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George and Willie Muse were two brothers who grew up in Truevine, part of a sharecropping family that lived in a tobacco farming community near Roanoke, Virginia. The two brothers were both albinos, a feature that Willie claimed prompted a circus man to abduct the two children in 1899 while they worked in a field.
Sep 7, 2023 · In the early 20th century, a captivating yet heart-wrenching story unfolded, centered around two albino African-American brothers, George and Willie Muse. Their lives took a dramatic turn when they were plucked from a Virginia farm and thrust into the bright lights of the circus world.
- How George and Willie Muse Were Abducted by The Circus
- Forced to Perform as ‘Eko and Iko’
- The Muse Brothers Return to Truevine
- Justice For The ‘Ambassadors from Mars’
George and Willie Muse were the eldest of five children born to Harriett Muse in the small community of Truevine on the edge of Roanoke, Virginia. Against almost impossible odds, both boys were born with albinism, leaving their skin exceptionally vulnerable to the harsh Virginia sun. Both also had a condition known as nystagmus, which often accompa...
In the early 20th century, the circus was a major form of entertainment for most of America. Sideshows, “freak shows,” or demonstrations of unusual skills like sword swallowing, cropped up on roadsides all over the country. Candy Shelton realized that in an era when disabilities were treated as curiosities and Black people had little to no rights t...
In 1922, Shelton took the Muse brothers to the Ringling Bros. Circus, drawn by a better offer. Shelton shaped their blond hair into outlandish locks that shot out of the tops of their heads, dressed them in colorful, strange garments, and claimed they’d been found in the wreckage of a spaceship in the Mojave Desert. On Oct. 14, 1927, George and Wil...
Candy Shelton didn’t give up the Muse brothers so easily, but neither did Harriett Muse. Ringling sued the Muses, claiming that they’d deprived the circus of two valuable earners with legally binding contracts. But Harriett Muse shot back with the help of a local lawyer and won a series of lawsuits confirming her sons’ right to payment and visits h...
- Morgan Dunn
Jul 10, 2018 · Two African-American albino brothers, George and Willie Muse, were the grandsons of former slaves and sons of tobacco sharecroppers born in Roanoke, Virginia, in the 1890’s.
Oct 18, 2016 · Journalist Beth Macy talks about George and Willie Muse, black albino brothers who were born in the Jim Crow South and were forced to become circus freaks. Her new book, Truevine, retells their...
In the tobacco farming town of Truevine, Virginia, George and Willie Muse were born into an impoverished, sharecropping family. The brothers were born with albinism, a genetic disorder characterized by a lack of pigmentation, health issues, and pale eyes...
Oct 18, 2016 · In her new book Truevine, journalist Beth Macy tells the story of George and Willie Muse, brothers kidnapped by a circus agent to become sideshow performers, and their mother Harriett, who...
