Agency through Otherness: Portraits of Performers in Circus Route Books, 1875-1925Main MenuThe American Experiment: Circus in ContextCircus performers and American history timelineRouting the Circus: The Things They CarriedCircus Routes Map, 1875-1925Ethnological Congresses and the Spectacleby Rebecca FitzsimmonsOutsiders in Demand: Chinese and Japanese Immigrant Performersby Angela Yon and Mariah WahlShattering Gender Roles: Women in the Circusby Elizabeth HarmanSide Show Sounds: Black Bandleaders Respond to ExoticismAnnexed Circus Musicians by Elizabeth C. HartmanNative Performance and Identity in The Wild West Showby Mariah WahlShowmen's Rests: The Final CurtainCircus Cemetery Plots by Elizabeth C. HartmanList of PerformersPerformers covered in this exhibitBibliography & Further ReadingsBibliography and readings for each chapterAcknowledgementsAngela Yon72f2fd7a28c88ceeba2adcf2c04fee469904c6f1
12021-03-24T06:58:59-07:00Ella Ewing15Biographyplain10606262021-04-29T14:16:29-07:00A large woman who was not excluded from the newspapers when the circus was coming to town was Ella Ewing, the Missouri Giantess. Much of Ella’s life is publicly known, having been shared by her family, the circus, and herself. Born in Missouri, Ella grew at an average rate until the age of seven where she grew exponentially throughout the rest of her life. She did not enjoy being the constant center of attention anytime she ventured outside of her town, but when asked to be exhibited by fairs and eventually the circus, she took the job. 9 Ella knew that she was going to live a life being stared at no matter what, so she took matters into her own hands and made what she could of it. She was featured in news articles talking about life in and out of the circus and how she had grown accustomed to the stares and enjoyed traveling with the show rather than without because of the amenities she was given.
