January 2nd

01-02-1900 – 12-26-1973 William Haines – Born in Staunton, Virginia. He was an American film actor and interior designer. By the end of the 1920s, he had become a popular box office draw. His career was cut short in the 1930s because he refused to deny he was gay. Haines quit acting in 1935 and became a successful interior designer, along with his life partner Jimmie Shields. He died of lung cancer in 1973. A lifelong friend, Joan Crawford, called them “the happiest couple in Hollywood.”

01-02-1857 – 12-02-1935 Martha Carey Thomas – Born in Baltimore, Maryland. She became the 2nd President of Bryn Mawr and in 1908, the first president of the National College Women’s Equal Suffrage League. She was also a leading member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After 1920 she advocated the policies of the National Woman’s Party. She was one of the early promoters of an equal rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For many years Thomas maintained an intimate relationship with Mamie Gwinn. Thomas and Gwinn lived together at Bryn Mawr College in a small cottage that came to be known “the Deanery.”

01-20-1961   Todd Haynes – Born in Los Angeles, California. He is an American independent film director, screenwriter, and producer. He’s also considered a pioneer of the New Queer Cinema movement in the early 1990s. In 2011, Haynes directed and co-wrote the HBO mini-series, Mildred Pierce. His sixth feature film, Carol, was in 2015. The film received six Academy Award nominations. Haynes is openly gay and identifies as irreligious. (Photo from 2009)