American Vaudevillian Performers

Contents: About the Collection | About the About Page | Tech

About the Collection

Description

This digital collection documents early representations of queer identities in vaudeville entertainment (1880s-1930s), focusing on male and female impersonators who achieved mainstream celebrity before systematic erasure began through the 1934 Production Code and legal persecution. By aggregating 21 dispersed archival materials (postcards, photographs, sheet music, paintings, and advertisements) from multiple GLAM repositories including the Digital Transgender Archive and New York Public Library, this collection reclaims narratives that dominant institutions attempted to silence. The collection serves LGBTQ+ community members, educators, students, and researchers seeking primary sources that demonstrate queer people have always been present in public cultural life. Featured performers include Julian Eltinge, Karyl Norman, Bert Savoy, Vesta Tilley, Bothwell Browne, Della Fox, Bert Errol, and Ella Wesner.

The Collection Managers

Zoe T. (@itszoetom) is the project manager. Zoe has successfully coordinated our team to aggregate content for and to complete the deliverables (including this report), including facilitating collective agreement about important decisions like our topic, theme, and the bounds of those. Zoe’s role will continue to require these specific responsibilities, in addition to conducting quality assurance reviews.

Lili M. (@LilianaMillet) is the object preservation manager. Lili has informed and enforced coordinated efforts to preserve selected objects in multiple locations, has conducted a look ahead at some CollectionBuilder documentation, and has facilitated a team meeting in the absence of the project manager. Lili’s role will continue to require these specific responsibilities, in addition to conducting digital object reviews in accordance with CollectionBuilder requirements.

Jonathan S. is the metadata manager. Jonathan has researched and implemented metadata documentation in accordance with the DublinCore standards, has augmented discussions of file naming standards, and has augmented recorded metadata of digital objects as a whole. He has additionally found his share of digital objects to include in the digital collection. Jonathan’s role will continue to require these specific responsibilities, in addition to conducting quality assurance reviews of elements in the metadata spreadsheet.

Ben F. is the collection development manager. Ben, who has already done considerable research into this topic this term (Fall 2025), has greatly informed the scope, topic, and theme of the digital collection and has contributed to accurate and evolving descriptions of the digital collection. Ben’s role will continue to require these specific responsibilities, in addition to refining the contents of the digital collection.

Calista G (@cowboybooter) is the repository manager. Calista has helped facilitate the technical aspects of the collection and has augmented communication with members not present at team meetings. Calista’s role will continue to require these specific responsibilities, in addition to implementation and troubleshooting all things related to the digital collection’s codebase and enforcing data management protocols.

The Collection Managers are students in the Fall 2025 offering of LIB/DSCI350M: Digital Humanities Data Management at the University of Oregon, taught by Kate Thornhill (@kmthorn).

GLAMs

The objects in this digital collection were sourced from the following:

• JD Doyle Archives
• UCLA Sheet Music Library
• Digital Transgender Archives
• New York Public Library

Ownership Statement

The Collection Managers do not own the digital objects within this collection. All materials are historical items (circa 1870-1930) sourced from publicly accessible institutional repositories and are made available for research and educational purposes. 18 objects have “Copyright Undetermined,” meaning while most items were created prior to 1929, copyright status cannot be definitively determined due to unknown creation circumstances or unclear rights transfers. 3 objects have “No Copyright - United States (Public Domain).” All objects include standardized rights statements using RightsStatements.org URIs. The source field in our metadata provides direct links to the parent GLAM institution holding each digital object. The metadata, collection descriptions, data management plan, and other documentation were created by the Collection Managers.

Historical Context

Vaudevillian impersonation was popular and influential entertainment from the late 1800s through the early 1930s. While gender performance had older theatrical roots—men playing all roles in Shakespeare’s era, gender tricks in pantomime—vaudeville transformed it into a mainstream stage specialty, with satire as a central characteristic.

Male impersonators were women who performed as men, adopting fashionable menswear, confident posture, and deep singing voices. Their acts ranged from sharp satire to smooth, masculine personas. The popularity of male impersonators reflected broader cultural changes, especially shifting gender roles during the suffrage movement and World War I. Performers like Vesta Tilley, Ella Wesner, and Della Fox commanded massive audiences and challenged Victorian restrictions on women’s public presence. Female impersonators achieved extraordinary fame and commercial success during this era. Julian Eltinge became one of the highest-paid performers in vaudeville, known for stunning feminine costume and graceful poise. Bert Savoy brought flamboyant comedic style that helped shape later drag performance traditions. Karyl Norman, billed as “The Creole Fashion Plate,” headlined major theaters and appeared on countless sheet music covers. These performers were celebrated artists, not curiosities—they commanded top billing and performed for presidents and royalty.

By the mid-1930s, this visibility abruptly ended. Laws, ordinances, and police actions in major cities explicitly targeted impersonators as part of efforts to regulate morality and entertainment. The 1934 Production Code effectively banned gender-nonconforming characters from film. Performers found fewer mainstream venues; their acts became marginalized or confined to underground nightclubs. This collection documents a brief historical moment of mainstream queer visibility before systematic erasure began—reclaiming narratives that dominant culture attempted to silence.

Harbin, Billy J.; Marra, Kim; Schanke, Robert A. (2005). The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Sta…. University of Michigan Press. pp. 374–375. ISBN 978-0-472-06858-6.

Ullman, Sharon R. “‘The Twentieth Century Way’: Female Impersonation and Sexual Practice in Turn-of-theCentury America.” Journal of the History of Sexuality 5, no. 4 (1995): 573-600.