Julia Boyer Reinstein
Julia Boyer Reinstein | |
---|---|
Cheektowaga , New York | |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Mrs. Victor Reinstein |
Occupation(s) | teacher, historian |
Years active | 1928–1992 |
Known for | philanthropy |
Julia Boyer Reinstein (November 3, 1906 – July 18, 1998) was an American teacher and historian who grew up in western New York and began her career teaching in Deadwood, South Dakota. After more than a decade of teaching, she became a founder of the Erie County Historical Federation and the first historian of Cheektowaga, New York. Committed to preserving the history of the area and educating citizens about their heritage, she and her husband were instrumental in donating properties for the establishment of a nature preserve, several libraries and to higher education. She was a subject of an anthropological study evaluating gender fluidity and the nature of being public about one's sexuality in the 1990s.
Early life
Julia Agnes Boyer was born on November 3, 1906, in
In 1915, her mother remarried Charles Mason,[4] the owner of a general store in Silver Springs. Boyer remained in Warsaw, living with the Norrises, and visited her mother and step-rather on weekends.[9] Her father was not allowed to make contact with Boyer, per the terms of her parents' divorce, until she turned eighteen. In 1924 Boyer enrolled at Elmira College and began exploring her lesbian feelings. In 1926, her father made contact with her and they met. He was accepting of her lesbianism and the two began an intense relationship to get reacquainted.[12] When she graduated in 1928 with a bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate, Boyer moved to Deadwood, South Dakota, to live with her father and step-mother, Sarah Isabel (née Rouch).[13][14]
Arriving in Deadwood, Boyer began accompanying her father on business trips. She developed numerous flirtations with other women and while with her family and intimate circle, she was open about her sexual attraction, she remained very discreet, as was dictated by the times.[15][16] Her father, who often flew in his private plane to inspect the power plants he managed throughout Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota,[15] supported her affairs, and even helped arrange them, as long as she maintained discretion and did not report his own extramarital affairs.[17]
Career
With the advent of the Great Depression, Boyer took a job in one of the mining camps near Deadwood and worked there for two years. When she decided to continue her education in Chicago, her father did not want her to leave and used his influence to help her obtain employment in the Deadwood school system.[18] In 1930, she met another teacher and fell in love and for the first time contemplated what a committed lesbian relationship was. They developed a circle of other lesbian couples,[19] and though they did not hide their relationships, they did not discuss them.[20] When Boyer's father died unexpectedly in 1933, she left Deadwood[20] and returned to her mother's family in New York.[21] She obtained a teaching position in the conservative town of Castile bringing Dorothy with her. During the week, she rented rooms in town, but on weekends she and Dorothy shared a suite her mother and step-father had created for them in their home. During their summer breaks, the couple rented an apartment in New York City, to facilitate their taking master's courses at Columbia University.[11][21]
In the early 1940s, Boyer and Dorothy broke up and Julia accepted employment in
Boyer Reinstein was active in multiple endeavors, serving as vice chair of the Cheektowaga Public Library board and as a member of the Erie County Historical Preservation Committee.[25] She was a sought after speaker, and in addition to publishing map books and stories on county history,[25][28][29][30] she and her husband became benefactors for the area. They donated the property for the Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve[27][31] and built the Anna M. Reinstein Library in Cheektowaga.[32] After her husband's death in 1984, Boyer Reinstein resumed her life as a lesbian.[33] In 1990, Boyer Reinstein began a series of donations to her alma mater to enable Elmira College to establish the Department of Women's Studies. An annual symposium in her honor is held by the college to promote scholarship on women.[34] The couple also donated funds to establish the Julia Boyer Reinstein Library in Cheektowaga and the Buffalo History Museum's Julia Boyer Reinstein Center on the museum's campus.[27]
Death and legacy
Boyer Reinstein died on July 18, 1998, and her memorial was held four days later in Cheektowaga, New York.[27] Reinstein was the subject of an anthropological study of LGBT life, done by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy written as supplemental research to her Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1993) to evaluate the difference between middle-class and upper-class lesbian lives.[35] Kennedy undertook the study to examine the understanding of what it meant to be "out" as a lesbian, women's sexual energy in the period, and the acceptance of her sexuality by her parents.
Due to her family's prominence in their community, and the taboos of talking about intimacy publicly, lesbians in her social class were protected and allowed to live their lives as long as they remained in traditional appearance as dutiful daughters and respected social niceties.[36] Sexuality was seen as a private concern and rumors were gracefully ignored to preserve one's standing in the community.[22]
By examining Boyer Reinstein's life, the complexities of a closeted existence emerged, showing that for women in upper classes, being in the closet was not oppressive, but rather, allowed them the freedom to express themselves as long as their expression was in the private, rather than public sphere.[37]
References
Citations
- ^ Social Security Death Index 1998.
- ^ U. S. Census 1930, p. 22B.
- ^ a b Reinstein 1979, p. 99.
- ^ a b The Star-Gazette 1915, p. 5.
- ^ a b The Wyoming County Times 1950, p. 8.
- ^ U. S. Census 1920, p. 9B.
