{"title":"The Trouble with Sumner Welles: Sexuality, Race, and the Limits of Mythmaking in Queer History","authors":"Christopher Parkes","doi":"10.1017/S0021875822000251","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Sumner Welles occupies a queer place in American history. Despite his prominence, his reputation among diplomatic historians has been overshadowed by the sex scandal that occasioned his demise. Conversely, he has attracted cursory attention from scholars of the history of sexuality. This article examines that historiographic dialectic. By analyzing literature about Welles, conducting a close reading of sources that catalogued Welles's sexuality, and applying an intersectional lens to the scandal that ended his career, this article seeks to redress historiographic misunderstandings and omissions about Welles. Additionally, this article explores ethical questions historians must contend with when analyzing historical queer figures.","PeriodicalId":14966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of American Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of American Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875822000251","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Sumner Welles occupies a queer place in American history. Despite his prominence, his reputation among diplomatic historians has been overshadowed by the sex scandal that occasioned his demise. Conversely, he has attracted cursory attention from scholars of the history of sexuality. This article examines that historiographic dialectic. By analyzing literature about Welles, conducting a close reading of sources that catalogued Welles's sexuality, and applying an intersectional lens to the scandal that ended his career, this article seeks to redress historiographic misunderstandings and omissions about Welles. Additionally, this article explores ethical questions historians must contend with when analyzing historical queer figures.
期刊介绍:
Journal of American Studies seeks to critique and interrogate the notion of "America", pursuing this through international perspectives on the history, literature, politics and culture of the United States. The Journal publishes original peer-reviewed research and analysis by established and emerging scholars throughout the world, considering US history, politics, literature, institutions, economics, film, popular culture, geography, sociology and related subjects in domestic, continental, hemispheric, and global contexts. Its expanded book review section offers in-depth analysis of recent American Studies scholarship to promote further discussion and debate.