100:. Posters advertising her shows in 1835 included the lines, "Joice Heth is unquestionably the most astonishing and interesting curiosity in the World! She was the slave of Augustine Washington, (the father of Gen. Washington) and was the first person who put clothes on the unconscious infant, who, in after days, led our heroic fathers on to glory, to victory, and freedom. To use her own language when speaking of the illustrious Father of this Country, 'she raised him'. Joice Heth was born in the year 1674, and has, consequently, now arrived at the astonishing age of 161 years".
104:
119:
writes that, at the time of her display, Heth had a very small frame, deep wrinkles, was toothless, and had fingernails that resembled talons. Washington claims that Heth's toothless mouth was the result of Barnum forcefully extracting her teeth so that she would look older. As a 7-month traveling
156: (equivalent to $ 13.87 in 2023). When Rogers declared the age claim a fraud, Barnum insisted that the autopsy victim was another person, and that Heth was alive, on a tour to Europe. Barnum later admitted the hoax.
478:, Edgewood Publishing, 1891; accessed December 3, 2007. The most detailed of these accounts, including information about Barnum's purchase of Heth, a detailed description of her appearance, how Barnum exhibited her, etc.
147:
on
February 19, 1836, believed to have been around 79 or 80. To gratify public interest, Barnum set up a public autopsy. Barnum engaged the service of a surgeon, Dr. David L. Rogers, who performed the
126:
Her case was discussed extensively in the press. As doubt had been expressed about her age, Barnum announced that after her death she would be publicly autopsied. She died the following year (1836), in
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She was, toward the end of her life, blind and almost completely paralyzed (she could talk, and had some ability to move her right arm) when Barnum started to exhibit her on August 10, 1835, at
123:
Eric Lott claimed Heth earned the impresario $ 1,500 a week, a princely sum in that era (equivalent to $ 44,000 in 2023). Barnum's career as a showman took off.
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Eleventh
Edition references Barnum's claim that Heth was George Washington's nurse and lists Barnum's exhibiting her as the first significant event in his career.
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in New York City. For those skeptics who discredited the legitimacy of Heth's age, her body aided in the belief of her exaggerated age.
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on
February 25, 1836, in front of fifteen hundred spectators in New York's City Saloon, with Barnum charging admission of
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at the home of Barnum's brother, Philo. Barnum stated that Joice's remains were "buried respectably" in his home town of
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Medical
Apartheid:The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on African Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
337:
Medical
Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
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Little is known of Heth's early years. In 1835, she was enslaved by John S. Bowling and exhibited in
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77:. Her exhibition under these claims, and her public autopsy, gained considerable notoriety.
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397:. Originally published 1855. Reprint ed., Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2000;
582:
The Life of Joice Heth, the Nurse of Gen. George
Washington, (the Father of Our Country)
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exhibit for Barnum, Heth told stories about "little George" and sang a hymn.
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89:. In June 1835, she was sold to promoters R.W. Lindsay and Coley Bartram.
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460:. Vol. 03 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 417.
149:
417:
The
Showman and the Slave: Race, Death and Memory in Barnum's America
469:
484:
Love and Theft: Blackface
Minstrelsy and the American Working Class
718:
102:
363:, ed. Waldo R. Browne (Massachusetts: Peter Smith, 1972), p. 49.
592:
588:
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Lindsay introduced her as having been the childhood nurse of
61:(c. 1756 – February 19, 1836) was an
420:. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 3.
96:, but, lacking success, he sold her in her old age to
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807:
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69:with the false claim that she was the 161-year-old
41:
28:
21:
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875:Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar
339:. New York: Anchor Books. pp. 86–89, 92.
634:Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
604:
8:
243:
241:
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534:American Studies Department. Archived from
395:The Life of P.T. Barnum: Written By Himself
312:American Studies Department. Archived from
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45:February 19, 1836 (aged 79–80)
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16:American slave turned sideshow performer
359:Freed cites this to Phineas T. Barnum,
188:
7:
975:19th-century African-American people
980:19th-century African-American women
178:, subject of another longevity hoax
908:There's a sucker born every minute
513:from the original on April 5, 2017
14:
216:"Heth, Joice (17??–19 Feb. 1836)"
551:Washington, Harriet A. (2007).
335:Washington, Harriet A. (2006).
256:. New York: Doubleday. p.
248:Washington, Harriet A. (2006).
218:. American National Biography (
955:Entertainers with disabilities
451:"Barnum, Phineas Taylor"
1:
107:Poster advertising Joice Heth
32:
945:19th-century American slaves
985:19th-century American women
960:Hoaxes in the United States
709:Annie Jones (bearded woman)
585:New York: The Author, 1835.
65:woman who was exhibited by
1006:
838:The Greatest Show on Earth
754:Millie and Christine McKoy
669:Captain George Costentenus
865:Barnum's Aquarial Gardens
470:Life of Phineas T. Barnum
145:New York County, New York
860:Barnum's American Museum
414:Reiss, Benjamin (2001).
281:Joice Heth Poster, 1835.
198:"Joice Heth", Hoaxes.org
990:Black circus performers
488:Oxford University Press
457:Encyclopædia Britannica
232:(subscription required)
220:Oxford University Press
664:Henry Alexander Cooper
532:University of Virginia
310:University of Virginia
108:
950:American blind people
891:The Herald of Freedom
679:John Diamond (dancer)
106:
855:John "Grizzly" Adams
831:The Greatest Showman
808:Fictional portrayals
724:William S. Hutchings
689:Colonel Routh Goshen
649:Chang and Eng Bunker
87:Louisville, Kentucky
970:19th-century hoaxes
659:Circassian beauties
482:Lott, Eric (1993).
143:Joice Heth died in
133:Bethel, Connecticut
129:Bethel, Connecticut
794:Wild Men of Borneo
749:Maximo and Bartola
639:Anna Haining Bates
559:. pp. 86–90.
490:. pp. 76–78.
361:Barnum's Own Story
117:Harriet Washington
109:
49:New York, New York
917:
916:
824:The Mighty Barnum
774:General Tom Thumb
739:Count Primo Magri
627:Acts and exhibits
566:978-0-19-507832-9
475:Project Gutenberg
427:978-0-674-00636-2
346:978-0-7679-1547-2
252:Medical Apartheid
94:George Washington
75:George Washington
56:
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779:Charles B. Tripp
769:Isaac W. Sprague
714:Hannah Battersby
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530:. MA candidate,
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308:. MA candidate,
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704:Fedor Jeftichew
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509:. Hoaxes.org.
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448:, ed. (1911).
446:Chisholm, Hugh
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620:P. T. Barnum
581:
555:. New York:
552:
540:. Retrieved
536:the original
528:"Joice Heth"
517:December 10,
515:. Retrieved
507:"Joice Heth"
486:. New York:
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372:Lott (1993).
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318:. Retrieved
314:the original
306:"Joice Heth"
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223:. Retrieved
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58:
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935:1836 deaths
744:Master Juba
684:Admiral Dot
98:P.T. Barnum
67:P.T. Barnum
36: 1756
924:Categories
885:Nancy Fish
734:Jenny Lind
699:Joice Heth
439:References
383:Britannica
176:John Smith
59:Joice Heth
23:Joice Heth
940:Impostors
897:Iranistan
818:(musical)
644:Eli Bowen
225:March 12,
166:Human zoo
81:Biography
542:April 8,
511:Archived
320:April 8,
160:See also
154:US$ 0.50
848:Related
150:autopsy
816:Barnum
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719:Jumbo
183:Notes
561:ISBN
544:2007
519:2017
492:ISBN
422:ISBN
399:ISBN
341:ISBN
322:2007
262:ISBN
258:86ff
227:2015
42:Died
29:Born
473:at
73:of
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
