The lay of the land has changed in downtown Mount Airy since the construction of the new arts center across the street from the Andy Griffith Playhouse on Rockford Street.
On Monday, the Siamese Twins Museum dedicated to Eng and Chang Bunker opened its doors to the public. Inside visitors will get a chance to learn the real history of the what were once the world’s most famous twins.
After months of hard work, Surry Arts Council Executive Director Tanya Jones explained Monday that the museum stands ready to entertain and educate with unique items donated by the Bunker family to artifacts from the government of Thailand.
Throughout are audio-visual displays featuring touch screens so that guests can more fully explore elements of the life of Eng and Chang Bunker. Some things people think they know about the twins, Jones said, are simply not true.
“I realized the amount of misinformation that was out there on the twins exceeded anything I could have imagined,” she said. “Our mission is to tell the story accurately, as accurately as possible, but also with dignity because that is something they worked hard to achieve in their lives.”
“A lot of times when you read a book, you imagine that everything is accurate. What happened over the years with the twins, misinformation gets perpetuated from one book to another to another and then if it’s in multiple books, it must be true, right? But it’s not,” she said.
Jones said she will always be on the lookout for more artifacts to continue to paint a fuller picture. “What we are also trying to do is gather primary sources, letters written home and such, because that’s where you learn so much.”
One of the videos explained the ethnic background of the Bunker twins. “It’s worth noting that while born in Siam, they were ethnically Chinese as their father was a fisherman from China and their mother was half Chinese.”
“The question arises if they are Chinese or Siamese, they are both. However it is interesting that they presented themselves as Chinese until one of their early managers, James Hale, said they should be Siamese twins instead.”
Jones explained, “People knew about China, they didn’t know about Siam — so it was more exotic.”
At times, the twins were made out to be monsters, freaks of natures to be gawked at, and were even vilified for “bestiality” in a wedding announcement found on display among many newspaper clippings spanning decades.
Jones said she came to realize that “absolutely nothing” that was printed about the twins regarding their condition as conjoined twins was true. The writing at the time she said, “Was all speculation — sensational speculation.”
“They would just make things up and frequently said the twins sought separation. No, they did not. The twins were basically content with their status because they had never known anything else and of course they legitimately feared separation after listening to so many physicians and alleged interested medical people.”
Jones said its hogwash to think the twins would have wanted separation. “There was no aseptic technique and there was no skin graft for the gaping wound it would have left, no x-ray, there was no way to know what was going on.”
Spreading misinformation was all meant to drive interest in the Bunkers for profit and gain. She said, “It made for good copy.”
The Bunkers did see a slew of doctors because, “Their managers wanted to validate that Eng and Chang were not a hoax but then they wrote pamphlets which often had more sensational things in them to attract people. They were selling a product, and they were making lots of money.”
According to Jones, the Bunker twins were, “the most well-traveled people in the world. They had come from halfway around the globe and had been all over Europe — they met the Queen. They were interesting, but their handlers realized the brighter we make them, if they can speak and have a sense of humor, then more we can make off them.”
All around the museum are checkerboards which were not a coincidence. “That was actually was a thing they did sometimes with visitors, they received people in a space and maybe play a game of chess or checkers,” she said.
The Bunker twins were not pleased with being treated in such a way. “They saw that they were being treated as lesser beings by the people who were making the money so when the contract was over, they decided to show themselves.”
They wanted a better life for their children she said because they saw better options. “They wanted their kids to be educated… not just the boys. They had toured Europe and recognized how the daughters dressed, were educated and well-read, and they too read the classics,” Jones said.
Monday morning, she offered a hearty thanks to all those who helped the museum along the way including North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who was in attendance.
“We have a really valuable partnership,” she said of Mount Airy City Manager Darren Lewis, “and we could not have done this without the City of Mount Airy’s support and the same with Surry County — I just don’t text the county commissioners as often.”
“My biggest cheerleader has been Kester Sink, who is 100 years old. He’s been amazing not just with this, but inside there is also a letter from Kester from when we were trying to change the name of the bridge many years ago,” Jones explained.
Her voice cracked and a few tears escaped her eye as she leaned in close to Sink and asked him, “Guess what we did? We got this museum open and guess who is going to be the first person through the door?”
“Months ago, he called and said if we wanted items for the museum from him we had to come and get them. He said, ‘I’m getting ready to turn 100 and I won’t be around forever,’” she explained.
“He said he just hoped he lived to see it open.”
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