In celebration of Pride month, I wanted to write about an important figure of disability history who was also LGBT.
Edith Cooper was a disabled lesbian writer who co-wrote with her partner, Katharine Bradley, under the pseudonym Michael Field. The two women lived together for over 40 years, and when Edith became severely disabled by rheumatism, Katherine was her main carer.
Edith suffered from Rheumatism, which is a connective tissue disorder that causes intermittent pain in the joints. Edith didn’t keep well and often had issues with pain, this meant Katherine had to take on a great deal of responsibility in making sure Edith was comfortable.
Writing under one name, the pseudonym Micheal Field became their way of declaring their ‘inseparable oneness’, and together they produced over 40 works, made up of poetry collections and a long journal, entitled Works and Days. Despite the fact Edith would have been considered an invalid, they were both aesthetes, and had financial independence which enabled them to buy their own home, and live their lives the way they wanted — a rarity for women of the time.
As such, they developed a large circle of literary friends, including Oscar Wilde and Robert Browning, who were both supporters of their work. Browning is often credited with being the one who revealed that Michael Field was, in fact, the disguise for two women. Sadly, this led to a downturn in the popularity of their later works, which were critically well-received when published under their shared pseudonym.
After 40 years together, Edith’s disability gradually got more severe and she became less able to take care of herself, the two women died within a year of each other, Edith in 1913, and Katharine the following year.
Despite the fact that they wrote under their pseudonym, Edith is a massive part of disability history. She lived as a disabled, queer woman when almost every part of her identity was oppressed and that is something that should be remembered and celebrated.