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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2012
San Francisco -- Two programs in May will feature authors of new books that detail stories of queer lives through biography and memoir. The authors, Amy Sueyoshi and Chana Wilson, will sign their books following readings and discussion; copies will be available for purchase. The two evening events take place at The GLBT History Museum at 4127 18th St. in San Francisco's Castro District. Admission is $5.00 (donation). For more information, call (415) 621-1107 or visit www.glbthistory.org.
Queer Compulsions: Race, Nation and Sexuality in the Affairs of Yone Noguchi
Wednesday, May 2
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Amy Sueyoshi presents her new book tracing the astonishing life of Japanese writer Yone Noguchi (1875-1947), who carried on an affair with San Francisco novelist Charles Warren Stoddard at the same time that he was fathering a child with an American woman and promising marriage to another woman in Japan and two in the United States. Published by the University of Hawaii Press, Queer Compulsions: Race, Nation and Sexuality in the Affairs of Yone Noguchi came out at the end of March.
As the publisher notes, "Noguchi's intimacies point to little-known realities of race and sexuality in turn-of-the-century America and illuminate how Asian immigrants negotiated America's literary and arts community. As Noguchi maneuvered through cultural and linguistic differences, his affairs ... assert how Japanese in America could forge romantic fulfillment during a period historians describe as one of extreme sexual deprivation and discrimination for Asians, particularly in California."
Sueyoshi is an associate professor of race and resistance studies and sexuality studies at San Francisco State University and is co-curator of "Our Vast Queer Past," the current exhibition in the main gallery of The GLBT History Museum.
Riding Fury Home: A Memoir by Chana Wilson
Tuesday, May 8
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Chana Wilson discusses and reads from Riding Fury Home, her memoir of her lesbian mother, the persecution her mother faced in the 1950s and 1960s, and her own and her mother's coming out in the 1970s. The book was released in April by Seal Press, a publisher of books by and for women that is based in Berkeley, Calif.
According to the publisher, "In 1958, when Chana Wilson was seven, her mother held a rifle to her own head and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed and she was taken away to a mental hospital. It would be many years before [Chana] learned the secret of her mother's anguish: her love affair with another married woman, and the psychiatric treatment aimed at curing her of her lesbianism. Riding Fury Home spans 40 years of the intense, complex relationship between Chana and her mother -- the trauma of their early years together, the transformation and joy they found when they both came out in the 1970s."
Wilson is a psychotherapist and a former radio producer and television engineer. She lives with her wife in Oakland, Calif. |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2011
San Francisco -- At the height of the AIDS crisis and in the midst of a wave of queer militancy in the early 1990s, California Governor Pete Wilson vetoed AB101, a statewide gay and lesbian rights bill. San Francisco's GLBT community responded with outrage: Thousands joined a massive protest on Sept. 30, 1991, that ended with the police in retreat and a state office building in flames.
Known as the AB101 Veto Riot, the clash was the most recent of the three queer riots that have taken place in the history of the city, following the Compton's Cafeteria Riot of 1966 and the White Night Riot of 1979. To mark the 20th anniversary of the 1991 riot, the GLBT History Museum in San Francisco's Castro District will feature a special program and a small exhibit this month:
PROGRAM
"All the Rage: Stories From the AB101 Veto Riot" is set for Thursday, Sept. 29, 7-9 p.m. Moderated by veteran activist Laura Thomas, the program will feature a new documentary short about the riot, as well as a living-history panel with Lito Sandoval and Ingrid Nelson offering inside stories about organizing the veto protest and eyewitness accounts of the uprising in the streets.
Also taking part will be contemporary composer Bob Ostertag, whose piece "All the Rage" for the Kronos Quartet includes sound recorded at the riot, and filmmaker Steve Elkins, director of the short about the riot and of a new feature-length documentary, "The Reach of Resonance," which discusses Ostertag's work.
Admission to the event is $5.00 for the general public; free for members.
EXHIBIT
In conjunction with the program, The GLBT History Museum will be showing "No Apologies, No Regrets: The AB101 Veto Riot" - a single case of historic artifacts and documents drawn from the archives of the GLBT Historical Society. Included is the shoe lost by mayoral candidate Frank Jordan when he was chased from the scene of the Castro District protest that preceded the riot. Also included is a fragment of stained glass from the shattered windows at the entrance of the Old State Building.
The exhibit will be on display Sept. 16 through Oct. 15. during regular museum hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday-Monday, noon-5 p.m. Admission to the museum is $5.00 (general); $3.00 (with California student ID); free for members.
The GLBT History Museum is located at 4127 18th St. (near Castro Street) in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org or call (415) 621-1107.
ABOUT THE GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM
The GLBT History Museum opened in January 2011 as the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States. Currently featured are two major exhibitions: "Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating San Francisco's GLBT History" and "Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives." The museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, a research center and archives founded in 1985 that houses one of the world's largest collections of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender historical materials. |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2011
San Francisco - The GLBT Historical Society has announced the latest programs in its 2011 summer series, along with a special mini-exhibit marking the 40th anniversary of the first LGBT political club in the United States. Taking place in late July and August 2011, the events will feature authors, performers and community organizers offering first-hand insights on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history. All the programs will be presented in the main gallery at the society's new GLBT History Museum at 4127 18th St. in San Francisco's Castro District. For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org or call (415) 621-1107.
JULY 24: "Queer. Fat. Political." A dynamic presentation of live theater, spoken word and informal discussion to commemorate the life and work of fat activist Judy Freespirit, whose personal papers are preserved at the GLBT Historical Society. FAT LIP Readers Theater, Jezebel Delilah X and others will perform, and an open dialogue among generations of fat queer activists and their friends will follow. The event is set for Sunday, July 24, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
AUGUST 1: "Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club: 40th-Anniversary Exhibit." During the month of August, the GLBT History Museum will feature a special mini-exhibit on the history of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, founded in San Francisco in 1971 as the first registered LGBT political club in the United States. An opening reception on Aug. 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. will feature longtime Alice member and former GLBT Historical Society intern Nathan Purkiss presenting a retrospective of the club's 40-year history. The event is set for Monday, August 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
AUGUST 8: "Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club: Stories From Four Decades." A living-history panel will recall four decades of organizing and advocacy by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, with speakers offering inside stories of the struggles, the controversies, the breakthroughs, the behind-the-scenes work and the ballot-box victories that have helped make San Francisco an internationally recognized pioneer in LGBT electoral politics. The event is set for Monday, August 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Featured Speakers: Phyllis Lyon (cofounder of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the United States, and friend of Alice founder Jim Foster); Gary Miller (founding member of Alice and president of the club in 1975); Connie O'Connor (Alice president, 1980-1982); Pam David (Alice leader and first lesbian appointed to the Mayor's Office of Community Development by Art Agnos in 1990); Theresa Sparks (first transgender cochair of Alice, 2001-2003).
ABOUT THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY & THE GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM
Often referred to as San Francisco's "queer Smithsonian," the GLBT Historical Society was founded in 1985; its archives house one of the world's largest collections of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender historical materials. The society's GLBT History Museum in San Francisco's Castro District opened in January 2011 as the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States. The museum currently features two major exhibitions: "Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating San Francisco's GLBT History" and "Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives." For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org. |
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4127 18th Street (between Castro and Collingwood)
San Francisco CA, 94114
www.glbthistory.org
First GLBT History Museum in the United States
Announces Grand Opening for January 13
 SAN FRANCISCO — Internationally renowned as a center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture, San Francisco soon will welcome yet another groundbreaking queer institution: The GLBT History Museum. A project of the GLBT Historical Society, an archives and research center established in 1985, the new museum will be the first of its kind in the United States. The formal grand opening is set for Jan. 13, 2011.
"A quarter century after the founding of the GLBT Historical Society, we're proud to open a museum to showcase our community's history," said Paul Boneberg, executive director of the Historical Society. "The GLBT History Museum is in the heart of the Castro, a neighborhood visited not only by locals, but also by tens of thousands of tourists every year who come in search of queer culture. At our museum, they'll discover treasures from our archives that reflect fascinating stories spanning nearly a century of GLBT life. We have gone all out to create a museum as rich, diverse and surprising as the GLBT community itself. Whether they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or straight, visitors are sure to be moved, enlightened and entertained."
Located at 4127 18th St., the museum includes 1,600 square feet of gallery and program space built to the specifications of the Historical Society, with custom fixtures, lighting and multimedia installations reflecting professional standards. Funding has come from Levi's, the City of San Francisco, Castro district merchants, and numerous other sponsors and individual donors.
The museum will feature two debut exhibitions: In the main gallery, "Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History," curated by historians Gerard Koskovich, Don Romesburg and Amy Sueyoshi; and in the front gallery, "Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives."
The grand opening on Jan. 13, 2011, will include a preview for sponsors, donors and special guests, followed by a ribbon-cutting and reception open to the public from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Regular hours for The GLBT History Museum will be Wednesday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission: $5.00; free for members. For more information, call 415-621-1107 or visit www.glbthistory.org. |
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