Monday Lecture: Millie and Christine McCoy

Millie and Christine McCoy were African American conjoined twins, born into slavery in America’s Deep South in 1851. They were stolen from their family at an early age, and trafficked around North America and Europe until being discovered on exhibition in Birmingham. This talk explores their extraordinary life, and focuses upon the sensational coverage of their rescue in the Birmingham local press. What can the strange case of Millie and Christine tell us about attitudes towards gender, race, and bodily difference in the context of the Victorian freak show?