Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement

Join for a virtual author talk as Dr. Wendy L. Rouse discusses her book Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, which explores the important role of queerness and queer suffragists in the fight for the vote. The traditional narrative of suffrage history sanitized the lives of suffragists contributing to the historical erasure of the queer history of the movement. Yet, it was often their very queerness that helped propel the movement forward. This book highlights the alliances that queer suffragists built and the innovative strategies they developed to protect and preserve their most intimate relationships as they defied the gender and sexual norms of their day.

Wendy L. Rouse is Professor of History at San Jose State University. Her scholarly research focuses on the history of women, gender and sexuality during the Progressive Era. Rouse’s most recent work, Public Faces, Secret Lives: The Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, explores the ways that suffragists challenged norms of gender and sexuality in their era. Rouse is also the author of Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1880-1920 and Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self-Defense Movement.

This program is presented by the Connolly Branch of the Boston Public Library in partnership with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society to celebrate Pride Month. The event will be virtual so please use this link to register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2H2AHE6QTLeosP90iLLuqA