by John Howard (1997)
To date, lesbian and gay history has focused largely on the East and West coasts and on urban settings such as New York and San Francisco. The American South, on the other hand, identified as it is with religion, traditional gender roles, and cultural conservatism, has escaped attention. Southerners wrestle with their past, lesbians and gays wrestle for visibility, historians wrestle over the South - yet rarely have the three crossed paths. John Howard's ground-breaking anthology casts its net broadly, examining lesbian and gay experiences in Mississippi, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New Orleans, Atlanta, Charleston, Memphis, and Louisville. Rigorous in its approach, the book does not shy away from thorny, self-critical questions: What allows us to label a historical figure with the relatively recent category of "lesbian" or "gay"? Further, exactly who is a Southerner? And what is Southern? Moving chronologically through America's past, from the antebellum and postbellum periods, through the Jim Crow era and the Cold War, to the present, this volume introduces an important new framework to the field of lesbian and gay history - that of the region.
Neil Miller
**From Amazon.com:** A unique and hugely absorbing narrative history of gay life--from Oscar Wilde to the 25th anniversary of Stonewall--by the award-winning journalist and distinguished author of Out in the World. Miller accompanies his narrative with essays and excerpts from contemporary and historical writings. Photos and line drawings.
Merle Miller
Originally published in 1971, Merle Miller’s On Being Different is a pioneering and thought-provoking book about being homosexual in the United States. Just two years after the Stonewall riots, Miller wrote a poignant essay for the New York Times Magazine entitled “What It Means To Be a Homosexual” in response to a homophobic article published in Harper’s Magazine. Described as “the most widely read and discussed essay of the decade,” it carried the seed that would blossom into On Being Different—one of the earliest memoirs to affirm the importance of coming out. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Christopher Bram
Describes how the trailblazing, post-war gay literary figures, including Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, and Allen Ginsberg, paved the way for newer generations, including Armistead Maupin, Edmund White, and Edward Albee.
Richard M. Trimble
"Serving in the 48th New York Volunteer regiment, Thomas and William Jones wrote their sister Maggie, a school teacher in West Farms, New Jersey. But Maggie also received letters from friends of the family who also served in the 48th New York. Brought together in this unique collection the activity of the 48th New York comes to life.". "Brothers 'til Death offers a view of the Civil War from the perspective of the frontline soldier. It provides insights into a forgotten theater of the war, the coastal campaign of the Carolinas and Georgia, providing new witnesses to assaults on Forts Pulaski, Wagner, and Fisher. Finally, the letters give new dimensions to what life was like for Irish soldiers fighting for the Union along the coastline of the South."--BOOK JACKET.