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Learn more about related issues at: https://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright HIDDEN FROM HISTORY w RECLAIMINGTHE GAY AND PAST

EDITED BY Martin Baum] Duberman ‘ Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey, Jr.

NAL®BOOKS NEW 7 AMERICAN, LIBRARY ADIVISIONOFPENGUINBOOKSUSAINC. NEWYORK PUBLISHED N CANADA 3* PENGUIN EMS CANADA LNKTED. MARKHAM. WARD Copyright © 1989 by Martin Bauml Duberman. Martha Vicinus and Gears: Chauncey, Jr. All rights reserved. For information addressNew American Library. Ackno wlcd'gmem: “Lesbian Sexuality in Medieval and Early Modern Europe" by Judith C. Brown. Reprinted from Immodesl Acts: The Life of 0 Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy. copyright 0 1985by Judith C. Brown. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press.

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Hidden from history : reclaiming the gay and lesbian past / ediled by Martin Baum] Dubcnnan, Martha Vicinus. and George Chaunocy. Jr. p. cm. Includes bibliographies. ISBN 0—453-00689-2 1. Homosexuality—History. 2. Gays—History. I. Dubcrman, Martin B. I]. Vicinus, Martha. III. Chauncey, George. H076.25.H527 1989 306.76'6'09—dc20 89—9417 CIP First Printing, November, 1989 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A Spectaclein Color:TheLesbianandGaySubcultureof JazzAgeHarlem 319 alliances for progressive social change. But the prosperity of the 19205 A SPECTACLEIN COLOR: iwasshort—lived,and the gay subculture quickly declined following the Stock Market crash of 1929 and the repeal of Prohibition, sogn THE becoming its LESBIAN AND GAY SUBCULTURE " only a shadow of earlier self. Nevertheless, the traditions - OF JAZZ AGE HARLEM and institutions created by Harlem lesbiansand gay men during the Jazz Agecontinueto this day. ’1 The key historical factor in the development of the lesbian ,and + gay subculture in Harlem was the massive migration of thousands of Afro- Americans to northern urban areas after the turn of the century. Since the beginning of American slavery, the vast majority of blacks had lived ERIC GARBER in rural southern states. American participation in World War I led to an increasein northern industrial production and brought an end to immi- gration, which resulted in thousands of openings in northern factories becoming available to blacks. Within two decades,large communities of black Americans had developed in most northern urban areas. 50 signi■- cant was this shift in population that it is now referred to as the “Great Migration.” Black communities developed in , Detroit, and Buf- falo, but the largest and most spectacularwas Harlem, which becamethe meccafor Afro-Americans from all over the world. Nowhere else could you ■nd a geographic area so large, so concentrated. really a city within a The Harlem Renaissancehas recognized long been as a seminal city, populated entirely by blacks. There were black schoolteachers,black in Afro-American history. Eric work moment Garber's showsthat it entrepreneurs, black police officers, and even black millionaires. A spirit also significant was a moment in the history of gay Americans, and wasin the air—of hope, progress, and possibilitiee—which proved partic- that black lesbians ■ and gay men and the interracial gay social ularly alluring to the young and unmarried. Harlem’s streets soon filled networks they created—played a crucial role in the literary renais- with their music, their voices, and their laughter. in the blues. and in the clubs which made famous in sance. Harlem They called themselves“New Negroes,” Harlem was their capital, and the 19205.In this he documentsthose contributions and essay paints they manifested a new militancy and pride. Black servicemen had been colorful of a portrait the speakeasies,private , and drag balls treated with a degreeof respectand given a taste of near-equality while in Harlem’s homosexuals claimed as their own. He also considers the Europe during the World War; their experiencesin■uencedtheir expec« effect of intersection the of racial and sexual oppressionsin creating tations when they returned home. Participation in the war effort had distinctive a black gay subculture, and the sometimes uneasy rela- given the entire black community a senseof involvement in the American ■ tionship between black gaysand the white homosexualswho ocked processand led them to demand their place in the mainstream of Ameri- uptown. can life. Marcus Garvey, the charismatic West Indian orator, had thou- - sands of followers in his enormous black nationalist “Back to Africa? movement. W. E. B. DuBois and his National Association for the Ad- At the beginning of the twentieth century, a homosexual subculture, vancement of Colored People (NAACP), with its radical integrationist uniquely Afro-American in substance.beganto take shapein New York's position, generally appealed to a more educated, middle-class folléi■ing, Harlem. Throughout the so-called Harlem Renaissanceperiod, roughly 5s did Charles W. Johnson‘s , but just , were as 1920 to 1935, black lesbians and gay men were meeting each other on militant in their call for racial justice. A variety of individuals and organi- street corners, socializing in cabarets and rent parties, and worshiping in zations generated Afro-American pride and solidarity. church on Sundays,creating a language,a social structure, and a complex The New Negro movement created a new kind of art. Harlem, as the network of institutions. Some were discreet about their sexual identities; New Negro Capital. becamea worldwide center for Afro-Ameriean jazz, others openly expressedtheir personal feelings. The community they built t literature, and the fine arts. Many black musicians, artists, writers, and attracted white homosexuals as well as black, creating friendships be- l entertainers were drawn to the vibrant black uptown neighborhood. Duke tween people of disparate ethnic and economic backgrounds and building Ellington. Fletcher Henderson, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, 318 A Spectacle in Color: 320 ERICGARBER The Lesbian and Gay Subculture of Jan Age Harlem 32] busmesseditor and Ethel Waters played in Harlem nightclubs. , Zora of the NAACP’s Crisis and personal protege of DuBois had his political sent Hurston, and published in the local newspapers. Art career destroyed when he was arrested for soliciting public restroom:9 galleries displayed the work of Aaron Douglas and Richmond Barthé. in a hlack gay people were also under attack from the social deyelopmg psychtatnc institutions; These creative talents incorporated the emerging black urban con- Jonathan Katz cites a tragic case in which black sciousness into their art. The resulting explosion of self—consciouslyAfro- a young gay man was incarcerated for most of the 19205at Renaissance,” had the Worcester ‘ American creativity, now known as the “Harlem a (Massachusetts)State Hospital.lo But in spite of racial development of American arts.1 oppression, economic hardship, and homophobic persecution, black Brofound impact on the subsequent lesbi- - of Harlem’s immigrantgwere■be‘st aas and gay men were able to build thriving The social and sexual attitudes new a community of their own f‘ re■e‘eted■theih blues, distinctly‘Afro-Arnericanfolk musicthat had Within existing Afro-American institutions and traditions. a Civil War.» P_riyate the best to“ 'd’eyeloped in rural southern black communities following the parties were place for Harlem lesbiansand gay men subtleties, the blues were im: socralize',provtding safety and privacy. “We used 'go’ parties Structurally simple, yet open to countless to to Mabel;ever mensely popular within American black communities throughout the other night. The girls all had the parties,”remembered Hampton. . . . common 19205.They told of loneliness, homesickness, and poverty, of love and Harlem parties were extremely varied; the most dif■cult, often brutal, kind the “rent .” Like the good luck, and they provided a window into the was blues, rent parties had been broumifchht north the world of the New Negro immigrant. in Great Migration. Few of Harlem’s new residents had things money, and SOmetimes “the Homosexuality was clearly part of this world. “There’s two got rent was hard to come by. To raise funds ad): understand," moaned blues great sometimes threw enormous parties, inviting the public chargit; me puzzled, there’s two things 1 don't and sagle swishing, There would be dancing Bessie Smith, “that’s a mannish-acting woman and a lisping, nussnon. and jazz, and bootleg liquor for in of her the kitchen. It is about womanish-acting man.”2 In “Sissy Blues,” Ma Rainey complained just such a party that Bessie Smith sang her Kate."3 Lucille famous “Gimme Pigfoot and husband's in■delity with a homosexual named “Miss a a Bottle of Beer." On any given Saturdawith [bulldagger] night there Bogart, in her “BD. Women Blues,” warned that “B.D. were scores of these parties throughout Harlem often whiskey and they those In attendance not knowing their hosts. anti women sure is rough; they drink up many a Surecan The dancing merriment mentioned in the blues woulti continue until dawn, and strut their stuff.“ The “Sissies” and “bulldaggers” by morning the landlord could be paid behavior, but neither shunned nor Lesbians and active New were ridiculed for their cross—gender gay men were participants in rent parties The York Age. I hated. “Boy in the Boat" for example, recorded in 1930 by George one of Harlem’s newspapers,complained in 1926: 7 just Hanna, counseled ”When you seetwo women walking hand in hand, understand."5 In fact, the casualn‘esstoward Che of these parties shake your head and try to rent a few weeks ago was the scene of a tragic extended homosexual which Jealous sexuality, so common in the blues, sometimes to cgime in one woman out the throat of another because- t. The behavior. In “Sissy Man Blues,” 3 traditional tune recorded by numerous e two were rivals for the affections of a third woman. whole can’t bring _ situation was with the Broadway male blues singersover the years, the singer demanded “if you or: a par recent play [about lesbian— man.”6 Hanna’s “Freakish Blues.” ism, The Captive]. imported from Paris, although the underworld me a woman. bring me a sissy George fludity.7 tragedy tool: place in this locality. In the meantime, the recorded in 1931, is even more explicit about potential sexual combination of bad Jealous carving knife, blues re■ected culture that acceptedsexuality, including homosex- gin, women, a and a rent party is dan er- The a thehealth eoncerned.12 g ual behavior and identities, as a natural part of life. ousto of all Despite the relatively tolerant attitude shown toward homosexuality by ■ At another Afro-American culture. black lesbians and gay men still had a dif cult Harlemrent party, satirically depicted in ‘s 113932Harlem Renaissance time. Like other black migrants, they soon learned that racism crossed novel Infants of the Spring. a flamboyantly [sexual Harlem the Mason-Dixon line. Economic problems, unemployment. and segrega- artist proudly displayed his new protege, a handsome bootblack, th tion plagued black communities acrossthe North. High rents and housing invited_”eto “f 3mm"' aggregation- of Greenwxch_ Village. uramans"_ shortages made privacy a luxury for Harlem’s newcomers. Moreover, hehad Gay black homosexuals, like their white counterparts, were continually under men could always be found at the literary gatherings of Alexander Qumby. Gumby, attack from the police and judicial systems.In 1920,young lesbian Mabel who had arrived in Harlem near the turn of the century Immediately to Hampton, recently arrived in Harlem from Winston-Salem, North Caro- became entranced with the theatrical set and decided salon them. lina, arrested on trumped-up prostitution chargesand spent two years open a to attract He worked asa postal clerk and acquired a was white in Bedford Hills Reformatory.8 Augustus Granville Dill, distinguished. patron, eventually renting a large studio on Fifth Avenue between 322 ERICCAREER A Spectaclein Color:The LesbianandGaySubcultureofJan.AgeHarlem 323 13lst and 132nd streets. Known as Gumby’s Bookstore becauseof the of sexual tastes. It was “an open house, everything goes on in that hundreds of books that lined the walls, the salon drew many theatrical house”: and artistic luminaries. White author Samuel Steward remembers being taken to Gumby’s one evening by a lesbian friend and enjoying a delight- They had a faggot there that was so great that people used to come ful evening of “reefer," bathtub gin, a game of truth, and homosexual there just to watch him make love to another man. He was that great. exploits.l4 He'd give a tongue bath and everything. By the time he got to t e from of that he shaking like leaf. People used to pay 300 ,- t '\ Certainly the most opulent parties in Harlem were thrown by the guy was a ' "Ll just in there and him. do his. act. That house had a’ . heiress A‘Lelia Walker. Walker was a striking, tall, dark-skinned woman to go see . . . same 3 that used to take cigarette, light it, and puff it with her who was rarely seen without her riding crop and her imposing, jeweled woman . . . a A realeducatedpussy.” turban. She was the only daughter of Madame C. J. Walker, a former pussy. washerwomanwho had mademillions marketing her hair-straightening own In Harlem, Hazel Valentine a similar sex circus on 140th Street. When she died, Madame Walker left virtually her entire fortune ran process. Called “The Daisy Chain" the “101 Ranch,” it catered to all varieties to A’Lelia. Whereas Madame Walker had been civic-minded, donating or of sexual tastes, and featured entertainers such as “Sewing Machine thousands of dollars to charity, A’Lelia used most of her inheritance to Bertha" and an enormous transvestite named “Clarenz.” The Daisy throw lavish parties in her palatial Hudson River estate, Villa Lewaro, Chain became so notorious that both Fats Waller and Count Basie com- and at her Manhattan dwelling on 136th Street. BecauseA'Lelia adored it.” the of lesbians and her parties had distinctly posedtunescommemorating company gay men, a gay There also buffet ■ats that particularly welcomed gay men. On ambiance. Elegant homosexuals such Edward Perry, Edna Thomas. were as Saturday nights pianist David Fontaine would regularly throw stylish flat Harold Jackman, and Caska Bonds her closest friends. So were were parties for his friends. Other noted hosts of gay male revelry of white celebrities. Novelist Marjorie Worthington would later many gay scores A‘Lelia Walker’s friend Caska Bonds, Eddie Manchester and the remember: were older Harlem couple,Jap and Saul.19The most notorioussuch■atwas by Clinton Moore. Moore was an elegant, light-skinned homosexual, We several times that winter Madame Allelia [sic] Walker’s run went to described “American version of the original Proust’s Thursday “at—homes" beautiful in Harlem known “Sugar once as an . . . on a street as Jupieu.”20 for celebrities,andhispartiesallegedly Hill. [Madame Walker’s] lavishly furnished house was a gather- Moorehadafondness . . attracted luminaries like Cole Porter, , and society ing place not only for artists and authors and theatrical stars of her page Maury Paul. Moore’s entertainments often low-down and own race. but for celebrities from all over the world. Drinks and food columnist were were served, and there was always music, generously performed and dirty. According to Helen Lawrenson, enthusiasticallyreceived.15 Clinton Moore’s boasted black entertainer named Joey, . . . a young Everyone from chorus girls to artists to socialites to visiting who played the piano and sangbut whose specialitéwas to remove his disap- royalty would come at least once to enjoy her hospitality. clothes and extinguish a lighted candle by sitting on it until it Another Afro-Amen'can institution that tolerated, and frequently peared. I never saw this feat but everyone else seemedto have and I told that he often hired to perform at soireesof the elite. ‘He encouraged, homosexual patronage was the “buffet flat.” “Buffet ■ats was was sat lighted candles at of the Vanderbilts’,’ my informant after—hoursspots that usually in someone’s apartment,” 3‘11 one were were said. explained celebrated entertainer Bricktop, “the type of place where gin poured of milk pitchers."”’ Essentiallyprivate was out apartments Somewhat more public—and therefore lessabandoned—wereHarlem’s where could be rented by the night, buffet ■ats had rooms sprung up speakeasies,where gayswere usually forced to hide their preferencesand during the late 13005 provide overnight accommodations black to to to blend in with the heterosexual patrons. Several Harlem speakeasies, travelers refused service in white-owned hotels. By the 19205, buffet though, some little more than dives, catered specifically to the “pansy" ■ats developed a wilder reputation. Some were raucous establishments ’ , “open" Speakeasysince there doorman .- trade. One such place. an was no where illegal activities such as drinking, gambling, and prostitution to keep the uninvited away, was located on the northwest corner of 126th were available. Others offered a variety of sexual pleasures cafeteria- Street and Seventh Avenue. It was a large, dimly lit place where gay rnen _ style. A Detroit buffet flat of the latter sort, which Ruby Smithr could go to pick up “rough trade.” Artist Bruce Nugent, who occasron- remembered visiting with her aunt, Bessie Smith, catered all variety ‘rally remembered catering “rough the to ' visited the place, it to queers . . . 324 ERICGARBER ASpectacleinColor:TheLesbianandGaySubcultureofJazzAgeHarlem 325 kind that fought better than truck drivers and swished better than Mae dance,would have madea twenty-■vedollar George White’s Scandals West."22 Ethel Waters remembered loaning her gowns t0 the transves- opening look like a side show in a circus.30 tites who frequented Edmond’s Cellar, a low-life saloon at 132nd Street another hangout The largest balls and Fifth Avenue. Lulu Belle’s on Lenox Avenue was were the annual events held by the Hamilton Lodge at for female impersonators, named after the famous Broadway melodrama the regal Roekland Palace, which could accommodateup to six thousand people. Only slightly of 1926starring Leonore Ulric. A more sophisticated crowd of black gay smaller were the balls given irregularly at the dazzling men gathered nightly at the Hot Cha, at 132nd Street and Seventzlai , with its crystal chandeliers and elegant marble staircase. Avenue, to listen to Jimmy Daniels sing and Garland Wilson play piano. The organizers would obtain a police permit making the , and its participants, Perhaps the most famous gay-oriented club of the era was Harry legal for the evening. The highlight of the event the beauty was Hansberry‘s Clam House, a narrow. smoky Speakeasyon 133rd Street. contest, in which the fashionably dresseddrags would vie for The Clam House featured Gladys Bentley, a 250-pound, masculine, darlo the title of Queen of the Ball. performed white taxedo and Charles Henri Ford skinned lesbian, who all night long in a top and Parker Tyler's classic 1933 gay novei The Young and Evil hat.” Bentley,a talentedpianistwitha magnificent,growlingvorce.was suggeststhat these balls were just as popular with white celebrated for inventing obscene lyrics popular melo- with black. Julian, to conternporary gays as the white protagonist, dons a little makeup dies. Langston Hughes called her amazing exhibition of musrcal (just enough to be “considered “an in costume and so get in for a dollar less”), leaves his energy?” EslandaRobeson,wife of actorPaulRobesori,gushedtola Greenwich Village apartment, and setsoff to Harlem ■ ball.31 a friend, “Gladys Bentley is grand. I’ve heard her three nights, and'w l Once there he greetshis friends, dancesto the jazz music, same?“5 ■ gets never be the SchoolteacherHarold Jackman wrote to his friend exceedingly drunk, irts with the band leader, and eventually exchanges Countee Cullen, “When Gladys sings‘St. JamesInfirmary,‘ it makes you phone numbers with a handsomestranger. But weepyourheartout.”27 drag balls lacked the primary allure of the buffet ■at: privacy. These A glimpse into a Speakeasy,based in part on the Clam House, is‘ cross-dressing celebrations were enormous events and of those many provided in Blair Niles‘ 1931gay novel StrangeBrother. The Lobster Pot who attended were spectators, there to observe rather than partici- is smoky in Harlem, simply furnished with .couple of tables, pate. It unusual a room a a was not to see the cream of Harlem society, as well much as piano, and a kitchen, where white heterosexual journalist June Westwood, of the white avant-garde, in the ballroom‘s balconies, straining their Strange Brother’s female protagonist, is first introduced to Manhattans necksto view the contestants. gay subculture. The Lobster Pot features a predormnantly gay male The costume balls, parties, speakeasiesand buffet ■ats of Harlem provided clientel and an openly lesbian entertainer named Sybil. “What rhythm! an arena for homosexual interaction, but not for the develop- June comments to her companions. “And the way she‘s dressed'l':West- ment of homosocial networks. One area where black lesbians and ■ found gay brook ndsthe atmosphere intoxicating, but abruptly ends her VlSllwhen men particular bonds of friendship was within Harlem’s predomi- nantly heterosexual she steps outside and witnessesthe entrapment of an effemmate young entertainment world. While some entertainers, like blackgaymanby the police.28 popular composer Porter Grainger and choir leader Hall Johnson, kept Decidedly safer frequent Harlem balls, where both their homosexual were the costume activities private, others were open with their audi- men and women could as they pleased and dance with whom they ences.Female impersonator Phil Black, entertainer Frankie ”Half Pint: Jaxon, wished. Called “spectacles in color" by poet Langston Hughes, they were and singer George Hanna usedelementsof homosexuality in their attended by thousands. Several cities hosted similar functions,.but the professional acts and still highly ■ were respectedwithin the entertainment Harlem balls anticipated with particular excitement. “Thls‘dance e ‘mriitinity.‘Both BlackandJaxon women’sclothingwhile were ■ wore on stage has been going on a long time,” observed Hughes, “and IS very an ’I-lannaevenrecordedhis“FreakishBlues”withoutfearof eensure.32 . . . For famous among the male masqueraders of the eastern seaboard, who com; black lesbians,whosesocialoptionsweremore limited than those of their male from Boston and , and Atlantic City to attend." counterparts, the support offered by the black entertain- m‘éft world for nontraditional Taylor Gordon, a noted concert singer, wrote in 1929: lifestyles was especially important. After leaving her family home in North Carolina, Mabel Hampton worked with ' her lover as dancer in Coney Island The last big ball I attended where these men got the mostef the a a show before landing a position at Harlem’s famed Lafayette prizes for acting and looking more like ladies than the ladies did Theatre. By entering the show businesslife, Hampton themselves,was at the Savoyin Harlem. The show that was put was able to earn a good income, limit her social contact with : . . . ’ on that night for a dollar admission, including' the pnv1lege. ' to men, and move within a predominantly female social world. Many bisex- 326 ERICGARBER ASpectaclein Color:TheLesbian andGaySubcultureofJan AgeHarlem 327 (/‘■al and lesbian black women, including Bessie Smith, Gladys Bentley, Xng■ihfgg:lggtsetnliggnliagtaggfufrténi LosjAngeles. ' Jackie “Moms” Mabley, Alberta