The Pre-Gay Era in the USA
This exhibit features homosexual rights organizations and publications in the U.S. from the 1950s to 1969. It will grow to provide exciting primary sources such as articles from ONE and Tangents magazines, a complete inventory of ONE’s Blanche M. Baker Library as it was in 1965, biographical profiles of key activists of the era, images of covers of pulp novels from the 1950s and ’60s, and a complete index of the contents of ONE, Mattachine Review, and The Ladder.
Index: The Pre-Gay Era in the USA
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Biographical Profiles
- Blanche M. Baker Memorial Library
- Correspondence between Don Slater and Dale Jennings [Pending]
- Historical Timelines
- Historical Documents
- Pulp Fiction Collection
- Pulp Nonfiction Books
- Table of Known Pseudonyms
- Other Web Resources
- Outside Links Index in association with the Homosexual Information Center
Associated Categories
- Movement Pioneers (Biographical Profiles and Interviews)
- Interviews by Paul D. Cain
- Curated Exhibits
- Daughters of Bilitis
- The Mattachine Society
- One, Incorporated
Overview
Every gay and lesbian organization in the country, and most across the world, can trace its origins to November 11, 1950, when Harry Hay, Rudy Gernriech, Chuck Rowland, Dale Jennings, and Bob Hull met at Hay’s home and decided to form a clandestine organization they called Mattachine. By 1952, Mattachine was no longer a secret society but an active and dynamic social force, an ever-increasing body of men and women who demanded equal rights and fair treatment for homosexuals.
The Pre-Gay Era in the USA is the period of the homosexual/homophile movement that spans the period between World War II and the Stonewall rebellion of June 1969. The three primary organizations in the nation fighting for homosexual rights during this time were ONE, Incorporated; The Mattachine Society; and the Daughters of Bilitis.
ONE Magazine was launched in January of 1953, created by Mattachine members and other Los Angeles activists, and it rapidly became the nation’s first successful publication dedicated to homosexual issues. A few months later, in November of 1953, the Mattachine Foundation fractured, and a new Mattachine Society was established in San Francisco. Under the leadership of Hal Call, The Mattachine Review was born. In 1955, four lesbian couples formed the Daughters of Bilitis, and in October of 1956 they began publishing The Ladder.
This exhibit will record the history of these three organizations and their publications in as much detail as possible and in a culturally sensitive manner.
Todd White’s Introduction
This exhibit is the result of Dr. White’s ongoing study of the homosexual/homophile movement in the United States. Though primarily a historical endeavor, his training and experience in cultural anthropology causes him to value and use ethnographic methods involving fieldwork, focused and life-history interviews, and participant observation.
White secured his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Southern California in 2005 and has converted his dissertation into a book, titled Pre-Gay L.A.: A Social History of the Movement for Homosexual Rights, published by the University of Illinois Press in 2009.
Invitation to Participate
This exhibit will strive to be as comprehensive as possible, and to that aim we encourage comments and submissions from those knowledgeable in the field. If you would like to submit biographical profiles, transcribed interviews, book reviews, photographs, insights, or corrections, please contact Dr. White at todd@tangentroup.org. Where necessary, copyright information and rights must be provided in order for us to publish the materials.
This module is managed by C. Todd White, Ph.D.
All content for this module is copyright (©) by the Homosexual Information Center. All rights reserved.
