Drag in the Windy City

This collection of photographs was donated to the Chicago History Museum by James C. Darby, a former Navy cryptogapher and radioman who served during the Korean War between 1952 and 1956. Darby started the first Chicago chapter of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America (GLBVA) in 1991. Darby met with President Clinton several times in 1993 to discuss lifting the ban on homosexuals in the military. When the "Don't Ask/Dont' Tell/Don't Pursue" compromise was announced in July of 1993, Darby was arrested at the White House with other veterans protesting the decision.

Archival research and scholarship are inherently rhetorical. The acts of selecting, organizing and labeling items for inclusion in any archive influences how a visitor interacts with the information and images collected. In “The Rhetorical Power of Archival Description: Classifying Images of Gender Transgression,” K.J. Rawson notes the particular challenges of contemporary queer archival work related to non-normative gender performances: “Representing those in the past through our contemporary lenses is inherently vexing given our temporally and culturally specific language use and our current understandings of identity” (347). With this in mind, descriptions of the following images only contain location and year. 

The above images were taken in 1956 and feature the Jewel Box Revue, a "travelling drag review" at Robert's Show Lounge, 6622 South Park Way (now King Drive) in Chicago.

The above images were taken in 1958 at the Beaux Arts Ball, held at the Ambassador West Hotel, 1300 North State Parkway, Chicago.

The above images were taken in 1958 at the Queen of Finnie's Annual Masquerade Ball at the Trianon Ballroom, 6201 South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago.