"Preserving LGBTQ Historical Highlights" Grant Project

From police surveillance photographs of queer and sex-oriented businesses in the 1960s to the scrapbook of a lesbian bar raid in the 1950s, this digital collection showcases and preserves the experiences of LGBTQ San Franciscans in the 20th century. In 2019, the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center received a grant from the California State Library to digitize physically at-risk materials from five different collections in the Hormel and San Francisco History Center archives. The selected materials contain personal photographs, a scrapbook, SFPD photo negatives, and Harvey Milk’s typed, hand-annotated speeches and “Political Will” audio cassette recording. Through the process of digitization, San Francisco Public Library strives to highlight these histories and to provide wider access to these materials that exemplify how queer San Franciscans helped shape the city.
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  • Collection = San Francisco Police Department Bureau of Special Services (BSS) Negatives
San Francisco Police Department Records "Preserving LGBTQ Historical Highlights" Grant Project
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San Francisco Police Department Bureau of Special Services (BSS) Negatives
In the 1930s, after an investigation into San Francisco Police Department corruption found a network of payoffs from numerous underground industries and organizations, the SFPD was restructured in...
Show moreIn the 1930s, after an investigation into San Francisco Police Department corruption found a network of payoffs from numerous underground industries and organizations, the SFPD was restructured in an attempt to curb the flow of illegal money. The concept of “police professionalism” was utilized, a municipal philosophy which concentrates power at the top of the chain of command and relies on honest leadership to function. As much of the payola had come from gambling and prostitution rings, responsibility for these “vice crimes” was transferred from district chiefs to a new unit, the Bureau of Special Services (BSS), whose investigators reported directly to the Chief of Police. BSS officers focused their investigations on gambling and bookmaking, but also investigated rape, sodomy, and displays of prophylactics. This collection contains photographic negatives of BSS cases from 1945-1969, including the housing envelopes with pertinent case information. Sites of investigation included bookstores, sex-oriented businesses, theaters, and art shows that featured gay and lgbtq+ content.
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