Untitled (Sailor with Schlitz) (1952)

Sidney Bronstein

Amateur artist Sidney Bronstein moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950s, where he became involved with ONE, Inc. and the city’s burgeoning homosexual community. In communication with Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Bronstein recorded his sexual encounters (primarily with men in the armed forces) in a meticulously detailed log. The artist produced numerous portraits of sailors and G.I.s in the early 1950s, many of which correspond to lovers listed in the log. These paintings, supplemented with documents from Bronstein’s life, can be seen not only as portraits but also as factual records of the intimate relations between homosexual men during the McCarthy era.

Oil on board 12 x 9 in
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Cover of ONE Magazine, May 1965 (1965)

Joan Corbin

Woodblock print reproduced for magazine cover 8.5 x 5.5 in
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Untitled (Four Legs, Two Arms) (date unknown)

John Quitman

Ink, charcoal, pencil and chalk on paper 25 x 19 in
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Untitled (Patrol on Break) (1952)

Sidney Bronstein

Oil on board 16.5 x 12.5 in
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Cover of ONE Magazine, September 1953 (1953)

Artist Unknown

Woodblock print reproduced for magazine cover 7 x 6 in
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Untitled from the Silverlake Terrace Drawings Sketchbook (1979)

Mundo Meza

Ink on paper 8 x 6 in
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives Courtesy of Patricia Meza and Elizabeth Signorelli.

Protest Poster for the Police Raid of the Black Cat, a Gay Bar in Silverlake (1967)

Artist Unknown

Produced by P.R.I.D.E. (Personal Rights in Defense and Education), from the Jim Kepner Papers, ONE Archives.

Poster
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Photograph of a Protest after the Police Raid at the Black Cat, a Gay Bar in Silverlake (1967)

Photographer Unknown

From the Advocate Collection, ONE Archives.

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Bronstein's Personal Diary (ca. 1942-55)

Sidney Bronstein

Sidney Bronstein's personal diary includes notes, stories, poems, drawings, and a log of his sexual encounters.

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Design for Unisex Armor Collection (1976)

Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich was a visionary fashion designer, gay activist, and founding member of the Mattachine Society, one of the earliest homosexual activist organizations in the United States. In fashion, Gernreich explored unisex clothing as a remedy to what he saw as the gendered violence, specifically against women, inherent in traditional clothing styles. For Gernreich, clothing had the potential to free both men and women from gender-based inequality. This is a preparatory sketch for a unisex armor design. Gernreich spoke about the collection in the Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1976: “For the most part clothing interests me as a symbol. Take my Unisex Armor. People are going to say, ‘Oh, there he goes again, out to shock. Gernreich doing his old numbers.’ But when I thought of them [the armor] I not only considered them as future but present symbols. Life in a city like Los Angeles has gotten to the point where we are all afraid of violence. We are all trying in some way to wear armor. To protect ourselves. We don’t wear space armor. But we wear psychological armor and this is my statement about us hiding from our fears in clothes.”

Mixed media on paper 20 x 15 in
From the Morris Kight Collection, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives