GLBT Historical Society
Encyclopedia
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society maintains an extensive archive of materials relating to the history of LGBT people
in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California
. The society also sponsors The GLBT History Museum, a stand-alone museum that has attracted international attention.
Referred to as San Francisco's "queer Smithsonian
," the society is one of approximately 30 LGBT archives in the United States—and is among the handful of such organizations to benefit from a paid staff and to function as a full-fledged center for exhibitions, programming, research, and production of oral histories. It is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service
as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 educational association and is registered with the State of California as a nonprofit corporation.
The archives, reading room and administrative offices of the GLBT Historical Society are located at 657 Mission St., Suite 300, in San Francisco's South of Market museum district. The GLBT History Museum, which serves as a separate center for exhibitions and programs, is located at 4127 18th St. in the city's Castro neighborhood.
and Estelle Freedman, independent scholar Jeffrey Escoffier, author and community organizer Amber Hollibaugh, and anthropologist and queer theorist Gayle Rubin
.
Each member of the Gay and Lesbian History Project was asked to develop a major project for presentation to the group; as his contribution, Walker produced a proposal for a historical society to preserve the records of Bay Area gay and lesbian history and to make this history available to the community. With encouragement from the History Project, Walker and several other individuals subsequently announced a public meeting on March 16, 1985, to discuss founding a historical society. Some 50 individuals attended, and they voted to form the institution initially known as the San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society.
Over the course of its history, the Historical Society has renamed itself twice to better reflect the scope of its holdings and the range of identities and practices represented in its collections and programs. In 1990, the organization changed its name to the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California, thus clarifying the geographical reach of its primary collections. In 2000, responding to concerns raised by bisexual and transgender community members and their allies, the institution adopted its current name—the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society—to more clearly state the inclusive mission the society had pursued since it was founded. In everyday usage, the institution generally employs a short form of its name: the GLBT Historical Society.
The archival collections of the Historical Society initially were housed in the living room of Walker's apartment on 18th Street in San Francisco. In 1990, the society moved into its own space, in the basement of the Redstone Building
on 16th Street near South Van Ness—a building which also housed the gay and lesbian theater company Theater Rhinoceros. The collections grew constantly, and by 1995 the Historical Society moved into a 3700 square feet (343.7 m²) space on the fourth floor of 973 Market St. It moved again in 2003 to a location on the third floor of a building at 657 Mission St. that also houses other cultural institutions: the Cartoon Art Museum
, San Francisco Camerawork and the Catharine Clark Gallery
. The 6600 square feet (613.2 m²) space included two dedicated exhibition galleries, a reading room, a large reserve for the archival collections, and several offices for staff and volunteers. The society regularly used one of the galleries for presentation of history talks and panel discussions, many of which were videotaped for posting on the Web.
In November 2010, in anticipation of the opening of its new GLBT History Museum, the society closed its galleries and program space at 657 Mission St., while maintaining its archives, reading room and administrative offices at that location.
Among the noteworthy manuscript collections are more than 200 boxes of material donated by early lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
. Lyon and Martin were cofounders of the Daughters of Bilitis
, the first lesbian organization in the United States, and their papers at the society include the complete surviving office records of the organization. The society's holdings also include a substantial group of administrative records from the Mattachine Society
, the first enduring homosexual rights organization in the United States. The records form part of the papers of Donald S. Lucas, who served as secretary of the Mattachine Society during much of its history.
The society likewise holds numerous manuscript collections documenting the history of transgender individuals and movements in Northern California, including the complete papers of Lou Sullivan
, founder of the pioneering female-to-male transsexual organization FTM International. Holdings focused on the history of bisexuality include the typescript and research files for "Bisexuality and Androgyny: An Analysis," the 1975 master's thesis in psychology by Maggi Rubenstein, cofounder of San Francisco Sex Information
and the San Francisco Bisexual Center.
The GLBT Historical Society's artifacts collection includes the personal effects of Harvey Milk
, the first openly gay elected official in California. Milk's executors preserved a significant selection of his belongings after he was assassinated in 1978; they ultimately were inherited by the mother of Milk's former partner, Scott Smith (activist)
, who donated them to the GLBT Historical Society. The collection includes everyday objects such the battered, gold-painted kitchen table from Milk's apartment and several antique cameras that had been displayed at Castro Camera
, his shop in San Francisco's Castro District. The collection also includes the suit, shirt, belt and shoes Milk was wearing when he was shot to death by assassin Dan White
.
Searchable catalogs of the society's manuscript collections and periodicals holdings are available on the institution's website, and complete finding aids for many of the manuscript collections are available through the Online Archive of California (a project of the California Digital Library
).
, and Amy Sueyoshi, associate professor of race and resistance studies and sexuality studies at San Francisco State University
, with assistance from a curatorial committee of academics and independent scholars.
Among the objects displayed were a preliminary study for the "Maestrapeace" mural on the façade of the San Francisco Women's Building, the sewing machine used by designer Gilbert Baker
to create the first rainbow flag
, and the suit worn by openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk when he was assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978. Approximately 25,000 people from throughout the United States and around the world visited the exhibition during its 11-month run.
in Berlin, which opened in 1985.
, cut a rainbow ribbon to officially inaugurate the museum; in addition, he presented a proclamation declaring the date "GLBT History Museum Day" in San Francisco. It was Lee's first appearance as mayor at a public event. Also in attendance was Scott Wiener
, newly elected as the member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for the district including the Castro neighborhood—the seat once held by Harvey Milk
-- as well as openly gay Supervisor David Campos
, who represents the neighboring Mission District. Other guests included pioneering lesbian activist Phyllis Lyon, novelist Armistead Maupin
, photographer Daniel Nicoletta
, former supervisor and current mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty
, and noted drag personality Donna Sachet
.
The launch of the institution drew extraordinary media attention from across the United States and around the world, according to a report released by the museum a little more than a month after its debut. Thousands of newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasts, blogs and other outlets in at least 75 countries and 36 languages covered the opening. U.S. media that ran stories include the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, CNN en Español
, MSNBC
and CBS Radio
. Outside the United States, coverage included national television in Italy and Spain; radio in Belgium, Columbia and Venezuela; and newspapers and magazines such as Emarat Al Youm (United Arab Emirates), Reforma
(Mexico), Tempo Magazine (Indonesia)
, the South China Morning Post
, The Times of India
and Večernji list
(Croatia). Links to a sampling of stories on the museum along with the full media report are available on the museum website.
Among the items in the exhibition are the 1919 honorable discharge of gay novelist Clarkson Crane, who served in World War I
; the only known photograph of gay men held in the camps that the United States created for the Japanese-American internment during World War II; documents reflecting the life of female-to-male transsexual organizer and author Lou Sullivan
(1950–1991); an extravagant 1983 gown worn by San Francisco drag personality the Baroness Eugenia von Dieckoff (1920–1988); and photographs, flyers and t-shirts from the lesbian sex wars of the 1980s-1990s.
In the smaller front gallery, "Great Collections From the GLBT Historical Society Archives," curated by Historical Society Executive Director Paul Boneberg, offers an introduction to the kinds of materials collected by the society. Among the items on display are a distinctive example of the society's collection of textiles: the pantsuits that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
wore to their wedding during San Francisco's "Winter of Love" in 2004 and again in 2008 when they became the first couple to wed during the brief period when the state's high court legalized same-sex marriage in California
. On exhibit as examples of the society's artifacts collections are personal belongings of Harvey Milk
. In addition, the show includes examples from the society's collections of ephemera
; posters; periodicals; photographs; oral history
interviews; and film, video and recorded sound.
), the City and County of San Francisco, neighborhood merchants and numerous individual donors.
Wikipedia entries for related archives, libraries & special collections:
LGBT history
LGBT history refers to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peoples and cultures around the world, dating back to the first recorded instances of same-sex love and sexuality of ancient civilizations. What survives of many centuries' persecution– resulting in shame, suppression,...
in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. The society also sponsors The GLBT History Museum, a stand-alone museum that has attracted international attention.
Referred to as San Francisco's "queer Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
," the society is one of approximately 30 LGBT archives in the United States—and is among the handful of such organizations to benefit from a paid staff and to function as a full-fledged center for exhibitions, programming, research, and production of oral histories. It is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 educational association and is registered with the State of California as a nonprofit corporation.
The archives, reading room and administrative offices of the GLBT Historical Society are located at 657 Mission St., Suite 300, in San Francisco's South of Market museum district. The GLBT History Museum, which serves as a separate center for exhibitions and programs, is located at 4127 18th St. in the city's Castro neighborhood.
Organizational history
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society was launched in the mid-1980s when Willie Walker, a nurse, realized that gay history was dying along with victims of the AIDS epidemic. Walker was actively involved in a private study group, the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian History Project, which included among its members a number of individuals who would go on to make major cultural contributions—among them historians Allan BérubéAllan Berube
Allan Ronald Bérubé was an American historian, activist, independent scholar, self-described "community-based" researcher and college drop-out, and award-winning author, best known for his research and writing about homosexual members of the American Armed Forces during World War II...
and Estelle Freedman, independent scholar Jeffrey Escoffier, author and community organizer Amber Hollibaugh, and anthropologist and queer theorist Gayle Rubin
Gayle Rubin
Gayle S. Rubin is a cultural anthropologist best known as an activist and influential theorist of sex and gender politics. She has written on a range of subjects including feminism, sadomasochism, prostitution, pedophilia, pornography and lesbian literature, as well as anthropological studies and...
.
Each member of the Gay and Lesbian History Project was asked to develop a major project for presentation to the group; as his contribution, Walker produced a proposal for a historical society to preserve the records of Bay Area gay and lesbian history and to make this history available to the community. With encouragement from the History Project, Walker and several other individuals subsequently announced a public meeting on March 16, 1985, to discuss founding a historical society. Some 50 individuals attended, and they voted to form the institution initially known as the San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society.
Over the course of its history, the Historical Society has renamed itself twice to better reflect the scope of its holdings and the range of identities and practices represented in its collections and programs. In 1990, the organization changed its name to the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California, thus clarifying the geographical reach of its primary collections. In 2000, responding to concerns raised by bisexual and transgender community members and their allies, the institution adopted its current name—the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society—to more clearly state the inclusive mission the society had pursued since it was founded. In everyday usage, the institution generally employs a short form of its name: the GLBT Historical Society.
The archival collections of the Historical Society initially were housed in the living room of Walker's apartment on 18th Street in San Francisco. In 1990, the society moved into its own space, in the basement of the Redstone Building
Redstone Building
The Redstone Building, also known as the Redstone Labor Temple, was formerly called "The San Francisco Labor Temple" was constructed and operated by the San Francisco Labor Council Hall Associates. Initial planning started in 1910, with most construction work done during 1914...
on 16th Street near South Van Ness—a building which also housed the gay and lesbian theater company Theater Rhinoceros. The collections grew constantly, and by 1995 the Historical Society moved into a 3700 square feet (343.7 m²) space on the fourth floor of 973 Market St. It moved again in 2003 to a location on the third floor of a building at 657 Mission St. that also houses other cultural institutions: the Cartoon Art Museum
Cartoon Art Museum
The Cartoon Art Museum is a California art museum that specializes in the art of comics and cartoons. It is the only museum in the Western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art...
, San Francisco Camerawork and the Catharine Clark Gallery
Catharine Clark Gallery
Established in 1991, Catharine Clark Gallery presents the work of contemporary, living artists using a variety of media. The gallery is located in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Neighborhood; it is adjacent to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the African Diaspora, and is housed on...
. The 6600 square feet (613.2 m²) space included two dedicated exhibition galleries, a reading room, a large reserve for the archival collections, and several offices for staff and volunteers. The society regularly used one of the galleries for presentation of history talks and panel discussions, many of which were videotaped for posting on the Web.
In November 2010, in anticipation of the opening of its new GLBT History Museum, the society closed its galleries and program space at 657 Mission St., while maintaining its archives, reading room and administrative offices at that location.
