I wanted to respond to the reading in regards to the Joice Heth reading for this week.
I found the reading to be very interesting, how Barnum exploited this elderly woman as the caregiver to the greatest president ever, George Washington. Barnum knew that she was not the 161 nurse of the nation's founder/leader as he claimed she was; she was actually an 8o-ish aged woman. Barnum exploited her age in order to draw a crowd for money, something he cared more about (in my opinion) than the performers of his circuses.
She fits what we have been talking about--freaks--because of her age and how she was claimed to be the caregiver of Washington. Also, Barnum claimed that he "chose" her to in his performances because of her "cleanliness and religiosity, rather than her freakishness [age]." I truly disagree with that statement! I also found it interesting how the scientists knew Ms. Heth was not that old and it seems like Barnum didn't care what they thought; he just wanted to make a quick buck. He even allowed her autopsy to be opened to the public--at a fee, of course. He just cared about money his entire life.
Chad S.
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