Queer, Trans, & POC identities from Victorian American Literature to the turn of the 19th century. by Autumn Conklin

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 19:14:26 UTC

Explicitly homoerotic poems appear in Leaves of Grass, particularly in the section "Calamus." This text was foundational for queer Victorian-era homosexuality. If one said they enjoyed Whitman's poems, though popular, it was also used as code for being queer.

When I Heard at the Close of the Day from "Calamus" (1860)

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 19:30:30 UTC

"The Lost Pardner" from Sun and Saddle Leather poetry collection (1915) by Badger Clark Jr.

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 19:38:58 UTC

Recollecting on his earlier past as a cowboy, Badger Clark Jr. continues a tradition set by Whitman, of explicitly homoerotic sexuality in poetry. There is insight into how queer partnerships worked in the West, not only sensually, but by way of devotion and a working lifestyle.

Autobiography of an Androgyne (1918) by Jennie June

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 19:51:59 UTC

Jennie June self-identified as an androgyne as well as used the terms "bisexuals," "female impersonators," and "gynanders" to describe what would become transgender people and homosexuality. He was one of the first to publicly do so. He was an advocate for decriminalization of homosexuality and wrote of his life experiences in Autobiography of an Androgyne.

African-American women Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus & their erotic/loving letter exchanges

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:02:28 UTC

"You are the first girl that I ever love so and you are the last one. Dear Rebeca, do not say anything against me loving you so, for I mean just what I say. O Rebbeca, it seem I can see you now, casting those loving eyes at me. If you was a man, what would things come to?They would after come to something very quick. What do you think the matter? Don’t laugh at me. I not exactly crazy yet."

-Addie writing to Rebecca, 1859

"How I did miss you last night. I did not have anyone to hug me up and to kiss. Rebbeca, don’t you think I am very foolish? I don’t want anyone to kiss me now. I turn Mr. Games away this morning. No kisses is like youres".

-Addie to Rebecca, 1859

"O my Dear Dear Rebecca when you press me to your dear bosom O how happy I was. Last night I gave any thing if I could only layed my poor aching head on your bosom. O Dear how soon will it be I can be able to do so? ... It is very gloomy here. If I was only near you’now. I rather have my head on your lap then pencil the few lines to you ... Addie
P.S. except a sweet kiss. I will imprint on here so look good."

-Addie writing to Rebecca, Fall 1860

Though letters from both women survive, Rebecca's direct responses to Addie's letters are missing. However, the portrait of the two that emerges is one of sensuality, sexual overtones, and a deep companionship and devotion between the two women, even amid marriages and other major life events. As a reference source for literature and historical record, these letters are vitally important, as they give voice to missing identities of Black women during the mid-19th century.

Photo of Jennie June from Autobiography of an Androgyne

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:04:11 UTC

Jennie June/Ralph Werther/Earl Lind, 1870-1950: Researching the Author

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:31:38 UTC

‘No Kisses Is Like Youres’: An Erotic Friendship between Two African-American Women during the Mid-Nineteenth Century.

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:33:02 UTC

Works Cited Page

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:35:08 UTC

‘To address you My Husband’: Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus’s Queer Epistolary Exchange.”

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:36:14 UTC

Exploring the Queer History of the Old West... Yeehaw, Kaz Rowe

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:36:56 UTC

The Lost Pardner

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:38:09 UTC

Sun and Saddle Leather by Badger Clark

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-16 21:38:46 UTC

The Undaunted (1936) by Alan L. Hart

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-17 00:33:58 UTC

Alan L. Hart was born on October 4, 1890 as a female, but upon becoming an adult transitioned to become male, with surgery and counseling. He was a physician and doctor of medicine, graduating from the University of Oregon Medical Department, and did foundational work to detect Tuberculosis in patients using x-rays. He also was a writer and novelist, and one of his books, The Undaunted, reads a bit as a personal biography of his life as someone who transitioned from female-to-male.

"When it came to outrunning gossip he found he couldn’t do it ... he went into radiology because he thought it wouldn’t matter so much in a laboratory what a man’s personality was. But wherever he went, scandal followed him sooner or later ... His story would get around and then he’d be forced to leave.”

Alan L. Hart: Trailblazing Transgender Doctor Saved Countless Lives

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-17 00:34:44 UTC

The Undaunted by Alan Hart

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-17 00:49:53 UTC

autumnconklin77 — 2025-05-17 01:00:55 UTC

Queer voices and identities have and always will exist, across time, the matrixes of identity, cultural definitions, and in spite of erasure, hatred, and bigotry. Their accounts of their lived experiences, love for self, their lovers/partners, and their community permeate art, literature, and poetry, and leave an impression of their existence for those that follow after. In exploring the repressive Victorian era and following queer people and their works through the turn of the century, we can see the lasting impact of their lives and very existences as human experiences.