?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS (S.I.R.)
A run of their newsletter Vector, their 1965 Directional Report, and many event programs. 56 items, various sizes up to standard letter size (280x215 mm; 11x8 1/2 inches) in one box; condition varies but generally strong. San Francisco, CA, bulk 1964-1968.
The Society for Individual Rights, or S.I.R., was founded in San Francisco in 1964, and within three years boasted of being "the largest homophile organization in the United States." With a mix of political activism and social events, they were an important bridge between the more conservative Mattachine Society of the 1950s and the free-wheeling activism of the post-Stonewall era. This collection of early S.I.R. publications comes from the collection of their founding treasurer William M. "Bill" Plath (1925-2002), who became the president in 1970. Included are:
"Vector," the Society's monthly newsletter, a complete run of the first 25 issues plus 11 duplicates. San Francisco, December 1964 to December 1966. No issue I:11 is present, but there are two completely different issues I:12, suggesting that one of them must be misnumbered. The first issue is present in three variants: one with an inserted December 1964 event calendar; one with a revised pages 3-4 with classified ads on the rear page; and a duplicate of the first version with the first leaf attached to layout paper. Additional duplicates: I:2 (two of them), I:6 (photostat), 1:9 (partly cut up with cello tape stains), II:5 (two of them), II:8, II:11, and II:12.
"Directional Report 1965." 21 mimeograph pages. A detailed history of S.I.R. with an organizational chart, mission statement, and long-range planning, created in January 1965 just months after its founding. One other copy listed in OCLC.
"1973 Directional Report." [17] photocopied pages, including a report by Plath as president.
"Vector Special Picture Issue of Halloween and Sirlebrity Capades of 1966."
13 programs from S.I.R. benefit events, including the Sirlebrity Capades of 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968; and theatrical performances of "Kiss the Sky", "Aida" (1967), "3 One Act Plays", "Pal Joey" (1967), "The Boy Friend"; "Once Upon a Mattress", "Anything Goes!", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Little Mary Sunshine."
With--2 issues of Town Talk, a San Francisco / Los Angeles Mattachine-affiliated newsletter, 15 August 1965 and October/November 1965; and 2 issues of Cruise News & World Report, San Francisco, December 1966 and February 1967.
Provenance: Collection of Bill Plath; his adopted son Michael Nelson Finn (1967-2021), who inherited Plath's 814 Grove Street home; purchased at the estate sale held at 814 Grove Street.
