Muse Brothers: Human Rights for the Vulnerable

Talia Whyte Books Muse Brothers

A couple of years ago I read and enthusiastically reviewed Pamela Newkirk’s Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga. It was not just a story about racial discrimination, but also about the lack of protections for the most vulnerable in our society.

This issue is what attracted me to another great book, Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South. The book is about George and Willie Muse, two black albino boys who were taken from their home in Virginia and became world famous performers for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for the next 30 years.

Like Ota Benga, the circumstances around how the Muse brothers came into the circus world are cloudy. Descendants of the Muse brothers still living in Virginia today hold the position that they were kidnapped from the plantation by a bounty hunter, or “freak” hunter. However, author Beth Macy gives some evidence that puts doubt on the family’s long-held story. It is entirely possible that their mother Harriet knew the hunter intentionally took her sons in exchange for a hefty fee.

Most likely we will never know the truth of how they came to the circus. Harriet Muse was an illiterate, black female sharecropper in the Jim Crow South. She had no rights and no say over most things happening in her life, including her sons. It is highly likely that her children were just snatched up from the plantation by people who took advantage of her weak position. But it is also likely that she sold her kids into the circus to make money and give them a better life, who would have otherwise been limited by their albinism. The author interviews the Muse brothers’ grand-niece Nancy, who holds the strong opinion that they were kidnapped. I don’t know if this woman is lying, in denial or telling the truth. Who would want to admit that a mother essentially sold her sons in child slavery for money? And who are we to judge the mother if she really did sell her children to the circus? Unfortunately, there is very little documentation to prove anything and the Muse brothers were never interviewed about their experiences during their lifetimes, so we just don’t know.

The author interviews the Muse brothers’ grand-niece Nancy, who holds the strong opinion that they were kidnapped. I don’t know if this woman is lying, in denial or telling the truth. Who would want to admit that a mother essentially sold her sons in child slavery for money? And who are we to judge the mother if she really did sell her children to the circus? Unfortunately, there is very little documentation to prove anything and the Muse brothers were never interviewed about their experiences during their lifetimes, so we just don’t know.

The author interviews the Muse brothers’ grand-niece Nancy, who holds the strong opinion that they were kidnapped. I don’t know if this woman is lying, in denial or telling the truth. Who would want to admit that a mother essentially sold her sons in child slavery for money? And who are we to judge the mother if she did in fact sell her children to the circus? Unfortunately, there is very little documentation to prove anything and the Muse brothers were never interviewed about their experiences during their lifetimes, so we just don’t know.

However, we do know that they were not allowed to go back home for many years, as they were told their mother was dead. They were part of a larger group of “freak show” performers who were exhibited because of physical “deformities” and special abilities – the bearded lady, people eating swords or fire, conjoined twins, people with dwarfism, etc. This type of entertainment was quite common at a time long before radio, television, Facebook, and Game of Thrones, and making fun of and gawking at other people’s deformities was politically correct.

The Muse brothers accentuated their albinism by growing their hair out and up into dreadlocks and playing instruments. They were marketed as Eko and Iko and had different names over the years, ranging from “White Ecuadorians” to “Ambassadors from Mars.” Although this book focuses mainly on the harsh realities of being black and poor in the early 1900s, it is also the story of why we still need to protect the rights of children and people with disabilities.

The brothers were briefly reunited in 1927 with their mother, who would later successfully sue the circus for back pay. However, the brothers did go back on the road to help their mother out financially, who would die a few years later.

Luckily for them, they were able to “retire” and live comfortably for the rest of their lives in a house that was purchased from the lawsuit money. Unfortunately, Ota Benga and many others who performed or exhibited in circuses, world’s fairs and human zoos were never adequately compensated and lived sad lives.

Truevine is a fascinating read, as they were many lessons from it that we could use today.