School group visits to the Newport Mansions are coming back strong this spring after a two-year lull caused by COVID. This tradition dates back at least to 1911 or 1912, when this photograph was taken at Marble House. Alva Belmont, formerly Alva Vanderbilt (right of center in a feathered hat), is shown with young ladies from her Brookholt School of Agriculture for Women on the rear terrace of Marble House. She started the school in 1911 on her Long Island estate to teach agricultural and gardening skills to working-class women between ages 18 and 24. The idea was to give them healthier, more stable opportunities than factory work, but the school was short-lived. Belmont ended the experiment in 1912. #NewportMansions #marblehouse #gildedagemansions #gildedage #thegildedage #gilded #saturday #saturdaymorning