A Scandal in the Doctor’s House
Valeska Lueders files for divorce, revealing a household divided by her husband’s infidelity and his insistence that she vacate their home for his companion.
In the superior court, Valeska Lueders has commenced divorce proceedings against her husband, Dr. A. W. Lueders. She asks that their matrimonial bonds be dissolved and that she be allowed alimony to the amount of $50 per month during her natural life and in addition $500 attorney's fees. In her complaint she alleges that they were married at Milwaukee, Wis., September 4, 1884. At divers times since their marriage he has treated her in a cruel manner and at one time struck her in the face with his fist. He brought to their home in this city a woman, whom he introduced as Helen King, and informed his wife that she was his office girl. He furnished a room for the woman and permitted her to live with them as one of the family. Recently he had transferred his affections from her to the office woman, and when remonstrated with he said to his wife: 'If you do not like the way things are running, you can go home to your mother.' She further alleges that he has failed to provide her with proper wearing apparel, but, on the other hand, has lavishly contributed toward clothing the other woman with dresses and a sealskin coat. He had told the plaintiff that he did not love her and was tired of living with her.
“If you do not like the way things are running, you can go home to your mother.”
This case highlights the precarious legal and financial position of women in the early 20th century, where divorce was often a desperate act of resistance against domestic exploitation. The mention of the husband's 'office girl' and the imbalance in spending on household versus illicit partners remains a timeless trope of local scandal.
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