Hunter, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Jose- Zora Neale Hurston 111 brilliant l phine Baker and Ethel Waters found similar advantages in the show fr1:; imagine" la an a dabblztilileghigllltltedsto el ' _ Hgnda.' Before he left home businesslife.33 d to {vgsmg; :1: lSacting,Richard Bruce Nugem ingal Nearly all these adopted heterosexual public most had been raised women a persona, proper C., farnily. Countee caHy , . Cullen, author of the favoring a “red hot mama" style, and kept their love affairs with women acclaimed poetry collection criti- Renaissance Color, was of secret, but few acknowledged their sexuality openly. Gladys Bentley, 311' one the few Harlem a a alStS'who actually had been of exception. Another Ma Rainey. Rainey artists raised in Harlem. These course, was one was was a vmcedus: 1?:elljlfndem" self-consciously clulturaglyoun short, dark-skinned with deep, earthy voice and (Asian, Afro-Ameriean squat, woman a a warm, Their ot (1)1Inatenal ■ Lbecasionauy and their insistence self—expression friendly smile. She was the rst vaudeville entertainer to incorporate the bro" fhdt ■ on em mlcon ict with their elders, but youthful blues into her performance and has justifiably become known as the rem“ was mler their a e Established politicians like “Mother of the Blues.” Though married, the ■amboyant entertainer was ’con‘sjderedth . DuBois and Johnso e young artists part of the “Talented Afro13 known to take women as lovers. Her extraordinary song, “Prove It on Me . Tenth,” the Blues," speaksdirectly to the issueof lesbianism. In it she admits to her preferencefor male attire and femalecompanionship,yet daresher audience to “prove it" on her. Rainey‘sdefenseof her lesbianlife was quite remark- able in its day, and has lost little of its immediacy through the years. Just as the black entertainment world served as a refuge fotkfsegialr ' nonconformists, so too did black artistic and intellectual circles. Enghe first time, widespreadeducation.of middle-classblaEks'Wi—adigfegtgéjn AfroéAngetjigan“inte■igentsiaeranyof thewriters,iritEIIéEt■als,andart- ists of what is now referred to asthe Harlem Renaissancewere homosex- ual, bisexual, or otherwise sexually unorthodox. Two of the central figures within Harlem artistic Circleswere Langston Hughes and Wallace Thur- man. Langston Hughes was a gifted young poet from the Midwest who splashedonto the literary scenein 1926with the publication by Knopf of his ■rst poetry collection, The Weary Blues. His subsequentcareer would span forty years and establish Hughes as one of the premiere Afro- American writers of the twentieth century. Handsome and shy, Hughes Sugar Hill resident remembered, “Of course they had was exceedingly cagy and evasiveabout his emotional involvements, even noti come out 0f with his closest friends; as a result, though most of Hughes” biographers concede that the poet was at least sporadically homosexual, the exact of his sexuality remains uncertain.35 Wallace Thurman Ala“ nature was a smg■Ldn:kewa: ene of these ■ writer, author of best-selling young artists’' most important brilliant, well-read, and proli c the two A pper, air-skmned supporters , professor from Howard University Locke novels and a successfulBroadway play. Small, dark-skinned, and some- edited the important 1926 ‘ anthology, The New Negro what effeminate, Thurman had a difficult personality: bitter, cynical and international attention which focussed on Harlem's e confused. He lived openly with a white homosexual lover, yet despaired of his sexual orientation. “[He] liked to drink gin, but didn‘t like to drink gin; liked being Negro, but felt it great handicap; adored . . . a a . . . bohemianism, but thought it wrong to be a bohemian.”36 He was alco- holic, and could be suicidal. Extreme opposites and good friends, Thurman and Hughes provided :I‘hurman bitterly ‘ caricatured him “Dr. role models for exciting of artists and writers, as A new an group young most 'mtellectual,in Infantsof theSpring.“ ' g“ newly arrived in Harlem. Richmond Barthé, a Chicago-trained sculptor. I . had been born in Louisiana; painter Aaron Douglas was from Kansas. ’ 328 ERICGARBER A Spectaclein Color:The LesbianandGaySubcultureof JazzAgeHarlem 329 of whom homosexual. These white were gays gave support arid encour- ence Mills to stardom. White authors and playwrights started agement to Afro-American artists, channelled feuds and_piiblic1ty1htheir and racial using race prejudice as serious literary material. direction, and provided accessto the international artistic and literary Harlem nightclubs and speakeasiesattracted large white clientele. communities. Poet Witter Bynner judged the annual Teran League Ilter- a The center of “Hot Harlem” was “Jungle Alley,” the nightclub contest. Elizabeth Marbury, the elderly pohtrcran, theatnca] area around l33rd Street—also ary pro- notorious center for a ducer, and organized crime and vice. Opulent enormous lesbian, acted as agent for manuscripts of Zora clubs, such Jungle Alley as the , Connie’s Inn, and Neale Hurston and Wallace Thurman. Pod and Jerry’s, were packed nightly with white tourists from The Negrotarian journalist and novelist most VlSlblC. . ‘ Harlem dunng_ downtown, drinking bootleg in liquor and watching talented black the Renaissance the tall, blond, Iowa-born author Carl Van Yeehten. entertainers. Rain James, in his “inti- was mate” guide to New York, Van Vechten the raved, “Harlem is a great place, reai place, was quintessential sophisticated Mahhattan dilettante: honest place, a an and a place that no visitor should witty, charming, talented, and hoinosexual. He had written for years asa missing.”44 ever even think of The potential for exploitation obvious; music critic before achieving acclaim asan author during the 19205.There was many of the fanci- est clubs were segregated and refused hardly avant-gardeintellectual form that Van black patronage. Some blacks was an movement or artistic complained that Harlem had Vechten been “invaded.” did not keep abreast of. He introduced Gertrude Stem and White lesbians and gay men were among those “invading” Ronald Firbank to American audiences and rediscovered Herman Mel- Forty Harlem‘ years later lesbian socialite Mercedes de Acosta ville. Throughout the 19205he produced a series of novels that were remembered, “Ev— eryone rushed up to Harlem at night sit sparkling, frothy, and exceedingly camp, including 'Peter Wht■le, The to around places thick with smoke and the smell of bad gin, where Tattooed Countess, The Blind Bow Boy, and Parties. Though rarely Negroes danced about with each otheruntil thesmallhoursof the overtly homosexual, Van Vechten’s novels became popular With the morning?“ Whitesattendedthe parties gay of A'Lelia Walker and Clinton who sensed kindred spirit in Moore, danced at the drag balls, set, a his preciousness.In 1924Van Vechten landed Gladys Bentley and to their friends. With its sexually turned his attention to the Afro-American commhnity. He qoickly began tion tolerant popula- and its quasi-legal nightlife, Harlem offered visiting nightclubs and buffet ■ats, attending Parties at A Lelia Walker an oasis to white homo~ s, sexuals.For some, a trip to Harlem hobnobbing with Harlem’s political and soc1alelite, and Judging was part of a larger rebellion against even the Prohibition Era’s conservative contestants at a Rockland Palace drag contest, He established close moral and political climate. For Van Vechten, and for many other white lesbians friendships with Harlem luminaries such Lattgston Hughes, James and gay men, Harlem offered as even deeper rewards. Blair Niles based Weldon Johnson, and Ethel Waters. He worked tirelessly hlS her StrangeBrother on her friend to promote and confidant Leland Pettit, new friends, publicizing their efforts, writingintroduetions their books, a young, white, gay man from Milwaukee to and the organist at Grace Church. andintroducingthem hisliteraryfriends.“2 According to Strange Brother, Pettit to frequented the homosexual underworld Yet despite these accomplishments, Van Vechteh in Harlem because he found was most notorious_ social acceptance, and because for his naively titled he identified with others who 1926novel, Nigger Heaven. Nigger Heaveh told the outcasts from were also American life. This identification and feeling story of the tragic love between a young black wrlter and his Harlem undoubtedly of kinship, shared by other white lesbiansand girlfriend. The title was intended to be ironic; the novel intended to '_ the gay men, may have been - beginnings of homosexual “minority impart sympathetic understanding of Harlem and People. Many of consciousness?“ a its There was considerable interaction Van Vechten’s black friends between black and white homosex- appreciated it, but the majority of Harlem uals. Both Van Vechten and Pettit, for example, frequent wasoutraged. The few who could get beyond the title were put off by the were visitors to a small rooming house on 137th Street knowu author’s affectation, which had become a Van Vechten trademark.-But as “Niggerati Manor,” 3 center of New Negro creativity, where the white reading public had the opposite reaétion, and the novel qiuckly Thurman, Hughes, and Nugent rented rooms. Niggerati Manor developed became best-seller. After reading the a reputation for wild parties a novel, many whites hurried to and bizarre behavior. According Hgigger[em the real thing. to theater critic Theophilus Lewis, “It i7,I ., to see wassaid that the inmates of [this] house spent wild nights in tuft Heaven‘s successwas due, in p111,to what Langston Hughes and the diversions hunting of the cities of the plains and delirious ■ later called the “vogue” for the Negro. Across the country, whites from days eeing pink elephants.”47The chaotic life Niggerati started listening to the jazz of , Fletcher Hendersort, and at Manor would even- tually be recounted by Thurman in Fats Waller. The Charleston and the Black Bottom, dances prevnously his Infants of the Spring. During the summer of 1926, the limited to black jazz halls, became national Shuf■e Along, Niggerati Manor group organized, crazes. an t edited, and published the first (and all-biack musical, smash Broadway and rocketed Flor- only) issue of a little magazine was a successon entitled Firef. Everyone contributed something. Aaron Douglas submit- 330 EmcGARBER ASpectaclein Color.TheLesbianandGaySubcultureofJazzAgeHarlem 33] red and black Hughes and Cullen contributed European Gladys Bentley ted a stunning cover, careers. movedt to Los A n3eles. Ethcl Waters i Vechten provided { poetry, Zora Hurston offered a short story, and Van travelled to Broadway, then went to Hollywood. going. The magazine intended to shock. To But despite these losses the Harlem lesbian ‘ money to get the project was , and gay commun:r?dally' sur- insure this, Thurman and his friends included Bruce Nugent’s “Smoke, ytved,. although itA became smaller, less “spectacular.” and less “Richard Bruce” Lilies, and Jade" (published under the pseudonym to Integrated. JeanneFlash Gray, who participated in Harlem gay life in the self- avoid parental disapproval), a near-pomographic tale of homosexual late 19303and 19405remembers“There e many placestn' ' ■arlem Pl , _ , wer discovery. A Harlem artist, clearly Nugent himself, falls in love with a run by andfor BlackLesbians' andGayMen;When;wewerestill■liull stunning Latin Adonis. and after a night of passiondiscoversthat DaggersandFaggotsandonlywhites'werelesbiansandhomosexuals.”51 Caska Bonds and Clinton Moore continued with their apa'rtihentsocials. loved them both there he had thought it actually Jackie Mabley and a chorus line of female impersonators featured He ...... were dared think it love two [sexes] at the same time performers at a mafia-run nightclub 133rd Street called The to . . . one can . . . on Ubangi hair black and soft was that why