Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Frances Thompson was a 19th century civil rights hero that was overshadowed but deserves to be remembered.
➤ Support this channel with my Patreon!: patreon.com/emperortigerstar
Music used:
"Relaxing Piano Music" by Kevin MacLeod
found at incompetech.com
Primary Sources:
- "A Mask Lifted." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/2z10wq49c
- "Frances Thompson." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/wh246s47c
- "Frances Thompson." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/qn59q428x
- Johnson, Charles F. “The Freedmen’s Bureau Report on the Memphis Race Riots of 1866”. Memo, May 22, 1866. From Teaching American History. teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-freedmens-bureau-report-on-the-memphis-race-riots-of-1866 .
- "Ku-Klux Outrages." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/2514nk84w
- "Ledger Lines." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/kp78gg68r
- Public Ledger. "Facts and Fancies." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/rf55z7977
- The Columbian. “Grist from the Outrage Mill.” Clipping. 1876. Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Newspapers.com, newspapers.com/image/213427182/?clipping_id=54601981
- The Milan Exchange. "A Colored Man Who Successfully Passed as a Woman for 27 Years." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/kp78gg70s
- The Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives, Made During the First Session, Thirty-ninth Congress, 1865-'66. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1866. HathiTrust, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c054751926&view=1up&seq=209
- The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. "Arrest of a Notorious Character." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/rj4304820
- U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. Memphis Riots and Massacres. 39th Congress, 1st session, 1865-66. House Report No. 101. Washington, DC, 1866, 197. The American Yawp Reader,
americanyawp.com/reader/reconstruction/a-case-of-sexual-violence-during-reconstruction-1866
Secondary Sources:
- Bailey, Chelsea. “She Was the First Transgender Woman to Testify before Congress. Then Conservatives Began Attacking Her Identity.” CNN, February 16, 2025. cnn.com/2025/02/16/us/frances-thompson-transgender-memphis-massacre/index.html.
- Davis, Justin A. “They Charged Frances Thompson with Indecency When All She Wanted to Do Was Live a Safe Life.” MLK50, March 5, 2025. mlk50.com/2024/05/30/they-charged-frances-thompson-with-indecency-when-all-she-wanted-to-do-was-live-a-safe-life/.
- Gardner, Kathryn S. “Forgotten Foremothers: Frances Thompson.” League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County, April 25, 2024. lwvmunciedelaware.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=468470&item_id=100618.
- “HRC Honors Frances Thompson, a Black Transgender Hero.” Human Rights Camapign, February 22, 2021. hrc.org/news/hrc-honors-frances-thompson-a-black-transgender-hero.
- Kadinsky, Sergey. “Gayoso Bayou, Memphis.” Hidden Waters blog, May 17, 2016.
- Ryan, James Gilbert. “The Memphis Riots of 1866: Terror in a Black Community during Reconstruction.” The Journal of Negro History 62, no. 3 (July 1977): 243–57. doi.org/10.2307/2716953.
- Stryker, Susan. “To Appear as We Please: Aperture: Winter 2017.” Aperture Archive, Winter 2017. archive.aperture.org/article/2017/4/4/to-appear-as-we-please.
Frances Thompson was a 19th century civil rights hero that was overshadowed but deserves to be remembered.
➤ Support this channel with my Patreon!: patreon.com/emperortigerstar
Music used:
"Relaxing Piano Music" by Kevin MacLeod
found at incompetech.com
Primary Sources:
- "A Mask Lifted." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/2z10wq49c
- "Frances Thompson." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/wh246s47c
- "Frances Thompson." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/qn59q428x
- Johnson, Charles F. “The Freedmen’s Bureau Report on the Memphis Race Riots of 1866”. Memo, May 22, 1866. From Teaching American History. teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-freedmens-bureau-report-on-the-memphis-race-riots-of-1866 .
- "Ku-Klux Outrages." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/2514nk84w
- "Ledger Lines." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/kp78gg68r
- Public Ledger. "Facts and Fancies." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/rf55z7977
- The Columbian. “Grist from the Outrage Mill.” Clipping. 1876. Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Newspapers.com, newspapers.com/image/213427182/?clipping_id=54601981
- The Milan Exchange. "A Colored Man Who Successfully Passed as a Woman for 27 Years." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/kp78gg70s
- The Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives, Made During the First Session, Thirty-ninth Congress, 1865-'66. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1866. HathiTrust, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c054751926&view=1up&seq=209
- The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. "Arrest of a Notorious Character." Clipping. 1876. Digital Transgender Archive, digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/rj4304820
- U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. Memphis Riots and Massacres. 39th Congress, 1st session, 1865-66. House Report No. 101. Washington, DC, 1866, 197. The American Yawp Reader,
americanyawp.com/reader/reconstruction/a-case-of-sexual-violence-during-reconstruction-1866
Secondary Sources:
- Bailey, Chelsea. “She Was the First Transgender Woman to Testify before Congress. Then Conservatives Began Attacking Her Identity.” CNN, February 16, 2025. cnn.com/2025/02/16/us/frances-thompson-transgender-memphis-massacre/index.html.
- Davis, Justin A. “They Charged Frances Thompson with Indecency When All She Wanted to Do Was Live a Safe Life.” MLK50, March 5, 2025. mlk50.com/2024/05/30/they-charged-frances-thompson-with-indecency-when-all-she-wanted-to-do-was-live-a-safe-life/.
- Gardner, Kathryn S. “Forgotten Foremothers: Frances Thompson.” League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County, April 25, 2024. lwvmunciedelaware.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=468470&item_id=100618.
- “HRC Honors Frances Thompson, a Black Transgender Hero.” Human Rights Camapign, February 22, 2021. hrc.org/news/hrc-honors-frances-thompson-a-black-transgender-hero.
- Kadinsky, Sergey. “Gayoso Bayou, Memphis.” Hidden Waters blog, May 17, 2016.
- Ryan, James Gilbert. “The Memphis Riots of 1866: Terror in a Black Community during Reconstruction.” The Journal of Negro History 62, no. 3 (July 1977): 243–57. doi.org/10.2307/2716953.
- Stryker, Susan. “To Appear as We Please: Aperture: Winter 2017.” Aperture Archive, Winter 2017. archive.aperture.org/article/2017/4/4/to-appear-as-we-please.
