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Article: A WASP looks at Lizzie Borden. (the white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant elements in the infamous 19th century murder case) (Cover Story)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- August 17, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IF YOU want to understand Anglo-Saxon Americans, study the Lizzie Borden case. No ethnologist could ask for a better control group; except for Bridget Sullivan, the Bordens' maid, the zany tragedy of August 4, 1892, had an all-Wasp cast.
Lizzie was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, on July 19, 1860, and immediately given the Wasp family's favorite substitute for open affection: a nickname. Thirty-two years later at her inquest she stated her full legal name: Lizzie Andrew Borden. "You were so christened?" asked the district attorney. "I was so christened," she replied.
Lizzie's mother died in 1862. Left with two daughters to raise, her father, Andrew ...