Finding “Miss Francis of Yale”: Transing Practices in Collegiate Theatricals

Between 1877 and 1888, the members of the Quinsigamond Boat Club of Worcester, Massachusetts, performed “travesty” burlesques, or cross-dressing satirical comedies, to raise money for their rowing club. In productions rich with topical references and popular songs, the all-male cast, who ranged from teenagers to married professionals, highlighted the latest in women’s fashion and drew praise for the successful illusionism of their cross-gender performances. Members of the club gained local renown for the “artistry” of “messrs” who “masqueraded as ladies.” Founding member Edwin Brown was a major force behind the “travesty” theatricals. A Civil War soldier of eighteen, Brown had likely participated in men’s dances and cross-gender entertainments that were common in Civil War barracks. This paper considers the QBC alongside traditions of men’s theatrical cross-dressing in colleges and the military, which expanded in the Civil War period, and also in the context of the era’s abiding fascination with gender expression and transgression. While municipal governments sought to fix gender through anti-cross-dressing laws, white men embraced opportunities to explore femininity through amateur amusement. An examination of amateur cross-gender entertainments in the Civil War and Gilded Age enlarges our understanding of changing constructions of white masculinity and sexuality in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Theatrical cross-dressing simultaneously confirmed and destabilized oppositional gender and racial hierarchy, while hailing emerging queer subcultures.