Museums, Friends, and Lovers in the New South

Abstract

Laura Bragg, a member of the first graduating class at Simmons College, journeyed to Charleston as a New Woman in 1909. As the first woman director of a major scientific museum in the United States, Bragg transformed the Charleston Museum into a public education institution and became an innovative leader in museum education. This article documents Bragg's contributions within the context of antebellum culture where the Southern Belle was placed on a Victorian pedestal and Boston marriages were an unknown phenomenon. Using extensive and hitherto unpublished correspondence, the authors detail Bragg's lesbian relationships and describe her network within the homosexual male community during the era of the Charleston Renaissance.

The Right Kind of Queer: Fit and the Politics of School Leadership

“…In the last decade, research on power and politics has expanded to include inquiries that speak to the broad topic of gay and lesbian issues in education (Griffin, 1992;Krane & Barber, 2005;J. Kroeger, 2006;Kumashiro, 2001;Lugg, 2003Lugg, , 2006Pinar, 1998;Rottman, 2006;Sears, 1992Sears, , 1996Sears, , 2002Sears, , 2004Sears & Allen, 2000). In issues related to educational administration, Sears (1996) recommended that scholars transform the culture of schools by conducting research on sexual minority school administrators that described their lives, documented their experiences at work, and attempted to understand the heterosexist and homophobic mind.…”