Barbara Ann Wilcox
{{short description|American transgender woman (1912–1962)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Richard Wilcox and Barbara Ann Richards (cropped).jpg
| caption = Richards {{crossreference|(right)}} and her partner in Los Angeles in 1941
| birth_name = Edward Price Richards
| other_names = Barbara Ann Richards
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|04|01}}
| birth_place = Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|09|09|1912|04|01}}
| death_place = Martinez, California, U.S.
| spouse = {{marriage|Richard Wilcox|1940|1941|end=ann}}
| known_for = Successfully changing her legal name to her chosen name
}}
Barbara Ann Wilcox (April 1, 1912 – September 9, 1962), born Edward Price Richards and known for a time as Barbara Ann Richards, was an American transgender woman who is known for her successful 1941 petition to change her legal name to her chosen name, which attracted widespread media attention as one of the earliest cases on the legal status of transgender people.
Early life and education
Richards was born on April 1, 1912, to an affluent family in Salem, Massachusetts.{{cite news |last1=Waters |first1=Michael |title=In the 1940s, a Trans Pioneer Fought California for Legal Recognition. This Is How She Won. |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/03/barbara-ann-richards-trans-history-california.html |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=Slate Magazine |date=March 20, 2022 |language=en}} When she was five, she was hospitalized for several months with spinal meningitis, which physically weakened her. Throughout her early childhood, she felt constrained by masculine expectations from her father and schoolmates. After her parents separated when she was 13, she moved with her mother to Los Angeles, where she started to enjoy school more.
She enrolled at Pomona College in Claremont, California, in 1931, but dropped out after one year. She tried out several occupations before settling on interior design.
Transition and legal case
In 1940, Richards met Richard Wilcox, a transgender man, at a party, and asked him to marry her later that same day; he accepted.{{cite news |title=Sex Change Victim Wed: Angeleno Undergoing Metamorphosis Admits Ceremony in Arizona |work=Los Angeles Times |date=July 4, 1941 |page=A2 |id={{ProQuest|165203901}}}} In October, she went to register for the Selective Service System, but was classified as unfit for military service and denied.{{cite news |title=Enrolled for Draft as Man, 'He's' Now Woman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99228878/enrolled-for-draft-as-man-hes-now/ |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |agency=International News Service |date=July 3, 1941 |pages=3}}{{cite news |title=Caprice of Nature Changes Draft Registrant Into Woman, Physicians Inform Court |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99362708/caprice-of-nature-changes-draft/ |access-date=April 9, 2022 |work=Salt Lake Telegram |agency=United Press International |date=July 3, 1941 |pages=3}}
In 1941, she filed a legal petition with the Los Angeles County Superior Court to change her name to Barbara, effectively recognizing her as female.{{cite news |title=Sex Changes; Goes to Court for New Name |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99229078/sex-changes-goes-to-court-for-new-name/ |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=The South Bend Tribune |agency=Associated Press |date=July 3, 1941 |pages=1}} She minimized the fact that she was going through feminizing hormone therapy, instead portraying her transition as a mysterious natural occurrence.{{cite news |title=Man Becomes Girl In Strange Metamorphosis Laid to Illness |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99229261/man-becomes-girl-in-strange/ |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=The News Journal |agency=Associated Press |date=July 3, 1941 |pages=9}}{{cite book |last1=Meyerowitz |first1=Joanne J. |title=How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States |date=2002 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01379-7 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=39–41}} Her case generated widespread interest from national media outlets, which viewed it largely as a peculiar curiosity and emphasized its shock value.
When Richards's marriage to Wilcox became public during her case, she told reporters she would have it annulled,{{cite news |title=Wife Loyal to Mate Though 'He's' a 'She' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99229378/wife-loyal-to-mate-though-hes-a-she/ |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=Daily News |agency=Associated Press |date=July 4, 1941 |pages=292}}{{cite news |title=Name of Man Changed After Prank by Nature |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99229489/name-of-man-changed-after-prank-by/ |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 10, 1941 |pages=52}} which she did after she won.
Later life, death, and legacy
For the rest of her life, Richards adopted a quieter profile. She stayed together with Wilcox and their cat, and sometime before 1949, she married him again under their changed gender roles, taking his last name. In 1948, the couple purchased land in Martinez, California, and moved there to co-own a plant nursery. She received numerous letters from others who identified with her experience. In 1956, she underwent gender affirming surgery. She died on September 9, 1962.{{cite web |title=Barbara A Wilcox in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7907357:5180 |url-access=subscription |publisher=Social Security Administration |access-date=April 7, 2022 |via=Ancestry.com}}
References
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{{LGBTQ}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcox, Barbara Ann}}
Category:American transgender women
Category:Pomona College alumni
Category:American interior designers
Category:People from Salem, Massachusetts
Category:People from Martinez, California