TITLE | DESCRIPTION | DATE CREATED | IS FORMAT OF |
---|---|---|---|
Schneider Victoria 2000-57 | Victoria Schneider is an activist and sex worker best known for her lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco, concerning an unlawful strip search during her booking at the San Francisco County Jail. Schneider had been placed in the men’s cells, and had requested to be moved to the women’s; the search was ostensibly conducted to determine her gender. Born intersex and assigned male, Schneider identified strongly as a woman and had transitioned to live as such. Schneider won her lawsuit and was awarded $750,000 in damages from a federal jury. |
1993 to 1999 | |
Dewsnap James 1999-19 | The James Dewsnap collection contains two full-length nude portraits of Scott O'Hara by San Francisco artist David Ross; transcripts of 16 interviews from 1994 that Dewsnap conducted with Jackie Phillips, the lead "comedienne" at Finocchio's from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s; and an unpublished book-length typescript on Phillips’ life, called "Oh, what a drag! The life and career of Wacky Jackie Phllips, Finocchio's riotous redhead, as told to Jim Dewsnap." |
1994 | |
Women Prisoners Need Healthcare | Flyer publicizing a demonstration to take place at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, CA on Saturday, July 8, 1995 at noon. |
1995 | |
Lyon-Martin House oral histories, 2023-52 | Oral history recordings and supplemental material for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project. Interviewees include: Kendra Mon, Pauline Shulman, Diane McCarney, Kate Kendell, Marcia Gallo, and Margie Adam. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. The oral history project documents the narrators’ memories of the Lyon-Martin House as a social and activist space, as well as of Lyon and Martin. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Kate Kendell oral history interview transcript | Oral History Interview: Kate Kendell, Interviewed by Keilina Heinz for the Lyon- Martin House Project.
ABSTRACT:
Kate Kendell is former longtime (1996-2018) Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and current Chief of Staff at the California Endowment. She met Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in 1993 or 1994 at an American Civil Liberties Union or National Center for Lesbian Rights event. Soon after she began monthly lunches with them in their home, where they would regale her with stories and history. She discusses the home, the living room with their chairs and the view, and their kitchen nook as special places in the home. She discusses parties from the 1950s and 1960s she had heard about there, including the curtains they would put up so women would feel comfortable dancing together. Kendell also underscores the importance of the outside stairs and position of the picture window from the sidewalk, where she could wave to Phyllis in her advanced age and they would blow each other a kiss. She underscores the parallel of the house’s modesty to Del and Phyllis’s modesty as “how they moved in the world.” Kendell imagines the space being used for LGBTQ and women’s political salons, community conversations, and community gardening. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Kendra Mon oral history interview recording | Kendra Mon oral history interview recording for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project.
ABSTRACT:
Kendra Mon is Del Martin’s biological daughter, from Martin’s first marriage. She lived with Del and Phyllis sometimes as a teenager and as an adult was in their lives across the rest of their lives. She describes the early decor of the home and her initial impressions of how small it was. She also describes some early parties in the home. Kenrda also describes how the house was adapted to Del and Phyllis’ needs as they aged. In addition, she notes the archival quality of their home, where they collected photos, news clippings, books related to women’s accomplishments, lesbian and gay issues, their own publishing, and records of their lives and activism, stored in the basement and throughout the house. Kendra also discusses how Phyllis’ caregiving was funded through community-based small loans against the assumed resale value of the property after she passed. She describes holidays at their home. Her vision for the house is to move it to some kind of LGBTQ “pioneer village” where it would be a tourist attraction with other well-known LGBTQ people’s homes. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Kendra Mon oral history interview transcript | Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project interview with Kendra Mon.
ABSTRACT:
Kendra Mon is Del Martin’s biological daughter, from Martin’s first marriage. She lived with Del and Phyllis sometimes as a teenager and as an adult was in their lives across the rest of their lives. She describes the early decor of the home and her initial impressions of how small it was. She also describes some early parties in the home. Kenrda also describes how the house was adapted to Del and Phyllis’ needs as they aged. In addition, she notes the archival quality of their home, where they collected photos, news clippings, books related to women’s accomplishments, lesbian and gay issues, their own publishing, and records of their lives and activism, stored in the basement and throughout the house. Kendra also discusses how Phyllis’ caregiving was funded through community-based small loans against the assumed resale value of the property after she passed. She describes holidays at their home. Her vision for the house is to move it to some kind of LGBTQ “pioneer village” where it would be a tourist attraction with other well-known LGBTQ people’s homes. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Marcia Gallo oral history interview recording [part 1] | Marcia Gallo oral history interview recording [part 1] for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project.
ABSTRACT
Dr. Marcia Gallo, is an activist and professor of history. She met Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon when working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fight against state propositions to ban teaching about queer topics and also regulating pornography in the 1970s and ‘80s. Dr. Gallo discusses getting to know Martin and Lyon best when interviewing them for her book on the Daughters of Bilitis lesbian rights organization. She describes spending the most time in the living room and kitchen of their home. She also discusses Martin and Lyon’s memories of earlier times in the home, including parties, closing the curtains of their picture window for protection, writing in the home office, etc. Dr. Gallo suggests that the home would make for an excellent writer’s retreat for grant recipients. She concludes with a discussion of her different relationships with Martin and Lyon, and the ways those relationships evolved over time, particularly her relationship with Lyon after Martin passed away. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Marcia Gallo oral history interview recording [part 2] | Marcia Gallo oral history interview recording [part 2] for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project.
ABSTRACT
Dr. Marcia Gallo, is an activist and professor of history. She met Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon when working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fight against state propositions to ban teaching about queer topics and also regulating pornography in the 1970s and ‘80s. Dr. Gallo discusses getting to know Martin and Lyon best when interviewing them for her book on the Daughters of Bilitis lesbian rights organization. She describes spending the most time in the living room and kitchen of their home. She also discusses Martin and Lyon’s memories of earlier times in the home, including parties, closing the curtains of their picture window for protection, writing in the home office, etc. Dr. Gallo suggests that the home would make for an excellent writer’s retreat for grant recipients. She concludes with a discussion of her different relationships with Martin and Lyon, and the ways those relationships evolved over time, particularly her relationship with Lyon after Martin passed away. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Marcia Gallo oral history interview transcript | Oral History Interview: Marcia Gallo Interviewed by Keilina Heinz for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project
ABSTRACT
Dr. Marcia Gallo, is an activist and professor of history. She met Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon when working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fight against state propositions to ban teaching about queer topics and also regulating pornography in the 1970s and ‘80s. Dr. Gallo discusses getting to know Martin and Lyon best when interviewing them for her book on the Daughters of Bilitis lesbian rights organization. She describes spending the most time in the living room and kitchen of their home. She also discusses Martin and Lyon’s memories of earlier times in the home, including parties, closing the curtains of their picture window for protection, writing in the home office, etc. Dr. Gallo suggests that the home would make for an excellent writer’s retreat for grant recipients. She concludes with a discussion of her different relationships with Martin and Lyon, and the ways those relationships evolved over time, particularly her relationship with Lyon after Martin passed away. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Margie Adam oral history interview transcript | Margie Adam Interview Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project
ABSTRACT
Margie Adam is a singer-songwriter and activist. She met Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in the 1970s through her partner. She talks about walking up to the Lyon-Martin house as a “pilgrimage” for lesbian feminists of her generation, noting that their picture window looked out on San Francisco and the world. This was symbolic of Del and Phyllis’ expansive view of life and activism. She describes the power of the small house, going to parties there in “shifts,” because so many people wanted to attend, but couldn’t fit inside the house at the same time. Margie was also part of a group of women who took it upon themselves to help Del and Phyllis stay in their home as they aged, trying to get a chairlift installed and arranging for caregivers (or “carers” as Margie describes them). She imagines the future use of the house as an archive or retreat focused on lesbian history, broadly defined. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Pauline Shulman and Diane McCarney oral history interview recording | Pauline Shulman and Diane McCarney oral history interview recording for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project.
ABSTRACT:
Pauline Shulman and Diane McCarney were neighbors of Del and Phyllis from 1994 onward, across the street at Newburg and Duncan, three doors down. They had sightlines into one another’s homes from their kitchen windows. Their friendship evolved as Pauline and Diane supported them in their aging. Diane drove them to their 2004 marriage before then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, and they were their escorts to their 2008 City Hall marriage. They tell stories of the longtime goodwill of the neighborhood toward Del and Phyllis going back to the 1950s. They describe how Del and Phyllis politicized them initially through neighborhood politics related to gentrification. They give a lot of details of the furnishings and art as well as how Del and Phyllis used the garden and rooms in the house, including at the end of Phyllis’ life. They also detail the caregiving model in her later years. They describe their walkthrough video of the house after Phyllis passed, which has also been donated. They express interest in the space being recreated in ways that give the rooms “narratives” about its lived-in history for Del and Phyllis as well as an artist-in-residency and lecture/salon program, in a “living and breathing kind of way, not like a stilted sort of museum sort of thing....Something with a community spirit.” Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Pauline Shulman and Diane McCarney oral history interview transcript | Pauline Shulman and Diane McCarney oral history interview for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History project.
