American Sexual Histories

The second edition of American Sexual Histories features anupdated collection of sixteen articles by prominent historians andtheir corresponding primary sources that investigate issues relatedto human sexuality in America from the colonial era to the presentday. Reflecting the myriad ways historians interpret and analyzesexuality and sexual trends, the essays offer in–depth explorationof topics such as contraception, prostitution, interracialrelationships, same–sex desire, reproductive politics, and intersexand transgender history. Taken as a whole, the essays richlyillustrate how the evolution of sexuality in America is a productof an ongoing negotiation of moral values and shifting politicaland economic circumstances.

The chapters are arranged chronologically and includeintroductions by editor Elizabeth Reis which lend clarity and addhistorical context to the major articles and the supportingdocuments that follow. The carefully selected couplings of essaysand primary sources allow readers to evaluate historical documentsfor themselves, test the interpretations of historians, and drawindependent conclusions. Both scholarly and highly accessible,American Sexual Histories offers illuminating insights intothe complex evolution of sex and sexuality in America.

Notes on Contributors x

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1
Elizabeth Reis

Part I Early America 9

1 Bodies in Doubt: Intersex in Early America 11
Elizabeth Reis

Documents:

1.1 Thomas/Thomasine Hall, 1629 25

1.2 James Parsons, A Mechanical and Critical Enquiry intothe Nature of Hermaphrodites, 1741 27

1.3 Jane Sharp, The Midwives Book, 1671 29

2 Transgressive Male Sex in Early America 34
Thomas A. Foster

Documents:

2.1 Bestiality Cases in New Haven, Connecticut,1638 49 47

2.2 "Trunil Him well brother," 1751 52

3 Indian Women, French Women, and the Regulation of Sex56
Jennifer M. Spear

Documents:

3.1 Journal of Diron d Artaguiette, 1722 373

3.2 Duclos to Pontchartrain, December 25, 1715 75

3.3 Lamothe Cadillac to Pontchartrain, October 26, 171377

3.4 Louisiana′s Code Noir (1724) 79

4 Rape and Sexual Power in Early America 82
Sharon Block

Documents:

4.1 Testimony against David Clark, 1764 95

4.2 Ephraim Wheeler′s Rape Trial, 1805 96

5 The Overflowing of Friendship 101
Richard Godbeer

Documents:

5.1 Letters of Robert Treat Paine, 1749 114

5.2 Letters of Daniel Webster, 1801 5 116

6 Sex Among the Rabble 122
Clare A. Lyons

Documents:

6.1 Philadelphia Magdalen Society, Minutes, 1807–10134

6.2 Maria; or, the Seduction, 1796 137

6.3 The Histories of Some of the Penitents in theMagdalen–House, 1760 139

7 White Women, Black Men, and Adultery in the AntebellumSouth 147
Martha Hodes

Document:

7.1 Lewis Bourne Divorce Petition, 1823–5 161

8 Obscenity, Sex Education, and Medical Democracy in theAntebellum United States 165
April Haynes

Documents:

8.1 Frederick Hollick, The Marriage Guide, 1850177

8.2 Letters to the Editor about Dr. Frederick Hollick,1845 183

Part II Modern America 187

9 Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America189
Peggy Pascoe

Documents:

9.1 "Aoki Engaged to Daughter of Prelate," 1909202

9.2 "Emery Girl Ready to Marry the Japanese," 1909204

9.3 "Aoki Expects to Wed in Portland," 1909 205

9.4 "Whose Business Is It?" 1909 206

9.5 "A Disgusting Spectacle," 1909 206

9.6 "Aoki′s Inamorata Flits Northward," 1909 207

10 Hysteria: The Revolt of the "Good Girl" 211
Elizabeth Lunbeck

Document:

10.1 The Case of Miss A, 1913–14 224

11 When Abortion Was Illegal 230
Leslie J. Reagan

Documents:

11.1 A Maryland Abortionist Gets No Pardon, 1904 243

11.2 Dying Declarations Obtained in Abortion Case asCondition to Rendering Aid, 1909 244

11.3 Comments of "Esther E.," 1920 245

12 Contraceptive Consumers 247
Andrea Tone

Documents:

12.1 Advertisements for Lysol, 1932, 1933 260

12.2 Facts and Frauds in Women′s Hygiene, 1936 262

12.3 What Do the American Women Think about Birth Control?1938 264

12.4 The Dilex Speech, 1938 268

13 Lesbian Pulp Novels and US Lesbian Identity 270
Yvonne Keller

Documents:

13.1 Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness, 1928285

13.2 Tereska Torres, Women′s Barracks, 1950288

13.3 Ann Bannon, Beebo Brinker, 1962 291

14 Sex Change and the Popular Press 294
Joanne Meyerowitz

Documents:

14.1 Girl Changes into Man, 1936 309

14.2 Psychopathia Transexualis, 1949 311

14.3 New Sex Switches: Behind the Sensational Headlines LoomUnpleasant Medical Facts, 1954 316

14.4 I Want to Become a Woman, 1956 317

15 The Population Bomb and the Sexual Revolution320
Rickie Solinger

Documents:

15.1 The Slavery of Sex Freedom: America s MoralCrisis, 1957 335

15.2 Are We Still Stereotyping the Unmarried Mother? 1960338

15.3 Population Crisis: Hearings before the Subcommittee onForeign

Aid Expenditures of the Committee on Government Operations,1965 341

16 Marketing Safe Sex 345
Jennifer Brier

Documents:

16.1 "Can We Talk?" 1983 361

16.2 "Information for People of Color, 1987" 363

16.3 Promoting Condoms for Gay Men, 1987 364

Source Acknowledgments 368

Index 372

Elizabeth Reis is Associate Professor of Women s andGender Studies at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex (2009) and Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England(1997).