Harvey Milk Messenger of Hope

Pantone 871 C Metallic + Black

City and County of San Francisco London N. Breed, Mayor Airpor t Commission Ivar C. Satero, Airpor t Director www.flysfo.com

This publication is presented in conjunction with the SFO Museum exhibition Harvey Milk: Messenger of Hope, located in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 of San Francisco International Airport.

Š2020 by San Francisco Airport Commission. All rights reserved.

Harvey Bernard Milk (1930–78) was a visionary human rights leader, a groundbreaking political luminary, and a seminal figure of the LGBTQ rights movement. Born into a middleclass Jewish family in Woodmere, New York, Milk followed several career paths before focusing on social activism and politics. He moved to San Francisco in 1972 with his romantic partner Scott Smith (1948–95) and opened a camera shop in the Castro, a neighborhood that by that time had become a sanctuary for the city’s gay population. Milk announced his candidacy for the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1973 on a platform advocating gay and lesbian rights, individual freedom, and economic reform.

Although the grassroots campaign was defeated, Milk proudly stated, “Win or not, the fact that we’re willing to wage a hard, uphill fight for what we feel is right will provide help and courage to others.”

In 1975, Milk campaigned for supervisor again and lost. The following year, Mayor George Moscone (1929–78) appointed him to the Board of Permit Appeals, making Milk the first openly gay city commissioner in the United States. Dubbed “The Mayor of Castro Street,” Milk mobilized the community and helped to register thousands of voters. He partnered with the local Teamsters Union and co-organized a successful boycott of Coors beer for the company’s discriminatory anti-union policies—one of the earliest instances of a gay community realizing its collective power through an economic boycott. Undaunted by his previous defeats, Milk ran for supervisor a third time and won, making him the first openly gay elected official in California. Milk’s watershed

1977 victory made national and international headlines and served as a triumphant milestone for the LGBTQ community.

Milk used his platform to encourage others to come out of the closet as a critical first step toward achieving their rights.

The late 1970s were turbulent years for the LGBTQ rights movement. Beginning in January 1977, former pop singer and Miss America finalist Anita Bryant (b. 1940) led a successful, six-month campaign to roll back a recently passed gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida. Numerous cities followed suit with similar repeals of anti-discrimination protections for lesbian and gay people. In March 1978, Mayor Moscone signed a landmark ordinance authored by Milk that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and housing in San Francisco. That same year, Supervisor Milk was instrumental in the fight against California ballot initiative Proposition 6, which sought to ban openly gay teachers from working in the state’s public schools. The initiative’s defeat at the ballot box in November was a validation of the political power of the LGBTQ community and its allies.

Due to his high public profile as the first openly gay elected official in California, Milk attracted a torrent of hate mail, including threats on his life. In a chilling forecast, Milk recorded a living will on November 18, 1978, proclaiming, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.” Nine days later, a disgruntled former supervisor, Dan White (1946–85), slipped through a basement window at City Hall and assassinated Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk in their offices. That evening, more than 25,000 grieving

San Francisco Bay Area citizens congregated in the Castro before marching to City Hall in a candlelight vigil, sending a powerful and eloquent message that the struggle for gay rights would not end with Milk’s death. Six months later, when White received a voluntary manslaughter sentence of seven years and eight months, the community responded with a demonstration at City Hall that turned violent, with enraged protesters engaging the police in a series of pitched street battles. The “White Night Riots” served notice that the LGBTQ community would no longer suffer injustice in quiescence.

Today, Harvey Milk’s legacy is felt in the gains for LGBTQ rights made during the four decades since his assassination, including the 2015 United States Supreme Court ruling recognizing same-sex marriage as a legal right. Milk’s nascent vision of increasing worldwide representation in local, statewide, and national political offices peaked with the Rainbow Wave in November of 2018, when a record number of openly gay, lesbian, and transgender candidates were elected to public office. As Milk once declared, “If you help elect more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward… because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone.” Milk also recognized that the fight for equality and human rights must continue as long as one person is denied their full measure of freedom, that “there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We’ve given them hope.”

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Harvey Milk and his older brother Robert posing for a photo at Coney Island, New York 1942 Photographer unknown Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0029; R2020.0602.004

Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York, to his Lithuanian-born father William and his mother Minerva, also of Lithuanian heritage. Harvey and his only sibling, Robert, belonged to a small middle-class Jewish family that had founded a Jewish synagogue and was well known in the New York “Litvaks� community for their civic engagement.

Harvey knew he was gay by the time he attended Bayshore High School, where he was a popular student with interests ranging from opera to football.

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Portrait of Harvey Milk in U.S. Navy Service Dress White uniform c. 1955 Photographer unknown Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0006; R2020.0602.005

Harvey Milk enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1951 and served aboard the submarine rescue ship USS Kittiwake as a diving officer prior to his transfer to Naval Base San Diego, where he served as a diving instructor. In 1955, he resigned at the rank of Lieutenant (LTJG) after being officially questioned about his sexual orientation.

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Minerva Milk with her son Harvey in U.S. Navy Service Dress Khaki uniform 1954 Photographer unknown Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL 00357B; R2020.0602.001

Harvey Milk’s spirited and independent mother Minerva served as a “Yeomanette” in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I. An early feminist who believed deeply in the precept of tikkun olam, the Jewish obligation to repair the world through acts of kindness, Minerva succumbed to a heart attack while delivering a twenty-four-pound turkey to the poor living on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1962.

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Harvey Milk on the road in Texas 1957-58 Probably Joe Campbell (1936–2005) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-1011; R2020.0602.002

In September 1957, twenty-seven-year-old Harvey Milk moved to Dallas, Texas, with his romantic partner Joe Campbell to escape the cold New York winters. Citing a lack of work opportunities and their disappointment in the city’s social scene, they returned to Long Island the following February. Milk and Campbell were lovers from 1956 through 1962 and remained lifelong friends until Harvey’s death.

Campbell, who starred in Andy Warhol’s film My Hustler (1965) and was immortalized as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the iconic Lou Reed song “Walk on the Wild Side” (1972), died of AIDS on October 2, 2005.

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Harvey Milk on West 47th Street in Manhattan 1972 Photograph by Marc Cohen (b. 1946) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0103; R2020.0602.006

After returning to New York, Harvey Milk worked as a public school teacher on Long Island, as a stock analyst in Manhattan, and eventually as an assistant to his close friend, avant-garde theatre director Tom O’Horgan (1924–2009), who staged Broadway productions of Hair (1968) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1971). In this image, Milk is walking past the marquee for O’Horgan’s Lenny, then playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

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“Then came Castro Street” c. 1974 Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.007

Harvey Milk moved to California in the fall of 1972 and settled in San Francisco later that year. In this letter, Harvey describes how the Castro neighborhood came to represent his home. While San Francisco’s Polk Street neighborhood had been home to much of the city’s LGBTQ population during the 1950s and 1960s, the center of gravity shifted south to the area surrounding Castro Street, which was becoming known as another safe haven for gays and lesbians by the time of Milk’s arrival.

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Castro Camera with rainbow in the background 1976 Photograph by Harvey Milk (1930–78) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0025; R2020.0602.012

Harvey Milk opened Castro Camera with his romantic partner Scott Smith (1948–95) shortly after moving to San Francisco.

The shop soon became the de facto epicenter for the Castro neighborhood and also served as headquarters for Harvey’s political campaigns. This image, taken by Milk, was used in the shop to demonstrate different surface qualities of photographic paper available to his customers.

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Harvey Milk campaigning on Castro Street Summer 1973 Photograph by Crawford Barton (1943–93) Collection of Crawford Barton; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 1993-11; R2020.0604.001

Harvey Milk’s decision to run for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was rooted in his outrage over the great disparity between “the haves” and “the have nots” of his newly adopted city and his desire to have the interests of the LGBTQ community represented by its own members rather than the “friends of gays and lesbians.” In this image, Milk speaks with a constituent while campaigning for supervisor. The bearded man over Harvey’s shoulder is campaign volunteer David Mallon. Seated on the wall behind Milk is the Reverend Raymond Broshears (1935–82), a gay Pentecostal Evangelist preacher and a controversial figure in the gay rights movement. In 1973, Broshears founded the Lavender Panthers, an armed self-defense group for the LGBTQ community that was patterned after the Black Panthers.

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Harvey Milk in conversation at a political house party during his first campaign for election to the Board of Supervisors Summer 1973 Photograph by Crawford Barton (1943–93) Collection of Crawford Barton; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 1993-11; R2020.0604.002a,b

Photographer Crawford Barton moved to San Francisco from Georgia in the late 1960s and set out to chronicle the great diversity of the city’s increasingly visible LGBTQ community.

In addition to his fine art photography, Barton created images on assignment for publications such as The Advocate, the San Francisco Examiner, and the Los Angeles Times. As custodians of Barton’s images, San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society has fostered renewed and widespread appreciation for Barton’s poignant and indelible body of work.

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Harvey Milk with raffle tickets at the Gay Freedom Day post-parade festival in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza June 30, 1974 Photograph by Donald Eckert (1941–2016) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0017; R2020.0602.009

Photographer and gay rights activist Donald Eckert moved to the Castro neighborhood in 1972, where he befriended another recent arrival, Harvey Milk. Eckert’s website, “Uncle Donald’s Castro Street,” was launched in the mid-1990s as a vital resource for sharing stories and images that chronicled the growing LGBTQ community in San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s. Since Eckert’s death in 2016, friends have lovingly maintained the site.

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View of the Castro Theatre during the first Castro Street Fair August 18, 1974 Photograph by Scott Smith (1948–95) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-1103; R2020.0602.008

Harvey Milk believed the economic power of the LGBTQ community was an untapped source of political power in San Francisco. In response to the hostility that gay-owned businesses faced from the Eureka Valley Merchants Association, Milk founded the Castro Village Association (CVA), a more progressive coalition of local business owners. Milk and the CVA organized the first Castro Street Fair in 1974, which drew 5,000 people to the neighborhood and inspired dozens of other neighborhood street fairs throughout San Francisco.

The Castro Street Fair hosted 25,000 attendees in 1975 and 100,000 in 1976.

This photograph was taken by Harvey Milk’s romantic partner, political activist Scott Smith. Smith met Milk after moving to New York City in 1969 and the two moved to San Francisco in 1972, establishing a camera store together in the city’s Castro neighborhood. Smith was instrumental to the success of Milk’s political career, influencing Milk’s activism and organizing his campaigns for public office from 1974 to 1977. Smith’s archives, which included Harvey Milk’s papers, were generously donated to San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center by his mother, Mrs. Elva Smith, shortly after her son’s death from HIV/AIDS-related pneumonia in 1995.

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Harvey Milk campaign volunteers greet drivers at Market and Duboce Streets during the morning commute October 1975 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.001

Despite finishing tenth in a field of thirty-two candidates during his 1973 campaign for supervisor, Milk was emboldened by the 17,000 votes he garnered. He continued his efforts at coalition building, voter registration, and advocating for the city’s disempowered constituents from every community. In his second bid for supervisor in 1975, Milk received more than 52,000 votes, finishing seventh behind six incumbents from a field of twenty-nine candidates and consolidating his position as a leading voice in the movement to secure LGBTQ rights and freedoms. In the foreground of this image, campaign volunteers Lee Mentley (b. 1948), Harry Britt (b. 1938), and Carl Carlson (1939–87) help form a human billboard for candidate Harvey Milk, at center in suit, during his second bid for supervisor. Britt became San Francisco’s second openly gay supervisor after Mayor Dianne Feinstein (b. 1933) appointed him to fill Harvey’s unfinished term in 1979.

Harvey Milk speaking with a constituent during his second campaign for Board of Supervisors 1975 Photographer unknown Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0033a-c; R2020.0602.011a-c

Harvey Milk’s political acumen and gift for retail politics were apparent throughout each of his campaigns. Milk campaign staffer Jim Rivaldo (1947-2007) recalled, “I accompanied Harvey around the city and saw how readily people from all walks of life responded to an openly gay man with good ideas and an extraordinary gift for communicating them.”

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Teamsters Union official Allan Baird and Harvey Milk at the second supervisorial election campaign party at the Island Restaurant, San Francisco 1975 Photographer unknown Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-1110; R2020.0602.010

Harvey Milk and Teamsters Union official Allan Baird (b. 1932), a lifelong resident of the Castro neighborhood, formed an alliance in 1973 to boycott six discriminatory anti-union beer distributors. Milk supported the teamsters by preventing the beer from being sold in gay bars, and in turn, the Union opened its rolls to openly gay truck drivers. The boycott worked, with Coors being the only one of the six companies that refused to sign the Union contract. The boycott continued in one form or another through the years and Coors’ market share in California plummeted, substantiating Milk’s assertion of the community’s economic power. Baird was unwavering in his partnership with Milk despite being the target of homophobic slurs both on the job and in his neighborhood.

He enlisted Teamsters membership to canvass for Harvey’s electoral campaigns and against Proposition 6, the ballot initiative to prohibit openly gay men and women from working in California’s public schools.

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Harvey Milk clowning around at Castro Camera on St. Valentine’s Day with campaign worker Medora Payne and her mother Gretchen Payne February 14, 1976 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.002

Twelve-year-old Medora Payne walked into Castro Camera one day and insisted on assisting Harvey Milk with his campaign for California State Assembly. Campaign manager John Ryckman (1927–2015) contacted Medora’s mother Gretchen and was told there was no way to stop the young volunteer. Payne helped out after school by stuffing envelopes and handing out brochures. She also raised $39.28 for his campaign.

“Dunk a Fellow for Freedom” August 20, 1977 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.003

As part of a fundraiser at the Castro Street Fair, Harvey Milk sits atop a dunk tank with an image of the anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant (b. 1940) serving as a tempting target. Though the two never publicly debated, Bryant and Milk waged a fierce political battle against each other beginning in January 1977, when the former beauty queen, pop singer, and thenspokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission used her public platform to launch an organized campaign against LGBTQ rights in Florida and across the nation.

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Bay Area Reporter’s “Election Special” indicating the broad coalition Harvey Milk had assembled in advance of election day November 4, 1977 Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, Courtesy of Bay Area Reporter and James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.013

Bay Area Reporter, known by the acronym B.A.R. for much of its history, was founded in 1971. It was originally distributed to San Francisco’s gay bars and was a vital source of information for the community during the growing LGBTQ rights movement. With Harvey Milk’s candidacy facing strong opposition from many of the establishment figures of the LGBTQ community who favored incrementalism, B.A.R.’s endorsement of his campaigns and publication of his weekly column were critical to the candidate’s success. Today, the Bay Area Reporter appears both in print and online. It remains the oldest continuously published newspaper of its kind.

San Francisco Gay Democratic Club members rejoice on Harvey Milk’s day of inauguration January 9, 1978 Photograph by David Waggoner (1947–90) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-1115; R2020.0602.014

The San Francisco Gay Democratic Club was formed in 1976 as an alternative to the moderate Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club, which was created as a political action committee for LGBTQ Democrats in 1971. Harvey Milk stands at the center of the group and clockwise from Milk are his romantic partner, Jack Lira (1953–78), and club members Jim Gordon (b. 1938), Hank Wilson (1947–2008), Chris Perry, Harry Britt (b. 1938), Tim Wolfred (b. 1945), Terry Henderling (b. 1941), and Robert Heacock (b. 1946). Club members Dick Pabich (1955–2000) and Jim Rivaldo (1947-2007) are not depicted.

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Newly elected Supervisor Harvey Milk being interviewed by KRON-TV reporter Jeannine Yeomans on inauguration day January 9, 1978 Photographer unknown Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0318; R2020.0602.003

As California’s first openly gay elected official serving in one of the nation’s most visible cities, Harvey Milk drew great attention from both local and national news outlets, but he was not the first openly gay person elected to public office in the United States. Twenty-one-year-old University of Michigan student Kathy Kozachenko (b. 1954) was elected to a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council in April 1974 as an openly gay candidate. Kozachenko joined councilmembers Jerry DeGrieck (b. 1949) and Nancy Wechsler (b. 1950), who became the nation’s first openly gay elected officials when they came out together at a press conference the previous year in response to a homophobic incident at a local restaurant. In November 1974, gay rights activist Elaine Noble (b. 1944) was elected to the first of two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Minnesota State Senator Allan Spear (1937– 2008) won reelection to his seat as an openly gay candidate in November 1976. And in April 1977, Jim Yeadon (b. 1949), a twenty-six-year-old Wisconsin lawyer and gay rights activist, was elected to Madison’s Common Council, a position he held as an appointee the previous year.

Harvey Milk addresses the public January 9, 1978 Photograph by David Waggoner (1947–90) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0606.001

Harvey Milk chose to be sworn in on the steps of City Hall, where more could view the momentous event. During a light rainfall in the middle of his address, Milk quipped, “Anita Bryant in her speaking to God said that the drought in California was because of the gay people. On November 9th, the day after I got elected, it started to rain. It’s been raining since then…”

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Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone at City Hall March 29, 1978 Photograph by Efren Convento Ramirez (1941–2017) Collection of Efren Ramirez; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 2010-05; R2020.0604.003

Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone (1929–78) attend the signing ceremony for the passage of a landmark city ordinance authored by Milk that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and housing.

Moscone was an early proponent of gay rights and worked with California Assemblyman Willie Brown (b. 1934) to secure passage of California’s consenting adult law in 1975, effectively repealing the state’s existing anti-sodomy laws. Known as “the people’s mayor,” Moscone was determined to have City Hall reflect the diversity of San Francisco and appointed an unprecedented number of women, people of color, and gays and lesbians to the city’s commissions and advisory boards.

“Whatever happened to a nice Jewish boy like Harvey [unknown] Milk” c. 1978 Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.015

Among the hate mail received by Harvey Milk, this message addressed to “Ms. Harvey” attempted to project a sense of shame. It was penned by a former classmate at Long Island’s Bay Shore High School, which in 2016 publicly celebrated the U.S. Navy’s announcement to name a new fleet vessel “after our very own Bay Shore High School Class of ’47 Alumnus, Mr. Harvey Milk.”

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Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon receive a Certificate of Honor from supervisors Harvey Milk, Carol Ruth Silver, and Ella Hill Hutch at City Hall January 1978 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2019.0204.003

Feminists and gay rights activists Dorothy Louise Taliaferro “Del” Martin (1921–2008) and Phyllis Ann Lyon (b. 1924) moved into an apartment together on Castro Street on Valentine’s Day in 1953. Martin and Lyon cofounded the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955 as the first social and political club for lesbians in the United States, and the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club as San Francisco’s first gay political organization in 1971. Martin and Lyon were the first couple married in San Francisco following Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decree to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses in 2004. Though their union was voided by the California Supreme Court later that year, they married again in 2008 when the Court legalized same-sex marriage in California.

Harvey Milk, Carol Ruth Silver (b. 1938), and Ella Hill Hutch (1923–81) all joined the Board of Supervisors after the same watershed 1977 election that shifted the balance of power to a new and more diverse generation of political leadership, which included Silver as the first unwed mother and Hutch as the first African American woman on the Board. Silver was a staunch political ally to Milk and Moscone, and was one of four people on Dan White’s list of targets for assassination due to her opposition to his return to office.

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Anti-Proposition 6 rally on the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall May 1, 1978 Photograph by Efren Convento Ramirez (1941–2017) Collection of Efren Ramirez; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 2010-05; R2020.0604.004

In a rally against Proposition 6, the bill that would prohibit openly gay men and women from working in California’s public schools, Supervisor Harvey Milk is joined by his friends and political allies, including Tom Ammiano (b. 1941), who is holding the “Gay Teachers & School Workers” sign. Ammiano was among the first openly gay public school teachers and co-organized the “No on 6” campaign with Harvey Milk, activist Henry “Hank” Wilson (1947–2008), and others. Ammiano would later win election to the city’s Board of Education, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and the California State Assembly.

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Harvey Milk being interviewed at a rally in San Francisco following the repeal of anti-discriminatory laws in Wichita, Kansas May 9, 1978 Rink Foto Courtesy the photographer; Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL GLC-0318; R2020.0602.016

With a nationwide effort to repeal protections for gays and lesbians launched in January 1977, San Francisco activists considered every electoral defeat to be a threat to all members of the LGBTQ community and rallied to nationalize resistance.

Harvey Milk was part of a coalition that successfully led the efforts to defeat California ballot measure Proposition 6, an initiative to prohibit openly gay men and women from working in California’s public schools. Milk’s protégé Cleve Jones (b. 1954) stands with a bullhorn to the left of a television reporter in this photograph. Jones, an intern for Supervisor Milk, was at City Hall on the day of Milk’s assassination. A lifelong political and human rights advocate, Jones later co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1983 and spearheaded the AIDS Memorial Quilt project in 1985.

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Harvey Milk participating in the Gay Freedom Day parade with campaign manager Anne Kronenberg behind the wheel June 25, 1978 Photograph by bil paul (b. 1943) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0607.001

Harvey Milk recruited political activist Anne Kronenberg (b. 1954) to run his campaign for supervisor in 1977. After their historic victory, Kronenberg served as a legislative aide to Milk during his all-too-brief tenure, playing a critical role in garnering support for the passage of San Francisco’s Gay Rights Ordinance. Continuing with a lifelong career in public service, in 2009, Kronenberg cofounded The Harvey Milk Foundation with Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk (b. 1960).

“Straights for Gay Rights” at the Gay Freedom Day parade June 25, 1978 Photograph by Marie Ueda (b. 1942) Collection of Marie Ueda; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 2006-12; R2020.0604.005

Japanese-born Marie Ueda began her career as a photojournalist covering the Carnation Revolution in Portugal (1974–76). Upon moving to San Francisco, Ueda documented the gay rights movement during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ueda donated more than 200 of her photographs to the GLBT Historical Society in 2006.

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“My Name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you” June 25, 1978 Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.017

Harvey Milk’s powerful statement on Gay Freedom Day in 1978 featured a challenge to President Jimmy Carter and a call for national action that would be answered with the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on October 14, 1979. The March drew more than 100,000 citizens to the nation’s capital and would be the first of four Marches on Washington for LGBTQ rights.

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“Gay brothers and sisters, what are you going to do about it?” June 25, 1978 Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.018

In this passage from the notes for his rousing address on Gay Freedom Day in 1978, Harvey Milk called on all gays and lesbians to come out of the closet so they could effectively “destroy the lies and distortions” of anti-gay politicians and defeat the discriminatory measures that were on the ballot across the United States at the time.

Supervisor Harvey Milk preparing to speak at Civic Center Plaza on Gay Freedom Day June 25, 1978 Photograph by Crawford Barton (1943–93) Collection of Crawford Barton; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 1993-11; R2020.0604.006

In a stirring address before a crowd of more than 200,000 people, Harvey Milk cited the hypocrisy of two of the most prominent opponents of LGBTQ rights and called on them to “Clean up your own house before you start telling lies about Gays. Don’t distort the Bible to hide your own sins; don’t change facts to lies; don’t look for cheap political advantage in playing upon people’s fears. Judging by the polls, even the youth of this state can tell you’re lying Anita Bryant, John Briggs—your deliberate lies and distortions, your unwillingness to face the truth, chills my blood—it reeks of madness.”

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Supervisor Harvey Milk addressing Gay Freedom Day celebrants gathered at San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza, with the first rainbow flags visible in the distance June 25, 1978 Photograph by Mick Hicks (b. 1947) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0601.002

In the months leading up to the 1978 Gay Freedom Day celebration in San Francisco, organizers in the LGBTQ community had been calling for a new symbol for the gay rights movement. A young activist named Gilbert Baker (1951–2017) envisioned a flag as an appropriate symbol to proclaim power for a people and a rainbow to represent the community’s diversity. Baker, Lynn Segerblom (AKA Faerie Argyle Rainbow, b. 1956), and James McNamara (1950–99) stitched dyed muslin sections together to create the first of a pair of rainbow flags measuring 30 by 60 feet, one of which resembled the American flag but with tie-dyed stars on a blue field. The flags were raised in San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza—a deliberate choice intended to reflect and encourage the worldwide struggle for gay rights.

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José Julio Sarria, Supervisor Harvey Milk, and Mavis (Marc “Marvin” Sterling, 1928-87) at the Empress Coronation, presenting a check from an anonymous donor to purchase uniforms for the first Gay and Lesbian Freedom Marching Band October 28, 1978 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.005

“United we stand, divided they arrest us one by one,” proclaimed political activist and drag performer José Julio Sarria (1922–2013), also known as Empress José I and The Widow Norton. Sarria’s performances at the Black Cat Café in the city’s North Beach neighborhood transformed the bohemian venue into a world-famous gay bar. Sarria campaigned for election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961 as the first openly gay candidate to run for public office in United States, garnering more than 6,000 votes and paving the way for other LGBTQ candidates, including Harvey Milk more than a decade later.

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Harvey Milk speaks with Gwenn Craig and Bill Kraus while awaiting first results from the polls on California’s controversial Proposition 6 November 7, 1978 Photograph by Slava “Sal” Veder (b. 1926) Associated Press/Sal Veder AP7811070122; R2020.0603.001

Activists Gwenn Craig (b. 1951) and William James “Bill” Kraus (1947–86) were among several community leaders who were instrumental in the local efforts to defeat Proposition 6, a ballot initiative to prohibit openly gay men and women from working in California’s public schools. The measure’s defeat at the ballot box in November was aided by public opposition from prominent politicians such as San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, California Governor Jerry Brown, former California Governor Ronald Reagan, and then-President Jimmy Carter.

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“Moscone, Milk Shot to Death” November 27, 1978 San Francisco Examiner Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.019

As a highly visible and openly gay politician and civil rights leader, Harvey Milk regularly received death threats. Tragically, on November 27, 1978, a disgruntled former supervisor named Dan White entered City Hall through an open basement window and assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in their offices.

Mourners march down Market Street in a candlelight vigil after the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk November 27, 1978 Photograph by Efren Convento Ramirez (1941–2017) Collection of Efren Ramirez; Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society OAC 2010-05; R2020.0604.007

“We were trapped there in the office as the police bundled up the bodies and I just thought, ‘Everything’s over.’ But then the sun went down and tens of thousands of people gathered here at this intersection and marched down to City Hall, filled Civic Center, and I realized I was, you know, completely wrong. It wasn’t over. It was just the beginning.”

Harvey Milk’s protégé and friend, activist Cleve Jones (b. 1954), radio interview on WFDD, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 2015 48

Condolence letter from San Francisco citizen George Waldo November 27, 1978 Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0602.020

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“Two Shall Become Ten Thousand” November 27, 1978 Photograph by Jim Gordon (b. 1938) Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL 00299A; R2020.0602.021

Mourner Ted Aldrich (1940–88) delivers his message outside of the Twin Peaks Tavern at the corner of Market and Castro streets as the crowd gathers together there to begin the first candlelight march called to remember the lives of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

“Verdict on Dan White” May 22, 1979 San Francisco Chronicle Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, Courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle/Polaris and the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SFPL R2020.0605.006

Though Defense Attorney Douglas Schmidt was aiming for a not guilty verdict, he repeatedly argued that the former police officer’s actions resulted from a “diminished capacity” due to depression brought about by Dan White’s binge consumption of junk food in the weeks preceding the shootings of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. In a shocking verdict, White received a voluntary manslaughter sentence of seven years and eight months, ultimately serving only five years before being released from prison.

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“Pity for the Privileged,” White Night Riots at San Francisco City Hall May 21, 1979 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.006

David Patrick Stucky (b. 1944) expresses his outrage at the sentencing of Dan White. Shortly after this image was captured, Stucky was struck by a projectile and was bleeding from his face. He made his way back to the Castro and into the Midnight Sun, where the bar owners locked the doors to protect their patrons from the ensuing police raids that evening. Stucky recalls his emotions when this image was captured. “I felt such a tremendous sense of betrayal.

Harvey’s murder was like a great sucker punch to all of us, and the verdict that followed was like being spat in the face…the community’s outrage was apparent. There was no stopping it.”

White Night Riots at City Hall May 21, 1979 Photograph by Judith Calson (b. 1942) The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley BANC PIC 2006.029:1984-08-xx.08.04-NEG; R2020.0608.001

Upon Dan White’s sentencing, outraged citizens of the San Francisco Bay Area marched to City Hall for a demonstration that turned violent, with enraged protesters resisting police containment. Injuries were sustained by police and protesters alike, and thirteen parked police cruisers were burnt to their shells. Rogue police officers later raided the Castro and attacked patrons at the Elephant Walk, a neighborhood bar.

The demonstration is remembered as the White Night Riots.

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“Harvey Milk Lives” graffiti on Castro Street May 22, 1979 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.007

Dan Nicoletta befriended Harvey Milk and Scott Smith at their Castro Camera store in 1974 and was invited to join the staff there the following year. Nicoletta took many of the now iconic images of Milk and has been instrumental in keeping Milk’s memory alive through exhibitions, publications, and networking. Nicoletta’s photograph of graffiti, taken the day after the White Night Riots, was a prescient forecast of Milk’s enduring legacy.

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About the Exhibition

The Photographers

In November 2018, SFO Museum organized a public call for material pertaining to the life and legacy of Supervisor Harvey Milk. A temporary exhibition of nearly one hundred historic images was installed on a 400-foot construction wall during the development of SFO’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1 for presentation from July 23, 2019 through early 2021. This exhibition features a selection of images from those submissions as well as items from archival collections at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) and the GLBT Historical Society. Much of the exhibited material is held in the Harvey Milk Archives–Scott Smith Collection, generously donated by his mother, Mrs. Elva Smith, to the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center (SFPL) in 1996 and to the GLBT Historical Society in 2002.

Crawford Barton (1943–93) Judith Calson (b. 1942) Joe Campbell (1936–2005) Marc Cohen (b. 1946) Donald Eckert (1941–2016) Jim Gordon (b. 1938) Mick Hicks (b. 1947) Harvey Milk (1930–78) Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) bil paul (b. 1943) Efren Convento Ramirez (1941–2017) Rink Foto Scott Smith (1948–95) Marie Ueda (b. 1942) Slava “Sal” Veder (b. 1926) David Waggoner (1947–90)

Resources Aretha, David. No Compromise: The Story of Harvey Milk.

Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds Press, 2010.

Black, Dustin Lance. Milk: A Pictorial History.

New York: Newmarket Press, 2009.

Black, Jason Edward, and Charles E. Morris III. An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk’s Speeches and Writings. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2013.

Faderman, Lillian. Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death.

New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018.

Shilts, Randy. The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.

Milk. Directed by Gus Van Sant; Focus Features, 2008.

The Times of Harvey Milk. Directed by Rob Epstein; New Yorker Films, 1984.

The Harvey Milk Foundation. “The Official Harvey Milk Biography.” milkfoundation.org

Temporary exhibition of Harvey Milk: Messenger of Hope on the construction wall of Harvey Milk Terminal 1, San Francisco International Airport July 24, 2019

Photo by SFO Museum 58

Acknowledgements Special thank you to photographer and historical consultant Daniel Nicoletta; journalist Randy Alfred; Susan Goldstein, City Archivist at the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library (SFPL); Dee Dee Kramer, Program Manager at the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center (SFPL); Christina Moretta, Photo Curator at the San Francisco History Center (SFPL); Tim Wilson, Librarian and Processing Archivist at the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center (SFPL); and Ramon Silvestre, Exhibitions and Collections Chief Registrar at the GLBT Historical Society Archives and Research Center, for their generous assistance with this exhibition.

GLBT Historical Society Founded in 1985, the GLBT Historical Society is recognized as a leader in the field of LGBTQ+ public history. Its mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit, and make accessible to the public materials and knowledge to support and promote understanding of LGBTQ+ history, culture, and arts in all their diversity. For more information, visit the GLBT Historical Society Museum at 4127 18th Street in San Francisco, or make an appointment to visit the GLBT Historical Society Archives & Research Center at www.glbthistory.org.

James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center (SFPL) Opened in 1996 as part of the new Main Library in San Francisco’s Civic Center, the Hormel Center was the first gay and lesbian center to open in a public library. The Center collects, preserves, and increases public access to library and archival materials by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people. The archives are located in the San Francisco History Center on the 6th floor, where they form an integral part of the City Archives and City history. For information, visit www.sfpl.org/sfhistory and www.sfpl.org/lgbtqia.

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The Harvey Milk Foundation The Harvey Milk Foundation was established in 2009 by Harvey’s nephew Stuart Milk and Anne Kronenberg, Harvey’s campaign manager, senior staff person, and close friend during the years that Harvey lived in San Francisco. The Foundation is guided by Harvey’s dream of a better tomorrow, one filled with hope for equality and a world without hate. Harvey Milk’s groundbreaking election in 1977 as one of the world’s first openly gay elected officials inspired millions of LGBTQ people around the world to live their lives with authenticity.

Harvey served less than a year in public office before his brutal assassination, but his life profoundly changed a city, state, nation, and a global community. His courage, passion, and commitment to justice rocked a country and stirred the very core of a marginalized and persecuted community. Harvey demonstrated what one person can accomplish with loud and clear opposition to the powerful forces of societal fear and prejudice. He created a vivid message of hope and offers an enduring vision for each of us to realize our dreams.

As a not-for-profit organization, the Foundation’s mission is to encourage local, regional, national, and global organizations to fully realize the power of Harvey Milk’s example and authenticity. The Foundation envisions governments that celebrate the rich and universally empowering diversity of humanity, where all individuals who have been historically excluded—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, the young, people with disabilities—are invested with full societal rights and without qualification.

Since the organization’s founding, Stuart Milk and Foundation volunteers have worked diligently to bring Harvey’s story to all corners of the globe. Today, the Foundation continues award-winning programming through partnerships with both civil society and governmental organizations to produce and present annual programs and conferences for the public, for educators, for youth outreach and support, and for policy and business leaders on the intersection of business and human rights. To learn more about the Foundation’s global initiatives to honor Harvey Milk’s life and realize his dream for universal justice, equality, and civil rights, please visit milkfoundation.org.

Harvey Milk Foundation co-founder Stuart Milk speaks at the unveiling of the USPS Harvey Milk Forever Stamp in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall May 28, 2014 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.008

Seated upon the dais before the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus left-toright are: Anne Kronenberg, former campaign manager and co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation; California State Senator Scott Wiener; former San Francisco District 9 Supervisor David Campos; San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee; and Rosemarie Fernandez, Vice President, Employee Resource Management, United States Postal Service.

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[front cover]

Supervisor Harvey Milk with romantic partner Jack Lira and supporters on his Inauguration Day walk to City Hall January 9, 1978 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) digital services by Mark Hanson Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.009

[back cover]

Candidate Harvey Milk in front of his Castro Camera store during his campaign for election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1977 Photograph by Daniel Nicoletta (b. 1954) digital services by Mark Hanson Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0605.010

[inside cover]

“Two Lovers” c. 1974 Photograph by Marc Cohen (b. 1946) Courtesy of the photographer R2020.0609.001

Photographer Marc Cohen’s close friendship with Harvey Milk and Scott Smith began during their work together with theatre director Tom O’Horgan on and off Broadway in the mid-1960s. Cohen took this snapshot while staying with Smith and Milk in their apartment above Castro Camera during a visit to San Francisco.

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Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks