Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

An anonymous researcher at the historical society became aware of the letters in 1978 and sent a tip to the Gay Task Force of the American Library Association The Gay Task Force had the historian of sexuality Jonathan Ned Katz negotiate the release of the letters and they were unsealed the same year

3

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

As the letters were sexual in nature and documented a same-sex relationship, the Minnesota Historical Society chose to remove them from the collection and seal them away until 1980.

1 3

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Cleveland's romantic letters to Whipple were acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society as part of their collection on Henry Benjamin Whipple. The set included correspondences from 1890 to 1910, though only a few letters exist from the final five years.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Her coffin was draped with the 13-star flag of the United States, and the mayor ordered all businesses closed for the day. Whipple was buried beside Cleveland upon her own death from pneumonia and kidney failure twelve years later.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Cleveland contracted the flu while caring for Erichsen and died on November 22, 1918. Cleveland's funeral was attended by many of the refugees whom she had helped during World War I and the Spanish flu, as well as the American consul and the mayor of Bagni di Lucca.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

In 1918, Cleveland and Whipple founded a girls school in Bagni di Lucca. The Spanish flu occurred that year, and the women worked with the mayor to organize the town's response. Erichsen contracted the disease and died days later on November 15, 1918.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Cleveland felt less of an inclination to express her beliefs about society through writing while living in Italy, as social norms were more relaxed in a way that allowed expats to have same-sex relationships. By 1914, they were joined in Bagni di Lucca by the English artist Nelly Erichsen.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

When Whipple's brother fell ill in Italy in 1910, Cleveland accompanied her there to care for him.[35] They boarded the SS Saxonia on July 20, and they stayed in Florence until the brother died in 1912. They chose to remain in Italy afterward, settling in Bagni di Lucca in Tuscany.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

The bishop died on September 16, 1901, and Cleveland again hoped for a romance between her and Whipple. They began visiting one another and traveling the United States together in 1902. Their correspondence became frequent again, and a romantic element returned to their relationship by 1905.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

She traveled to Europe for a year to escape the situation before returning to the United States to work as a teacher. Cleveland began spending more time with their friend Evelyn Ames in 1895, and the two may have had a romantic relationship.

1 3

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

The more explicitly romantic aspect of Cleveland and Simpson's relationship ended in 1892, when Simpson was engaged to the bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple. Their contact with one another decreased in 1893. Cleveland felt betrayed by Simpson's decision to marry.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

and Amelia Candler Gardiner, the daughter of Congressman John W. Candler of Massachusetts. They were also sometimes accompanied by two other friends, Adelaide Hamlin Thierry and Katherine Willard Baldwin.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

The couple took trips together in the United States and Europe, between 1891 and 1893 They built a group of friends ten to twenty years their junior that accompanied them, including Evelyn Ames Hall the daughter of Governor Oliver Ames of Massachusetts and wife of artist Frederick Garrison Hall

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Cleveland was in constant anticipation of these letters and always demanded further contact from Simpson. The relationship was known by their families, but there is no indication that the public knew of its romantic nature.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Their relationship had a sexual element beyond what was typical of the era's romantic friendship where same-sex couples had intimate but non-sexual relationships
The first known letter between Cleveland and Simpson was sent April 13, 1890 Their correspondences became more explicitly sexual over time

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

The two had similar interests and educational backgrounds. Both were wealthy; Simpson was widowed after marrying into wealth while Cleveland enriched herself through her writing career.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Florida was a favorite destination for Cleveland, and she traveled there each year starting in 1888. She kept an orange grove in Dunnellon that became profitable shortly after these trips began. While staying in Florida in 1889, Cleveland met Evangeline Marrs Simpson and began a romance with her.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

After leaving the White House, Cleveland wrote several fiction and nonfiction works, many relating to women's rights. She was editor of a literary magazine for several months, and she continued teaching and lecturing.

1 5

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

She used the role of first lady to galvanize support for women's suffrage, expressing little interest in more typical household management tasks.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Receiving an advanced education in her youth, Cleveland defied gender norms and pursued a career in a variety of literary and academic positions. When her unmarried brother was elected president, she acted in the role of first lady until his marriage to Frances Folsom.

1 4

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · 5d

Who was the first VERIFIABLE LGBTQ resident of the White House? Rose Cleveland, sister of Grover Cleveland and acting first Lady from 1885-1886.

1 2 5

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · Sep 11

He was among the few at the time who were not afraid of stigma, holding people in his arms and speaking at funerals.

Judge and Birmingham were devoted to a life of helping others. Each of them left the world better than they found it.

2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · Sep 11

But even before his death, Judge had a long history of ministering to the marginalized, particularly queer people. In the 1980s, he responded to a classified ad seeking priests who could minister to those living with HIV/AIDS.

1 2

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · Sep 11

While Judge had a long-term relationship with his partner, Al Alvarado, he is not thought to have violated his vows to the church. Still, canonization of an openly gay man could be a difficult road. The church continues to regard homosexuality as "objectively disordered."

1 1

LGBTQ+ World History Museum @lgbtqwhm.bsky.social · Sep 11

These saints are recognized as having given their lives in moments of great self-sacrifice, rather than having been responsible for miracles.

1 1