Gender and the Revolutionary War

America was founded on the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Join us as we explore the history of LGBTQ+ Bostonians who challenged gender and sexuality norms while fighting to make those promises a reality.

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Woman dressed as Sarah Norman, c. 1986.
Courtesy of Queer History Boston.

In our first episode, host Joan Ilacqua is joined by historians J.L. Bell and Dr. Jen Manion to discuss the legacies of people who defied gender norms in the late 1700s. You’ll meet Deborah Sampson, the first American woman to receive a military pension after enlisting as “Robert Shurtleff,” and Francis Lewis, whose obituary states that he died at age 93, “32 of which years he dressed as a woman, and was supposed to be such.”

Queer Boston’s Pursuit of Happiness is produced with the support of Mass Humanities through the Expand Massachusetts Stories program - thanks Mass Humanities!

Show notes:

Some helpful resources for interpreting LGBTQ+ history:

• Gay is Good: Interpreting LGBTQ History at Museums with Ken Turino

• LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History, edited by Megan E. Springate, 2016

• LGB and/or T History, Digital Transgender Archive by Hugh Ryan

• Looking for Queer Possibility by Margaret Middleton

• Archival Silences: Was Edmonia Lewis Queer? by Queer History Boston

Sources and more reading about today’s episode:

• Here to Stay - Promises of the Revolution

• Patriotic Ladies in Drag - New England Folklore

• Gray v. Pitts, Adams Papers, Mass Historical Society

• “32 of which years he dressed as a woman” - Boston 1775

• “Deserved and received the respect” - Boston 1775

• The Legacy of Francis Lewis - Boston 1775

• “Always deserved and received the respect” - Boston 1775

• “A Non Compos Distracted or Lunatick Person” - Boston 1775

• “Quitting the Male Habit”: Paul Revere, and Deborah Sampson’s Appeal for a Military Pension by Mehitabel Glenhaber, Paul Revere House

• “Well Known as Miss Betty Cooper”: Gender Expression in 18th-Century Boston by Caitlin G.D. Hopkins

• Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin, 1607-1783 by Jonathan Ned Katz, OutHistory

• This Was Then: Francis Lewis by Chris Baer, MVTimes

• Diary Sheds Light on Deborah Sampson by Brigit Katz, Smithsonian Magazine

• The Female Review by Herman Mann

• Female Husbands: A Trans History by Jen Manion

For more of Jen Manion’s work, visit https://jenmanion.com/.

For more of J.L. Bell’s work, visit https://boston1775.blogspot.com/.

Huge thanks to: Jacob Sconyers, the Podcast Working Group, J.L. Bell, Jen Manion, Mik Hamilton, Matisse Dupont, and Mass Humanities!