"I was like, ‘Dang, my baby is crushing this role.’”

Colonial Williamsburg has agreed to research gender and sexually nonconforming people in 18th-century America, acknowledging to the LGBTQ community that people like them “have always existed.”

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, argues that homosexuality is not a crime in the face of the law but only in sin in the church. The revered priest made this known at an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, January 25. The Pope emphasized the love God has for all his children while calling on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. “Being homos£xual isn’t a crime; Yes, but it’s a sin. Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime. It’s also a sin to lack charity...

Jaxson Rivers adjusted the camera, tilting it this way and that way until he and his two other co-hosts, Micheal and Taylor, were perfectly in frame. After hitting the red record button, a soft bee…

We bet you didn't know there were female soldiers in the civil war. Learn how they hide their identities to fight alongside male soldiers

There was a time in America when two men pictured with their arms wrapped around each other, or perhaps holding hands, weren’t necessarily seen as sexually involved—a time when such gestures could be seen simply as those of intimate friendship rather than homoeroticism. The photographs, spanning from before the Civil War to the 1950s, reveal a lost world. They present men of different ages, classes, and races in a range of settings: posed in photographers' studios, on beaches, in lumber camps, on farms, on ships, indoors and out. They show men comfortably sitting on each other's laps, embracing, holding hands, and expressing their various relationships through countless examples of simple physical contact. Men as Friends From the Civil War through the 1920’s, it was very common for male friends to visit a photographer’s studio together to have a portrait done as a memento of their love and loyalty. Photographers would offer various backgrounds and props the men could choose from to use in the picture. Sometimes the men would act out scenes; sometimes they’d simply sit side-by-side; sometimes they’d sit on each other’s laps or hold hands. The men’s very comfortable and familiar poses and body language might make the men look like gay lovers to the modern eye — and they could very well have been — but that was not the message they were sending at the time. The photographer’s studio would have been at the center of town, well-known by everyone, and one’s neighbors would having been sitting in the waiting room just a few feet away. Because homosexuality, even if thought of as a practice rather than an identity, was not something publicly expressed, these men were not knowingly outing themselves in these shots; their poses were common, and simply reflected the intimacy and intensity of male friendships at the time — none of these photos would have caused their contemporaries to bat an eye. When the author of Picturing Men, John Ibson, conducted a survey of modern day portrait studios to ask if they had ever had two men come in to have their photo taken, he found that the event was so rare that many of the photographers he spoke to had never seen it happen during their career. Snapshots When portable cameras for the amateur photographer became more widely available, they allowed men to photograph themselves in a greater range of more spontaneous situations, and the practice of sitting for formal portraits together waned in the 1930s. The snapshots usually were developed by someone else who would have gotten a look at all of them, so again, these pictures were not likely purposeful expressions of gay love, but rather captured the very common level of comfort men felt with one another during the early 20th century. One of the reasons male friendships were so intense during the 19th and early 20th centuries, is that socialization was largely separated by sex; men spent most their time with other men, women with other women. In the 50s, some psychologists theorized that gender-segregated socialization spurred homosexuality, and as cultural mores changed in general, snapshots of only men together were supplanted by those of coed groups. After WWII, casually touching between men in photographs decreased precipitously. It first vanished among middle-aged men, but lingered among younger men. But in the 50s, when homosexuality reached its peak of pathologization, eventually they too created more space between themselves, and while still affectionate began to interact with less ease and intimacy. It’s not true that American men are no longer affectionate with each other at all. Hand-holding and lap-sitting are out, but putting your arms around your buddies is still common. Physical affection seems more common among high school and college age men, a time when friendships are closer, than among middle-aged men, and this has probably always been the case more or less. Although it may also have to do with generational and cultural changes, as we’ll touch on at the end of the article. Men at Work It was also popular for men to get portraits done with the guys they worked with, often while wearing their work clothes — from aprons to overalls — and holding the tools of their trade — from frying pans to hammers. That men wished to immortalize themselves alongside their “co-workers” shows how important work was to a man’s identity and the close bond men used to feel with those they shared a trade with and toiled next to. When a photo studio wasn’t nearby, snapshots were taken. These snapshots reveal the camaraderie men felt with those they worked beside. As the trades waned in importance, and white collar work waxed, photographs of men on the job became more formal and less intimate. Instead of seeing each as fellow craftsmen, working for a common goal with a shared pride in the work, men became competitors with each other, each trying to get ahead in a dog-eat-dog world. And a lot less work-related photographs were taken in general. Perhaps because we only take photographs of pleasurable things, things we want to always remember, and the pleasure men took in their work had fallen. Men on the Field As team sports became one of the great passions of a man’s life in the 1890s, the team photo became a required ritual. A team wished to have a memento of the exploits of the season, and no yearbook was complete without one. The changing poses of the team photo provide a window into the evolving mores of male affection, and perhaps into the evolving nature of sport itself. At the turn of the century, team photos were more intimate and casual, with teammates piling on top of one another, leaning on each other, and draping their arms around one another. Starting in the 1920s, team photos became more formal, more like the team photos we know today. Instead of touching each other, the men crossed their arms across their stomach or put them behind their backs. Each player stood more isolated from the others, much as the space between businessmen had grown as well. Still a team, but a team of distinct individuals. Men at War Some of the most intense bonds between men have always been found among those who serve in the military. Gender segregation (at least in times past), is at its very highest. Men are far from home and can only rely on each other; together they face the highest dangers and are motivated less by duty to country and more by the desire not to let their brothers down. Serving is such an unquestionably manly thing, that homophobia dissipates; soldiers care less about one’s sexuality than whether the man can get the job done. The man who served in WWII and experienced intense camaraderie with his battlefield brothers, often had trouble adjusting to life back home, in which he got married, settled in the suburbs, and felt cut off and isolated from other men and the kind of deep friendships he had enjoyed during the war. (Picturing Men: A Century of Male Relationships in Everyday American Photography by John Ibson, via The Art of Manliness)

