Where was Alan L. Hart born?
Alan L. Hart
Alan Lucille Hart was born October 4, 1890, in Halls Summit, Coffey County, Kansas, to Albert L. Hart and Edna Hart (née Bamford). When his father died of typhoid fever in 1892, his mother reverted to her maiden name and moved the family to Linn County, Oregon, where she cared for her own mother during a period of sickness. When Hart was five years old his mother remarried, to Bill Barton, and the family moved to Edna's father's farm. Hart wrote later, in 1911, of his happiness during this time, when he was free to present as male, playing with boys' toys made for him by his grandfather. His parents and grandparents largely accepted and supported his gender expression, though his mother described his "desire to be a boy" as "foolish." His grandparents' obituaries, from 1921 and 1924, both list Hart as a grandson.[2] When Hart was 12 the family moved to Albany. There Hart was obliged to present as female to attend school, where he was treated as a girl. He continued to spend the holidays at his grandfather's farm, presenting as male among his male friends, "teasing the girls and playing boy's games".[3] According to a reminiscence piece in the Halls Summit News of June 10, 1921, "Young Hart was different, even then. Boys' clothes just felt natural. [Alan] always regarded [him]self as a boy and begged [his] family to cut [his] hair and let [him] wear trousers. [Alan] disliked dolls but enjoyed playing doctor. [He] hated traditional girl tasks, preferring farm work with the menfolk instead. The self reliance that became a lifelong trait was evident early: once when [he] accidentally chopped off [his] fingertip with an axe, [Alan] dressed it [him]self, saying nothing about it to the family."[4]
Alan L. Hart
Some historians note that Hart never described himself as transsexual, but the term was not published until the 1920s, and not widely used until the 1960s, near Hart's death.[32] It is also true that Hart worked hard to keep his pre-transition identity secret, and would hardly have sought to publicly claim a trans identity. Others, then, have contended that Hart was a trans pioneer, who lived after his transition exclusively as a man, just as modern transgender people do.[31]