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The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America
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The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America Hardcover - 2001

by Benjamin Reiss


From the publisher

In this story about one of the 19th century's most famous Americans, Benjamin Reiss uses P.T. Barnum's Joice Heth hoax to examine the contours of race relations in the antebellum North. Barnum's first exhibit as a showman, Heth was an elderly enslaved woman who was said to be the 161-year-old former nurse of the infant George Washington. Seizing upon the novelty, the newly emerging commercial press turned her act - and especially her death - into one of the first media spectacles in American history.

Details

  • Title The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America
  • Author Benjamin Reiss
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First edition
  • Pages 267
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
  • Date 2001-10
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780674006362 / 0674006364
  • Weight 1.34 lbs (0.61 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.5 x 6.46 x 1.03 in (24.13 x 16.41 x 2.62 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
    • Chronological Period: 1800-1850
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
    • Topical: Black History
  • Library of Congress subjects Popular culture - United States - History -, Women slaves - United States
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001024173
  • Dewey Decimal Code 306.097

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 05/01/2002, Page 1649
  • Publishers Weekly, 08/13/2001, Page 298
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The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America

by Benjamin Reiss

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Description:
Harvard University Press, 2001-10-09. Hardcover. Good.
Item Price
$33.42
FREE shipping to USA