LOVING - A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s is a collection of historical images of men in love. Traveling Europe, Canada and the U.S., Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell gathered 2,800 images originating from all over the world and that spanned the Civil War, World War II and through the 1950s. The images give us a glimpse into the love that persisted despite he societal norms at the time they were taken.

Dress reformer, women's rights activist, and all-around pioneer.

I do love a good drag show, although I think the current trend towards exaggerated makeup, hair, and clothing takes away from the simple beauty of a man dressed as a woman. Back in the day, the more realistic your drag costume, the better; acts like Bert Savoy and The Rocky Twins made their fame […]

LOVING - A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s is a collection of historical images of men in love. Traveling Europe, Canada and the U.S., Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell gathered 2,800 images originating from all over the world and that spanned the Civil War, World War II and through the 1950s. The images give us a glimpse into the love that persisted despite he societal norms at the time they were taken.

For the new docu-series "We've Been Around," "Transparent" co-producer Rhys Ernst dived into queer history to celebrate lesser-known trans heroes and icons like Marsha P. Johnson. Broadly talked to him about mixing art with education, the Stonewall...

Brigham Morris Young Here’s a collection of historical “drag queens” dating back to the 1800s and then onwards. The reason I’m using “drag queen” in double quotes is because I’m not entirely sure if these people were transgender, cross-dressers, dressing up as women for theatrical purposes or just for the of fun it. The information is very limited for each image. Either way, they’re all gorgeous and seem quite comfortable with themselves in front of a lens during a time when society looked down on such self-expression. Frederick Park and Ernest Boulton AKA “Fanny and Stella.” Yale students Vaudeville performer Julian Eltinge Civil War era Victor C. Seguro German crossdresser, Paul Storsberg Scott Barrie Lili Elbe was a transgender woman and one of the first known and historically identifiable recipients of sex reassignment surgery. Sources: vintage crossdressing, Little Things, Matthew’s Island of Misfit Toys Previously on Dangerous Minds: Julian Eltinge: America’s first drag superstar

