William Dorsey Swann (March 1860 – c. December 23, 1925) [2] was an American activist. An African-American born into slavery, Swann was the first person in the United States to lead a gay resistance group and the first known person to self-identify as a "queen of drag". [1] [3]

Jun 9, 2023 · In the late 1880s, a formerly enslaved man named William Dorsey Swann started hosting private balls known as drags, a name possibly derived from “ grand rag,” an antiquated term for masquerade...

Aug 11, 2023 · William Dorsey Swann died in 1954. He was 96. Otis D. Alexander, Library Director at Saint John Vianney College Seminary & Graduate School in Miami, Florida, has also directed academic and public libraries in the District of Columbia, Indiana, Texas, and Virginia.

Jan 31, 2020 · His name was William Dorsey Swann, but to his friends he was known as “the Queen.” Both of those names had been forgotten for nearly a century before I rediscovered them while researching at...

William Dorsey Swann was born into servitude and grew up to become one of the first American activists to spearhead a queer resistance group. He was also the...

Jun 17, 2024 · In less than twenty-four hours, William Dorsey Swann found himself convicted of “keeping a disorderly house” (a euphemism for a brothel) and sentenced to ten months in prison—without a bond to get him out this time.

Jun 29, 2020 · On January 1, 1896, William Swann was charged with “keeping a disorderly house” (known to be a euphemism for running a brothel). Newspaper accounts of the day reveal that Swann was actually holding a drag ball (as noted in this clipping from the Evening Star) .

Feb 9, 2022 · A former slave, William Dorsey Swann hosted some of America's first drag balls in Washington D.C. in the late 1800s — and fought for queer rights long before Stonewall. Born into bondage, William Dorsey Swann was robbed of all prospects for …

Apr 8, 2024 · Born into slavery, William Dorsey Swann became the first American to lead a queer resistance group, first to self-identify as a “queen of drag,” and first to use the U.S. legal system to defend the queer community.

Mar 8, 2023 · William Dorsey Swann was born the fifth of 13 children in 1858 to a family of slaves in Hancock, Maryland, and had troubles with law enforcement that weren’t always related to drag. In 1882, the 24-year-old was sentenced to six months in prison after being arrested for theft.