Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource Truevine : two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest: a true story of the Jim Crow South, Beth Macy

Truevine : two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest: a true story of the Jim Crow South, Beth Macy

Creator
Author
Summary
  • Beth Macy, master chronicler of life in the South, combines exhaustive research, exclusive interviews and sources, and attention to detail in this riveting American story about race, greed, and a mother's love. George and Willie Muse from Truevine, Virginia were two little boys born in a brutal time, sharecropping a field in the segregated South, stolen away by a white man offering candy, and set on a path of events that would forever change their lives--and their family's destiny. --
  • A true story of two albino African-American brothers who were kidnapped and displayed as circus freaks, and whose mother endured a decades-long struggle to find them and to get justice for her family. The year was 1899, and the old people told the story: the place, a sweltering tobacco community in the Jim Crow South called Truevine, where everyone they knew was either a former slave or a child or grandchild of slaves. Though the narrative of George and Willie Muse has been passed down for over a century, no writer has ever gotten this close to the beating heart of their story and its mysteries: Were they really kidnapped and put into servitude by the circus? How did their mother, a black maid toiling under the harsh restrictions of segregation, bring them home? And why, after getting there, would they ever want to go back? At the height of their fame, the Muse brothers performed for British royalty and headlined more than a dozen sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. They were fine musicians and global superstars in a pre-broadcast era. But the very root of their success hinged on the color of their skin and on the outrageous caricatures they were forced to assume: cannibals, sheep-headed freaks, even 'Ambassadors from Mars." Beth Macy is a master chronicler of life in the South, and her exclusive interviews and sources make for a riveting American story about race, greed, and a mother's love. These were two little boys born in a brutal time, sharecropping a field in the segregated South, stolen away by a white man offering candy, and set on a path of events that would forever change their lives--and their family's destiny.--Adapted from dust jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
420 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates
Contents
  • Prologue: I am the true vine
  • Sit down and shut up
  • White peoples is hateful
  • And still the cry against us continues
  • Your momma is dead
  • Some serious secrets
  • A paying proposition
  • He who hustleth while he waiteth
  • Comma, colored
  • The prodigal sons
  • Not one single, solitary, red penny
  • Adultery's siamese twin
  • Housekeeping!
  • Practically imbeciles
  • Very good old colored woman
  • Wilbur and John
  • God is good to me
  • Epilogue: markers
Isbn
9780316337540
Instance
Label
Truevine : two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest: a true story of the Jim Crow South
Title
Truevine
Title remainder
two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest: a true story of the Jim Crow South
Statement of responsibility
Beth Macy
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • Beth Macy, master chronicler of life in the South, combines exhaustive research, exclusive interviews and sources, and attention to detail in this riveting American story about race, greed, and a mother's love. George and Willie Muse from Truevine, Virginia were two little boys born in a brutal time, sharecropping a field in the segregated South, stolen away by a white man offering candy, and set on a path of events that would forever change their lives--and their family's destiny. --
  • A true story of two albino African-American brothers who were kidnapped and displayed as circus freaks, and whose mother endured a decades-long struggle to find them and to get justice for her family. The year was 1899, and the old people told the story: the place, a sweltering tobacco community in the Jim Crow South called Truevine, where everyone they knew was either a former slave or a child or grandchild of slaves. Though the narrative of George and Willie Muse has been passed down for over a century, no writer has ever gotten this close to the beating heart of their story and its mysteries: Were they really kidnapped and put into servitude by the circus? How did their mother, a black maid toiling under the harsh restrictions of segregation, bring them home? And why, after getting there, would they ever want to go back? At the height of their fame, the Muse brothers performed for British royalty and headlined more than a dozen sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. They were fine musicians and global superstars in a pre-broadcast era. But the very root of their success hinged on the color of their skin and on the outrageous caricatures they were forced to assume: cannibals, sheep-headed freaks, even 'Ambassadors from Mars." Beth Macy is a master chronicler of life in the South, and her exclusive interviews and sources make for a riveting American story about race, greed, and a mother's love. These were two little boys born in a brutal time, sharecropping a field in the segregated South, stolen away by a white man offering candy, and set on a path of events that would forever change their lives--and their family's destiny.--Adapted from dust jacket
Assigning source
adapted from dust jacket
Cataloging source
AZZPT
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Macy, Beth
Dewey number
791.35/0973
Illustrations
  • maps
  • plates
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Muse, George
  • Muse, Willie
  • Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows
  • Albinos and albinism
  • Circus performers
  • Children of sharecroppers
Label
Truevine : two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest: a true story of the Jim Crow South, Beth Macy
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographic references (pages 353-404) and index
Contents
Prologue: I am the true vine -- Sit down and shut up -- White peoples is hateful -- And still the cry against us continues -- Your momma is dead -- Some serious secrets -- A paying proposition -- He who hustleth while he waiteth -- Comma, colored -- The prodigal sons -- Not one single, solitary, red penny -- Adultery's siamese twin -- Housekeeping! -- Practically imbeciles -- Very good old colored woman -- Wilbur and John -- God is good to me -- Epilogue: markers
Control code
ocn953164761
Dimensions
24 cm.
Edition
First edition.
Extent
420 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780316337540
Other physical details
map on inside cover
System control number
(OCoLC)953164761
Label
Truevine : two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest: a true story of the Jim Crow South, Beth Macy
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographic references (pages 353-404) and index
Contents
Prologue: I am the true vine -- Sit down and shut up -- White peoples is hateful -- And still the cry against us continues -- Your momma is dead -- Some serious secrets -- A paying proposition -- He who hustleth while he waiteth -- Comma, colored -- The prodigal sons -- Not one single, solitary, red penny -- Adultery's siamese twin -- Housekeeping! -- Practically imbeciles -- Very good old colored woman -- Wilbur and John -- God is good to me -- Epilogue: markers
Control code
ocn953164761
Dimensions
24 cm.
Edition
First edition.
Extent
420 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780316337540
Other physical details
map on inside cover
System control number
(OCoLC)953164761

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

    • Central BranchBorrow it
      10 Kercheval Avenue, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, 48236, US
      42.393738 -82.905326
    • Ewald BranchBorrow it
      15175 E. Jefferson, Grosse Pointe Park, MI, 48230, US
      42.377005 -82.937270
    • Woods BranchBorrow it
      20680 Mack Ave, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI, 48236, US
      42.442926 -82.906510

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Grosse Pointe Public Library. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.
Processing Feedback ...