Gender Dysphoria Across Borders: The Archival Pasts and Potentials of Erica Rutherford

by Jess Wilton

Threads of gender dysphoria unite the yellowing pages of adolescent diaries with the smudged print of typewritten letters in the Erica Rutherford fonds at the Prince Edward Island Public Archives. A trans artist who settled on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Rutherford passed away in 2008. She left behind numerous artworks that have been on display at the Venice Biennale as well as an autobiography and many records located at Archives PEI. Her archival record in this post will be primarily explored through her adolescent diary and a few letters. This illuminates experiences of gender dysphoria before and after her transition. It also sheds light on an important figure in PEI trans history.

Born on February 1^st 1923, Rutherford was assigned male at birth in Scotland. In 1975, she legally changed her name to Erica and, in the following year, received gender affirming surgery. For much of her life, Rutherford was a transient artist living in England, South Africa, Switzerland, Spain, the United States, and Canada. In 1985, she permanently settled in eastern PEI having already lived many lives as she details in her autobiography Nine Lives: The Autobiography of Erica Rutherford. At different times she was a painter, actor, screenwriter, children’s book illustrator,clothing store owner, and officer in the British Occupation Army of the Rhine. In 2009, her records were added to the Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island after her death. They represent the archive’s only available records with explicit themes of gender identity and dysphoria.

With 3.24 m of records, the Rutherford fonds encapsulate a variety of documents such as postcards, letters, a diary from her teenage years, several daybooks between 1976 and 2002, and even theatre setlists from her time as a set-designer and actor. Note that the biography of Rutherford written by Archives PEI and several of the referenced sources reflect the older language of “transsexual” rather than transgender to refer to Rutherford and her surgery. Rutherford uses the term herself in some correspondence. This term has a long history in medical and psychological communities rather than trans communities, so it is generally not the preferred term. This article uses “trans” to reflect the change in terminology while still referencing the different term used by Rutherford. 

The diary is an extremely compelling archival record. The archive has labeled it as “diary 1938 to 1941,” but it is possible that this diary was used after 1941 since there are some inscriptions dated between 1941 and 1944.¹ The diary is medium-sized with a midnight blue cover. Its spine is tattered and partially exposed while the cover shows signs of water damage and wear on the corners. The inner pages appear untouched by water, with no obvious staining or smudging. The diary is mostly filled with bound lined paper, but some pages have separated from the binding and there are some folded up documents pressed between pages including a typewritten, un-addressed letter with handwritten edits. The content across the pages vary, but it mentions Rutherford’s friends at the time, specifically a girl named Isabel and their time acting together. It appears that this diary was created to record Rutherford’s teenage years and her time in school spent in England, but also as an outlet about gender. Later Rutherford writes that thoughts about gender did “creep in” during her adolescence, emphasizing the importance of records from her adolescent years to a history of gender dysphoria and her life as a trans woman (Nine Lives, 12).

On its own, this diary grants historians a glimpse into the life of a young adult during the late 1930s and early 1940s in England. Considering the overlap with World War Two, it could specifically provide insight into the lives of young adults during the conflict. Additionally, it is filled with the thoughts and struggles of a teenager and young adult while accompanied by adolescent humour. For example, on the inner page of the cover, Rutherford wrote several inscriptions over the years. The first, dated 1941, is a long paragraph beginning with, “Truth is my motto. Truth is my purpose,” while the second from 1942 states, “there is no such thing as truth, a lie is as true as the truth.” In 1943 and 1944, the tone changes dramatically from philosophical to crude with “Balls!” and “Cock” as the only inscriptions, respectively. The first two phrases are perhaps an attempt at developing some sort of intellectual relationship to truth or pointing to an inner struggle with the concept. The second phrases and their phallic word choices express typical humour of a young person, particularly one socialized as a boy for many years. Further analysis of this intellectual thought and humorous language, as they change over time, can help reveal the development of Rutherford’s intellectual character and possibly even her sense of self. 

Rutherford also mentions sensuality on several occasions throughout the diary. Alongside other mentions of sensuality and sexual thoughts, this information could indicate Rutherford’s later overt struggles with sexuality and gender identity. In a letter from approximately 1975 to a “George” she writes that “I am a classic case of transsexualism … since I was twenty years old I was aware of the whole thing.”^2[1] The diary includes the years just before this revelation. It provides contextual evidence in a historical discussion of gender dysphoria during the 1940s—specifically the social and psychological treatment of this mental state—or coming out as a transgender woman in 1975. Since it is likely this understanding of gender and dysphoria was a process over time, this diary helps inform a queer history of Rutherford as a young pre-transition trans person. 

While Rutherford lived in many countries throughout her life, she made PEI her home for over 20 years with her ex-wife Gale. In her autobiography, she writes that after visiting PEI, “I felt like home there for the first time since I had come to North America (Nine Lives, 194). During her time on PEI, she widely participated in island affairs including connecting with well-known Island authors such as Deirdre Kessler and forming the PEI Printmakers Council. With further study, her later records from after her permanent move to the island could reveal an introspective look at life as a trans woman living in rural PEI. 

This deep dive into Rutherford’s diary is just scraping the top of a history of gender dysphoria across borders and only begins to shed light onto this trans artist’s remarkable life. The extensive fonds at the PEI archives deserve significantly more attention from historians as they relate to Rutherford’s transnational network for artists and as an essential episode of trans history on the Island. Trans+ history and individuals are not new. They “have always existed” and that includes Prince Edward Island. Today the province also has a vibrant trans community. Both the PEI Transgender Network and PEERS Alliance have some amazing initiatives for current trans+ folks on the island, including a trans artist exhibit in downtown Charlottetown and an outdoor group for trans and gender diverse children. In times of increasing violence against trans and genderqueer folks around the world and anti-trans sentiment in the Maritimes specifically, it is even more necessary to explore these historical roots and highlight the histories of our communities. 

Though I grew up quite nearby in rural PEI, I never had the opportunity to meet Erica before she passed away. Yet, in her records I saw glimpses of so many people I knew. I found letters between her and Jean Weber who was my first boss at the Macphail Homestead, introducing me to archiving and Island history. Rutherford had also corresponded with my Mom’s favourite elementary school teacher, Dierdre Kessler, who she always said had the best ghost stories. While these records do shed light on transnational histories of art and gender, they also speak to communities and kinship ties shaped by the Island.

Jess Wilton is a doctoral candidate in history at York University. Her work focuses on the queer history of Nova Scotia from the 1960s to the 1990s through material history and archival practices.

Further Reading:

The Nine Lives of Erica Rutherford
Available to borrow at PEI Libraries, call number: 921 RUT 1993, as well as at the Toronto Public Library and various higher education libraries across Canada

American Historical Associations – “What is trans History”

University of Victoria’s Transgender Archives

Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works Part One and Part Two

1. Erica Rutherford, Diary 1938-1941. Diary. Series 3; subseries 1, folio 1, inside cover. Public Archives and Records Office Prince Edward Island. Erica Rutherford fonds. ↩︎
2. Erica Rutherford, Letters written by Erica undated. Letter. Series 5. Subseries 1, folio 6, p.1, Public Archives and Records Office Prince Edward Island. Erica Rutherford fonds. Note: The listing is undated, but she writes on the second page of the letter that she is 52, which would make the year around 1975. ↩︎