Hands All Around #10 Crown of Thorns by Janet Perkins Crown of Thorns remembers Anne Brown whose father John Brown, was hung as a traitor in December, 1859 for instigating an attack on a federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Anne D. Brown Adams (1843-1926) From a CDV, perhaps sold by antislavery activists about 1860 The first month of the Civil War in spring, 1861 left Louisa Alcott energized and frustrated. "I've often longed to see a war, and now I have my wish. I long to be a man; but as I can't fight, I will content myself with working for those who can." Stories swirled in her head but... "John Brown's daughters came to board, and upset my plans of rest and writing....I had my fit of woe up [in the ] garret on the fat rag-bag, and then put my papers away, and fell to work at housekeeping." (Oh, would we love to see that fat rag-bag in the attic. It's practically a character in the family story.)About a year after their father's execution Anne Brown and her younger sister Sarah were invited to enroll at Franklin Sanborn's school (tuition perhaps paid by George & Mary Stearns.) They first stayed at Waldo & Lidian Emerson's house with daughter Ellen who told friend Annie Keyes Bartlett that they were "not as homely as she expected them to be." Ellen Tucker Emerson (1839 - 1909) Annie Bartlett was a nicer girl: "Frank Stearns' mother is going to give them their outfit [for school.] Poor girls how I pity them, I must try to be kind to them." Annie & Ellen were May Alcott's age; one can imagine Ellen being less than kind to the younger Browns---and maybe to the other teenage girls in town. Bronson and Abba Alcott, always eager to support the antislavery cause, agreed to board the Browns, daughters of the man they considered a martyr to the movement, "St. John" as Louisa called him in her journal. Sophia Thoreau (1819-1876) Sophia Thoreau, a generation older than May and Ellen Emerson, welcomed the Brown sisters to Concord with a party she and her mother Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau organized. Annie Brown recalled first meeting Louisa Alcott there. Annie Bartlett wrote her brother Ned, serving in the army, that the Thoreaus had also organized an album quilt for the girls, a "John Brown memorial" with an appropriate inscription on each block. Annie Brown recorded her memories of Concord years later, particularly of living at the Alcott's. Louisa and Bronson "used to spend their evenings in their rooms and Mrs. Alcott played nine men's Morris, alternate games with my sister and myself, than a game of cribbage with my sister, next a game of chess with me, and then Miss Louisa would come down and we all would play Casino...with cards, ending by playing 'Old Maid' chatting pleasantly and going to bed." Elizabeth Sewall Willis (Abba's niece) & Mrs Phineas Wells, playing chess. Collection: The Nelson Gallery in Kansas City Nine Men's Morris is an ancient board game The housekeeping that kept Louisa from writing down her ideas apparently did not include much ironing. Annie Brown's observations: "They were the first persons I ever knew who advocated folding clothes and giving them 'a brush and a promise' instead of spending so much useless time at the ironing board."In a time of starched cottons one might wonder just how presentable Louisa and Abba looked. But Bronson was pampered with starched shirts remembered Annie Brown. "I used to think that if Mr. Alcott's philosophy had made him wear a few less clean shirts, that his wife might have rested instead of toiling and sweating over the ironing board so long to pamper his fastidious notions." Crown of Thorns by Addison After a year in Concord the Brown sisters went home to New York and classes at the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. Annie taught school during the war and in 1864 their mother decided to move the family west. Anne on the left and Sarah (born in 1846) with their mother Mary Ann Day Brown (1816-1884). Anne is about 8 years old here in 1851. Mary Ann Day married the older John Brown when she was 17 and had given birth to 13 children but by the time the Brown girls were living in Concord Annie and Sarah had only two surviving siblings (plus several half brothers and a sister.) Mary Ann Brown brought a daughter (possibly Annie) to visit the Alcotts right after Louisa's sister married John Pratt in 1860. Louisa described the Browns to her sister Anna: "Mrs. Brown..."is a tall, stout woman, plain, but with a strong, good face, and a natural dignity that showed she was something better than a 'lady,' although she did drink out of her saucer and used the plainest speech. The younger woman had such a patient, heart-broken face, it was a whole Harper's Ferry tragedy in a look." She must be describing Annie Brown Adams and doing it perfectly. Descendant Alice Keesey Mecoy doesn't tell us much about this cased photo of Anne Brown who looks to be in her teens. Alice is quite an authority on her great-great grandmother. https://johnbrownkin.com/2011/10/03/85-years-ago-today-a-great-woman-left-this-world/ The year with the Alcotts may have been one pleasant interlude in a difficult life marred by trauma, death, notoriety and poverty. John Brown took 15-year-old Anne to Virginia with him to keep house while he plotted his failed raid on the Federal Armory in Harper's Ferry. She was often referred to as the raid's "only survivor" although this is not true, but one can imagine the callousness of an obsessive father involving his adolescent daughter in his plot to start a slave rebellion (to say nothing of involving his sons who died there) Crown of Thorns by Becky Brown The Block The pattern is BlockBase #2152 from the Nancy Page newspaper column in the 1930s. You need 4 A squares & 12 large C triangles. 8” Block (2” Grid) A—Cut 4 squares 2-1/2” C—Cut 2 squares 2-7/8”. Cut each into 2 triangles with one diagonal cut. 12” Block (3” Grid) A—3-1/2” C—3-7/8” 16” Block (4” Grid) A—4-1/2” C—4-7/8” D - Cut 1 square 8”– 3‐3‐3/8” 12”– 4‐3/4” 16” ‐ 6‐1/8” E - Cut 1 square. Cut into 4 triangles with 2 diagonal cuts. You need 8 medium triangles. 8” ‐ 3‐1/4" 12” - 4‐1/4” 16” ‐ 5‐1/4” F - Cut 8 squares. Cut into 2 triangles with 1 diagonal cut. You need 16 small triangles. 8” ‐ 1‐7/8” Joan says: For the 12”, cut squares 2 3/8” For the 16”, cut squares 2 7/8” (same sizes as the F squares in the #9 pattern) How-To Ladies' Legacy prints from Moda Post Script During the war Union troops marched to the tune of "John Brown's Body" and the Brown women remained heroines to many Northerners. Their lives were never easy, however. Escaping notoriety and crowds of tourists at their New York home the family moved west in 1864. Annie and Sarah joined sister Ellen, Brother Salmon, his family and mother Mary in traveling to Iowa and then on to Red Bluff, California, arriving in late 1864. Blacksmith Samuel S. Adams, 14 years older than Annie, began courting her. His family had lived near the Browns in Ohio and Kansas. They married November 25, 1869 and soon moved to Rohnerville south of Eureka up in the redwoods country. At 26 Annie became stepmother to 6-year-old girl Irona and 2-year-old Ward. Anne and Samuel Sylvester Adams (1829-1914) in California Collection of Alice Keesey Mecoy, their descendant. Annie had 11 more children and lived a hardscrabble life. Friends and supporters thought nothing of revealing her troubles in an effort to raise money (particularly soliciting donations from former slaves) in this 1897 article in a Washington D.C. newspaper. "Annie Brown Adams made an unfortunate marriage. Her husband was for many years a victim of drink and never made her a fitting support. She got him to go to the northern part of California, where he would be away from bad associations...She has had very bad luck.... Last July [Her heavily mortgaged] house burned down.... " Telling the world that she (and her alcoholic husband) lived in abject poverty in a make-shift farm shed would seem to be just the kind of notoriety they went to California to escape. Let's hope the Adamses were too poor to afford a newspaper. Brown family reunion in Altadena, California at half-brother Owen's cabin. Three brothers are identified. Are Annie or her sisters among the attendees? Annie was the longest lived survivor of John Brown's children, dying in Humboldt County in 1926 at a daughter's home. See Louisa Alcott's letter to sister Anna about the visit by Mary Ann Brown and daughters here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_WOMAN_S_POWER/lHRODwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22a+tall+stout+woman+plain%22&pg=PT104&printsec=frontcover 20th-century woman drinking a hot beverage out of the saucer---Apparently NOT done in Concord. My mother & her New York sisters used to tease each other about the coffee in the saucer. Perhaps it was a New York habit. Crown of Thorns by Denniele Bohannon The Set: Christmas Gifts Twelve 12" blocks alternated with a 12" finished border =84" x 84" Generosity to others was a hallmark of Alcott life (with perhaps some grumbling.) Remember how Little Women begins with: "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents." Christmas Gifts includes a border of Cardinals and Cranberries, some natural gifts. The birds and berries are from a border design Jean Stanclift did years ago for our Sunflower Pattern Cooperative on the cover here of Cranberry Collection. I'm just giving you a border pattern for the 12" blocks here. You'll have to adapt it if you want to do it larger or smaller. The pieced stars finish to 60". Here's a corner. The quilt finishes to 84". Cut 4 strips 12-1/2" x 84-1/2" for mitering. Patterns for each corner. You could do 1 corner or 4. Print them out on 8-1/2" x 11" sheets. Further Reading: Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz, The Tie That Bound Us; the Women of John Brown's Family and the Legacy of Radical Abolitionism (Cornell University Press, 2013) https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Tie_That_Bound_Us/Bc8OAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+Tie+That+Bound+Us%3B+the+Women&printsec=frontcover Sandra Harbert Petrulionis, To Set This World Right: The Antislavery Movement in Thoreau's Concord https://www.google.com/books/edition/To_Set_this_World_Right/GjgIVV2pn6wC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=petrulionis+john+brown&printsec=frontcover

Great repro of a late-19th-century scrap quilt by Lissa Alexander We're Blog Hopping this week about the new book Oh Scrap! A few more scraps of history from the book. Same idea---smaller pieces. From about 1900 I found many references to scrap quilts in periodicals of the 1870s and '80s. They were quite popular in those years with subcategories like quilts of thousands of small pieces and charm quilts (one shape and no two pieces the same.) About 1885 Magazine editors and writers often had opinions as to what their readers should be doing with their time--- Annie Curd in Good Housekeeping in 1888 invoked nostalgia to defend the "Old fashioned scrap quilt, of which our mothers and grandmothers were so proud..." A Four-Patch "Friendship Blues" from Oh, Scrap! Annie liked the "modest quilts" - nine patches, Irish chains. Plus Marks the Spot by Lissa Alexander Apparently not all grandmother's quilts were desirable: "I do not mean the gay red, green and yellow abominations known as the 'Rising Star' and 'Setting Sun' that we see year after exhibited at the annual county fair." This "abomination" belongs to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and was photographed by the Western Pennsylvania project and the Quilt Index. Readers weighed in on the topic: "Nothing...is neater in my opinion than a neat scrap quilt to say nothing of economy...I save every scrap left over from my dresses & aprons..." "Quilt-making has many enemies and many firm supporters...." A fan of scrap quilts in 1874 wrote she could not defend buying "costly material just to cut up and sew together." Charm quilt from about 1880 from Moda's collection Julia Dent Grant in 1854 On the other hand the fan wanted to know: "Who has not calico scraps? Even Mrs. Grant [the President's wife], I presume, has calico dresses.... What could be nicer than a neatly made, pretty, calico patchwork quilt, although she need not use it at the 'White House' unless she wishes." Julia Grant did not comment. This may have been a sore subject for the First Lady. Isabel Ross in her book The General's Wife: The Life of Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant refers to a long-unfinished quilt. When Julia Dent and Ulysses Grant were engaged between 1844 and 1848 and waiting for her father's approval in the midst of a fad for quiltmaking... "she started a quilt that Ulysses would always tease her about, for it went with them everywhere and never was finished. Shortly before his death [in 1885] he jested about this in a letter to [daughter] Nellie." Well, we'd all like to see that quilt top. This scrappy star quilt is attributed to Grant's cousin Epsi Addaline Grant, according to the owner Kathy at the blog RubyLemons. A Texas neighbor gave it to her family with the Grant story. I have no idea of the accuracy of that tale but it is certainly a scrap quilt. http://rubylemons.blogspot.com/2010/04/granted-these-quilts-are-old-2-of-2.html And let's hope Epsi Addaline didn't bring it by the White House to show it to cousin Julia. An awkward moment perhaps. From Lissa Alexander's Oh, Scrap: Fabulous Quilts That Make the Most of Your Stash Here's the schedule for the blog hop this week. Every day we're giving away a free e-copy of the book. March 20 Mellissa Corey http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/ March 21 Carrie Nelson http://blog.modafabrics.com/ March 22 Sherri McConnell http://www.aquiltinglife.com/ March 23 Fat Quarter Shop https://blog.fatquartershop.com/ March 24 Teresa Silva http://quiltingismybliss.com/index.html/ March 25 Jane Davidson https://quiltjane.com/blog/ March 26 Martingale Publishing & Winners Announced http://blog.shopmartingale.com/

In remembrance of the soldiers who served in the Civil War, the Liljenquist Family donated their rare collection of over 700 photographs to the Library of Congress

Confederate Colonel John Hugh Means, the 64th Governor of South Carolina was killed in action August 30th 1862 at the Second Battle of Manassas. John Hugh Means was born August 18th 1812 in the Fairfield District of South Carolina. He attended the Mount Zion College in Winnsboro, before graduating from South Carolina College in 1832. He was a part of the planter class, and an outspoken supporter of State’s Rights. Means was elected the Governor of South Carolina in 1850, and he presided over the state convention of 1852, which passed the resolution stating that South Carolina had a right to secede. He used his time in office to increase the funding of the state militia. In 1860 Means signed the Ordinance of Secession. He enrolled in the Confederate Army as the Colonel of the 17th South Carolina Infantry. They saw action during the Peninsula Campaign. The 17th was part of Confederate General James Longstreet’s Corps, and was part of the right flank at the Second Battle of Manassas. Means was killed in action on August 30th 1862 [I have found his death listed at August 29th, 30th, 31st, and September 1st]

