ELLA WILLIAMS

AKA ABOMAH THE GIANTESS

SINGER, PERFORMER, GIANTESS

Article by Jada Hampton

Ella Williams, most famously known as “Abomah the Giantess”, was a remarkable woman whose towering stature earned her worldwide acclaim.

Traveling frequently with touring agencies and circuses, she is an important figure in the history of black circus performers.

Early Years

Born in South Carolina in 1865, ten months after the ratification of the Emancipation Proclamation, Ella was born into a family of slaves.

At age fourteen she came down with malaria and recovered but it was believed that it may have something to do with her soaring height afterwards, however another explanation is that she was around the age of natural puberty.

In a family of average sized brothers and sisters, it was eventually obvious that she would be quite larger than her siblings.

When she was a bit older, Ella started working for another family as a cook and denied several requests to tour when asked.

But the poor pay eventually led her to embrace the idea of touring.

In 1898, under the management of Frank Bostock, she began to tour as a sideshow performer under the name “Abomah”.

The Making of Abomah the Giantess

Her career started in Europe, since Bostock believed she would be better accepted there than in America where racial tensions were extremely high.

It was also believed to be a conflict of interest since there was another act, a white woman named Ella, who was also a giantess.

“Abomah” was inspired after a West African country at the time, now Benin, and she was often marketed as a female warrior to gain more attention.

However, people began to truly believe she was from a distant African nation and that they were indeed watching a skilled warrior.

Often, sideshow performers are marketed with some false claims and exaggerations to make them appear more special or interesting.

The papers claimed Ella was over eight feet tall even though she might have only been between 7’0 and 7’6”.

Still, she towered over all who stood next to her and was often suspected of being able to sit any person on her extended arm comfortably.

Soon she became known as “Madame Abomah” and would go on to tour the world.

The Act

Beloved in multiple continents, including North and South America, Europe, and Australia, Ella was a stunning black woman.

Seen as “beautiful” and “elegant” she always wore expensive, extravagant looking ensembles and resembled those of royalty.

With great poise, smarts, and wit, she was both charming and a remarkable songstress.

Some of her famous performances are of singing minstrel songs, popular at the time, which featured some prejudiced language but was normal and sometimes necessary for the success of black performers.

Still she performed with an essence of grace and polish and despite her height moved with no indication of awkwardness or imbalance.

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Mystery and Influence

After a long career of touring she had worked with such famous circuses as The Ringling Bros., Reynold’s Exhibition, Dreamland and others in places such as Cuba, Australia, and New Zealand.

Ella returned to the United States from Britain in 1915 before World War I would devastate London.

Little is known about her whereabout after the 1920s, but she stayed with the circus in some capacity into her sixties.

Though we can only guess how the rest of her life took shape, we can honor that she did, indeed, exist and the indisputable fact that she left her mark on the world below.

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