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Has there ever been “traditional marriage” in America? The belligerent myth of “traditional marriage” obscures a rich history. Join us for a seminar-style discussion focusing on experiments in marriage practices in the nineteenth-century U.S. Even in the petticoated, corseted nineteenth century, women and men embraced diverse practices around sex, family, and labor—from Shaker celibacy to Mormon polygamy. We’ll use these stories to help us think through conundrums of gender and change in the present.

About the Facilitator: Anna Apostolidis is a PhD student in the history department at UPenn. Her academic work focuses on the cultural, legal, and political history of consent in the early American republic. She is passionate about using history as a tool for contextualizing and challenging the present.