Stone Houses, Stone City, and Stone Walls: Queer Pasts of the Upper Midwest and the Potential of (Counter) Public Queer History
Christopher Hommerding
Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 1:30 pm in 3401 Sterling Hall and virtually via Zoom
The field of queer history is usually a bicoastal venture, with the flyover country of the Upper Midwest often overlooked. This is especially true of places outside of urban centers and of stories not easily incorporated into LGBTQ public history narratives, which emphasize social movement history. This presentation examines three pre-Stonewall queer histories of the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota) that emerged in spaces outside of urban centers and run counter to social movement narratives. Drawing on theories of counterpublics, this presentation speculates that a (counter)public history of queerness – one not rooted in social movement narratives – might better present the transformative queer possibilities inherent in these stories of stone houses, Stone City, and stone walls.