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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in History
Propagating Monsters: Conjoined Twins In Popular Culture, Susan Kerns
Propagating Monsters: Conjoined Twins In Popular Culture, Susan Kerns
Theses and Dissertations
This study analyzes representations of conjoined twins in the United States to illustrate how historical images are in conversation with biographies, medical documents, sideshows, and contemporary film and television shows about conjoined twins, both fictional and nonfictional. The recycling of established tropes and the privileging of science over humanity results in limited understandings of the fluidity of conjoined twin identity. Separation and individuality are favored, relegating conjoined twins to "disabled" people that need fixing. Studying biographical artifacts of Millie-Christine McKoy's and Daisy and Violet Hilton's careers illuminates the interrelationship between biographies, images, and rights. Although born into slavery, Millie-Christine overcame …
Coombs Family Collection (Mss 349), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Coombs Family Collection (Mss 349), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 349. Correspondence, photographs, business records and miscellaneous papers of the Coombs, Robertson and related families of Warren and Simpson counties in Kentucky and of Alabama, Texas and Tennessee. Includes correspondence, personal papers and research of Elizabeth Robertson Coombs, librarian at the Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University. Several documents from this collection have been scanned are available for viewing by clicking on the "Additional Files" below.
Westray, Wilbur Morgan, Sr., 1921-2000 (Sc 965), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Westray, Wilbur Morgan, Sr., 1921-2000 (Sc 965), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 965. Paper (22 p.) titled “My Early Life [,] 1921-1939” written by Wilbur Morgan Westray, Sr. Westray recounts life as he experienced it growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. Also includes associated genealogical data.
Gaines, Sarah Elizabeth, 1852-1943 (Sc 999), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Gaines, Sarah Elizabeth, 1852-1943 (Sc 999), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 999. Recollections of Elizabeth Gaines about her life in Bowling Green and Warren County, Kentucky. She discusses residents, schools, and businesses. Gaines includes a detailed account of Civil War incidents in Bowling Green that she recalls from her childhood.
Stars Of The East And West : The Anglo-American Invention Of The Circassian Girl, Alexandra E. Mcdowall
Stars Of The East And West : The Anglo-American Invention Of The Circassian Girl, Alexandra E. Mcdowall
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
The choices a society makes regarding their entertainment speak to their deeper desires, fears, and values. A uniquely nineteenth century freak show attraction known as "Circassian Girls" represented a tension in the changing world. More than an entertaining spectacle of a person from a far-flung corner of the world, Circassian Girls became constructed symbols of race, nationalism, class, and gender. Through their manufactured perfection, these performers became a caricature of white, middle-class womanhood. This paper compares the freak show performers with other descriptions of Circassian Girls through the nineteenth century, placing them into the context of perceptions of the East, …