Biography · Biography & Culture
Ada Copeland King
Biography
United States
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Biography
Ada Copeland King (ca. 23 December 1860 – 14 April 1964) was the common-law wife of the American geologist Clarence King. Their thirteen-year relationship, with King posing as a black man named James Todd when they were together, was the subject of a substantial lawsuit and the book Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line by Martha Sandweiss.
Sources & collection details
Wikipedia contributors — original record ↗
Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13