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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2015 The American Dime Museum: Bodily Spectacle and Social Midways in Turn-of-the-Century American Literature and Culture James C. Fairfield University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Fairfield, James C., "The American Dime Museum: Bodily Spectacle and Social Midways in Turn-of-the- Century American Literature and Culture" (2015). Theses and Dissertations--English. 50. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/50 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. James C. Fairfield, Student Dr. Alan M. Nadel, Major Professor Dr. Andy Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies THE AMERICAN DIME MUSEUM: BODILY SPECTACLE AND SOCIAL MIDWAYS IN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English at the University of Kentucky By James Fairfield Columbus, Ohio Director: Dr. Alan Nadel, William T. Bryan Professor, Humanities Lexington, Kentucky 2015 Copyright © James Fairfield 2015 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION THE AMERICAN DIME MUSEUM: BODILY SPECTACLE AND SOCIAL MIDWAYS IN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE The freak played a significant role in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century entertainment, but its significance extended beyond such venues as sideshows and minstrel shows. This dissertation examines the freak as an avatar emblematic of several issues, such as class and race, traditionally focused on in studies of Turn-of-the-Century American literature and culture. Disability and freakishness are explored as central to late-nineteenth- and early- twentieth-century Americans’ identity. Freakishness is applied to a series of ways in which Americans in this period constructed their identity, including race, gender, and socioeconomic class, showing the dual role that the freak played for many white, able- bodied, upper-class American men. Freaks threatened such men’s sense of their own disability, triggering such complexes as Wounded Southernness or white masculinity. But contrasting themselves with freaks also solidified their visions of themselves as models of American normalcy. Besides freak shows, they encountered freakishness in a variety of arenas, including lynchings, slums, and early horror films. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s fascination with freakishness is situated as an outgrowth of that period’s eugenics movement, showing how the entwined concepts of eugenics and normalcy traversed ground that went much further than studies of physical aberration and chronic illness. This extended notion of the freak is discussed by analyzing various literary texts, especially the novels of William Dean Howells and Jack London. The autobiographies of Booker T. Washington and Helen Keller exemplify how double consciousness can serve as a means of enfreakment. Further, all these texts are situated culturally by medicalizing a series of historical events, including specific lynchings, as well as laws that reconfigured urban landscapes. The final chapter focuses on early horror film, arguing that film became the new American sideshow and in the process changed the definition of freak to something far more monstrous. In short, this dissertation demonstrates how the freak show pervaded America at the turn of the twentieth century and turned the country into one large dime museum. KEYWORDS: Disability Studies, American Literature, American Horror Film, Double Consciousness, Eugenics, Freaks and Freakishness Multimedia Elements Used: JPEG (.jpg) James Fairfield July 30, 2015 THE AMERICAN DIME MUSEUM: BODILY SPECTACLE AND SOCIAL MIDWAYS IN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE By James Fairfield Dr. Alan Nadel Director of Dissertation Dr. Andy Doolen Director of Graduate Studies To my parents, Jim and Kathy Fairfield, with love and gratitude. Thank you for always believing. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The following people have my deepest appreciation and thanks. My Dissertation Chair, Dr. Alan Nadel, provided tireless guidance and understanding under sometimes trying circumstances. Countless other faculty members throughout my academic career also inspired and fostered my research interests. Lori Molenaar, Dr. Nathaniel Hopkins, and Dr. Federico “Felito” Aldarando guided me through the roughest waters of academia. Christopher Reese and Melinda Johnson blessed me with invaluable daily support and friendship. The staff, past and present, of the Hamburg Place Starbucks—especially Greda Patton—provided me with a congenial and supportive home away from home: virtually every word of this dissertation was written while enjoying their warm hospitality. Erika Rappold, Leslie Robinson, Natalie Ryans, Reya Azami, and the rest of my friends from the amazing online community 43Things lent untold hours of encouragement and emotional sustenance. My dear friend Riça Night has accompanied me on this voyage every day since we met, assisting me in myriad ways. I am particularly grateful to her for holding my hand and cheering me on as I have made this challenging journey. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1. MONSTER SHOWS: ENFREAKMENT AND EUGENICS IN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY AMERICA .................................................................... 1 Human Thoroughbreds: The American Eugenics Movement ................................ 3 Freakery, Normalcy, and Racial Violence .............................................................. 8 The Great White Hope: White Masculinity and Disability .................................. 11 Human Weeds: Civic Boundaries and Enfreakment ............................................ 12 The New Freak Show: The Rise of Horror Cinema ............................................. 14 CHAPTER 2. “A CARNIVAL OF BLOOD AND LUST”: MASCULINITY, DISABILITY, AND THE LYNCHING OF SAM HOSE .......................................... 17 “The Georgia Exhibition”: The Lynching of Sam Hose ....................................... 18 “The Battle of the Century”: Race and Masculinity ............................................. 20 Medicalized Manhood: Neurasthenia and Emasculation ...................................... 25 “A Monster in Human Form”: Body Politics, Yellow Journalism, and Sam Hose ................................................................................................. 29 “Swimming in His Blood”: Lynching and Manhood ........................................... 34 The Confederate Dead: Lynching, Redemption, and the Civil War ..................... 36 The Rites of Man: Lynching as Masculine Ritual ................................................ 44 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER 3. LIFTING THE VEIL: DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF AMERICAN NORMALCY ........................................ 54 Feeling One’s Two-ness: Exploring Double Consciousness ................................ 55 Fractured Bodies, Fractured Identities: Expanding Double Consciousness ......... 59 “Throwing Off the Mask” and Booker T. Washington ......................................... 65 Helen Keller: Living under the Veil ..................................................................... 71 CHAPTER 4. “UNSIGHTLY OBJECTS”: SOCIAL CLASS, DISABILITY, AND WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS ........................................................................

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