Alabama (c 1840- November 1, 1876)

Frances Thompson, born enslaved, was a Black trans woman and anti-rape activist. She was one of the five Black women to testify before a congressional committee that investigated the Memphis massacre of 1866. Thompson and a housemate, Lucy Smith, attacked by a white mob, were among many freedwomen who were raped during the massacre. A month after the massacre Thomas and Smith testified to a Congressional panel about what happened. Thompson’s appeal to the federal government “asserted a claim to the status of woman and citizen” when Black women had few legal recourse’s as rape victims. Living as a free woman by the age of 26, Thompson played a pivotal role in getting the US government to enact legislation protecting the civil rights of newly emancipated Black people. She is the first known trans woman to testify before the United States Congress. In 1876, Thompson was arrested for “being a man dressed in women’s clothing”, leading to national news attention. After finishing her 100-day sentence, Thompson moved to a cabin in North Memphis, where she died of dysentery in the city hospital.