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"content": "\u003cp>Dames! Broads! Dolls! Who’d put up with ’em, eh?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No sooner did Californian women get the right to vote in 1911, all that power just up and went to their pretty little heads. Before men could shuffle them back into the kitchen, they were out in the world, doing the Charleston, wearing trousers on Sunday and—*checks notes*—doing death-defying stunts. And no, I’m not making that last one up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A handful of these fearless women happened to live (or regularly do crazy crap) in the Bay Area. Let’s meet the ones who spent no time dilly-dallying on the way to the airfield/motorcycle shop/other thing that could immediately kill them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maxine Dunlap, Glider Pilot\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915585\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915585\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-800x713.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"713\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-800x713.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-1020x910.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-160x143.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-768x685.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap.png 1348w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maxine Dunlap, as seen in 1930 newspapers. \u003ccite>(Newspapers.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1929, a 19-year-old named Maxine Dunlap climbed into a small plane, took to the skies over Mills Field (today’s SFO) and performed a series of stunts—including multiple barrel rolls—entirely unassisted. It earned the teen a pilot’s license—the first woman to earn one in San Francisco. Dunlap promptly threw herself at the sky with gusto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, Dunlap joined the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ninety-nines.org/our-history.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ninety-Nines\u003c/a>, a newly established flying club for women. She also competed that April in a race against two other talented female pilots—\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Crosson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marvel Crosson\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbi_Trout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bobbi Trout\u003c/a>—at Oakland Airport. After clocking up scores of hours in the air, however, Dunlap decided that flying with the support of engines was simply—pish-posh!—not enough of a challenge. She turned her attention to glider planes—moderately terrifying contraptions that left pilots out on a limb, exposed to the elements and looking, for the most part, like a Wright Brothers prototype that was about to nosedive into the dirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915578\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915578\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-800x575.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-800x575.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-1020x733.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-768x552.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-1536x1104.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-2048x1472.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-1920x1380.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A glider plane flying over Roosevelt Field in New York, Feb. 1930. \u003ccite>(Keystone-FranceGamma-Rapho via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As soon as she hopped into one, it was clear that Dunlap had a knack for gliding. To give you some idea of how good she was, within weeks of attempting to fly one for the first time, Dunlap earned the first glider plane license ever awarded to a woman in America. Even Amelia Earhart failed to acquire her glider certification after struggling to stay in the air. (During her test, Earhart managed to stay aloft for just 17 seconds. Dunlap managed 50.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_102094']Dunlap soon joined forces with the California Glider Club in San Francisco, a group that regularly practiced on the sand dunes at Taraval and 35th Ave. In 1930, with a solid record of winning most of her races, the club elected Dunlap president—the first woman to garner such a position in U.S. history. In case that wasn’t impressive enough, she went on to set the women’s world record for light airplane speed in 1935.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dunlap still enjoyed flying airplanes (the ones with engines) with her friends. During her second marriage, she flew herself and her Coca-Cola executive hubby around in a 260-horsepower \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinson_Reliant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gull Wing Stinson Reliant\u003c/a>. Presumably, he supplied the refreshments…\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Nell Schmidt, Endurance Swimmer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For some reason, a century ago, people weren’t such whiny babies about putting their almost naked bodies into the San Francisco Bay for prolonged periods. Take Nell Schmidt, for example. In 1911, while the rest of the country was at the movie theater watching \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUkyHvsvfg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Dante’s Inferno\u003c/em>\u003c/a> (it was the hit of the year, people), Schmidt was throwing herself into unfeasibly cold water to break records. At 19, Schmidt swam from the Presidio’s Fort Point to Sausalito’s Lime Point in just 42 minutes, setting a record for female swimmers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following year, she swam to the Oakland Mole from San Francisco’s Pier 9. It took her just over three hours and she was the first woman to do it. Naturally, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> responded to this feat by calling her “the glory of radiant young womanhood.” In 1913, Schmidt’s hometown also crowned her Queen of the Moose Fete. Way to show your appreciation, Alameda!\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bernadine King, Stunt Pilot\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915496\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 592px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915496\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-10.57.47-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"592\" height=\"1058\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-10.57.47-AM.png 592w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-10.57.47-AM-160x286.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bernadine King, as seen in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1940.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The year is 1937. The place is San Francisco. And thousands upon thousands of people have flocked to the city to witness the grand opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Amidst the chaos of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13913489\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">military displays, endless parties, sporting competitions and too many parades to mention\u003c/a> is a gatecrasher. Her name is Bernadine King, she is 26, and she’s already an accomplished pilot known for her stunts, skywriting and what she called “precision acrobatics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time of the bridge opening, King had earned the women’s world record for flying upside down—for a full 25-and-a-half minutes. But the young pilot was also a pro when it came to grabbing headlines. On the Golden Gate’s opening day, the Los Angeles resident, flying in her yellow and black biplane, swept down from a high altitude, flew under the bridge and stunned hundreds of bystanders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> described King’s spectacular display thusly:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Downward [the plane] roared, almost skirting the waves of the Golden Gate as under the span it zoomed. Then it shot upward as Miss King gave it the gun. There were few watchers who knew what was to happen. There were several wing-overs and finally a complete roll, the plane’s belly glistening to the sun.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The following year, King made headlines again after crash-landing a plane near Burbank while completely in the nude. She told rescuers she was just working on her tan. Papers subsequently dubbed her the “Flying Godiva.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dorothy Smith, Motorcycle Trick Rider\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 12, 1939, Dorothy Smith donned her best leathers, jumped onto her customized Harley Davidson motorcycle and competed in a grueling 300-mile competition. The 1939 Lost Mines race started just after midnight in downtown Oakland and ran deep into what the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> called “East Bay back country” overnight. Smith would have been the only woman competing if not for the fact that her mother—known only as “Ma” to the papers of the day—also took part in the race. (Because the sprocket doesn’t fall far from the foot peg, presumably.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13897608']The younger Smith was known for her stunts on two wheels and for thrilling crowds and fellow bikers throughout the 1930s and ’40s. Smith was a world champion trick rider, a member of the San Francisco Motorcycle Club, and one of the earliest members of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.motormaidsinc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Motor Maids\u003c/a>, an all-women motorcycle club founded by fellow biker badasses \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/early-women-motorcyclists/gallery#6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Linda Dugeau\u003c/a> and Dot Robinson. The club still exists to this day. Lock up your sons and daughters!\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ruth Elder, Aviatrix\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 397px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915812\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/GettyImages-515162638-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"397\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/GettyImages-515162638-1.jpg 397w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/GettyImages-515162638-1-160x239.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 397px) 100vw, 397px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruth Elder and George Haldeman pose in front of their ‘American Girl’ plane. Before they had to crash it into the Atlantic, obviously. \u003ccite>(Getty Images, Bettmann)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1927, 2,623 miles into an attempt to become the world’s first female transatlantic pilot, Ruth Elder’s plane ran into trouble. She and Captain George Haldeman were just 360 miles from Portugal when their “American Girl” aircraft suffered an oil leak. The duo was forced to crash into the Atlantic, but were strategic enough to do so near a Dutch ship that subsequently rescued them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s footage of a perfectly accessorized Elder, getting ready for takeoff:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW0AheyJ1Ek\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless of Elder and Haldeman’s failure to reach France from New York, the trip immediately turned Elder into a media sensation. It was still, after all, the longest flight ever made by a woman \u003cem>and\u003c/em> the longest flight ever made over water. She was almost immediately cast in a couple of silent movies—\u003cem>Moran of the Marines\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Winged Horseman\u003c/em>. She also dabbled in modeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skip to 2:57 below to see Elder in a sporty red-and-white ensemble, in 1928:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwNqxxUooiM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder’s true passion, however, remained in the skies. Like Maxine Dunlap, Elder was a member of the Ninety-Nines and enjoyed flying competitively. Notably, she took part in the first ever Women’s Air Derby in 1929, flying a Swallow NC8730. The race was nicknamed “The Powder Puff Derby” because: patriarchy. And the nickname stuck despite Marvel Crosson dying tragically during the race. Elder came in a respectable fifth place, out of 19 competitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder wound up getting married six times (you go, girl!) and, later in life, finding work in the aviation industry as an executive secretary—to \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Howard goddamn Hughes\u003c/a>. Despite her daredevil tendencies, Elder lived to 75, dying in San Francisco in 1977. The campaign to get something in or around SFO named after her begins now!\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Dames! Broads! Dolls! Who’d put up with ’em, eh?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No sooner did Californian women get the right to vote in 1911, all that power just up and went to their pretty little heads. Before men could shuffle them back into the kitchen, they were out in the world, doing the Charleston, wearing trousers on Sunday and—*checks notes*—doing death-defying stunts. And no, I’m not making that last one up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A handful of these fearless women happened to live (or regularly do crazy crap) in the Bay Area. Let’s meet the ones who spent no time dilly-dallying on the way to the airfield/motorcycle shop/other thing that could immediately kill them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maxine Dunlap, Glider Pilot\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915585\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915585\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-800x713.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"713\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-800x713.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-1020x910.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-160x143.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap-768x685.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/maxine-dunlap.png 1348w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maxine Dunlap, as seen in 1930 newspapers. \u003ccite>(Newspapers.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1929, a 19-year-old named Maxine Dunlap climbed into a small plane, took to the skies over Mills Field (today’s SFO) and performed a series of stunts—including multiple barrel rolls—entirely unassisted. It earned the teen a pilot’s license—the first woman to earn one in San Francisco. Dunlap promptly threw herself at the sky with gusto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, Dunlap joined the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ninety-nines.org/our-history.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ninety-Nines\u003c/a>, a newly established flying club for women. She also competed that April in a race against two other talented female pilots—\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Crosson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marvel Crosson\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbi_Trout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bobbi Trout\u003c/a>—at Oakland Airport. After clocking up scores of hours in the air, however, Dunlap decided that flying with the support of engines was simply—pish-posh!—not enough of a challenge. She turned her attention to glider planes—moderately terrifying contraptions that left pilots out on a limb, exposed to the elements and looking, for the most part, like a Wright Brothers prototype that was about to nosedive into the dirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915578\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915578\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-800x575.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-800x575.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-1020x733.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-768x552.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-1536x1104.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-2048x1472.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-558644523-1920x1380.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A glider plane flying over Roosevelt Field in New York, Feb. 1930. \u003ccite>(Keystone-FranceGamma-Rapho via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As soon as she hopped into one, it was clear that Dunlap had a knack for gliding. To give you some idea of how good she was, within weeks of attempting to fly one for the first time, Dunlap earned the first glider plane license ever awarded to a woman in America. Even Amelia Earhart failed to acquire her glider certification after struggling to stay in the air. (During her test, Earhart managed to stay aloft for just 17 seconds. Dunlap managed 50.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Dunlap soon joined forces with the California Glider Club in San Francisco, a group that regularly practiced on the sand dunes at Taraval and 35th Ave. In 1930, with a solid record of winning most of her races, the club elected Dunlap president—the first woman to garner such a position in U.S. history. In case that wasn’t impressive enough, she went on to set the women’s world record for light airplane speed in 1935.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dunlap still enjoyed flying airplanes (the ones with engines) with her friends. During her second marriage, she flew herself and her Coca-Cola executive hubby around in a 260-horsepower \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinson_Reliant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gull Wing Stinson Reliant\u003c/a>. Presumably, he supplied the refreshments…\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Nell Schmidt, Endurance Swimmer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For some reason, a century ago, people weren’t such whiny babies about putting their almost naked bodies into the San Francisco Bay for prolonged periods. Take Nell Schmidt, for example. In 1911, while the rest of the country was at the movie theater watching \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUkyHvsvfg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Dante’s Inferno\u003c/em>\u003c/a> (it was the hit of the year, people), Schmidt was throwing herself into unfeasibly cold water to break records. At 19, Schmidt swam from the Presidio’s Fort Point to Sausalito’s Lime Point in just 42 minutes, setting a record for female swimmers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following year, she swam to the Oakland Mole from San Francisco’s Pier 9. It took her just over three hours and she was the first woman to do it. Naturally, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> responded to this feat by calling her “the glory of radiant young womanhood.” In 1913, Schmidt’s hometown also crowned her Queen of the Moose Fete. Way to show your appreciation, Alameda!\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bernadine King, Stunt Pilot\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915496\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 592px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915496\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-10.57.47-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"592\" height=\"1058\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-10.57.47-AM.png 592w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-10.57.47-AM-160x286.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bernadine King, as seen in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1940.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The year is 1937. The place is San Francisco. And thousands upon thousands of people have flocked to the city to witness the grand opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Amidst the chaos of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13913489\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">military displays, endless parties, sporting competitions and too many parades to mention\u003c/a> is a gatecrasher. Her name is Bernadine King, she is 26, and she’s already an accomplished pilot known for her stunts, skywriting and what she called “precision acrobatics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time of the bridge opening, King had earned the women’s world record for flying upside down—for a full 25-and-a-half minutes. But the young pilot was also a pro when it came to grabbing headlines. On the Golden Gate’s opening day, the Los Angeles resident, flying in her yellow and black biplane, swept down from a high altitude, flew under the bridge and stunned hundreds of bystanders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> described King’s spectacular display thusly:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Downward [the plane] roared, almost skirting the waves of the Golden Gate as under the span it zoomed. Then it shot upward as Miss King gave it the gun. There were few watchers who knew what was to happen. There were several wing-overs and finally a complete roll, the plane’s belly glistening to the sun.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The following year, King made headlines again after crash-landing a plane near Burbank while completely in the nude. She told rescuers she was just working on her tan. Papers subsequently dubbed her the “Flying Godiva.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dorothy Smith, Motorcycle Trick Rider\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 12, 1939, Dorothy Smith donned her best leathers, jumped onto her customized Harley Davidson motorcycle and competed in a grueling 300-mile competition. The 1939 Lost Mines race started just after midnight in downtown Oakland and ran deep into what the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> called “East Bay back country” overnight. Smith would have been the only woman competing if not for the fact that her mother—known only as “Ma” to the papers of the day—also took part in the race. (Because the sprocket doesn’t fall far from the foot peg, presumably.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The younger Smith was known for her stunts on two wheels and for thrilling crowds and fellow bikers throughout the 1930s and ’40s. Smith was a world champion trick rider, a member of the San Francisco Motorcycle Club, and one of the earliest members of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.motormaidsinc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Motor Maids\u003c/a>, an all-women motorcycle club founded by fellow biker badasses \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/early-women-motorcyclists/gallery#6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Linda Dugeau\u003c/a> and Dot Robinson. The club still exists to this day. Lock up your sons and daughters!\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ruth Elder, Aviatrix\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 397px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915812\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/GettyImages-515162638-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"397\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/GettyImages-515162638-1.jpg 397w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/GettyImages-515162638-1-160x239.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 397px) 100vw, 397px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruth Elder and George Haldeman pose in front of their ‘American Girl’ plane. Before they had to crash it into the Atlantic, obviously. \u003ccite>(Getty Images, Bettmann)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1927, 2,623 miles into an attempt to become the world’s first female transatlantic pilot, Ruth Elder’s plane ran into trouble. She and Captain George Haldeman were just 360 miles from Portugal when their “American Girl” aircraft suffered an oil leak. The duo was forced to crash into the Atlantic, but were strategic enough to do so near a Dutch ship that subsequently rescued them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s footage of a perfectly accessorized Elder, getting ready for takeoff:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/gW0AheyJ1Ek'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/gW0AheyJ1Ek'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Regardless of Elder and Haldeman’s failure to reach France from New York, the trip immediately turned Elder into a media sensation. It was still, after all, the longest flight ever made by a woman \u003cem>and\u003c/em> the longest flight ever made over water. She was almost immediately cast in a couple of silent movies—\u003cem>Moran of the Marines\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Winged Horseman\u003c/em>. She also dabbled in modeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skip to 2:57 below to see Elder in a sporty red-and-white ensemble, in 1928:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/HwNqxxUooiM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/HwNqxxUooiM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Elder’s true passion, however, remained in the skies. Like Maxine Dunlap, Elder was a member of the Ninety-Nines and enjoyed flying competitively. Notably, she took part in the first ever Women’s Air Derby in 1929, flying a Swallow NC8730. The race was nicknamed “The Powder Puff Derby” because: patriarchy. And the nickname stuck despite Marvel Crosson dying tragically during the race. Elder came in a respectable fifth place, out of 19 competitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder wound up getting married six times (you go, girl!) and, later in life, finding work in the aviation industry as an executive secretary—to \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Howard goddamn Hughes\u003c/a>. Despite her daredevil tendencies, Elder lived to 75, dying in San Francisco in 1977. The campaign to get something in or around SFO named after her begins now!\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "25 Years On, Lilith Fair is a Reminder of How One Woman's Radical Idea Changed Music",
"headTitle": "25 Years On, Lilith Fair is a Reminder of How One Woman’s Radical Idea Changed Music | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It was July 5th 1997: Opening night of the groundbreaking all-female music festival Lilith Fair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lineup featured a who’s who of female alternative musicians of the moment: Sheryl Crow, Jewel, The Indigo Girls, Lisa Loeb, Fiona Apple, Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilith Fair was the culmination of a year of work by its founder, a Canadian singer-songwriter. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15397450/sarah-mclachlan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sarah McLachlan\u003c/a> had been told by music and concert industry executives that putting more than one woman back-to-back on a lineup or radio playlist wouldn’t sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like, I’d walk in and do an interview and they said, ‘Well, we’d love to add this song but we can’t add you this week because we had a Tori Amos or because we added Tracy Chapman or because we added Sinéad O’Connor,'” she recalls. “And it was extremely frustrating. So the beginning of this was just born out of a desire to come together as a community. And it became this—we’re going to break down some barriers. We’re going to prove these guys wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So McLachlan started to fundraise and work with performers to join her on stage before launching Lilith in the summer of 1997.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBhUjdHv7-I\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its first summer, Lilith easily outpaced the then-fading Lollapolooza festival, in both audience size and ticket sales. It returned for two more summers and went on to become the top-grossing music festival of the late 1990s, racking up $60 million in ticket sales over its three-year run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eclectic group of women artists included folk, rock, country and pop musicians and sold out nearly every single show its first year. But as Lilith’s popularity increased, critics disparaged the festival as “mom music” and called out its mostly white bill of performers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13805002']Exactly 25 years later, musicians who participated in Lilith Fair and journalists who covered it reflected on the festival’s importance in interviews with NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Hopper, who authored an \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/09/an-oral-history-of-lilith-fair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">oral history of the Lilith Fair\u003c/a>, says Lilith’s lessons remain relevant today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Safe space is something that we’re still trying to foster and kind of hold it up as an ideal, and it’s like wait—this was accomplished three summers in a row with the biggest names in music,” she explains. “It showed people models of possibility.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Criticism was quick, but so was change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Perhaps inevitably, Lilith became a target for comedians and cultural critics scoring points at the expense of female musical agency. It took just a few months after Lilith’s very first show for \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> to introduce a recurring character mocking the overly earnest stereotype of a Lilith artist, played by Ana Gasteyer, who droned on about her folkist approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFid15XOwPo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1998, the organizers of Lilith had more money to work with, and could point to the marked success of the previous summer. The festival expanded from 37 shows to 57 shows, expanding its lineup to include more than 100 artists across three stages. Festival programmers challenged perceptions of Lilith Fair as a majority-white group of folk and alternative artists at a time when R&B, rap and hip-hop were gaining broader popularity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13915779']In the lead-up to its second year, McLachlan worked with organizers to intentionally add more artists of color to the ticket: Erykah Badu and Queen Latifah joined the main stage for Lilith’s second year, along with up-and-coming Missy Elliott, who made her debut live performance at Lilith Fair in a giant vinyl trash-bag-inspired suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of that second year, I think, is really significant because those were artists who were changing things in different worlds than the world that [McLachlan] occupies,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/140955737/ann-powers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR Music critic Ann Powers\u003c/a>, who attended all three summers of Lilith Fair. “And through a 2022 lens, we could say, ‘Oh I wish it’d been even more diverse’ … but you got to give them credit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The addition of more artists of color opened the festival to a broader audience, and exposed its up-and-coming Black female artists to a new set of fans. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/17992281/meshell-nedgeocello\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meshell Ndegeocello\u003c/a>, a bassist and composer who joined the show in 1998, recalls the festival’s comforting atmosphere and the thrill of getting to see such powerful female artists—from Paula Cole to Erykah Badu to Natalie Merchant—performing together and supporting each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915788\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915788\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman wearing a white embroidered bucket hat, a white sweater and flowing red and white scarf takes a pause for breath, while holding a microphone attached to a stand, mid-performance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Musician Me’Shell Ndegeocello credits Lilith Fair with helping to significantly expand her audience. Here she is performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2002. \u003ccite>(Kevin Winter/ImageDirect)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was able to see people I admired but cherished in a way that had a musical connection to me that was uplifting and healing,” she remembers. “And I think I flourished as a musician because I was out of the male gaze and music where it’s just, you know, ‘Show me what you got.’ And it was more like, ‘What can you make me feel?'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah McLachlan said that’s exactly what Lilith Fair was always supposed to achieve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To create an environment where everybody gets to be seen and heard and valued, and come as you are, you know, let your freak flag fly … this is the place you get to do that and there is no judgment here,” she recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>But the show couldn’t go on forever—or make a comeback\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>After its third successful summer on the road, the ’90s iteration of Lilith came to an end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By that time, many stars could look back and point to Lilith Fair as a major catalyst for their success—like Jewel, who graced the cover of \u003cem>Time Magazine \u003c/em>in 1997 and sang the National Anthem at the 1998 Super Bowl. Or English singer Dido, whose song “Thank you” was featured in movie soundtracks and sampled in Eminem’s award-winning single “Stan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13900997']“Some of these women were told by their agents, ‘This is going to kill your career if you do this,'” says Hopper, referring to early industry doubts around the festival’s founding. “And in fact the opposite happened … it minted stars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was partly the demands of Sarah McLachlan’s own celestial career that brought an end to Lilith Fair. Releasing two albums in three years, kick-starting a major touring festival and getting married—all milestones that left the singer exhausted. As McLachlan recounted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.glamour.com/story/the-oral-history-of-lilith-fair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Glamour Magazine\u003c/em> in 2017,\u003c/a> “I’ve got to go home. And I have to have a life. People have been having babies and getting married and divorced, and I’ve missed it all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in 2010, McLachlan tried to get Lilith off the ground again, turning to former festival favorites such as Erykah Badu and Tegan and Sara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwMnXVAixhg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilith Fair’s second iteration faced several obstacles. For one, McLachlan was now the mother of two daughters and was busy finishing yet another album. As she explained to \u003cem>Glamour\u003c/em>, she was headlining the tour and working with many of the same behind-the-scenes coordinators who had helped manage previous tours. Still, disorganization and shoddy financial management caused many artists—including \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lilith-fair-loses-10-dates-kelly-clarkson-quits-179394/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kelly Clarkson\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://ew.com/article/2010/07/01/lilith-fair-cancels-10-dates/\">Norah Jones\u003c/a>—to drop out of shows at the last minute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s more, the music industry had undergone a seismic change over a decade. The digital music era meant that audiences were now discovering new music online, rather than on touring festival lineups. Ticket prices had also increased, with some Lilith VIP packages costing $750.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McLachlan later speculated that, much like herself, Lilith’s original audience had developed a different set of priorities. “A lot of the young women who came to Lilith back then now have kids at home, have busy careers,” she told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/sarah-mclachlan-on-young-women-and-feminism-1.1176538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Canadian Broadcasting Corporation \u003c/a>in 2012. “And I don’t think we did enough due diligence in discovering how our audience had changed and how to reflect that. In a new show, we kind of threw up the same model, which, you know, obviously in hindsight was quite stupid and it didn’t get the audiences that we expected to get.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McLachlan and her partners ended up canceling the tour after only a few shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Lilith’s legacy 25 years later\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Looking back, did Lilith achieve what it set out to accomplish?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ann Powers says yes. She says it upended longstanding presumptions that audiences wouldn’t connect with the femininity and eclecticism of an all-female music festival. Not only that, Lilith Fair radically expanded creative possibilities for women musicians, who took to its stages to triumph, to experiment, even to fail and to try again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a snapshot of a huge array of what women were doing in music in this era when there was a lot of space and demand for women of all kinds to be taking risks in music,” Powers says. “And Lilith Fair is almost like, ‘Here’s your compilation of every wild idea that women had in music in the ’90s.’ And I think so much of that stuff is just, like, forgotten.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the artists and fans who experienced it, Lilith Fair felt revolutionary. Its success upended concert industry norms and created a new place where female artistry could evolve and flourish. Lilith Fair was a cultural phenomenon that coalesced at just the right time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NPR researcher Will Chase contributed to this report\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=25+years+on%2C+Lilith+Fair+is+a+reminder+of+how+one+woman%27s+radical+idea+changed+music&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was July 5th 1997: Opening night of the groundbreaking all-female music festival Lilith Fair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lineup featured a who’s who of female alternative musicians of the moment: Sheryl Crow, Jewel, The Indigo Girls, Lisa Loeb, Fiona Apple, Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilith Fair was the culmination of a year of work by its founder, a Canadian singer-songwriter. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15397450/sarah-mclachlan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sarah McLachlan\u003c/a> had been told by music and concert industry executives that putting more than one woman back-to-back on a lineup or radio playlist wouldn’t sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like, I’d walk in and do an interview and they said, ‘Well, we’d love to add this song but we can’t add you this week because we had a Tori Amos or because we added Tracy Chapman or because we added Sinéad O’Connor,'” she recalls. “And it was extremely frustrating. So the beginning of this was just born out of a desire to come together as a community. And it became this—we’re going to break down some barriers. We’re going to prove these guys wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So McLachlan started to fundraise and work with performers to join her on stage before launching Lilith in the summer of 1997.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/XBhUjdHv7-I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/XBhUjdHv7-I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In its first summer, Lilith easily outpaced the then-fading Lollapolooza festival, in both audience size and ticket sales. It returned for two more summers and went on to become the top-grossing music festival of the late 1990s, racking up $60 million in ticket sales over its three-year run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eclectic group of women artists included folk, rock, country and pop musicians and sold out nearly every single show its first year. But as Lilith’s popularity increased, critics disparaged the festival as “mom music” and called out its mostly white bill of performers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Exactly 25 years later, musicians who participated in Lilith Fair and journalists who covered it reflected on the festival’s importance in interviews with NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Hopper, who authored an \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/09/an-oral-history-of-lilith-fair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">oral history of the Lilith Fair\u003c/a>, says Lilith’s lessons remain relevant today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Safe space is something that we’re still trying to foster and kind of hold it up as an ideal, and it’s like wait—this was accomplished three summers in a row with the biggest names in music,” she explains. “It showed people models of possibility.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Criticism was quick, but so was change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Perhaps inevitably, Lilith became a target for comedians and cultural critics scoring points at the expense of female musical agency. It took just a few months after Lilith’s very first show for \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> to introduce a recurring character mocking the overly earnest stereotype of a Lilith artist, played by Ana Gasteyer, who droned on about her folkist approach.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/dFid15XOwPo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/dFid15XOwPo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>By 1998, the organizers of Lilith had more money to work with, and could point to the marked success of the previous summer. The festival expanded from 37 shows to 57 shows, expanding its lineup to include more than 100 artists across three stages. Festival programmers challenged perceptions of Lilith Fair as a majority-white group of folk and alternative artists at a time when R&B, rap and hip-hop were gaining broader popularity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the lead-up to its second year, McLachlan worked with organizers to intentionally add more artists of color to the ticket: Erykah Badu and Queen Latifah joined the main stage for Lilith’s second year, along with up-and-coming Missy Elliott, who made her debut live performance at Lilith Fair in a giant vinyl trash-bag-inspired suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of that second year, I think, is really significant because those were artists who were changing things in different worlds than the world that [McLachlan] occupies,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/140955737/ann-powers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR Music critic Ann Powers\u003c/a>, who attended all three summers of Lilith Fair. “And through a 2022 lens, we could say, ‘Oh I wish it’d been even more diverse’ … but you got to give them credit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The addition of more artists of color opened the festival to a broader audience, and exposed its up-and-coming Black female artists to a new set of fans. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/17992281/meshell-nedgeocello\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meshell Ndegeocello\u003c/a>, a bassist and composer who joined the show in 1998, recalls the festival’s comforting atmosphere and the thrill of getting to see such powerful female artists—from Paula Cole to Erykah Badu to Natalie Merchant—performing together and supporting each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915788\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915788\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman wearing a white embroidered bucket hat, a white sweater and flowing red and white scarf takes a pause for breath, while holding a microphone attached to a stand, mid-performance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/gettyimages-2258784-05140b4a07816657b44d5245704168d5c5d0fbf3-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Musician Me’Shell Ndegeocello credits Lilith Fair with helping to significantly expand her audience. Here she is performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2002. \u003ccite>(Kevin Winter/ImageDirect)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was able to see people I admired but cherished in a way that had a musical connection to me that was uplifting and healing,” she remembers. “And I think I flourished as a musician because I was out of the male gaze and music where it’s just, you know, ‘Show me what you got.’ And it was more like, ‘What can you make me feel?'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah McLachlan said that’s exactly what Lilith Fair was always supposed to achieve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To create an environment where everybody gets to be seen and heard and valued, and come as you are, you know, let your freak flag fly … this is the place you get to do that and there is no judgment here,” she recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>But the show couldn’t go on forever—or make a comeback\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>After its third successful summer on the road, the ’90s iteration of Lilith came to an end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By that time, many stars could look back and point to Lilith Fair as a major catalyst for their success—like Jewel, who graced the cover of \u003cem>Time Magazine \u003c/em>in 1997 and sang the National Anthem at the 1998 Super Bowl. Or English singer Dido, whose song “Thank you” was featured in movie soundtracks and sampled in Eminem’s award-winning single “Stan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Some of these women were told by their agents, ‘This is going to kill your career if you do this,'” says Hopper, referring to early industry doubts around the festival’s founding. “And in fact the opposite happened … it minted stars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was partly the demands of Sarah McLachlan’s own celestial career that brought an end to Lilith Fair. Releasing two albums in three years, kick-starting a major touring festival and getting married—all milestones that left the singer exhausted. As McLachlan recounted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.glamour.com/story/the-oral-history-of-lilith-fair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Glamour Magazine\u003c/em> in 2017,\u003c/a> “I’ve got to go home. And I have to have a life. People have been having babies and getting married and divorced, and I’ve missed it all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in 2010, McLachlan tried to get Lilith off the ground again, turning to former festival favorites such as Erykah Badu and Tegan and Sara.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/hwMnXVAixhg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/hwMnXVAixhg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Lilith Fair’s second iteration faced several obstacles. For one, McLachlan was now the mother of two daughters and was busy finishing yet another album. As she explained to \u003cem>Glamour\u003c/em>, she was headlining the tour and working with many of the same behind-the-scenes coordinators who had helped manage previous tours. Still, disorganization and shoddy financial management caused many artists—including \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lilith-fair-loses-10-dates-kelly-clarkson-quits-179394/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kelly Clarkson\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://ew.com/article/2010/07/01/lilith-fair-cancels-10-dates/\">Norah Jones\u003c/a>—to drop out of shows at the last minute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s more, the music industry had undergone a seismic change over a decade. The digital music era meant that audiences were now discovering new music online, rather than on touring festival lineups. Ticket prices had also increased, with some Lilith VIP packages costing $750.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McLachlan later speculated that, much like herself, Lilith’s original audience had developed a different set of priorities. “A lot of the young women who came to Lilith back then now have kids at home, have busy careers,” she told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/sarah-mclachlan-on-young-women-and-feminism-1.1176538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Canadian Broadcasting Corporation \u003c/a>in 2012. “And I don’t think we did enough due diligence in discovering how our audience had changed and how to reflect that. In a new show, we kind of threw up the same model, which, you know, obviously in hindsight was quite stupid and it didn’t get the audiences that we expected to get.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McLachlan and her partners ended up canceling the tour after only a few shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Lilith’s legacy 25 years later\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Looking back, did Lilith achieve what it set out to accomplish?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ann Powers says yes. She says it upended longstanding presumptions that audiences wouldn’t connect with the femininity and eclecticism of an all-female music festival. Not only that, Lilith Fair radically expanded creative possibilities for women musicians, who took to its stages to triumph, to experiment, even to fail and to try again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a snapshot of a huge array of what women were doing in music in this era when there was a lot of space and demand for women of all kinds to be taking risks in music,” Powers says. “And Lilith Fair is almost like, ‘Here’s your compilation of every wild idea that women had in music in the ’90s.’ And I think so much of that stuff is just, like, forgotten.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the artists and fans who experienced it, Lilith Fair felt revolutionary. Its success upended concert industry norms and created a new place where female artistry could evolve and flourish. Lilith Fair was a cultural phenomenon that coalesced at just the right time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NPR researcher Will Chase contributed to this report\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=25+years+on%2C+Lilith+Fair+is+a+reminder+of+how+one+woman%27s+radical+idea+changed+music&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-chinatown-nightclub-dancer-who-helped-squash-asian-stereotypes",
"title": "The Chinatown Nightclub Dancer Who Helped Squash Asian Stereotypes",
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"headTitle": "The Chinatown Nightclub Dancer Who Helped Squash Asian Stereotypes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the 1930s, young Asian American women living in San Francisco didn’t have a lot of job prospects. At home, these women often faced limiting cultural expectations. And in the wider non-Asian community, discrimination against them was rife. Secretarial and administration positions were off limits, and even the most beautiful and talented girls couldn’t find regular work as models or actors. For those unwilling to rush into marriage or work manual labor jobs, employment options were few and far between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After prohibition ended in 1933, however, new opportunities arose. For those brave enough to embrace the thrills and spills of city nightlife, the new bars and nightclubs that began opening all over Chinatown offered jobs. Bold young Asian American women became singers, dancers and showgirls, and entertained packed rooms of diverse audiences. In the process, they helped buck racist stereotypes about Asian Americans common in the Bay Area at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of these women was Mary Mammon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13895374']For the first 16 years of her life, Mammon lived in Clifton, Arizona—a small town that was overwhelmingly white, but still welcoming to her family. When Mammon’s grandmother got sick, her mom—originally from San Francisco—moved Mammon and her five older siblings to the city by the bay. Mammon was immediately struck by how segregated it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At one time,” she told Arthur Dong for his \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28958446-forbidden-city-usa?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=y4gDuKbP6M&rank=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Forbidden City USA\u003c/em>\u003c/a> book, “the boundary line was Broadway. The Italians didn’t cross over to the Chinese side and the Chinese didn’t cross over to that side without causing some sort of fracas … [At] one time, the parks had signs that said ‘No Chinese or dogs allowed.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Faced with few other options, in 1936 Mammon tried her hand as a cocktail waitress at the Chinese Pagoda, situated at 830 Grant Ave. (The bar makes a very brief appearance in the 1960 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054197/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Portrait in Black\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.) A popular trend at the time was to have singing wait staff, so Mammon quickly became accustomed to performing. Though never formally trained, she had gravitated towards singing and dancing since she was a little girl. In high school, she was a member of the Glee Club, and a huge fan of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. Mammon jumped at the opportunity to perform for an audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Mammon’s most popular numbers at the Pagoda was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJcdNr-WIvA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A-Tisket-A-Tasket\u003c/a>,” the jazz standard popularized by Ella Fitzgerald. Legend has it that, after seeing Mammon perform it one night, Herb Caen expressed confusion in his \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em> column over why an Asian girl would perform such a song. At the time, most Americans had simply never seen people of Asian descent singing anything other than traditional Chinese opera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mammon actively looked for performing gigs that wouldn’t require her to also wait tables. She reached out to chorus lines across San Francisco and was turned down by all of them. “They didn’t think a Chinese could do it,” she told the \u003cem>Sydney Morning Herald\u003c/em> in 1992. “Most people thought that Blacks had a lot of rhythm and Orientals had none.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915033\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-800x479.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-800x479.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-1020x610.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-768x459.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-1536x919.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-2048x1225.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-1920x1149.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fashion-forward Mary Mammon is seen at the center of a Forbidden City table in the 1940s. To her right is her friend and dance partner Dottie Sun. On either side of them sit two servicemen and another friend. \u003ccite>('Forbidden City USA' documentary)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December of 1938, Mammon was finally given the chance to expand her skills when the first Chinese nightclub in America opened at 363 Sutter Street. Its name was Forbidden City, and it was the brainchild of Charlie Low, a bar owner originally from Nevada. Low was encouraged to open the club by his second wife Li Tei Ming—a singer who was looking for stages to perform on. When Mammon auditioned for the second-floor club, she was welcomed with open arms—she was one of the few chorus girls there with any experience at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I shared the tastes of middle America,” Mary said in 1992. “The nightclubs were not a cultural shock to me. They were quite nice. The days of the speakeasy were gone. I mainly remember that we had a lot of fun at Charlie Low’s club, doing what we wanted to do. People were curious about us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The club limped through its first year, struggling to find its tone and audience. But once it did, it inspired a rash of copycats in Chinatown. The Chinese Skyroom, Club Shanghai, Kubla Khan and Lion’s Den all swiftly followed in Forbidden City’s footsteps, offering the same joyful blend of Asian and American cultures. The change in the neighborhood was not welcomed by everyone—and the female performers were judged most harshly of all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13902628']“The Chinese families in San Francisco looked down on such things,” Mammon explained in \u003cem>Forbidden City USA\u003c/em>. “Show your legs out there for people to see? It was unheard of! Girls were taught to grow up and keep house, and we were supposed to get married at a certain time, and we were supposed to know how to take care of a house, and take of the children, and take care of your husband. This was just not part of the Chinese culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Arthur Dong’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121292/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1989 documentary, \u003cem>Forbidden City USA\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Jadin Wong, one of Mammon’s fellow dancers, recalled: “We used to get letters from Chinese people telling us that we should be ashamed of ourselves doing what we do for a living, dancing in a nightclub.” Singer Frances Chun added: “[It] was shocking for the Chinese community, and confusing for the Caucasian people.” One former patron named Gladys Hu explained that “it was quite a scandalous place to be going, because you had showgirls in skimpy costumes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the midst of it all, Mammon and her friends remained impervious to the criticism and, for the most part, had a ball—despite being underpaid for their labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]B[/dropcap]y the 1940s, Mammon and her Forbidden City cohorts were nationwide sensations. \u003cem>Life\u003c/em> magazine had garnered the club national attention in 1938 with an article outlining the ways it filled “a local cultural need” in San Francisco. But it was during World War II when word really began to spread, thanks to the servicemen who visited Forbidden City whenever granted leave in the Bay. Once word spread throughout the military, the press was quick to follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One newsreel of the time introduced Forbidden City’s chorus girls in a beach setting. Wearing traditional Chinese dresses, the women begin the segment with what the newscaster describes as an “age-old dance” in order to “welcome Springtime.” After a few moments, the seemingly demure women run behind a screen, fling off their clothes and emerge gleefully in modern swimsuits for a dance routine on the sand. Each of the Forbidden City dancers looks thrilled to play into, and then flip, the common Asian American stereotypes of the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915135\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-800x922.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"922\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-800x922.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-160x184.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-768x886.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM.png 836w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Associated Press picture story about Mary Mammon, titled “Chinatown Girl,” as seen in the Bangor Daily News, July 4, 1941. \u003ccite>(Bangor Daily News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In June of 1941, a syndicated Associated Press article presented a day in the life of Mammon. Chinatown, the report said, “once was reputed to hold all the sins and exotic charms of Old China, but a new generation, modern and American, has sprung up.” After a series of fluffy and frivolous photos of Mammon performing, shopping, eating, studying, sunbathing, and walking through Chinatown in fashionable garb, the story concluded with a salient point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tourists may mourn the passing of the old Chinatown customs and fixtures,” it said, “but for Mary and girls like her it has meant emancipation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13897608']The coverage gave Forbidden City yet another boost, and it began attracting celebrities. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan all paid the club a visit. Now and again, Mammon and other dancers, including Hazel Jay and Dottie Sun, hit the road to show audiences across America what they could do. The \u003cem>Chinese Follies\u003c/em> tour was one such jaunt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the 1950s came a new wave of pop culture icons and a cultural shift that left Forbidden City and other nightclubs like it looking increasingly dated. Low finally sold the club in 1962. By that time, Mammon was a single mom of two sons, having married in 1947 and divorced in 1955. When the club closed, she hung up her dancing shoes and took a grocery clerk job at Safeway. Mammon never lost her love of music, though. In retirement, she sang in choirs and danced at the Berkeley Chinese Senior Center, where she was an active volunteer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Mammon died in 2002 at the age of 84, a beloved great-grandmother who never forgot her nightclub days. The determination she showed in her younger years to live life on her own terms was not only an inspiration to other women at the time—it also transformed how white America saw a new generation of Asian Americans. That everyone had such a good time in the process is just the cherry on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book celebrating women from the Rebel Girls series, \u003ca href=\"https://citylights.com/politics-current-events-history/unsung-heroines35-women-who-changed/\">‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area,’\u003c/a> is available now from City Lights.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n the 1930s, young Asian American women living in San Francisco didn’t have a lot of job prospects. At home, these women often faced limiting cultural expectations. And in the wider non-Asian community, discrimination against them was rife. Secretarial and administration positions were off limits, and even the most beautiful and talented girls couldn’t find regular work as models or actors. For those unwilling to rush into marriage or work manual labor jobs, employment options were few and far between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After prohibition ended in 1933, however, new opportunities arose. For those brave enough to embrace the thrills and spills of city nightlife, the new bars and nightclubs that began opening all over Chinatown offered jobs. Bold young Asian American women became singers, dancers and showgirls, and entertained packed rooms of diverse audiences. In the process, they helped buck racist stereotypes about Asian Americans common in the Bay Area at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of these women was Mary Mammon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For the first 16 years of her life, Mammon lived in Clifton, Arizona—a small town that was overwhelmingly white, but still welcoming to her family. When Mammon’s grandmother got sick, her mom—originally from San Francisco—moved Mammon and her five older siblings to the city by the bay. Mammon was immediately struck by how segregated it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At one time,” she told Arthur Dong for his \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28958446-forbidden-city-usa?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=y4gDuKbP6M&rank=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Forbidden City USA\u003c/em>\u003c/a> book, “the boundary line was Broadway. The Italians didn’t cross over to the Chinese side and the Chinese didn’t cross over to that side without causing some sort of fracas … [At] one time, the parks had signs that said ‘No Chinese or dogs allowed.