If you are curious about Part 1, feel free to go back and read it.
A high school teacher friend of mine recently texted me about speaking to their gender studies class about gay bars and community building. I was never much of a bar goer, mostly because I don’t drink, but I understand the importance of gay and lesbian bars in creating safe spaces for queer folks to find community, meet friends and potential partners, to become politically active and to celebrate all that makes us queer. A gay bar is much more than just a bar.
Instead of being a guest speaker, I suggested that I send links to archival records about gay bars in Portland. My offer was appreciated as most of what they had found online was New York City based information. I have helped other folks in the past to research different aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community in Portland, so a few records came to mind immediately including the Burnside Triangle records.
The Burnside Triangle? What is the Burnside Triangle1 you might ask? For me this is a great example of how archives work. The best way to access archival material is to do a little pre-work first through newspapers, conversations (perhaps with an archivist) or a Google search to find search words that pull up records related to the subject matter.
“Gay bars” might pull up relevant archival records or might not pull up anything depending on the database. In a database like Efiles, where the focus is on institutional records for the City of Portland, searching for “gay bars” did not return any results. However searching for the Burnside Triangle pulled up a walking tour, a group report to council and survey results. There was even a section highlighting buildings, bars and the people who frequented them over 100 years ago.
In the Archives West database that encompasses a variety of collections in the Northwest, I found 21 results including several oral histories that are available online. The high school students could potentially have access to a wide variety of people’s experiences of gay bars over decades via the oral histories. It is important to note that not all of the results listed are available online, but the descriptions are there for the people who want to dig deeper.
I finished up with a link to the Oregon Experience documentary Darcelle XV produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting. Darcelle XV Showplace has hosted the longest-running drag show on the West Coast. The documentary is a great way to learn about the history of the LGBTQIA+ community and drag culture in Portland as well as the activist role Darcelle has played over the years.
This search was not comprehensive but does provide a good starting place. Researchers might be satisfied with this information or use key terms found in these results and documents to dig a little deeper. It all depends on what you are looking for and how much work you want to do.
Stay tuned for Archival Research - Part 3
The Burnside Triangle has been a place were gay, lesbian, bi, and trans folks have lived, worked, and socialized for at least 100 years…In Portland as in other major cities, the bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and cafés have long played a major role in the history of the queer community. They have provided spaces for gays, lesbian, bisexuals and trans folks to socialize. Their presence has challenged public perceptions. And the bar owners and managers were some of the first gay leaders to publicly challenge restrictive city laws, and the coercive practices of police and city officials. (235-2003 Burnside Triangle Advisory Group Historical Highlights of walking tour)