JEANNE BARNEY (1938 2018) Archive of a journalist and activ

Sale 2514 - Lot 138

Price Realized: $ 2,375

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

JEANNE BARNEY (1938-2018)

Archive of a journalist and activist in the Los Angeles leather scene.

120 items in one box; minor wear. Vp, 1977-83 and undated.

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Additional Details

Jeanne C. Barney, a straight married woman, was a central figure in the gay male world of the Los Angeles leather scene throughout the 1970s, most notably as a founder and editor of the magazine Drummer in its several iterations, and also as an activist in support of gay men caught up in the legal system (see also the John Wojtowicz lot above). She is a member of the Leather Hall of Fame. In this archive, perhaps most important is a thick folder on Barney's role in an important legal case. In 1976, she had helped organize a "Slave Auction" fundraiser at the Mark IV Baths to benefit local gay charities. It was raided by the police with 40 arrests; Barney went to trial on procurement charges. Included are essays, articles, legal documents, and letters regarding the case.
Another folder includes correspondence with Robert Sullivan, a gay man who was convicted for a 1973 murder and, despite his insistence of innocence and the national efforts of activists, was executed in 1983. The folder includes 7 long and personal Autograph Letters Signed from Sullivan to Barney, 1977-80, as well as newsletters of his legal defense fund and other related papers. Other folders include typescripts of Barney's advice columns, "Smoke from Jeannie's Lamp" and "The Different Drummer"; 11 professional press photographs from various events including the 1976 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade (illustrated); and dozens of pieces of ephemera including event handbills, newsletters, and newspapers.