Alan L. Hart was born Alberta Lucille Hart in Kansas in 1890. In about 1917 he transitions from Lucille to Alan. He went on to be a successful radiologist and helped to end the tuberculosis epidemic. He was also a successful author, writing about queer doctors.
A lot is known about this early transgender icon due to his success both as a doctor, and as a writer. He is also held up as a lesbian icon by many.
For more about this interesting character be sure to watch my video about him here:
Many documents have been preserved about Alan Hart, and I am adding information about these sources below.
- Alan Hart as a young child
Date unknown. Guessing sometime around 1894. Published in the 1911 Albany College Yearbook. - Martha Montague, Inez Easton, Lucille Hart
Albany College debate team including Alan Hart (then Lucille Hart). From a scrapbook by Martha Montague. Retrieved from Lewis and Clark College Digital Collection. Presumed to be from 1909. - Inez and John Stark
Inez was Alan Harts first wife. They married in 1918, separated in 1923 and divorced in 1925. I’m still looking for documentation to confirm the separation and divorce dates, but their wedding announcement in the San Francisco Examiner is in the archive. This photograph is believed to have been taken in 1910. Precise date is - Alan Hart from the 1911 Albany College Yearbook
Picture probably taken sometime in 1910-1911 for the 1911 college yearbook. Retrieved from the Takenah, the 1911 Albany College Yearbook. - Eva Cushman
Picture of Alan Hart’s girlfriend for part of his time at Albany College and Stanford. They were in the same class. This picture is taken from Takenah, the 1911 Albany College Yearbook. Picture was probably taken some time in the 1910-1911 school year. - Editorial Staff at Albany College
A picture of the editorial staff of Albany Collage in the 1910-1911 school year. This shows Eva Cushman (far left) and Alan L. Hart (then Lucille Hart) on the far right. They were romantic partners and went to Stanford together the following year. Retrieved from the Takenah, the Albany Year Book for 1911. - The Takenah – Albany College Yearbook
Undated Yearbook. Thought to be 1911. Alan Hart and Eva Cushman were Juniors at this time. Retrieved from Lewis and Clark College (what Albany College is now called) here. - Albany College Individual Records
Albany College Transcript for Alan Hart (then Lucille Hart) showing he attended there from September 1908 to June 1911, then spent senior year at Stanford, earning a degree from Albany College. This also shows his high school as Albany High. This was started in Sept 1908 when he entered Albany College, and completed in June - 1917 Oregana (Oregon State Year Book)
Dr. Hart attended Oregon State University Medical School in Portland (Now Oregon Health and Science University). His photograph can be found on page 179 (page 193 of the PDF). This picture is taken after his transition, and he is in male attire. - Photo of Dr Hart from 1917 Oregana
This picture is taken from the 1917 Oregana, the Oregon State University Yearbook. Dr. Hart attended medical school through the Oregon State University Medical School, which is now Oregon Health and Science University. This photo was taken after Dr. Hart’s transition. You can see he is in male attire. - WWI Draft Registration card for Alan Hart
Alan Hart registered for the draft. It looks like he just put “yes” under “Do you claim exemption from draft (specify grounds). The precise date of his registration is not documented here, but I would presume it was in January or February of 1918 as he was saying he filled out the draft card shortly - Attire Did Not Proclaim Man
Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California. Feb. 5, 1918 - Girl Poses as Male Doctor in Hospital
San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California - Dr. Alan Hart Said to be Oregon Girl
The Capital Journal – Salem, Oregon - Woman Hospital Interne Masquerades as a Man
Eugene Guard, Eugene, Oregon, Feb. 5, 1918. - Dr. Hart Does work in Male Attire – Albany Democrat
Article from Albany Democrat in Oregon from Feb. 08, 1918. “Publicity Given Well Known Albany Girl Causes Disgust of Home Folks.” - Contra Costa Co. Marriage Licenses
Announcement of Alan Hart, under the pseudonym of Robert Allen Bamsford Jr., marrying his first wife Inez Stark. From the San Francisco Examiner, February 10, 1918, page W7. Page 29 on Newspapers.com - Dr. Hart Explains Change to Male Attire – Albany Democrat
Article published on page 1 of the Albany Democrat on March 26, 1918 where Dr. Hart explains his transition from female to male presentation. - Homo-Sexuality and its Treatment by J. Allen Gilbert
In 1917 Alan Hart visited a Psychologist named J. Allen Gilbert, Ph.D., M.D. While talking, Dr. Gilbert and Alan Hart came to the conclusion that Alan Hart should live as a man. This journal published in 1920 in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease recounts these visits. To keep Alan Hart anonymous, Dr. Gilbert - Letter from Alan Hart to Mary Roberts Rinehart
- Letter from Alan Hart to Mary Roberts Rinehart
- Photo of Alan Hart c Feb 1922
