From time to time, we hear a name from a popular movie, read a name in a novel or hear something pass in conversation. This intrigues us. Who are these people? They are the heroines of our history. Thus, we Google them or search for information about them in Wikipedia. And then, as most fleeting thoughts, it too passes. But with this year’s celebration of Women’s History Month, let’s move past the traditional heroines of Women’s History. Take a moment and reach far into the depths of our history’s attaché and realize that buried there is a wealth of treasure waiting to be discovered. This month we celebrate all those women who have made history, from the first woman whose invention first received a patent (Ann Theresa Mathews) in 1715 to the first woman to become Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi) in 2007. This is only a brief highlight of what these women have done. Some of them have gone down in history as the “first lesbian” in their career, some are just great women who have left a mark in history.

In April of 1947, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Willa Cather (1873-1947) passed away. Willa wrote some 15 novels and seven collections of essays, poems and short stories; however, is best known for her novels, “O Pioneers!” and “My Antonia,” along with her most notorious novel which won her the Pulitzer in 1922, “One of Ours.” Scholars have contentions with labeling her sexual identity, as Willa never officially “outed” herself. She historically had long relations with women, including a live-in relationship with editor Edith Lewis, which continued from 1912 until her death in 1947. (1)
In 1947, a woman coined herself Lisa Ben (Edith Eyde, 1921), a literal play on the term lesbian and began publishing a handmade magazine called, Vice Versa. The first volume was written in June, 1947 at 15 pages. Subsequent volumes were subtitled “America’s Gayest Magazine.” Lisa typed each issue of the magazine twice through with five carbon copies each, and was able to hand publish nine issues of Vice Versa with ten copies of each issue (2) in Los Angeles. The magazine ceased in 1948. Needless to say, Lisa set a precedent for the work of the Daughters of Bilitis that would come along during the 1950s, which published the first nationally recognized magazine called The Ladder in October, 1956 to 1972...