Hidden love of Havelock men documented in early 20th-century photographs
Photos of Len and Cub in new art exhibit and book transcend time, say Fredericton authors
The photos are striking.
From well-preserved original Kodak prints to the floor-to-ceiling enlargement that's now the knockout centrepiece of a new exhibit at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery — a series of portraits of Leonard Olive Keith and Joseph Austin (Cub) Coates convey a tender connection.
"I'd never pictured queer history existing in New Brunswick, so to see it in front of me was really shocking," said Dusty Green, who first saw the photos in 2015 while working as an intern at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
"This was more than just a boyhood camaraderie," said provincial archivist Meredith Batt. "They clearly cared for each other … and making these records was sort of like an act of defiance."
Batt and Green say the photos are not only rare but probably the earliest photographic records of a same-sex couple in the Maritimes, showing their affection to each other but not to their community, which would have punished them for it.
Now, a century later, this love is on display and about as public as possible. In addition to the exhibition that will run until the end of July, Batt and Green are launching their book this weekend.
Len and Cub, A Queer History, published by Goose Lane Editions, will be celebrated Saturday at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery with guest speakers Brenda Murphy, New Brunswick's lieutenant-governor, and John Leroux, the Fredericton gallery's manager of collections and exhibitions.
"This is a message that transcends time," Green said. "Every queer person knows what it's like to hide in plain sight in your community or not be allowed to express who you are or express your love for another person."
Hostile environment
In 1892, Canada enacted gross indecency laws that made any acts of attraction between men, including kissing and touching, a criminal offence. The law was extended to women in 1953. In 1988, the gross indecency offence was repealed.
The Len and Cub photos show two men expressing their intimate connection at a time when the law made that dangerous to do. They appear cradled around each other, sometimes holding hands, or one resting his head gently upon the other.
The two men were neighbours in Havelock, known then as Butternut Ridge, a small but thriving community about 50 kilometres west of Moncton.
According to the book, Len was an amateur photographer and car enthusiast who eventually owned a local garage and pool hall. Cub, who was younger, was the son of a farmer. He eventually became a butcher, a contractor and a lover of horses. Both men were war veterans.
Their many private moments during the early 20th century were well documented by Len's camera.
Green and Batt believe "the boys" took precautions to hide the true nature of their affections, partly by spending time outdoors fishing and hunting.
"There are so many things that could have shielded them from speculation," Green said. "They're both young men, and it would not be uncommon for them to develop a close friendship and go off on camping trips together."
All the while, Len, who came from a wealthier family than Cub, was using his camera to capture the people and places that mattered to him.
"He cared about what he was photographing," Batt said. "It's very clear that he cared about Cub and about his community. He loved being outdoors and spending time in nature, going on adventures. He loved his car garage.
"It would have been very difficult for him to leave and give up those things."
Kicked out of town
After the First World War, the relationship between Len and Cub changed, as did society.
"We saw this social conservatism bubbling up," Green said. "People would have been more rigid in their understanding and policing of the boundaries of sex and gender and would have been on higher alert for suspicious behaviour, like men in their twenties who are spending a lot time alone together."
Batt said Len and Cub's bond was "petering out," and Len was getting involved with other men.
Len also took up fox farming, which put him in competition with families already making money off the lucrative fox pelt market.
An archivist's note attached to one of the Keith family photos identifies a man standing outside a house in Havelock as being "partly responsible for having Leonard Keith kicked out of town for being homosexual."
In 1931, Len signed over control of his business and his finances to his sister Lucy and left for the United States. Green and Batt said they found no record that he ever came home until his burial in 1950.
Cub went on to marry and was well known in harness racing circles before his death in 1965.
'We see ourselves in their situation'
Len and Cub's story might never have been told if not for Havelock resident and local historian John Corey.
In 1984 he bought the Keith family's photo albums at an estate sale. He donated all of those striking black and white images to the provincial archives.
Green said the photos help affirm something he'd never learned about in school.
"I didn't see myself represented in New Brunswick's history," Green, 31, said of his growing up. "And I took New Brunswick history courses as a kid.
"So I sort of had it in my head that queer history in New Brunswick from this time did not exist or if it did, it had been destroyed."
A year after finding the photos, Green founded the Queer Heritage Initiative of New Brunswick, for the purpose of collecting and preserving archival records of LGBTQ history in the province.
Batt, 26, joined in 2018 and now serves as president.
"If you read the dedication in the book, you see that it's for queer youth in New Brunswick and them finding their place," said Batt.
Batt and Green say they relate to Len and Cub, even though their lives are separated by a century.
"This is a concrete visual record of queer people living in a time and place where it would have been quite hostile or dangerous for them to do that," Green said. "And I think that still resonates with some queer people living in certain communities in New Brunswick today."
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