There was a time in America when two men pictured with their arms wrapped around each other, or perhaps holding hands, weren’t necessarily seen as sexually involved—a time when such gestures could be seen simply as those of intimate friendship rather than homoeroticism. The photographs, spanning from before the Civil War to the 1950s, reveal a lost world. They present men of different ages, classes, and races in a range of settings: posed in photographers' studios, on beaches, in lumber camps, on farms, on ships, indoors and out. They show men comfortably sitting on each other's laps, embracing, holding hands, and expressing their various relationships through countless examples of simple physical contact. Men as Friends From the Civil War through the 1920’s, it was very common for male friends to visit a photographer’s studio together to have a portrait done as a memento of their love and loyalty. Photographers would offer various backgrounds and props the men could choose from to use in the picture. Sometimes the men would act out scenes; sometimes they’d simply sit side-by-side; sometimes they’d sit on each other’s laps or hold hands. The men’s very comfortable and familiar poses and body language might make the men look like gay lovers to the modern eye — and they could very well have been — but that was not the message they were sending at the time. The photographer’s studio would have been at the center of town, well-known by everyone, and one’s neighbors would having been sitting in the waiting room just a few feet away. Because homosexuality, even if thought of as a practice rather than an identity, was not something publicly expressed, these men were not knowingly outing themselves in these shots; their poses were common, and simply reflected the intimacy and intensity of male friendships at the time — none of these photos would have caused their contemporaries to bat an eye. When the author of Picturing Men, John Ibson, conducted a survey of modern day portrait studios to ask if they had ever had two men come in to have their photo taken, he found that the event was so rare that many of the photographers he spoke to had never seen it happen during their career. Snapshots When portable cameras for the amateur photographer became more widely available, they allowed men to photograph themselves in a greater range of more spontaneous situations, and the practice of sitting for formal portraits together waned in the 1930s. The snapshots usually were developed by someone else who would have gotten a look at all of them, so again, these pictures were not likely purposeful expressions of gay love, but rather captured the very common level of comfort men felt with one another during the early 20th century. One of the reasons male friendships were so intense during the 19th and early 20th centuries, is that socialization was largely separated by sex; men spent most their time with other men, women with other women. In the 50s, some psychologists theorized that gender-segregated socialization spurred homosexuality, and as cultural mores changed in general, snapshots of only men together were supplanted by those of coed groups. After WWII, casually touching between men in photographs decreased precipitously. It first vanished among middle-aged men, but lingered among younger men. But in the 50s, when homosexuality reached its peak of pathologization, eventually they too created more space between themselves, and while still affectionate began to interact with less ease and intimacy. It’s not true that American men are no longer affectionate with each other at all. Hand-holding and lap-sitting are out, but putting your arms around your buddies is still common. Physical affection seems more common among high school and college age men, a time when friendships are closer, than among middle-aged men, and this has probably always been the case more or less. Although it may also have to do with generational and cultural changes, as we’ll touch on at the end of the article. Men at Work It was also popular for men to get portraits done with the guys they worked with, often while wearing their work clothes — from aprons to overalls — and holding the tools of their trade — from frying pans to hammers. That men wished to immortalize themselves alongside their “co-workers” shows how important work was to a man’s identity and the close bond men used to feel with those they shared a trade with and toiled next to. When a photo studio wasn’t nearby, snapshots were taken. These snapshots reveal the camaraderie men felt with those they worked beside. As the trades waned in importance, and white collar work waxed, photographs of men on the job became more formal and less intimate. Instead of seeing each as fellow craftsmen, working for a common goal with a shared pride in the work, men became competitors with each other, each trying to get ahead in a dog-eat-dog world. And a lot less work-related photographs were taken in general. Perhaps because we only take photographs of pleasurable things, things we want to always remember, and the pleasure men took in their work had fallen. Men on the Field As team sports became one of the great passions of a man’s life in the 1890s, the team photo became a required ritual. A team wished to have a memento of the exploits of the season, and no yearbook was complete without one. The changing poses of the team photo provide a window into the evolving mores of male affection, and perhaps into the evolving nature of sport itself. At the turn of the century, team photos were more intimate and casual, with teammates piling on top of one another, leaning on each other, and draping their arms around one another. Starting in the 1920s, team photos became more formal, more like the team photos we know today. Instead of touching each other, the men crossed their arms across their stomach or put them behind their backs. Each player stood more isolated from the others, much as the space between businessmen had grown as well. Still a team, but a team of distinct individuals. Men at War Some of the most intense bonds between men have always been found among those who serve in the military. Gender segregation (at least in times past), is at its very highest. Men are far from home and can only rely on each other; together they face the highest dangers and are motivated less by duty to country and more by the desire not to let their brothers down. Serving is such an unquestionably manly thing, that homophobia dissipates; soldiers care less about one’s sexuality than whether the man can get the job done. The man who served in WWII and experienced intense camaraderie with his battlefield brothers, often had trouble adjusting to life back home, in which he got married, settled in the suburbs, and felt cut off and isolated from other men and the kind of deep friendships he had enjoyed during the war. (Picturing Men: A Century of Male Relationships in Everyday American Photography by John Ibson, via The Art of Manliness)

