Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 18, Alice B. Toklas

Today I would like to honor and pay tribute to Alice B. Toklas.  TSM followers will remember that we celebrated Toklas’ birthday back in April. Toklas deserves to be celebrated for having the courage to live her life openly as a lesbian.  In 1907, Toklas became an expatriate and moved to Paris.  She and her life-long partner, Gertrude Stein, were together for close to 40 years until Stein’s death.

The Toklas/Steins played host to many artists and literati of the time.  Their famous Salons would include such greats as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne,  Sherwood Anderson, and the very closeted Thornton Wilder who was having an affair with the writer/pornographer Sam Steward, also a friend and frequent guest of Toklas (Secret Historian, Justin Spring).

Toklas consistently encouraged people to live their lives honestly  and to be their best.  She seems to have been quite the optimist, despite having lived in France during the Nazi occupation.  Toklas published a memoir, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.   Perhaps the most famous recipe in the cookbook/autobiography was ”Haschich Fudge,” a mixture of fruit, nuts, spices, and marijuana, often served at her Salons.  I thank Toklas for her courage, wisdom, and her support of many rather famous LGBT people struggling with their own journeys of coming out.

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Women’s History: April 30

Happy Birthday, Alice B. Toklas

Happy Birthday, Alice B. Toklas.  Toklas grew up in California and Washington but then became an expatriate and started her life in Paris, France.  Toklas met her future life partner, Gertrude Stein, in Paris. Together, the women would set up a Salon, almost a type of artists colony, attracting such literary giants as Thornton Wilder and Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg Ohio being one of my favorite collection of short stories). The Salon became famous for what would become known as avant garde masters such as, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cezanne.

While Toklas’ partner is knows as the writer of the family, Toklas, too, was a writer.  Toklas and Stein were together for almost 40 years until Stein’s death. After Toklas lost Stein, she published a memoir, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.   Perhaps the most famous recipe in the cookbook/autobiography was “Haschich Fudge,” a mixture of fruit, nuts, spices, and marijuana.

Although Toklas was born a Jew, she later converted to Catholicism.  Upon her death, she was buried next to Stein.

Women’s History: February 26

Patron of the Arts

Happy Birthday, Mabel Dodge Luhan. Luhan was a well known benefactress of the arts and was influential in the start of the Taos Art Colony. In her memoir, Intimate Memories, Luhan recounts her very colorful and well lived life, including her many bisexual affairs. Luhan played hostess to such figures as: Gertrude Stein, her brother Leo, and Stein’s partner Alice B. Toklas.  D.H. Lawrence and his wife visited Luhan and her then husband in Taos–apparently it was a rather tense visit, so much so that both Lawrence and Luhan wrote about the experience.

Happy Birthday, Helen Clark. Clark served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999-2008.

Finally, on February 26, 1987 the Church of England’s General Synod voted to support the ordination of women priests—go Vicar of Dibley.

Women’s History, February 3

Gertrude Stein

Happy Birthday, Gertrude Stein. Stein, famous for her Paris Salon and for her long romantic relationship with Alice B. Toklas, was best known for her writing, art, and distinguished host of literati. She and Toklas were together for almost 40 years until Stein’s death. Stein is credited with coining the phrase The Lost Generation, referring to the famous group of expatriate friends she collected. Stein was a great patron of the arts and amassed a most impressive collection, including art by friends such as: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cezanne. Much of the art was collected by Gertrude and her brother Leo. One of her most famous pieces of writing was Three Lives.

Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn a medical degree.

Quote of the day:

A blank wall of social and professional antagonism faces the woman physician that forms a situation of singular and painful loneliness, leaving her without support, respect or professional counsel. 

–Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell