Jun 23, 2025 MANROOT: A CELEBRATION OF PRIDE

“…Broad breast-front, curling hair of the breast, breast-bone, breast-side,
Ribs, belly, backbone, joints of the backbone,
Hips, hip-sockets, hip-strength, inward and outward round, man-balls, man-root…”
— Walt Whitman, “I Sing the Body Electric”

The first published example of the word “manroot” is seen in 1848 in a book titled Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego. The publication was written by W.H. Emory, a prominent nineteenth century American surveyor, engineer, and U.S. Army Officer, and is his account of the journey from Kansas to California with Stephen W. Kearny’s Army of the West as they sought to gain control over New Mexico and California near the beginning of the Mexican-American War.

“Manroot” makes its first appearance early in the book when Emory is describing the environmental conditions of Bent’s Old Fort, a trading post located in the Southeast of Colorado. Emory writes of the plant on page 13: “that wonderful plant, the Ipomea leptophylla, called by the hunter manroot, from the similarity of its root in size and shape to the body of a man. It is esculent, and serves to sustain human life in some of the many vicissitudes of hunger and privation to which men who roam the prairies, as an occupation, are subjected.”

Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth…
United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
Washington: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, 1848
E405.2 U56 1848

The University of Utah’s Rare Books Collection has preserved a copy of Emory’s book for its historical significance. The text was used long after its publication as a guide to those traveling westward from Kansas. Additionally, its description of the environmental and agricultural conditions of the Western part of the country were instrumental for naturalists, and perhaps even poets, of the time period.

Though it’s not clear if famed American poet, Walt Whitman, was familiar with Emory’s work, it seems likely considering that the word “manroot” isn’t seen again in print until Whitman’s notorious compilation of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The word is used in the first edition of Whitman’s 1855 poem amidst a larger enumeration of parts of the human body: “Hips, hip-sockets, hip-strength, inward and outward round, man-balls, man-root,…” Though the Rare Books Department at the University of Utah does not own an original first edition, we do house a facsimile of the first edition which was reprinted in the 1960s for historical purposes. Here we can see the artistry of Whitman’s first edition which is reflected in the illuminated title and dark green binding.

Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Brooklyn, NY: Eakins Press, 1966
PS3201 1966a

Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Brooklyn, NY: Eakins Press, 1966
PS3201 1966a

The oldest original copy of the text that the Rare Books Department houses is the second edition from 1856, in which the poem is labeled as the “Poem of the Body.” It isn’t until the 1867 edition of the work that Whitman labels the poem “I Sing the Body Electric.”

Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Brooklyn, NY: Self Published, 1856
PS3201 1856

At its core, Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric” is a celebration of the human body, independent of societal constructs like gender or race. That said, Whitman’s public, and at times explicit, admiration of the male body was not always well-received by mainstream culture, as many surmised that Whitman’s use of homoerotic language was indicative of the poet’s homosexuality. Nearly two centuries after the initial publication of the poem, Whitman’s sexuality is still unknown, though a great deal of Whitman scholars agree that Whitman had romantic relationships with men throughout his life. Regardless, Leaves of Grass has been an enduring inspiration to queer artists of all genders, orientations, and time periods. The influence of Whitman on queer literary communities emerging in the latter half of the twentieth century is especially notable and perfectly exemplified by Paul Mariah and Richard Tagget’s ManRoot Magazine, named after Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric.”

Manroot
Paul Mariah (1937-1996)
South San Francisco, CA: Man-Root, 1969
PS1 M35 No.1

Manroot
Paul Mariah (1937-1996)
South San Francisco, CA: Man-Root, 1969
PS1 M35 No.1

ManRoot Magazine is a perfect example of what’s known today as a “little magazine,” a literary form that emerged in the early twentieth century and is notable for its refusal to adhere to the mainstream, consumerist tendencies of turn-of-the-century America. The form’s essence is seen in its value of experimental, transgressional artistry over typical consumer desires. It should come as no surprise then that little magazines were the chosen medium of individuals working to advance queer rights in the latter half of the twentieth century through artistic and literary endeavors.

Manroot
Paul Mariah (1937-1996)
South San Francisco, CA: Man-Root, 1971
PS1 M35 No.5

Manroot
Paul Mariah (1937-1996)
South San Francisco, CA: Man-Root, 1971
PS1 M35 No.5

Mariah and Tagget, the founders and editors of ManRoot, were active figures in the fight for queer justice in the Bay Area throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. They compiled their little magazine with the intention of highlighting poetry written by queer or otherwise marginalized folks. The magazine was published from the years 1969 to 1981, resulting in a total of twelve issues, the first, fifth, and eight of which are housed in the University of Utah’s Rare Books Collection.

Manroot
Paul Mariah (1937-1996)
South San Francisco, CA: Man-Root, 1973
PS1 M35 no. 8

Manroot
Paul Mariah (1937-1996)
South San Francisco, CA: Man-Root, 1973
PS1 M35 no. 8

In all three of the issues we hold, we can see ManRoot’s mission to advance and celebrate queer joy through its selection of poets, wide-ranging content, and the community it built.

Contributed by Theadora Soter, Rare Books Assistant Curator
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