Scandalous Minahan Walking Tour

Join author Lynda Drews, on a walk past seventeen Astor Historic District homes previously lived in by the characters who populate her turn of the twentieth-century True Crime book, The Maid and the Socialite: The Brave Women Behind the Scandalous Minahan Trials. Lynda will introduce you to two courageous women, Mary Cenefelt, an illiterate maid, and Mollie Bertles, a college-educated socialite, as well as their closet abuser, Dr. John R. Minahan, St. Vincent Hospital’s attending physician and surgeon. He and his siblings, who play major roles in this saga, lived in the Astor neighborhood as did the book’s supporting cast of attorneys, the judge, a juror, and other notable physicians. The walk will start at Hazelwood Historic House, 1008 S Monroe Ave. Parking is limited at Hazelwood, some participants may need to park at Aldo Leopold Elementary across the street. This walk is about two miles.