Jenell Kauffman

Jenell Kauffman learned to embrace dual identities. Born with the name John Danforth, Jenell knew as early as age six that "it would be nice" to be a woman. What Jenell lacked was the language of the transgender experience. As a young person, John knew there were people who were cross-dressers, or drag queens. But the world John lived in was strictly gendered: girls wore girls’ clothes, and boys wore boys’ clothes. But John also knew the feeling of wanting to be something more. Eventually, John learned to incorporate Jenell and present with both identities.  In 2015, Jenell sat down with St. Mary’s College professor Dr. Jamie Wagman. They spoke about Jenell’s youth, and how Jenell learned to co-exist as both Jenell and John.  This episode was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we learn how to engage you and continue the work we do, we'd love to hear from you about how we do that. Go to http://crhc.iusb.edu and find our contact information. Call the Center and leave us a voicemail, or email Darryl Heller and George Garner to let us know how you are and what you think we can do during these hard times.  This episode was produced by Mark Flora and George Garner.  Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.  Title music, “History Explains Itself,” from Josh Spacek. Visit his page on the Free Music Archive, http://www.freemusicarchive.org/.