The Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA) Podcast

The Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA) presents “The Story of Richard Mack and Manny’s Den: How a Small Business Owner in a College Town Won LGBTQ Rights in the Years before Stonewall."

Manny's Den was a bar and restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey that was owned and operated by Manny and Leah Mack and their son Richard. In 1965, state agents of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) raided Manny's Den. The ABC suspended the liquor license of Manny's Den because the patrons were gay. The Macks then challenged the suspension and took the case to the New Jersey Supreme Court, where ultimately, the court's ruling in One Eleven Wines & Liquors v. the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control would legalize gay bars in the state and add momentum to the growing LGBTQ rights movement.

This episode explores this important but little-known event through the oral history interviews of the Richard Mack, patrons and employees of The Den, and students at Rutgers. Through archival interviews, ROHA delves into the history of Manny's Den and the Mack Family's involvement in the landmark legal case that coalesced with the simmering gay rights movement two years before the Stonewall Rebellion. Following the legal victory in 1967, Manny's Den continued to be a hub for Rutgers students and New Brunswick community members. This episode shines a light on three generations of the Mack family owning the business and navigating changes in New Brunswick and in society.

To access the full interview transcripts featured in the podcast, visit the ROHA website at https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/ and search the alphabetical index or topical indexes. To access the podcast transcript, visit https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/images/PDFs/The%20Story%20of%20Richard%20Mack%20and%20Mannys%20Den.pdf

Opening and closing song: Piano Sonata no. 11, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Public Domain

This episode explores the life of Carl N. Shuster, Jr., a member of the Rutgers Class of 1942 and veteran of the Second World War. In this episode, Patrick Mullen (SAS '24) shines a spotlight on Carl Shuster and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, going to college on the banks of the Raritan, and flying missions with the Eighth Air Force during World War II. Shuster graduated from Rutgers and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army. He initially served in the headquarters company of a unit in the 100th Infantry Division. Then, he transferred into the Army Air Forces and trained as a B-17 navigator. Based in England, he participated in missions as a part of the 95th Bomb Group, Third Bomb Division. In 1944-'45, Shuster flew in 27 missions, many as the lead plane navigator. After the conclusion of his service, he attended graduate school at Rutgers and later New York University, studying marine biology. Over the course of his career, Shuster became the leading authority on the American Horseshoe Crab. In 2001, in recognition of Shuster’s contributions to the field of horseshoe crab science and conservation, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission set aside hundreds of square miles in the Atlantic Ocean off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts as the “Carl N. Shuster, Jr., Horseshoe Crab Reserve.” He passed away at the age of one hundred in 2020.

To access the full transcript of ROHA’s interview, led by Kurt Piehler visit: https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/alphabetical-index/interviewees/2709-shuster-jr-carl-n

In 1946, Kamlu Gulrajani was born in what is now Pakistan to a Sindhi-Hindu family. This episode traces her life, from Pakistan to India to the United States, and examines historical intersections, such as her family's migration during the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 and the ostracization of her mother as a result of leaving an abusive marriage. ROHA shines a spotlight on Kamlu's journey: growing up in Mumbai, going on to higher education, immigrating to the United States, transitioning to a career in America, and engaging in the communities around her through cultural and philanthropic endeavors. To access the full transcript of ROHA Director Shaun Illingworth's interview of Kamlu Gulrajani, visit https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/alphabetical-index/interviewees/2603-gulrajani-kamlu

To access the podcast transcript, visit https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/images/PDFs/8_ROHA_Spotlight_Podcast_of_Kamlu_Gulrajani_Script.pdf

Opening and closing song: Piano Sonata no. 11, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Public Domain

In light of the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX in the Educational Amendments of 1972, this podcast will explore, through the lens of oral history, what it was like for women athletes and coaches in the era before this groundbreaking legislation. Marge Howes was a pioneering athlete and collegiate coach and administrator who laid the foundation for women's athletics at Rutgers University and beyond in the mid-20th century. To access the full transcript of Rutgers Professor of History Paul Clemens' interview of Howes in 2012, visit https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/interviews-category-list/2139-howes-marge

To access the podcast transcript, visit https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/images/PDFs/7_ROHA_Spotlight_Podcast_of_Marge_Howes_Transcript.pdf

Opening and closing song: Piano Sonata no. 11, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Public Domain

In this ROHA Podcast, Isabella Kolic, Rutgers Class of '21, examines the concept of "the enemy" during the Cold War. This documentary podcast draws from interviews in the Rutgers Oral History Archives of American veterans and highlights some of the varied perspectives of those who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, focusing on service members who fought the Cold War on the ground and met the enemy head on. Who or what was the enemy for military personnel, and how did that differ from the enemy espoused in the dominant anti-Communist narrative? This podcast will explore those questions. To read the oral history interviews in ROHA's collection, visit the ROHA website at https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

This episode is a ROHA Spotlight of Harvey Grimsley, World War II veteran, Rutgers Athletic Hall of Famer, and leading scorer during his football career in the late 1940s at Rutgers. In this podcast, Sofia Ruiz, Rutgers Class of 2021, traces the life and times of Grimsley, from his birth in Haleburg, Alabama to his family's migration to New Jersey, from his service in a segregated unit in Europe during the Second World War to his attending Rutgers on the GI Bill. To read the full transcript of ROHA Director Shaun Illingworth's oral history interview with Harvey Grimsley, visit https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/interviewees/2207-grimsley-harvey

In this podcast interview, Pamela Walker discusses the oral history interviews she conducted of Black women in the Mississippi Delta as a part of her research into the Box Project and race, gender and political participation in 1960s-era social movements. Walker is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University and the 2018 recipient of the John W. Chambers Oral History Graduate Fellowship.

This episode is a ROHA Spotlight of Richard D. Heffner, the renowned broadcaster, educator and historian.

In this episode, Kathryn Tracy Rizzi of the Rutgers Oral History Archives interviews Caitlin Wiesner about the oral history interviews she conducted while researching the role of African American women in the feminist movement against sexual violence from 1974 to 1994. Wiesner, the John W. Chambers Oral History Graduate Fellow, is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of History, Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences.

The ROHA Podcast launches its first episode with a Veterans Day special!

Edwin Kolodziej (1924-2018), born in Sayreville, NJ, served in the Regimental Combat Scouts of the 379th Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, US Army, in Europe during World War II. This podcast draws on many excerpts from Ed's oral histories to reveal, in his own words, what life was like for a combat infantryman in the Second World War.

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Co-Produced by Shaun Illingworth, Kathryn Rizzi and Zachary Batista

Written by Zachary Batista

Sound Engineer: Donald Koger

Special Thanks to the family of Ed Kolodziej. Recorded in the Rutgers College Class of 1948 Sound Booth.

A Rutgers Oral History Archives Production. All Rights Reserved. The Rutgers Oral History Archives is a center in the History Department, School of Arts and Sciences, at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Rutgers Oral History Archives

Department of History

1 Spring Street, Room 417

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu