Queer History Night at the National Maritime Museum

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Join the Queer History Club for a FREE evening celebrating LGBTQ+ History at the National Maritime Museum next week.

The club is an informal, community-centred research group who meet monthly to discuss queer maritime history.

No historical expertise is required, but passions and special interests are encouraged.

Designed and created by members of the Queer History Club

February topics:

My Summer as a Mermaid-Hunter: Looking for Merfolk in the RMG Collections: Looking at depictions of Mermaids within the collection of Royal Museums Greenwich
What I got Up to This Year: This will discuss two projects with Queer History Club Members: a four-week reading group of the Peglar papers, a handwritten 19th-century document kept at the Caird library in Greenwich, and a banner-making workshop.
Mary Read: Lost years and transgender possibilities: According to The General History, Mary Read fought in the Nine Years War. However, other historians have been reluctant to subscribe to this. Pulling together research from archives in the Netherlands, this presentation argues that a case can be made to nail down the timeline for Mary Read, centering around details of Read’s time in the Netherlands.
Victorian Gender Presentation, its Influence on Character Design in Animated Media and How We See Ourselves: Exploring how the Victorian views on sex and gender influenced character design in animated media, looking at how this links to the relationship between maritime uniform and drag.
Hidden Queer Icons: This presentation will discuss two hidden queer figures from two museums: Ken Nelson from Museo Na Bolom in Mexico, and Jonathan Cutbill from the National Maritime Museum.
The Dutch East India Company’s ‘sodomites’: This will examine the Dutch East India Company’s 17th century records of persecutions for sodomy on its ships, at trading posts and in the settler colonies.
How the Queer Choir Rocked the Boat: Discussing the Queer Choir and the sea shanties they performed on and under the Cutty Sark