Welcome back to Q4Q! This week, queer historian Tyler Albertario & Haley wade through the history of the correspondence club, Contact. The penpal club served as a clandestine way for homosexual correspondents to connect during the 1920s & ‘30s. Learn about notable members like Henry Gerber, Manuel boyFrank, and Frank McCourt–who’s letters form the foundation of the present knowledge of the club’s history.
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Music strummed by Omar Nassar. Cover art by Bekah Rich.
Sources:
Jeremy Sorese, “Henry Gerber is the Founder of the Society for Human Rights, the First Known Homosexual Organization in the United States,” Shandaken Projects, October 2020. http://www.shandakenprojects.org/otherassets/HenryGerber_Online.pdf
Letter to Merlin Wand, May 26, 1928 ("CONTACTS..."), Internet: Speculative Fiction database.
Rob Roehm, “Contact without Friction”, Howard History: The Life & Times of Robert E. Howard, March 8, 2021. https://howardhistory.com/category/letters/
Jim Elledge, An Angel in Sodom: Henry Gerber and the Birth of the Gay Rights Movement, Chicago Review Press, 2022.
Subject Files Series 3.1916-1984 Bulk: Contacts, Date: 1935, Manuscript Number: Box 8, Folder 9, Source Library: ONE National Gay & Lesbian, Archives, Archive: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II Collection: Manuel boyFrank Papers
Subject Files Series 3.1916-1984 Bulk: Contact, Date: 1945, Manuscript Number: Box 5, Folder 28Source Library: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Archive: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II Collection: Manuel boyFrank Papers
boyFrank (Manuel) papers Finding Aid, Online Archive of California, https://oac.cdlib.org/view?style=oac4;view=dsc;docId=c8ff3t5b;query=Contacts#hitNum5