Appendix 4 Lisa Ben and Vice Versa Additional Documentation

1 To: Eyestone Environmental From: Christine Lazzaretto Date: February 8, 2016

The SurveyLA LGBT Historic Context Statement contains recent scholarship on potential historic resources associated with the LGBT community in Los Angeles. 1 The LGBT Historic Context Statement identifies that Vice Versa, the first newsletter for lesbians in the United States, was penned by Lisa Ben (a.k.a. Edythe Eyde)2 while she worked at RKO Studios as a secretary from 1947-1948. Historic Resources Group has conducted additional research regarding Vice Versa, and in particular, where on the RKO Studios lot Ben may have worked. As a result of this research, it has been determined that Ben worked for Milton Howe, Head of Independent Publicity for RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. At the time that Howe and Ben worked for RKO, the Publicity Department was housed in what is referred to as “Building D” on the accompanying site plan in Appendix A; it is identified today as the Jesse Lasky Building.

INTRODUCTION/CONTEXT The history of Vice Versa is included in the LGBT Historic Context Statement:

Vice Versa was produced by Edythe Eyde [pen name Lisa Ben], a young woman who moved to Los Angeles in 1945. At that time, there were several instances of lesbian publications in Europe, such as Garçonne and Frauenliebe, but Vice Versa was the first of its kind in America. Beginning in 1947, Eyde wrote the newsletter, geared towards fellow lesbians, during work hours as a secretary at RKO Studios. She typed several copies and would distribute the free magazine in person—at this time, sending material that could be considered “obscene” through the mail was a prosecutable offense. Eyde nearly single-handedly wrote all twelve issues, the only other contributor being a male friend. After just twelve issues, the

1 GPA Consulting for the City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA: LGBT Historic Context Statement, September 2014. 2 Eyde has adopted Lisa Ben as her proper name, so she is referred to in that way throughout this memo.

MEMO Lisa Ben and Vice Versa Additional Documentation HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP 12 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91105-1915 Telephone 626 793 2400, Facsimile 626 793 2401 historicresourcesgroup.com

2 magazine came to an end in 1948, when Howard Hughes purchased RKO Studios and Eyde lost her job. While she found subsequent work, she was often in secretarial pools where she lacked the necessary privacy. Vice Versa, though short-lived, paved the way for the numerous LGBT publications that would follow.3

The LGBT Historic Context Statement references Lillian Faderman and Stuart Timmons’ 2006 text, Gay L.A A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians as the source for this information.4 Faderman and Timmons note that Ben was employed as secretary to a minor executive at RKO, who told her “that even when he had no work to give her she must look busy.”5 As a result, Ben was able to hand-type each issue of Vice Versa, which ran from June 1947 to February 1948.

Additional information about Ben and Vice Versa is included on the website outhistory.org, founded by Ned Katz, author of the study Gay American History, published in 1976.6 According to the website:

In June of 1947, while working as a secretarial assistant at RKO Studios in Los Angeles, a 25-year old wrote and published Vice Versa, the first lesbian magazine in North America. Under the pseudonym "Lisa Ben" (which was an anagram for lesbian), nine issues were released in which she was only able to produce ten copies of each edition because of limited resources. Ben's access to office supplies availed her use of the company typewriter to write her publications, and reproduce them on carbon paper.7

None of these published accounts include specific information about where Ben worked on the RKO Studios lot.

3 SurveyLA: LGBT Historic Context Statement, 74. 4 Lillian Faderman and Stuart Timmons, Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians (New York: Basic Books Press, 2006). 5 Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians, 98. 6 “About OutHistory,” http://outhistory.org/about-outhistory (accessed January 2016). 7 “Vice Versa – the First ‘Lesbian’ Magazine, 1947,” http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/queer-youth-campus- media/media/vice-versa-the-first-lesbian-m (accessed January 2016).

3 ADDITIONAL RESEARCH Methodology In order to determine where Ben worked on the RKO Studios lot, we reviewed a number of primary sources related to motion picture/RKO history generally, and LGBT history specifically. This included consultation with the following sources:

 Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences archives;

 American Film Institute (AFI) Library;

 Billy Rose Theater Archive at the New York Public Library (which houses a collection of RKO correspondence from 1931-1958);

 Bison Archives;

 Cinematic Arts Library at USC;

 Teresa Grimes, primary author of the Survey LGBT Historic Context;

 Rick Jewell, former University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts professor and author of the book, The RKO Story;

 New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division at the

 ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries;

 Outhistory.org; and

 University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Special Collections, RKO Radio Pictures archive (1928-1958).

Results USC’s ONE Archives includes information specifically about Ben, including her resume and select correspondence from her time at RKO Studios. Ben’s resume states the following:

February 12, 1947 - July 10, 1948 RKO Studios, 780 Gower Street, Los Angeles 38 Secretary to the Head of Independent Publicity

4 In a letter dated July 6, 1948, she signs:

Edythe Eyde (Miss) c/o Milt Howe--Publicity RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. 780 Gower Street Los Angeles 38, California

The fact that Ben worked for Milton Howe was confirmed by payroll cards housed in the RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. archives housed at UCLA Special Collections.

The 780 Gower Street address was used as the mailing address for the RKO Studios lot overall. Because Ben worked for the Head of Independent Publicity, her desk, and therefore, the place where she penned Vice Versa, was likely located within the larger Publicity department. Correspondence with Rick Jewell, author and former professor in the School of Cinematic Arts at USC,8 led to a “Key Site Plan” of RKO Radio Pictures, dated May 1947 (attached as Appendix A). The Key Site Plan identifies a “Building D,” which at that time housed the Publicity and Legal departments.9 This building is located along Gower Street, directly to the north of “Building A,” which housed the Administrative department.

CONCLUSION Though no records have been found that state exactly where Ben’s desk was located on the RKO Studios lot, it is likely that she worked in “Building D,” which housed the Publicity and Legal departments according to a May 1947 site plan. The writing of Vice Versa on the RKO Studios lot is an additional layer of history outside of the context of the motion picture industry and the significance of the potential RKO Studios Historic District. This history should be documented as part of the interpretive program in Mitigation Measure C-7.

8 Jewell is the author of The RKO Story (1982), RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan in Born (2012), and Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures (release date March 2016). 9 Today it is referred to as the Jesse Lasky building.

5 BIBLIOGRAPHY Academy Film Archive, Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.

Aldrich, Robert and Garry Wotherspoon. Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History: From World War II to the Present Day. London: Routledge, 2001.

American Film Institute Library, Oviatt Library, California State University Northridge.

Billy Rose Theater Archive, New York Public Library.

Bison Historical Photographic Archives, Bison Archives.

Brandt, Kate. Happy Endings: Lesbian Writers Talk about Their Lives and Work. Tallahassee, Florida: Naiad Press, 1993.

Bullough, Vern L. Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context. London: Routledge, 2002.

Cinematic Arts Library, University of Southern California.

Faderman, Lillian and Stuart Timmons. Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. New York: Basic Books Press, 2006.

Fletcher, Lynne Yamaguchi. The First Gay Pope and Other Records. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1992.

Gallo, Marcia M. Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Birth of the Lesbian Rights Movement. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006.

GPA Consulting, Carson Anderson, and Wes Joe. SurveyLA: LGBT Historic Context Statement. City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources. September 2014.

Grimes, Teresa. Email correspondence with author. January 22, 2016.

Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson. Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1998.

Jewell, Rick. Email correspondence with author. January 27 and January 28, 2016.

Jonathan Ned Katz Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.

Marcus, Eric. Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights 1945–1990: An Oral History. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

6 Murdoch, Joyce and Deb Price. Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians v. the Supreme Court. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

ONE Archive, University of Southern California.

Outhistory.com.

RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. Studio Archives, Special Collections, University of California Los Angeles.

7 APPENDIX A: KEY SITE PLAN, RKO RADIO PICTURES, MAY 1947

RKO Radio Pictures Key Site Plan, May 1947. Courtesy of Rick Jewell, USC School of Cinematic Arts.