Downtown Hannibal, Mo., is an idyllic cluster of quaint buildings, many of which take their cue from Mark Twain novels. There's the white-picket fence that wily Tom Sawyer avoided painting, the cute clapboard house where Becky Thatcher lived, a statue of Tom and Huck Finn at the foot of Cardiff Hill. Shops line the streets, pushing everything from Twainburgers to straw hats and pieces of whitewashed fence.
This small town near the Illinois border was where Twain (born Samuel Clemens) lived between ages of 4 and 18, attended school and launched his writing career. Tourists flock here to visit the the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum and collect other Twain-abilia.
The problem is Tom, Huck and Becky were all fictional creatures. None of the controversial characters from Twain's real life is reflected in the museum or other local attractions. Glaringingly absent is the model for Jim, the slave who befriended Huck. Absent, too, are the half-dozen or so slaves who worked in the Clemens household, most of whom befriended the writer and left a strong mark on him.
A growing number of scholars and other critics are protesting the exclusion of what they feel is a major aspect of Twain's biography. One of them is Terrell Dempsey, a bearded young Hannibal historian who's writing a book, "Searching for Jim: Slavery in Sam Clemens' World."
"I look around Hannibal and wonder what we would be seeing if we lived here in Sam Clemens' day," Dempsey says. "According to my research, there were five slave traders here then. One in four local people were slaves. A major trial of abolitionists occurred here, and Clemens' father was a juror. None of that is reflected in the museum or anywhere else in Hannibal."
Da Silva is more blunt: "When I visit the museum and the town, I wonder where are the black people⢠What you don't see seems more important than what you do." Other Twain scholars, including Harold Bush, a professor at St. Louis University, have weighed in. "Several individuals led Twain to re-evaluate and reject the views of the community in which he grew up," he says. "It's important for the public to be aware of that shift."
Even locals are joining the discussion. "People sometimes ask, 'How can you live in a town that is totally made up?'" says Stacie Beattie, who runs a Twain souvenir shop. "We know it's a fiction but, hey, what's the harm in it?"
Asked whether the Twain Museum was planning changes, director Henry Sweets says when the facility was opened in 1912, the Twain Foundation made a conscious effort to focus on Huck Finn and leave out the biographical aspects of Twain's life. "Now we're in a period of transition," he says, weighing his words carefully. "Some changes may be needed, but it's too early to say what they are."
Dempsey doesn't expect any updating of the facility soon. "Twain experienced an important awakening in his views on race," he says. "Hannibal is grappling with how to make that transition. But we seem to have the feeling that if we tell the truth, people will not come."
