Dear family, friends, and fellow travelers,
So I don't know about you, but having Boston Pride land on the first full week of June this year made it feel like we packed a month's worth of activity into an eight day period. [exhale emoji]
Boston Pride
Image: A rainbow flag flies above the main entrance to the MHS during the week of Boston Pride.
This year, a group of staff members at the MHS decided to use the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion (this PBS documentary is FREE and worth watching if you're interested!) to push for our first ever institutional recognition of Boston Pride through the raising on a rainbow flag, a queer-themed Object of the Month, and a pop-up display highlighting a few items I selected from our collections that document the queer historical.
Image: An exhibit case holding an 18th century newspaper, 19th century dairy, and a daguerreotype; sign inviting visitors to view the pop-up Pride display in our lobby.
Unfortunately the items have not all been digitized but I owe researcher Caitlin Hopkins for our earliest item -- an 18th newspaper notice -- that you can read about at NOTCHES: “Well Known as Miss Betty Cooper”: Gender Expression in 18th-Century Boston.
Image: On the subway platform en route to Pride. My t-shirt is courtesy of The History Project and can be seen here.
The highlight of my own experience of Pride -- this will mark the third year I have made an effort to participate -- was, as always, the pre-parade Pride service at Arlington St. Church. If you're curious what a Pride service with the Unitarian Universalists is like, you can watch the service here on their YouTube channel! (I personally never get enough of our tiny Rev. Kim dancing in the pulpit during every song. She really sings with her whole person.)
Anyone who knows the history of Pride knows that its roots in the Stonewall uprising tie it inextricably to the experience of multiply-marginalized queer people -- young, people of color, gender-nonconforming and trans people -- who decided to resist police brutality through spontaneous mass action. Fifty years later, trans people, and queer people of color, remain some of the most vulnerable in the LGBTQ community. I learned this week that Alice, the trans daughter of family friends, recently took her own life. Even with family support, endemic transphobia and the virulently anti-trans political climate can be lethal. TransLifeline is a trans-led national organization that provides peer support through a hotline (877-565-8860) and other resources. Please consider donating and/or signal boosting their work so that trans people in crisis have people within the trans community to turn to for help.
Image: Pink rose opened under cloudy skies.
Ida B. Wells Book Project
Shortly after returning from Minneapolis, I signed a book contract with ABC-CLIO to author a work-for-hire biography of journalist and activist Ida B. Wells for a series on "women making history" aimed at a high school and undergraduate audience. This is a new type of writing for me, although I have worked with the editors previously on an encyclopedia project. I write more about my interest in this type of work and the conditions under which I took the job over at the feminist librarian.
Image: Teazle enjoys a nap on our back porch, now open for the summer.
Image: Christopher enjoys the open window in our living room (there are so many BIRDS to watch!)
Welcoming the Boston Summer
Sometimes it's hard to welcome the sultry Boston summer, which typically peaks in August after a cool slide from spring into summer during the month of June followed by a starter heatwave or two in July. For those of you who don't live in New England or the Upper Midwest, central air is foreign to these parts and keeping cool during the hottest days generally involves a lot of iced coffee, cold washclothes, and fans. This year we've successfully purchased an a/c unit that should help us keep the bedroom dry and reasonably cooler than the swampy outdoors during the worst days. Fingers crossed there won't be many.
Image: A mason jar mug of iced cold brew and knitting on a cafe table.
Summer in Boston these last few years has begun for us with Pride, since that is when the Arlington Street Church services scale back until after Labor Day and I take a step back from participation in that community to spend the full weekend, every weekend, with Hanna and the cats, and with other projects such as quilting and reading. This summer, I'm looking forward to working on a quilt for my sister and her partner -- a belated Christmas gift that will probably be sent just in time for next Christmas! --, to embarking on my crash course in the life of Ida B. Wells, and to enjoying the lush, lush flowers that all of this years rain has gifted us.
I know I've shared this before, but here again is a snippet from Marge Piercy's protest poem "The Low Road."
