This special panel debrief edition of the Journal of American History Podcast features a conversation on "Queering Work: LGBT Labor Histories," held at the 2024 OAH Conference on American History.

In this episode, Lane Windham, Alex Melody Burnett, Ryan Patrick Murphy, and Shay Olmstead continue their important conversation about queer and trans workers, "hauntings" in queer history, and "queerbossing." LGBT historians have long focused on leisure and nightlife, but the workplace is also fundamental for understanding the queer past. Fear of job loss was one of the most salient aspects of living a queer life for much of the 20th century, and utterly shaped how LGBT people moved through the world. In some occupational settings, jobs could also affirm gender nonconformity and were also a key place where gay or trans people found each other. 

This panel was solicited by LAWCHA.

Read more about the session here: https://oah.org/conferences/oah24/sessions/session/?id=5525

Music: King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band's Mabel's Dream, 1923

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