Hello lovely people!
Today’s video has been highly requested thanks to a photo that was recently doing
the rounds on Twitter. That’s right, we’re going to be talking about the ‘Public Universal
Friend’: a Quaker who is said to have died as a young person and been reborn without
gender but imbued with the spirit of God and went on to fight for gender equality and lead
their own congregation in upstate New York.
Some people consider the Public Universal Friend-
- who I am going to be referring to as the ‘The Friend’ from here on out because
that’s what some of their followers did as ‘The Public Universal Friend’ is surprisingly
hard to say!
Some people consider the Public Universal Friend to have been asexual, a gender nonconformist
or a queer saint whilst others consider that reporting having seen angels means that they
may have been suffering from a mental illness. I’m going to be breaking down the story
for you in this video but I’m also going to preface it with: Whatever you may think
about this person and how they referred to themselves or the religion they followed,
this channel is not the place for you to invalidate someone else’s identity, if
this isn’t the video for you then just move on to the next one.
Remember that another person’s identity does not invalidate your own and that you
do not have the right to invalidate theirs. It’s perfectly fine to have a discussion
about history or religion in the comments but I draw the line at name calling and the
insinuation that mental illness and sexual or gender identity or religion are explicitly
linked. Please remain respectful.
- Always examine your motives before posting a mean comment. Do you really want to do that?
Really? [blink]
This person may or may not have been non-binary or transgender. We can’t say for sure because
no one asked them outright and they’re not here to tell us whether they identify with
what we now consider to be the meaning of those terms.
Okay, now that the longest disclaimer ever is out of the way: Hello again! If you’re
new here, hi, I’m Jessica, please consider subscribing to this channel where I sometimes
make content that touches on both religious AND LGBTQ+ things and crosses over again here
in this video. If you enjoy profiles of amazing disabled or LGBTQ+ figures from history then
I suggest you check out my ‘historical profiles’ playlist which you can find in a card above.
And below the video you should be able to see the merch shelf featuring this lovely
Christmas jumper which now I'm calling a winter jumper
Because I'm going to sell it in January and February because I realise both months are also cold
So you can get your hands on one just like mine and then we can twin!
I’ve always wanted someone to twin with.
On the 29th November, 1752 the Wilkinson family welcomed their eighth child, Jemima, to their
home in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Parents Jeremiah and Amy Wilkinson were the third
generation to live in America and attended traditional worship with the Society of Friends
(Commonly known as Quakers).
- If you would like to know more about Quakerism, I’ve linked my playlist with explainers
in a card above and in the description below.
Upon reaching late teenagedom, Jemima decided to break away and instead attend meetings
with New Light Baptists in Cumberland who emphasized individual enlightenment and less
of the group. Jemima was disciplined by her family and in her early-20s disowned by the
Smithfield Meeting as these new ideas were deemed unQuakerly. Jemima was, however, unsatisfied
with the New Light Baptists and faced much upheaval having broken from family amid the
American Revolutionary War.
During the same year Jemima contracted a disease that is now believed to have been typhus and
was left bedridden, near death with a high fever.
Once the fever had broken Jemima then reported having died and received revelations from
God through two archangels. They insisted that they were Jemima no longer for she had
died and the angels had taken her soul to heaven, leaving in her place a new, genderless
spirit, charged by God with preaching his word. They insisted that their new name was
the ‘Public Universal Friend’ and described that name as having come directly from God’s
mouth.
- The name referenced ‘Public Friend’- the designation the Society of Friends used
for members who traveled to different communities to preach.
As you can imagine, it being the 18th century no one could attest whether they had actually
died for a split second or even for longer. Detractors have since asserted that the entire
illness was made up but accounts by the attending doctor and other witnesses say that although
the illness was most certainly real no one noticed the death… although… it was the
18th century so… was anyone paying that much attention?
From this point onwards The Friend refused to answer to Jemima Wilkinson, even to close
friends and family; ignoring or chastising those who used that name. When people asked
if that was the name of the person standing in front of them, The Friend merely quoted
Luke 23:3 “thou sayest it”.
- ie. “If you say so!”
Any attempts at using gendered pronouns were also rebuffed with the Friend insisting on
gender-neutral language and presenting as something new to early American society: a
genderless spirit from God who eschewed gendered pronouns and dressed and spoke in ways that
purposefully blurred the lines between male and female.
- not that it was a particularly revolutionary concept for Native Americans… but I imagine
it was for the small Baptist town of Cumberland.
Rising from illness The Friend began preaching a message of repentance
Granted, the content of their sermons was nor strictly innovative but The Friend did
something unique by embodying genderlessness as an aspect of resurrected life.
On Oct. 13, 1776, the Sunday after being reborn, the Friend gave a public sermon for the first
time. Despite being rejected as a heretic by Quaker officials, the Friend went ahead
and preached throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.
The Public Universal Friend’s theology was broadly similar to orthodox Quakers,
- I talk about Orthodox versus Conservative Quakers in my Quakers and Weddings video,
which I’ll leave in a card above.
They believed in free will, pacifism and plain dress, opposed slavery and… bedtime activities
that aren’t sleeping or brushing your teeth. They blended traditional Christian warnings
about sin and redemption with a modern take on gender equality. Woman had at this point
no legal rights in the United States and many were drawn to this progressive message, building
the Society of Universal Friends in which unmarried women took leading roles in their
households and community. As you can imagine, The Friend had a very charming and forceful
personality to match this progressive message…
- okay, so it’s a bit cult-y. But aren’t all religions really?
The Friend rejected standard women’s attire and hairdos for a genderbending appearance:
commonly wearing a loose black male clergy gown with female petticoats peeking out at
the hem. The Friend’s long hair hung to the shoulder. The rest of the Friend’s outfit
often included a man’s broad-brimmed hat and women’s colorful scarves.
- Because when you’re the leader of a cult you can wear whatever you like.
Granted the first recruits to the Society of Universal Friends were family members,
but the Friend soon attracted a diverse group of followers, including intellectual and economic
elites as well as the poor and oppressed.
Many writers have portrayed The Friend as either a fraud rather than a pioneer, upset
that followers proclaiming that the Friend was “the Messiah Returned” or “Christ
in Female Form.” But The Friend did not make such claims themself.
They did however come to sense that the Millennium was imminent and would occur about the first
of April 1780.
- Millennialism is a belief held by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise
will occur on Earth prior to the final judgement. Which is nice.
Christianity and Judaism have
both created some messianic movements which feature millennialist teachings and they have
often led to social unrest.
Like the Reformation. In which definitely no one died(!)
However, on the 18th May 1780 the sun was entirely blotted out from 11am to 2pm, which
many took to be a confirmation of The Friend’s teachings and a sign of the imminent coming
of Christ. The Friend received additional followers as a result of this event.
Members pooled their money and started a utopian communal settlement in the wilderness near
Seneca Lake in upstate New York in 1788. As the first settlers in the region, they cleared
the land and became the first white people to meet and trade with the Native Americans
there. First settlers, but it’s not like there wasn't already somebody living there.
- I imagine quite fairly.
The Society was completely dependent upon gifts from supporters and unlike similar…
cults… The Friend held no property themself but all was held in the name of the Society
by a Board of Trustees.
So that’s nice
By 1790 the community had grown to a population of 260, most of whom were celebate.
And you wonder why they’re not around today (!)
Followers respected the wishes of The Friend and avoided gender-specific pronouns, even
when writing in private diaries, referring only to ‘The Public Universal Friend’
or short forms ‘The Friend’ or ‘P.U.F.’
Which I’m really hoping they said as ‘PUF’ since that would lead to some excellent magic
dragon jokes.
The Friend had various idiosyncrasies which were remarked upon:
was remarked to be ‘excessively clean’: bathing daily and insisting upon fresh, clean
clothes.
- strange for the time but definitely not in general!
they only ate by themselves in their own room and with the door closed.
- okay a little strange.
Hostile observers put the Friend on trial for blasphemy in 1800, but the court ruled
that American courts could not try blasphemy cases due to the separation of church and
state in the U.S. constitution. In fact, The Friend befriended the judge during the trial
and was invited to speak a sermon on the topic of their choosing. Which is pretty darn impressive.
Through this the Friend was a pioneer in establishing freedom of speech and freedom of religion
in American law.
It’s also very impressive because traditional Quakers have a bad history of annoying judges
and ending up with longer sentences because they call everyone ‘friend’ and refuse
to swear on the bible in court- since that implies that they might lie normally.
Like other isolated utopian communities based on celibacy, the Society of Universal Friends
dwindled.
The Friend “left time,” as the Universal Friends put it, on July 1, 1819
at age 61. The organization disintegrated within a few years of the founder’s death.
Historians are torn on The Friend, calling them either a scheming fraud and manipulator
or a pioneering leader who founded several towns in which women were empowered to take
on roles reserved for men.
Historian Michael Bronski says in the award-winning A Queer History of the United States that
the Friend would not have been called transgender or transvestite "by the standards and the
vocabulary" of the time, but he calls the Friend a "transgender evangelist". Susan Juster
says that followers considered the Friend's clothing congruent with the genderless spirit
which they believed animated the preacher. They both note that to followers, the Friend
may have embodied Paul's statement in Galatians 3:28 that "there is neither male nor female"
in Christ. Scott Larson, writes that the Friend can be understood as a chapter in trans history
"before 'transgender'".
So there we go, The Public Universal Friend! Had you heard of this person before this video
or before you saw them trending on Twitter last week...?
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s video, remember to subscribe if you haven’t already, don’t
forget we have a livestream on Saturday and I’ll see you tomorrow for a new video!
[music]
Clara: Oh sorry, I've just pressed REC.
Don't mind me, it's fine. It's fine.
[laughs]
The moment passed, not taking photos anymore.
Clara: I took 3 photos!
- It's fine. - [clara laughs] byeee
[door closes]