, New York, 1910

[punklove]

Snip:


I think it's also possible that they burned her writing and that was the final straw for her. Or they burned it after she disappeared.

You know what, I never thought I would ever say this about someone missing but good for her if she left of her own accord. I can guarantee you I would have done the same if her family was as bad as we're envisioning - nothing like a spirited girl stuck in 1910 corsettes and lacking rights. Is this bad that I think that way:

I hadnt thought of that - I wouldnt put it past the family to cover up things after she was missing, after all it seems they were more concerned with how the family looked than how she felt. I mean, if you think about it.. she was a girl that had never been unreachable before so you would think they would have been worried from the start yet she had a family that waited 6 weeks to report her missing, and then did so under duress.

At the time she went missing it doesnt seem there was anyone in her life that she felt good about - her family for mocking her, and not allowing her to go out on her own and George, because he wouldnt marry her.

Its my hope that she decided she wanted a different life and was able to find a place that she felt accepted and loved.

 

[Claudette]

I hadnt thought of that - I wouldnt put it past the family to cover up things after she was missing, after all it seems they were more concerned with how the family looked than how she felt. I mean, if you think about it.. she was a girl that had never been unreachable before so you would think they would have been worried from the start yet she had a family that waited 6 weeks to report her missing, and then did so under duress.

At the time she went missing it doesnt seem there was anyone in her life that she felt good about - her family for mocking her, and not allowing her to go out on her own and George, because he wouldnt marry her.

Its my hope that she decided she wanted a different life and was able to find a place that she felt accepted and loved.

Agreed! I really hope she found what she was looking for. For all we know she could have been a famous writer that we all know but it was actually a pen name. Now that would be a happy ending!

My only concern is that there were no other sightings - unless she was hiding in plain sight amongst the non-elite.

 

[Claudette]

Ill shut up after this!

In order to see what sort of shame (and how far some families would go in order to stop that shame) was brought upon affluent families of that time if they had a daughter that was caught doing something similar to Dorothy's weekend in Boston - Its worth looking up Rosemary Kennedy.

Though the Kennedy family at the time said that Rosemary Kennedy was given a lobotomy due to a slight mental retardation it later came out that her father forced her to get a lobotomy because he wanted to 'cure' her her 'mood swings' 'discontrol' and 'sexually promiscuous' behavior.

He did not tell anyone in the family (including Rosemary's MOTHER) or even let Rosemary have a say in the issue (she was 23) he simply took her to a neurosurgeon and demanded a prefrontal lobotomy be performed so that she would no longer 'act out'. This lobotomy left her totally incapable of living a normal life.

"Born slightly retarded, Rosemary Kennedy learned to read and write, and through her early 20s friends described her as bubbly and personable. Her famous father, however, feared that Rosemary might get pregnant, catch a venereal disease, or otherwise embarrass the Kennedys. To prevent this, she became one of the first Americans to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy, having the frontal lobes of her brain surgically blasted in 1942, resulting in Ms. Kennedy's paralysis, incoherence, and incontinence. She was institutionalized for the rest of her life, rarely mentioned by the Kennedys or by those who consider the family American royalty."

The doctors notes during the lobotomy:

"We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch... We put an instrument inside... We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded.” James Watts

These words describe the lobotomy that was carried out in 1941 on Rosemary Kennedy, sister of the then future US President. Said to have been intended to cure her mood swings, the procedure left Rosemary with urinary incontinence and the mental age of a child – staring blankly at walls for hours, her speech unintelligible.

Just in case anyone isnt sure what he forced his daughter to have done:

"Walter Freeman performed the first transorbital or ‘ice-pick’ lobotomy in Washington, DC. First, the patient was rendered unconscious by electroshock. Then Freeman took a sharp ice instrument which he placed under the patient's eyelid against the top of the eye socket. A mallet was used to drive the instrument on into the frontal lobes of the brain and the sharp tip moved back and forth. The process was then repeated on the other side of the face."

Yeah.. thats a good way to cure your daughter from having premartial sex. My point is that this happened in 1941 and it shows what some families are capable of doing in order to save the family from shame.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1995/07/04/1995-07-04__diaries_yield_dirty_secrets.html

I can't for the life of me remember why I did the project I am about to mention but I have my degree in english and did some research on lobotomies. There was one particular case that really upset me - a husband was irritated by his "lazy" and "disobedient" wife (aka had a mind of her own and wasn't a robot) in the 50s I think it was and had this done to her. Basically it destroys the part of the brain that processes emotion. For the rest of her life she was a zombie and did everything he said. It pretty much destroys a person's personality and leaves a physical shell.

 

[Claudette]

So...theories on what was in the mysterious package? It was bulky, and having received my share of rejection letters, I can tell you that they are just that: a letter. No bulkiness, unless, I suppose, they are returning a manuscript.

Money, maybe? From someone (Griscom?) for Dorothy to maybe get an abortion? Or to get a train ticket? Maybe even money to get a ticket on a ship to go overseas? Maybe she met Griscom over there -- he was found in Italy several weeks later, right? Maybe Griscom (or whoever) sent it to her friend's house because he knew her parents would see it and possibly intervene.

I have a hard time believing she ran off with Griscom, though. He seemed like such a dough-head.

LOL! Dough-head - love it.

I like to think that it is a book that was published

You know, I just noticed she was 25. What's funny is I am the same age and am going through the same "antsyness" that she felt. There is a term for this called the "quarter-life crisis" not a REAL term but by those of us this age. It's a cross-roads where you realize you're an adult now and you have to decide what you want to do with your life, you can't just dream about it anymore. Dorothy was antsy I could tell - trying to write (I tried that), wanted to move out on her own but couldn't (same here, but not because it is 'forbidden'), wanted to get married but he didn't. So I think she did shed everything.

I don't think we will ever know what happened, but in her honor we can "dream" what kind of life she attained when she left. IMO of course, she left.

 

[Marilynilpa]

From the book "Lost . . .And Never Found" by Anita Gustafson, regarding Dorothy Arnold:

"In England, a twenty-year-old woman read the accounts [of Dorothy's disappearance] with much more than casual interest. For more than ten years afterward, this woman was obsessed with the fate of an American girl she felt she understood. They had a lot in common, she thought. And she would herself disappear for a short time before she came home and began to write her own stories. She wrote mysteries--what else?--and her name was Agatha Christie."

 

[punklove]

From the book "Lost . . .And Never Found" by Anita Gustafson, regarding Dorothy Arnold:

"In England, a twenty-year-old woman read the accounts [of Dorothy's disappearance] with much more than casual interest. For more than ten years afterward, this woman was obsessed with the fate of an American girl she felt she understood. They had a lot in common, she thought. And she would herself disappear for a short time before she came home and began to write her own stories. She wrote mysteries--what else?--and her name was Agatha Christie."

How interesting!!

 

[Mr. E]

From the book "Lost . . .And Never Found" by Anita Gustafson, regarding Dorothy Arnold:

"In England, a twenty-year-old woman read the accounts [of Dorothy's disappearance] with much more than casual interest. For more than ten years afterward, this woman was obsessed with the fate of an American girl she felt she understood. They had a lot in common, she thought. And she would herself disappear for a short time before she came home and began to write her own stories. She wrote mysteries--what else?--and her name was Agatha Christie."

I have that book, too, although I've misplaced mine. Is that same book where they talk about a mysterious housekeeper that showed up in England, a quiet woman who seemed to always be looking over her shoulder, who seemed better educated and more well-mannered than the typical housekeeper. She disappeared as mysteriously as she appeared. I wonder if something similar happened to Dorothy?

 

[MaryLiz]

From the book "Lost . . .And Never Found" by Anita Gustafson, regarding Dorothy Arnold:

"In England, a twenty-year-old woman read the accounts [of Dorothy's disappearance] with much more than casual interest. For more than ten years afterward, this woman was obsessed with the fate of an American girl she felt she understood. They had a lot in common, she thought. And she would herself disappear for a short time before she came home and began to write her own stories. She wrote mysteries--what else?--and her name was Agatha Christie."

Very interesting indeed! I couldn't help but think of Mrs. Christie's own brief disappearance 16 years later, which is rather a mystery in its own right. I'm sure at some point during the period Agatha Christie was missing, Dorothy Arnold's disappearance crossed her mind.

This is from the Wikipedia article about Agatha Christie:

Disappearance
In late 1926, Agatha's husband Archie revealed that he was in love with another woman, Nancy Neele, and wanted a divorce. On 8 December 1926, the couple quarrelled, and Archie Christie left their house Styles in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to spend the weekend with his mistress at Godalming, Surrey. That same evening Agatha disappeared from her home, leaving behind a letter for her secretary saying that she was going to Yorkshire. Her disappearance caused an outcry from the public, many of whom were admirers of Agatha Christie's novels. Despite a massive manhunt, there were no results until eleven days later. Eleven days after her disappearance, Christie was identified as a guest at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel (now the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, where she was registered as 'Mrs Teresa Neele' from Cape Town. Christie gave no account of her disappearance. Although two doctors had diagnosed her as suffering from amnesia, opinion remains divided as to the reasons for her disappearance. One suggestion is that she had suffered a nervous breakdown brought about by a natural propensity for depression, exacerbated by her mother's death earlier that year and the discovery of her husband's infidelity. Public reaction at the time was largely negative, with many believing it was all just a publicity stunt, while others speculated she was trying to make the police think her husband killed her as revenge for his affair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie


Also, I'm glad to see the Dorothy Arnold thread take off again. Lots of interesting theories on here about her disappearance!

