Though wealth provides some protections, the seeds of despair can grow anywhere.
Another life is lost during a game of chance.
James Donahue, Sr. plays cards with his sons and friends when he goes downstairs and takes poison. Days later, James dies in the same hospital where his wife Jessie Woolworth Donahue is recovering from a nervous breakdown. No one knows why he commits suicide – James struggles with gambling, monetary losses, gambling, and secret homosexuality. This was not the first time these became an issue.
Date: April 13-25th, 1931; October 1925
Location: Manhattan townhome & Harbor Sanitorium; Hotel Plaza
Event: suicide
Characters: James Donahue, Sr., Jessie Woolworth Donahue, Jeem Jimmy Donahue, Wooly Woolworth Donahue, Barbara Hutton, Franklyn Hutton, Helena McCann, Gordon Sarre, Milton Doyle
Historical mentions: Frank Woolworth, Edna Woolworth Hutton, Noel Scaffa, Assistant District Attorney Ferdinand Pecora, Dr. Henry Craig Fleming, Monsignor Stephen Donahue, Cardinal Hayes, Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Dewey Weinberg, Dr. Locke MacKenzie
The Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255,
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: A Foggy Day by Carroll Gibbons, Album Sophistication 3
Section 2 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 3 Music: Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands