#CHARITY&SYLVIA
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rachelcleves.bsky.social
An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride
June 30, 2026 at 1:30 AM
cathygjohn.bsky.social
Hope everyone who said sumthin' reads this: buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
Charity and Sylvia: the extraordinary claims of Rachel Hope Cleves
In early July, a dispute began between two writers; Rachel Hope Cleves, author of Charity and Sylvia; A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, (2014), and...
buttondown.com
August 13, 2026 at 4:26 PM
rachelcleves.bsky.social
Thanks, John. Should have thought of that: bookshop.org/p/books/char...
Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America
A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America
bookshop.org
June 30, 2026 at 1:37 AM
laurenbajek.bsky.social
The original CHARITY & SYLVIA can be ordered at the link!
June 30, 2026 at 12:26 PM
emperortigerstar.bsky.social
Here’s this year’s Pride Month video! Charity and Sylvia: Married in 1800s America
youtu.be/RHIHPNAMjS8
Charity and Sylvia: Married in 1800s America
YouTube video by EmperorTigerstar
youtu.be
June 26, 2026 at 5:16 PM
comicsbeat.bsky.social
Professor Rachel Hope Cleves wants Walden's CHARITY & SYLVIA licensed as an adaptation
Professor Rachel Hope Cleves wants Walden’s CHARITY & SYLVIA licensed as an adaptation
Professor Rachel Hope Cleves, who wrote the 2014 biography Charity & Sylvia, wrote an open letter about Tillie Walden's new graphic novel.
www.comicsbeat.com
June 30, 2026 at 8:28 PM
leeknoxostertag.bsky.social
absolutely blown away by Tillie Walden's latest, CHARITY AND SYLVIA. It's such a loving, careful portrait of an extraordinary (or depending on how you look at it, blissfully ordinary) relationship between two women in 19th century Vermont
cover for the graphic novel of CHARITY & SYLVIA by Tillie Walden.
September 14, 2026 at 4:05 PM
lfillingham.bsky.social
With alt text, for those of us with disabilities, and also those trying to read this on their phones:
Please like this reply to make it come near the top, but don't follow me for it, that's not what I'm trying to achieve.
To all the readers out there: My deep love for Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, the subjects of my 2014 biography Charity and Sylvia, has kept me silent, up to this point, about Tillie Walden's new graphic novel by the same title. Charity and Sylvia's story has been so deeply meaningful to so many people-their story has, without exaggeration, saved lives-that I've tried to be happy that Walden's book is making their story more widely known, even it she chose to take my title and my cover design as well as my narrative and my research with only a single sentence of acknowledgement at the end of her book in her notes section. Walden's illustrations and storytelling are wonderful, as I told her when she reached out to me during the writing process. It would take nothing away from her hard work to be honest about how it is built on my hard work. But in Walden's publicity tour, she has repeatedly made the claim to have based her book on her extensive research in the archive without acknowledging that her book is, in fact, based on my book. This false representation demands response not only for my sake, but for the sake of all the hard-working historians out there whose work has similarly been taken without credit. No, Walden has not "uncovered a chapter of queer history" in the archives, as her media interviews have claimed. She has adapted my book without credit or compensation, and claimed my research for her own. I don't doubt that Walden spent time looking at letters at the Henry Sheldon Museum, but the story that Walden tells is not to be found there. It is a story that I pieced together from years of visits to at least twenty different archives and locations across the United States, not only in Vermont but in Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and Washington State, as well. This is not just a question of facts but of story: the story of how Charity and Sylvia built a life together based in tailoring, struggled with their faith, and maintained relationships with t…
June 30, 2026 at 3:55 AM
comicsbeat.bsky.social
Updated with a statement from Drawn & Quarterly: Professor Rachel Hope Cleves wants Walden's CHARITY & SYLVIA licensed as an adaptation
July 1, 2026 at 3:41 PM
jessnevins.bsky.social
Apologies to Tillie Walden.

buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
Charity and Sylvia: the extraordinary claims of Rachel Hope Cleves
In early July, a dispute began between two writers; Rachel Hope Cleves, author of Charity and Sylvia; A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, (2014), and...
buttondown.com
August 14, 2026 at 1:23 PM
crowtoed.bsky.social
My dudes, I was just crying up in that museum over Charity and Sylvia.
thekroog.bsky.social Nicholas @thekroog.bsky.social · Mar 30
THE EXHIBIT ON MARRIAGE HAD LESBIANS, HAROLD
Two mannequins in feminine hairstyles and dresses in a simple domestic setting. The phrase on the back wall reads, "The Friend of my Heart" This placard reads: "A marriage in all but law." There is a quote from one of the women in this couple: "Be useful where thou livestock, that they may both want & wish they pleasing presence still." Silhouettes of the couple -- Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake This exhibit card summarizes 4 couples: Love, Practicality, Necessity Though some people like Christopher Columbus Baldwin and Susan B. Anthony never wed, most adults in New England chose to marry, whether for love, practicality, or necessity. Lucius and Sarah's sometimes timid, sometimes affectionate courtship resulted in a marriage they hoped would provide love and companionship for the rest of their lives. Absalom and Hannah's marriage demonstrates the difficulties a widow or widower faced, especially one with children. Charity and Sylvia formed a loving partnership and lived publicly as a couple in spite of the social risks. On their wedding day, Emerson and Laura took their vows knowing that they would soon be parents. Though these couples lived 150 years ago, the stories of how they navigated romance, courting, and partnership remain moving and familiar today.
March 30, 2025 at 9:51 PM
noh8campaign.bsky.social
A new historic marker in Vermont honors Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, a same-sex couple who lived together in the state for more than 40 years in the 1800s #NOH8
A new historic marker in Vermont honors Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, a same-sex couple who lived together in the state for more than 40 years in the 1800s #NOH8
June 23, 2025 at 1:05 AM
firecrackerx.bsky.social
De hecho, desde que se conocieron y sin contar el mes que Sylvia dejó Weybridge antes de mudarse con Charity, Charity y Sylvia no se habían separado un solo día en más de cuarenta años de relación.
February 15, 2026 at 5:54 PM
barrydeutsch.bsky.social
UPDATE: Here's why I couldn't find the story about Aunt Charity teaching Charity to sew in Walden's book (which Cleves claimed Walden used without crediting Cleves).

Because it's not in Walden's book at all. Cleves made that up.

Read @thene.bsky.social's essay.

buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
August 13, 2026 at 3:18 PM
vestenet.bsky.social
damn she just like me fr. always asking people about their melancholy.
two panels from Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Warden. the two women talk over some brandy Sylvia: Your presence is the most interesting occurrence my life has seen in many years. Charity: Don't say that! That is dreadfully sad Sylvia: I have the life I deserve. Charity: Sylvia... Sylvia: Tell me of your recent melancholy, will you?
August 15, 2026 at 7:01 AM
aliettedebodard.com
Further to the Cleves/Walden thing, the museum they both used has released a statement
www.henrysheldonmuseum.org/statement-on...
Statement on Charity & Sylvia — Henry Sheldon Museum
www.henrysheldonmuseum.org
August 14, 2026 at 9:56 PM
firecrackerx.bsky.social
Si queréis saber más de la historia de Charity y Sylvia, una señora bien tremenda e ilustre llamada Rachel Hope Cleves nos ha hecho el favor de pasarse mucho tiempo encerrada en el Henry Sheldon Museum para escribir "Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America".
February 15, 2026 at 6:04 PM
mostlybree.kitrocha.com
A super thoughtful statement that asks us to remember the importance of archives and fuck AI anyway. 💓

www.henrysheldonmuseum.org/statement-on...
Statement on Charity & Sylvia — Henry Sheldon Museum
www.henrysheldonmuseum.org
August 15, 2026 at 1:52 AM
zonanegativa.com
Un amor más grande que la vida. Reseñamos Charity y Sylvia, el último trabajo de la maravillosa Tillie Walden, editado por @edicioneslacupula.bsky.social.

www.zonanegativa.com/charity-y-sy...
Charity y Sylvia, de Tillie Walden - Zona Negativa
Un amor más grande que la vida. Reseñamos el último trabajo de la maravillosa Tillie Walden, una obra editada por Ediciones La Cúpula.
www.zonanegativa.com
October 5, 2026 at 8:53 AM
ramonvillalobos.bsky.social
Lot of weird stuff in this response but to me the weirdest is the bit in here about how there is no way the two books could be mistaken for another. They have the same title. They're both called Charity and Sylvia lmao. Why not call it Sylvia and Charity or idk ANYTHING else?
July 3, 2026 at 12:09 AM
barrydeutsch.bsky.social
Charity prays, pulls herself together, and meets Sylvia at a chaotic family dinner. When introduced, neither seems impressed with the other.

Contrast that with Cleves: "The women’s histories and personas complemented each other and compelled an
immediate mutual attraction."
A page of comics - Charity and Sylvia at a chaotic family dinner, meeting for the first time. The two panels where they meet for the first time. Charity spots Sylvia and unsmilingly says "who is this?" Polly, Sylvia's sister, introduces Sylvia as "the baby of the lot, little Sylvia." Sylvia says "pleasure," but looks very annoyed.
July 1, 2026 at 2:45 PM
courtneymilan.com
Second, you have to separate Cleve's protectable expression (the text of her work) from the nonprotectable elements (factual items about Sylvia & Charity).
August 14, 2026 at 9:39 PM
alexdecampi.bsky.social
I hope Oxford University Press (the publisher of Cleves’ Charity & Sylvia book) gets on this, and/or D&Q stops showing their ass
July 2, 2026 at 2:03 PM
molly.wiki
as a certified Citations Lover™️ i have to say that Walden's bibliography website that accompanies her graphic novel is a work of art in itself: www.charityandsylvia.com

so cool
Charity and Sylvia
www.charityandsylvia.com
August 13, 2026 at 10:27 PM
amalelmohtar.com
I’ve been reading Tillie Walden’s CHARITY & SYLVIA & it’s so achingly beautiful & halfway through just gives me pang after pang
Photo of page 100 in the book. There are 8 panels on the page: a header, a footer, and six squares in the middle. Those six squares show two columns of text in the middle flanked by two full figure silhouettes bisected by the gutter. The header reads as follows: A Comprehensive List, Formed At The Time By Which Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake Have Been Together some 9 Years, Of All The Qualities They Love and Appreciate In One Another The first box reads: Charity loves in Sylvia: 1. Her singing voice 2. How easily she blushes 3. How she makes tea (it always tastes better, how?) 4. How her feet look in woolen socks 5. Her patience 6. Her pumpkin pye 7. Her excitement at receiving a present 8. Her beauty, oh her beauty The second box reads: Sylvia loves in Charity 1. Her spirit 2. Her mole 3. Her moods (for in her sadness she holds her tighter) 4. How she awakes every single morn (a breath, a stretch, a question: "Sylvia?”) 5. Her notes left about the house (We are out of thread! Lord save us!") 6. Her hair when wet 7. The crook of her arm 8. Her handwriting The footer containe a variety of flowers and a pine cone. A photo of page 101, facing the previous and organized the same way, but with the middle text encased in the image of a thatch-roofed cottage. The header reads as follows: A Comprehensive List, Formed At The Time By Which Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake Have Been Together some 9 Years, Of All The Qualities They Find ABSOLUTELY MADDENING In One Another The first box reads: Charity cannot stand that Sylvia 1. Eats so extremely slowly. 2. Clicks her tongue when frustrated 3. Uses salt to an overwhelming degree 4. Insists the house be in a constant state of cleanliness 5. Continues to harbor shame over their love The second box reads: Sylvia cannot stand that Charity: 1. Often misses church 2. Rarely does the washing up 3. Rarely does the laundry 4. Rarely Sweeps 5. Rarely tends the fire 6. Rarely makes the bed 7. Rarely dusts the Shelves 8. Rarely clears the candle wax The footer contains drawings of household objects: a plate, a candlestick, tongs, a feather duster, etc.
August 16, 2026 at 7:09 PM