Radical Relationships: The Civil War-Era Correspondence of Mathilde Franziska Anneke

By Alison Efford Author Interviews, Early America, LGBTQ

The lives, letters, and “romantic friendship” shared between two women during the nineteenth century.

The Rape of Rufus? Sexual Violence against Enslaved Men

By Thomas Foster Author Interviews, Early America, Race and Ethnicity, Sexual Violence

Rethinking Rufus argues that enslaved black men were sexually violated by both white men and white women.

“Well Known as Miss Betty Cooper”: Gender Expression in 18th-Century Boston

By Caitlin Hopkins Early America, Trans

One 1771 advertisement sought the recapture of an enslaved person known by two names: Cato and Miss Betty Cooper.

Discovering Sex in the Civil War

By Judith Giesberg Early America

Surrounded by death, Civil War soldiers found pleasure and fraternity in sharing erotic pictures and prints.

More than Masturbatory: An Interview with April Haynes

By Nicholas Syrett Author Interviews, Early America

Antebellum women’s efforts to reform sexuality through public physiology education.

A Relationship Revealed

By Cassandra Good Early America

The miniature “Beauty Revealed” suggests an erotic relationship between an early American artist and a statesman.

Histories of Sexuality and the Carceral State–Part 1

By Devin McGeehan Muchmore 20th and 21st Century United States, Early America

What can histories of sexuality and gender tell us about the carceral state?