Students Tour Historic Gibson House in Boston during Pride Month
Professor Ella Howard and students at the historic Gibson House
The School of Science and Humanities Dean's Office sponsored trips this month for students in Professor Ella Howard's Boston History classes to study LGBTQIA+ history at the Gibson House, a historic house museum on Beacon Street.
The Gibson House Museum represents the vision of Charles Hammond Gibson, Jr., a writer, preservationist, and gay man. Understanding and interpreting Gibson's sexuality within the context of his broader life experiences constitutes a crucial aspect of the historical work conducted at the Gibson House. Creating an environment that is welcoming and affirming to the contemporary LGBTQIA+ community is a fundamental part of the current initiatives undertaken by the Gibson House Museum.
Students took the "Charlie Gibson's Queer Boston" tour, a new guided visit offered by the site to educate visitors about the LGBTQIA+ history that predates the Gay Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Howard notes that as we all celebrate Pride Month, it's important for Bostonians and students of history to remember the important contributions that queer people have always made to the city.