Channing Joseph Selected to Write Queer POC Book
Some of you may recall the Archives Project recently partnered with The Historic New Orleans Collection to commission a book on the history of queer people of color in Louisiana. After an extensive search, we are pleased to announce Channing Joseph has been selected to write the book.
Channing Joseph is from New Orleans and currently teaching at Princeton University. He is also a journalist with two decades of experience covering race, poverty, social justice, and other topics in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently a contributor to The Nation and frequently appears on the BBC, CBC and other outlets. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Guardian, other national newspapers and magazines, and on many major networks. In addition, Joseph is an award-winning, groundbreaking scholar of Black queer history. We are excited he has agreed to help fill in this gap in the historical record.
Lost Queer Bars of the French Quarter: Tony Bacino’s
One of the new features of the recently updated Archives Project website is a gallery of lost queer bars in the French Quarter. Pictured above is Tony Bacino’s Bar, located at the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse Streets. This bar was raided multiple times in 1958, spurring the manager and two bartenders to file a civil lawsuit against the city. The lawsuit was unsuccessful but significant in that it was the first legal action in Louisiana taken by the LGBT+ community on behalf of itself. You can see the full gallery of lost bars here. (Photo from Vieux Carre Virtual Library)
Southern Decadence Approaches
As Labor Day draws near, we remember the humble origins of Southern Decadence, which began in 1972 as a house party among a group of friends, some of whom were gay. The party was good enough to repeat the following year, but in 1973, the group met at Mattassa’s bar and “paraded” to the house party. The first Grand Marshal was named in 1974 and the parade has grown exponentially since then. Decadence became an almost exclusively gay event in the 1980s and would later demonstrate to the city the spending power of the LGBT+ community. Pictured above is an invitation to the first Southern Decadence party. See all the early invitations here. The Archives Project honored the founders of Southern Decadence in 2018 after they donated much of their material to the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University.
Become a Sustaining Member
Did you know that for just $10 a month, you can become a sustaining member of the Archives Project? Becoming a sustaining member is easy on our website. Please help us get our history out of the closet by becoming a monthly donor here. It would really make a difference. All gifts are tax deductible. And THANKS to all our current sustaining members. Your support is much appreciated!