- ^ a b The Deadwood Pioneer-Times 1942, p. 1.
- ^ The Weekly Pioneer-Times 1933, p. 2.
- ^ a b c Kennedy 1996, p. 20.
- ^ Rupp 1999, p. 124.
- ^ a b Jakobsen & Kennedy 2005, p. 257.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, p. 21.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, pp. 21, 29.
- ^ Iowa Marriages, 1809–1992 1911.
- ^ a b Kennedy 1996, p. 22.
- ^ Rupp 1999, p. 125.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, p. 26.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, p. 29.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, pp. 30–31.
- ^ a b Kennedy 1996, p. 33.
- ^ a b Kennedy 1996, p. 37.
- ^ a b Kennedy 1996, p. 39.
- ^ Columbia University Catalogue 1945, p. 271.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, p. 199.
- ^ a b c The Sun 1966, p. 3.
- ^ The Sun and Erie County Independent 1979, p. 16.
- ^ a b c d Rey 1998.
- ^ The Springville Journal 1958, p. 1.
- ^ The Sun and Erie County Independent 1963, p. 7.
- ^ The Post-Standard 1970, p. 17.
- ^ Fisher 1994, p. 20.
- ^ Wisniewski 1979, p. 6.
- ^ Oregon State University 2006.
- ^ Elmira College 2015.
- ^ Hogan & Hudson 1999, p. 324.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, pp. 16, 33–34.
- ^ Kennedy 1996, pp. 16–17.
Bibliography
- Fisher, Forrest (August 4, 1994). "Spotting deer in majestic velvet". The Sun. Hamburg, New York. p. 20. Retrieved 25 June 2017 – via
- Hogan, Steve; Hudson, Lee (1999). Completely Queer: the Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia (1st Owl Books ed.). New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 0-8050-6031-6.
- Jakobsen, Janet R.; Kennedy, Elizabeth Lapovsky (2005). "Sex and Freedom". In Bernstein, Elizabeth; Schaffner, Laurie (eds.). Regulating Sex: The Politics of Intimacy and Identity. New York City, New York: Routledge. pp. 247–270. ISBN 978-1-135-93403-3.
- Kennedy, Elizabeth Lapovsky (1996). ""But we would never talk about it": The Structures of Lesbian Discretion in South Dakota, 1928-1933". In Lewin, Ellen (ed.). Inventing lesbian cultures in America. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 15–39. ISBN 0-8070-7942-1.
- Reinstein, Julia Boyer (April 1979). "A Postscript to 'Alaska Calling'" (PDF). Historical Wyoming. XXVI (4). Warsaw, New York: Wyoming County Historian's Office: 99–100. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- Rey, Jay (July 22, 1998). "Town Bids Farewell to Julia Reinstein". Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- Rupp, Leila J. (1999). A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-73155-1.
- Wisniewski, John (June 15, 1979). "New Library Called Regional Asset". Syracuse, New York:
- "1920 United States Census: Silver Spring Village, Wyoming County, New York". FamilySearch. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 19 January 1920. NARA microfilm series T625, roll 1274. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- "1930 United States Census: Deadwood, Lawrence County, South Dakota". FamilySearch. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 25 April 1930. NARA microfilm series T626, roll 2226. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- "Antiques Study Group Topic Is Old Homes". Hamburg, New York: The Sun and Erie County Independent. March 7, 1963. p. 7. Retrieved 25 June 2017 – via
- "Boyer-Reinstein". Deadwood, South Dakota: The Deadwood Pioneer-Times. October 21, 1942. p. 1. Retrieved 24 June 2017 – via
- "Cultural Pact". Hamburg, New York: The Sun and Erie County Independent. July 5, 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 25 June 2017 – via
- "Death Claims Lee Boyer at Hospital Here". Deadwood, South Dakota: The Weekly Pioneer-Times. July 6, 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 24 June 2017 – via
- "Degrees Conferred 1942–1943: Teachers College Master of Arts". Catalogue: 1943–1944 and 1944–1945. New York City, New York: Columbia University. 1945. pp. 270–286. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- "Final Lecture in Horning Series to Examine Life of Julia Boyer Reinstein". News and Research Communications. Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University. April 25, 2006. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- "Fred Norris". Warsaw, New York: The Wyoming County Times. May 18, 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- "Genealogists Plan Workshop this Weekend". Syracuse, New York:
- "Historical Federation Head Speaker Here". The Sun. Hamburg, New York. October 20, 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 25 June 2017 – via
- "History and Archives". Elmira College. Elmira, New York. 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- "Iowa Marriages, 1809–1992: Lee M. Boyer/Sarah Isabel Rouch". FamilySearch. Fairfield, Iowa: Jefferson County Courthouse. 14 September 1911. FHL microfilm #1750233, reference 2:3R89GFT. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- "United States Social Security Death Index: Julia B Reinstein". FamilySearch. Alexandria, Virginia: U.S. Social Security Administration. 18 July 1998. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- "Warner Museum & Historical Society". Springville, New York: The Springville Journal. March 20, 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 25 June 2017 – via
- "(untitled)". Elmira, New York: