John D'Emilio (born 1948) is a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and of women's and

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. He taught at the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...

. He earned his B.A. from Columbia College and Ph.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1982, where his advisor was

William Leuchtenburg William Edward Leuchtenburg ( ; September 28, 1922 – January 28, 2025) was an American historian who was the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a leading scholar of the life and ...

. He was a Guggenheim fellow in 1998 and

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

fellow in 1997 and also served as Director of the Policy Institute at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1995 to 1997.

Honors and awards

D'Emilio was awarded the

Stonewall Book Award The Stonewall Book Award is a set of three literary awards that annually recognize "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" in English-language books published in the U.S. They are sponsored by the Rainbo ...

in 1984 for his most widely cited book, ''Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities'', which is considered the definitive history of the U.S. homophile movement from 1940 to 1970. His biography of the civil-rights leader

Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin ( ; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American political activist and prominent leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin was the principal organizer of the March on Wash ...

, ''Lost Prophet: Bayard Rustin and the Quest for Peace and Justice in America'', won the Randy Shilts Award and the Stonewall Book Award for non-fiction in 2004. He was the 2005 recipient of the Brudner Prize at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. In 1999, D'Emilio was Honored with the David R Kessler award for LGBTQ Studies from CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies His and Estelle Freedman's book ''Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America'' was cited in Justice

Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Pres ...

's opinion in ''

Lawrence v. Texas ''Lawrence v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws Sodom ...

'', the 2003 American Supreme Court case overturning all remaining anti-sodomy laws. In 2005 D'Emilio was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. He received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...

in 2013.

Personal life

Jim Oleson, D'Emilio's partner since the early 1980s, died at their home in Chicago on April 4, 2015.

Works

Author

*''Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983; 2nd edition, with a new preface and afterword, 1998) *''Making Trouble: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and the University'' (New York: Routledge, 1992) *''The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and Culture'' (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002) *''Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin'' (New York: Free Press, 2003; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004) *''Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood: Coming of Age in the Sixties'' (Durham: Duke University Press, 2022)

Co-author

*With Estelle Freedman, ''Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America'' (New York: Harper and Row, 1988; 2nd expanded edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997; 3rd edition, 2012)

Editor

*''The Civil Rights Struggle: Leaders in Profile'' (New York: Facts-on-File, 1979), with an introduction *''The Universities and the Gay Experience: Proceedings of the Conference Sponsored by the Women and Men of the Gay Academic Union, November 23 and 24, 1973'' (New York: Gay Academic Union, 1974), with an introduction

Co-editor

*With William Turner and Urvashi Vaid, ''Creating Change: Sexuality, Public Policy and Civil Rights'' (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000)

Notes

External links

John D'Emilio collected papers
from th
Swarthmore College Peace CollectionNational Gay and Lesbian Task Force Records, 1973-2008
(279.6 cubic feet) are housed at the

Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over eight million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 Periodical literature, periodical ti ...

. ''Contains the presidential files of John D'Emilio.''
Jonathan Ned Katz Papers, 1947-2004
(59.3 linear feet) are housed at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. ''Contains correspondence with John D'Emilio.''