Kate Thomas
Kate Thomas (b. 1873) was a poet, playwright, yogi, and activist in early twentieth-century Utah. From an early age, she was instilled with a love for theater and the arts. Her father, R.K. Thomas, was a choreographer for a time at the Salt Lake Theater and eventually transformed a family barn into a small theater called The Barnacle. At The Barnacle, Thomas and her 12 siblings were often seen dancing, singing, and acting in small-scale shows under the hayloft.
Kate Thomas (1873-1950).
After attending the LDS Business College and University of Deseret, Thomas became a roaming writer and artist. She bounced between Salt Lake City and New York City, and even traveled across Europe. All the while she wrote for Utah publications such as the Relief Society Magazine and the Young Woman’s Journal.
In New York, Thomas was part of the 1910s’ thriving counter-cultural, queer community of Greenwich Village. Here, she explored Buddhism, anarchism, “complete Yoga consciousness,” and was an ardent advocate for peace after the outbreak of World War I.
Kate Thomas (left) with actors at The Barnacle, a small SLC theater. Circa 1901-1905. Image Courtesy University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections
Thomas spent her later years in Utah, living with her brother Elbert Thomas who was a Democrat in the Utah state legislature. Her most famous poem, “Hymn of the Pioneer,” was made popular during the 1947 pioneer centennial, but is hardly representative of her work. Many of Thomas’s poems are full of yearning, passion, and references to her own “gayness.”
Today, you can read Thomas’ poetry and private journal of “love poetry” at the Utah Historical Society special collections (MSS B 88). Her poems give us an insight into her passion for music, theater, and especially women. Thomas’ love of women was in some ways a secret desire – she never married and we have no evidence she co-habitated with a woman. Yet it was also public, with some of her most homoerotic poems being published in the Relief Society Magazine.
Thomas died in 1950.
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“A Gay Musician” By Kate Thomas
A gay musician I, ne’r knew a care,
My life a life of seeming,
Until I gazed in Illa's eyes & there
The soul of music saw upon me beaming.
The soul of music! Music was my god,
And when I saw her hid in Illa's eyes,
I needs must follow wheresoe'er she trod,
And worship her within that fair disguise.
One day sweet Illa's hand upon the keys
Trembled, & wondrous! marred the perfect strain.
I saw it as the heartsick wanderer sees
The open door that welcomes home again.
That dear white hand within my own I took.
"Illa", I whispered, "may I keep it so?"
The eager blood my anxious cheek forsook.
Fearing my love that loved me might say no.
Oh, foolish fear! My dear love's heart rebelled
That I should doubt & seeking to reprove.
She raised her eyes. There looking I beheld
The soul of Music through the eyes of love
