Archives May 2012

Yonkers Production Company

Scene from The Boy Friend
(GLC 61 Gregory Grosh Yonkers Production Company Slides)

In 2009, Gregory Grosh donated his collection of materials about the Yonkers Production Company. It was a San Francisco theater company in the 1970s that specialized in all-male productions of popular musicals such as Dames at Sea, The Boy Friend, and Hello, Dolly! Several performances took place at the Village Theatre.

Review in David (GLC 61 Gregory Grosh
Yonkers Production Company Slides)

Behind the scenes preparations for The Boy Friend
(GLC 61 Gregory Grosh Yonkers Production Company)

Yonkers was an off-shoot of SIR Productions and involved many of the same people. They included co-producers Perry George and John Kozak; Chuck Zinn, director; and Doug Marglin, choreographer. SIR, the Society for Individual Rights, was a homophile organization based in San Francisco.

Grosh was a neighbor of Kozak and Marglin's, and he became a member of the Yonkers Production Company at their invitation. He performed many behind the scenes tasks, such as taking photographs. His photographs of The Boy Friend appear in several reviews; he is credited as Fotografix and Photo-Graphix.

Scene from Dames at Sea (GLC 61 Gregory Grosh Yonkers Production Company Slides)

The Gregory Grosh Yonkers Production Company Slides collection contains slides of three Yonkers productions and the Golden Awards, plus a few reviews and one program. The program for the May 1972 Hello, Dolly! production includes the article "The Siege of the Palace of Fine Arts" by Perry George, in which he details the search for a performance venue.

The collection is open for research, with photographs available for viewing during Photo Desk hours: Tuesday: 1-5; Thursday: 1-5; Saturday: 10-12, 1-5. All archival collections are available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library.

Happy birthday, Harvey Milk!

GLC 35 Harvey Milk Archives--Scott Smith Collection

Today Harvey Milk would have been 82!

If you're interested in learning more about Harvey Milk and his times, check out this post:

http://sfhcbasc.blogspot.com/2012/05/condensed-milk-somewhat-short-list-of.html

Archives April 2012

 
















Bar Associations ...
lawyers, no ... lesbians, yes!

The library recently acquired the Grace Miller Papers. Grace was one of the owners of record for Tommy's Place and 12 Adler Place, two bars that operated from 1952-1954 and were frequented by lesbians. Grace is pictured at left, behind the bar.




The Grace Miller Papers include correspondence, subject files, photographs and a scrapbook. The subject files include flyers and announcements for a number of lesbian bars from the 1950s to the 1960s.

In September 1954, Grace Miller and co-owners Joyce van de Veer and Jean Sullivan became the subjects of intense public scrutiny as a result of charges against Tommy's Place for underage drinking, drug use, and perverted activity. Grace and Joyce were tending bar and were arrested for serving alcohol to minors. The collection contains a scrapbook with newspaper clippings from the time of the arrests, and Miller's trial and sentencing.

In Nan Boyd's book Wide Open Town, Reba Hudson describes the events surrounding the 1954 arrests and trial. "Tommy [Vasu] lost her license because of the arrests...but the person who actually serves the minor is the one who does the time. ... the two bartenders, they were the victims of this whole thing. Gracie went to trial right at the height of the publicity, that's really why she was convicted. ... Gracie was just a scapegoat because she went to trial when the anti-gay stuff was at its most hysterical peak." Jean was not arrested at all and Joyce got off with probation or a lighter sentence.

Boyd sets the Tommy's Place arrests and trial within the context of McCarthy era politics. She notes that the arrests happened immediately before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency's hearing in San Francisco in October 1954. The lurid headlines about the "thrill bar" served to link juvenile delinquency with sexual deviance, drug use, and prostitution. The San Francisco Examiner editorial shown here deftly (and frighteningly) sums up the thinking prevalent at that time. Although the writer misidentifies the bar as Tommy's Joint rather than Tommy's Place, it is clear that no evidence was really necessary to convict these individuals in the court of public opinion.

The Grace Miller Papers are available through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. The photographs are available during the hours for the San Francisco Historical Photographs desk.

Radically Gay: The Life of Harry Hay

A wonderful new exhibit on the life and work of Harry Hay has just opened in the Jewett Gallery at the San Francisco Public Library. In celebration of the centennial of Hay’s birth, the exhibit illuminates his life, from his privileged childhood to his later years as a radical queer activist, using a wide range of photographs, letters, and personal items taken from the Harry Hay Papers. You’ve very likely heard of Harry Hay because of his work with the Mattachine Society in the 1940s and 50s, or with the Radical Faeries from the 1970s until his death in 2002, but there are less well known facts and curiosities from Hay’s life that the exhibition uncovers. The adventurous life of one of our first gay activists does not disappoint, from his camouflage skirt to the teleidoscope invented by his long-time partner, John Burnside, there’s a lot of whimsy in this exhibit to go along with the very important gay history. We’ll we don’t want to give it all away here, come see the exhibit, on view through July 29, 2012!

Archives March 2012

Kiki Gallery Records

Kiki gallery was established by Rick Jacobsen in 1993 to showcase contemporary art and performance. During its three years of operation, the Kiki hosted art exhibits, readings, and performances on subjects as far ranging as scatology, AIDS, and bongs. A few of the artists featured were Joan Jett Blakk, Nayland Blake, Jeannie M., and David E. Johnston.

The Kiki Gallery Records (GLC 29) were donated to the library by Wayne Smith in 1998. The collection contains publicity files, slides, photographs, drafts of performance pieces, exhibit catalogs, and some correspondence for the years 1993-1995. The images here are from the publicity files and catalogs. For a complete description, please see the San Francisco Public Library's website or the Online Archive of California.

All Hormel Center archives are handled through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. For questions, please contact the San Francisco History Center reference desk at 415-557-4567.

Sister Spit in the library!

The Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center and Radar Productions are very excited to bring a rambunctious multimedia performance extravaganza to the San Francisco Public Library with the Sister Spit 2012 KICKOFF on Sunday, April 1st, 2-5pm, in the Koret Auditorium.

Sister Spit began in 1994, founded by Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson, giving rowdy and rrrriotous emerging writers and performance artists a ticket to some of the best beer-stained stages around the country. Past Spitters have included such talented people as Eileen Myles, Kirk Read, Lynnee Breedlove, and Beth Lisick to name just a few. They’ve been everywhere, met everyone, released several albums, lost their voices several times over, and now they’re coming to the library for this free and not-quiet event! We are so lucky!

The 2012 Sister Spit KICKOFF line-up includes, of course, Radar Productions visionary Michelle Tea, the big-time novelist Dorothy Allison, hilarious performance artist Erin Markey, Bay Area musician and zinester Brontez Purnell, comic artist and writer Cassie J. Sneider, and slam poet and Mr Transman 2010 Kit Yan. And, because we’re special, the KICKOFF includes special guests Ali Liebegott, Hilary Goldberg and a sneak preview of Valencia: the Movie!

We know we’ll see you there!

Queering Art

Ever wondered about all those gay artists and how they've influenced the major art movements throughout history? About representations of same-sex desire in art? Or the ongoing threat of censorship of images of the queer body? Christopher Reed’s well-received new book Art and Homosexuality: A History of Ideas is a great place to begin exploring the relationship between art and queer sexualities. Focusing mainly on the link between modernism and homosexuality, but going back to the Greeks and forward to queer activism in contemporary art, the book is “a fascinating and sophisticated account of the ways two conspicuous identities have fundamentally informed one another.” Full of compelling images and with accessible writing, it has received numerous favorable reviews (here's one) because of its broad overview and unique approach to the subject.

Another recent book that explores the relationship between queer artists and modernism is Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, by Jonathan D. Katz and David C. Ward. The book documents an exhibition by the same name held at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution that debuted in 2010. With over 150 images, the book provides insight into the representation of same-sex desire in American portraiture and how the “marginality” of queer artists has shaped the ways in which they represented that desire, dramatically influencing modern art. Interestingly, a video installation piece by David Wojnarowicz was removed from the Hide/Seek exhibit at the Smithsonian after complaints by two Republican Congressmen and the Catholic League. It appears that the struggle to freely represent queer bodies and queer sexualities in images continues.

Archives February 2012

Desiree Scrapbooks

David Sabado was born in Hawaii and came to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s. He started out as a male stripper but was best known to audiences as the popular Asian-American drag queen Desiree. The Hormel Center has two scrapbooks of photographs, newspaper clippings and flyers which document the events where Desiree performed or was mistress of ceremonies.

Some events were simply celebrations; but more often than not, they raised funds and awareness for such organizations as Shanti Project, Dignity / Metropolitan Community Church, the AIDS bill of rights, and a variety of AIDS-related organizations. There are some wonderful photos of the rehearsals and press coverage of the annual event "Men Behind Bars"—which refers, naturally, to bartenders.

This photo of David Sabado and singer-songwriter Sonny Padilla, Jr. was taken to advertise the benefit concert "A Gift for Christmas." Padilla sang his hit "It's Your Body" in the company of David Sabado, Joe Tolbe and others. The benefit was for patients of Ward 5B, the AIDS ward at San Francisco General Hospital. Proceeds of the concert would be split evenly between all of the patients, and the performance was to be videotaped for use on MTV.

Desiree hosted a drag show every other week at Oakland's Bench and Bar. She was a member of [Drag] Queens for Democracy and NAP (the New Alliance Party). She was also the host for the Endup's regular Jock Strap Contest in the late 1980s.
In 1989, Desiree was nominated for a Cable Car Award for Best Entertainer of the year. Her popularity was such that she performed and emceed at many different bars and clubs in San Francisco, including Kimo's, N'Touch, Esta Noche, the Endup, and many others.

The scrapbooks contain flyers from some events produced by John Kass, special events coordinator of the Endup, as well as flyers and a button for Desiree's campaign to become Queen of Hearts of San Francisco. There are also several photos of Desiree and other Imperial Court members beautifully attired as 18th century French nobility.

David's day job was at Wig America, then at Hansen-Fontana, a wig shop on Powell St. The news item on the right reports that Desiree has opened her own shop and gives a "shout-out" to support the new venture; unfortunately it's undated.

These scrapbooks detail the work, humor and dedication of a performer who sought to entertain, enlighten, and improve the community. With AIDS a very real presence at that time, Desiree's success was due in part to the fact that she provided what the community both desired and needed.

All Hormel Center archives are handled through the San Francisco History Center, 6th floor, Main Library. For questions, please contact the San Francisco History Center reference desk at 415-557-4567.