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Faced with few other options, in 1936 Mammon tried her hand as a cocktail waitress at the Chinese Pagoda, situated at 830 Grant Ave. (The bar makes a very brief appearance in the 1960 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054197/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Portrait in Black\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.) A popular trend at the time was to have singing wait staff, so Mammon quickly became accustomed to performing. Though never formally trained, she had gravitated towards singing and dancing since she was a little girl. In high school, she was a member of the Glee Club, and a huge fan of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. Mammon jumped at the opportunity to perform for an audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Mammon’s most popular numbers at the Pagoda was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJcdNr-WIvA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A-Tisket-A-Tasket\u003c/a>,” the jazz standard popularized by Ella Fitzgerald. Legend has it that, after seeing Mammon perform it one night, Herb Caen expressed confusion in his \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em> column over why an Asian girl would perform such a song. At the time, most Americans had simply never seen people of Asian descent singing anything other than traditional Chinese opera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mammon actively looked for performing gigs that wouldn’t require her to also wait tables. She reached out to chorus lines across San Francisco and was turned down by all of them. “They didn’t think a Chinese could do it,” she told the \u003cem>Sydney Morning Herald\u003c/em> in 1992. “Most people thought that Blacks had a lot of rhythm and Orientals had none.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915033\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-800x479.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-800x479.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-1020x610.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-768x459.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-1536x919.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-2048x1225.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Mary-Mammon-C-1920x1149.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fashion-forward Mary Mammon is seen at the center of a Forbidden City table in the 1940s. To her right is her friend and dance partner Dottie Sun. On either side of them sit two servicemen and another friend. \u003ccite>('Forbidden City USA' documentary)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December of 1938, Mammon was finally given the chance to expand her skills when the first Chinese nightclub in America opened at 363 Sutter Street. Its name was Forbidden City, and it was the brainchild of Charlie Low, a bar owner originally from Nevada. Low was encouraged to open the club by his second wife Li Tei Ming—a singer who was looking for stages to perform on. When Mammon auditioned for the second-floor club, she was welcomed with open arms—she was one of the few chorus girls there with any experience at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I shared the tastes of middle America,” Mary said in 1992. “The nightclubs were not a cultural shock to me. They were quite nice. The days of the speakeasy were gone. I mainly remember that we had a lot of fun at Charlie Low’s club, doing what we wanted to do. People were curious about us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The club limped through its first year, struggling to find its tone and audience. But once it did, it inspired a rash of copycats in Chinatown. The Chinese Skyroom, Club Shanghai, Kubla Khan and Lion’s Den all swiftly followed in Forbidden City’s footsteps, offering the same joyful blend of Asian and American cultures. The change in the neighborhood was not welcomed by everyone—and the female performers were judged most harshly of all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The Chinese families in San Francisco looked down on such things,” Mammon explained in \u003cem>Forbidden City USA\u003c/em>. “Show your legs out there for people to see? It was unheard of! Girls were taught to grow up and keep house, and we were supposed to get married at a certain time, and we were supposed to know how to take care of a house, and take of the children, and take care of your husband. This was just not part of the Chinese culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Arthur Dong’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121292/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1989 documentary, \u003cem>Forbidden City USA\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Jadin Wong, one of Mammon’s fellow dancers, recalled: “We used to get letters from Chinese people telling us that we should be ashamed of ourselves doing what we do for a living, dancing in a nightclub.” Singer Frances Chun added: “[It] was shocking for the Chinese community, and confusing for the Caucasian people.” One former patron named Gladys Hu explained that “it was quite a scandalous place to be going, because you had showgirls in skimpy costumes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the midst of it all, Mammon and her friends remained impervious to the criticism and, for the most part, had a ball—despite being underpaid for their labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">B\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y the 1940s, Mammon and her Forbidden City cohorts were nationwide sensations. \u003cem>Life\u003c/em> magazine had garnered the club national attention in 1938 with an article outlining the ways it filled “a local cultural need” in San Francisco. But it was during World War II when word really began to spread, thanks to the servicemen who visited Forbidden City whenever granted leave in the Bay. Once word spread throughout the military, the press was quick to follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One newsreel of the time introduced Forbidden City’s chorus girls in a beach setting. Wearing traditional Chinese dresses, the women begin the segment with what the newscaster describes as an “age-old dance” in order to “welcome Springtime.” After a few moments, the seemingly demure women run behind a screen, fling off their clothes and emerge gleefully in modern swimsuits for a dance routine on the sand. Each of the Forbidden City dancers looks thrilled to play into, and then flip, the common Asian American stereotypes of the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915135\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-800x922.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"922\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-800x922.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-160x184.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM-768x886.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-22-at-3.30.17-PM.png 836w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Associated Press picture story about Mary Mammon, titled “Chinatown Girl,” as seen in the Bangor Daily News, July 4, 1941. \u003ccite>(Bangor Daily News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In June of 1941, a syndicated Associated Press article presented a day in the life of Mammon. Chinatown, the report said, “once was reputed to hold all the sins and exotic charms of Old China, but a new generation, modern and American, has sprung up.” After a series of fluffy and frivolous photos of Mammon performing, shopping, eating, studying, sunbathing, and walking through Chinatown in fashionable garb, the story concluded with a salient point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tourists may mourn the passing of the old Chinatown customs and fixtures,” it said, “but for Mary and girls like her it has meant emancipation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The coverage gave Forbidden City yet another boost, and it began attracting celebrities. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan all paid the club a visit. Now and again, Mammon and other dancers, including Hazel Jay and Dottie Sun, hit the road to show audiences across America what they could do. The \u003cem>Chinese Follies\u003c/em> tour was one such jaunt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the 1950s came a new wave of pop culture icons and a cultural shift that left Forbidden City and other nightclubs like it looking increasingly dated. Low finally sold the club in 1962. By that time, Mammon was a single mom of two sons, having married in 1947 and divorced in 1955. When the club closed, she hung up her dancing shoes and took a grocery clerk job at Safeway. Mammon never lost her love of music, though. In retirement, she sang in choirs and danced at the Berkeley Chinese Senior Center, where she was an active volunteer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Mammon died in 2002 at the age of 84, a beloved great-grandmother who never forgot her nightclub days. The determination she showed in her younger years to live life on her own terms was not only an inspiration to other women at the time—it also transformed how white America saw a new generation of Asian Americans. That everyone had such a good time in the process is just the cherry on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book celebrating women from the Rebel Girls series, \u003ca href=\"https://citylights.com/politics-current-events-history/unsung-heroines35-women-who-changed/\">‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area,’\u003c/a> is available now from City Lights.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Jeanne Manford made headlines 50 years ago when she marched with her openly gay son at the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade—\u003ca href=\"http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/1969/christopher.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an early Pride event in New York City\u003c/a>. Such behavior from a straight mom was unheard of at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following year, Manford founded an organization for people like herself—\u003ca href=\"https://pflagsf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PFLAG,\u003c/a> which originally stood for Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, PFLAG became a leader in the fight for gay rights. It was a cherished source of support for thousands of families, especially throughout the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. These days, Pride is a family event and PFLAG serves every member of the LGBTQIA community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915154\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-800x600.jpg\" alt=' A bespectacled woman dressed in conservative 1970s clothes smiles, as she walks through the street carrying a sign that says \"Parents of gays unite in support for our children.\" Behind her is a group of other men and women walking in formation.' width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7.jpg 1704w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeanne Manford marching in support of her son 50 years ago, at the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade in 1972. \u003ccite>(PFLAG National)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The culture has changed in immeasurable ways, says PFLAG board member Kay Holladay. She remembers how in the early 1980s when her son came out to her, she did not know any gay people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think my choir director at church probably was,” she says dryly. Her Southern Baptist church in Norman, Okla. did not accept LGBTQ members. “We had nobody to talk to. We had no other families. We had no resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holladay and her husband felt lost and isolated. They went to the public library to educate themselves but found nothing of use. However, they read about PFLAG in the syndicated advice column \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/01/17/169627080/dear-reader-yes-theres-a-reason-people-asked-dear-abby-for-advice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dear Abby\u003c/a> and that inspired them to co-found a local chapter. This year, they were grand marshals of \u003ca href=\"https://www.normanokpride.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norman’s Pride parade.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PFLAG was shaped by people like the Holladays for others like themselves—a largely white demographic who desperately needed support in the days before Ellen DeGeneres and Anderson Cooper helped make the very idea of LGBTQ families mainstream. These days, coming out has become relatively painless for many kids from families like theirs. But it was not easy for Devin Green, a child of immigrants who grew up in Charlotte, N.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13859570,arts_13859216,arts_13859162']“It was very nerve-racking,” the 19-year-old says of telling his parents he was trans. “Being Jamaican and having a relatively conservative upbringing, I just didn’t know what to expect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green’s family attended a Southern Baptist church that taught a literal interpretation of the Bible. When he came out in ninth grade, Green’s mom was less than thrilled. Now, she is open and candid about her family’s journey. After all, says Claudette Green, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=204550149\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it started for her at home in Jamaica\u003c/a>, where she grew up hearing homophobic messages in church, on the news and in popular music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were songs that glorified killing LGBTQ members,” she recalls. “There were actually laws on the books in Jamaica that you could go to jail if you were a member of the LGBTQ community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Devin Green persuaded his mom to go to therapy, she was talked into attending a PFLAG meeting. “It was difficult for me because when I got there, I met families who were more accepting of their children and so I felt like a terrible parent,” she says. But Green was the opposite of a terrible parent. She and her kid talked. And most importantly, she listened. “Devin was an excellent teacher and I was a very good student,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when the head of the local PFLAG chapter invited her out for coffee, she went. “She met me where I was,” Green says. “Going to PFLAG and seeing the love, it helped me dismantle some of the things I believed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years later, Green proudly marches in Pride parades. She’s changed her nursing career to focus on helping LGBTQ youth and she and her husband have supported other Caribbean families adjusting to LGBTQ kids. They’ve moved to a more affirming church and Green has just accepted a position on PFLAG’s Charlotte board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915155\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A group of smiling and waving people in matching blue t-shirts lead a celebratory march through sunny streets. Rainbow flags are held aloft in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0.jpg 994w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Gabriel Valley’s Asian Pacific Islander chapter of PFLAG marches in support of LGBTQ friends and family at a recent Pride parade. \u003ccite>(PFLAG San Gabriel Valley API Chapter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, PFLAG’s executive director, \u003ca href=\"https://pflag.org/bio/brian-k-bond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Bond\u003c/a>, says his organization has a long way to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s predominantly white,” he says. But PFLAG is trying he says, with bilingual literature and developing spaces where people with similar backgrounds and cultural competencies can support each other online. He is haunted, however, by the people PFLAG does not reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13859408']Bond keeps a receipt in his wallet, he told NPR. It’s for the funeral of a 13-year-old trans kid who died by suicide a year and a half ago. His family had never heard of PFLAG. The organization paid for the child’s funeral anonymously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interestingly enough, it was a state trooper that reached out to us,” Bond says. “And it’s not our job, but it’s what we needed to do in the moment. And making sure no family has to do that should be our ultimate goal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Times have changed but in some ways, they haven’t. PFLAG has new battles to fight. For the first time, \u003ca href=\"https://pflag.org/press-releases/PFLAGvAbbott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it’s become the plaintiff in a lawsuit\u003c/a>, against the state of Texas to protect trans kids and their parents fighting for affirmative health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=50+years+ago%2C+PFLAG%27s+founder+marched+with+her+gay+son.+How%27s+it+keeping+up+in+2022%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Jeanne Manford made headlines 50 years ago when she marched with her openly gay son at the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade—\u003ca href=\"http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/1969/christopher.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an early Pride event in New York City\u003c/a>. Such behavior from a straight mom was unheard of at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following year, Manford founded an organization for people like herself—\u003ca href=\"https://pflagsf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PFLAG,\u003c/a> which originally stood for Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, PFLAG became a leader in the fight for gay rights. It was a cherished source of support for thousands of families, especially throughout the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. These days, Pride is a family event and PFLAG serves every member of the LGBTQIA community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915154\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-800x600.jpg\" alt=' A bespectacled woman dressed in conservative 1970s clothes smiles, as she walks through the street carrying a sign that says \"Parents of gays unite in support for our children.\" Behind her is a group of other men and women walking in formation.' width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/jeanne-manford_christopher-street-liberation-day-march-062572_photo-credit-c.pflag-national-0ef4f9d12c869fcd3963d9fadcdcb9ac55a5d3a7.jpg 1704w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeanne Manford marching in support of her son 50 years ago, at the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade in 1972. \u003ccite>(PFLAG National)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The culture has changed in immeasurable ways, says PFLAG board member Kay Holladay. She remembers how in the early 1980s when her son came out to her, she did not know any gay people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think my choir director at church probably was,” she says dryly. Her Southern Baptist church in Norman, Okla. did not accept LGBTQ members. “We had nobody to talk to. We had no other families. We had no resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holladay and her husband felt lost and isolated. They went to the public library to educate themselves but found nothing of use. However, they read about PFLAG in the syndicated advice column \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/01/17/169627080/dear-reader-yes-theres-a-reason-people-asked-dear-abby-for-advice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dear Abby\u003c/a> and that inspired them to co-found a local chapter. This year, they were grand marshals of \u003ca href=\"https://www.normanokpride.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norman’s Pride parade.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PFLAG was shaped by people like the Holladays for others like themselves—a largely white demographic who desperately needed support in the days before Ellen DeGeneres and Anderson Cooper helped make the very idea of LGBTQ families mainstream. These days, coming out has become relatively painless for many kids from families like theirs. But it was not easy for Devin Green, a child of immigrants who grew up in Charlotte, N.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It was very nerve-racking,” the 19-year-old says of telling his parents he was trans. “Being Jamaican and having a relatively conservative upbringing, I just didn’t know what to expect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green’s family attended a Southern Baptist church that taught a literal interpretation of the Bible. When he came out in ninth grade, Green’s mom was less than thrilled. Now, she is open and candid about her family’s journey. After all, says Claudette Green, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=204550149\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it started for her at home in Jamaica\u003c/a>, where she grew up hearing homophobic messages in church, on the news and in popular music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were songs that glorified killing LGBTQ members,” she recalls. “There were actually laws on the books in Jamaica that you could go to jail if you were a member of the LGBTQ community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Devin Green persuaded his mom to go to therapy, she was talked into attending a PFLAG meeting. “It was difficult for me because when I got there, I met families who were more accepting of their children and so I felt like a terrible parent,” she says. But Green was the opposite of a terrible parent. She and her kid talked. And most importantly, she listened. “Devin was an excellent teacher and I was a very good student,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when the head of the local PFLAG chapter invited her out for coffee, she went. “She met me where I was,” Green says. “Going to PFLAG and seeing the love, it helped me dismantle some of the things I believed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years later, Green proudly marches in Pride parades. She’s changed her nursing career to focus on helping LGBTQ youth and she and her husband have supported other Caribbean families adjusting to LGBTQ kids. They’ve moved to a more affirming church and Green has just accepted a position on PFLAG’s Charlotte board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915155\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13915155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A group of smiling and waving people in matching blue t-shirts lead a celebratory march through sunny streets. Rainbow flags are held aloft in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/pflag-san-gabriel-valley-api-chapter_photo-credit-to-chapter-056a9bb43f4540f57cf1c97a47441c2b9a8ac7e0.jpg 994w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Gabriel Valley’s Asian Pacific Islander chapter of PFLAG marches in support of LGBTQ friends and family at a recent Pride parade. \u003ccite>(PFLAG San Gabriel Valley API Chapter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, PFLAG’s executive director, \u003ca href=\"https://pflag.org/bio/brian-k-bond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Bond\u003c/a>, says his organization has a long way to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s predominantly white,” he says. But PFLAG is trying he says, with bilingual literature and developing spaces where people with similar backgrounds and cultural competencies can support each other online. He is haunted, however, by the people PFLAG does not reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Bond keeps a receipt in his wallet, he told NPR. It’s for the funeral of a 13-year-old trans kid who died by suicide a year and a half ago. His family had never heard of PFLAG. The organization paid for the child’s funeral anonymously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interestingly enough, it was a state trooper that reached out to us,” Bond says. “And it’s not our job, but it’s what we needed to do in the moment. And making sure no family has to do that should be our ultimate goal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Times have changed but in some ways, they haven’t. PFLAG has new battles to fight. For the first time, \u003ca href=\"https://pflag.org/press-releases/PFLAGvAbbott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it’s become the plaintiff in a lawsuit\u003c/a>, against the state of Texas to protect trans kids and their parents fighting for affirmative health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=50+years+ago%2C+PFLAG%27s+founder+marched+with+her+gay+son.+How%27s+it+keeping+up+in+2022%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The 1937 Golden Gate Bridge Opening Was Completely Bananas",
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"content": "\u003cp>Grab the party hats, for it has been 85 years since San Francisco got its most famous landmark! Happy birthday, Golden Gate, you sexy little suspension bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weighing in at 887,000 tons and stretched out over a 1.7-mile span, it’s hard now to picture the Bay without this icon. Harder still is trying to picture the hullaballoo that erupted across San Francisco in honor of the bridge’s opening in 1937. And while most of us probably imagine a tasteful, dignified, glamour-drenched unveiling, like this…\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913509\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-800x1015.jpg\" alt=\"The Golden Gate Bridge, photographed in black and white, lit up by spotlights and fireworks.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1015\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-800x1015.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1020x1294.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-160x203.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-768x974.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1211x1536.jpg 1211w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1615x2048.jpg 1615w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1920x2435.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-scaled.jpg 2019w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Klieg lights and fireworks lighting up the night sky behind the bridge. \u003ccite>(Underwood Archives/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>…what actually happened in May 1937 more closely resembled sheer unbridled chaos. Picture, if you will, an entire region of humans doing The Absolute Most for four days straight. Then add fireworks and alcohol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how the festivities rolled out.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Thursday, May 27: Pedestrian Day\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pedestrian Day was an opportunity for everyone and their mother (and father and dog)—an estimated 200,000 people in all—to amble across the bridge in whichever direction they fancied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After paying a 25-cent toll, each of these people faced high winds, overhanging fog, the noise from 500 (\u003cem>500!\u003c/em>) planes in the sky above, and 10 whole miles of warships passing underneath. (Specifically, nine battleships, three airplane carriers, 19 cruisers and six destroyers.) Did I mention that the warships had 40,000 officers and men on board? Yeah. There was \u003cem>a lot\u003c/em> going on here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the earliest bridge crossers included:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A 35-year-old man named Milton Pilhasky, who spent two hours rolling a pill box across the bridge to Marin—with his nose.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Glorention Calegari, who crossed on stilts\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Sisters \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCDr3G24p54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnie and Carmen Perez\u003c/a> who were the first to cross on roller skates (but definitely not the last)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A Siamese cat on a leash\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Mildred Farquhar, 19, and Kathleen Evulich, 20, who slept underneath the bridge the night before so they could be some of the first people to cross when it opened up at 6am\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Four high school boys who made the first round trip, and spent the entire journey radioing a friend in Oakland\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The bridge’s chief engineer \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Strauss_(engineer)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joseph Strauss\u003c/a>, who read a special poem he’d written, titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=3006\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Mighty Task is Done\u003c/a>,” to mark the occasion\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, someone had the good sense (and expensive technology on hand) to film Pedestrian Day. Extra props must be awarded to the weird couple who casually walk backwards in front of the camera, 20 seconds in. \u003cem>(What are they doing?!)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ihKbigYhE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone with the stamina stuck around for a massive fireworks display at 10pm.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Friday, May 28: (Clown) Car Day\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Before any cars could cross, miles of them had to sit patiently in line, waiting for a series of increasingly surreal things to happen. First, at least seven different white men made speeches. (There were so many, even the reports at the time had a hard time keeping track of them all.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, once all the yapping was over, instead of a ceremonial ribbon cutting, three fancy fellows—Mayor Angelo Rossi, Santa Rosa banker Frank P. Doyle, and president of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, William P. Filmer—attacked some chains with fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing at various points on the bridge, each gent donned goggles and burned through silver, gold and copper chains using blow torches. Because apparently, after 20 years of planning and four years of construction, dragging this out for 10 extra minutes seemed like the thing to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913494\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913494\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-800x636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-800x636.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-1020x810.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-160x127.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-768x610.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-1536x1220.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-2048x1627.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-1920x1525.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A be-goggled Mayor Rossi using a tiny blowtorch to cut through a chain, while a gathered crowd waits patiently. It is a miracle that not one person in this picture is checking their watch. \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once the torching was done, it was time to let the cars on. \u003cem>Just kidding!\u003c/em> It was time for a logging competition! Because nothing says bridge opening like three dudes in a competitive sawing race!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men, from Eureka, Washington and Idaho, went bicep-to-bicep to see who could saw through a 36-inch-diameter Redwood tree the fastest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913493\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913493\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809956-800x659.jpg\" alt=\"Two men wearing black slacks and white tanks ready themselves to saw a very large tree trunk. The trunk is labeled 'CALIFORNIA REDWOOD.' A crowd watches on.\" width=\"800\" height=\"659\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">My money’s on the dude on the right. \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The winner was Washington’s Paul Serles, a “champion woodsman” who got through the tree trunk in just over two minutes and 47 seconds. (I can only hope someone let Paul blowtorch at least one chain to celebrate.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it was car time. \u003cem>Still just kidding!\u003c/em> Following the log thing came what the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> referred to as a “dazzling galaxy of California girls, grouped across the bridge at the San Francisco portal.” K.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The newspaper went on:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>In their center, arrayed in a regal gown of shimmering gold, stood Queen Vivian Sorenson, gracious ruler of the Fiesta, her ladies and county queens attending—at her back a diadem of California poppies. Mantillas and satin ruffles defied the approaching cavalcade of official cars.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>After Queen Viv had done her thing, it was finally—\u003cem>finally!\u003c/em>—time to let some cars cross. Enter Mrs. Ethyl Olsen of Balboa Park, in what I have to presume was a clown car, given that her vehicle also contained her husband, her father, her sister-in-law and \u003cem>four\u003c/em> children. (I can’t tell if this was possible because cars were bigger back then, or because humans were smaller…)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Driving in the opposite direction from Marin was a district engineer who’d almost died working on the bridge after falling “from the high approach viaduct” seven months earlier. (A total of 11 men in similar accidents did not live to see their bridge open.) “This is something I never thought I’d do,” Dean Kinter told the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em>. “I got banged up some in that fall, but golly it was worth it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Was it Dean? Was it really?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, you might be thinking to yourself, ‘OK. The bridge is open now. That’s it, right? We’re done?’ Not even close.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>May 28–30: The Fiesta\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809933-800x618.jpg\" alt=\"Row upon row of people gather on bleacher seats to watch marching bands. Further in the distance is the Golden Gate Bridge, most of which has been rendered invisible because of weather conditions.\" width=\"800\" height=\"618\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Everyone, and I do mean everyone, showed up to the Fiesta in Crissy Field … except the bridge it was designed to celebrate. Thanks Karl! \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It is hard to briefly sum up everything that happened at the Fiesta, because “the Fiesta” was the umbrella term used for about 4,000 different things that happened over a span of an entire week around the Marina and Crissy Field. That being said, I’m going to do my best to present A List of Things That Happened During The Fiesta That First Weekend. (Get ready, because it’s a lot.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>1. A huge goddamn parade from Van Ness and Union to Crissy Field, including:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>3,000 members of the San Francisco School Traffic Patrol (whatever that was)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Too many marching bands to count\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Thousands of soldiers, sailors and marines\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Dancing ladies in flowing gowns\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Weird-ass floats like this one:\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913499\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809929-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"Crowds gather along a street of houses to watch a marching band, and a woman on a strange float driving past.\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“See Bob? I told you if we put Nancy in her bathing suit up there, no one would notice the giant diaphragm. It’s FINE.” \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>2. Sports, including:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A yachting regatta\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Powerboat races\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A Navy internship baseball championship\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A bowling tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A handball tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A tennis tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Swimming races\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A soccer championship\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A horseshoe-pitching tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Who the hell had the energy for all this? Hard to say! What did any of this have to do with a bridge opening? Outside of the boat stuff, absolutely nothing! (We see you, horseshoe people, and we know you probably tacked yourselves onto this thing at the last minute…)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>3. Parties of questionable fun levels, including:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The Scandinavians of the Bay District Grand Ball, featuring choirs and folk dancing\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A fiesta luncheon for 200 officials, civic organizations and visiting dignitaries from Mexico and Canada\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Exposition-Fiesta Labor Ball in the Civic Auditorium (preceded by a pageant, naturally)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A manufacturers’ expo at the Dreamland Auditorium\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The “Frontier Days Wild West Show” (oh dear)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Fiesta costume ball and “coronation of queens” (emphasis on the plural—no word on how bridge queen Vivian Sorenson took this development…)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>All of which probably involved yodeling at some point thanks to the official song of the whole weekend, “There’s a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate.” Which sounded like this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94hNYfhExyg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decidedly not a banger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>4. “The Worst Marina-Presidio Traffic Jam in History”\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s what the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> called it on Sunday morning, after thousands of cars tried to attend Saturday’s 8pm fireworks display. Even drivers attempting to get to Crissy Field three hours early didn’t make it on time—or at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13912657,arts_13909983,arts_13910308']“San Franciscans last night tried to drive thousands of automobiles through streets built to accommodate hundreds,” the newspaper reported. “Automobiles temporarily were abandoned. Many were double parked and locked—further narrowing the too-narrow traffic arteries … Street cars were jammed fender to fender along Van Ness Avenue and the side streets leading toward the Presidio. Harassed police fought traffic until they were tired and hoarse and had to admit it was an impossible job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People were still trying to get their cars out of there at midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those drivers weren’t the only ones to get into trouble. By the end of the weekend, hundreds of people had spent the night in the drunk tank, a mini riot had broken out between 62 police officers and firecracker-armed revelers in Polk Gulch, and the bridge had acquired its very first drunk driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which suggests 1937 San Francisco wasn’t so different to San Francisco now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many happy returns, Golden Gate Bridge!\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Grab the party hats, for it has been 85 years since San Francisco got its most famous landmark! Happy birthday, Golden Gate, you sexy little suspension bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weighing in at 887,000 tons and stretched out over a 1.7-mile span, it’s hard now to picture the Bay without this icon. Harder still is trying to picture the hullaballoo that erupted across San Francisco in honor of the bridge’s opening in 1937. And while most of us probably imagine a tasteful, dignified, glamour-drenched unveiling, like this…\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913509\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-800x1015.jpg\" alt=\"The Golden Gate Bridge, photographed in black and white, lit up by spotlights and fireworks.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1015\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-800x1015.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1020x1294.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-160x203.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-768x974.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1211x1536.jpg 1211w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1615x2048.jpg 1615w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-1920x2435.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-495284023-scaled.jpg 2019w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Klieg lights and fireworks lighting up the night sky behind the bridge. \u003ccite>(Underwood Archives/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>…what actually happened in May 1937 more closely resembled sheer unbridled chaos. Picture, if you will, an entire region of humans doing The Absolute Most for four days straight. Then add fireworks and alcohol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how the festivities rolled out.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Thursday, May 27: Pedestrian Day\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pedestrian Day was an opportunity for everyone and their mother (and father and dog)—an estimated 200,000 people in all—to amble across the bridge in whichever direction they fancied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After paying a 25-cent toll, each of these people faced high winds, overhanging fog, the noise from 500 (\u003cem>500!\u003c/em>) planes in the sky above, and 10 whole miles of warships passing underneath. (Specifically, nine battleships, three airplane carriers, 19 cruisers and six destroyers.) Did I mention that the warships had 40,000 officers and men on board? Yeah. There was \u003cem>a lot\u003c/em> going on here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the earliest bridge crossers included:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A 35-year-old man named Milton Pilhasky, who spent two hours rolling a pill box across the bridge to Marin—with his nose.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Glorention Calegari, who crossed on stilts\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Sisters \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCDr3G24p54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnie and Carmen Perez\u003c/a> who were the first to cross on roller skates (but definitely not the last)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A Siamese cat on a leash\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Mildred Farquhar, 19, and Kathleen Evulich, 20, who slept underneath the bridge the night before so they could be some of the first people to cross when it opened up at 6am\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Four high school boys who made the first round trip, and spent the entire journey radioing a friend in Oakland\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The bridge’s chief engineer \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Strauss_(engineer)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joseph Strauss\u003c/a>, who read a special poem he’d written, titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=3006\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Mighty Task is Done\u003c/a>,” to mark the occasion\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, someone had the good sense (and expensive technology on hand) to film Pedestrian Day. Extra props must be awarded to the weird couple who casually walk backwards in front of the camera, 20 seconds in. \u003cem>(What are they doing?!)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/30ihKbigYhE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/30ihKbigYhE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Anyone with the stamina stuck around for a massive fireworks display at 10pm.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Friday, May 28: (Clown) Car Day\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Before any cars could cross, miles of them had to sit patiently in line, waiting for a series of increasingly surreal things to happen. First, at least seven different white men made speeches. (There were so many, even the reports at the time had a hard time keeping track of them all.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, once all the yapping was over, instead of a ceremonial ribbon cutting, three fancy fellows—Mayor Angelo Rossi, Santa Rosa banker Frank P. Doyle, and president of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, William P. Filmer—attacked some chains with fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing at various points on the bridge, each gent donned goggles and burned through silver, gold and copper chains using blow torches. Because apparently, after 20 years of planning and four years of construction, dragging this out for 10 extra minutes seemed like the thing to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913494\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913494\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-800x636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-800x636.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-1020x810.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-160x127.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-768x610.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-1536x1220.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-2048x1627.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809945-1920x1525.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A be-goggled Mayor Rossi using a tiny blowtorch to cut through a chain, while a gathered crowd waits patiently. It is a miracle that not one person in this picture is checking their watch. \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once the torching was done, it was time to let the cars on. \u003cem>Just kidding!\u003c/em> It was time for a logging competition! Because nothing says bridge opening like three dudes in a competitive sawing race!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men, from Eureka, Washington and Idaho, went bicep-to-bicep to see who could saw through a 36-inch-diameter Redwood tree the fastest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913493\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913493\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809956-800x659.jpg\" alt=\"Two men wearing black slacks and white tanks ready themselves to saw a very large tree trunk. The trunk is labeled 'CALIFORNIA REDWOOD.' A crowd watches on.\" width=\"800\" height=\"659\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">My money’s on the dude on the right. \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The winner was Washington’s Paul Serles, a “champion woodsman” who got through the tree trunk in just over two minutes and 47 seconds. (I can only hope someone let Paul blowtorch at least one chain to celebrate.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it was car time. \u003cem>Still just kidding!\u003c/em> Following the log thing came what the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> referred to as a “dazzling galaxy of California girls, grouped across the bridge at the San Francisco portal.” K.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The newspaper went on:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>In their center, arrayed in a regal gown of shimmering gold, stood Queen Vivian Sorenson, gracious ruler of the Fiesta, her ladies and county queens attending—at her back a diadem of California poppies. Mantillas and satin ruffles defied the approaching cavalcade of official cars.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>After Queen Viv had done her thing, it was finally—\u003cem>finally!\u003c/em>—time to let some cars cross. Enter Mrs. Ethyl Olsen of Balboa Park, in what I have to presume was a clown car, given that her vehicle also contained her husband, her father, her sister-in-law and \u003cem>four\u003c/em> children. (I can’t tell if this was possible because cars were bigger back then, or because humans were smaller…)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Driving in the opposite direction from Marin was a district engineer who’d almost died working on the bridge after falling “from the high approach viaduct” seven months earlier. (A total of 11 men in similar accidents did not live to see their bridge open.) “This is something I never thought I’d do,” Dean Kinter told the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em>. “I got banged up some in that fall, but golly it was worth it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Was it Dean? Was it really?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, you might be thinking to yourself, ‘OK. The bridge is open now. That’s it, right? We’re done?’ Not even close.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>May 28–30: The Fiesta\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809933-800x618.jpg\" alt=\"Row upon row of people gather on bleacher seats to watch marching bands. Further in the distance is the Golden Gate Bridge, most of which has been rendered invisible because of weather conditions.\" width=\"800\" height=\"618\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Everyone, and I do mean everyone, showed up to the Fiesta in Crissy Field … except the bridge it was designed to celebrate. Thanks Karl! \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It is hard to briefly sum up everything that happened at the Fiesta, because “the Fiesta” was the umbrella term used for about 4,000 different things that happened over a span of an entire week around the Marina and Crissy Field. That being said, I’m going to do my best to present A List of Things That Happened During The Fiesta That First Weekend. (Get ready, because it’s a lot.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>1. A huge goddamn parade from Van Ness and Union to Crissy Field, including:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>3,000 members of the San Francisco School Traffic Patrol (whatever that was)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Too many marching bands to count\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Thousands of soldiers, sailors and marines\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Dancing ladies in flowing gowns\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Weird-ass floats like this one:\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913499\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-1298809929-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"Crowds gather along a street of houses to watch a marching band, and a woman on a strange float driving past.\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“See Bob? I told you if we put Nancy in her bathing suit up there, no one would notice the giant diaphragm. It’s FINE.” \u003ccite>(Photographer Unknown/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>2. Sports, including:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A yachting regatta\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Powerboat races\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A Navy internship baseball championship\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A bowling tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A handball tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A tennis tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Swimming races\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A soccer championship\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A horseshoe-pitching tournament\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Who the hell had the energy for all this? Hard to say! What did any of this have to do with a bridge opening? Outside of the boat stuff, absolutely nothing! (We see you, horseshoe people, and we know you probably tacked yourselves onto this thing at the last minute…)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>3. Parties of questionable fun levels, including:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The Scandinavians of the Bay District Grand Ball, featuring choirs and folk dancing\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A fiesta luncheon for 200 officials, civic organizations and visiting dignitaries from Mexico and Canada\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Exposition-Fiesta Labor Ball in the Civic Auditorium (preceded by a pageant, naturally)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A manufacturers’ expo at the Dreamland Auditorium\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The “Frontier Days Wild West Show” (oh dear)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Fiesta costume ball and “coronation of queens” (emphasis on the plural—no word on how bridge queen Vivian Sorenson took this development…)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>All of which probably involved yodeling at some point thanks to the official song of the whole weekend, “There’s a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate.” Which sounded like this:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/94hNYfhExyg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/94hNYfhExyg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Decidedly not a banger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>4. “The Worst Marina-Presidio Traffic Jam in History”\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s what the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> called it on Sunday morning, after thousands of cars tried to attend Saturday’s 8pm fireworks display. Even drivers attempting to get to Crissy Field three hours early didn’t make it on time—or at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“San Franciscans last night tried to drive thousands of automobiles through streets built to accommodate hundreds,” the newspaper reported. “Automobiles temporarily were abandoned. Many were double parked and locked—further narrowing the too-narrow traffic arteries … Street cars were jammed fender to fender along Van Ness Avenue and the side streets leading toward the Presidio. Harassed police fought traffic until they were tired and hoarse and had to admit it was an impossible job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People were still trying to get their cars out of there at midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those drivers weren’t the only ones to get into trouble. By the end of the weekend, hundreds of people had spent the night in the drunk tank, a mini riot had broken out between 62 police officers and firecracker-armed revelers in Polk Gulch, and the bridge had acquired its very first drunk driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which suggests 1937 San Francisco wasn’t so different to San Francisco now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many happy returns, Golden Gate Bridge!\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-che-guevara-of-abortion-reformers-fought-hard-for-reproductive-rights",
"title": "The 'Che Guevara of Abortion Reformers' Fought Hard For Reproductive Rights",
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"headTitle": "The ‘Che Guevara of Abortion Reformers’ Fought Hard For Reproductive Rights | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n October of 1968, a reporter from the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> spent an evening inside a third floor office at 345 Franklin Street in San Francisco. By day, the place belonged to an attorney named Vincent Hallinan. After 7pm every Thursday, Hallinan offered his office—free of charge—for America’s very first post-abortion center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The free clinic was a safe space for young women who’d recently undergone illegal abortions and weren’t able see their regular doctors for post-operative care. The clinic also offered free pregnancy tests, birth control prescriptions and advice from a Planned Parenthood volunteer. It was staffed by volunteer gynecologists, a nurse, a receptionist and a lab technician named Pat Maginnis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was Maginnis who had started the clinic. It was she that was the most unapologetic about a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. And it was she that told a waiting room full of young women that night in 1968:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Remember. Your abortion is your business and no one else’s. You have a right to silence guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Abortions performed outside of the state are not reportable to police.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>By the time the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> paid Maginnis’ clinic a visit, she was already a well-known figure in San Francisco, and a pro-choice thorn in the side of anti-abortionists across the country. In 1962, Maginnis had started the Citizens Committee for Humane Abortion Laws, which was later renamed the Society for Humane Abortion (SHA). In 1964, she co-founded the Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (ARAL), alongside Rowena Gurner and Lana Phelan Kahn. (It was a precursor to today’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NARAL Pro-Choice America\u003c/a>.) Maginnis, Gurner and Kahn were such a force to be reckoned with that they earned the nickname ‘The Army of Three.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912998\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13912998 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-800x814.jpg\" alt=\"Three women wearing 1960s attire sit at a table strewn with papers. One of them holds up a sign that says 'REPEAL ABORTION LAWS'\" width=\"800\" height=\"814\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-800x814.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-768x781.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576.jpg 1007w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pat Maginnis organizing in Sausalito with (center) Anne Treseder who was the executive director of the Society for Humane Abortion, and another campaigner. \u003ccite>(Bettman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The SHA and ARAL served different purposes, but enabled Maginnis and her likeminded campaigners to achieve goals on both an official and underground basis. Official operations included public campaigning and working diligently to change the laws of the day. Underground activities included the compiling and distribution of lists of safe abortionists, along with how much they charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maginnis and her colleagues held classes across the United States to teach women how to book an appointment, what to expect and how to prepare for the procedure. Other lessons taught women about reproductive health, anatomy, step-by-step instructions on how to perform abortions at home, and even the best ways to deal with police after an abortion. Bomb threats and protests were not uncommon outside these gatherings and classes often had to be moved at the last minute to private homes, motel rooms, church basements and union halls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, Maginnis contended with protests staged by Mothers Outraged at the Murder of Innocents (MOMIS). MOMIS pushed district attorneys all over the region to prosecute Maginnis, to no avail. The D.A.s of San Francisco, Sacramento, Alameda, San Mateo, Sonoma and Santa Clara all refused to penalize Maginnis and her cohort for their work. By the end of the 1960s, local publications had started referring to her as “the Che Guevara of abortion reformers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 596px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13913761\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.27.35-PM.png\" alt=\"The white and blue cover of a textbook titled THE ABORTION HANDBOOK.\" width=\"596\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.27.35-PM.png 596w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.27.35-PM-160x230.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the publications created by Pat Maginnis and Lana Phelan during their time as abortion educators in a pre-Roe v. Wade America. \u003ccite>(NPR/Courtesy of Andrea Bowers)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]P[/dropcap]atricia Theresa Maginnis’ road to becoming the most prominent pro-choice campaigner of the 1960s was not an easy one. She was compelled to act only after bearing witness, for many years, to the consequences of women being denied access to their own health decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of seven children, Maginnis was born in Okarche, a small town outside of Oklahoma City, in 1928. She was raised in dire poverty by a veterinarian father who never escaped the stigma of being born illegitimate, and a mother who endured chronic pain and ailments caused by giving birth so many times. (“My mother would tell you she enjoyed having children,” Maginnis once said. “I didn’t go through childhood with that impression.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1950, Maginnis left a job at the Bureau of Mines and joined the Women’s Army Corps, training as a surgical technologist. After being assigned to a pediatrics and obstetrics ward in Panama, she bore witness to the aftermath of botched abortions and forced births. In 1966, she told the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em>: “My first real contact with abortion was in the Army. A woman pregnant by another man and expecting her husband’s return tried to abort herself [and] was hospitalized. The poor thing, who received no sympathy or understanding, became so distraught, a wire cage was placed over her bed. She was held captive like an animal. I still shudder at the memory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maginnis left her three-year enlistment as a corporal and decided to attend San Jose State College under the G.I. Bill. During her studies there, she got pregnant three times. On the first occasion, she traveled to Mexico for an abortion. She administered the next two on herself at home. After one of them landed her in the hospital, she was asked if she had given herself an abortion. Her response? “Sure I did. Want me to demonstrate how in court?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13911567,arts_13894842,arts_13870056']After Maginnis graduated in 1961, aged 33, she worked nights as a medical technologist. Her late schedule was by design—she needed her days free for pro-choice campaigning. That year, she was arrested for the first time for distributing literature that advised women how to access abortion services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Section 601 of the California Business and Professions Code made it a felony to “willfully compose and publish a notice and advertisement of a medicine and means for producing and facilitating a miscarriage and abortion.” Still, the judge at Maginnis’ trial concluded that she had been arrested on grounds that were unconstitutional, and promptly set her free. “Now I can paper the town with leaflets,” Maginnis joyfully announced after the verdict, “and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was by no means the end of Maginnis’ legal troubles; eight years later, Maginnis found herself convicted again of “willfully writing, composing and advocating abortion techniques.” In 1966, she and Rowena Gurner were arrested in San Mateo after teaching an abortion class. They paid their fines and carried on, unrepentant. Maginnis told the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> shortly afterwards, “It kills me to see these young healthy women be expected to jeopardize their lives for what is a simple, safe surgical procedure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same year, Dr. Theodore Montgomery of the State Public Health Department stated that the number of legal abortions performed in California was around 500, sanctioned only when the life of the mother was in jeopardy. But Montgomery also estimated that around 100,000 California women were acquiring illegal abortions each year. Significantly, in 1968, the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> reported: “Some leading obstetricians say privately that when they feel they must refuse to abort a patient, they usually send her to Miss Maginnis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n addition to making her own doctor lists, health guides and abortion handbooks, Maginnis was also fond of drawing satirical cartoons. Many skewered the institutions that sought to deny women control over their reproductive healthcare. Maginnis continued to draw her cartoons after Roe v. Wade, concerned that it hadn’t yet been codified into law and that people were still being denied access to the procedure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913763\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-800x495.png\" alt=\"A cartoon of a sobbing woman, clutching $500 and begging at the feed of three men labeled 'MERCY HOSPITAL/POLITICIAN.' The caption reads: "Please may I have a US Supreme-Court-Approved, Politician Sanctioned, Psychiatrist Rubber-Stamped, Clergy-Counseled, Residency-Investigated, Committee-Inspected Therapueticked, US Health Dept Statistized, Contraceptive-Failure, Religious-Sect-Guilt-Surmounted ABORTION."\" width=\"800\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-800x495.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-1020x631.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-160x99.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-768x475.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-1536x950.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM.png 1572w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cartoon by Pat Maginnis lambasting the lengths women had to go to access an abortion—even in 1977, four years after Roe v. Wade. \u003ccite>(Pat Maginnis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pat Maginnis stayed dedicated to activism for the rest of her 93 years—animal rights, gay rights and, yes, reproductive rights. Her interest in environmentalism inspired her to take up beekeeping in her 80s. At home, she painted watercolors. Those present at Occupy Oakland in 2011 might recall Maginnis showing up to hand out pea soup and hand-drawn cartoons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13912860']Pat Maginnis died on Aug. 30, 2021, just two days before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13902723/texas-abortion-sb8-bay-area-activism-artists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Texas enacted its six-week abortion ban\u003c/a>, SB 8. As America now braces for a future in which Roe v. Wade is overturned and millions of people no longer have legal access to abortion, Maginnis’ legacy is more important than ever. Her tenacity, her boldness, and her willingness to talk candidly about her own abortions may all serve as inspiration to a new generation facing life-stunting healthcare restrictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are personal matters, private matters. They don’t concern others—not doctors or judges or boards,” she told the \u003cem>Rapid City Journal\u003c/em> in 1969. “Women have got to fight. They’ve taken this kind of vile abuse too long.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book celebrating women from the Rebel Girls series, \u003ca href=\"https://citylights.com/politics-current-events-history/unsung-heroines35-women-who-changed/\">‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area,’\u003c/a> is available now from City Lights.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "How Pat Maginnis Fought Hard For Reproductive Rights | KQED",
