This page provides search strategies and a selection of recommended resources related to Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming research and histories.
Newspapers are one of the earliest resources for finding information related to trans and gender non-conforming histories. In the United States, Black newspapers began publishing this information years before more mainstream outlets.
Browse the Library of Congress Online Catalog to locate relevant materials by subject:
Please note: The terminology used in both scholarly and popular texts varies widely over time and space. Terms that may seem inconsistent with modern definitions can be useful and often necessary when researching historical materials.
Search By Personal or Organization Name:
Historical Terms and Vernacular:
Search by Call Number Range
Transvestia: Digital Collection ExternalTransgender Archives from University of Victoria ExternalMetamorphosis ExternalFTM NewsletterTransFag Rag: Information & Networking for Gay/Bi Transmen Digital Collection ExternalLibrary catalogs are themselves historical artifacts, representing the policies, practices, and language of the time period in which the catalog records were first created. As such, terms which are now considered outdated are often necessary to employ when doing historical research. For example, searching the catalog for "Transgender--Periodical" will only bring up more recent titles. For earlier works, try searching with the vernacular specific to that time period. For earlier Transgender Periodicals, for example, you might try searching under Transsexual--Periodicals.
To find additional periodicals, search the Library of Congress Online Catalog
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Femme Mirror by Transvestia by 
Original Plumbing: The Best of Ten Years of Trans Male Culture by Me by Finesse : news, notes, and nirvana from the Central Illinois Gender Association by 
It can be hard to discern an individuals motivation for dressing or living as another gender. A common theme for early sources on individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) who lived or dressed as male are accounts of soldiers or sailors.
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There are a number of additional (and older) sources in the non-English collections. Some of the earliest sources related to gender transition and gender non-conformity can be found in court cases and legal documents, newspapers, songs and folktales, and in published and unpublished books and manuscripts. Other sources for this information include military records and publications.
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Autobiography of an Androgyne / by Earl Lind ("Ralph Werther"--"Jennie June") ; edited with introduction, by Alfred W. Herzog. by The Art of Female Impersonation: Reveals the Secrets of How Men Become Female Impersonators: Illustrated with 32 Photos of Males in Feminine Clothes. by The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of the Exploits, Adventures, and Travels of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez by Emergence: A Transsexual Autobiography by Messieurs "Mesdames" : photographies du monde des travestis by As a Woman by The Transsexual Experiment by 
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
Female-to-Male Transsexualism by 
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by From Female to Male by 
The Man Who Would Be Queen by 
Masquerading in Male Attire: women passing as men in America, 1844-1920 by 
A Strange Sort of Being by The Tradition of Female Transvestitism in Early Modern Europe by 
Transgender Employment Experiences by 
The Transvestite Memoirs by The Intermediate Sex; A Study of Some Transitional Types of Men and Women by Transvestites & Transsexuals: Mixed Views by The subscription resources marked with a padlock 
are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.
