author
Jeannette H. (Jeannette Howard) Foster
1895–1981
A pioneering librarian and literary scholar, she devoted decades to tracing lesbian themes in books and popular writing at a time when the subject was often ignored or hidden. Her landmark study helped preserve a long, overlooked tradition in women’s literature.
1 Audiobook
Sex variant women in literature : A historical and quantitative survey
by Jeannette H. (Jeannette Howard) Foster
About the author
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1895, Jeannette Howard Foster built a wide-ranging career as a librarian, teacher, poet, and researcher. She studied at Rockford College, Emory University, and the University of Chicago, bringing both scholarly rigor and curiosity to the books and cultural material she explored.
She is best known for Sex Variant Women in Literature, a groundbreaking study that grew out of many years of research into portrayals of love between women across history. Her work stood out for taking popular fiction and lesser-known sources seriously, helping document a body of literature that had often been dismissed, obscured, or left out of academic study.
Foster died in 1981, but her reputation has continued to grow. She is remembered as an early, determined scholar whose work opened doors for later studies in lesbian literature and LGBTQ history.