Club. In the early 1940s,Lucky one can Beauty’s was so ...... Roberts opened his bar Lucky's Rendez- . . . becausehis body beautiful of which he loved Beauty one can or was vous, an Ebony article would later comment: “Male couples are 1 .s. . . . love and white and warm or because his eyes one can so commonplace that no one looks twice at them."52 Female imper- ...... , ...... sonatorPhil Black beganthrowing his annualThanksgivingDay Funmaker‘s drag ball m 1945, a tradition that lasted within Manhattan's gay men’s becamethe first published on decades.53 Nugent’s defence of homosexual love essay comrnumtyfor And Blind Charlie, who madehis own beet portion of Harlem found homosexuality by an Afro-American. A good ■ne In the bathtub and sold it at two pints for a dollar, buffet ■ ran a gay Fire! shocking. Locke, in apparent response to the overt homosexuality at on 110th Street near Central Park. JeanneFlash Gray recalled “We .’. "54 of “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade," suggestedthat “[Walt] Whitman would played, danced, got high, met and lost lovers in Blind Charlie‘s left-wing pivoting Wilde Else ■ have been a better point of support than a on Teag imty built during the hope, optimism, and glitter of the Roaféx ostracized for and Beardsley?” Nevertheless, the Niggerati were no l s wasstrong enough and resment" enough to weather the '5 changing more than a few days. of the times. / Renaissancewriters and artists continuedto startle their readersby McKay‘s // including black lesbian and gay experiencein their work. Claude Harlem lesbiv Home to Harlem, published in 1927, included discussionof anism and featured a black gay male character. Bruce Nugent’s poetry Larsen’s and art continued to draw on homosexualthemes. Passing,Nella discrimination, has recently ' J 1929 novel of female friendship and racial beeninterpreted earlylesbiannovel?ORichmondBarthé‘sgay as an Thurman’s sensibility was evident throughout his work.‘ Wallace two books, The Blacker the Berry and Infants of the Spring, published in 1929 signi■cantlesbian and male content. and 1932respectively, both have gay . Even Langston Hughes touched upon the topic in his beautifully spare a depiction of a gay bar, “Cafe: 3 AM.” Renais- ‘ The stock market crash of 1929brought the glittering Harlem ‘ to abrupt halt. Without the money of the white pleasure- I sauce an f seekers, the buoyant spirit of Harlem gave way to the far more insistent reality of the worldwide Depression. The end of Prohibition took. the lure - seed. Many of the out of Harlem’s speakeasies;Jungle Alley went to people most associatedwith the gay life in JazzAge Harlem left the city or ‘ Thurman; died. A’Lelia Walker died of a heart attack in 1931. Wallace died in 1934of tuberculosis. Alexander Gumby also became seriously ill of tuberculosis, and was forced to close his Book Store and enter 1‘ Daniels left Harlem cultiv M- sanitarium. Alberta Hunter and Jimmie to 4 546 NOTESTOPAGES316—322 Notesto Pages322-327 547 of lesbian Nineteenth-century medical articles and newspaper accounts ceu- :f‘t’ork: Harcohrt, Brace & World, 1966), p. 64.; see also: Osbert Sitwell. ples stigmatized only the partner who played “the man‘s part" by dressmg New Yoh‘k1n the Twenties," The Atlantic (February 1962):41; Carl Van ”womanly“ like a man and seeking male employment, but found the partner Vechten, A Leha Walker,” "Keep A-Inching Along": SelectedWritings of female unremarkable, as if it did not matter that her “husband” was another about Black Art and Letters (Westport: Greenwood, 1979), role (see Chauncey, 125ff). so long as she played the conventionally wifely gs. 21233;; and LangstonHughes, The Big Sea(New York: Knopf, 1940), The medical reconceptualization of female deviance as homosexual object 19205,but it is ■ choicerather than genderrole inversionwasunderwayby the {6}. ?ricktep. Bfn‘ ktgp(New York: Atheneum, 1983), p. 57. ■ date such transition in popular images, in part because they nterwew Smith by Chris Albertson, 1971. dif cult to any . o u y Re pro(1uced on' remained so inconsistent. AC/lftSC1331455:Gay Jazz Reissues,StashST—106. Kirkeby, Ain't Mishehavin’: . The310ryofFats Wal!”(NewYork'-' Dodd,Mead,1966),pp.99—100. Spectacle in Color” :3 ESVid Zontaine, personal interview, 1984. Gather. “A Roditi, interview with . ouar Ray Gerard Koskovich 30 Ma 19812111531lwitthhe ’ y research the I kindpermissionStran ofRaythe GerardPar Koskovich. Many people have contributed to my over years. am . e en awrenson, er at .' A M ' ' particularly grateful to George Chauncey, Jr., Angela Y. Davis, Bruce Kell- 169—7151. W mo" (NewYork‘ Francisco State University, and RandomHouse,1975), ner, the American Studies Department, San 22. Richard Bruce Nugent,pp. personalinterview, 1981. the members of the Lesbian and Gay History Project for their 23. On Edmond's: Ethel Waters, His Eye is the Sparrow (Garden friendship on encouragementand critical suggestions.I am also grateful for the Ctty:' Diaqblteday, 1951;);1pp.142-50; on Lulu Belle’s: Richard Bruce Nugent, the late Richard Bruce Nugent, who helped start me on my persona m ervnew, t H t Ch Jlmmy" Damels,' and support of ; on e o a : personal Inter' - exploration of gay Harlem in the Jazz Age. view, 1984. Farrar, Straus, 24. 1. See: Jervis Anderson, This Was Harlem (New York: Eric Garber, “Glad s Bentle : The B lld h ” Giroux, 1982); Nathan Irvin Huggins, (New York: 0x- 52—61? y u aggerw osangtheBlues’ Keliner, The Harlem Renaissance: A Outlook1(1988),pp. ford University Press, 1971); Bruce 5;. IE-ltighes,The Big Sea, p. 226. Historical Dictionary of the Era (Westport: Greenwood, 1984); and David anda Robeson Fania Van Vechten, . s to Carl Van VechtenDubem■ar?a ers Levering Lewis, WhenHarlem Wasin Vogue(New York: Knopf, 1981). New _York. Public Library. Many thanks to Martin Baum] for, Columbia CG 2. Bessie Smith, “Foolish Man Blues," The Empress, bnngmg thls reference to my attention. the role of effeminacy in 19205 male culture, 30818. For a discussion of gay 27. Queteq in Lewis, When Harlem Was in Vogue, p. 242. Chauncey, JL, “Gay Male Society in the Jazz Age," generally, see George 28. Blalr Niles. Strange Brother (New York: Harris, 1949), pp. 38—64. Village Voice (1 July 1986): 29—34. g. Hughes, The Big Sea, 1).273. 3. Quoted in Sandra Lieb, Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey Taylor Gordon, Born . to Be (Seattle: Umversny' ' of Washington' Press, (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981), pp. 122—23. 1975), p. 228. 4. BessieJackson(pseud. of Lucille Began), ”B.D. Woman‘s Blues," 31. Charles Henri Ford and Parker T ler Th Y ' AC/DC Blues: Gay Jazz Reissues, Stash ST—106. y ’ e 0mgandEm(New AC/DC Blues: Gay Jazz Reissues, York:Arno,1975),p.151. 5. George Hanna, “Boy in the Boat,” 32. On Porter Grainger see:Chris Alberston, Bessie(New York: Stein StashST—106. and Day: 1972), pp. 140-41; on Phil Black see: Phil Black, “I Live in Two “Sissy Man," Straight and Gay, Stash ST—188. 6. Pinewood Tom, Worlg: Id0w germ SéPCwber 1953): 12-15; on Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon 7. Paul Oliver, BluesFell ThisMorning: TheMeaningof the Blues(New see: c on ams, ues Who’s Who N R h H ' ( N.Y.: Arlington‘ York: Horizon, 1961), p. 112. w W e e’ Sisterhood," A House,1979)pp.273—74. 8. Joan Nestle, “Lesbians and Prostitutes: An Historical 33. For mfonnation on Smith: Albertson, Bessie; Rainey: Lieb, Mother 169. on RestrictedCountry (Ithaca: Firebrand Books, 1987),p. of the Biluesl;on Hunter and Waters: Frank C. Taylor, Alberta Hunter: A 9. Kellner, TheHarlem Rena■sance,pp. 100—01. Celebranqn m Blues (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987); On Waters: Waters, Gay American History (New York: Crowell, 1976), 10. Jonathan Katz, HIS ‘Eye 13on the Sperrow; on Baker: Lynn Haney, Naked at the Feast: pp. 167—69. A Biography of J'osep-hmeBaker (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1981). May 1981.Used 11. Interview with Mabel Hampton by Joan Nestle, 21 34. Quoteq m Lleb, Mother of the Blues, p. 125. with the kind permission of Joan Nestle. 35. Two dlvergent views of Hughes’ssexuality offered by: Faith Bailey Pays the Rent,” Ebony and ■ ■ ■ are 12. Quoted in Ira De A. Reid, “Mrs. gle wfgégngstznAHug tjeBefore and Beyond Harlem (Westport: Lawrence Topaz: A Collecranea, ed. Charles S. Johnson (New York: National Urban .’ fan rno ampersa,Liea1986). f Lanstog n H ughes vol 1: L T00, League, 1927), pp. 147—48. Smg Amenca (New York: Oxford, , . Infants of the Spring (New York: Macaulay, 13. Wallace Thurman, 33. g?nghes,TheBig Sea,p. 238. 1932),p. 184. a Bontemps, “The Awakening: A Memoir," Ha le R '- ; Samuel Stew- . set: 31201:13;: 14. Alexander Gumby collection, sance Remembered (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1972), 12; interview, 1981. p. ard, personal When Harlem Was in Vogue, pp. 75—77. ' 15. Marjorie Worthington, TheStrangeWartd of Willie Seabrook(New 38. On McKay: Wayne F Cooper, Claude . McKay: RebelSojourner in 548 NOTESTOPAGES327—333 the Harlem Renaissance(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, Eric Gather, “Rich- 1987); on Barthé, personal interview, 1982; on Nugent: Nugent,” Afra-American Writersfrom the Harlem Renaissanceto ard Bruce Research, 1940: Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 51 (Detroit: Gale 1987),pp. 213-21. 39. Quoted in John A. Williams, “Afterword,” to Wallace Thurman, Infggts of the Spring (Carbondale:SouthernIllinois University Press.1979), p. 9. 40. Quoted in Anderson, This Was Harlem, p. 201. 41. Lewis, WhenHarlem Wasin Vogue,pp. 87—88. 42. Bruce Kellner, Carl Van Vechten and the Irreverent Decades (Nor- 1968); and Kellner, “Carl Van Vechten," man: University of Oklahoma Press, Afro-American Writersfrom the Harlem Renaissanceto 1940: Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 51 (Detroit: Gale Research,1987).pp. 322-327. 43. Hughes, TheBig See,p. 223. 44. Rain James,All About New York: An Intimate Guide (New York: John Day, 1931).p. 249. 45. Mercedesde Acosta. Here Lies the Heart: A Tale of My Life (New York: Reynal, 1960). p. 128. 46. Blair Niles, StrangeBrother (New York: Harris, 1949),pp. 151—56; interview, 1981, and letter from on Pettit: Richard Bruce Nugent, personal Edyth McKitrick, Archivist, Grace Church, to the author, dated 28 February 1983. Gumby 47. Theophilus Lewis, Wallace Thurman obituary. undated, in Scrapbooks.Columbia University. 48. Richard Bruce Nugent, “Smoke, Lilies and Jade," Fire! 1 (1926), pp. 33—39. 49. Alain Locke, TheSurvey(August 15—September15, 1927):563. 50. Deborah E. McDowell, “Introduction," Quicksand and Passing (New Brunswick: RutgersUniversity Press,1986). 51. JeanneFlashGray, “Memories," TheOther Black Woman1 (n.d.): 3. 52. “Harlem’s StrangestNi htclub," Ebony 7 (December1951):82-83. 53. Black, “1 Live in Two orlds," p. 13. 54. Gray. “Memories," p. 3.

Benstock. “Paris Lesbianism"

psychosexual/politieal 1. The links betweeneconomicfsocialprivilegeand overlooked repressedfor choice for women of this period have been or several First, women‘scontributions to avant-gardeart have never reasons. Paris been distin- been taken seriously, nor has their lived experience in guishedfrom that of their male counterparts.The major texts that address the politics of the expatriate avant-gardeare groundedin misogyny.See,for 1920’s example, Malcolm Cowle1951), Exile's Return: A Literary Odysseyof the (New York: Viking, , Frederick, J. Hoffman, The Twenties: American Writing in thePostwarDecade(New York: Collier, 1962).andHugh Kenner, ThePound Era (Berkeley: University of Press,1971).Second,it is painful for feminists to discussthe coincidence of right—winglesbianism. Discussions of the Paris lesbian community and its individual members have usually avoideddirect commenton the political commitmentsof this commu- and social privilege of its nity or the political implications of economic '-