UW Press: Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History

Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History
Second Edition
Edited by Leila J. Rupp and Susan K. Freeman

Taking into account recent historic changes, this second edition updates the essays on the Supreme Court, same-sex marriage, the Right, and trans history. Authors of several other essays have taken the opportunity to add new material and references where warranted.

Best Special Interest Books, selected by the American Association of School Librarians
Best Special Interest Books, selected by the Public Library Reviewers
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Anthology
A Choice Outstanding Academic Book

“No book has combined the scholarship, methods of teaching, and source guides as this one does.”
—Estelle Freedman, Stanford University, author of Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America

Though largely neglected in classrooms, LGBT history can provide both a fuller understanding of U.S. history and contextualization for the modern world. This is the first book designed for university and high school teachers who want to integrate queer history into the standard curriculum. With its inspiring stories, classroom-tested advice, and rich information, it is a valuable resource for anyone who thinks history should be an all-inclusive story.

Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History offers a wealth of insight for teachers. Introductory essays by Leila J. Rupp and Susan K. Freeman make clear why queer history is important and provide global historical context, showing that same-sex sexual desire and gender change are not new, modern phenomena. Teachers in diverse educational settings provide narratives of their experiences teaching queer history. A topical section offers seventeen essays on such themes as sexual diversity in early America, industrial capitalism and emergent sexual cultures, and gay men and lesbians in World War II. Contributors include detailed suggestions for integrating these topics into a standard U.S. history curriculum, including creative and effective assignments. A final section addresses sources and interpretive strategies wellsuited to the history classroom.

Taken as a whole, Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History will help teachers at all levels navigate through cultural touchstones and political debates and provide a fuller knowledge of significant events in history.

Author. Photo credit, Name Leila J. Rupp is the author of many books, including A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America and Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women. She is a professor of feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Author. Photo credit, Name Susan K. Freeman is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at Western Michigan University. She is the author of Sex Goes to School: Girls and Sex Education before the 1960s.

“An excellent and sturdy resource that offers high school and college teachers an entry point into LGBT history. . . . Contributors deftly tie LGBT content to the broader goals of teaching history, not simply making visible the lives of everyday queer people but prompting critical engagement.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Groundbreaking and readable. . . . Essential for college and university libraries supporting teacher training degree programs and curricula in American history, LGBT studies, and the social sciences. Essential, undergraduates and above; general readers.”
—Choice

“A terrific book for anyone teaching U.S. history to high school or college students. It is designed to explain why, and especially how, educators can integrate LGBT history into their existing courses. The volume contains superb essays by scholars and teachers that speak to pedagogy, sources, and methods, and includes seventeen topical essays that span the breadth of U.S. history, from colonial same-sex experiences to contemporary same-sex marriage.”
—The American Historian

“Features more than 25 essays by teachers and professors about strategies they have used in the classroom and about some of the difficulties that inevitably accompany such subject matter. . . . While the book's primary audience is teachers and scholars, general readers interested in what kids are learning these days—or could be learning—will find this informative, readable, and educational.”
—Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide

“Designed for teachers of U.S. history, [but] the chapters are so varied that anyone can enjoy reading them.”
—Out Smart

“An excellent resource not only for new teachers but existing teachers who need some guidance on how to approach this topic. . . . This book is well put together with the chapters being relatively short. . . . The authors understand this will be controversial issue, and they present it in such a way that it would go over well in high school and college classrooms.”
—Kevin Winter, San Francisco Book Review

“Finally! Veteran historians share teaching secrets, primary-source gems, and savvy framing approaches that enable the queer past to flourish where it should have been all along, in U.S. surveys and more specialized classes. Educators from high school through college will return to this resource again and again for inspiration and guidance.”
—Don Romesburg, Sonoma State University

“This book does an excellent job of tackling the major questions animating the field of LGBT history and also the bread-and-butter challenges likely to be encountered by teachers incorporating this material in their classes.”
—Lane Fenrich, Northwestern University