Vander Clyde Broadway, aka Barbette

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Vander Clyde Broadway went by a few different names in his life, but Barbette is the one he got famous with. He was a female impersonator from Texas who became the toast of Paris in the 1920s.

Research:

  •         Ninesling, Rosie. “Meet Barbette, Round Rock’s Cross-Dressing Performer From the 1920s.” Austin Monthly. December 2021. https://www.austinmonthly.com/meet-barbette-round-rocks-cross-dressing-performer-from-the-1920s/
  •         Kendall Curlee, “Broadway, Vander Clyde [Barbette],” Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/broadway-vander-clyde-barbette
  •         Steegmuller, Francis. “An Angel, a Flower, a Bird.”  The New Yorker. Sept. 27, 1969. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1969/09/27/an-angel-a-flower-a-bird
  •         Pryor, Thomas M. “Hollywood Arena: ‘Big Circus’ Troupe Works to Equal Big Top’s Authenticity and Color.” New York Times. January 11, 1959. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/01/11/83434437.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
  •         Gils, Bieke. “Flying, Flirting, and Flexing: Charmion’s Trapeze Act, Sexuality, and Physical Culture at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.” Journal of Sport History, vol. 41, no. 2, 2014, pp. 251–68. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jsporthistory.41.2.251
  •         Dimock, Chase. “ “THE SURREAL SEX OF BEAUTY: JEAN COCTEAU AND MAN RAY’S ‘LE NUMÉRO BARBETTE.’” As It Ought to Be. June 2, 2011. https://asitoughttobemagazine.com/2011/06/02/the-surreal-sex-of-beauty-jean-cocteau-and-man-rays-le-numero-barbette/
  •         “Barbette in Amazing Feats at the Palace.” New York Times. Feb. 8, 1927. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/02/08/110039993.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
  •         Gallico, Paul. “Thinking Aloud: give a Cheer for an Artist.” The San Francisco Examiner. April 28, 1948. https://www.newspapers.com/image/458500827/?terms=vander%20barbette&match=1
  •         Cole Brothers Circus Is Rehearsing in Louisville This Year for the Last Time.” The Courier-Journal. April 10, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/image/110868149/?terms=vander%20barbette&match=1
  •         “150 From Circus Recover After Food Poisoning.” Evening Star. June 19, 1943. https://www.newspapers.com/image/868025427/?terms=vander%20barbette&match=1
  •         “New  Cole Brothers Circus Puts Emphasis on Beauty.” Globe-Gazette. July 8, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/image/724153/?terms=vander%20barbette&match=1
  •         Atkinson, J. Brooks. “Songs, Dances and Costumes.” New York Times. Feb, 13, 1927. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/02/13/98532388.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
  •         “From Round Rock to the Moulin Rouge: The Story of Barbette.” Round Rock ISD. https://history.roundrockisd.org/from-round-rock-to-the-moulin-rouge-the-story-of-barbette/
  •         “Vander Barbette Is Dead at 68; Trapeze Artist in the Twenties.” New York Times. Aug. 10, 1973. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1973/08/10/148684612.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
  •         Estrada, John-Carlos. “#TBT: From Round Rock to the Moulin Rouge, meet aerialist and drag performer Barbette.” CBS Austin. Aug. 19, 2022. https://cbsaustin.com/newsletter-daily/tbt-from-round-rock-to-the-moulin-rouge-meet-aerialist-and-drag-performer-barbette-vander-clyde-broadway-female-impersonator-french-poet-jean-cocteau-paris-alfaretta-sisters-world-famous-aerial-queens-1969-new-yorker-article-strange-beauty-wire-walker

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2023-06-19 39 min Transcript

Available Results

Generated results are saved to your library for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Transcript

Open the Transcript tab to load the transcript.

Chapters

No chapters available.