Current Research

Scroll down for selected samples of findings from archival research for my book The Things She Carried.

Suffrage Bags, Schlesinger Library, Harvard University
Featuring the signature colors of the American suffrage movement, these bags were emblazoned with the slogan “VOTES FOR WOMEN” and worn by suffragists in the early 1900s, August 2016.

Margaret Thatcher’s Power Bag, Museums of Bags, Amsterdam

Standing next to Margaret Thatcher’s grey power bag while doing (pre-pandemic) research at the Museum of Bags / Tassen Museum in Amsterdam, May 2019. Look out for this bag in episodes of The Crown on Netflix.

“Gay Bob,” San Francisco Public Library

“Gay Bob,” an anatomically correct doll, was created by Harvey Rosenberg in 1977. Note his purse and earring. LGBTQIA Realia Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library, July 2022