A Small Collection of Exaggerated Proportions

Tom of Finland Drawings (GLC 108)
LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library

With the release of Dome Karukoski's film Tom of Finland, there is renewed interest in the life and work of Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991). Better known as Tom of Finland, his work appeals to and represents an entire community of gay men who enjoy the erotic charge of leather, uniforms, and well-muscled men.

A search in the library’s online catalog reveals several books about Tom of Finland and a documentary. The books include: Tom of Finland: Life and Work of a Gay Hero and Tom of Finland: His Life and Times by F. Valentine Hooven, et al.; Tom of Finland: The Art of Pleasure, text by Micha Ramakers; Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles (2016); and Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity, and Homosexuality by Micha Ramakers. The 1993 documentary is called Daddy and the Muscle Academy: Tom of Finland.

Tom of Finland Drawings (GLC 108)
LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library

However, you might not be aware that the library owns five original Tom of Finland drawings (GLC 108). In June 2015, Tom Nicoll contacted the LGBTQIA Center to see if we would be interested in some original artwork by Tom of Finland. Naturally, we jumped at the chance. Nicoll, who was a friend of Tom of Finland's, had a small collection of drawings that nicely represented the various themes of Tom of Finland's work: hyper-masculine men in uniforms or leather and in erotically charged scenarios.

Tom of Finland Drawings (GLC 108)
LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library

We selected 5 representative pieces. In one, a beach scene with five men, the jeans-clad fellow in the distance is Tom Nicoll. He also shared a copy of a photo taken in his younger years. These five original drawings are available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. The artwork is housed, quite appropriately, in an oversized folder.

Tom Nicoll, Tom of Finland Drawings (GLC 108)
LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library

New Accession / Old Friend: Barbara Grier

Barbara Grier and Helen Bennett, 1958
(Barbara Grier--Naiad Press Collection)

As we close out the year, I thought it would be fun to share some photos from a recent accession. In July Donna McBride, Barbara Grier's life partner, mailed 16 cartons of additions to the Barbara Grier--Naiad Press Collection. Grier was a lesbian publisher, author, and one of the founders of Naiad Press. To be honest, opening the boxes felt a lot like Christmas morning.

Barbara Grier, December, 1962
(Barbara Grier--Naiad Press Collection)

The additional material includes correspondence, photographs, publicity, books and periodicals, and some manuscripts written by others. The correspondence with Jane Rule from 1964 through 1978 is probably the single-most significant part of this accession. Their letters discuss Jane's writing, the writing of other authors, mutual friends, family, and their personal relationships.

The photos captured my attention, too. What made me smile most are the snapshots and scrapbook pages that document Grier's two committed relationships: with Helen Bennett (1952-1972) and with Donna McBride (1972-2011). These are touching because they show a slice of life that we can all relate to: vacations, new clothes, new cars, Christmas celebrations, birthdays, family, and pets. As we flip through these images, we (re)discover the life of an old and dear friend.

Barbara Grier, January 27, 1963
(Barbara Grier--Naiad Press Collection)

Descriptions of these newly added materials are being incorporated in the existing finding aid for the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30). The collection is available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library.

Pat Parker Celebration

In anticipation of tomorrow's Celebration of The Complete Works of Pat Parker at the Main Library, we thought it would be fun to share some photos and one of Parker's poems from the Hormel Center's archival collections.

Pat Parker, circa 1972
(Lynda Koolish Photographs Collection GLC 40)

To Lynda
(Pat Parker Poems GLC 85)

The Pat Parker Poems (GLC 85), the Lynda Koolish Photographs Collection (GLC 40), and the Cathy Cade Photographs Collection (GLC 41) are available at the San Francisco History Center, on the 6th floor of the Main Library. There is also a lovely photo portrait of Parker taken by Robert Giard in the Robert Giard Photographs Collection (GLC 37). Photos are available during San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection hours.

Of course the library has many of Parker's books and even a video recording of Parker and Audre Lorde. We hope to see you at Saturday's Celebration and we encourage you to explore the library's collections.

"Gente Gospeliers," Oakland, California, 1975
L to R: Joanne Garrett, Anita Onang, Pat Parker, Linda Tillery, and Jay Casselberry
(Cathy Cade Photographs Collection GLC 41)

Looking Back to See Our Way Forward

In response to this morning's headlines about Donald Trump's election and my concern about future rights and liberties, I searched for inspiration in the archives. I found it in the Barbara Cameron Papers.

Cameron, a Native American activist, lesbian, and writer, gave a speech shortly after Ronald Reagan's election to the presidency in 1980.

[Freedom of Women], p.1 (Barbara Cameron Papers)

[Freedom of Women], p.2 (Barbara Cameron Papers)

Her remarks address freedom for women, specifically, but she writes more broadly to include the challenges faced by all marginalized communities. Here are a few more pages to give you a taste of Cameron's eloquence.

[Freedom of Women], p.4 (Barbara Cameron Papers)

[Freedom of Women], p.6 (Barbara Cameron Papers)

You can find the entire speech in the Barbara Cameron Papers, available in the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library.

Last Call! Final Week for 20th Anniversary Exhibition!

They say all good things must come to an end. And that is the case with our 20th anniversary exhibition Queerest.Library.Ever. One week from today, Sunday, August 7th is the last day to see the show before we begin to put back all of the letters, scrapbooks, photos, and objects.

Tom Nicoll viewing the Tom of Finland display
(Photo courtesy of Brian Castagne)

I know you're asking "What does that really mean?"

It means...
If you haven't had a chance to see Gay Monopoly, go to the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch library, go directly to EVA, do not pass go...there you'll see Queer and Quirky: OBJECTifying Ourselves.

It also means...
If you're wondering who was on the Hormel Founders Committee and what their hairstyles were 20-odd years ago, you should visit the Hormel Center exhibition on the 3rd floor of the Main Library. You'll find materials on the beginnings of the Center and photos from the Shades of LGBTQI collecting project along with original artwork from Reversing Vandalism.

Sylvester
(GLC 101 Collection on Sylvester)

And if you'd like to see a photo of a young Sylvester, and of an even younger Jewelle Gomez, you'll want to stop by the Main Library's Jewett Gallery (lower level). The exhibition showcases an array of archival material that highlights activism, community and the ways we find to come together, visual representation of ourselves and by ourselves, and lesbian love within literary and publishing circles.

And, finally, if you'd like to know what we had on display 10 years ago, visit the Main Library's 6th floor bridge to rediscover the traveling panel exhibition "Out At The Library."

Don't miss your chance to see the exhibition. Plan to visit this week.

Considerate Vandalism Considered

This month I am full of questions. Without many answers.
Musing. Not amused or bemused. But confused, perhaps.

Since mid-March I have been focused on the Queerest. Library. Ever. exhibition here at the library. It is a big celebration for the 20th anniversary of the Hormel LGBTQIA Center, its programs, and its collections including the archives. Consequently I've been busy assisting the curator with many of the attendant details. I've been so wrapped up in preparations that I feel like one of the library's carefully sheltered artifacts that is protected from climate changes in the real world. One event this week peeled back those protective layers.

Out at the Library panel exhibit

The LGBTQIA archives are available through the San Francisco History Center on the 6th floor of the Main Library. As part of the big exhibition, the Out At The Library panel exhibit from the 10th anniversary of the Hormel Center is on the 6th floor bridge, about 40 feet away from the History Center's entrance. When I got back from lunch last week, a fellow librarian alerted me that there was something taped to one of the panels. And then another colleague mentioned the same. So I took a look.

I found a pamphlet titled "Thank You For Praying" taped to one of the panels. While the message seemed clear, I had to smile because it was taped with clear packing tape in the space between two pictured documents, Harvey Milk's datebook for 1978 and his speech "You've Got To Have Hope." The clear tape and pamphlet placement meant that the content of the exhibition was not obscured. One might call it considerate vandalism.

The pamphlet and tape were removed without damaging the panels but it left me wondering. Had the perpetrator read any of the text of the exhibition? How premeditated was the placement of the pamphlet? Did he or she choose a spot midway along the exhibition so that taping the pamphlet would be hidden from view? or was the location selected because it was Harvey Milk?

Out at the Library panel exhibit

The last lines of Milk's "You've Got To Have Hope" speech are: "Each of those people have his or her own hopes and aspirations, his or her own viewpoints and problems. Each of them contributes something unique to the life of the city. What they contribute, we call the 'quality of life.'"

In these past few days I've been helping with the installation of objects and labels. As a novice with exhibitions, I've found it's easy to have too many things in one case because everything tells a story, and every story is unique, and some are interconnected, and...You see my point. The archives is full of stories and objects, books and videos, that beg, and sometimes demand, to be heard.

What I've learned is that too many objects in one place results in the mental equivalent of shopping fatigue. The eyes need an empty space to rest. Similarly, the mind needs space before it can apprehend and comprehend. In a very real sense the library is that clear, open space. With a silence that welcomes a question. And a quiet space...to listen and to hear. Ideally to reflect and to respect. And, perhaps, to understand. That is what I pray for.

Assimilating Mattilda's Papers

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, is an author and activist who challenges the status quo within the LGBTQIA community. With anthologies such as That's Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, Mattilda gives a voice to ideas that differ from the mainstream and inspire us to demand more than inclusion.

Mattilda has been known by various names throughout her life: Matt Bernstein Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, and just Mattilda. She was the editor of her high school yearbook and its literary magazine, and has been involved with activism for GLBT issues, AIDS, and politics. She participated with ACT UP and was the co-founder of "Gay Shame" with one other person.

"Gay Shame" photo

She's an avid diarist and writer, and has lived in a variety of cities including New York and San Francisco. She is the author of The End of San Francisco (2013) and the novels So Many Ways To Sleep Badly (2008) and Pulling Taffy (Suspect Thoughts, 2003). She's also the editor of five anthologies: Tricks and Treats: Sex Workers Write About Their Clients (2000); That's Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation (2004); Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity (2006); Dangerous Families: Queer Writing on Surviving (2004); and Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform (2012).

The bulk of the Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore Papers (GLC 110) is from 1996-2011 and the major subjects include assimilation, gender, identity, and politics. The collection contains manuscripts, 'zines, published articles and books, photographs and audiovisual materials.

Feedback from D. Travers Scott
on a draft of The End of San Francisco

Roughly half of the collection is heavily edited drafts of The End of San Francisco and the submitted and edited drafts and correspondence for the anthology Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? The papers also contain a number of ‘zines, such as Gay Shame and Swallow Your Pride, which Mattilda produced, articles and reviews written by Mattilda, and several published interviews of Mattilda.

Come explore Mattilda's writing and anthologies. You might be inspired to re-examine your own ideas and you might assimilate some of the ideas you discover here. The Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore Papers (GLC 110) are available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library.

And for Throwback Thursday, here's the 2012 post Faggots in the Library? about Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?

Patti Roberts, An Advocate for Change

Patti Roberts
(GLC 111. Box 6)

Patricia (Patti) Rose Roberts was a longtime San Francisco Bay Area resident, an out lesbian, and a civil rights and labor attorney.

Patti was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, on November 13, 1946. She graduated from Brooklyn College in 1967 and went on to Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated from Boalt in 1970 with a J.D. degree and a desire to use her legal skills to help those traditionally without representation. That same year, she formed a collective Oakland household where she and others, including Stephen Bingham, lived. Roberts lived in the home for the next 41 years.

Poster: San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation
(GLC 111. Map Folder 2)

Roberts began her career with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) working on behalf of prisoners. She remained active with NLG, serving as president of the Bay Area chapter and on the local board. While continuing to do political work with the guild, Roberts began work as the head of the Women's Litigation Unit at San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Aid, representing poor women on a wide range of legal issues. Following her time at Legal Aid, Roberts founded and co-directed the Comparable Worth Project in Oakland, which pioneered much of the earliest legal work on the issue of pay inequity rooted in gender and race bias.

Roberts' Reader and Resource Materials list (p.1)
for Gay and Lesbian Issues in the Workplace course
(GLC 111. Box 3)

In 1977, Patti became a founding board member of the Lesbian Rights Project, re-named the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and she later served as NCLR interim executive director. NCLR is a nonprofit organization that was created to promote LGBT rights through litigation, public policy advocacy and public education.

Roberts began private practice as an employment discrimination attorney in 1990 and also taught LGBT, legal, and labor studies at City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State University Extension. As a lawyer, her practice gravitated toward the defense of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights as well as women's and minority rights in the Bay Area. During her entire career, Roberts remained an outspoken advocate for feminist and LGBT rights. Patti Roberts died unexpectedly on January 7, 2011.

Gay Rights Skills Seminar, 1979
National Lawyers Guild (GLC 111. Box 7)

The Patti Roberts Papers (GLC 111) document her interest in prison reform, comparable worth and pay equity for women, gay and lesbian issues in the workplace, and employment discrimination. The collection contains subject files, photographs; books and magazines; and posters and ephemera.

There are notes and speeches for Roberts' speaking engagements, and course readers and syllabi for the classes she taught on the law and labor, employment, and gay and lesbian issues. Roberts collected newspaper clippings and some legal documents on Stephen Bingham, George Jackson, and San Quentin Prison. There are also some materials on the East Bay Lesbian / Gay Democratic Club and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Assessment of the Lesbian and Gay Labor Movement,
draft December 1991, p.1 (GLC 111. Box 3)

In addition, there are many pamphlets and books, including several publications by the National Lawyers Guild on gay rights and women's rights, some Soledad materials, and a few Weather Underground publications.

The Patti Roberts Papers (GLC 111) are available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. Photographs are available during Photo Desk hours.

Digital Transgender Archive Is Now Live

We at the Hormel Center received word today that The Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) has just launched its website!

The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.

Please visit the site and explore the materials that are already online. The DTA has a number of items available via the Internet Archive, which will be incorporated into the site in the coming months. 

Note that this is a preliminary launch and the DTA is just beginning to grow its collections. Please check back often to see what's new! Feel free to contact them with any comments, suggestions, or feedback. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Stafford and Jordy (Photographer: Chloe Atkins)

The Hormel Center is thrilled to be one of the 9 institutions represented in the DTA from the outset. Finding aids for several of our collections with trans content are posted on the DTA. One of those is the Chloe Atkins Photographs Collection (GLC 38). 

Drag Kings: BJ
(Photographer: Chloe Atkins)

Chloe's images feature individuals who explore different facets of gender expression. The Atkins Photographs Collection (GLC 38) is available during Photo Collection hours through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library.

Trannyshack's David Bowie Tributes

David Bowie Tribute, June 2008

Bowie Night flyer, June 2002

Since his death on Sunday, there have been many loving tributes to the life and music of David Bowie (1947-2016). His performances were unforgettable. And his fluid approach to gender made him an icon in the LGBT community.

The club Trannyshack, founded by Steven Grygelko a.k.a. Heklina, was staged every Tuesday at midnight at the Stud, a South of Market gay bar in San Francisco. It ran from 1996-2008 and had occasional tribute nights that celebrated the music of a single performer such as Madonna, Annie Lennox, Blondie and Cher.

Club Gossip vs. Trannyshack! September 2006

Naturally David Bowie was in that number. In fact, between 2002 and 2008, there are four flyers featuring Bowie--more than any other musician! (Don't worry. Madonna, Cher, and Annie Lennox ran a close second.)

We've included the four Bowie flyers as our own tribute. Two of the events were birthday celebrations for club founder Heklina. Who wouldn't want to be part of the Bowie lip-synch war? And I just wish I'd been there for the "Trannyshack! Interpretation of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars."

Trannyshack! Interpretation of Ziggy Stardust
& the Spiders from Mars, July 2007

You can find these flyers/posters (and many more) in the Trannyshack Collection (GLC 58) which is available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. So go ahead. Put on your red shoes and dance the blues away by visiting the archives.

Patricia Highsmith's Yuletide Carol

The recent release of the movie Carol has been heralded by a few articles about its author, Patricia Highsmith, and the book upon which it is based. With its five Golden Globe nominations, Carol has now garnered even more attention for this lesbian love story set in the 1950s.

Many of us recognize Highsmith's name in connection with her suspense novels Strangers on a Train (1950) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), both of which were made into feature films. However her name is less well known for Carol. This is due, in no small part, to the fact that the book was originally published as The Price of Salt (1952) and under the pseudonym Claire Morgan.

The library has several editions of the book published between 1952-2015 and under various combinations of author and title. It turns out that the 1984 edition was printed by Naiad Press. When I looked in the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30), I found letters between Grier, Highsmith and her literary agents that begin in 1965 and, with some long gaps, continue into the 1990s. As a whole, the correspondence sheds light on Highsmith, the book, and its influence on many readers from 1952 on.

Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30)

In the 1950s, pseudonyms were not uncommon for authors of LGBT works. Naiad Press publisher Barbara Grier used several pen names, such as Gene Damon, when she wrote reviews and articles for The Ladder, the official publication of the Daughters of Bilitis. So it's not surprising that Highsmith and her agents preferred to keep her own name connected with the suspense genre and Morgan with the lesbian genre. It was not until 1990, 38 years later, that Highsmith agreed to publish the book under her own name.

One thoughtful addition to the 1984 Naiad Press edition is an afterword by Claire Morgan. The afterword provides an introduction to what the 1940s and '50s was like for homosexuals. It also examines why The Price of Salt, with its positive ending, was so important to its readers.

Claire Morgan's Afterword to The Price of Salt/Carol, October 1983.
Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30)

As I read through the files, I knew I would find material about the reprinting of the book. What I had not expected to find was a letter from Grier to Highsmith written in 1965!

Barbara Grier to Patricia Highsmith, November 5, 1965
Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30)

It is admittedly a fan letter but it also demonstrates Grier's characteristic frankness: will there be another Claire Morgan novel and "if not, why not?" I also love Grier's assertion that an original hardcover of The Price of Salt sells for $25. Especially in light of the fact that the Bantam paperback sold for 25 cents! Priceless!

Highsmith's reply is elegant, informative and moving.

Patricia Highsmith to Barbara Grier, November 15, 1965
Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30)

I was intrigued to learn that there was a Hollywood option that was dropped by 1965. You might be interested to know that The Price of Salt (1953), like Strangers on a Train (1951), was reprinted by Bantam as a pulp novel. Strangers on a Train was made into a movie in 1951. By contrast The Price of Salt, with its hope-filled love story between two women, was made into a movie in 2015. While this may be proof that good things come to those who wait...um...63 years. It might be more accurate to say that the film studios have finally seen the true value of The Price of Salt / Carol.

The Bantam edition of The Price of Salt and the correspondence files in the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30) are available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. Other editions of The Price of Salt can be requested at the paging desk on the 3rd floor or in the Fiction section on the 1st floor, Main Library.