Imagine stepping into a time capsule. It’s not just any time capsule. It’s the GLBT History Museum right here in San Francisco’s Castro District. This isn’t just a museum. The GLBT History Museum is the first stand-alone museum of LGBTQ history and culture in the United States.
Since January 2011 the GLBT History Museum has been open. It showcases the vast archives of the GLBT Historical Society. The GLBT History Museum emphasizes diversity and social justice through its exhibitions. The GLBT History Museum is located at 4127 18th Street.
Before this building was a museum, Willie Walker and Greg Pennington shared an interest in gay and lesbian history. They pooled their collections of gay and lesbian periodicals. They called it the San Francisco Gay Periodical Archive. The GLBT Historical Society extends to the early 1980s.
Walker proposed a historical society to preserve Bay Area gay and lesbian history. He wanted to make it available to the community. Walker presented the concept at a History Project meeting in 1984. With encouragement, Walker, Pennington, Eric Garber, and others decided that the plan would require a much larger and more diverse organizing group.
The GLBT Historical Society newsletter said that Walker sent a letter to 160 organizations. He also sent it to 100 individuals inviting them to a pivotal meeting. It was at the San Francisco Public Library in 1985. 63 people attended. They decided that everyone at the meeting was a member. They chose the name San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society.
Over time, the Historical Society renamed itself twice. This was to reflect its holdings and the identities represented. In 1990, it became the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California. In 1999, it became the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. It responded to concerns raised by bisexual and transgender community members. The short form is the GLBT Historical Society.
Initially, the archives were in Walker’s living room. In 1990, the society moved into its own space. It was in the basement of the Redstone Building. By 1995, it moved to a 3700-square-foot space on Market Street.
In 2003, the society moved to a location on Mission Street. This space included two exhibition galleries and a reading room. In 2016, the GLBT Historical Society closed its archives. It was preparing for a move to an expanded space on Market Street.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum has had six executive directors. Susan Stryker was the first paid executive director. Terry Beswick was the permanent executive director starting in 2016. In October 2022, Roberto Ordeñana became the new executive director.
From 2008 to 2009, the GLBT Historical Society sponsored a pop-up museum in the Castro District. The exhibition traced over a century of the city’s LGBT history. Objects displayed included a study for the MaestraPeace mural. It also had the sewing machine used to create the first rainbow flag.
The GLBT Historical Society is home to one of the largest LGBT historical archives in the United States. It has manuscript collections, ephemera, periodicals, photos, posters, oral histories, and films. The archives include papers from Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. They were cofounders of the Daughters of Bilitis.
The society’s holdings include administrative records from the Mattachine Society. The GLBT Historical Society’s artifacts collection includes personal effects of Harvey Milk. The GLBT History Museum opened for previews in 2010. The grand opening took place on January 13, 2011. The GLBT History Museum is a place to learn. It is a place to remember. It is a place to celebrate queer history.