Queer history didn't start with Stonewall. This book explores how LGBTQ people have always been a part of our national identity, contributing to the country and culture for over 400 years.
Named one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2019 by School Library Journal
Queer history didn't start with Stonewall. This book explores how LGBTQ people have always been a part of our national identity, contributing to the country and culture for over 400 years.
It is crucial for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth to know their history. But this history is not easy to find since it's rarely taught in schools or commemorated in other ways. A Queer History of the United States for Young People corrects this and demonstrates that LGBTQ people have long been vital to shaping our understanding of what America is today.
Through engrossing narratives, letters, drawings, poems, and more, the book encourages young readers, of all identities, to feel pride at the accomplishments of the LGBTQ people who came before them and to use history as a guide to the future. The stories he shares include those of
* Indigenous tribes who embraced same-sex relationships and a multiplicity of gender identities.
* Emily Dickinson, brilliant nineteenth-century poet who wrote about her desire for women.
* Gladys Bentley, Harlem blues singer who challenged restrictive cross-dressing laws in the 1920s.
* Bayard Rustin, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s close friend, civil rights organizer, and an openly gay man.
* Sylvia Rivera, cofounder of STAR, the first transgender activist group in the US in 1970.
* Kiyoshi Kuromiya, civil rights and antiwar activist who fought for people living with AIDS.
* Jamie Nabozny, activist who took his LGBTQ school bullying case to the Supreme Court.
* Aidan DeStefano, teen who brought a federal court case for trans-inclusive bathroom policies.
* And many more!
With over 60 illustrations and photos, a glossary, and a corresponding curriculum, A Queer History of the United States for Young People will be vital for teachers who want to introduce a new perspective to America's story.
By:
Michael Bronski
Adapted by:
Richie Chevat
Imprint: Beacon Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 1
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 140mm,
Weight: 367g
ISBN: 9780807056127
ISBN 10: 080705612X
Series: Revisioning AM History YA
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 11 June 2019
Recommended Age: From 12 years
Audience:
Children/juvenile
,
English as a second language
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
PROLOGUE INTRODUCTION Before We Start, or, What Is Normal? SECTION I America—New Beginnings, New Identities: 1500–1860 CHAPTER ONE Native Peoples: Different Genders, Different Sexualities CHAPTER TWO Thomas Morton: Free Love Among the Puritans? CHAPTER THREE Jemima Wilkinson: The Surprising Life of Publick Universal Friend CHAPTER FOUR Deborah Sampson: Patriot, Soldier, Gender Rebel CHAPTER FIVE Nineteenth-Century Romantic Friendships: BFFs or Friends with Benefits? CHAPTER SIX The Mystery of Emily Dickinson: Passionate Attachments and Independent Women CHAPTER SEVEN Julia Ward Howe, Samuel Gridley Howe, and Charles Sumner: Complicated Relationships and Radical Social Change in Very Proper Nineteenth-Century Boston SECTION II American Freedom Begins to Bloom—Change and the Civil War: 1860–1875 CHAPTER EIGHT The Amazing Life of Albert D. J. Cashier: Transgender War Hero CHAPTER NINE Charlotte Cushman: American Idol, Lover of Women CHAPTER TEN Walt Whitman: Poet of the People CHAPTER ELEVEN Rebecca Primus and Addie Brown: A Nineteenth-Century Love Story SECTION III New Americans—Boldly Challenging Society: 1875–1900 CHAPTER TWELVE The Radical Victoria Woodhull: First Woman to Run for President CHAPTER THIRTEEN Jane Addams: The Mother of Social Work CHAPTER FOURTEEN Julian Eltinge: The Most Famous Cross-Dresser in America SECTION IV A New Century of Freedom—Radical Visions, Revolutionary Actions: 1900–1960 CHAPTER FIFTEEN Marie Equi: Fighting for Women, Workers, Peace, and Justice for All CHAPTER SIXTEEN Gladys Bentley: Blues-Singing Bulldagger CHAPTER SEVENTEEN World War II: The War That Started LGBTQ Politics CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Harry Hay: How His Society of Fools Started a Revolution CHAPTER NINETEEN Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin: Climbing the Ladder of Freedom and Justice SECTION V Revolutionary Changes—The Seeds of Protest Begin to Bloom: 1960–1977 CHAPTER TWENTY Pauli Murray: “You must remember that truth is our only sword” CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Bayard Rustin: A Life of Activism CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Carl Wittman: Radical Movements, Political Organizing, and Country Dance CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Rita Mae Brown: The Lavender Menace Writes Her Way to Freedom CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Gloria Anzaldúa: A Life Between Borders SECTION VI Backlash—Years of Struggle and Resistance: 1977–1990 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Sylvester and Anita Bryant: Marching to Two Very Different Drummers CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Robert Hillsborough and Harvey Milk: Struggle and Violence, Grief and Rage CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Essex Hemphill: The Power of Blackness CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Kiyoshi Kuromiya: Man of Many Movements CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Art in the Face of Death SECTION VII Moving Closer to Liberation—The Future Is in Sight: 1990–Present CHAPTER THIRTY Jamie Nabozny: Gay Teen Hero CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Jack Baker and Michael McConnell: It Started in a Barber Shop CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Sylvia Rivera: A Life in the Streets and a Guiding STAR CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Coming Out or Staying In: New Queer Ways of Living in the World CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Young People Today: The Future of Queer History Glossary Bibliography Photo Credits Index
Michael Bronski is Professor of the Practice in Activism and Media in the Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Harvard University. He has written extensively on LGBT issues for four decades, in both mainstream and queer publications including The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Advocate, Boston Review, Lambda Book Report, Z, and The Nation. Richie Chevat writes fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. His adaptations for young readers include Our Choice by Al Gore and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He lives in New Jersey.
Reviews for Queer History of the United States for Young People
Readers will find a straightforward, documented, nonsensational celebration of the contributions of LGBTQ people in the US . . . No previous knowledge is assumed: definitions are provided, context is established, and quaint contemporary mores are explained . . . Above all, there is continuous reassurance that the definition of 'normal' has always been in flux, that numerous LGBTQ people have been important figures in American history, and that young LGBTQ people of today will make crucial contributions to future queer history. --Booklist, Starred Review This adaptation for teens of the author's 2012 Stonewall Award-winning A Queer History of the United States is doubly valuable; it serves well as a general read and fills a clear curricular need. Each carefully selected profile bolsters the case for queer leadership and activism as a driving force of progress. --School Library Journal, Starred Review Alongside watershed moments like the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the text brings to light less well-known people, places, and events: the 1625 free love colony of Merrymount, transgender Civil War hero Albert D. J. Cashier, and the 1951 founding of the Mattachine Society, to name a few. --Kirkus Reviews Readers seeking role models from the past will find an edifying resource and invitation for further exploration into untold stories. --Publishers Weekly Bronski's A Queer History of the United States for Young People is a necessary, comprehensive, and accessible primer for queer history. In a political climate that seeks to disappear LGBTQ people and our contributions to society, it's more important than ever to cultivate a relationship with our queer past. Taking guidance from the LGBTQ forebears profiled in this book gives us permission to imagine otherwise and strive beyond the status quo. --Alok Vaid-Menon, gender non-conforming artist and author of Femme in Public It's no easy task to craft a nuanced story of queer history for young readers, but Michael Bronski and Richie Chevat have pulled it off. Weaving together stories of diverse historical and contemporary figures, this book peoples the queer past and present, with hope for the future. --Leila J. Rupp, author of Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History This volume is both timely and timeless: a deep, scholarly dive into our history. It should sit at the table next to Zinn's People's History--required, essential reading for all people. --Saundra Mitchell, editor of All Out and Out Now, and author of All the Things We Do in the Dark
