| Description |
370 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [313]-358) and index. |
| Contents |
An invented life -- Clarence King and Ada Copeland. Becoming Clarence King ; King of the West ; Becoming Ada Copeland ; King of the city -- James and Ada Todd. New beginnings ; Family lives ; Breakdowns ; Endings -- Ada King. On her own ; The trial ; Secrets. |
| Summary |
Clarence King is a hero of nineteenth-century western history. Brilliant scientist and witty conversationalist, bestselling author and architect of the great surveys that mapped the West after the Civil War, King hid a secret from his Gilded Age cohorts and prominent Newport family: for thirteen years he lived a double life - as the celebrated white Clarence King and as James Todd, a black Pullman porter and steelworker. Unable to marry the black woman he loved, the fair-haired, blue-eyed King passed as a Negro, revealing his secret to his wife Ada only on his deathbed. The author reveals the complexity of a man who, while publicly espousing a personal dream of a uniquely American amalgam of white and black, hid his love for his wife and their five biracial children.--adapted from publisher description. |
| Subject |
King, Clarence, 1842-1901.
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King, Ada, 1860-1964.
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King, Clarence, 1842-1901 -- Marriage.
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African Americans -- Race identity -- Case studies.
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Passing (Identity) -- United States -- Case studies.
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Married people -- United States -- Case studies.
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Deception -- United States -- Case studies.
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African American women -- Biography.
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African Americans -- Race identity -- Case studies.
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United States -- Race relations -- History -- 19th century.
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New York (N.Y.) -- Biography.
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| Genre |
Case studies.
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Biographies.
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| ISBN |
9781594202001 |
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1594202001 |
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