Archival holdings
The GLBT Historical Society is home to one of the largest LGBT historical archives in the United States, with some 600 manuscript collections; 3,000 periodical titles; 75,000 photographs; 2,500 imprinted t-shirts; and 400 oral histories; as well as extensive holdings of film and video, historic textiles, posters, items of ephemera, works of fine and graphic arts, and artifacts.Among the noteworthy manuscript collections are more than 200 boxes of material donated by early lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin and Phyllis Ann Lyon were an American lesbian couple known as feminist and gay-rights activists...
. Lyon and Martin were cofounders of the Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
, the first lesbian organization in the United States, and their papers at the society include the complete surviving office records of the organization. The society's holdings also include a substantial group of administrative records from the Mattachine Society
Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
, the first enduring homosexual rights organization in the United States. The records form part of the papers of Donald S. Lucas, who served as secretary of the Mattachine Society during much of its history.
The society likewise holds numerous manuscript collections documenting the history of transgender individuals and movements in Northern California, including the complete papers of Lou Sullivan
Lou Sullivan
Louis Graydon Sullivan , born Sheila Jean Sullivan, was an American author and activist known for his work on behalf of trans men...
, founder of the pioneering female-to-male transsexual organization FTM International. Holdings focused on the history of bisexuality include the typescript and research files for "Bisexuality and Androgyny: An Analysis," the 1975 master's thesis in psychology by Maggi Rubenstein, cofounder of San Francisco Sex Information
San Francisco Sex Information
San Francisco Sex Information is an all-volunteer, 501 non-profit organization that provides free sex information via the World Wide Web, e-mail, telephone, and online social networking...
and the San Francisco Bisexual Center.
The GLBT Historical Society's artifacts collection includes the personal effects of Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
, the first openly gay elected official in California. Milk's executors preserved a significant selection of his belongings after he was assassinated in 1978; they ultimately were inherited by the mother of Milk's former partner, Scott Smith (activist)
Scott Smith (activist)
Joseph Scott Smith was a gay rights activist best known for his romantic relationship with Harvey Milk.-Biography:Smith was widely considered the muscle behind many of Milk's endeavors...
, who donated them to the GLBT Historical Society. The collection includes everyday objects such the battered, gold-painted kitchen table from Milk's apartment and several antique cameras that had been displayed at Castro Camera
Castro Camera
Castro Camera was a camera store in the Castro District of San Francisco, California, operated by Harvey Milk from 1972 until his assassination in 1978...
, his shop in San Francisco's Castro District. The collection also includes the suit, shirt, belt and shoes Milk was wearing when he was shot to death by assassin Dan White
Dan White
Daniel James "Dan" White was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall...
.
Searchable catalogs of the society's manuscript collections and periodicals holdings are available on the institution's website, and complete finding aids for many of the manuscript collections are available through the Online Archive of California (a project of the California Digital Library
California Digital Library
The California Digital Library is the University of California's 11th University Library. The CDL was founded to assist the ten University of California libraries in sharing their resources and holdings more effectively, in part through negotiating and acquiring consortial licenses on behalf of...
).
Pop-up museum (2008–2009)
From November 2008 through October 2009, the GLBT Historical Society sponsored a pop-up museum in the Castro District at the corner of 18th and Castro streets; the space featured an exhibition, "Passionate Struggle: Dynamics of San Francisco's GLBT History," that traced more than a century of the city's LGBT history using documents and artifacts from the society's collections. The exhibition was curated by Don Romesburg, assistant professor of women's and gender studies at Sonoma State UniversitySonoma State University
Sonoma State University is a public, coeducational business and liberal arts college affiliated with the California State University system. The main campus is located in Rohnert Park, California, United States and lies approximately south of Santa Rosa and north of San Francisco...
, and Amy Sueyoshi, associate professor of race and resistance studies and sexuality studies at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, with assistance from a curatorial committee of academics and independent scholars.
Among the objects displayed were a preliminary study for the "Maestrapeace" mural on the façade of the San Francisco Women's Building, the sewing machine used by designer Gilbert Baker
Gilbert Baker (artist)
Gilbert Baker is an artist and civil rights activist who in 1978 designed the Rainbow Flag, sometimes called the Pride Flag, Gay Pride Flag, or, since the early 1990s, Queer Flag, that is often used as a symbol of gay pride in LGBT rights marches.-Biography:Baker served in the U.S. Army from 1970...
to create the first rainbow flag
Rainbow flag (LGBT movement)
The rainbow flag, sometimes pride flag, LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in...
, and the suit worn by openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk when he was assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978. Approximately 25,000 people from throughout the United States and around the world visited the exhibition during its 11-month run.
GLBT History Museum
On Dec. 10, 2010, the GLBT Historical Society opened its GLBT History Museum in the Castro District for previews. Located in a storefront at 4127 18th St. near Castro Street, the 1600 square feet (148.6 m²) space houses two historical galleries with room for public programs, a small museum shop and a reception area. The society has signed a five-year lease for the space; the extensive build-out of the museum, along with a significant discount on the monthly rent, was donated by Walgreen Company, which holds the primary lease and is using about one-quarter of the storefront to expand the operations of its adjacent satellite pharmacy. The institution is believed to be the second full-scale, stand-alone GLBT history museum in the world, following the Schwules MuseumSchwules Museum
The Schwules Museum is an LGBT museum in Berlin which opened in 1985.The impetus for the founding of the Schwules Museum was a successful exhibition on gay topics at the Berlin Museum in summer 1984, Eldorado. This was the first public exposition in Germany of recent research on gay life...
in Berlin, which opened in 1985.
Grand opening
The grand opening of the museum took place on the evening of Jan. 13, 2011. The newly appointed interim mayor of San Francisco, Edwin M. LeeEdwin M. Lee
Edwin Mah Lee is the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco, California. He was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on January 11, 2011 to serve out the remainder of former mayor Gavin Newsom's term, after Newsom resigned to take office as Lieutenant Governor of California. At the time of his appointment...
, cut a rainbow ribbon to officially inaugurate the museum; in addition, he presented a proclamation declaring the date "GLBT History Museum Day" in San Francisco. It was Lee's first appearance as mayor at a public event. Also in attendance was Scott Wiener
Scott Wiener
Scott Wiener is an American politician currently serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 8, consisting of The Castro, Diamond Heights, Duboce Triangle, Eureka Valley, Glen Park, and Noe Valley...
, newly elected as the member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for the district including the Castro neighborhood—the seat once held by Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
-- as well as openly gay Supervisor David Campos
David Campos
David Campos , is a Guatemalan-American attorney and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 9. The district consists of Bernal Heights, part of Portola and the Inner Mission and it elected him on November 4, 2008 in the 2008 San Francisco elections.-Early life and...
, who represents the neighboring Mission District. Other guests included pioneering lesbian activist Phyllis Lyon, novelist Armistead Maupin
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. is an American writer, best known for his Tales of the City series of novels, based in San Francisco.-Early life:...
, photographer Daniel Nicoletta
Daniel Nicoletta
Daniel Nicoletta is an American photographer, photo journalist and gay rights activist.-Biography:Born in New York City, Daniel Nicoletta was raised in Utica, NY. In his late teens he left New York to attend San Francisco State University, later graduating from the Bachelor of Arts program...
, former supervisor and current mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty
Bevan Dufty
Bevan Dufty is an American politician and former Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represented San Francisco's District 8, encompassing the 71,000 residents of Ashbury Heights, Buena Vista, The Castro, Diamond Heights, Dolores Park, Duboce Triangle, Glen Park, Noe Valley,...
, and noted drag personality Donna Sachet
Donna Sachet
Donna Sachet is an American drag actor, singer, community activist, spokesmodel, and writer based in San Francisco. She has been awarded many community honors including as Grand Marshal in the San Francisco Pride parade and being named first lady of the Castro district by California Senator Mark Leno...
.
