As the GLBT Historical Society celebrates 20 years of preserving the community's memories, keepsakes and archival materials, the organization is also focused on the future, developing plans to expand and relocate from the city's museum way south of Market Street to the Castro District.
Spearheaded by Supervisor Bevan Dufty, the goal is to build a new museum and archival center adjacent to the Eureka Valley Harvey Milk Memorial Library at 16th Street near Market at a cost upwards of $15 million. Under an agreement with the city's Library Commission, which plans to start renovation of the branch next year, the society and Dufty have until late winter to secure the funds and win the commission's backing.
It is a Herculean task for a cultural institution run by a part-time executive director and a budget of $300,000. But one, society members and supporters argue, that can be realized, if not under the timeline it has been given.
"At this stage there are building blocks," said Dufty.
"Bevan is really excited about the project. He continues to do a tremendous amount of work to push it forward. We remain absolutely committed to working with him," said Terrence Kissack, the society's executive director, who described Dufty as the project's quarterback. "Our long term commitment is to establishing a world-class museum on GLBT history in San Francisco, that has been our goal for a number of years."
The project is necessary, said Kissack, because it will be the first time many LGBT people are exposed to their community's history. By remembering the past, he said today's LGBT leaders learn how to move the community's fight for acceptance and equal rights forward.
"History can be an incredibly powerful source for social and cultural change. When the U.S. Supreme Court justices struck down Texas' sodomy laws, they cited the work of historians," he said. "When people come into the historical society, they reconnect with a past they haven't been given access to in our schools. People's sense of themselves, their attachment to their community is deeply rooted in understanding that they belong to a community that has a history and traditions."
With less than six months to go before the society must present its plans to the Library Commission, Dufty said progress is being made but acknowledges the historical society will not have raised the needed funds in such a short period. Instead, he and the society hope to have devised strong enough plans to illustrate there is backing for the project and that sources of funding are available.
"Yes, we are still a work in progress but there is a lot of momentum. The visibility of the historical society has grown 10-fold," said Dufty. "With city and state resources we have the potential to build the foundation that a capital campaign can be launched on."
Already, Dufty secured $75,000 in city funds to conduct a feasibility study on the project, and the city is expected to seek bids from firms in October. The study will not only give a better picture of the project's cost, but will also examine if the museum needs to be built concurrently with the branch library's renovation. An architect's rendering of what the future museum could look like shows it adjacent to the branch library, as opposed to above the current structure.
"From an engineering standpoint it seems to me it could be sequenced and not simultaneous. I would really like to have firmer cost figures. I think it could be less than the $15 million," said Dufty. "If you talk to people in the construction field or cultural facilities field they think that could be a high number. I would like to get a number I feel some confidence about."
In November the historical society plans to apply for funding under a state parks bond measure passed in 2000 that set aside $270 million to help build cultural institutions. The funding is overseen by the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, part of the state library system. On July 7 Dufty and Kissack testified at the CCHE board meeting about the project.Â
"We plan to compete so it is conceivable we could get a grant for millions of dollars for this project," said Dufty.
The historical society's chances are augured by the fact that no LGBT projects received funding in the first round and the endowment's leaders have strong ties to San Francisco, as well as the gay community.
State Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), an out lesbian and current chair of the Legislature's LGBT Caucus, is an ex-officio member of the endowment's board. The endowment's executive director is Diane Matsuda, a San Francisco resident well-known in the city's Japanese American community. The endowment board chair is Susan Hildreth, who a year ago resigned as San Francisco chief librarian to become California's state librarian. Earlier this summer Dufty led Hildreth and Matsuda on a tour of the society's facilities.
"I think, in terms of unique focus, the museum there in San Francisco has quite a competitive edge," said Hildreth, who stressed the funds are not intended to support ongoing exhibits or institutions, but are "devoted to an agency with a capital project."
Through those projects it funds, Hildreth said the endowment, "is attempting to really tell the stories in California that are untold. When I say stories I mean buildings or permanent exhibits that tell underrepresented stories. We are also looking to see that the community is involved and supportive of the project."
Adding to the society's chances with the endowment, Hildreth said the board plans to divide the proposals into categories based on an organization's operating budget, making the competitive bidding process more equitable. However, she noted that the grants are a 50/50 match, and those projects that receive funding must be able to come up with the same amount locally.
"Agencies can request a lesser percentage match," she added. "It is something the GLBT Historical Society should think about and see if they want to do that. It is valid to do that. What we are more concerned about is having a project that appears buildable and sustainable."
Since taking the helm of the society in 2004, Kissack has nearly doubled its budget and his hours. Over the last three years the society opened two major shows in its exhibition space, one on gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk and a current show on the LGBT sports movement. A third show, on the early years of the AIDS epidemic, will open next June.
"When we were founded 20 years ago there was no institution protecting archival materials of our community. Materials were being sent to the dump," said Kissack. "If anything we were overwhelmed by our success. We have the largest collection of LGBT materials in the Bay Area."
Major gala
Next Thursday, September 29 the society is hosting its first major gala in several years to mark its anniversary and raise about $25,000. In a sign of its cachet with corporate donors, the society garnered $10,000 from Sterling Bank and Trust and the Seligman Family Foundation; $5,000 each from Washington Mutual and Providian Financial; and $2,500 from the San Francisco 49ers.
"We have always enjoyed strong community support. We intend to continue to honor our history and continue that work," said Kissack.
Another state funding option is a statewide library bond that could go before voters in 2006 or 2008. Dufty and Kissack have met with LGBT lawmakers to discuss the project and win support for seeing it earmarked for funding in the bond legislation.
Plans are under way for Dufty to form a steering committee to help him launch the capital campaign, and he is reaching out to straight allies who he argues also have a stake in securing the city's gay history for generations of residents to come.
"What many people say they love about San Francisco is the city's place in the gay and lesbian civil rights movement," said Dufty. "I have been taking a steady stream of visitors to the historical society."
One such visitor won over by her tour of the archives and exhibition space at 657 Mission Street is Dede Wilsey, the socialite and civic fundraiser who secured hundreds of millions of dollars in private funds for the new de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Not only willing to open her Rolodex of donors to Dufty, Wilsey said she has offered to be a de facto adviser on how to develop a capital campaign.
"There are very worthy people in the gay and lesbian community who should be commemorated for all time and I think it is the responsibility for all of us to see that happen, regardless of their sexual preference," said Wilsey, who gave a talk to the Commonwealth Club this week on how to build new cultural institutions. "I walked in and saw the exhibit on ice skating. It caught my eye because that is something I am personally interested in."
Her advice on how to reach the new museum's opening day is simple, Wilsey said.
"I think it depends on how passionate the people who are putting that museum together are about their project. If you really believe in it, it will happen and you will find money out there," she said.
Kissack said he is confident that the society's plans will be realized.
"Twenty years from now San Francisco will have a permanent museum of LGBT history, and we'll be celebrating our 40th anniversary at that site," he said.
The society's gala party, "A Home for Our History: 20th Anniversary Gala" takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, September 29 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street in San Francisco. Tickets cost $75 and can be purchased online at www.glbthistory.org or by calling (415) 777-5455.