PEORIA — Gay and transgender people have made great contributions to society throughout history, but their stories are rarely told.
That will change this fall when teachers in Peoria Public Schools District 150 start using curriculum created by The Legacy Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to researching and promoting the contributions lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people have made to world history and culture.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about Albert D.J. Cashier, who was named Jennie Hodgers at birth. He emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland as a teenager and enlisted in the 95th Illinois Infantry in 1862 and fought in about 40 battles during the Civil War. They could also learn about the author of “America the Beautiful,” a Wellesley College English teacher named Katharine Lee Bates, who had a 25-year relationship with another professor, a woman. And they will also have the opportunity to learn about George Washington Carver, an agricultural scientist and inventor who developed hundreds of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and soybeans. Carver’s life partner was a man, a fellow researcher.