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"headline": "The 'Che Guevara of Abortion Reformers' Fought Hard For Reproductive Rights",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n October of 1968, a reporter from the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> spent an evening inside a third floor office at 345 Franklin Street in San Francisco. By day, the place belonged to an attorney named Vincent Hallinan. After 7pm every Thursday, Hallinan offered his office—free of charge—for America’s very first post-abortion center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The free clinic was a safe space for young women who’d recently undergone illegal abortions and weren’t able see their regular doctors for post-operative care. The clinic also offered free pregnancy tests, birth control prescriptions and advice from a Planned Parenthood volunteer. It was staffed by volunteer gynecologists, a nurse, a receptionist and a lab technician named Pat Maginnis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was Maginnis who had started the clinic. It was she that was the most unapologetic about a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. And it was she that told a waiting room full of young women that night in 1968:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Remember. Your abortion is your business and no one else’s. You have a right to silence guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Abortions performed outside of the state are not reportable to police.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>By the time the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> paid Maginnis’ clinic a visit, she was already a well-known figure in San Francisco, and a pro-choice thorn in the side of anti-abortionists across the country. In 1962, Maginnis had started the Citizens Committee for Humane Abortion Laws, which was later renamed the Society for Humane Abortion (SHA). In 1964, she co-founded the Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (ARAL), alongside Rowena Gurner and Lana Phelan Kahn. (It was a precursor to today’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NARAL Pro-Choice America\u003c/a>.) Maginnis, Gurner and Kahn were such a force to be reckoned with that they earned the nickname ‘The Army of Three.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912998\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13912998 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-800x814.jpg\" alt=\"Three women wearing 1960s attire sit at a table strewn with papers. One of them holds up a sign that says 'REPEAL ABORTION LAWS'\" width=\"800\" height=\"814\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-800x814.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576-768x781.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/GettyImages-515395576.jpg 1007w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pat Maginnis organizing in Sausalito with (center) Anne Treseder who was the executive director of the Society for Humane Abortion, and another campaigner. \u003ccite>(Bettman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The SHA and ARAL served different purposes, but enabled Maginnis and her likeminded campaigners to achieve goals on both an official and underground basis. Official operations included public campaigning and working diligently to change the laws of the day. Underground activities included the compiling and distribution of lists of safe abortionists, along with how much they charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maginnis and her colleagues held classes across the United States to teach women how to book an appointment, what to expect and how to prepare for the procedure. Other lessons taught women about reproductive health, anatomy, step-by-step instructions on how to perform abortions at home, and even the best ways to deal with police after an abortion. Bomb threats and protests were not uncommon outside these gatherings and classes often had to be moved at the last minute to private homes, motel rooms, church basements and union halls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, Maginnis contended with protests staged by Mothers Outraged at the Murder of Innocents (MOMIS). MOMIS pushed district attorneys all over the region to prosecute Maginnis, to no avail. The D.A.s of San Francisco, Sacramento, Alameda, San Mateo, Sonoma and Santa Clara all refused to penalize Maginnis and her cohort for their work. By the end of the 1960s, local publications had started referring to her as “the Che Guevara of abortion reformers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 596px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13913761\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.27.35-PM.png\" alt=\"The white and blue cover of a textbook titled THE ABORTION HANDBOOK.\" width=\"596\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.27.35-PM.png 596w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.27.35-PM-160x230.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the publications created by Pat Maginnis and Lana Phelan during their time as abortion educators in a pre-Roe v. Wade America. \u003ccite>(NPR/Courtesy of Andrea Bowers)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">P\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>atricia Theresa Maginnis’ road to becoming the most prominent pro-choice campaigner of the 1960s was not an easy one. She was compelled to act only after bearing witness, for many years, to the consequences of women being denied access to their own health decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of seven children, Maginnis was born in Okarche, a small town outside of Oklahoma City, in 1928. She was raised in dire poverty by a veterinarian father who never escaped the stigma of being born illegitimate, and a mother who endured chronic pain and ailments caused by giving birth so many times. (“My mother would tell you she enjoyed having children,” Maginnis once said. “I didn’t go through childhood with that impression.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1950, Maginnis left a job at the Bureau of Mines and joined the Women’s Army Corps, training as a surgical technologist. After being assigned to a pediatrics and obstetrics ward in Panama, she bore witness to the aftermath of botched abortions and forced births. In 1966, she told the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em>: “My first real contact with abortion was in the Army. A woman pregnant by another man and expecting her husband’s return tried to abort herself [and] was hospitalized. The poor thing, who received no sympathy or understanding, became so distraught, a wire cage was placed over her bed. She was held captive like an animal. I still shudder at the memory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maginnis left her three-year enlistment as a corporal and decided to attend San Jose State College under the G.I. Bill. During her studies there, she got pregnant three times. On the first occasion, she traveled to Mexico for an abortion. She administered the next two on herself at home. After one of them landed her in the hospital, she was asked if she had given herself an abortion. Her response? “Sure I did. Want me to demonstrate how in court?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After Maginnis graduated in 1961, aged 33, she worked nights as a medical technologist. Her late schedule was by design—she needed her days free for pro-choice campaigning. That year, she was arrested for the first time for distributing literature that advised women how to access abortion services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Section 601 of the California Business and Professions Code made it a felony to “willfully compose and publish a notice and advertisement of a medicine and means for producing and facilitating a miscarriage and abortion.” Still, the judge at Maginnis’ trial concluded that she had been arrested on grounds that were unconstitutional, and promptly set her free. “Now I can paper the town with leaflets,” Maginnis joyfully announced after the verdict, “and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was by no means the end of Maginnis’ legal troubles; eight years later, Maginnis found herself convicted again of “willfully writing, composing and advocating abortion techniques.” In 1966, she and Rowena Gurner were arrested in San Mateo after teaching an abortion class. They paid their fines and carried on, unrepentant. Maginnis told the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> shortly afterwards, “It kills me to see these young healthy women be expected to jeopardize their lives for what is a simple, safe surgical procedure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same year, Dr. Theodore Montgomery of the State Public Health Department stated that the number of legal abortions performed in California was around 500, sanctioned only when the life of the mother was in jeopardy. But Montgomery also estimated that around 100,000 California women were acquiring illegal abortions each year. Significantly, in 1968, the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> reported: “Some leading obstetricians say privately that when they feel they must refuse to abort a patient, they usually send her to Miss Maginnis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n addition to making her own doctor lists, health guides and abortion handbooks, Maginnis was also fond of drawing satirical cartoons. Many skewered the institutions that sought to deny women control over their reproductive healthcare. Maginnis continued to draw her cartoons after Roe v. Wade, concerned that it hadn’t yet been codified into law and that people were still being denied access to the procedure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913763\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-800x495.png\" alt=\"A cartoon of a sobbing woman, clutching $500 and begging at the feed of three men labeled 'MERCY HOSPITAL/POLITICIAN.' The caption reads: "Please may I have a US Supreme-Court-Approved, Politician Sanctioned, Psychiatrist Rubber-Stamped, Clergy-Counseled, Residency-Investigated, Committee-Inspected Therapueticked, US Health Dept Statistized, Contraceptive-Failure, Religious-Sect-Guilt-Surmounted ABORTION."\" width=\"800\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-800x495.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-1020x631.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-160x99.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-768x475.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM-1536x950.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-20-at-12.09.39-PM.png 1572w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cartoon by Pat Maginnis lambasting the lengths women had to go to access an abortion—even in 1977, four years after Roe v. Wade. \u003ccite>(Pat Maginnis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pat Maginnis stayed dedicated to activism for the rest of her 93 years—animal rights, gay rights and, yes, reproductive rights. Her interest in environmentalism inspired her to take up beekeeping in her 80s. At home, she painted watercolors. Those present at Occupy Oakland in 2011 might recall Maginnis showing up to hand out pea soup and hand-drawn cartoons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Pat Maginnis died on Aug. 30, 2021, just two days before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13902723/texas-abortion-sb8-bay-area-activism-artists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Texas enacted its six-week abortion ban\u003c/a>, SB 8. As America now braces for a future in which Roe v. Wade is overturned and millions of people no longer have legal access to abortion, Maginnis’ legacy is more important than ever. Her tenacity, her boldness, and her willingness to talk candidly about her own abortions may all serve as inspiration to a new generation facing life-stunting healthcare restrictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are personal matters, private matters. They don’t concern others—not doctors or judges or boards,” she told the \u003cem>Rapid City Journal\u003c/em> in 1969. “Women have got to fight. They’ve taken this kind of vile abuse too long.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book celebrating women from the Rebel Girls series, \u003ca href=\"https://citylights.com/politics-current-events-history/unsung-heroines35-women-who-changed/\">‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area,’\u003c/a> is available now from City Lights.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "gum-girls-midwinter-fair-san-francisco-history-golden-gate-park",
"title": "How the Infamous Gum Girls Scandalized 1894 San Francisco",
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"content": "\u003cp>In 1894, Golden Gate Park’s Midwinter Fair was the talk of the town. Featuring fairground rides, museums, an ostrich farm and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909983/victorian-attractions-san-francisco-chutes-gravity-railroad-woodwards-gardens-bonet-tower-auditorium-skating\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the closest thing San Francisco ever got to an Eiffel Tower\u003c/a>, the fair was a raging success with over two million visitors. There was just one element of the five-month exposition, however, that got visitors flustered and flabbergasted: the Gum Girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hired to peddle chewing gum to the fair’s male clientele, the Gum Girls wore matching outfits, traveled in pairs, and were in the habit of whistling “Two Little Girls in Blue” any time they made a sale. Which was often. Chewing gum had only recently been transformed from its chicle-based roots into something fun and fruity. (The first fruit-flavored gum, Kis-Me, hit markets in 1886; Wrigley introduced Juicy Fruit just one year before the fair.) The song, penned by Charles Graham in 1893, became a near-constant refrain at the fair—particularly on the Midway, where the Gum Girls did most of their business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M0-o7m4Uhg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As quaint as this all sounds, the Gum Girls were controversial figures from the very first day of the Midwinter Fair. For one, they flirted shamelessly with their male customers, largely motivated by the fact that they were working on commission. More scandalous still, they wore calf-length pleated skirts that exposed their ankles. That they also wore thick black stockings—meaning there was no bare flesh on display—did not quell the hullaballoo surrounding their revealing (by Victorian standards) attire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13894842']One \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> reporter could barely conceal his ire while writing about the Gum Girls in April 1894. He did his best to denigrate the young women, implying they lacked grace and class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The prevailing type of gum girl ranges in age from 25 to 40. Most of them are stout, with faces creased from experience. None of them are refined, of course … They never wear gloves, but their hands are protected from the wind by quantities of rings. From their necks boxes of gum are strung by means of a strap. The boxes are always open and the gum girl is always patronizing her own wares. With wagging jaws and a stereotyped smile she gazes at each passer-by and invites almost every man to purchase.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The report continued disdainfully:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Everybody calls the gum girls by their first names. To say ‘Mrs’ or ‘Miss’ would seem very inappropriate and if you don’t know their given names and say Mamie or Lizzie at a venture you are almost certain to strike it right. Old patrons ask the gum girls how their children or grandchildren are, and these attempts at wit invariably bring out a flood of choice slang.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912675\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-800x624.jpg\" alt=\"Two young women stand close together, the taller with her arm around the shorter. They wear matching uniforms of calve-length skirts, formal jackets, white shirts and ties, and petite caps.\" width=\"800\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-800x624.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-160x125.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-768x599.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pair of Gum Girls in front of the Walter Baker Cocoa Building. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp15.145)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because the Gum Girls were routinely subjected to such disparagement, they found themselves on the receiving end of both verbal abuse and unwanted advances by men at the fair. (This was the primary reason they worked in pairs.) An incident on May 5, 1894, however, sent a loud and clear message to potential harassers all over the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gum Girl Violet Eilids was conducting a transaction one day, when the male customer reached over her gum box and started to “toy familiarly” with her necktie. Most displeased by the violation of her personal space, Eilids responded by punching the letch square in the face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next day, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> reported:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Miss Violet Eilids, a late addition to the rank and file of the gum brigade, knows how to handle her fists in a scientific manner … Doubling up her right, the girl planted a stiff, straight arm punch on the nose of her tormenter. He landed on his back among the [souvenir medal] machines, and now his nose is not as pretty as it used to be. The Gum Girl, who says she has taken boxing lessons from her brother, is now recognized as the champion of the brigade, which is thinking of taking an immediate course in the manly art as a means of self-protection.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912679\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912679\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-800x630.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-800x630.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-768x605.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gum Girls’ headquarters in Golden Gate Park, during the 1894 Midwinter Fair. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp15.146)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13902628']The incident added to the Gum Girls’ infamy, but these thoroughly modern women continued their mission to keep visitors chewing right up to the end of the fair. For some, their boldness paid off with subsequent modeling and acting jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Gum Girl named Marion Nolan—said by the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> to be “the prettiest of the lot”—won a competition to be the face and body of a marble statue by sculptor Rupert Schmid. Nolan went on to marry a millionaire from Mexico City, became a San Francisco socialite, but was tragically \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19021021.2.9&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------\">gunned down by a stalker in 1902\u003c/a>. After Edward Marshuts had murdered Nolan in front of scores of witnesses on O’Farrell Street, he turned the gun on himself. Nolan’s likeness, however, lives on to this day in Schmid’s \u003ca href=\"http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/a53409\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>California Venus\u003c/i> statue\u003c/a>, on display at the Oakland Museum of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would take 20 years after the Midwinter Fair for ankle-revealing skirts to hit the fashion mainstream. It also took that long for women who chewed gum in public to be seen as bold and independent, rather than simply unladylike. But for decades after they first strutted the paths of the Midwinter Fair, the Gum Girls’ reputations for being “bad girls” persisted by all who remembered them. Take, for example, this Dick Tracy newspaper cartoon from 1941.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912766\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912766\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-800x264.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-800x264.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-1020x336.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-160x53.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-768x253.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-1536x506.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-2048x675.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-1920x633.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dick Tracy suspects a Gum Girl of criminal activity in a cartoon strip from Oct. 1941, published by the ‘Salt Lake Tribune.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, it’s easier to see the Gum Girls for what they really were: women bucking expectations and making their own money on their own terms. Most of all? They were simply ahead of their time.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "These Victorian women weren’t afraid to push boundaries and stand up for themselves. May we remember them fondly. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 1894, Golden Gate Park’s Midwinter Fair was the talk of the town. Featuring fairground rides, museums, an ostrich farm and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909983/victorian-attractions-san-francisco-chutes-gravity-railroad-woodwards-gardens-bonet-tower-auditorium-skating\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the closest thing San Francisco ever got to an Eiffel Tower\u003c/a>, the fair was a raging success with over two million visitors. There was just one element of the five-month exposition, however, that got visitors flustered and flabbergasted: the Gum Girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hired to peddle chewing gum to the fair’s male clientele, the Gum Girls wore matching outfits, traveled in pairs, and were in the habit of whistling “Two Little Girls in Blue” any time they made a sale. Which was often. Chewing gum had only recently been transformed from its chicle-based roots into something fun and fruity. (The first fruit-flavored gum, Kis-Me, hit markets in 1886; Wrigley introduced Juicy Fruit just one year before the fair.) The song, penned by Charles Graham in 1893, became a near-constant refrain at the fair—particularly on the Midway, where the Gum Girls did most of their business.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/3M0-o7m4Uhg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/3M0-o7m4Uhg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>As quaint as this all sounds, the Gum Girls were controversial figures from the very first day of the Midwinter Fair. For one, they flirted shamelessly with their male customers, largely motivated by the fact that they were working on commission. More scandalous still, they wore calf-length pleated skirts that exposed their ankles. That they also wore thick black stockings—meaning there was no bare flesh on display—did not quell the hullaballoo surrounding their revealing (by Victorian standards) attire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> reporter could barely conceal his ire while writing about the Gum Girls in April 1894. He did his best to denigrate the young women, implying they lacked grace and class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The prevailing type of gum girl ranges in age from 25 to 40. Most of them are stout, with faces creased from experience. None of them are refined, of course … They never wear gloves, but their hands are protected from the wind by quantities of rings. From their necks boxes of gum are strung by means of a strap. The boxes are always open and the gum girl is always patronizing her own wares. With wagging jaws and a stereotyped smile she gazes at each passer-by and invites almost every man to purchase.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The report continued disdainfully:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Everybody calls the gum girls by their first names. To say ‘Mrs’ or ‘Miss’ would seem very inappropriate and if you don’t know their given names and say Mamie or Lizzie at a venture you are almost certain to strike it right. Old patrons ask the gum girls how their children or grandchildren are, and these attempts at wit invariably bring out a flood of choice slang.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912675\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-800x624.jpg\" alt=\"Two young women stand close together, the taller with her arm around the shorter. They wear matching uniforms of calve-length skirts, formal jackets, white shirts and ties, and petite caps.\" width=\"800\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-800x624.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-160x125.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1-768x599.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.145-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pair of Gum Girls in front of the Walter Baker Cocoa Building. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp15.145)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because the Gum Girls were routinely subjected to such disparagement, they found themselves on the receiving end of both verbal abuse and unwanted advances by men at the fair. (This was the primary reason they worked in pairs.) An incident on May 5, 1894, however, sent a loud and clear message to potential harassers all over the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gum Girl Violet Eilids was conducting a transaction one day, when the male customer reached over her gum box and started to “toy familiarly” with her necktie. Most displeased by the violation of her personal space, Eilids responded by punching the letch square in the face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next day, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> reported:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Miss Violet Eilids, a late addition to the rank and file of the gum brigade, knows how to handle her fists in a scientific manner … Doubling up her right, the girl planted a stiff, straight arm punch on the nose of her tormenter. He landed on his back among the [souvenir medal] machines, and now his nose is not as pretty as it used to be. The Gum Girl, who says she has taken boxing lessons from her brother, is now recognized as the champion of the brigade, which is thinking of taking an immediate course in the manly art as a means of self-protection.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912679\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912679\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-800x630.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-800x630.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146-768x605.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/opensfhistory_wnp15.146.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gum Girls’ headquarters in Golden Gate Park, during the 1894 Midwinter Fair. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp15.146)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The incident added to the Gum Girls’ infamy, but these thoroughly modern women continued their mission to keep visitors chewing right up to the end of the fair. For some, their boldness paid off with subsequent modeling and acting jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Gum Girl named Marion Nolan—said by the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> to be “the prettiest of the lot”—won a competition to be the face and body of a marble statue by sculptor Rupert Schmid. Nolan went on to marry a millionaire from Mexico City, became a San Francisco socialite, but was tragically \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19021021.2.9&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------\">gunned down by a stalker in 1902\u003c/a>. After Edward Marshuts had murdered Nolan in front of scores of witnesses on O’Farrell Street, he turned the gun on himself. Nolan’s likeness, however, lives on to this day in Schmid’s \u003ca href=\"http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/a53409\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>California Venus\u003c/i> statue\u003c/a>, on display at the Oakland Museum of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would take 20 years after the Midwinter Fair for ankle-revealing skirts to hit the fashion mainstream. It also took that long for women who chewed gum in public to be seen as bold and independent, rather than simply unladylike. But for decades after they first strutted the paths of the Midwinter Fair, the Gum Girls’ reputations for being “bad girls” persisted by all who remembered them. Take, for example, this Dick Tracy newspaper cartoon from 1941.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912766\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912766\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-800x264.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-800x264.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-1020x336.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-160x53.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-768x253.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-1536x506.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-2048x675.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Dick-Tracy-Salt-Lake-Tribune-Oct-26-1941-1920x633.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dick Tracy suspects a Gum Girl of criminal activity in a cartoon strip from Oct. 1941, published by the ‘Salt Lake Tribune.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, it’s easier to see the Gum Girls for what they really were: women bucking expectations and making their own money on their own terms. Most of all? They were simply ahead of their time.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bummer-lazarus-san-francisco-history-gold-rush-dogs",
"title": "Bummer and Lazarus: An Epic Gold Rush Tale of Triumph and Tragedy",
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"headTitle": "Bummer and Lazarus: An Epic Gold Rush Tale of Triumph and Tragedy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]G[/dropcap]old Rush San Francisco had a stray dog problem. Teams of snarling, scrapping mutts roamed the city untethered and reproducing faster than humans could handle. The dogs were as determined to survive as the locals who fed them scraps when there was meat to share. But they were an often-troublesome addition to city streets that were already wild by anyone’s standards. In April 1860, the \u003cem>Daily Alta California\u003c/em> reported: “We never knew a city in America so used with the canine nuisance as San Francisco. Sometimes at night, their howling is enough to drive one distracted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years after that report, the city took brutal measures to prevent the dog population from getting any larger. An ordinance was passed by the Board of Supervisors (est. 1856) that banned canines anywhere north of Ninth Street and east of Larkin. Dogs that had neither leash nor muzzle could be shot on sight by police officers, or else locked up in the pound by the local dogcatcher. The impounded pups were released only when a human companion forked over $5 (roughly $142 in 2022 money). Most were killed. The dogs that outsmarted the catcher weren’t much better off—their human neighbors were not averse to leaving poisoned meat scraps on the street to fell their numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a dark time for the dogs of San Francisco—well, most of them anyway. By some miracle, out of the anti-canine maelstrom emerged a puppy pair that the city actually wanted to root for: Bummer and Lazarus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13906656']Bummer was a black and white Newfoundland mix with ears that had been cropped unevenly. He earned his name by patrolling businesses up and down Montgomery Street and begging for scraps on a set schedule. He was understood to be uncommonly intelligent and was particularly popular at Martin & Horton’s. The saloon at 534 Montgomery, at the corner of Clay, was owned by Frederick Martin and renowned for the cheapness of its liquor. It was also frequented by the many reporters who worked in nearby newspaper offices. These journalists would go on to make Bummer famous across the city—but only after he took up with his less streetwise pal, Lazarus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lazarus was described in one paper as “part hound, part terrier and a good many parts of several other varieties.” In another, he was merely “a sleek, half-starved mongrel.” After Bummer rescued Lazarus from an attack by a bigger dog, the pair became fast and inseparable associates. Witnessing the friendship form, the reporters at Martin & Horton’s were rapt. Soon, so was the whole city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Jan. 18, 1861, Bummer and Lazarus made their first appearance in the \u003cem>Daily Alta\u003c/em> together:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Three or four days ago, a poor, lean, mangy cur [mongrel] was attacked in the street by a larger dog, and was getting unmercifully walloped when Bummer’s ire being aroused at the unequal contest, he rushed in and gave the attacking canine such a rough handling that he was glad to quit the field yelping … Every night since that, the two dogs have slept coiled up together, close to some doorway—Bummer always giving the lame cur the inside berth, and trying to keep him as warm as possible.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the four years that followed, any time a slow news day presented itself, readers of San Francisco’s newspapers could expect an update about Bummer and Lazarus. (The latter named after the biblical figure who was revived after four days of death.) The stories about the duo were frequent and dramatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dogs were hailed as heroes after they apparently stopped a runaway horse and cart. There were reports about them taking scraps to each other when they were too sick to go out and beg themselves. There were tales about their run-ins with local merchants—in particular after the pair got into a jewelry store and smashed some display cases. (On another occasion, Lazarus accidentally got locked in a stationery store overnight.) If it was a particularly slow day, readers could expect a story about the pair stealing bones from other dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912567\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-800x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-800x569.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-1020x726.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-768x547.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cartoonist Edward Jump often drew Bummer and Lazarus in the company of Emperor Norton. Norton was reportedly so angered by this image of him dining with the dogs, he broke his own cane. \u003ccite>(Public domain)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yes, San Francisco loved the dogs because of their friendship and their adventures together. But, more than that, San Francisco loved Bummer and Lazarus because of one activity they both excelled at: killing rats. And there were enough rats in the city at the time to outnumber dogs and humans combined. The businesses Bummer and Lazarus frequented for food were paid back tenfold in rat population control. Legend has it, the pair once killed 85 rats in 20 minutes. At one rat-catching contest held between Clay and Merchant Streets, the duo beat out all other competition, including pedigree dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13910308']One of the only people in the city not to know of the dogs’ ratting prowess—or their enormous popularity—was the dogcatcher who made the mistake of picking up Lazarus in June 1862. “If that dog-catcher had not made good haste out of the neighborhood,” the \u003cem>San Francisco Call\u003c/em> reported on July 3, 1892, “he would have been roughly handled for his zeal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within hours of the news spreading down Montgomery, Clay, Sansome and Merchant, enough donations had been collected from saloons, butcher shops and eateries to free Bummer’s BFF from the pound. But people’s relief at the dogs’ reunion was short-lived. Concern quickly spread that one of downtown’s most beloved dogs would soon be caught again. It was then that a plan was hatched to acquire permanent protections for Bummer and Lazarus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A petition was quickly written up, asking for: “The consecration of the two dogs as city property, whereby they may be exempted from taxation or destruction.” Hundreds of Bummer and Lazarus fans signed the document and then presented it to the Board of Supervisors on June 16, 1862.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following day, the \u003cem>Daily Alta\u003c/em> reported:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>A mammoth petition was presented to the Board of Supervisors last evening, praying that the public dogs, Bummer and Lazarus be exempt from the provisions of the present stringent Ordinance for the destruction of the race … At the hour of convening the board of supervisors they lay crouched at the threshold of the chamber, apparently eager to hear what was to be said and done for their benefit. If any man carried them there, it was a cute dodge to get favorable action on their petition; if they went there voluntarily, they ought to have free run of the town during the rest of their lives.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>And guess what? After the hearing, Bummer and Lazarus \u003cem>were\u003c/em> granted free run of the town for the rest of their lives, safe and unimpeded by the dogcatcher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13909983'][dropcap]S[/dropcap]adly, the freedom to roam the city could not save them from the cruelty within it. In October 1863, Lazarus died after eating poisoned meat. The city mourned his loss, but mourned Bummer’s bereavement even more so. The \u003cem>Daily Evening Bulletin\u003c/em> printed an obituary titled “Lament for Lazarus,” which referred to Bummer and his fallen companion as “two dogs with but a single bark, two tails that wagged as one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bummer survived two more years without his pal. And though he occasionally took a new friend under his wing, he never bonded with another dog the way he had bonded with Lazarus. Like his old friend, Bummer died a cruel death, kicked down some stairs by a drunk named Henry Rippey. Rippey was apprehended, punched in the nose by his cell-mate and forced to pay a hefty fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bummer was warmly eulogized just as Lazarus had been. On Nov. 3, 1865, the \u003cem>Daily Evening Bulletin\u003c/em> wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>[Bummer’s] independence and the novelty of his genius took with the people, and from that day he has been the pet of everybody without distinction of party … His remarkable friendship for … Lazarus will now deathless meet its reward, and thee twain can once more walk side by side.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>After shuffling off this mortal coil, Bummer and Lazarus were both stuffed and put on display in their former haunts. Lazarus ended up in a Sansome Street business owned by one Gus Van Bergen. Bummer’s taxidermied body was purchased by a Mr. Erlenwein, who had assumed ownership of Martin & Horton’s. The dogs were displayed together at 1894’s Midwinter Fair, and donated to the Golden Gate Park Museum in 1906, but ultimately destroyed sometime in the early 20th century. Which is appropriate given that, by that point, what was left of the dogs had definitely seen better days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912564\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-800x365.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-800x365.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-1020x465.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-160x73.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-768x350.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed.png 1062w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The poor, old, taxidermied bodies of Bummer (L) and Lazarus (R). \u003ccite>(Public domain)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, the memory of Bummer and Lazarus lives on in San Francisco. Bayview’s Raff Distillerie makes a \u003ca href=\"https://raffdistillerie.com/gin.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bummer and Lazarus gin\u003c/a>, featuring an ornate label adorned with the dogs. Even more fitting is the tribute that \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Clampus_Vitus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">E Clampus Vitus\u003c/a> (aka The Clampers) installed in Redwood Park, in the shadow of the Transamerica building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting right in the heart of Bummer and Lazarus’ old stomping grounds since March 1992, a plaque dedicated to their memory declares:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Their devotion to each other endeared them to the citizenry, and the newspapers reported their joint adventures … They were welcomed, regular customers at popular eating and drinking establishments on Montgomery Street. Contrary to common belief, they were not Emperor Norton’s dogs. They belonged to no one person. They belonged to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this story stated the year that Bummer and Lazarus’ taxidermied skins were destroyed. The exact year is unknown. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Bummer and Lazarus were the most beloved dogs in San Francisco history—but life wasn’t easy for the stray pups.",
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"title": "Bummer and Lazarus: An Epic Gold Rush Tale of Triumph and Tragedy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">G\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>old Rush San Francisco had a stray dog problem. Teams of snarling, scrapping mutts roamed the city untethered and reproducing faster than humans could handle. The dogs were as determined to survive as the locals who fed them scraps when there was meat to share. But they were an often-troublesome addition to city streets that were already wild by anyone’s standards. In April 1860, the \u003cem>Daily Alta California\u003c/em> reported: “We never knew a city in America so used with the canine nuisance as San Francisco. Sometimes at night, their howling is enough to drive one distracted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years after that report, the city took brutal measures to prevent the dog population from getting any larger. An ordinance was passed by the Board of Supervisors (est. 1856) that banned canines anywhere north of Ninth Street and east of Larkin. Dogs that had neither leash nor muzzle could be shot on sight by police officers, or else locked up in the pound by the local dogcatcher. The impounded pups were released only when a human companion forked over $5 (roughly $142 in 2022 money). Most were killed. The dogs that outsmarted the catcher weren’t much better off—their human neighbors were not averse to leaving poisoned meat scraps on the street to fell their numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a dark time for the dogs of San Francisco—well, most of them anyway. By some miracle, out of the anti-canine maelstrom emerged a puppy pair that the city actually wanted to root for: Bummer and Lazarus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Bummer was a black and white Newfoundland mix with ears that had been cropped unevenly. He earned his name by patrolling businesses up and down Montgomery Street and begging for scraps on a set schedule. He was understood to be uncommonly intelligent and was particularly popular at Martin & Horton’s. The saloon at 534 Montgomery, at the corner of Clay, was owned by Frederick Martin and renowned for the cheapness of its liquor. It was also frequented by the many reporters who worked in nearby newspaper offices. These journalists would go on to make Bummer famous across the city—but only after he took up with his less streetwise pal, Lazarus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lazarus was described in one paper as “part hound, part terrier and a good many parts of several other varieties.” In another, he was merely “a sleek, half-starved mongrel.” After Bummer rescued Lazarus from an attack by a bigger dog, the pair became fast and inseparable associates. Witnessing the friendship form, the reporters at Martin & Horton’s were rapt. Soon, so was the whole city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Jan. 18, 1861, Bummer and Lazarus made their first appearance in the \u003cem>Daily Alta\u003c/em> together:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Three or four days ago, a poor, lean, mangy cur [mongrel] was attacked in the street by a larger dog, and was getting unmercifully walloped when Bummer’s ire being aroused at the unequal contest, he rushed in and gave the attacking canine such a rough handling that he was glad to quit the field yelping … Every night since that, the two dogs have slept coiled up together, close to some doorway—Bummer always giving the lame cur the inside berth, and trying to keep him as warm as possible.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n the four years that followed, any time a slow news day presented itself, readers of San Francisco’s newspapers could expect an update about Bummer and Lazarus. (The latter named after the biblical figure who was revived after four days of death.) The stories about the duo were frequent and dramatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dogs were hailed as heroes after they apparently stopped a runaway horse and cart. There were reports about them taking scraps to each other when they were too sick to go out and beg themselves. There were tales about their run-ins with local merchants—in particular after the pair got into a jewelry store and smashed some display cases. (On another occasion, Lazarus accidentally got locked in a stationery store overnight.) If it was a particularly slow day, readers could expect a story about the pair stealing bones from other dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912567\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-800x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-800x569.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-1020x726.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0-768x547.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1200x0.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cartoonist Edward Jump often drew Bummer and Lazarus in the company of Emperor Norton. Norton was reportedly so angered by this image of him dining with the dogs, he broke his own cane. \u003ccite>(Public domain)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yes, San Francisco loved the dogs because of their friendship and their adventures together. But, more than that, San Francisco loved Bummer and Lazarus because of one activity they both excelled at: killing rats. And there were enough rats in the city at the time to outnumber dogs and humans combined. The businesses Bummer and Lazarus frequented for food were paid back tenfold in rat population control. Legend has it, the pair once killed 85 rats in 20 minutes. At one rat-catching contest held between Clay and Merchant Streets, the duo beat out all other competition, including pedigree dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One of the only people in the city not to know of the dogs’ ratting prowess—or their enormous popularity—was the dogcatcher who made the mistake of picking up Lazarus in June 1862. “If that dog-catcher had not made good haste out of the neighborhood,” the \u003cem>San Francisco Call\u003c/em> reported on July 3, 1892, “he would have been roughly handled for his zeal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within hours of the news spreading down Montgomery, Clay, Sansome and Merchant, enough donations had been collected from saloons, butcher shops and eateries to free Bummer’s BFF from the pound. But people’s relief at the dogs’ reunion was short-lived. Concern quickly spread that one of downtown’s most beloved dogs would soon be caught again. It was then that a plan was hatched to acquire permanent protections for Bummer and Lazarus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A petition was quickly written up, asking for: “The consecration of the two dogs as city property, whereby they may be exempted from taxation or destruction.” Hundreds of Bummer and Lazarus fans signed the document and then presented it to the Board of Supervisors on June 16, 1862.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following day, the \u003cem>Daily Alta\u003c/em> reported:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>A mammoth petition was presented to the Board of Supervisors last evening, praying that the public dogs, Bummer and Lazarus be exempt from the provisions of the present stringent Ordinance for the destruction of the race … At the hour of convening the board of supervisors they lay crouched at the threshold of the chamber, apparently eager to hear what was to be said and done for their benefit. If any man carried them there, it was a cute dodge to get favorable action on their petition; if they went there voluntarily, they ought to have free run of the town during the rest of their lives.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>And guess what? After the hearing, Bummer and Lazarus \u003cem>were\u003c/em> granted free run of the town for the rest of their lives, safe and unimpeded by the dogcatcher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>adly, the freedom to roam the city could not save them from the cruelty within it. In October 1863, Lazarus died after eating poisoned meat. The city mourned his loss, but mourned Bummer’s bereavement even more so. The \u003cem>Daily Evening Bulletin\u003c/em> printed an obituary titled “Lament for Lazarus,” which referred to Bummer and his fallen companion as “two dogs with but a single bark, two tails that wagged as one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bummer survived two more years without his pal. And though he occasionally took a new friend under his wing, he never bonded with another dog the way he had bonded with Lazarus. Like his old friend, Bummer died a cruel death, kicked down some stairs by a drunk named Henry Rippey. Rippey was apprehended, punched in the nose by his cell-mate and forced to pay a hefty fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bummer was warmly eulogized just as Lazarus had been. On Nov. 3, 1865, the \u003cem>Daily Evening Bulletin\u003c/em> wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>[Bummer’s] independence and the novelty of his genius took with the people, and from that day he has been the pet of everybody without distinction of party … His remarkable friendship for … Lazarus will now deathless meet its reward, and thee twain can once more walk side by side.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>After shuffling off this mortal coil, Bummer and Lazarus were both stuffed and put on display in their former haunts. Lazarus ended up in a Sansome Street business owned by one Gus Van Bergen. Bummer’s taxidermied body was purchased by a Mr. Erlenwein, who had assumed ownership of Martin & Horton’s. The dogs were displayed together at 1894’s Midwinter Fair, and donated to the Golden Gate Park Museum in 1906, but ultimately destroyed sometime in the early 20th century. Which is appropriate given that, by that point, what was left of the dogs had definitely seen better days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912564\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-800x365.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-800x365.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-1020x465.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-160x73.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed-768x350.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/stuffed.png 1062w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The poor, old, taxidermied bodies of Bummer (L) and Lazarus (R). \u003ccite>(Public domain)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, the memory of Bummer and Lazarus lives on in San Francisco. Bayview’s Raff Distillerie makes a \u003ca href=\"https://raffdistillerie.com/gin.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bummer and Lazarus gin\u003c/a>, featuring an ornate label adorned with the dogs. Even more fitting is the tribute that \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Clampus_Vitus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">E Clampus Vitus\u003c/a> (aka The Clampers) installed in Redwood Park, in the shadow of the Transamerica building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting right in the heart of Bummer and Lazarus’ old stomping grounds since March 1992, a plaque dedicated to their memory declares:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Their devotion to each other endeared them to the citizenry, and the newspapers reported their joint adventures … They were welcomed, regular customers at popular eating and drinking establishments on Montgomery Street. Contrary to common belief, they were not Emperor Norton’s dogs. They belonged to no one person. They belonged to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this story stated the year that Bummer and Lazarus’ taxidermied skins were destroyed. The exact year is unknown. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> story set off alarm bells across the region. Published April 23, 1961, “Our Shrinking Bay” dared to gaze 40 years into the future at what the Bay Area would look like if urban development continued unchecked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By 2020,” Ed Salzman wrote, “the Bay could be little more than a wide river. Berkeley would extend so far west that part of the city would be in San Francisco County. And much more of the southern Eastbay shoreline would belong to San Mateo County.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t a work of Salzman’s imagination. The journalist had recently seen a paper the Army Corps of Engineers had written for the Department of Commerce. It explained in some detail that 70% of the Bay was less than 18 feet deep—meaning it could be filled and paved over relatively easily. Not only were plans afoot to start that process, but at the time there were zero rules against such development. The private companies who owned the shoreline could do whatever they pleased with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13898345']Shortly after the \u003cem>Tribune\u003c/em> published the article, a woman named Esther Gulick was visiting her friend Catherine “Kay” Kerr to drop off some home-baked almond cookies. The two had become friends through their husbands, who were both members of the U.C. Board of Regents. (Gulick herself was a U.C. Berkeley graduate who had majored in economics. Kerr had graduated from Stanford with a major in political science.) After the pair got to chatting about Salzman’s story, Kerr asked Gulick if she might have a little spare time to try and prevent the decimation of the Bay. Gulick said that she did, and the pair quickly started organizing with Sylvia McLaughlin—a Vassar graduate, mom of two and another Board of Regents wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the women had any idea they were about to embark on a lifelong journey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1961, the San Francisco Bay was not in good shape. It had been a century since the Gold Rush, and at least 80% of the Bay’s wetlands had been lost to development. The water was filthy, tainted by oil slicks, shipping pollution, trash from multiple garbage dumps at the edge of the water and, worst of all, untreated sewage. At low tide, the stench emanating from the water wafted from Mill Valley to Oakland. At night, Gulick, who had a view of the Bay from her Berkeley home, watched in horror as trash was dumped in the shallows and set on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick assumed they could join forces with an already established group who could guide and inform their campaign. In 1961, the women invited every local environmentalist they could think of to Gulick’s home for a meeting. Those in attendance included reps from the \u003ca href=\"https://act.sierraclub.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sierra Club\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.savetheredwoods.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Save the Redwoods League\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://act.audubon.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Audubon\u003c/a> and several local grassroots groups. They even invited author \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Gilliam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harold Gilliam\u003c/a> because of his work profiling the waterfront in his 1957 book \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15721143-san-francisco-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>San Francisco Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the trio had carefully laid out the Bay’s urgent need for intervention, each of their attendees warmly agreed—then explained they were too busy with their own campaigns, and encouraged the women to start their own organization. To help, the Sierra Club’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraclub.org/library/david-brower\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Brower\u003c/a> handed over his organization’s mailing list and made himself available for advice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night, the Save the San Francisco Bay Association—now popularly known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=408SHpeOt8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Save the Bay—was born\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13882943']Almost half a century after he attended that first meeting, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/How-the-bay-was-saved-Development-threatened-to-2564089.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harold Gilliam wrote for \u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: “My own feeling was that any attempt to stop the filling of the bay would be hopeless … I was certain that the three Berkeley women were too naive and inexperienced to realize the bay was as doomed as the orchards of the Santa Clara Valley … The notion that the big-buck developers, the shoreline cities and some of the country’s biggest corporations could be turned back by a few starry-eyed bay savers seemed preposterous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within two years, the association had proved Gilliam wrong, winning its first major victory. And it was a major one. Save the Bay almost single-handedly stopped the City of Berkeley from expanding into 2,000 acres of Bay waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-800x894.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-800x894.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-1020x1139.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-160x179.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-768x858.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter.png 1298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘Save the San Francisco Bay Association’ newsletter, sent out to subscribers in Dec. 1968. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the California Historical Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick, it turned out, were a force to be reckoned with. They understood that the only way to win was to combine grassroots people power with irrefutable data. They used targeted flyer campaigns, phone chains and gatherings to attract more members to their cause. They charged $1 per year to receive their newsletter—a simple but effective way to fundraise. And they consulted with biologists, engineers, economists, architects, legal scholars and city planners to prepare official arguments for all eventualities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s easy to forget now, but environmental campaigns were a fringe issue at the time that Save the Bay first started. Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick instinctively knew how to take them mainstream. In 1968, for example, they distributed handmade “Save the Bay” flags to a gala parade of boats who were celebrating the start of yachting season. This simple but savvy move garnered them press coverage without even having to organize a protest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With attention, of course, came personal scrutiny. The women—and their supporters—were often subjected to mockery and name-calling. Gulick noted in one 1988 speech that they were called: “enemies of progress, impractical idealists, do-gooders, posy pickers, eco-freaks, enviromaniacs, little old ladies in tennis shoes and almond cookie revolutionaries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, even an \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> columnist piled on. In 1963, Al Martinez wrote facetiously of the work Save the Bay was doing: “O, lo, the Bay is shrinking, the Bay is shrinking! Really? That’s what they tell me,” he scoffed. “We can always spray the waterfront with an air-sweetener or deodorizer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through it all, Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick harbored no hesitations about testifying at hearings, hassling government officials, petitioning state agencies and leading protests to Sacramento. All three steadfastly refused to be intimidated by the corporations, politicians, bureaucrats, landowners and occasional journalists who attempted to block their path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-800x1004.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1004\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-800x1004.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-1020x1280.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-160x201.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-768x964.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM.png 1026w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘Save the San Francisco Bay Association’ newsletter, sent to subscribers in July 1970. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the California Historical Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The tenacious organizing undertaken by these three women has influenced the ecology of the Bay Area in too many ways to comprehensively list. But it is thanks to them that we have a state commission whose sole job it is to protect the San Francisco Bay. (The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission has been in place since 1965. And that, in turn, inspired the creation of the California Coastal Commission in 1972.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without Save the Bay’s campaigning and influence, Berkeley and San Mateo may have succeeded in expanding their city limits into the waterfront in 1980. David Rockefeller and his associates may have succeeded in sucking up 27 miles of coastline for a major new development in the early 1970s. Without Save the Bay, we probably wouldn’t have the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/refuge/don-edwards-san-francisco-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge\u003c/a>, nor the 85,000 acres of wetlands still protected by 1977’s \u003ca href=\"https://bcdc.ca.gov/plans/suisun_marsh_preservation_act.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Suisun Marsh Preservation Act\u003c/a>. We wouldn’t have the permanently protected McLaughlin Eastshore State Park that runs between Emeryville and Richmond. (It was named after Sylvia in 2011.) In fact, between the time Save the Bay formed and 2007, the bay \u003cem>expanded\u003c/em> by 40,000 acres. The environmental impact of the organization cannot be overstated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13871297']Gulick died in 1995. Both McLaughlin and Kerr died just months before their 100th birthdays, in 2016 and 2010 respectively. McLaughlin continued to attend protests well into her 90s—even ones that involved climbing trees. In a 1988 speech she noted: “Esther, Kay and I were inspired by the vision of what we felt San Francisco Bay could be and the reality of what was happening to it. We regarded the Bay as one of this country’s national treasures and to us, and to many others, it was unthinkable that most of this beautiful natural resource could be filled.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> journalist who wrote “Our Shrinking Bay” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/sixty-years-of-saving-san-francisco-bay/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">talked to the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em>\u003c/a> about the 1961 story that started it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I covered presidents and governors and all kinds of big shots,” Ed Salzman said at the age of 89. “But when you look back, I don’t remember those stories at all. This story I remember in detail, because—let’s face it—the saving of San Francisco Bay is still going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book celebrating women from the Rebel Girls series, \u003ca href=\"https://citylights.com/politics-current-events-history/unsung-heroines35-women-who-changed/\">‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area,’\u003c/a> is available now from City Lights.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> story set off alarm bells across the region. Published April 23, 1961, “Our Shrinking Bay” dared to gaze 40 years into the future at what the Bay Area would look like if urban development continued unchecked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By 2020,” Ed Salzman wrote, “the Bay could be little more than a wide river. Berkeley would extend so far west that part of the city would be in San Francisco County. And much more of the southern Eastbay shoreline would belong to San Mateo County.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t a work of Salzman’s imagination. The journalist had recently seen a paper the Army Corps of Engineers had written for the Department of Commerce. It explained in some detail that 70% of the Bay was less than 18 feet deep—meaning it could be filled and paved over relatively easily. Not only were plans afoot to start that process, but at the time there were zero rules against such development. The private companies who owned the shoreline could do whatever they pleased with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Shortly after the \u003cem>Tribune\u003c/em> published the article, a woman named Esther Gulick was visiting her friend Catherine “Kay” Kerr to drop off some home-baked almond cookies. The two had become friends through their husbands, who were both members of the U.C. Board of Regents. (Gulick herself was a U.C. Berkeley graduate who had majored in economics. Kerr had graduated from Stanford with a major in political science.) After the pair got to chatting about Salzman’s story, Kerr asked Gulick if she might have a little spare time to try and prevent the decimation of the Bay. Gulick said that she did, and the pair quickly started organizing with Sylvia McLaughlin—a Vassar graduate, mom of two and another Board of Regents wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the women had any idea they were about to embark on a lifelong journey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1961, the San Francisco Bay was not in good shape. It had been a century since the Gold Rush, and at least 80% of the Bay’s wetlands had been lost to development. The water was filthy, tainted by oil slicks, shipping pollution, trash from multiple garbage dumps at the edge of the water and, worst of all, untreated sewage. At low tide, the stench emanating from the water wafted from Mill Valley to Oakland. At night, Gulick, who had a view of the Bay from her Berkeley home, watched in horror as trash was dumped in the shallows and set on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick assumed they could join forces with an already established group who could guide and inform their campaign. In 1961, the women invited every local environmentalist they could think of to Gulick’s home for a meeting. Those in attendance included reps from the \u003ca href=\"https://act.sierraclub.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sierra Club\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.savetheredwoods.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Save the Redwoods League\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://act.audubon.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Audubon\u003c/a> and several local grassroots groups. They even invited author \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Gilliam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harold Gilliam\u003c/a> because of his work profiling the waterfront in his 1957 book \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15721143-san-francisco-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>San Francisco Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the trio had carefully laid out the Bay’s urgent need for intervention, each of their attendees warmly agreed—then explained they were too busy with their own campaigns, and encouraged the women to start their own organization. To help, the Sierra Club’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraclub.org/library/david-brower\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Brower\u003c/a> handed over his organization’s mailing list and made himself available for advice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night, the Save the San Francisco Bay Association—now popularly known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=408SHpeOt8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Save the Bay—was born\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Almost half a century after he attended that first meeting, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/How-the-bay-was-saved-Development-threatened-to-2564089.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harold Gilliam wrote for \u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: “My own feeling was that any attempt to stop the filling of the bay would be hopeless … I was certain that the three Berkeley women were too naive and inexperienced to realize the bay was as doomed as the orchards of the Santa Clara Valley … The notion that the big-buck developers, the shoreline cities and some of the country’s biggest corporations could be turned back by a few starry-eyed bay savers seemed preposterous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within two years, the association had proved Gilliam wrong, winning its first major victory. And it was a major one. Save the Bay almost single-handedly stopped the City of Berkeley from expanding into 2,000 acres of Bay waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-800x894.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-800x894.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-1020x1139.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-160x179.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter-768x858.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/1968-newsletter.png 1298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘Save the San Francisco Bay Association’ newsletter, sent out to subscribers in Dec. 1968. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the California Historical Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick, it turned out, were a force to be reckoned with. They understood that the only way to win was to combine grassroots people power with irrefutable data. They used targeted flyer campaigns, phone chains and gatherings to attract more members to their cause. They charged $1 per year to receive their newsletter—a simple but effective way to fundraise. And they consulted with biologists, engineers, economists, architects, legal scholars and city planners to prepare official arguments for all eventualities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s easy to forget now, but environmental campaigns were a fringe issue at the time that Save the Bay first started. Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick instinctively knew how to take them mainstream. In 1968, for example, they distributed handmade “Save the Bay” flags to a gala parade of boats who were celebrating the start of yachting season. This simple but savvy move garnered them press coverage without even having to organize a protest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With attention, of course, came personal scrutiny. The women—and their supporters—were often subjected to mockery and name-calling. Gulick noted in one 1988 speech that they were called: “enemies of progress, impractical idealists, do-gooders, posy pickers, eco-freaks, enviromaniacs, little old ladies in tennis shoes and almond cookie revolutionaries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, even an \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> columnist piled on. In 1963, Al Martinez wrote facetiously of the work Save the Bay was doing: “O, lo, the Bay is shrinking, the Bay is shrinking! Really? That’s what they tell me,” he scoffed. “We can always spray the waterfront with an air-sweetener or deodorizer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through it all, Kerr, McLaughlin and Gulick harbored no hesitations about testifying at hearings, hassling government officials, petitioning state agencies and leading protests to Sacramento. All three steadfastly refused to be intimidated by the corporations, politicians, bureaucrats, landowners and occasional journalists who attempted to block their path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-800x1004.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1004\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-800x1004.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-1020x1280.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-160x201.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM-768x964.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-21-at-9.44.04-PM.png 1026w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘Save the San Francisco Bay Association’ newsletter, sent to subscribers in July 1970. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the California Historical Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The tenacious organizing undertaken by these three women has influenced the ecology of the Bay Area in too many ways to comprehensively list. But it is thanks to them that we have a state commission whose sole job it is to protect the San Francisco Bay. (The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission has been in place since 1965. And that, in turn, inspired the creation of the California Coastal Commission in 1972.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without Save the Bay’s campaigning and influence, Berkeley and San Mateo may have succeeded in expanding their city limits into the waterfront in 1980. David Rockefeller and his associates may have succeeded in sucking up 27 miles of coastline for a major new development in the early 1970s. Without Save the Bay, we probably wouldn’t have the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/refuge/don-edwards-san-francisco-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge\u003c/a>, nor the 85,000 acres of wetlands still protected by 1977’s \u003ca href=\"https://bcdc.ca.gov/plans/suisun_marsh_preservation_act.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Suisun Marsh Preservation Act\u003c/a>. We wouldn’t have the permanently protected McLaughlin Eastshore State Park that runs between Emeryville and Richmond. (It was named after Sylvia in 2011.) In fact, between the time Save the Bay formed and 2007, the bay \u003cem>expanded\u003c/em> by 40,000 acres. The environmental impact of the organization cannot be overstated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Gulick died in 1995. Both McLaughlin and Kerr died just months before their 100th birthdays, in 2016 and 2010 respectively. McLaughlin continued to attend protests well into her 90s—even ones that involved climbing trees. In a 1988 speech she noted: “Esther, Kay and I were inspired by the vision of what we felt San Francisco Bay could be and the reality of what was happening to it. We regarded the Bay as one of this country’s national treasures and to us, and to many others, it was unthinkable that most of this beautiful natural resource could be filled.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> journalist who wrote “Our Shrinking Bay” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/sixty-years-of-saving-san-francisco-bay/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">talked to the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em>\u003c/a> about the 1961 story that started it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I covered presidents and governors and all kinds of big shots,” Ed Salzman said at the age of 89. “But when you look back, I don’t remember those stories at all. This story I remember in detail, because—let’s face it—the saving of San Francisco Bay is still going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book celebrating women from the Rebel Girls series, \u003ca href=\"https://citylights.com/politics-current-events-history/unsung-heroines35-women-who-changed/\">‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area,’\u003c/a> is available now from City Lights.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "HBO's 'The Survivor' Shields Viewers From Harry Haft's Whole Truth",
"headTitle": "HBO’s ‘The Survivor’ Shields Viewers From Harry Haft’s Whole Truth | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>There is a plethora of books and films available that portray the unfathomably cruel acts rendered commonplace during World War II. The most effective ones tend to tighten focus on individual accounts, with all of their small and devastating details. These stories do the work of making the atrocities more tangible to those of us several generations removed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hertzko “Harry” Haft’s life story is one such tale, but it raises more moral quandaries than most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haft was a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz by bare-knuckle boxing with other prisoners at the behest—and for the entertainment—of SS guards. Haft was protected and provided with food by an officer named Schneider as long as the prisoner continued to fight. Schneider saved Haft time and time again, not just because Haft provided the guard with entertainment. Schneider was also motivated by a promise that Haft made to relay the officer’s good deeds to the allies if the German was ever captured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13877930']In Haft’s time at Auschwitz, he won all of his boxing matches, declared winner only after he had knocked out his rival. To lose the match would be to lose his life: all 76 of his opponents were immediately killed by either a bullet or the gas chamber upon defeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the war, aged 21 and having been imprisoned in seven concentration camps in five years, Haft made a dramatic escape from a Nazi death march, and began a new life in Brooklyn. He continued boxing for years after the war, his most famous fight against Rocky Marciano, one of the all-time greats. “After all I’ve been through,” Haft famously said in 1948, “what harm can a man with gloves on his hands do me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can read the details of Haft’s fascinating life in Reinhard Kleist’s excellent 2012 graphic novel \u003ca href=\"https://www.reinhard-kleist.de/en/comics/the-boxer/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Boxer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and in \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/627025.Harry_Haft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Harry Haft\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the 2006 biography by Haft’s son Alan Scott Haft, on which the graphic novel was based. Now comes HBO’s \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em>, a biopic directed by Barry Levinson (\u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Wag the Dog\u003c/em>), and consulted on by the \u003ca href=\"https://sfi.usc.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USC Shoah Foundation\u003c/a>—an organization that collects Holocaust survivor stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ETYBNs6ZA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> benefits, first and foremost, from beautiful direction and an excellent cast. Ben Foster is unrecognizable as Haft, and entirely convincing at every gut-wrenching step of his performance. During scenes at Auschwitz, Foster embodies the expressions of a desperate human living perpetually in survival mode. For Haft’s early days in Brooklyn, Foster effectively captures the torment of a person attempting to live a normal life after surviving a living hell. And for Haft’s later years, Foster allows his performance to take on the gnarled and calloused edges of a man who never came to terms with what happened to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Foster’s side in Haft’s post-war boxing world are scene-stealing performances by John Leguizamo (who plays Haft’s trainer, Pepe) and Danny DeVito (as Rocky Marciano’s trainer Charley Goldman, who secretly gave Hast tips before the big fight). Both Leguizamo and DeVito imbue the film with much-needed moments of light and humor. Meanwhile, Vicky Krieps’s portrayal of Haft’s wife, Miriam Wofsoniker, includes just the right combination of sympathy, sensitivity and frustration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13874146']\u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> is a stunning and heart-wrenching portrayal of one man’s literal fight to survive, and the deep emotional scars it left behind. The film quietly asks thought-provoking questions about morality, spirituality, trauma and the meaning of true strength. And the broad arc of Haft’s story, as presented here, is accurate. Where \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> falters is in its compulsion to insert Hollywood versions of events in place of real-life details that would have more than sufficed. And it goes far beyond small instances of artistic license.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, the biopic glosses over the abuse to which Haft subjected his son Alan later in life. “You’re talking about a Holocaust survivor who’s got PTSD,” Alan once said of writing his father’s biography, “talking to a second-generation Holocaust survivor who’s got PTSD from having survived growing up with him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> creates a fictional backstory for the relationship Haft had with his wife, lest the true story be deemed unromantic. In reality, Haft and Wofsoniker were neighbors who married just a week after meeting, in part because the elderly woman Haft was boarding with had died, rendering him homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> grittily recreates Haft’s fights at Auschwitz as he later relayed them to his son—often, fights with men far too depleted to defend themselves. There’s a harrowing depiction of the fight Haft had to win against a champion French heavyweight brought to Auschwitz by Berlin generals. But the filmmakers, apparently unsure whether the truth would suitably move the audience, also concoct a fictional scenario in which Haft is forced to fight a dear friend. This scene is taken to such an overwrought conclusion that one can only hope viewers recognize it as a fabrication. (I was compelled to fact-check it the moment it was over.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912202\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912202\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-800x515.png\" alt=\"An emaciated shirtless man with a shaved head stands with a look of steely determination. Opposite a nazi SS officer gives him instructions. Behind them, fences and other soldiers are visible.\" width=\"800\" height=\"515\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-800x515.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-1536x988.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-2048x1318.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-1920x1235.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Foster as Harry Haft and Billy Magnussen as Dietrich Schneider, the SS officer who saved Haft’s life repeatedly, as long as the young man agreed to box. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> consistently rewrites Haft’s story to raise the emotional stakes. The conclusion presented for the relationship between Haft and SS officer Schneider is entirely (and depressingly) fabricated. Worse, tying the two men’s story up in a neat little bow impacts how \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> presents Haft’s real-life escape—a story absolutely worth telling. Is the movie version more satisfying than what really happened? Of course. But at this stage in history, surely telling the truth about every detail of the Holocaust is more important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The truth is that Haft’s daring escape also involved killing three civilians. While on the run, Haft killed an SS officer, stole his uniform and, shortly after, took shelter in the home of an elderly German couple. After they had welcomed him in, given him food and the chance to bathe, Haft grew fearful of being discovered as an imposter and shot them both dead. Further down the road, when a woman recognized that he was neither German nor a soldier, Haft shot her dead and told her young son to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13908730']Erasing the dark reality of what Haft did in pursuit of his own freedom might, on the surface, make sense: it renders Haft a more sympathetic protagonist. But this is a two-hour biopic that repeatedly asks the viewer to think about the lengths to which we might go to survive an abhorrent situation. Denying us a full picture of what Haft did to make it out alive seems in direct opposition to the movie’s primary goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, \u003cem>The Survivor—\u003c/em>while compelling and impactful—squanders the opportunity to tell Harry Haft’s story as he himself was willing to do. This truth is especially important at a time when few Holocaust survivors are around to tell us exactly what happened to them. (Haft died in 2007.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changing these details wasn’t just unnecessary, it also implies Haft’s life wasn’t quite good enough, or sad enough, to tell honestly. In so doing, the project arguably passes judgment on a man who was, in impossible circumstances, simply trying to stay alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Survivor’ premieres on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Wednesday April 27, on HBO.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There is a plethora of books and films available that portray the unfathomably cruel acts rendered commonplace during World War II. The most effective ones tend to tighten focus on individual accounts, with all of their small and devastating details. These stories do the work of making the atrocities more tangible to those of us several generations removed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hertzko “Harry” Haft’s life story is one such tale, but it raises more moral quandaries than most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haft was a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz by bare-knuckle boxing with other prisoners at the behest—and for the entertainment—of SS guards. Haft was protected and provided with food by an officer named Schneider as long as the prisoner continued to fight. Schneider saved Haft time and time again, not just because Haft provided the guard with entertainment. Schneider was also motivated by a promise that Haft made to relay the officer’s good deeds to the allies if the German was ever captured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In Haft’s time at Auschwitz, he won all of his boxing matches, declared winner only after he had knocked out his rival. To lose the match would be to lose his life: all 76 of his opponents were immediately killed by either a bullet or the gas chamber upon defeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the war, aged 21 and having been imprisoned in seven concentration camps in five years, Haft made a dramatic escape from a Nazi death march, and began a new life in Brooklyn. He continued boxing for years after the war, his most famous fight against Rocky Marciano, one of the all-time greats. “After all I’ve been through,” Haft famously said in 1948, “what harm can a man with gloves on his hands do me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can read the details of Haft’s fascinating life in Reinhard Kleist’s excellent 2012 graphic novel \u003ca href=\"https://www.reinhard-kleist.de/en/comics/the-boxer/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Boxer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and in \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/627025.Harry_Haft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Harry Haft\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the 2006 biography by Haft’s son Alan Scott Haft, on which the graphic novel was based. Now comes HBO’s \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em>, a biopic directed by Barry Levinson (\u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Wag the Dog\u003c/em>), and consulted on by the \u003ca href=\"https://sfi.usc.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USC Shoah Foundation\u003c/a>—an organization that collects Holocaust survivor stories.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/s0ETYBNs6ZA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/s0ETYBNs6ZA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> benefits, first and foremost, from beautiful direction and an excellent cast. Ben Foster is unrecognizable as Haft, and entirely convincing at every gut-wrenching step of his performance. During scenes at Auschwitz, Foster embodies the expressions of a desperate human living perpetually in survival mode. For Haft’s early days in Brooklyn, Foster effectively captures the torment of a person attempting to live a normal life after surviving a living hell. And for Haft’s later years, Foster allows his performance to take on the gnarled and calloused edges of a man who never came to terms with what happened to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Foster’s side in Haft’s post-war boxing world are scene-stealing performances by John Leguizamo (who plays Haft’s trainer, Pepe) and Danny DeVito (as Rocky Marciano’s trainer Charley Goldman, who secretly gave Hast tips before the big fight). Both Leguizamo and DeVito imbue the film with much-needed moments of light and humor. Meanwhile, Vicky Krieps’s portrayal of Haft’s wife, Miriam Wofsoniker, includes just the right combination of sympathy, sensitivity and frustration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> is a stunning and heart-wrenching portrayal of one man’s literal fight to survive, and the deep emotional scars it left behind. The film quietly asks thought-provoking questions about morality, spirituality, trauma and the meaning of true strength. And the broad arc of Haft’s story, as presented here, is accurate. Where \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> falters is in its compulsion to insert Hollywood versions of events in place of real-life details that would have more than sufficed. And it goes far beyond small instances of artistic license.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, the biopic glosses over the abuse to which Haft subjected his son Alan later in life. “You’re talking about a Holocaust survivor who’s got PTSD,” Alan once said of writing his father’s biography, “talking to a second-generation Holocaust survivor who’s got PTSD from having survived growing up with him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> creates a fictional backstory for the relationship Haft had with his wife, lest the true story be deemed unromantic. In reality, Haft and Wofsoniker were neighbors who married just a week after meeting, in part because the elderly woman Haft was boarding with had died, rendering him homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> grittily recreates Haft’s fights at Auschwitz as he later relayed them to his son—often, fights with men far too depleted to defend themselves. There’s a harrowing depiction of the fight Haft had to win against a champion French heavyweight brought to Auschwitz by Berlin generals. But the filmmakers, apparently unsure whether the truth would suitably move the audience, also concoct a fictional scenario in which Haft is forced to fight a dear friend. This scene is taken to such an overwrought conclusion that one can only hope viewers recognize it as a fabrication. (I was compelled to fact-check it the moment it was over.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13912202\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13912202\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-800x515.png\" alt=\"An emaciated shirtless man with a shaved head stands with a look of steely determination. Opposite a nazi SS officer gives him instructions. Behind them, fences and other soldiers are visible.\" width=\"800\" height=\"515\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-800x515.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-1536x988.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-2048x1318.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/schneider-1920x1235.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Foster as Harry Haft and Billy Magnussen as Dietrich Schneider, the SS officer who saved Haft’s life repeatedly, as long as the young man agreed to box. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> consistently rewrites Haft’s story to raise the emotional stakes. The conclusion presented for the relationship between Haft and SS officer Schneider is entirely (and depressingly) fabricated. Worse, tying the two men’s story up in a neat little bow impacts how \u003cem>The Survivor\u003c/em> presents Haft’s real-life escape—a story absolutely worth telling. Is the movie version more satisfying than what really happened? Of course. But at this stage in history, surely telling the truth about every detail of the Holocaust is more important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The truth is that Haft’s daring escape also involved killing three civilians. While on the run, Haft killed an SS officer, stole his uniform and, shortly after, took shelter in the home of an elderly German couple. After they had welcomed him in, given him food and the chance to bathe, Haft grew fearful of being discovered as an imposter and shot them both dead. Further down the road, when a woman recognized that he was neither German nor a soldier, Haft shot her dead and told her young son to hide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Erasing the dark reality of what Haft did in pursuit of his own freedom might, on the surface, make sense: it renders Haft a more sympathetic protagonist. But this is a two-hour biopic that repeatedly asks the viewer to think about the lengths to which we might go to survive an abhorrent situation. Denying us a full picture of what Haft did to make it out alive seems in direct opposition to the movie’s primary goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, \u003cem>The Survivor—\u003c/em>while compelling and impactful—squanders the opportunity to tell Harry Haft’s story as he himself was willing to do. This truth is especially important at a time when few Holocaust survivors are around to tell us exactly what happened to them. (Haft died in 2007.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changing these details wasn’t just unnecessary, it also implies Haft’s life wasn’t quite good enough, or sad enough, to tell honestly. In so doing, the project arguably passes judgment on a man who was, in impossible circumstances, simply trying to stay alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Survivor’ premieres on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Wednesday April 27, on HBO.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "sfmoma-soapbox-derby-san-francisco-wacky-races-pops-mint-parkside-tricycle-mclaren-park",
"title": "5 Wacky San Francisco Races to Rival SFMOMA's Soapbox Derby",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-800x570.png\" alt=\"A referee in a black and white shirt splashes an adult competitor in a tricycle race with a bucket of water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-800x570.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-1020x726.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-768x547.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-1536x1094.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-2048x1458.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-1920x1367.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A competitor in Thee Parkside’s annual tricycle races gets doused with a bucket of water, mid-ride. \u003ccite>(Instagram/@theeparkside)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As you may have noticed, San Francisco is gearing up \u003cem>hard\u003c/em> for this Sunday’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/2022-soapbox-derby-at-mclaren-park/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SFMOMA Soapbox Derby at McLaren Park\u003c/a>. The wacky race—announced live by KQED Arts’ own \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ogpenn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/a>—was inspired by a similar \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11910363/wacky-homemade-cars-will-soon-roll-down-the-hill-in-sfs-mclaren-park-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1975 event in which artists hurled themselves down a hill\u003c/a> in vehicles of their own making. (The materials back then included everything from bread to vibrators.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s not forget, however, that beyond the SFMOMA event, Bay Area residents have a long and rich history of participating in foolish races on wheels—usually for nothing more than the glory of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are five of the best.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Illegal Soapbox Society’s Bernal Hill Races\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYCAF5EnVi0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back before the internet existed, unusual humans who wanted to connect and bond with other unusual humans were forced to regularly leave their homes and endanger themselves physically. San Francisco’s Illegal Soapbox Society formed in 1992 to facilitate this, holding races down Bernal Hill every third Sunday between the months of May and October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13910308']The competing soapboxes were officially divided into three categories: cars with hard wheels, cars with tires and “customized kiddie carts.” But \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/It-s-All-Downhill-From-Here-Soapbox-racers-2840221.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one 1997 \u003cem>SFGate \u003c/em>article\u003c/a> also reported the participation of “a lowrider Safeway shopping cart that throws flames, smoke and water; a wooden pallet on wheels; a lawn chair; a two-man bobsled called Amphetamine Reptile; and a one-man chopped skateboard that functions as a luge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though initially inspired by the 1975 SFMOMA Soapbox Derby, the Bernal offshoot took on a life of its own, with a distinctly ’90s flavor—even appearing in a 1994 episode of \u003cem>The Real World\u003c/em>. “This is mostly the bike messenger crowd,” \u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em> observed, “drinking beer from cans in bags, enticed by the opportunity to see contact between skin and asphalt.” Fittingly, the legacy of the races lives on today at the Mission District bar Zeitgeist, which still has souvenir posters from the races on display.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Mint’s Memorial Day Tricycle Race\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRNYrAuGeU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year was 1972, the starting point was the Mint on Market Street, and the competition was fierce. It was the first annual Memorial Day Tricycle Race—an event that would ultimately run for over two decades. The colorful and chaotic fundraiser involved scores of two-person teams—sometimes in costume, sometimes in drag, sometimes in almost nothing at all—racing between bars all over the city. One person sat on the tricycle while the other pushed, and wherever the duos landed en route, they got free drinks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race was thought up by Mint employee Les Balmain and Mint owner Charlotte Coleman, who owned a wealth of legendary gay bars in the city, including Twin Peaks. In its 21 years, the Memorial Day Tricycle Race raised thousands of dollars for both AIDS- and guide dog-related charities. Media coverage of the tricycle race peaked in 1976 when Jimmy Carter’s 26-year-old son Chip took part, and repeatedly asked onlookers to “vote for daddy.” Carter is reported to have continued even after his handlebars fell off.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Rambler Cup Relay Race\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911625\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-800x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-800x480.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-1020x612.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-160x96.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-768x461.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-1536x921.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-2048x1229.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-1920x1152.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustrations that accompanied the San Francisco Examiner’s report about 1894’s Rambler Relay race that traveled from San Francisco to Oakland via San Jose. \u003ccite>(SF Examiner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Apr. 9, 1894, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> provided an exhaustive summary about this then-popular relay bicycle race that ran from San Francisco to Oakland via San Jose. Seven local bicycle clubs took part in the 100-mile course, starting out from Ninth and Market. “There was a strong armed man behind every racer,” the paper reported, “and when [the] whistle blew, those brawny gentlemen shoved and the seven men shot down Market Street like seven skyrockets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13909983']The race lasted five hours and 22 minutes, causing disruption, excitement and a plethora of injury along the way. The \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> described racers colliding with two dogs, a cow and a human bystander, and made it abundantly clear that nobody in this race had any regard for anything else going on around them. “What made Magill so late at the end of the sixth relay was his attempt to ride under the legs of a moving horse,” it noted at one point. “Magill went down, rubbed his skinned knees and rode off with the loss of some minutes and some cuticle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of Oakland” came out to see the Garden City Club cross the finish line first.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Pop’s/Parkside Independence Day Tricycle Race\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gqqz4dJQB4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were a combination of factors that swiftly made Pop’s one of the Mission District’s greatest dives after it first opened in 2003. Strong drinks, hedonistic patrons, an abnormally flattering photo booth and, yes, the annual Fourth of July tricycle races. Just grown humans, most of them drunk, riding children’s tricycles, trying to weave around tiny orange cones on the York Street side of the bar. Looking on—loudly—were the Pop’s patrons who were either too long-limbed, too drunk or too sensible to participate, who instead spilled out of the bar to holler from the sidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Malia Spanyol sold Pop’s in 2014, the tricycle races moved to her other venue, Thee Parkside, and added another component: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk5wAOKFsUZ/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ladies’ arm wrestling\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFJgs7b_zgU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started calmly enough. In 2000, a man named John Brumit decided to ride a children’s big wheel toy down the Lombard St. wiggle because: San Francisco. After Brumit drew a small crowd, he decided to perform the hilarious stunt every year. This, of course, grew into a full-blown race in 2007 because—again—San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The anarchy that ensued that year was enough to get the calamitous competition moved in 2008, to the \u003cem>real\u003c/em> crookedest street in San Francisco—the Vermont Street wiggle near 20th Street in Potrero Hill. That’s where the race happens annually to this day—including Sunday, Apr. 17 beginning at 2pm. To register and check the rules (no rubber wheels!), visit \u003ca href=\"https://bringyourownbigwheel.com/bring-your-own-big-wheel-is-currently-a-go-for-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BringYourOwnWheel.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-800x570.png\" alt=\"A referee in a black and white shirt splashes an adult competitor in a tricycle race with a bucket of water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-800x570.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-1020x726.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-768x547.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-1536x1094.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-2048x1458.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-07-at-5.05.13-PM-1-1920x1367.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A competitor in Thee Parkside’s annual tricycle races gets doused with a bucket of water, mid-ride. \u003ccite>(Instagram/@theeparkside)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As you may have noticed, San Francisco is gearing up \u003cem>hard\u003c/em> for this Sunday’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/2022-soapbox-derby-at-mclaren-park/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SFMOMA Soapbox Derby at McLaren Park\u003c/a>. The wacky race—announced live by KQED Arts’ own \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ogpenn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/a>—was inspired by a similar \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11910363/wacky-homemade-cars-will-soon-roll-down-the-hill-in-sfs-mclaren-park-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1975 event in which artists hurled themselves down a hill\u003c/a> in vehicles of their own making. (The materials back then included everything from bread to vibrators.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s not forget, however, that beyond the SFMOMA event, Bay Area residents have a long and rich history of participating in foolish races on wheels—usually for nothing more than the glory of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are five of the best.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Illegal Soapbox Society’s Bernal Hill Races\u003c/h2>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/uYCAF5EnVi0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/uYCAF5EnVi0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Back before the internet existed, unusual humans who wanted to connect and bond with other unusual humans were forced to regularly leave their homes and endanger themselves physically. San Francisco’s Illegal Soapbox Society formed in 1992 to facilitate this, holding races down Bernal Hill every third Sunday between the months of May and October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The competing soapboxes were officially divided into three categories: cars with hard wheels, cars with tires and “customized kiddie carts.” But \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/It-s-All-Downhill-From-Here-Soapbox-racers-2840221.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one 1997 \u003cem>SFGate \u003c/em>article\u003c/a> also reported the participation of “a lowrider Safeway shopping cart that throws flames, smoke and water; a wooden pallet on wheels; a lawn chair; a two-man bobsled called Amphetamine Reptile; and a one-man chopped skateboard that functions as a luge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though initially inspired by the 1975 SFMOMA Soapbox Derby, the Bernal offshoot took on a life of its own, with a distinctly ’90s flavor—even appearing in a 1994 episode of \u003cem>The Real World\u003c/em>. “This is mostly the bike messenger crowd,” \u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em> observed, “drinking beer from cans in bags, enticed by the opportunity to see contact between skin and asphalt.” Fittingly, the legacy of the races lives on today at the Mission District bar Zeitgeist, which still has souvenir posters from the races on display.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Mint’s Memorial Day Tricycle Race\u003c/h2>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/mZRNYrAuGeU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/mZRNYrAuGeU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The year was 1972, the starting point was the Mint on Market Street, and the competition was fierce. It was the first annual Memorial Day Tricycle Race—an event that would ultimately run for over two decades. The colorful and chaotic fundraiser involved scores of two-person teams—sometimes in costume, sometimes in drag, sometimes in almost nothing at all—racing between bars all over the city. One person sat on the tricycle while the other pushed, and wherever the duos landed en route, they got free drinks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race was thought up by Mint employee Les Balmain and Mint owner Charlotte Coleman, who owned a wealth of legendary gay bars in the city, including Twin Peaks. In its 21 years, the Memorial Day Tricycle Race raised thousands of dollars for both AIDS- and guide dog-related charities. Media coverage of the tricycle race peaked in 1976 when Jimmy Carter’s 26-year-old son Chip took part, and repeatedly asked onlookers to “vote for daddy.” Carter is reported to have continued even after his handlebars fell off.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Rambler Cup Relay Race\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911625\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-800x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-800x480.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-1020x612.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-160x96.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-768x461.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-1536x921.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-2048x1229.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Rambler-Race-1920x1152.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustrations that accompanied the San Francisco Examiner’s report about 1894’s Rambler Relay race that traveled from San Francisco to Oakland via San Jose. \u003ccite>(SF Examiner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Apr. 9, 1894, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> provided an exhaustive summary about this then-popular relay bicycle race that ran from San Francisco to Oakland via San Jose. Seven local bicycle clubs took part in the 100-mile course, starting out from Ninth and Market. “There was a strong armed man behind every racer,” the paper reported, “and when [the] whistle blew, those brawny gentlemen shoved and the seven men shot down Market Street like seven skyrockets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The race lasted five hours and 22 minutes, causing disruption, excitement and a plethora of injury along the way. The \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> described racers colliding with two dogs, a cow and a human bystander, and made it abundantly clear that nobody in this race had any regard for anything else going on around them. “What made Magill so late at the end of the sixth relay was his attempt to ride under the legs of a moving horse,” it noted at one point. “Magill went down, rubbed his skinned knees and rode off with the loss of some minutes and some cuticle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of Oakland” came out to see the Garden City Club cross the finish line first.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Pop’s/Parkside Independence Day Tricycle Race\u003c/h2>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/6gqqz4dJQB4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/6gqqz4dJQB4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>There were a combination of factors that swiftly made Pop’s one of the Mission District’s greatest dives after it first opened in 2003. Strong drinks, hedonistic patrons, an abnormally flattering photo booth and, yes, the annual Fourth of July tricycle races. Just grown humans, most of them drunk, riding children’s tricycles, trying to weave around tiny orange cones on the York Street side of the bar. Looking on—loudly—were the Pop’s patrons who were either too long-limbed, too drunk or too sensible to participate, who instead spilled out of the bar to holler from the sidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Malia Spanyol sold Pop’s in 2014, the tricycle races moved to her other venue, Thee Parkside, and added another component: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk5wAOKFsUZ/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ladies’ arm wrestling\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race\u003c/h2>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/GFJgs7b_zgU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/GFJgs7b_zgU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>It all started calmly enough. In 2000, a man named John Brumit decided to ride a children’s big wheel toy down the Lombard St. wiggle because: San Francisco. After Brumit drew a small crowd, he decided to perform the hilarious stunt every year. This, of course, grew into a full-blown race in 2007 because—again—San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The anarchy that ensued that year was enough to get the calamitous competition moved in 2008, to the \u003cem>real\u003c/em> crookedest street in San Francisco—the Vermont Street wiggle near 20th Street in Potrero Hill. That’s where the race happens annually to this day—including Sunday, Apr. 17 beginning at 2pm. To register and check the rules (no rubber wheels!), visit \u003ca href=\"https://bringyourownbigwheel.com/bring-your-own-big-wheel-is-currently-a-go-for-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BringYourOwnWheel.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-cockettes-san-francisco-public-library-fayette-hauser-scrumbly",
"title": "Celebrating the Sexual Anarchy of The Cockettes at the San Francisco Public Library",
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"headTitle": "Celebrating the Sexual Anarchy of The Cockettes at the San Francisco Public Library | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The year was 1969. Stonewall was kickstarting an LGBTQ+ revolution. Feminism’s second wave was hitting mainstream culture with a list of demands. And in San Francisco, a tight community of flamboyant hippies were out in front of it all, rejecting gender constructs altogether and trying to liberate the world. (Via free love and show tunes, among other things.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were The Cockettes, a group of performers for whom drag was a way of life. They embraced LSD, communal living and a hefty dose of exhibitionism. Their ranks included disco superstar \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6cPE2BHic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sylvester\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.famousfix.com/topic/miss-harlow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miss Harlow\u003c/a>—a groupie who, alongside her friend \u003ca href=\"https://pleasekillme.com/cynthia-plaster-caster/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cynthia Plaster Caster\u003c/a>, helped immortalize the genitals of the biggest rock stars of the day. For a decade, The Cockettes enthralled audiences. First, with anarchic, boundary-pushing musical theater and later, with bizarre, low-budget movies. That they were friends with John Waters and Divine should come as no surprise. That their fans included Janis Joplin, John Lennon and Andy Warhol is even more noteworthy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6cPE2BHic\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting this month, San Francisco’s main library is honoring The Cockettes with an exhibition at the Hormel LGBTQIA Center and a series of events that will run through August. The exhibition, titled \u003ci>The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy\u003c/i> pulls together photos and memories from original Cockette, Fayette Hauser, along with material from other people’s personal collections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanging on the Hormel’s interior and the walls immediately outside it, the collection explains who The Cockettes were and why each individual was special. Cabinets with flyers and magazine articles from the 1970s, along with one costume and a table of personal accessories are also featured. As is a Spotify playlist of music from the era that feels decidedly straight-laced for a Cockettes exhibit. (Artists featured include The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Free.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those familiar with this period of San Francisco history—especially the ones who have already seen the 2002 documentary, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cockettes.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Cockettes\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—will not likely learn much from this exhibit they didn’t already know. But for newbies unfamiliar with this particular group of misfits, it’s a decent primer that piques the interest enough to prompt further research. The most valuable historical information, however, will likely come during the library’s five upcoming events in The Cockettes’ honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the opening reception this Thursday, March 17, Hauser will share personal reminiscences in conversation with journalist and San Francisco historian Jim Van Buskirk. Hauser will also be back on March 31 to talk about her book, \u003ca href=\"https://thecockettes.net/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Most exciting of all, on April 28, there will be a screening of three Cockettes movies—\u003cem>Palace\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Elevator Girls in Bondage\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Tricia’s Wedding\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgWJFdeZD4o\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those wishing to get a flavor of the group’s original stage shows might wish to attend a night of “Cockette Cabaret” featuring “\u003ca href=\"http://www.scrumblymusic.com/pages/bio.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scrumbly & Co.\u003c/a>” on June 23. Hauser will also present a spoken word performance on May 26 backed up by circus troupe, the \u003ca href=\"https://vaudeviresociety.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vau de Vire Society\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep in mind before attending all or any of the above that John Waters—the King of Bad Taste, himself—has been known to refer to The Cockettes as “hippie acid freak drag queens” \u003cem>and\u003c/em> “complete sexual anarchy.” You have been warned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy’ is on view March 17–Aug. 11 in the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center on the third floor of the San Francisco Main Library (100 Larkin Street). \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/exhibits/2022/03/12/cockettes-acid-drag-sexual-anarchy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The year was 1969. Stonewall was kickstarting an LGBTQ+ revolution. Feminism’s second wave was hitting mainstream culture with a list of demands. And in San Francisco, a tight community of flamboyant hippies were out in front of it all, rejecting gender constructs altogether and trying to liberate the world. (Via free love and show tunes, among other things.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were The Cockettes, a group of performers for whom drag was a way of life. They embraced LSD, communal living and a hefty dose of exhibitionism. Their ranks included disco superstar \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6cPE2BHic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sylvester\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.famousfix.com/topic/miss-harlow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miss Harlow\u003c/a>—a groupie who, alongside her friend \u003ca href=\"https://pleasekillme.com/cynthia-plaster-caster/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cynthia Plaster Caster\u003c/a>, helped immortalize the genitals of the biggest rock stars of the day. For a decade, The Cockettes enthralled audiences. First, with anarchic, boundary-pushing musical theater and later, with bizarre, low-budget movies. That they were friends with John Waters and Divine should come as no surprise. That their fans included Janis Joplin, John Lennon and Andy Warhol is even more noteworthy.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/gD6cPE2BHic'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/gD6cPE2BHic'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Starting this month, San Francisco’s main library is honoring The Cockettes with an exhibition at the Hormel LGBTQIA Center and a series of events that will run through August. The exhibition, titled \u003ci>The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy\u003c/i> pulls together photos and memories from original Cockette, Fayette Hauser, along with material from other people’s personal collections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanging on the Hormel’s interior and the walls immediately outside it, the collection explains who The Cockettes were and why each individual was special. Cabinets with flyers and magazine articles from the 1970s, along with one costume and a table of personal accessories are also featured. As is a Spotify playlist of music from the era that feels decidedly straight-laced for a Cockettes exhibit. (Artists featured include The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Free.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those familiar with this period of San Francisco history—especially the ones who have already seen the 2002 documentary, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cockettes.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Cockettes\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—will not likely learn much from this exhibit they didn’t already know. But for newbies unfamiliar with this particular group of misfits, it’s a decent primer that piques the interest enough to prompt further research. The most valuable historical information, however, will likely come during the library’s five upcoming events in The Cockettes’ honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the opening reception this Thursday, March 17, Hauser will share personal reminiscences in conversation with journalist and San Francisco historian Jim Van Buskirk. Hauser will also be back on March 31 to talk about her book, \u003ca href=\"https://thecockettes.net/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Most exciting of all, on April 28, there will be a screening of three Cockettes movies—\u003cem>Palace\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Elevator Girls in Bondage\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Tricia’s Wedding\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/OgWJFdeZD4o'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/OgWJFdeZD4o'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Those wishing to get a flavor of the group’s original stage shows might wish to attend a night of “Cockette Cabaret” featuring “\u003ca href=\"http://www.scrumblymusic.com/pages/bio.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scrumbly & Co.\u003c/a>” on June 23. Hauser will also present a spoken word performance on May 26 backed up by circus troupe, the \u003ca href=\"https://vaudeviresociety.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vau de Vire Society\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep in mind before attending all or any of the above that John Waters—the King of Bad Taste, himself—has been known to refer to The Cockettes as “hippie acid freak drag queens” \u003cem>and\u003c/em> “complete sexual anarchy.” You have been warned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy’ is on view March 17–Aug. 11 in the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center on the third floor of the San Francisco Main Library (100 Larkin Street). \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/exhibits/2022/03/12/cockettes-acid-drag-sexual-anarchy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
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"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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