When George Crawford went on trial in 1933 for murdering two women in Middleburg, one witness for the prosecution was described in news reports as a “man masquerading as a woman” and a “red-wigged boy-girl.” But as Amy Bertsch explores in the new book Queer Virginia: New Stories in the Old Dominion (University of Virginia Press) this witness, a Black transgender woman named Hannah Nokes, was a hard-working resident of the Dranesville community and member of Loudoun’s Nokes family. Amy will discuss her research into the life of Hannah Nokes and share why her story is significant today.

Amy Bertsch is a historian specializing in African American and Northern Virginia history. She has taught in the Public History and Historic Preservation certificate program at Northern Virginia Community College, a program she also graduated from, and she previously worked in public history for the Office of Historic Alexandria which oversees the City of Alexandria’s museums, historic sites, archives archaeology operations. Amy has an M.A. in history from Sam Houston State University where she served as associate editor for EastTexasHistory.org under the direction of Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, PhD, co-editor with Charles H. Ford, PhdD, of Queer Virginia.

In addition to her contribution to Queer Virginia, Amy’s published work includes the “Lost Potters of Loudoun County, Virginia: The Gardner-Duncan Family” in the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts and a chapter in African American Emancipation in an Occupied City published by Historic Alexandria. Last year she was a guest speaker at the Fairfax County Historic Conference and the Lucy Burns Museum in Lorton, and earlier this year she and Dr. Ford presented on transgender history at the annual Virginia Forum conference.

Pre-registration is required for this event. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov or register online https://tinyurl.com/TBLEvents.