Resisting Erasure: Queer Women and the Historical Record

Isabella Roseo, Verrazzano Class of 2027, completing major in History (7-12)

I have always loved history, and I am majoring in History Education 7-12, so naturally I gravitated towards researching history. However, I wanted to stray from the "Great Man" view of history that is all too common. It's about time we focus more on women's history and more obscurely queer women's history. I was motivated simply through the knowledge that I was using my platform to bring visibility to a topic that is dear to me and too often overlooked.

This project examines why the lives and relationships of queer women in the nineteenth-century United States and England are so difficult to find in historical records. At first glance, their absence might suggest that such women were rare or invisible in their own time. However, my research argues that queer women did exist in significant ways, and that their apparent absence is the result of how history has been recorded, interpreted, and sometimes deliberately altered.

The main objective of this research is to understand how this invisibility was created. Rather than treating the lack of explicit evidence as proof that queer women were not present, I focused on the social and cultural forces that shaped what was documented. I examined personal letters, diaries, and long-term relationships between women that were recorded but later described as “romantic friendships" instead of being considered potentially queer.

One of the key findings is that nineteenth-century society had strict expectations about gender and sexuality, which made it difficult to openly identify or label same-sex relationships. As a result, many women formed deep emotional and sometimes lifelong partnerships that were socially acceptable, as long as they were framed in non-sexual terms. Historians later reinforced this framing by interpreting these relationships as purely platonic, even when the evidence suggests a more complex emotional or romantic bond.

Another important conclusion is that the erasure of queer women's history was not accidental. Over time, institutions such as publishers, historians, and even families contributed to reshaping the historical record. Letters were sometimes edited before publication, and language that suggested romantic or intimate connections between women was softened or removed. This process limited the evidence available to future historians and helped create the impression that queer women were largely absent from the past.

Language also plays a significant role in this issue. Terms like "lesbian" or "queer" were not widely used in the same way during the nineteenth century, making it difficult to directly identify these relationships using modern categories. This creates a challenge for historians, who must interpret historical evidence without forcing present-day labels onto the past, while still recognizing patterns of same-sex intimacy and connection.

Ultimately, this project concludes that the invisibility of queer women in nineteenth-century history is not due to a lack of existence, but to long-standing processes of reinterpretation, omission, and silence. By revisiting historical sources with a more critical perspective, it is possible to recover aspects of these hidden lives and better understand the diversity of past relationships.

This research is important because it challenges the idea that queer identities did not exist in earlier periods. By uncovering the ways queer women's lives were documented and later obscured, this project contributes to a more accurate and inclusive understanding of history.

I expected a capstone to be very tedious. In reality, at some points, it was very tedious. However, all the hard work and time spent is worth it in the end. For the first time in my college experience I really felt like I was getting the most out of higher education and applying it to something that really mattered.

The most challenging part of the research was having to stay focused during long hours of reading through sources and writing. The easiest part was presenting at the Undergraduate Research Conference. I was surprised by the more administrative aspects of the process. I feel like I have filled out so many forms and emails throughout this experience.

I would like to expand on my research by looking for examples of queer women's history beyond the Western world. My biggest take away from this experience is that research can be very enjoyable, and it certainly generates a feeling of deep academic pride and fulfillment.