
Historian and Professor
Wendy L. Rouse is a historian whose research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality. She has published three books on the history of women and children in the Progressive Era. Her most recent book, Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, was highlighted in the New York Times. Research for the book was supported by a Mellon-Schlesinger grant from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Rouse’s research has also been published in the Pacific Historical Review, the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, the Western Historical Quarterly, the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, and Girlhood Studies. Rouse is presently Professor of History at San Jose State University.
Rouse mentors future teachers as the program coordinator for the History/Social Science Teacher Preparation Program at SJSU. In collaboration with community partners such as the California Historical Society, the California History-Social Science Project, and the UC Davis History Project, Rouse has designed lessons and resources to help educators teach LGBTQ+ history.

Research
Queer Suffragists

This project uncovers the queer history of the women’s suffrage movement and explores how suffragists boldly defied the gender and sexual norms of the day.
Children of Chinatown
The Children of Chinatown reveals the untold stories of a pioneer generation of young Chinese Americans growing up during an era of exclusion and segregation.

Upcoming Events
“Belonging: Celebrating Community, Heritage, and HERstories.”
History Park, San Jose, California
March 26, 2023

Media
- Web Interview – Barbara Rodriguez. Women’s Suffrage. The 19th News. August 2022.
- Podcast Interview – New Books in Political Science. History News Network. August 2022.
- Web Interview – Sarah Durn. Mary Edwards Walker and the Queer Suffragists Who Changed History. Atlas Obscura. July 2022.
- Newspaper – New York Times. New Books: Public Faces, Secret Lives. May 20, 2022.
- Podcast – Unsung History. The Queer History of the Suffrage Movement. June 6, 2022.
- Podcast – Herstory on the Rocks. Public Faces, Secret Lives. April 12, 2022.
- Podcast – Armchair Historians. Public Faces, Secret Lives. March 15, 2022.
- Video – Her Own Hero. Tilke Hill & Lukia Costello. January 21, 2022.
- Video – Discovering New York Suffrage Stories: Queer Suffragists. Tilke Hill. Buffalo & Toronto Public Media, PBS & NPR, February 8, 2021.
- Video – CSPAN: Sex, Sexuality and Suffrage, California Historical Society. January 19, 2021.
- Video – Suffrage School – Wendy L. Rouse. Radcliffe Institute. Schlesinger Library. Harvard University. July 2020.
- Newspaper – Maya Salam. How Queer Women Powered the Suffrage Movement. New York Times. August 19, 2020.
- Magazine – Sarah D. Collins. The Queer Suffragists Who Fought for Women’s Right to Vote. Them. August 14, 2020.
- Podcast – On the History of Women’s Self-Defence in the USA. Martial Arts Studies. May 24, 2020.
- Podcast – The History of Women’s Self-Defense Jiu-Jitsu. Dirty White Belt Radio. May 15, 2020.
- Podcast – Sports from the Grassroots with Greg Rasheed. KZUM Community Radio Lincoln, Nebraska. October 28, 2017.
- Radio – The Joy Cardin Show. National Public Radio, Wisconsin. September 20, 2017.
- Podcast – Thinking Aloud with Marcus Smith. Classical 89, Brigham Young University Radio. October 16, 2017.

