Diamonds and Deadlines

Where has she been all our lives? It’s like Hidden Figures all over again.

Known formally as Mrs. Frank Leslie, she ran with the wolves—Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and other titans of industry. At a time when women were oppressed, marginalized, and denied financial autonomy, she served as CEO of America’s largest publishing empire. In an all-male industry, she made a fortune. But she had to be addressed by the sir-name of her husband, the same name as her company: Frank Leslie Publishing.

She was seen as fabulously glamorous and undeniably charismatic, but more importantly, she possessed a brilliant mind for business. How else could she have withstood the wrath of the male dogs known as wolves? The idea of a woman at the helm was unthinkable—unacceptable—no matter her intellect. It didn’t matter that she, Miriam Leslie, led the company to national prominence. Superiority seemed an acceptable trait in a man, but for her, it required role-playing. And so, she became Mrs. Frank Leslie.

Still, she remained in charge, because she was a master of deception. She always presented herself as the devoted wife, fooling business foes who never saw her coming.

Blinded by her feminine masks, her male opponents never noticed the iron fist beneath the velvet glove. So when they encountered her hard-handed business dealings, they assumed it was her husband’s doing. After all, it was too hard to accept that she was the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Yet it was the truth.

Her private world was full of dark secrets, hidden from public view, within which she wheeled and dealed. Her story wasn’t the pretty tale of a well-bred daughter of a man of means. No—she was born to a bankrupt Frenchman who had no connection to her African mother other than to take what he wanted from her.

She grew up poor—close enough to wealth to know what she was missing. Between the white world and the Black world, she made a choice: she would pass for the first.

And pass she did. She became a national celebrity and a noted fashion arbiter. She wielded strong influence over fashion trends, essentially acting as a tastemaker. Her good taste and stylish persona had a significant impact on what became fashionable. Part of this came from her access to money, the ability to travel, and exposure to the latest fabrics and styles from Europe, which she flaunted in America.

Her beauty and figure didn’t hurt—but Miriam Leslie came with questions. Her colorful, suspicious background. Her Creole skin tone. Her bold defiance of feminine norms. None of it aligned with how women of the aristocratic class were expected to behave.

And yet, her intelligence could not be refuted. She was fluent in four languages, authored six books and a play, was a sought-after lecturer, and hosted celebrated salons outside of office hours. She wore her Napoleonic ambition without shame and pursued wealth unapologetically.

She perfected the image of the Victorian lady she claimed to be.

The details of her life are why you must read the book and decide for yourself why she is an important contributor to American—and world—history. Her story reveals one key difference between then and now: documentation. The paper trail wasn’t so easy to trace. So Mrs. Leslie, the self-styled Baroness de Bazus, could indeed be whoever she said she was. In a world still being discovered, who could say otherwise?

Miriam pushed forward with the fortitude of a winner—a woman who would not be deterred and who fought until the very end. She rose and fell like the heaving of her own breath, only to rise again—and again—and again.

In the end, she rose higher than expected. Upon her death, she left her entire estate—equivalent to $22 million today—to the women’s suffrage movement. It was a donation that has never been equaled, and it was made to an organization that had once snubbed her, afraid to associate with a woman whose background and ambition did not fit their mold.

So go read the book. Discover the ins and outs of Miriam Leslie, who stood among the colorful characters of her time—Rockefeller, Mark Twain, Victoria Woodhull, Theodore Roosevelt, Nellie Bly, and Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Learn why she remains a hidden figure.