a potent reminder of lGBTQ history
Tillie Walden‘s “Charity and Sylvia” (Drawn & Quarterly) is a beautifully rendered and engaging historical graphic novel illuminating the lives of a lesbian couple in 19th-century Vermont. Walden’s splendid work is a potent reminder that openly LGBTQ people have always existed despite queer erasure by families, historians and politicians.
Source material was researched in the archives of the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History with its collection of Charity Bryant’s and Sylvia Drakes’s acrostic poems, diaries, correspondence, wills, home/business ledgers and charitable contributions. Fortuitously, a niece saved this treasure trove and donated it in 1897.
The two women lived openly as a same-sex couple from 1807 to 1851 in Weybridge, VT, and ran a successful tailoring business. Despite some local misgivings, they were accepted. Neighborhood children apprenticed with them and Sylvia served as a deacon in the local congregational church.
The partners share one tombstone in the town cemetery—remarkable indeed for early America. Today it is well maintained, adorned with pride flags and small visitation stones. In 2025 the state erected a roadside marker nearby to celebrate their contributions in that community.
Adapting their story into a graphic format could have proved challenging as the only extant image of the couple is a framed silhouette of the two women in profile. However, Walden was cartoonist laureate of Vermont and her skillful draftsmanship imbrues the 12 cells per page with visually striking sepia-hued details of the women caring for each other: their backstories, struggles, family gatherings and the harshness of New England winters.
Between each chapter in the book, Walden illustrates the accelerating world during their lifetimes: 14 presidents, rebellions, plagues, the arrival of the railroad and other technological innovations. This enhances the remarkable story of two exceptional women who resolutely forged a life together.
The author also lyrically renders lists of what they loved about each other as well as qualities they found absolutely maddening. Elevating the emotional quotidian of their lives adds to the resonance of this ingenious biography.
In the forward, Walden writes: “I have also accentuated and changed certain details in the spirit of drama and understanding.” Most poignant are her drawings of the death of Charity with “Sylvia’s hand on her arm as her heart ceased to be” and 16 years later Sylvia’s final moments with her deceased beloved letting her know: “They are welcome in his kingdom. They always have been.”
Rather than include footnotes, Walden created a bibliographic website with extensive annotations along with notes (and sketches) on her creative process. This companion piece provides an immersive dive into their personal stories along with contextual historical paintings of the region, examples of period clothing, furniture and literature of the day.
In September, Vermont Symphony premieres a commissioned orchestral work with two vocalists by composer Clarice Assad based on the memorable lives of the couple. The composer explores “how Charity and Sylvia's courage echoes across centuries—their letters revealing how love persists despite societal constraints in an era where hard-won rights face renewed threats.”
Kudos to Vermont Humanities that funded Walden’s research at The Sheldon Museum and co-commissioned Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s premiere with additional support from Vermont Arts Council.
Charity and Sylvia
by Tillie Walden
Drawn & Quarterly, 266 pages, $30
Links:
Henry Sheldon Museum: https://www.henrysheldonmuseum.org/charity-and-sylvia
Weybridge Hill Cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112580393/sylvia-drake
Annotated bibliography: https://www.charityandsylvia.com/
John R. Killacky is the author of because art: commentary, critique, & conversation.”
