Passing Strange
A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
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Narrated by:
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Lorna Raver
About this listen
Clarence King is a hero of 19th-century western history. Brilliant scientist and witty conversationalist, best-selling author and architect of the great surveys that mapped the West after the Civil War, King was named by John Hay "the best and brightest of his generation." But King hid a secret from his Gilded Age cohorts and prominent family in Newport: for 13 years he lived a double life - as the celebrated White explorer, geologist, and writer Clarence King and as a Black Pullman porter and steelworker named James Todd. The fair, blue-eyed son of a wealthy China trader passed across the color line, revealing his secret to his Black common-law wife, Ada King, only on his deathbed.
Martha A. Sandweiss, a noted historian of the American West, is the first writer to uncover the life that King tried so hard to conceal from the public eye. She reveals the complexity of a man who while publicly espousing a personal dream of a uniquely American "race", an amalgam of White and Black, hid his love for his wife and their five biracial children. Passing Strange tells the dramatic tale of a family built along the fault lines of celebrity, class, and race - from the "Todd's" wedding in 1888 to the 1964 death of Ada, one of the last surviving Americans born into slavery, and finally to the legacy inherited by Clarence King's granddaughter, who married a White man and adopted a White child in order to spare her family the legacies of racism. A remarkable feat of research and reporting spanning the Civil War to the civil rights era, Passing Strange tells a uniquely American story of self-invention, love, deception, and race.
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By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
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Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
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Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
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Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
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He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
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Eleanor Roosevelt
- Volume I, 1884-1933
- By: Blanche Wiesen Cook
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Eleanor Roosevelt was born into the privileges and prejudices of American aristocracy and into a family ravaged by alcoholism. She overcame debilitating roots: in her public life, fighting against racism and injustice and advancing the rights of women; and in her private life, forming lasting intimate friendships with some of the great men and women of her time.
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One of the Great Americans I knew too little about
- By Ray M on 07-19-20
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Master of the Mountain
- Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves
- By: Henry Wiencek
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Is there anything new to say about Thomas Jefferson and slavery? The answer is a resounding yes. Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book - based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers - opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world. We must, Wiencek suggests, follow the money.
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Clear, Insightful & Iconclastic History
- By R.S. on 04-18-13
By: Henry Wiencek
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Bold Spirit
- Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America
- By: Linda Lawrence Hunt
- Narrated by: Pat Stien
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1896, a Norwegian immigrant and mother of eight children named Helga Estby was behind on taxes and the mortgage when she learned that a mysterious sponsor would pay $10,000 to a woman who walked across America. Hoping to win the wager and save her family's farm, Helga and her teenaged daughter Clara, armed with little more than a compass, red-pepper spray, a revolver, and Clara's curling iron, set out on foot from Eastern Washington.
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Norwegian boldness!
- By MAF/BPF on 04-03-18
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Guest of Honor
- Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner that Shocked a Nation
- By: Deborah Davis
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to have dinner at the executive mansion with the First Family. The next morning, news that the president had dined with a Black man-and former slave-sent shock waves through the nation. Although African Americans had helped build the White House and had worked for most of the presidents, not a single one had ever been invited to dine there. Fueled by inflammatory newspaper articles, political cartoons, and even vulgar songs, the scandal escalated.
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Great So
- By Maureen Monahan on 04-11-21
By: Deborah Davis
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The Hemingses of Monticello
- An American Family
- By: Annette Gordon-Reed
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 30 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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This epic work tells the story of the Hemingses, whose close blood ties to our third president had been systematically expunged from American history until very recently. Now, historian and legal scholar Annette Gordon-Reed traces the Hemings family from its origins in Virginia in the 1700s to the family's dispersal after Jefferson's death in 1826. It brings to life not only Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson but also their children and Hemings's siblings, who shared a father with Jefferson's wife, Martha.
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Worried at first
- By Phillip Goodson on 12-13-08
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The Warburgs
- The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Jonathan Reese
- Length: 35 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Bankers, philanthropists, scholars, socialites, artists, and politicians, the Warburgs stood at the pinnacle of German (and, later, German American) Jewry. They forged economic dynasties, built mansions and estates, assembled libraries, endowed charities, and advised a German kaiser and two American presidents. But their very success made the Warburgs lightning rods for anti-Semitism, and their sense of patriotism became increasingly dangerous in a Germany that had declared Jews the enemy.
