[Carte-de-visite photograph of Millie-Christine with fan and buffalo robe]

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Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library > [Carte-de-visite photograph of Millie-Christine with fan and buffalo robe]


16349915

Description

Title
[Carte-de-visite photograph of Millie-Christine with fan and buffalo robe]
Creator
Brown, Barnes & Bell
Contributor
Brown, Barnes & Bell
Millie-Christine, 1851-1912
Millie-Christine,--1851-1912--Portraits.
Published / Created
circa 1885
Abstract

A carte-de-visite photograph created by the studio of Brown, Barnes, & Bell, circa 1885, inlaid in a page from album with manuscript inscription by an unidentified person that describes Millie-Christine and their physiology. Based chiefly in Liverpool, Brown, Barnes, & Bell operated studios throughout the United Kingdom, 1877-1933.

Description
Acquired from various sources. For more information refer to the material in the collection.
Millie-Christine (1851-1912), also known as Millie McKoy and Christine McKoy were African American conjoined twins and entertainers. Millie-Christine were born on July 11, 1851, to Monemia and Jacob, slaves owned by Jabez McKay on a plantation in Welches Creek, North Carolina. Around eighteen months after their birth, McKay sold the girls to Joseph Pearson Smith (1815-1862) of Wadesboro, North Carolina. Smith and his wife, Mary Aleff Cooper Smith (1822-1893) educated the twins; they could speak five languages, dance, play music, and sing. During their lifetime, Millie-Christine enjoyed a successful career as "The Two-Headed Nightingale." On October 8, 1912, Millie died of tuberculosis, while doctors euthanized Christine.
Extent
1 photographic print : b&w ; 8.8 x 5.7 cm. on mount 10.2 x 6.3 cm.
Extent of Digitization
This object has been completely digitized.

Collection Information

Repository
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Call Number
JWJ MSS 100
Collection Title
Photographs of Millie-Christine.
Collection Date
circa 1865-circa 1900
Container / Volume
Folder 3

Subjects, Formats, And Genres

Format
still image
Genre
Card photographs.
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Photographic prints.
Studio portraits.
Resource Type
Prints & Photographs
Subject (Name)
Brown, Barnes & Bell
Millie-Christine, 1851-1912
Millie-Christine,--1851-1912--Portraits.
Subject (Topic)
African American entertainers--Pictorial works
African American singers--Pictorial works.
African American women--Pictorial works.
African American women--Portraits.
Conjoined twins--Pictorial works.
Conjoined twins--Portraits.

Access And Usage Rights

Access
Public
Rights
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.
Citation
Photographs of Millie-Christine. James Weldon Johnson Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Identifiers

Orbis Record
11197107
Object ID (OID)
16349915

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