The launch of the institution drew extraordinary media attention from across the United States and around the world, according to a report released by the museum a little more than a month after its debut. Thousands of newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasts, blogs and other outlets in at least 75 countries and 36 languages covered the opening. U.S. media that ran stories include the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, CNN en Español
CNN en Español
CNN en Español is CNN's Spanish language news channel. On March 17, 1997, CNN launched CNN en Español, a 24-hour Spanish-language news network for the Hispanic American and United States marketplace.-Mexico programming:...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
. Outside the United States, coverage included national television in Italy and Spain; radio in Belgium, Columbia and Venezuela; and newspapers and magazines such as Emarat Al Youm (United Arab Emirates), Reforma
Reforma
Reforma is a Mexican newspaper based in Mexico City. It has 276,700 readers in Mexico City. The paper shares content with other papers in parent newsgroup Grupo Reforma. The cumulative readership of the newsgroup is above 400,000...
(Mexico), Tempo Magazine (Indonesia)
Tempo magazine (Indonesia)
Tempo is an Indonesian weekly magazine that covers news and politics. It was founded by Goenawan Mohamad and Yusril Djalinus and the first edition was published in March 1971.-New Order era:...
, the South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
The South China Morning Post , together with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, published by the SCMP Group with a circulation of 104,000....
, The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
and Večernji list
Vecernji list
Večernji list is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb.The newspaper was started in the 1950s and it is today one of two largest daily newspapers in Croatia...
(Croatia). Links to a sampling of stories on the museum along with the full media report are available on the museum website.
Debut exhibitions
The GLBT History Museum debuted with two multimedia exhibitions. In the larger main gallery, "Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating San Francisco's GLBT History" traces more than 20 key themes in the past 100 years of the history of LGBT people and communities in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Curated by historians Gerard Koskovich, Don Romesburg and Amy Sueyoshi with help from seven associate curators, the show includes more than 450 objects, photographs, documents, costumes, and film and video clips. All the materials are from the society's collections, and most have never before been displayed.Among the items in the exhibition are the 1919 honorable discharge of gay novelist Clarkson Crane, who served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
; the only known photograph of gay men held in the camps that the United States created for the Japanese-American internment during World War II; documents reflecting the life of female-to-male transsexual organizer and author Lou Sullivan
Lou Sullivan
Louis Graydon Sullivan , born Sheila Jean Sullivan, was an American author and activist known for his work on behalf of trans men...
(1950–1991); an extravagant 1983 gown worn by San Francisco drag personality the Baroness Eugenia von Dieckoff (1920–1988); and photographs, flyers and t-shirts from the lesbian sex wars of the 1980s-1990s.
In the smaller front gallery, "Great Collections From the GLBT Historical Society Archives," curated by Historical Society Executive Director Paul Boneberg, offers an introduction to the kinds of materials collected by the society. Among the items on display are a distinctive example of the society's collection of textiles: the pantsuits that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin and Phyllis Ann Lyon were an American lesbian couple known as feminist and gay-rights activists...
wore to their wedding during San Francisco's "Winter of Love" in 2004 and again in 2008 when they became the first couple to wed during the brief period when the state's high court legalized same-sex marriage in California
Same-sex marriage in California
The status of same-sex marriage in California is unique among the 50 U.S. states, in that the state formerly granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but has discontinued doing so...
. On exhibit as examples of the society's artifacts collections are personal belongings of Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
. In addition, the show includes examples from the society's collections of ephemera
Ephemera
Ephemera are transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters,...
; posters; periodicals; photographs; oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
interviews; and film, video and recorded sound.
Hours
The GLBT History Museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays and Mondays, noon to 5 p.m. General admission is $5.00; free for members of the GLBT Historical Society. The first Wednesday of each month, admission is free for all visitors courtesy of a sponsorship by the Bob Ross Foundation. Funding for the new museum also comes from presenting sponsor Levi's (Levi Strauss & Co.Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
), the City and County of San Francisco, neighborhood merchants and numerous individual donors.
Associated projects
To expand public access to its archival holdings and historical programs, the GLBT Historical Society has sponsored a number of associated projects:- In 1991, in partnership with the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, the society published a microfilm edition of a broad selection of scarce newsletters, magazines and newspapers from its periodicals collection.
- In 1999, the society launched an annual series of exhibitions known as "Making a Case for Community History." Under the guidance of exhibitions coordinator Paul Gabriel, the project brought together advisory groups from diverse LGBT communities and organizations in San Francisco to curate historical displays sponsored by the society in a variety of public spaces during San Francisco PrideSan Francisco PrideThe San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies...
celebrations in June. The first "Making a Case" exhibition was shown in the mezzanine of the Castro TheatreCastro TheatreThe Castro Theatre is a popular San Francisco movie palace which became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street, in the Castro district, it was built in 1922 with a Spanish Colonial Baroque façade that pays homage—in its great arched central window...
during the International LGBT Film Festival (Frameline) in the last two weeks of June 1999, then in a tent pavilion on the lawn in front of City Hall in San Francisco Civic Center on the Saturday and Sunday of the Pride festival. The exhibition included separate cases representing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; African Americans; Latinos/as; bears—see "bear (gay culture)"; the transgenderTransgenderTransgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
community; and the leather subcultureLeather subcultureThe leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures...
and SM community. Subsequent "Making a Case" exhibitions were mounted in 2000 and 2001.
- In 2004 and 2005, further microfilm editions of the society's periodicals holdings were published by Primary Source Media, an imprint of the GaleGale (publisher)Gale is an educational publishing company based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the United States, in the western suburbs of Detroit. It was part of the Thomson Learning division of the Thomson Corporation, a Canadian company, but became part of Cengage Learning in 2007.The company, formerly known...
educational publishing house.
- In 2006, the society created its own YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel for the purpose of disseminating film and video from its holdings, as well as videos of its historical programs. Among the materials posted are films from the Harold O'Neal collection of home movies documenting Bay Area gay life from the late 1930s through the mid-1980s.
- In 2007, the society created an account on the online photo-sharing site Flickr to publish historical images from its holdings and photographs of its programs and events.
- In 2008, the society established a regularly updated fan page on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. As of June 26, 2011, more than 5,000 Facebook subscribers had "liked" the page.
- In 2009, the society launched an online searchable database of the more than 10,000 obituaries and death notices that have appeared in the leading San Francisco LGBT weekly, the Bay Area ReporterBay Area ReporterThe Bay Area Reporter is a free weekly newspaper serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities in the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the oldest-continuously published, and one of the largest LGBT newspapers in the United States....
, starting with the first such article published in the newspaper in 1979; many of the obituaries reflect the catastrophic toll of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco from the early 1980s through the late 1990s.
- In 2010, the society launched a project to create and post online digital files from its holdings of recorded sound; dubbed the "Gayback Machine", the initiative debuted with recordings of more than 250 hours of content from weekly Bay Area gay radio programs produced by journalist Randy Alfred from 1973 to 1984.
Awards & honors
The GLBT Historical Society—and since 2011, its GLBT History Museum—have received a number of awards and honors. Following is a small sample:- The GLBT Historical Society is voted "Best Local Nonprofit" in the 2010 "Best of the Bay" readers poll conducted by the San Francisco Bay GuardianSan Francisco Bay GuardianThe San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
, a weekly alternative newspaper published in San Francisco.
- The GLBT Historical Society is granted the 2010 Community Service Award of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic ClubAlice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic ClubThe Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club is a San Francisco-based association and political action committee for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Democrats. Founded in 1971 by activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Alice was the first organization for gay Democrats in the United States. It...
of San Francisco.
- The GLBT Historical Society and the GLBT History Museum are elected Local Organizational Grand Marshal of the 2011 San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade and Celebration (San Francisco PrideSan Francisco PrideThe San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies...
). The parade took place on June 26, 2011; Historical Society board chairs Andrew Jolivette and Amy Sueyoshi rode in a 1940 black Cadillac provided by the Freewheelers Car Club; approximately two dozen society and museum volunteers and supporters marched behind the car carrying a banner for the museum.
- The GLBT History Museum is honored by the editors for "Best Queer Exhibitionism" in the "City Living" section of the 2011 "Best of the Bay" issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian: "The first of its kind in the U.S., the sleek storefront gallery may be small, but it packs a huge emotional and educational punch.... The museum's lavender arsenal has ripped the lid off the often-obscured queer past, and attracted tens of thousands of curious visitors (Britney Spears among them)."
