Browse Exhibits (261 total)
Looking Out of the Frame: Camelot’s Gay Court, 1933-1963, by Claire Bond Potter
President John F. Kennedy was famous for his vivid, and some might say almost compulsive, heterosexuality. But straight men can have a gay side, and JFK’s life was filled with prominent gay men. First published on OutHistory in 2013.
Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965): A Museum Show and Opening the Archive, by Kaitlyn Greenidge and Kevin Mumford
An exhibit on the queer intersectionality of African American writer Lorraine Hansberry, focusing on a 2013-2014 museum exhibit, an overview of Hansberry's life and work, and copies of Hansberry's correspondence with The Ladder.
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.
Lucien Price: Homosexual Emancipation Pioneer (1883-1964), by Jonathan Ned Katz
An introduction to Junius Lucien Price, whose series of novels, All Souls, make him a pioneering homosexual author and resistor. Born in Kent, Ohio, Price attended Harvard University, worked as a journalist in Greater Boston, and began writing gay-themed novels in 1919.
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.
Man-i-fest: FTM Mentorship in San Francisco, 1976 -2009, by Megan M. Rohrer
Man-i-fest follows the letters of Lou Sullivan to David, highlighting the topics and mentors that shaped the FTM community in San Francisco from 1976 to 2009. The central items in the exhibit appeared in Gateway: the newsletter of Golden Gate Girls/Guys, and FTM, supplemented by Lou Sullivan’s photographs of his transition. The exhibit was curated by Megan M. Rohrer in partnership with the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.
Marching For Jobs and Freedom: Bayard Rustin and Cheryl Clarke at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, by Claire Potter and John D'Emilio
This proud moment in civil rights activism is also a moment to reflect on how LGBT civil rights strategies have overlapped with, drawn strength from, and patterned themselves on a century and a half of anti-racist struggles in the United States. Published originally on OutHistory in September 2013.
Margaret Haig Thomas (1883-1958): Lusitania’s Queer Cargo, by Christianne Anastasia Gadd
In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Luisitania on May 7, 1915, OutHistory presented an original research report on one of its fascinating women passengers. First published on OutHistory on May 4, 2015.
Mary Casal, pseudonym of Ruth Fuller Field (1864-1935): The 1930 Autobiography of an American Lesbian, by Jonathan Ned Katz
The Stone Wall, the autobiography of Ruth Fuller Field, was published under the name "Mary Casal" in Chicago in 1930. The text presents the extraordinarily frank sexual and affectional life history of an American lesbian. OutHistory presents an introduction to the memoir, a long excerpt from it, a bibliography of sources about Field, and a chronology of her life by Francisco Araujo da Costa. Published originally on OutHistory in July 2015; updated most recently in February 2026.
Master Timeline of LGBTQ+ US History
DEMONSTRATION PROTOTYPE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
meant to serve as an inspiration for future OutHistory content creators
by Jonathan Ned Katz
Matchmaking’s Lineage: A 2024 Interview with E.G. Crichton, by Tamara de Szegheo Lang
An interview with the author of Matchmaking in the Archive: 19 Conversations with the Dead and 3 Encounters with Ghosts (2023). Published originally on OutHistory in January 2025.
Melville's Secret Sex Text: Decoding His 1849 Novel Redburn, by Jonathan Ned Katz
Jonathan Ned Katz's essay analyzing Henry Melville's novel was published in The Village Voice Literary Supplement, April 1982, pages 10-12. It was first republished on OutHistory in 2020.
Published here in 2024 for the first time is also the original, longer, scholarly version of 1982, with citations, from which the Village Voice version was adapted.
Both are copyrighted by Jonathan Ned Katz.
Memories of the Revolution: A Home for Wayward Girls, 2016, by Holly Hughes
Excerpts of Memories of the Revolution: The First Ten Years of the WOW Cafe Theatre, co-edited by Holly Hughes, Jill S. Dolan, and Carmelita Tropicana (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016). Published originally on OutHistory in June 2016.
Michelle: San Francisco Drag Performer, 1960s and 1970s
Michelle, also known as Mike Michelle, was a popular and well known drag performer during the late 1960s and early 1970s in San Francisco. First published on OutHistory in 2022.
Miss Willson and Miss Brundage, 1800-1825, by Jonathan Ned Katz
An introduction to artist Mary Ann Willson and her farmer partner Miss Brundage, who lived together in Greenville, New York. Their relationship became the basis of the novel Patience and Sarah by Alma Routsong/Isabel Miller. First published on OutHistory in 2015.
Moreau de Saint-Méry and the "Unnatural Practices" of American Women, 1793-1798, by Jonathan Ned Katz
A French lawyer and politician, Moreau de Saint Méry, who lived in the United States from 1793 to 1798, mostly in Philadelphia, provided one of the earliest comments on sex between women in the new American nation. First published on OutHistory in 2013.
Mr./Miss David Contest, 1971-1975, by Jeff Auer
The Mr./Miss David contest was founded in 1971-1972 in Jacksonville, FL. First published on OutHistory in 2010.
My Beloved Friend Carol Joyce (1926-2020), by Jonathan Ned Katz
Forced by the coronavirus pandemic to vacate the safe-house she occupied with her husband, Bob, Carol Joyce moved with him and a beloved cousin, Isabel Soffer, to Soffer’s country home. There, Carol, who had withdrawn in old age into herself, was agitated. She died of cardiac arrest on March 22, 2020, at the age of 93. This exhibit features a remembrance by OutHistory founder Jonathan Ned Katz.
Native American LGBTQ+ People, 1528-1976, by Jonathan Ned Katz
These documents about LGBTQ+ Native Americans present years of testimony from a wide variety of observers: military men, missionaries, explorers, trappers, traders, settlers, and later, medical doctors, anthropologists, homosexual emancipationists, and LGBTQ+ activists.
In a few rare instances, the voices of LGBTQ+ Native Americans are heard.
This is adapted from Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976). The notes to these documents contain numbers of additional sources.
Published originally on OutHistory in 2011; last edited June 21, 2024.
Neil Derrick (1931-2018), by Edward Field
An introduction, by his long-time partner, to the life and work of a gay writer who specialized in "soft-porn." Born in Visalia, California, raised in Exeter, California, and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Derrick spent much of his adult life in New York City, where he lost most of his sight in his 40s.