Welcome back to Q4Q! This week, queer historian Tyler Albertario & Haley wade through the history of the correspondence club, Contact. The penpal club served as a clandestine way for homosexual correspondents to connect during the 1920s & ‘30s. Learn about notable members like Henry Gerber, Manuel boyFrank, and Frank McCourt–who’s letters form the foundation of the present knowledge of the club’s history. 

Do you want to hear more from Tyler? Follow him on Twitter @TylerAlbertario.

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Music strummed by Omar Nassar. Cover art by Bekah Rich. 

Sources:

Jeremy Sorese, “Henry Gerber is the Founder of the Society for Human Rights, the First Known Homosexual Organization in the United States,” Shandaken Projects, October 2020. http://www.shandakenprojects.org/otherassets/HenryGerber_Online.pdf

Letter to Merlin Wand, May 26, 1928 ("CONTACTS..."), Internet: Speculative Fiction database.

Rob Roehm, “Contact without Friction”, Howard History: The Life & Times of Robert E. Howard, March 8, 2021. https://howardhistory.com/category/letters/

Jim Elledge, An Angel in Sodom: Henry Gerber and  the Birth of the Gay Rights Movement, Chicago Review Press, 2022. 

Subject Files Series 3.1916-1984 Bulk: Contacts, Date: 1935, Manuscript Number: Box 8, Folder 9, Source Library: ONE National Gay & Lesbian, Archives, Archive: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II Collection: Manuel boyFrank Papers 

Subject Files Series 3.1916-1984 Bulk: Contact, Date: 1945, Manuscript Number: Box 5, Folder 28Source Library: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Archive: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II Collection: Manuel boyFrank Papers

 boyFrank (Manuel) papers Finding Aid, Online Archive of California, https://oac.cdlib.org/view?style=oac4;view=dsc;docId=c8ff3t5b;query=Contacts#hitNum5

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