How the last American Civil War veterans lived, loved and died

Case Antiques in Tennessee sold this puff or biscuit silk quilt last year. It went for a lot more than any regular old late-Victorian puff quilt in poor shape because of its historical associations. "Tennessee pieced quilt, honeycomb or mosaic pattern, comprised of cotton and velvet pieces with wide black satin border and backing. A signed letter accompanying this lot states that this was a "lap quilt" which once belonged to First Lady Sarah Childress Polk (1803-1891) and descended through the family of Ethel Baily and Adair Lyon Childress." https://caseantiques.com/item/lot-844-tn-quilt-1st-lady-sarah-polk-oral-history/ Sarah Childress Polk 1803 –1891 Portrait by George P.A. Healy, 1846 Polk Home Museum Sarah's husband was President 1845-1849 Here's a later version of the same technique, three-dimensional squares filled with batting. This one is tacked in the center. No tacking stitches in the Polk quilt. How accurate could that provenance be? Is this bedcover's story, like a crazy quilt linked to Mary Lincoln, just inflated family tales without historical basis? Did Sarah Polk live long enough to have owned a biscuit quilt? https://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2018/02/mary-lincoln-quilts.html Sarah lived into her late 80s, until 1891, so was undoubtedly aware of the fashion for silk scrap quilts in the 1880's. This particular puff pattern was never as popular as crazy quilts were but was published about the same time. English authors Sophia Caulfeild and Blanche Saward included instructions for a Raised or Swiss Patchwork quilt in their 1882 book The Dictionary of Needlework, "Raised [patchwork]. — This is also known as Swiss Patchwork, and is made by stuffing the patches out with wadding so that they are well puffed up. The shapes selected for the patches should be either good sized hexagons or diamonds, and only one shape should be used, as intricate patterns made by combining various sized pieces render the work troublesome." It's totally plausible that Sarah Polk owned this lap quilt in her Nashville home. That looks like a crazy quilt on the sofa here in her parlor. One of Sarah's silk dresses. She spent quite a bit of her family money on her White House wardrobe. This one is on view at the Tennessee State Museum. Sarah's first biographer Anson Nelson mentioned that in her later years: "Many letters came to her from strangers, making divers requests:... would [she] give items of information regarding some one she had known sixty years ago; that she would grant the favor of a few pieces for a crazy quilt, etc., etc." Eastman House Museum Three first ladies in one photograph An American treasure, this 1848 photograph focuses on Sarah and her circle with James Polk while he was President. At left the woman is Harriet Lane, James Buchanan's niece. The girl is Joanna Rucker, Sarah's niece, and the woman who moved on the right is her friend, a blurred Dolley Madison. Sarah's jewelry and a reticule (bag) Photo: Samuel H. Gottscho, Library of Congress Sarah Childress Polk was a child of Tennessee privilege, daughter of slaveholders and supported by a Mississippi cotton plantation in the antebellum years and through the Civil War. A new biography Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk by Amy S. Greenberg gives us much information about her marriage to politician James Knox Polk who served one term in the White House. Polk annexing Texas The Polks were Southerners and slave holders whose lasting legacy was the Mexican War and subsequent grab of southwestern territory for new Southern agriculture based on a slave economy. At the time the Democrats' symbol was a rooster. James Polk died of cholera just three months after leaving the presidency and Sarah at 46 assumed the role of the Victorian widow, dressed perpetually in black, eschewing social events and seeing visitors primarily at home at their retirement house Polk Place. Nashville in 1856 Sarah and James in 1846 Collection of Polk Home When the Civil War began Sarah became President of the Nashville Ladies' Aid Society in a Confederate city, but the Union Army soon occupied the Tennessee capitol and Sarah assumed the role of an official neutral, although Union troops were suspicious of her and her Ladies' Aid. An 1863 book about the capture of Nashville had no kind words to say about her: " There lives a lady in Nashville...extensively known in city and general circles, Mrs. Ex-President Polk. She is a woman of note, wealthy, smart (that is a better term than “talented” in this instance), and was rather at the head of the female sex of that region as regards all the social bearings. Mrs. Polk was a true rebel. She was too shrewd to be violent, however, and too well-bred to evince her dislike openly to even the humblest member of our army. Severely cool and reticent, she was unmolested, and, when necessary for her to approach the military authorities for a pass or other requisites, she was sufficiently bending and gracious to gain her point. Sarah's home on Vine Street with her husband's tomb in the front yard. The house was destroyed in the early 20th century. "She has no children: she took to nursing the rebellion of the Southern aristocracy. Her influence upon the wealthy females of her city must have been almost unbounded. She was the President of the Nashville Ladies' Southern Aid Society, and occupied much of her time in duties pertaining to that position. The society met at her house occasionally, and at other private houses upon special occasions; but its general place of meeting was at the Masonic Hall. It is stated upon good authority that Mrs. Polk was greatly intent upon urging the men of Nashville to enter the rebel army, and that she advised the young ladies of that city to send petticoats and hoop-skirts to young men who had proved backward in volunteering. Since the permanent occupation of Tennessee by our army, this lady has been entirely unmolested in person and property. When the stables of the town were swept of every serviceable horse for army use, General Rosecrans ordered hers to be exempted, from a proper respect to the past. She now reposes amid comfort and elegance, while desolation sits brooding around her over the face of a once happy and prospering country." Annals of the Army of the Cumberlands. Sarah's hands look so arthritic one would doubt she was stitching any quilts towards the end of her life. After the war Sarah was in a difficult place as both a symbol of Southern ideals and an honored former First Lady. Greenburg quotes President Grant's opinion that the Mexican War was "one of the most unjust ever waged" and the Civil war was punishment. As a political sophisticate Sarah Polk worked with Republicans to maintain her husband's reputation. She worked to be a symbol of reconciliation, supporting friend Frances Willard's national W.C.T.U. and becoming a vice-president of the D.A.R. that hoped to bring Americans together with pride over an earlier war against a foreign enemy. Bettie Childress Brown's husband was Governor of Tennessee But her Tennessee family members were also founders of the KuKluxKlan and niece Bettie Childress Brown was the first President of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1895, continuing the myth and divisiveness of a "lost cause." Read a preview of Amy S. Greenberg's biography Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk: https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-KCDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=amy+s+greenberg+lady+first&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6P3Iy-vgAhWBy4MKHUTUCSIQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=amy%20s%20greenberg%20lady%20first&f=false And read more about Sarah Polk's wonderful wardrobe here. She might have had a lot of silk scraps around the house. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/fashion-and-frugality

Cassandra's Circle, Block# 6, Briar Rose by Becky Brown The rose with thorns remembers one of Mary Chesnut's closest friends during and after the Civil War, Varina Howell Davis, married to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Varina Banks Howell Davis (1826-1906) Collection of the Libraries at Louisiana State University Her brooch pictures a dog. See another view below. "Mrs. Davis was as nice as the luncheon. When she is in the mood, I do not know so pleasant a person. She is awfully clever, always." Mary Chesnut Mary's husband James Chesnut spent time as President Davis's assistant in the Confederate capitol of Richmond. They had known each other when Chesnut and Davis were U.S. Senators in Washington representing South Carolina and Mississippi. Jefferson Davis had long been a spokesman for slavery and secession. Davis was a "Secessionist Square," Secretary of War in President Franklin Pierce's cabinet, according to an 1853 newspaper article comparing the cabinet to a quilt with Free Soil and Secessionist Squares but no Union blocks. There was infighting in 1861 when they all arrived first in Montgomery and then Richmond to begin their experiment in Confederate government. "I think it provokes Mrs. [Davis] that such men praise me so. What a place this is; how every one hates each other...Mrs. Davis & Jeff Davis proving themselves any thing but [well bred by their talk.]" Mary Chesnut, July 3, 1861. "The reason Mrs. Davis don't like me that I take up with the Wigfalls----& besides that, wherever I sit I am some how in the way! The president was excessively complimentary." Fourth of July, 1861. Portraits of the Davises attributed to Jesse H. Whitehurst, Washington. John O’Brien collection The Davises were an important part of Cassandra's Circle. Varina may have been jealous or just irritated with the way Mary attracted a crowd of men to her conversation, creating bottlenecks at receptions. Another problem was Mary's friendship with Charlotte Wigfall, whose volatile husband despised Davis. (See last month's block.) Charlotte was reported by Mary to have called Varina "a coarse Western woman" --- Natchez, Mississippi being the West. Briar Rose by Pat Styring (with a few more berries) Mary wasn't any too fond of Jefferson Davis at first. His cool aloofness made her anxious. But: "Mrs. Davis & I had a touching reconciliation." "She was so kind!" Mary added later to that July 4th entry. And the Davises became close friends. Varina with her namesake and youngest child born in June, 1864 After the war: "One perfect bliss have I. The baby..." The women had much in common. They were of the same class, close in age, Varina three years younger. Both had been educated at French boarding schools (Varina's in Philadelphia, Mary's in Charleston); both were bright and rebellious and they might have amused each other with tales they'd heard about relatives greeting George Washington at the bridge in Trenton in 1779. Varina's Grandmother Keziah Burr Howell and her aunt Sarah Howell Agnew were among the New Jersey socialites dressed in white with Mary's mother-in-law Mary Cox Chesnut. (See Block #1 Washington's Plume.) The Briars, 1904, Library of Congress Varina grew up at The Briars in Natchez, her family supported by relatives Varina's father William Burr Howell was son of Keziah and husband Richard Howell, Governor of New Jersey from 1793-1801. William sought his elusive fortune in Mississippi and found it in Margaret Kempe, heir to 2,000 Mississippi acres and sixty slaves, assets that disappeared over her marriage as her husband went bankrupt. Margaret Kempe Howell (1806-1867) At times Varina's mother took in sewing to support her family. Varina's wedding photo, 1845 Altered versions of this photo float around the internet. Don't believe everything you see there. The Kempes and the Howells were friends with the Davis family. After visiting the Mississippi planters 18-year-old Varina married the widowed Jefferson Davis, twice her age. The 1860 census shows the Davises with their three children in Mississippi at their Brierfield plantation "Dined at President Davis's...Mrs. Davis so witty." Mary Chesnut, May, 1861 1849 miniature on ivory of Varina Davis by New Yorker John Wood Dodge. National Portrait Gallery Note the dog brooch. Painter Dodge and his mother Margaret collaborated on some Union quilts during the war. https://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2013/01/dixie-diary-inspiration-quilt.html Mary Chesnut and Varina agreed on many things but Varina never shared South Carolina optimism about the Confederacy's eventual success and did not hesitate to show her feelings. The First Lady scandalized the South by abruptly leaving her husband's inaugural ceremony, a scene she later described as watching Davis as "a willing victim going to his funeral pyre." In exile in Canada four years after defeat Yet Mary defended both Davises for life. "I will not sit still and hear Jeff Davis abused....And she...you would think to hear them he found her yesterday in a Mississippi swamp." Shortly after defeat refugee Varina visited Mary in Chester, South Carolina: "She left here at five o'clock. My heart was like lead, but we did not give way. She was as calm and smiling as ever...my dear Mrs. Davis...under altered skies." The Block Briar Rose A rose with thorns symbolizes Varina's girlhood home "The Briars" and certainly her thorny experiences as Mrs. Jefferson Davis, the less than enthusiastic First Lady of the South. Varina recalled that she and her husband were gardening among their roses at the Mississippi plantation Brierfield when a messenger arrived with the news that Davis had been elected president of a provisional Confederacy. Detail of a four-block rose by Susan Stayman made in Illinois in the 1850s, in the collection of the Helen F. Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. Briar Rose is drawn from this impressive quilt called Moss Rose by the family. Several similar four-block quilts exist so the pattern must have been passed around. Briar Rose by Susannah Pangelinan Applique to an 18-1/2" square or cut it larger and trim later. Susannah's finishes to 12". The Patterns One Way to print these JPGS: · Create or a new empty JPG file that is 8-1/2" x 11" or a word file. · Click on the image above. · Right click on it and save it to your file. · Print that file out 8-1/2" x 11". Note the inch square block for reference. · Adjust the printed page size if necessary. Do not use tools like "Fit to page." · Make templates. . Add seams when cutting fabric. A little fussy cutting in the rosebud by Becky My 9" block. I had to squeeze the pieces up to fit. And that's regular old applique in the green smiley shapes. But reverse applique is the traditional method. Pat Styring's Blocks 1-6 Almost half done. Extra Reading Joan Cashin's First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis's Civil War. Preview: https://www.google.com/books/edition/First_Lady_of_the_Confederacy/Vi2Q-LFAJ3IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=First+Lady+of+the+Confederacy:+Varina+Davis%27s+Civil+War&printsec=frontcover See more about the four-block Moss Rose quilts here: http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/08/moss-rose.html

LOVING - A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s is a collection of historical images of men in love. Traveling Europe, Canada and the U.S., Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell gathered 2,800 images originating from all over the world and that spanned the Civil War, World War II and through the 1950s. The images give us a glimpse into the love that persisted despite he societal norms at the time they were taken.

Dress reformer, women's rights activist, and all-around pioneer.

Don't worry, I know what year it is:) These are indeed our costumes from last year! I'm sharing them today because first of all I didn't really share them at all last year, because I was planning on being at home with my brand new little one when Halloween hit this year so Martin and I hadn't planned any costumes(sad face), and because I really loved these costumes and I share what I love with you! Ever since I was little I've loved sewing costumes more than just about anything else (till I started quilting, now that comes in close second:)), but the sad thing about elaborate costumes is that there aren't too many opportunities to actually wear them! Needless to say, Halloween has always been a big deal for me, and I'm so lucky to have found a guy who lets me dress him up to match me every year:) Last year as this civil war couple was the first year that we didn't coordinate our costumes as a whole family, so once we'd decided what we wanted to be I started making little plans and collecting fabric and trims, etc for when I would actually start sewing. The most time consuming part of my costume was my dress, and the most painful part was my hat! haha I started with a floppy brimmed straw hat, molded the frame with a wire hanger, and then hot glued all the fabric and trim and things on all in one night, burning my fingers way too many times:( I love how it turned out though! The hoop skirt I bought on amazon, and the parasol I found at a little boutique. Worked perfectly I thought! Martin's uniform was definitely a big challenge, but I couldn't bring myself to leave out any details once we'd planned how it was going to turn out. His sword (minus the tassles) and cap we bought on amazon, his shirt was from a previous year, and he's had the boots for years. Overall I really loved how they turned out, and I'm just glad to have a chance to share these fun outfits with you guys:) I also hope that for those of you who didn't realize that I have a huge passion for sewing that you've been set straight! haha I hardly share my projects at all here on the blog, but I'm looking forward to changing that before the year is out:) Thank you so much for reading today, and I hope that you have a fantastic Halloween tomorrow with friends and or family if that's your thing! We've spent the last week keeping on our toes in case the baby decides to make her appearance, but all the while watching scary movies, carving pumpkins, enjoying apple cider, and snuggling by the fire:) Take care lovely friends! xo, Emily P.S. If you want more immediate updates about the baby, its probably best to follow on Instagram! xo facebook ♥ instagram ♥ youtube ♥ twitter ♥ pinterest ♥ rss ♥ bloglovin

I do love a good drag show, although I think the current trend towards exaggerated makeup, hair, and clothing takes away from the simple beauty of a man dressed as a woman. Back in the day, the more realistic your drag costume, the better; acts like Bert Savoy and The Rocky Twins made their fame […]

St. Louis was a strategic rail hub and supply base that Lincoln desperately needed to hold.

One weekend only, during the year of 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, Conner Prairie transforms into a Civil War battleground. Watch eyes grow wide when horses charge and cannons roar as reenactors from across the country bring an 1860s battle to life again. Young and old can learn firsthand what the Civil War was about from Union and Confederate soldiers.

[ATTACH] [ATTACH] Too easy, seeing these photos in LoC " Union Infantry and wife ". The thing is, these photographs were generally taken, a trip...