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The Resource The strange career of William Ellis : the Texas slave who became a Mexican millionaire, Karl Jacoby

The strange career of William Ellis : the Texas slave who became a Mexican millionaire, Karl Jacoby

Creator
Summary
"A prize-winning historian tells a new story of the black experience in America through the life of a mysterious entrepreneur. To his contemporaries in Gilded Age Manhattan, Guillermo Eliseo was a fantastically wealthy Mexican, the proud owner of a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park, a busy Wall Street office, and scores of mines and haciendas in Mexico. But for all his obvious riches and his elegant appearance, Eliseo was also the possessor of a devastating secret: he was not, in fact, from Mexico at all. Rather, he had begun life as a slave named William Ellis, born on a cotton plantation in southern Texas during the waning years of King Cotton. After emancipation, Ellis, capitalizing on the Spanish he learned during his childhood along the Mexican border and his ambivalent appearance, engaged in a virtuoso act of reinvention. He crafted an alter ego, the Mexican Guillermo Eliseo, who was able to access many of the privileges denied to African Americans at the time: traveling in first-class train berths, staying in upscale hotels, and eating in the finest restaurants. The Strange Career of William Ellis reads like a novel but offers fresh insights on the history of the Reconstruction era, the US-Mexico border, and the abiding riddle of race. At a moment when the United States is deepening its connections with Latin America and recognizing that race is more than simply black or white, Ellis's story could not be more timely or important"--Provided by publisher
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxviii, 304 pages
Contents
  • Prologue: Through history's cracks
  • Part I. Victoria
  • Gone to Texas
  • Juneteenth
  • Part II. San Antonio/Tlahualilo
  • Military Plaza
  • The land of God and liberty
  • Part III. Manhattan/Mexico City
  • A picturesque figure
  • The city of happy homes
  • Epilogue: Trickster makes this world
  • Afterword
Isbn
9780393239256
Instance
Label
The strange career of William Ellis : the Texas slave who became a Mexican millionaire
Title
The strange career of William Ellis
Title remainder
the Texas slave who became a Mexican millionaire
Statement of responsibility
Karl Jacoby
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"A prize-winning historian tells a new story of the black experience in America through the life of a mysterious entrepreneur. To his contemporaries in Gilded Age Manhattan, Guillermo Eliseo was a fantastically wealthy Mexican, the proud owner of a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park, a busy Wall Street office, and scores of mines and haciendas in Mexico. But for all his obvious riches and his elegant appearance, Eliseo was also the possessor of a devastating secret: he was not, in fact, from Mexico at all. Rather, he had begun life as a slave named William Ellis, born on a cotton plantation in southern Texas during the waning years of King Cotton. After emancipation, Ellis, capitalizing on the Spanish he learned during his childhood along the Mexican border and his ambivalent appearance, engaged in a virtuoso act of reinvention. He crafted an alter ego, the Mexican Guillermo Eliseo, who was able to access many of the privileges denied to African Americans at the time: traveling in first-class train berths, staying in upscale hotels, and eating in the finest restaurants. The Strange Career of William Ellis reads like a novel but offers fresh insights on the history of the Reconstruction era, the US-Mexico border, and the abiding riddle of race. At a moment when the United States is deepening its connections with Latin America and recognizing that race is more than simply black or white, Ellis's story could not be more timely or important"--Provided by publisher
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1965-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Jacoby, Karl
Dewey number
  • 306.3/62092
  • B
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Ellis, William Henry
  • African Americans
  • Slaves
  • Businessmen
  • Millionaires
  • Mexican-American Border Region
  • Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
  • Passing (Identity)
  • United States
  • African Americans
Label
The strange career of William Ellis : the Texas slave who became a Mexican millionaire, Karl Jacoby
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-288) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Prologue: Through history's cracks -- Part I. Victoria -- Gone to Texas -- Juneteenth -- Part II. San Antonio/Tlahualilo -- Military Plaza -- The land of God and liberty -- Part III. Manhattan/Mexico City -- A picturesque figure -- The city of happy homes -- Epilogue: Trickster makes this world -- Afterword
Control code
2016007019
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxviii, 304 pages
Isbn
9780393239256
Isbn Type
(hardcover)
Lccn
2016007019
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
Label
The strange career of William Ellis : the Texas slave who became a Mexican millionaire, Karl Jacoby
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-288) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Prologue: Through history's cracks -- Part I. Victoria -- Gone to Texas -- Juneteenth -- Part II. San Antonio/Tlahualilo -- Military Plaza -- The land of God and liberty -- Part III. Manhattan/Mexico City -- A picturesque figure -- The city of happy homes -- Epilogue: Trickster makes this world -- Afterword
Control code
2016007019
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxviii, 304 pages
Isbn
9780393239256
Isbn Type
(hardcover)
Lccn
2016007019
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

    • Charleston County Public Library - MainBorrow it
      68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, US
      32.7883294 -79.9309573
    • Charleston County Public Library - Mt. PleasantBorrow it
      1133 Mathis Ferry Road, Mount Pleasant, SC, 29464, US
      32.816169 -79.864089
    • Charleston County Public Library - West Ashley Branch LibraryBorrow it
      45 Windermere Boulevard, Charleston, SC, 29407, US
      32.7769952 -79.975867

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