Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (Gerber/Hart) held its fall benefit, Friendship and Freedom, Oct. 18 at Gerber/Hart to celebrate the Henry Gerber founded Society for Human Rights 100th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of LGBTHistory Month (held each October).
The event takes place each year to raise funds in support of the library’s mission to preserve LGBTQ+ history in Chicago and the Midwest.
The Society for Human Rights was forced to disband after a few months when Gerber and other group members were arrested on obscenity charges (that were eventually dropped) in early 1925. This was due to the scandal that resulted from the arrests in addition to Gerber’s legal fees and loss of his United States Postal Service job. While the Society for Human Rights was in operation they published two editions of their newsletter, Friendship and Freedom, but they were either lost to time or destroyed.
LGBT History Month was started in 1994 and at that time Kevin G. Boyer was the Gerber/Hart board president. In that role, Boyer was instrumental in spreading the message of the formation of LGBT History Month throughout the United States. Prior to Boyer’s role as Gerber/Hart board president, he also volunteered, donated to and was a member of Gerber/Hart’s board of directors. Additionally, Boyer co-founded the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois (then known as the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce) and played an integral role in Chicago’s Gay Games VII in 2006, was a board member of GLAAD Chicago chapter and GLSEN and inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2008.
The evening’s 1920’s inspired festivities began with a VIP reception and Q&A with Boyer moderated by Gerber/Hart Community Outreach and Strategic Partnerships Manager Jen Dentel and a tour of the archives led by Gerber/Hart Operations Director Erin Bell.
Dentel asked Boyer about his first memory of Gerber/Hart.
Boyer, who grew up in the service-based Mormon culture, said he moved from Oregon to Chicago in 1988 and remembered reading about Gerber/Hart and some damage that had befallen the archives at that time due to a flood. He quickly decided to become a volunteer and when he arrived at Gerber/Hart and saw the books it made him think about what it would have meant to him to have this resource when he realized he was gay since the Mormon church only spread anti-LGBTQ+ messages at that time. In that first visit to Gerber/Hart, Boyer quickly realized that they needed money so he offered to write a press release and sent it to the newspapers who ran it and the effort worked. They got some money and visibility and were able to address some of their storage issues.
Other topics of conversation included how Boyer went from a Gerber/Hart volunteer to the board president within a very short amount of time, his instrumental role in the retrieval of the now-defunct Carol’s Speakeasy’s decorative tongue and lips and the history of how Chicago got to host the Gay Games VII in 2006 and his instrumental role in that process.
Gerber/Hart Development Manager Michael Rashid welcomed attendees to the main event space and later in the evening introduced the Gerber/Hart produced and C.J. Arellano written, directed and edited video; We Will not be Banned focused on the work they do as a library and archives to ensure these LGBTQ+ materials are available to the public and also a warning about the fascist forces who want to erase all queer/trans people and their historical records from existence.
Gerber/Hart Board Co-Chair James Conley thanked the volunteers, board members and supporters and presented Boyer with the first-ever Friendship and Freedom Award. Conley said that Boyer made extraordinary contributions and was responsible for the instrumental growth of Gerber/Hart and shared more about his role in LGBT History Month’s existence as a member of the national coordinating committee as documented by the founder, then a Missouri high school history teacher Rodney Wilson. Conley also read quotes from Wilson and GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings (who was also an LGBT national coordinating committee member) sent to them that lauded Boyer’s work to make LGBT History Month come to fruition.
Boyer expressed his gratitude for this award. He then reminded the audience that the reason why Wilson wanted LGBT History Month to be held in October was primarily because it was during the school year as well as the existence of some pivotal historical events in the LGBT community that occurred in past years during October. He also shared more about his role to make this come to fruition that involved endorsements from allies in prominent positions in society and elected office and the photocopier at Gerber/Hart which they used to provide curriculum for free to teachers to use in their classrooms.
The event also featured performances throughout the evening’s festivities by actor, puppeteer, musician, stage manager, music director, administrator, set builder and fundraiser Claire Feeney; musician and educator Roy Freeman; violinist, songwriter, composer and folk-singing fairy Stella Solveig and performer, teacher and songwriter Josh Ruebeck.
Feeney and Freeman did their renditions of Lavender SongandTain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do (with some of the lyrics rewritten by Feeney that removed the domestic violence references and had a shoutout to go vote on Nov. 5 for “the lady”) andSolveig and Ruebeck performed Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies and closed out the night with their take on Wild Mountain Thyme.
Bell, Dentel and Rashid led a Price of Preservation themed donor appeal where participants used pink power puffs to register their bids. These powder puffs were given to them at the start of the event in an homage to when Gerber was arrested and the Chicago police found a power puff at his residence which they used to imply that he was what they would describe as a “sexual deviant.” Scholars now believe this powder puff was planted by the police. Then Rashid and Feeney announced both raffle winners.
Photos by Vern Hester
