Some More 19th Century Mentions of Red Hair

A couple of quick quotes about red hair from 19th century ethnographers now. Yet again, the language is somewhat dated, so apologies. Of course, it's worth remembering that although these writers held views or used language that we would now find unpalatable it doesn't necessarily mean they were horrible, hate-filled people. In days gone by it wasn't uncommon for men to view women as less intelligent, but that didn't mean they didn't love their wives and daughters dearly. So we should perhaps bear this in mind and extend some tolerance to them as we seek tolerance ourselves.

The first quote comes from an 1850 work titled The Races of Man And Their Geographical Distribution.

"The fact of red hair occurring amongst the Negroes of Congo has been alluded to by Blumenbach, who saw many Mulattoes with red hair."

The second quote, or passage rather, comes from a book published in 1878 titled The Temperaments.

"In regard to red hair, observation has convinced us that it is closely related, both physiologically and as a sign of Temperament and character, to black hair. In the crosses of the Negro with the Caucasian, black hair is the most persistent sign of the dark blood, holding its place after all trace of the African taint has disappeared from the complexion, and never furnishing examples of even the darkest brown, much less of yellow, but even in mulattoes (half-bloods) red hair or wool not very infrequently appears. Of this we have observed several instances in Charleston, S. C., and elsewhere."

Language aside both quotes are interesting as they speak to this notion that red hair occurs in mixed populations.