See also
- Timeline of LGBT historyTimeline of LGBT historyThe following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender related history.-9660 to 5000 BC:* Mesolithic rock art in Sicily depicts phallic male figures in pairs that have been interpreted variously, including as depictions of homosexual intercourse.-7000 to 1700 BC:*Among the sexual...
Wikipedia entries for related archives, libraries & special collections:
- Australian Lesbian and Gay ArchivesAustralian Lesbian and Gay ArchivesThe Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives is a non-profit, community-based organisation of volunteers committed to the collection and preservation of material reflecting the lives and experiences of LGBT Australians. The material collected is either produced by LGBT people in Australia or...
(Melbourne) - Canadian Lesbian and Gay ArchivesCanadian Lesbian and Gay ArchivesThe Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives is a non-profit organization in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which collects material relating to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in Canada....
(Toronto) - Centrum Schwule GeschichteCentrum Schwule GeschichteCentrum Schwule Geschichte e. V. , abbreviated CSG, is a German LGBT organization based in Cologne ....
(Cologne) - Gerber/Hart LibraryGerber/Hart LibraryThe Gerber/Hart Library , founded in 1981, is the largest circulating library of gay and lesbian titles in the Midwestern United States...
(Chicago) - GLBT History Museum of Central FloridaGLBT History Museum of Central FloridaThe GLBT History Museum of Central Florida is an effort to collect, preserve and exhibit the histories of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities of Central Florida...
(Orlando). Note: Not affiliated with The GLBT History Museum in San Francisco. - Hall-Carpenter ArchivesHall-Carpenter ArchivesThe Hall–Carpenter Archives are named after the authors Marguerite Radclyffe Hall and Edward Carpenter...
(London) - Irish Queer ArchiveIrish Queer ArchiveIrish Queer Archive is a comprehensive collection of material in Ireland relating to homosexuality, LGBT literature and general queer studies....
in the National Library of IrelandNational Library of IrelandThe National Library of Ireland is Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism is the member of the Irish Government responsible for the library....
(Dublin) - Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender StudiesJean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender StudiesThe Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies is a collection of GLBT historical materials housed in the Special Collections and Rare Books section of the University of Minnesota Libraries, located underground in the Elmer L. Andersen...
(Minneapolis) - Lambda Archives of San Diego
- Leather Archives and MuseumLeather Archives and MuseumThe Leather Archives & Museum , based in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, USA, has much information and details on the beginning of the leather subculture and BDSM community...
(Chicago) - One National Gay & Lesbian ArchivesOne National Gay & Lesbian ArchivesONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives is the oldest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender organization in the United States and the largest repository of LGBT materials in the world. Since 2010 ONE Archives has been a part of the University of Southern California Libraries. ONE Archives...
(Los Angeles) - Quebec Gay ArchivesQuebec Gay ArchivesThe Quebec Gay Archives is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the history of the gay and lesbian communities of Quebec. Founded in 1983 and located in Montreal, the QGA maintains collections of periodicals, newspapers, press clippings, book, videocassettes, DVDs, poster, photos...
(Montreal) - Schwules MuseumSchwules MuseumThe Schwules Museum is an LGBT museum in Berlin which opened in 1985.The impetus for the founding of the Schwules Museum was a successful exhibition on gay topics at the Berlin Museum in summer 1984, Eldorado. This was the first public exposition in Germany of recent research on gay life...
(Berlin) - Stonewall Library & ArchivesStonewall Library & ArchivesThe Stonewall Library & Archives DBA as Stonewall Library Museum Archive is a privately-operated library in Fort Lauderdale, Florida which focuses on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender cultural and historical documents and publications...
(Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) - Tretter Collection at the Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
(Minneapolis)
External links
- GLBT Historical Society: Official Website
- GLBT Historical Society: YouTube Channel (WARNING: sound)
- GLBT Historical Society: Flickr Photo-Sharing Site
- GLBT Historical Society: Online Database of Bay Area Reporter Obituaries
- GLBT Historical Society: Gayback Machine (WARNING: sound)
- Online Archive of California: Finding aids to collections at the GLBT Historical Society
- Primary Source Media (publisher of microfilm editions of periodicals from the holdings of the GLBT Historical Society)