February 15, 2009

Professor Sandweiss on her book "Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line"

Martha Sandweiss, Professor of American Studies and History at Amherst until 2008 and now Professor of History at Princeton University, has published a new book to great acclaim. Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line tells the story of the double life of Clarence King, a white geologist and Manhattan socialite who also passed as James Todd, a black Pullman porter and steelworker. He revealed the secret of his identity to his wife, a black woman named Ada Copeland, on his deathbed in 1901.

A review of Passing Strange appeared in the February 4 New York Times. Vanity Fair featured the book (with audio recording of Sandweiss reading a selection) in a February 6 posting on its Culture & Celebrity blog. Sandweiss also appeared on the February 11 broadcast of The Diane Rehm Show on NPR (click here to listen to the podcast).

Mina Suk '99 | February 15, 2009 12:41 PM | Faculty

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