Cherry Potts, Writer

Tag: lesbian history

  • The Historical Birthday-Party March 14th

    Sylvia Beach was born on March 14, 1887 in  America. She studied French Literature at the Sorbonne in 1917, discovered a bookshop La Maison des Amis des Livres and fell in love with its proprietor  Adrienne Monnier and lived with her for the rest of her life, apart from when she was interned during WWII.…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 13th

    Today we raise a glass to Janet Flanner, March 13 1892 – November 7 1978. Janet was a journalist, writing for the New Yorker, and as a war correspondent. She lived in Greenwich Village and there met and fell in love with Solita Solano (Sarah Wilkinson). Janet and Solita featured as Nip and Tuck, a pair…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 11th

    No particular birthday today, so going back to that 8th March that was choc-a-bloc, lets share cake with Una Troubridge 8 March 1887 – 24 September 1963. At the tender age of ten Una lost her heart to a splendaciously ample and properly upholstered principal boy… whose sex was never for a moment ambiguous ……

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 9th

    Raise your glasses, it’s the birthday of Vita Sackville-West 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962 writer, gardener and serial womaniser. Vita’s relationship with Violet Keppel (later Trefusis) is detailed in Portrait of A Marriage, by her son Nigel Nicholson. They met at school and at one point eloped to France. In her autobiography Violet…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 7th

    Today’s birthday girl is Lorena Hickok March 7, 1893 – May 1, 1968 known as ‘Hick’. Hick was a journalist, working in the 1920s on the Minneapolis Tribune when she met and lived with fellow reporter Ella Morse for six years. The combination of Hick’s diabetes and Ella’s elopement with an ex-boyfriend lead to Hick’s…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 5th

    Today’s celebrations are in honour of Dr Louise Pearce, 5th March 1885– 9th August 1959. Louise was an American research scientist who found a cure for sleeping sickness, doing tests on her own in the field in Zaire (Belgian Congo at the time) during a major outbreak in 1920, for which she was awarded medals…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 4th

    An actual Birthday! Hurrah, quick, light the candles before I find it’s a mistake. Emma Cons 4 March 1838 – 24 July 1912 Feminist, educator and stage entrepreneur, Emma ran what is now the Old Vic, in London. At the time it was a coffeehouse-come-music-hall, and she put on operas and Shakespeare. She was an…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 3rd

    Edith Lees Ellis, 1861-1916 socialist, feminist and writer, was the wife of Havelock Ellis, the sexologist. Her birthday is not recorded anywhere I can find it, so today is a random and arbitrary attribution. Edith was a member of the Fabian society and wrote regularly for The Freewoman. Havelock  characterised her relationships with women as…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 2nd

    So it turns out I was mistaken about not having a birthday party booked for the 1st – my spreadsheet lied to me. So pretend Emilia was today, and Mercedes de Acosta March 1, 1893 – May 9, 1968 was yesterday – I’ll switch them round later when you aren’t looking. Mercedes  was a not…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 28th February

    Todays is another birth free day, so lets celebrate someone we missed in January; another cross-dresser: Charlotte Charke 13 January 1713 – 6 April 1760. Charlotte was the youngest daughter of Colley Cibber a celebrated actor. She grew up independent and took to the stage herself, frequently playing ‘britches’ parts (18th Century theatre was obsessed…