Thomas Wiggins - An Enslaved Prodigy

This is a post I have been putting off writing for two reasons. First, it hurts my heart. I am a helper, a nurturer, an empath. Knowing this man's story and how he was exploited for his entire life is difficult to sit with. Second, it opens the floodgates. Many of the stories of disability in the nineteenth century take place in "freak shows" and on vaudeville circuits. There are many of these on my post ideas list. This was merely the first.

However, we can't sugarcoat the past. These people truly lived and their stories deserve to be told in their entirety. Yes, Thomas Wiggins was an incredibly talented musician and yes, he and his family was taken advantage of through the system of slavery, institutional racism, and abusing the legal system. All of the aspects of his story are important and I hope you enjoy learning more about "Blind Tom."

Tom as an adult

Anne Sullivan - The Fire of a Purpose

Thanks to the fame of Helen Keller (who will be her own post at some point, worry not), many people also know the name of her teacher, Annie Sullivan.  The teleplay The Miracle Worker about their relationship was performed in 1957 and converted to a Broadway production just two years later. It was made into a film in 1962, followed by made-for-television movies in 1979 and 2000. All this to say, Anne is decently well-known. Because of her fame, I wanted to do a deep-dive into her life. The most challenging part of writing this, though, was not getting too caught up in Helen's story. Anne lived her own story in her own right and I want to honor that.

Anne, 1894

Frida Kahlo - Art & Identity from Pain

While I am very passionate about history generally, art history has never been specifically interesting to me. I know the names of the famous artists but generally know little more than surface-level information. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Frida Kahlo lived with disability and chronic pain! All I had known about her was that she was a Mexican self-portrait painter and had a unibrow. Learning so much more about her life was fascinating, especially since it allowed me to also explore a time period I didn't know as much about.

Frida, 1932