“Startling Disclosures”: Uncovering 19th-Century Black Trans Life Through a Microhistory of Criminalization

• In Event: Innovative Methodologies and New Perspectives in Queer Criminology Research

Abstract

Contemporary transgender communities face accelerating political, social, and legal exclusion. Simultaneously, there is a concerted effort to erase trans lives from historical knowledge, motivated by an ahistorical assertion that gender-transgressive practices are “new”; this is especially harmful for Black trans individuals, who already lack adequate coverage in trans archival records. While queer criminology has developed as an intersectional field, it has not widely applied historical methodologies to highlight experiences from this community. As such, this study takes the approach of microhistory—a small-scale analysis centering individual events, people, and places to explain larger historical trends—in illuminating the life of Frances Thompson (c. 1840-1876), a Black “transcestor” living in Reconstruction-era Tennessee. By examining 19th-century archival materials that discuss Frances’ high-profile victimization and criminalization, I explore: (1) how rigid gender norms informed the disproportionate policing of urban Black communities during Reconstruction, and (2) how these Black communities responded to gender transgression by individuals like Frances, who would most likely be considered trans today. Implications regarding the role of historical methods in queer criminology, and efforts to protect Black trans histories in an era of erasure are discussed.

Author

• Brandon Craig, Northeastern University