 

[Claudette]

Re: Agatha disappearing - I would guess that she just wanted to get the "f" out of there and just wanted to be alone and away from the world. Using the name of "Neele" was probably her way of being "funny", or she thought that no one would dare look for her under that name.

Then again, I am just looking at the reasons why I would do such a thing.

And addendum: you also have to keep in mind that the creative/artistic types are typically very odd people. My father is an artist and I can attest to this, from him and his friends. Not bad people, but strange and moody too. You don't hear of Accountants cutting off their ears!


Can I just say, thank god I live today and not 100 years ago. Btw, Dorothy disappeared almost 100 years ago.

 

[punklove]

Then again, I am just looking at the reasons why I would do such a thing.

A lot of people think she wanted to make everyone think her husband killed her because she was angry with him for cheating.

 

[iconoclast]

Interestingly, around 1902 there was a popular romance novel by a "Mrs. Georgie Sheldon" (Sarah Elizabeth Downs) called "Dorothy Arnold's Escape." I've been unable to locate any info regarding the plot, but could the book (or at least its title) have inspired the real Dorothy? She was known to be a reader of romances.

 

[punklove]

Interestingly, around 1902 there was a popular romance novel by a "Mrs. Georgie Sheldon" (Sarah Elizabeth Downs) called "Dorothy Arnold's Escape." I've been unable to locate any info regarding the plot, but could the book (or at least its title) have inspired the real Dorothy? She was known to be a reader of romances.

How weird!

Even more weird.. The book was published in 1900 (or around) and was re-released in 1911.

Anothering interesting fact: True Love Endures, a Sequel to Dorothy Arnold's Escape.

One of the people on amazon have a copy for $6.95, wonder what its about?

 

[TechWriter797]

How weird!

Even more weird.. The book was published in 1900 (or around) and was re-released in 1911.

Anothering interesting fact: True Love Endures, a Sequel to Dorothy Arnold's Escape.

One of the people on amazon have a copy for $6.95, wonder what its about?

It's in the electronic library:
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-e...-and-honor-ala/1-for-love-and-honor-ala.shtml

ETA: Sorry, that link is to Mrs. Georgie Sheldon's book "For Love and Honor," not "True Love Endures."

 

[Claudette]

Link to Dorothy Arnold's Escape book cover:

http://www.ladybluestocking.com/List%20of%20Jackets/njv/ur/Dorothy-Arnold-ur.jpg

 

[amber1]

If you look at the woman on the cover and at Dorothy's image, they certainly look identical. I am 100% this book is about her. Has anyone read it?
This is very fascinating!

 

[Marilynilpa]

What an interesting bit of info about that book, punklove!

Maybe our Dorothy read that book and was inspired to disappear. The book came out in approximately 1902, but Dorothy could have read it at any time between then and her disappearance.

The woman on the cover does look a little like Dorothy, especially with that atrocious hat, but I doubt there is any connection between the fictional Dorothy and our Dorothy.

Thanks for bringing up this intriguing bit of info!

 

[punklove]

If you look at the woman on the cover and at Dorothy's image, they certainly look identical. I am 100% this book is about her. Has anyone read it?
This is very fascinating!

Side by side for comparison. Its creepy! Dorothy on left, book cover on left.

 

[punklove]

What an interesting bit of info about that book, punklove!

Maybe our Dorothy read that book and was inspired to disappear. The book came out in approximately 1902, but Dorothy could have read it at any time between then and her disappearance.

The woman on the cover does look a little like Dorothy, especially with that atrocious hat, but I doubt there is any connection between the fictional Dorothy and our Dorothy.

Thanks for bringing up this intriguing bit of info!

Apparently these types of books were really popular back then, so I think its likely she read it either because it was popular or because it had her name. I tried to read a bit of the book that someone posted about but I was bored stiff so I didnt stay on it long enough to figure out what was going on.

 

[Claudette]

I'm sure it's about a damsel in distress that runs away with a man on a white horse that is from a richer family than her lol

 

[bambi_sue]

Forgive me if this link has been posted, but this article from Google Archives talks about Dorothy Arnold, although it's supposed to be about Paula Jean Welden. I don't remember hearing about the telegrams Griscom received from Italy?