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Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America

Rachel Hope Cleves tells the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two women who formed a forty-four-year partnership in early nineteenth-century Vermont. Drawing on letters, diaries, poetry, and community records, Cleves reconstructs their household, tailoring business, religious lives, and place within an extended family network. Neighbors treated the couple as married even though no legal category recognized their union. Their relationship complicates conventional histories of sexuality and marriage, revealing how same-sex love could become visible, durable, and socially acknowledged in early America.

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 2014-05-27
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 298
ISBN: 9780199335428

Subjects

Biography & Autobiography / LGBTQ+History / Women Social Science / LGBTQ+ Studies

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Interview with the Author

2 available interview links

1. Ben Franklin's World — Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early AmericaChecked

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Podcast: Dressed: The History of Fashion — Charity and Sylvia ↗