I have not yet found where this photo is from, however, it was retrieved from the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission. They state that the photo was taken around February 1922. Another site says they acquired it from the Wyoming State Museum. - A Case of Intrathoracic Carcinoma Primary in the Pleura
An article written by Alan L. Hart and Dale L. Martin and published in Volume 20, issue 1 of Radiology. A Case of Intrathoracic Carcinoma Primary in the PleuraAlan L. Hart and Dale L. MartinRadiology 1933 20:1, 61-64 - Dr. Mallory – Novel by Alan L. Hart
Dr. Hart wrote 4 Novels. This was the first book he wrote, which was published in 1935. Use this Amazon Affiliate link to purchase it (If it is available). I get a small commission is you purchase from Amazon, using this link. - The Undaunted – A Novel by Alan L. Hart
This is Dr. Harts second book. Click here to find the book on Amazon. It is not in print, so is rarely available. - In the Lives of Men, a Novel by Alan L. Hart
This is Dr. Harts third book about a queer doctor. It is out of print, but you you can use this Amazon link to see if they have a copy. I get a small commission if you purchase anything on Amazon from this link. - WWII Draft Registration Card for Alan Hart
Military Registration Card for Alan Hart from World War II. We can assume this was filed in 1942, as that is what my source said. Retrieved from the Lewis and Clark Digital Collection. - Dr. Finlay Sees It Through a Novel by Alan L. Hart
This is Dr. Harts fourth and final novel. It is out of print, but you can check this Amazon Affiliate Link to see if they have a copy. I get a small commission on purchases from this link. - These Mysterious Rays
This book was written by Alan L. Hart. It is subtitled “A Nontechnical Discussion of the Uses of X Rays and Radium, Chiefly in Medicine” This book has not been available on Amazon when I’ve looked, but if it is, you can use this Affiliate Link to purchase it and I get a small commission. - Extract from “News from the Field” in Sept 1943 American Journal of Public Health
In this excerpt from the News from the Field we find that during WWII Hart takes a leave from Idaho Tuberculosis Association to work in the induction center in Seattle, checking soldiers over before they head to war. Retrieved from the National Library of Medicine. News from the Field. (1943). American Journal of Public Health and - Advert for “These Mysterious Rays” by Alan L. Hart
This advert was published under “Books Received” in the American Journal of Public Health in September 1943. For the entire page, you can see it on the AJPH site here. “Books Received.” American Journal of Public Health 33, no. 9 (September 1, 1943): pp. 1133-1134. - Review of These Mysterious Rays in American Scientist
Page xviii of Vol 31 No 1 (January 1944) of the American Scientist magazine contains a review of These Mysterious Rays by Alan L. Hart. As the copyright of this review is unknown I am not including the entire review, but here is a link to the magazine on JStor. You can view 100 articles - Review of “The Modern Attack on Tuberculosis” by M. Tager
A review of The Modern Attack on Tuberculosis written by M. Tager and published in The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. As copyright on this review is unknown, I am not giving the entire article, although you can find it on the National Library of Medicine archives. Tager M. (1946). The Modern Attack on - Review of “Modern Attack on Tuberculosis” by Henry D. Chadwick
Excerpt from “Books and Reports” in American Journal of Public Health gives a review of the book Modern Attack on Tuberculosis by Henry D. Chadwick. This review is written by Alan L. Hart As the copyright on this review is unknown, I am not including the entire article. You can find it at the American - Review of “Physiologic Therapy in Respiratory Diseases” by Alvan L. Barach
This review of “Physiologic Therapy in Respiratory Diseases” by Alvan L. Barach was written by Alan Hart and published in the American Journal of Public Health in October 1948. Alan L. Hart “Physiologic Therapy in Respiratory Diseases”, American Journal of Public Health 38, no. 10 (October 1, 1948): pp. 1459-1460. - Review of “Help Yourself Get Well” by Marjorie McDonald
This is a review written by Alan L. Hart of a book call Help Yourself Get Well by Marjorie McDonald published in 1951. As I do not know the copyright status of this review, I am not including the entire article, but this link the the American Journal of Public Health page will give you - Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman – Article by Peter Boag
Peter Boag wrote an article for Western Historical Quarterly call “Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History.” where he writes about Dr. Hart as well as other transgender people in late 19th and early 20th century America, including Elsa Jane Guerin who became Mountain Charlie and - When Lucile Became Alan: Transgender Transition in 1918
Video created by Jae after researching Alan Hart. This tells about his transition and very public outing in 1918. It gives some information about his childhood and time after the 1918 incident, but it focuses on that incident.