The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell

One day in 1855, Lucy Lobdell cut her hair, and put on britches. She did it to earn men’s wages, but the changes went far beyond anything she had imagined. The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell, available in June 2013, is the account of Lucy’s extraordinary foray into the world of men and her inward journey to a new sexual identity. It is her promised memoir, as heard and recorded a century later by William Klaber, an upstream neighbor. Lucy promised to write a book about her “adventures in male attire,” but that book was never found. Instead, more than a century later, author William Klaber received the gift of a satchel filled with letters and other documents concerning Lucy’s life. Recognizing the historical importance, Klaber set out to do justice to a piece of forgotten Americana—to tell the story of what happened to Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell once she changed into pants.