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N.W. Burnham Head of Burnham Novelty company Trans guy (unknown specifics). Referred to self as male. Born: Unknown Died: Unknown Transcription: A Colored Fille du Regiment. The Providence Journal relates that last May, while the 12th Rhode Island regiment was at Lancaster, Ky., a chubby young Anglo-African, asnwering to the name of "Tommy," came into camp, desiring to en-ter the service of one of Uncle Sam's offi-cers, a nd was taken by one of the captains of the 12th as a body servant. In that ca-pacity "Tommy" accompanied the regi-ment in its marches, and on its return to Providence, winning many pleasant words for good behavior. When the regiment was dismissed "Tommy" went to live with the Lieutenant. There the refinements were to much for "Tommy," and the cap-tains body servant proved to be a veritable daughter of the regiment, a girl of less than twenty summers, who had been able to conceal her sex in the huise of a boy that the captain, at whose feet she had slept, had no suspicion that he was harbor-ing a sable "woman and sister," determin-ed on achieving liberty at even the expense of a temporary renounciation of red band-annss and calico. The officers no reccol-lect that "Tommy" wouldn't ride horse-back, and declined the most tempting prop-osition to go a swimming. She has been properly provided for. From the Cleveland Morning Leader, Sep. 11, 1863. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Next Previous

N.W. Burnham Head of Burnham Novelty company Trans guy (unknown specifics). Referred to self as male. Born: Unknown Died: Unknown Transcription: At the death of "Henry" Arm-strong, a farm hand, a Juno, Tenn., it was discovered that he was a wo-man, who for twenty-five years had concealed her sex, posing as a man, whereas she had been a mother. From the The St. Johns Herald, Feb. 11, 1892. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Next Previous

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Henry Armstrong Farm hand Trans guy (unknown specifics). Born: Unknown Died: 1892 Transcription: A Colored Fille du Regiment. The Providence Journal relates that last May, while the 12th Rhode Island regiment was at Lancaster, Ky., a chubby young Anglo-African, asnwering to the name of "Tommy," came into camp, desiring to en-ter the service of one of Uncle Sam's offi-cers, a nd was taken by one of the captains of the 12th as a body servant. In that ca-pacity "Tommy" accompanied the regi-ment in its marches, and on its return to Providence, winning many pleasant words for good behavior. When the regiment was dismissed "Tommy" went to live with the Lieutenant. There the refinements were to much for "Tommy," and the cap-tains body servant proved to be a veritable daughter of the regiment, a girl of less than twenty summers, who had been able to conceal her sex in the huise of a boy that the captain, at whose feet she had slept, had no suspicion that he was harbor-ing a sable "woman and sister," determin-ed on achieving liberty at even the expense of a temporary renounciation of red band-annss and calico. The officers no reccol-lect that "Tommy" wouldn't ride horse-back, and declined the most tempting prop-osition to go a swimming. She has been properly provided for. From the Cleveland Morning Leader, Sep. 11, 1863. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Next Previous

Augustus Baudouin Teenager, Criminal Trans guy (unknown specifics). Referred to self as male. Born: Unknown Died: ~1860 Transcription: [CONTENT WARNING: contains topics relating to suicide] An extraordinary case of a girl concealing her sex for many years, has been brought to light in Peitiers, France. Augustine, alias Augustus Baudouin, a young person of 17, was known in the town and neighborhood as an active lad, and had been in place in respectable houses as "odd boy." This individual was lately tried for robbery, and while in prison, the authorities conceived some suspicions, and ascertained her to be a female. On being ask-ed what reason she had for wearing men's clothes, she said she had observed that emn got their living easier than women; but she refused to give any information as to her birth and parentage. She was removed to the fe-male wards, but her repugnance to appear in women's attire among her fellow prisoners was so great, that she committed suicide by hang-in herself on an iron bar with a pocket hand-kerchief. From the Raftsman's Journal, Jan. 25, 1860. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Next Previous

