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Poster for "Dan Rice's Great Show," including the "Sixth Appearance of M'le Ella Zoyara," Philadelphia, PA, March 1860.
Credit: Library of Congress
A fascination with gender identity goes way back in American history. In 1860 the Philadelphia press had a field day when "Ella Zoyara," appeared on the Philadelphia stage as a man performing as a woman who also pretended to be a woman offstage. Dan Rice then advertised his own "Ella Zoyara"--a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman--as a publicity stunt for his "Great Show."