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Tonight, learn about two extraordinary women who lived their lives in the early 1900s with fearless gusto. Violet McNeal was a teenage patent-medicine conwoman and carny who earned millions of dollars swindling (mostly) men with her skills… all while strung out on opiates. Helen Cromwell found a pathway to independence through sex work, and documented her adventures with the famous, the infamous, and everyone in-between. Yet there is more to Helen and Violet’s stories. And there is more to be discovered about women who rejected the rules and lived on the margins. Ward will discuss Violet and Helen’s respective lives and what it tells us about the darker side of American culture in the early twentieth century. Attendees will also receive a PDF of Carny-Patent Medicine Pitch slang as used in the early 1900s.