Lou Sullivan Author, Activist, Speaker Trans Man, Transsexual June 16th, 1951 March 2nd, 1991 Lou Graydon Sullivan was born on June 16th, 1951 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Beloved within his community of transsexual men, he was the first public trans man to identify as homosexual. Also, he was a prolific writer and activist, who often spoke at medical conventions regarding transsexual health, despite not being a doctor himself (Milks). Lou’s brother, Flame Sullivan, commented that “...they usually put him at the end of the conference, so he could blow everybody away… He knew what he was talking about. More than some of these doctors did.” (Milks). Among many other published works, Sullivan is most well-known for his book, Information for the Female-to-Male Crossdresser and Transsexual , which he first published in 1980, which has since been revised and updated twice. He is also known for his work We Both Laughed in Pleasure – a selection of his diary entries, published posthumously. Sullivan’s main goal was to further the understanding of transsexual men and to push for better research into FTM medical procedures. At this time, when a trans* person medically transitioned, it was thought that they did so to live as a heterosexual (Lybarger). Sullivan, being openly gay, challenged that by being in a relationship with a cisgender man for eleven years before leaving him to pursue medical transition (Milks). Sullivan expertly used his own personal testimony to convince doctors and other medical professionals that not only should he receive medical intervention by nature of being a transsexual man, but that he should regardless of whom he loves. A series of four interviews he gave with Dr. Ira Pauly are available on the Internet Archive, where Sullivan discusses the arguments he’d heard from medical professionals and other activists on his transition. The video interviews can be accessed by clicking here. Sullivan appeared to be largely successful in spreading the idea that gender and sexuality have no correlation to one another (Rawson), though there was a significant challenge from the then-present psychology community, who believed that only heterosexual trans* people could exist. Outside of the medical world, Sullivan was a prolific activist. In 1986 he began hosting quarterly F.T.M. get-togethers and wrote about the meetings in a newsletter called, very simply, FTM (Milks). Many copies of FTM are still available for free reading on the Digital Transgender Archive . The newsletter accepted all sorts of writing and media from trans men and masculine folk throughout the world. Articles ranged from poems about masculinity, rituals for gaining stronger manhood, ads for “Menace Man” t-shirts and silicone packers, to studies on medical transitioning, erotic articles and short stories, photos of surgery, and state-by-state resources for newsletter readers. In June of 1986, Sullivan underwent bottom surgery. In early 1987, he was diagnosed with AIDS (Lybarger). In the time before his death, he published his book, as well as a biography on Jack Bee Garland – someone also assigned female at birth who lived as a man and published many pieces of writing, and is assumed by contemporary standards to have been a trans man. Sullivan is known to be the first publicly recognized trans man to live – and die – from AIDS-related complications. The now famous quote from this difficult point in his life: “They told me at the gender clinic that I could not live as a gay man… but it looks like I will die as one.” (Milks) Sullivan passed away on March 2nd, 1991, in San Francisco at the age of thirty-nine. We Both Laughed in Pleasure would not be published until 2019. Sullivan has since been honored on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument in 2019 (Keehnen) and Sullivan’s work has received widespread recognition online and in in-person trans* circles. Bibliography Keehnen, Owen. “Lou Sullivan.” Edited by Carrie Maxwell. Legacy Project Chicago. Accessed May 28, 2025. https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/lou-sullivan . Lybarger, Jeremy. “Lou Sullivan’s Diaries Are a Radical Testament to Trans Happiness.” The New Yorker, September 16, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lou-sullivans-diaries-are-a-radical-testament-to-trans-happiness . Milks, Megan. “Overlooked No More: Lou Sullivan, Author and Transgender Activist.” The New York Times, June 9, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/obituaries/lou-sullivan-overlooked.html . Rawson, K.J. “Living and Dying as a Gay Trans Man: Lou Sullivan’s Rhetorical Legacy.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition , August 15, 2020. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/peitho/article/living-and-dying-as-a-gay-trans-man-lou-sullivans-rhetorical-legacy/ . Stryker, Susan. "The Difficult Decades." In Transgender History. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2008. Last updated: May 28th, 2025 Next Previous

Full Name 01 Job Title This is a paragraph. It is connected to a CMS collection through a dataset. Click “Edit Text” to update content in the connected CMS collection. The CMS can be used to store website content, or to collect data from site visitors when they submit a form. The CMS collection is already set up with some fields and content. To customize it with your own content, import a CSV file or simply edit this placeholder text from the collection. You can also add more fields, which you can then connect to other page elements to display content on your published site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890 Next Previous

Henry Armstrong Farm hand Trans guy (unknown specifics). Born: Unknown Died: 1892 Transcription: At the death of "Henry" Arm-strong, a farm hand, a Juno, Tenn., it was discovered that he was a wo-man, who for twenty-five years had concealed her sex, posing as a man, whereas she had been a mother. From the The St. Johns Herald, Feb. 11, 1892. Courtesy of the Digital Transgender Archive. Next Previous

Profiles on transmasculine historical figures with proper research and citations. Trans Profiles This section is dedicated to documenting the many trans men/mascs throughout history. Everyone is sorted by the date they were born (i.e. Elliot Page, born in 1987, is in Modern, not Contemporary). Dates on this page are approximations. Important note: "Transgender/Transsexual" is a remarkably new term. Most of these people before the 20th century likely wouldn't have referred to themselves as Trans. In this archive, many times "trans" is used as a verb; idea courtesy of historian Jen Manion in their book Female Husbands . Regardless of whether or not these individuals identified as male or trans*, all of them are trans-ing gender to a masculine state. Antiquity (??? - 500 CE) Antiquity, part of the pre-modern world, encompasses the stretch of history typically up until the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE (Common Era). Includes Biblical and mythological history. Medieval (500 CE - 1450) Not quite all fantasy and valiant knights, what is commonly referred to as the Middle Ages (at least in Europe) overlooks notable events such as the Black Death, the Islamic Golden Age, and inventions such as the printing press. Early Modern (1500 - 1800) Following the Middle Ages, the Early Modern period saw the beginning of the Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment, and other notable events such as the Protestant Reformation and rise of global colonialism. Victorian (1800s) The reign of Queen Victoria in England, though this time period also saw the rise of the 'Wild West', harsher moral standards; as well as popular art forms, such as the Gothic movement and the birth of science fiction. Modern (1900s) The modern era saw two World Wars, unprecedented speeds toward technological improvement, and the rise of several civil rights movements. Also, art radically changed, as artists challenged the notion that art must be made realistically. Contemporary (2000 - now) Technically a subset of modern history. This period of history covers the history after World War II, including the Cold War, space race, civil rights movement, and more leading all the way up to the present day. Bibliography Aldiss, Brian Wilson, and David Wingrove. Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1973. “Late Antiquity: A Resource Guide, Introduction.” Library of Congress. Accessed March 9, 2025. https://guides.loc.gov/late-antiquity. Manion, Jen. Female Husbands, 2020. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/female-husbands/4BC8AE77B6EAF6055BD1DA64035509B3 Miglio, Massimo, and Angelo Mazzocco. “Curial Humanism Seen through the Prism of the Papal Library.” Essay. In Interpretations of Renaissance Humanism 143, 143:97–112. Boston, Massachusetts , 2006. The Museum of Modern Art, ed. “What Is Modern Art? | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, 2025. https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/modern-art/what-is-modern-art. Robinson, Bruce. “An Overview of the Reformation.” BBC, February 17, 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/reformation_overview_01.shtml. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. What is Early Modern History? Cambridge, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2021.

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