Black History

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum is an historical site that interprets the boyhood years of Sam Clemens when he lived here from the age of 4 to 17. This history includes the story of slavery, for Hannibal was a slave-holding town, and the Clemens family did rent slaves when they lived here, two boys, Sandy and Lewis.  Sandy became the model for the young boy named Jim in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  Young Sam spent summers at his uncle's farm in Florida, Missouri, and there he admired Uncle Dan'l, a middle-aged slave who became the inspiration for another character named Jim, friend and companion of Huckleberry Finn.

When you visit the Museum, you can read about Hannibal's history of slavery in the Interpretive Center and in the Huck Finn House.  When you visit the Boyhood Home you will see an exhibit featuring a slave pallet in the kitchen.  When the Becky Thatcher House is complete, new exhibits will tell the story of childhood in Hannibal in the mid-1800s, including the lives of slave children.

The Museum has engaged renowned storyteller Gladys Coggswell who performs as "Aunt Rachel" in Twain's classic story, "A True Story Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It," which tells the true story of a former slave whose husband and children were all sold away from her at a slave auction.  (Please call ahead for performance schedule.) Gladys's performance is also available for purchase on DVD.

The Museum is committed to telling the full story of Sam Clemens' life, and this includes an emphasis on related black history. 

From Twain's Pen:
                  

“All the Negroes were friends of ours, and with those of our own age we were in effect comrades. I say in effect, using the phrase as a modification. We were comrades and yet not comrades; color and condition interposed a subtle line which both parties were conscious of and which rendered complete fusion impossible. We had a faithful and affectionate good friend, ally and adviser in “Uncle Dan’l”, a middle-aged slave whose head was the best one in the negro quarter, whose sympathies were wide and warm and whose heart was honest and simple and knew no guile...I have not seen him for more than half a century and yet spiritually I have had his welcome company a good part of that time and have staged him in books under his own name and as “Jim”, and carted him all around—to Hannibal, down the Mississippi on a raft and even across the Desert of Sahara in a balloon—and he has endured it all with the friendliness and loyalty which were his birthright.”—Mark Twain, Autobiography

 

“I vividly remember seeing a dozen black men and women chained to one another, once, and lying in a group on the pavement, awaiting shipment to the Southern slave market. Those were the saddest faces I have ever seen.”—Mark Twain, Autobiography

 

“It was on the farm that I got my strong liking for his race and appreciation of certain of its fine qualities. This feeling and this estimate have stood the test of sixty years and more and have suffered no impairment. The black face is as welcome to me now as it was then.”—Mark Twain, Autobiography