March 29, 1908 or 1916 – September 2, 1981
A native of Chicago, Samuel Fouche performed in the 1930s as Peggy Joyce at nightclubs in New York and became famous as the “Sepia Mae West.” By the early 1940s, he was living in Detroit and working as a waiter. In later life, Fouche found employment as a steward on an ocean liner, a job that took him to such ports of call as Columbia, France, Spain, Panama, and Venezuela.
Tampa Tribune, September 5, 1981
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 