by -Tina Rulewicz, Edge Writing, LLC:
History Comes Alive – Part 2, Entry 4
This entry takes you on a walking tour of San Francisco’s GLBT History Museum. From the street and as you walk through the doors, you see giant screens (playing 24-hours a day) that depict demonstrations, movies, parades, drag pageants, and other various events of the past.
The Museum concurrently runs two exhibits, one of which rotates every three to four months. The current front gallery exhibit, “Life and Death in Black and White: AIDS Direct Action in San Francisco 1985-1990,” portrays photographs of civil disobedience during this era by five different queer photographers. There’s also an Icons section of the museum that contains personal artifacts from people such as Harvey Milk, Phyllis Lyon, and Del Martin.
Finally, the long-term show, entitled, “Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating San Francisco’s GLBT History,” comprises of a variety of different themes and stories throughout the last century. Examples of some broadly represented themes are: Finding our Hidden Histories; The Strategy of Equality; Lesbian Sex Wars; and, Premarital Bonds: Creating Family Before Marriage Equality. Dr. Romesburg’s personal favorite is Jiro Onuma: Undocumented/Documented, the life story of the openly gay Japanese World War II internment camp survivor.
In reference to visitors, Dr. Romesburg explains that, “[T]hey come in and they’re literally blown away by the texture and the mosaic of our community’s existence over the years.” Be sure that you don’t miss the opportunity to experience this! (For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org/museum.)