Q4Q: Queer Personals Podcast
Let's get personal! Since the dawn of time, humans have been desperate for connection. Then we realized we could solicit strangers through the Sunday paper. You’ve heard of Craigslist personals, just imagine the pining and thirst from lonely queers searching for love. Listen as we read and rate personal ads from the ‘70s through 2000s! If you love gay yearning, you’ll love Q4Q! Be on the show: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8dOqRD6JF00L1fzyu8kXbBM58Z19ZlOs1aGeRv1usobmIDg/viewform
Q4Q: Queer Personals Podcast
Contacts: The Correspondence Club for the Mentally Marooned
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.
Do you want to hear more from Tyler? Follow him on Twitter @TylerAlbertario.
Listen to us on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your tunes!
Interested in being on the show? Contact us at Q4QPodcast@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @Queerpersonals and Instagram @Queerpersonalspodcast.
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
