Ann Storcy

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Sharing a history of irreconcilable contradictions is difficult for any author. Ann Storcy’s narrative is just one of these stories, in which Ann is an Indigenous healer, white French woman, and US-born frontierswoman all at once. Often, historians will claim someone may find the truth in a combination of stories. However, the tales spun around Ann Storcy were so divergent that I had to split her chapter into parts.

I found more information about Ann after publishing Before Gender, including her death certificate.

A c. 1900 photo of Ann I located after Before Gender‘s publication
(Michigan: The Magazine of the Detroit News, Feb. 7, 1988).
Ann’s death certificate.
The Stoddard family’s 1961 interview provided one foundation for Ann’s chapter, despite taking place 57 years after Ann’s death.
Elders like Alice Johnson remembered Ann as a notable figure from Covert, such as in this 1985 news clipping.
Ann’s state death record. Interestingly, she is the only one with “Male” written out in full.

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