ABSTRACT:
Pauline Shulman and Diane McCarney were neighbors of Del and Phyllis from 1994 onward, across the street at Newburg and Duncan, three doors down. They had sightlines into one another’s homes from their kitchen windows. Their friendship evolved as Pauline and Diane supported them in their aging. Diane drove them to their 2004 marriage before then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, and they were their escorts to their 2008 City Hall marriage. They tell stories of the longtime goodwill of the neighborhood toward Del and Phyllis going back to the 1950s. They describe how Del and Phyllis politicized them initially through neighborhood politics related to gentrification. They give a lot of details of the furnishings and art as well as how Del and Phyllis used the garden and rooms in the house, including at the end of Phyllis’ life. They also detail the caregiving model in her later years. They describe their walkthrough video of the house after Phyllis passed, which has also been donated. They express interest in the space being recreated in ways that give the rooms “narratives” about its lived-in history for Del and Phyllis as well as an artist-in-residency and lecture/salon program, in a “living and breathing kind of way, not like a stilted sort of museum sort of thing....Something with a community spirit.” Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Pauline Shulman video tour of the Lyon-Martin House | Pauline Shulman video tour of the Lyon-Martin House, supplemental material for the Lyon-Martin Oral History Project. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Marcia Gallo and Phyllis Lyon | Photograph of Phyllis Lyon and Marcia Gallo, supplemental material for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project. |
2019 | |
Kate Kendell oral history interview recording | Kate Kendell oral history interview recording for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project.
ABSTRACT:
Kate Kendell is former longtime (1996-2018) Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and current Chief of Staff at the California Endowment. She met Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in 1993 or 1994 at an American Civil Liberties Union or National Center for Lesbian Rights event. Soon after she began monthly lunches with them in their home, where they would regale her with stories and history. She discusses the home, the living room with their chairs and the view, and their kitchen nook as special places in the home. She discusses parties from the 1950s and 1960s she had heard about there, including the curtains they would put up so women would feel comfortable dancing together. Kendell also underscores the importance of the outside stairs and position of the picture window from the sidewalk, where she could wave to Phyllis in her advanced age and they would blow each other a kiss. She underscores the parallel of the house’s modesty to Del and Phyllis’s modesty as “how they moved in the world.” Kendell imagines the space being used for LGBTQ and women’s political salons, community conversations, and community gardening. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Baker (Tom) Oral History, 2024-12 | Oral history of Tom Baker (S. Thomas Baker), interviewed by Shawn Sprockett in January 2024. At the time of the oral history, Baker was a 93 year-old gay man living in the Castro in San Francisco, CA. He had lived in San Francisco for nearly 50 years. The interview discusses Baker’s early life and teenage years, his coming out experience in the 1950s, his gay community, experiences with gay bars in San Francisco, his interactions with police, and other related topics. The collection includes an mp3 audio recording and pdf transcript of the interview. Also included are matchbooks of bars, collected by Baker and given to Sprockett. |
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Tom Baker oral history transcript | Transcript of an oral history of Tom Baker (S. Thomas Baker), interviewed by Shawn Sprockett in January 2024. At the time of the oral history, Baker was a 93 year-old gay man living in the Castro in San Francisco, CA. He had lived in San Francisco for nearly 50 years. The interview discusses Baker’s early life and teenage years, his coming out experience in the 1950s, his gay community, experiences with gay bars in San Francisco, his interactions with police, and other related topics. The collection includes an mp3 audio recording and pdf transcript of the interview. Also included are matchbooks of bars, collected by Baker and given to Sprockett. |
2024 | |
Tom Baker oral history recording | Oral history of Tom Baker (S. Thomas Baker), interviewed by Shawn Sprockett in January 2024. At the time of the oral history, Baker was a 93 year-old gay man living in the Castro in San Francisco, CA. He had lived in San Francisco for nearly 50 years. The interview discusses Baker’s early life and teenage years, his coming out experience in the 1950s, his gay community, experiences with gay bars in San Francisco, his interactions with police, and other related topics. The collection includes an mp3 audio recording and pdf transcript of the interview. Also included are matchbooks of bars, collected by Baker and given to Sprockett. |
2024 | |
Sodomy Laws Retrospective (1 of 3) | A panel discussion that took place ten years after California's "sodomy laws" were repealed. Historian Alan Bérubé details California's history with anti-gay legislation, beginning with the state's first law against sodomy that was passed in 1850 and continuing through to the decriminalization of both sodomy and oral sex between consenting adults in private in 1976. Bérubé also discusses historical patterns relating to sex laws, and he contextualizes the debate between public versus private information. Activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, cofounders of the Daughters of Bilitis, discuss the history of legislation criminalizing lesbian sex, and they detail the creation of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in the 1960s. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1986-01-30 | |
Sodomy Laws Retrospective (2 of 3) | A panel discussion that took place ten years after California's "sodomy laws" were repealed. Activist Phyllis Lyon discusses the Council on Religion and the Homosexual's Brief of Injustices. Politician Willie Brown, then the California State Assembly's Speaker of the Assembly, discusses the legislative side of the creation and passing of the 1976 Consenting Adult Sex Law, which decriminalized private and consensual gay sex. Activist Jim Foster, then a member of the San Francisco Health Commission, reflects on his experiences as an out gay man when gay sex was still criminalized, and he discusses ways in which the community organized in the 1950s and 1960s, including San Francisco's Tavern Guild and the Mattachine Society, to protect itself and ultimately decriminalize gay sex and relationships. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1986-01-30 | |
Sodomy Laws Retrospective (3 of 3) | A panel discussion that took place ten years after California's "sodomy laws" were repealed. Activist Jo Daly discusses instances of heterosexual individuals being convicted under anti-sodomy/anti-oral sex laws. Activist George Raya relates his experiences as a lobbyist in Sacramento in the 1970s who lobbied for the Consenting Adult Sex Law from 1974 until its passing in 1976. Leonard Graff, the legal director for the National Gay Rights Advocates, discusses the continuing fight against sodomy laws in the United States. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1986-01-30 | |
Politics and Sexuality Roundtable (2 of 3) | A discussion between Gayle Rubin, Allan Bérubé, and others about the intersections of racism, sexism, and homophobia in mainstream media. They also discuss the criminalization of gay sex and the legal system's repression of sexuality at large. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1981-05-26 | |
Politics and Sexuality Roundtable (3 of 3) | A discussion between Gayle Rubin, Allan Bérubé, and others about sexual repression in mainstream culture, the spectrum of sexuality within straight and gay communities, and the use of sexuality as a tool of oppression. The discussion also includes how the culture might protect and/or empower young people within their sexuality, child/adult sexuality within gay and lesbian communities, and the lack of consent education across gay and straight communities. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1981-05-26 | |
Gayle Rubin on Sexual Liberation (1 of 4) | Gayle Rubin discussing the paper she wrote about the sexual liberation movement for the 1982 Feminist and Scholar Conference. Only the last 5 minutes of this tape were recovered. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1982-07-29 | |
Gayle Rubin on Sexual Liberation (2 of 4) | Gayle Rubin discussing the paper she wrote about the sexual liberation movement for the 1982 Feminist and Scholar Conference. Rubin contextualizes the history of sexual oppression and criminalization before focusing on gay and lesbian liberation, including discussions on gender liberation, homophobia in the women's movement, and sexual hierarchies within the sexual liberation movement. She also touches on emerging identities based on sexuality, such as leather and swinging communities. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1982-07-29 | |
Gayle Rubin on Sexual Liberation (3 of 4) | Gayle Rubin discussing the paper she wrote about the sexual liberation movement for the 1982 Feminist and Scholar Conference. Rubin discusses different legal restrictions placed on sexuality, including sodomy laws, adult incest laws, and prostitution criminalization. She also reviews historical practices for preventing adolescent masturbation as an example of the legal control of sexuality, and she addresses the medical and psychology institution's pathologizing sex and sexuality. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1982-07-29 | |
Gayle Rubin on Sexual Liberation (4 of 4) | Gayle Rubin discussing the paper she wrote about the sexual liberation movement for the 1982 Feminist and Scholar Conference. Rubin's speech concluded with a question and answer session, and she answers questions about political influences on the interpretation of history, communism and feminism, the legal evolution of public and private sectors, and removing morality from cultural conceptions of sex and sexuality. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1982-07-29 | |
GLBT Archives Evolution (1 of 4) | A discussion about the early years of the Historical Society and how to involve more community members in the collection and preservation of gay and lesbian history in San Francisco. Topics also include the formation of the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Periodical Collection within the Lesbian and Gay History Project. The evolution of the Harvey Milk Archives is also discussed, beginning with Milk's request for volunteers to organize his papers in 1978 and continuing with independent exhibits, official incorporation as a nonprofit, and collaborations with the Lesbian and Gay History Project. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1984-08-09 | |
GLBT Archives Evolution (2 of 4) | A discussion about copyright and donation policies in the context of archives, legal responsibilities and structural components to consider when setting up the Historical Society, and differences between libraries and archives. Also discussed is a potential collaboration to create a gay and lesbian collection within the California Historical Society. This material was digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. |
1984-08-09 |