OutHistory

Urvashi Vaid: The Vassar and Boston Years, 1975-83, by Marc Stein
This exhibit focuses on Urvashi Vaid (1958-2022), a leading LGBTQ activist of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The exhibit includes three components: a roundtable interview featuring three friends of Urvashi’s from her years at Vassar College (1975-79); a roundtable interview featuring four friends of Urvashi’s from her years in Boston (1980-83); and a set of links to publications and other materials by and about Urvashi. Published originally on OutHistory in 2023.
LGBTQ Controversies at the University of Iowa in the 1990s, by Mickey Eliason
Excerpts of a forthcoming memoir, Airing the Dirty Laundry: Queer in the Academy, by a former faculty member at the University of Iowa. Published originally by OutHistory in 2023.
Sally: A 2023 Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Deborah Craig, by Julie R. Enszer
A 2023 interview about the documentary film-in-progress Sally, which focuses on lesbian feminist author and activist Sally Gearhart.
Who Was Jennie June (1870-1950)?, by Channing Gerard Joseph
An exhibit that describes the work done to identify the author of groundbreaking memoirs from the early 1900s. Originally published on OutHistory in 2022.
The Hidden Queer History Behind “A League of Their Own,” 1940-2018, by Frankie de la Cretaz
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League did everything it could to keep lesbians off the diamond. Seventy-five years later, its gay stars finally opened up. OutHistory excerpt, along with related links, published on April 23, 2020.
Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020): Feminist Lesbian Icon, Human and Civil Rights Advocate, Friend, Mentor, by Marcia Gallo
A historian recalls the life of an early lesbian activist. First published on OutHistory in 2020.
Eve Adams Archive, by Jonathan Ned Katz
This feature presents the following six sections: Eve Adams Chronology; Eve Adams Corrections; Eve Adams Documents; Eve Adams Pictures; Eve Adams Research Suggestions; Eve Adams Teaching Topics and Materials
Esther Eng (1914-1970): Filmmaker, Restaurateur, Gender Rebel, by Christianne A. Gadd
Esther Eng made a name for herself as the world's first female Chinese American filmmaker, a successful restaurateur, and—rejecting social expectations—a woman who felt little need to hide her romantic and sexual relationships with other women. First published on OutHistory in 2016.
Picturing a Lesbian Feminist Household: A 2015 Interview with Cathy Cade by Stephen Vider
Cathy Cade is a photographer who has been documenting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since the 1970s. Based in Berkeley, California, she is the author, publisher and photographer of A Lesbian Photo Album: The Lives of Seven Lesbian Feminists (Oakland, Ca: Waterwomen Books, 1987). Her work is archived at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Her website is cathycade.com.

Stephen Vider is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York. From 2013 to 2015, he was the Clay Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Sexuality at Yale University. He completed his PhD at Harvard in History of American Civilization in 2013, with a secondary field in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. His book Queer Belongings: Gay Men and the American Home After World War II will be published by University of Chicago Press. His essay “The Makings of Home,” appears in the catalog for “On the Domestic Front: Scenes of Everyday Queer Life,” curated by James Saslow at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. His website is stephenvider.com.

First published on OutHistory in 2015.
Ma Rainey's "Prove It On Me Blues," 1928, by Jonathan Ned Katz
An introduction to Gertrude "Ma" Rainey's resistance anthem. First published by OutHistory in 2014.
Lorraine Hansberry: An Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain by Judith Smith
An interview with a documentary filmmaker who received a National Endowement for the Humanities grant in support of the first full-length documentary feature on Lorraine Hansberry. The interview was conducted by a consulting humanities scholar on the Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project team.