~Anna
So I don't know about you, but having Boston Pride land on the first full week of June this year made it feel like we packed a month's worth of activity into an eight day period. [exhale emoji]
Boston Pride
Image: A rainbow flag flies above the main entrance to the MHS during the week of Boston Pride.This year, a group of staff members at the MHS decided to use the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion (this PBS documentary is FREE and worth watching if you're interested!) to push for our first ever institutional recognition of Boston Pride through the raising on a rainbow flag, a queer-themed Object of the Month, and a pop-up display highlighting a few items I selected from our collections that document the queer historical.
Image: An exhibit case holding an 18th century newspaper, 19th century dairy, and a daguerreotype; sign inviting visitors to view the pop-up Pride display in our lobby.Unfortunately the items have not all been digitized but I owe researcher Caitlin Hopkins for our earliest item -- an 18th newspaper notice -- that you can read about at NOTCHES: “Well Known as Miss Betty Cooper”: Gender Expression in 18th-Century Boston.
Image: On the subway platform en route to Pride. My t-shirt is courtesy of The History Project and can be seen here. The highlight of my own experience of Pride -- this will mark the third year I have made an effort to participate -- was, as always, the pre-parade Pride service at Arlington St. Church. If you're curious what a Pride service with the Unitarian Universalists is like, you can watch the service here on their YouTube channel! (I personally never get enough of our tiny Rev. Kim dancing in the pulpit during every song. She really sings with her whole person.)
Anyone who knows the history of Pride knows that its roots in the Stonewall uprising tie it inextricably to the experience of multiply-marginalized queer people -- young, people of color, gender-nonconforming and trans people -- who decided to resist police brutality through spontaneous mass action. Fifty years later, trans people, and queer people of color, remain some of the most vulnerable in the LGBTQ community. I learned this week that Alice, the trans daughter of family friends, recently took her own life. Even with family support, endemic transphobia and the virulently anti-trans political climate can be lethal. TransLifeline is a trans-led national organization that provides peer support through a hotline (877-565-8860) and other resources. Please consider donating and/or signal boosting their work so that trans people in crisis have people within the trans community to turn to for help.
Image: Pink rose opened under cloudy skies.Ida B. Wells Book Project
Shortly after returning from Minneapolis, I signed a book contract with ABC-CLIO to author a work-for-hire biography of journalist and activist Ida B. Wells for a series on "women making history" aimed at a high school and undergraduate audience. This is a new type of writing for me, although I have worked with the editors previously on an encyclopedia project. I write more about my interest in this type of work and the conditions under which I took the job over at the feminist librarian.
Image: Teazle enjoys a nap on our back porch, now open for the summer.Image: Christopher enjoys the open window in our living room (there are so many BIRDS to watch!)Welcoming the Boston Summer
Sometimes it's hard to welcome the sultry Boston summer, which typically peaks in August after a cool slide from spring into summer during the month of June followed by a starter heatwave or two in July. For those of you who don't live in New England or the Upper Midwest, central air is foreign to these parts and keeping cool during the hottest days generally involves a lot of iced coffee, cold washclothes, and fans. This year we've successfully purchased an a/c unit that should help us keep the bedroom dry and reasonably cooler than the swampy outdoors during the worst days. Fingers crossed there won't be many.
Image: A mason jar mug of iced cold brew and knitting on a cafe table.Summer in Boston these last few years has begun for us with Pride, since that is when the Arlington Street Church services scale back until after Labor Day and I take a step back from participation in that community to spend the full weekend, every weekend, with Hanna and the cats, and with other projects such as quilting and reading. This summer, I'm looking forward to working on a quilt for my sister and her partner -- a belated Christmas gift that will probably be sent just in time for next Christmas! --, to embarking on my crash course in the life of Ida B. Wells, and to enjoying the lush, lush flowers that all of this years rain has gifted us.
I know I've shared this before, but here again is a snippet from Marge Piercy's protest poem "The Low Road."
Remember our ancestors, embrace your fellow travelers, and fight for a better future.Three people are a delegation, a committee, a wedge. With four you can play bridge and start an organization. With six you can rent a whole house, eat pie for dinner with no seconds, and hold a fund-raising party. A dozen make a demonstration. A hundred fill a hall.
~Anna