Out in Chicago: LGBT History at the Crossroads by Jill Austin and Jennifer Brier, editors; $19.95; Chicago History Museum; 153 pages
The cover blurb for this collection of essays, released concurrently with the Chicago History Museum’s exhibit “Out in Chicago,” tells us “this book offers fresh insights on the history of the city and its residents.” Six of the essays do indeed contribute to the “history of Chicago’s lesbian, gay bisexual, and transgender communities (as) explored by leading historians and scholars.” One does not.
In the title essay, editors Austin and Brier walk you through the “Out in Chicago” exhibit (which runs through March 2012)—its inception, layout, artifacts, videos, etc. Their second essay, “Gender Crossroads: Representations of Gender Transgressions in Chicago’s Press, 1850-1920,” documents newspaper stories of “gender outlaws” and the morality campaigns and laws/ordinances imposed against them. The editors expand on the fascinating history of Nicholas de Raylan, who worked for the Russian consul as a man and whose case was first analyzed by Magnus Hirshfield in his 1910 book (which included cases of several other American women transsexuals).
Biographer Victoria Bissell Brown’s essay on Chicago social work doyenne Jane Addams, “Queer or Not,” tantalizingly tells us that Addams was “very queer” but not gay, and examines what we can learn from the questions that dichotomy engenders.
E. Patrick Johnson’s “Gays and Gospel: A History of Sacred Music ” examines the importance of the church and church music in the same communities as included in his book Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South. The Chicago connection is explored through the life of the Rev. James Cleveland (1931-1991), known as the “Crown Prince of Gospel,” who was once a student of Thomas Dorsey at the Pilgrim Baptist Church. One of the more interesting asides is that a member of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi was found to be a “she” after his death in 1994.
In their essay “Toward an Archive of Latina/o Queer Chicago: Art, Politics, and Social Performance,” three writers compile a history of Chicago Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rico-born artists, writers and activists; the organizations they founded; and the art, music, film and books they created.
Professor John D’Emilio of the University of Illinois circle writes on the transition from “first-generation” LGBT history, documenting the growth of movement and community to the current academic thrust of making that history an integral part of the wider whole—less of a “lavender bubble … more integral and connected to broader narratives of U.S. history.”
But most exciting for me was the reprinting of the late Greg Sprague’s “On the Gay Side of Town: Chicago’s Homosexual Subculture Before World War II” which has not been generally seen since it originally appeared under another title in The Advocate, 1983. This is the seminal work, the compass from which many of us writing about Chicago’s early gay history plotted our course. Ann Parsons and Jessica Herczeg-Konecny joined the editors in preparing an introduction to Sprague, his work, and his importance to the community. He donated his papers to the Chicago Historical Society and it was from among them that the article has reappeared, complete with his endnotes and bibliographic sources appended for the first time.
The one fly in the ointment is Jay Grossman’s 21-page piece on Walt Whitman. Not that there is any weakness in the essay, but there is very little that’s new and, more germane, only one throwaway line relevant to Chicago. So why is it included? If to show 19th-century sensibilities, why not use examples from Chicago history? There are novelist, playwright and journalist Henry Blake Fuller (1857-1929) or Robert Allerton (1873-1974), scion of the banking and meatpacking family, both of whom have had biographies published that attest to their orientation. Another worthy choice touching on several creative genres might have been Mark Turbyfill (1896-1991), a poet, artist and premier danseur with America’s first ballet company.
When all Chicago’s major creatives seemed to flow East to New York and Boston, Fuller and Turbyfill chose to remain in Chicago, why? Certainly these men were worthy representative gays of Chicago. Perhaps Mr. Grossman was included because he presented his Whitman piece at an “Out at CHM” evening, and “followed George Chauncey (University of Chicago) in providing intellectual leadership for the program.” One cannot fault choosing to include the man who is no doubt an excellent historian and scholar, but his essay does nothing to “chronicle how the dynamic forces that made Chicago the great American city also fostered the development of its diverse LGBT communities,” as promised by the book cover.
Most essays in the volume are well annotated and all but two include halftone illustrations (though six or so are muddy with poor contrast). All of which should make visiting the exhibit a necessity to get the full impact of the intent of the editor/curators. As a companion guide or standalone introduction to LGBT Chicago history the book will give you value for the price.
Copyright 2011 by Marie J. Kuda