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The Warburg's Dynamic Family History
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Ron Chernow
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They Were Christians
- The Inspiring Faith of Men and Women Who Changed the World
- By: Cristobal Krusen
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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What do Abraham Lincoln, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Louis Pasteur, Frederick Douglass, Florence Nightingale, and John D. Rockefeller, Sr., all have in common? They all changed the world - and they were all Christians. Now the little-known stories of faith behind 12 influential people of history are available in one inspiring volume. They Were Christians reveals the faith-filled motivations behind some of the most outstanding political, scientific, and humanitarian contributions of history.
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Great book
- By Amazon Customer on 12-10-18
By: Cristobal Krusen
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Twilight at Monticello
- The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: James Boles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama, one of the greatest, played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths.
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After Leaving Office
- By Roy on 09-23-10
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Taking on the Trust
- The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller
- By: Steve Weinberg
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the rise of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart and Microsoft, Standard Oil controlled the oil industry with a monopolistic force unprecedented in American business history. Undaunted by the ruthless power of its owner, John D. Rockefeller, a fearless and ambitious reporter named Ida Minerva Tarbell confronted the company known simply as "The Trust".
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Annoying Narrator
- By Nate on 04-03-15
By: Steve Weinberg
What listeners say about Passing Strange
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- cdenisen
- 07-11-21
Great book, but it's not for everyone!
Lots of history to set the context, but it was necessary for this fascinating story.
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- EJ
- 07-27-15
Fascinating history brought to life
I loved Passing Strange's exploration of an unusual family in a historical period we hear little about. Clarence was an important geologist and explorer of the West. Ada lived through so much change--born a slave, migrating to the north alone, marrying an older, good provider with a double life, and living past the time of Martin Luther King. This is a fascinating history brought to life.
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- NClark
- 07-11-21
Overall an interesting read
Overall an interesting read to learn that a white man passed as black for love
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- Dixie Diva
- 08-22-16
Race, class and love in the golden age of NYC
An interesting look at a seldom discussed circumnavigation of American taboos on race and love in The Golden Age. Passing strange happened but this is the only time I have seen it written about. A great historic tome.
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Overall
- Roy
- 03-22-10
Race and Identity
Well, I started with this book because I wanted to know about the relationship between Clarence King who was prominent and white and his secret, post-civil war marriage to a black woman.
In particular, I wanted to better understand the identity issues (crisis?) that impelled King into this relationship and motivated it. This book yields up about all we can discern about King, but little is known about his wife. The book did not give me the insights I thought it might, but it certainly did not disappoint. I was well rewarded for the effort gathering much greater insight into the Civil War, slavary, race relationships, politics and all manner of information.
Essentially the book falls into three sections. The first tells the story of King and his wife up to their meeting. Much of what we know about her is infered from history. The second describes what we know about their mneeting, wedding, and life together. It details the double life King was living and the problems he ran into. Finally, the book carries the life of King's widow and their children. In these passages we gain further insight into our society and how it guided King's wife.
This book is well written, the reading is wonderful, and it is highly informative. Give is a try.
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9 people found this helpful
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- AJ
- 09-08-21
interesting book
I didn't like how the story flowed, but interesting story all the same. Good read
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- C. Razza
- 06-18-12
Speculative History -- What happened to evidence?
This book is billed as history or biography, yet there is little evidence for many of the claims Sandweiss makes. Indeed, a significant portion of her sentences begin, "One might imagine," precisely because she is drawing broad conclusions from so little evidence. My confidence in the aptness of her conclusions is shaken by her interpretations of facts in evidence, which are often questionable. This book could have been a great pre-writing exercise for a novel she would have written, but should not have been marketed on its own.
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5 people found this helpful
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- M
- 10-22-13
SLOW.
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
This book is just slow. I'm 2/3 of the way through it, and it's been a whole lot about geology and expansionism, with not a lot about identity or race.
Would you ever listen to anything by Martha A. Sandweiss again?
no
Which scene was your favorite?
none
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
boredom
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3 people found this helpful