Groundbreaking National Park Service LGBT Exhibit Opens in SF

The Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park has made history with the opening of its new exhibit "LGBTQ Histories: Stories from the WWII Home Front."

Displayed at the visitor's center in Richmond, the exhibit, which opened December 3, is one of the first ever by the Park Service to document LGBTQ history. It joins the U.S. Department of the Interior's groundbreaking, newly released nationwide LGBTQ Heritage Theme Study - part of the Obama administration's efforts to document and protect LGBT history.

A packed room witnessed history on opening day thanks to the efforts of historian Donna Graves and park Ranger Elizabeth Tucker.

"When you have places that tell your story you feel validated on a whole other level," said Tucker, 49, who is a lesbian.

The exhibit, supported in part by the Rosie the Riveter Trust, features three people whose lives cast light on the opportunities and experiences of LGBT people in the U.S. during the war years: a lesbian, Bev Hickok, who died in 2014; a gay man, Selwyn Jones, 94; and a trans man, Jeffrey Dickemann, 87, known then as Mildred.

Hickok was a real life riveter during the war, and afterward wrote the book Against the Current: Coming Out in the 1940s while working as a UC Berkeley librarian. Jones is an artist living in San Francisco who served in army intelligence during World War II.

Dickemann was present, and as he got up to speak a woman in the crowd yelled out, "nice name!" to warm laughter about the pronunciation of "dyke-man." Before transitioning at age 65 Dickemann worked during the war in the Women's Land Army and afterward as an anthropology professor.

Dickemann also talked about the UC Berkeley LGBT Alumni Association, which died out when it was perceived to no longer be needed - a stance Dickemann is now reevaluating.

"It seems that bad times have come again," he said. "We have to do the same things we did before, we need to begin to plan again."

Graves spoke about the remarkable opportunity the war offered for LGBT people.

"World War II was a catalyst for enormous social change. The war years were a watershed period in LGBT history and the Bay Area was a critical site," she said. "Tens of thousands of people passed through the Bay Area for military and defense employment, and it created a setting for people to discover LGBT groups and love."

Graves, a 58-year-old ally, added that the exhibit "feels like one small piece of the larger effort to achieve equal rights for people who have been marginalized."

Books such as the late Allen Berube's Coming Out Under Fire and Nan Boyd's Wide-Open Town were cited as influences that paved the way for this exhibit.

Tucker emphasized there is an ongoing need for story collection in these areas. "We are losing World War II-era veterans every day," she said. "Some people are still coming out on their deathbeds.

"We are a part of American history, so therefore we need our voices to be heard," said Tucker. "The only way to do that is if we share those voices with American institutions like the National Park Service that preserve American history."

Concomitant to the exhibit's opening is the release of the LGBT Heritage Theme Study, the first-ever from any national government, according to the Park Service. A 1,200-page tome published this fall on National Coming Out Day (its 32 chapters are available free online), this landmark study also allowed the Park Service to evaluate properties for LGBT historical significance, serving as site nomination preparation. Currently, 10 sites have national designation but none are in California.

Drew Bourn, Ph.D., a Stanford librarian who authored a theme study chapter and organizes with Radical Faeries for Racial Justice, spoke of the need for LGBT people to use an intersectional lens - seeing how different aspects of identity have an impact on each other.

"Things will get better for everybody when we listen and reflect on the experience of groups such as Al-Fatiha, which supports LGBT Muslims. We are strongest when we see and value all of the LGBTQ family," said Bourn.

According to Wikipedia, the Al-Fatiha Foundation is no longer registered as a nonprofit.

The LGBT Heritage Theme Study can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqthemestudy.htm

The Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, 1414 Harbour Way South, #3000, Richmond, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance to the museum is free.