City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves: Lesbian and Gay Philadelphia, 1945-1972 / Edition 1

by Marc Stein

Overview

Marc Stein's City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves is refreshing for at least two reasons: it centers on a city that is not generally associated with a vibrant gay and lesbian culture, and it shows that a community was forming long before the Stonewall rebellion. In this lively and well received book, Marc Stein brings to life the neighborhood bars and clubs where people gathered and the political issues that rallied the community. He reminds us that Philadelphians were leaders in the national gay and lesbian movement and, in doing so, suggests that New York and San Francisco have for too long obscured the contributions of other cities to gay culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592131303
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	654,003
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

Table of Contents

Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One - Everyday Geographies, 1945-1972
1. Your Place or Mine?: Residential Zones in the "City of Neighborhoods"
2. "No-Man's Land": Commercial Districts in the "Quaker City"
3. The Death and Life of Public Space in the "Private City"
Part Two - Public Cultures, 1945-1960
4. "The Most Fabulous Faggot in the Land"
5. The "Objectionable" Walt Whitman Bridge
6. Rizzo's Raiders and Beaten Beats
Part Three - Political Movements, 1960-1969
7. "Come Out! Come Out! Wherever You Are!" 1960
8. "Earnestly Seeking Respectability," 1960-1963
9. "News for 'Queers' and Fiction for 'Perverts,'" 1963-1967
10. "The Masculine-Feminine Mystique," 1967-1969
Part Four - Twin Revolutions? 1969-1972
11. "Turning Points," 1969-1970
12. Gay Liberation in the "Birthplace of the Nation," 1970-1971
13. Radicalesbian Feminism in "Fillydykia," 1971-1972
Conclusion
Sexual Pride, Sexual Conservatism
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

Until now, historians have ignored Philadelphia's gay history, focusing instead on that of New York or San Francisco. An assistant professor of history at Toronto's York University, Stein argues that Philly's history is equally colorful and unique. Drawing on extensive interviews with people involved in the city's gay community over the last 60 years, local gay and mainstream publications and minutes from the meetings of both the city government and homosexual groups, Stein charts the growth of a vibrant pre-Stonewall gay and lesbian community, its subsequent political struggles and grassroots efforts and its emergence in the radical gay movement of the 1970s. He is at his best when describing the relationship between gay men and lesbians amid the city's complex network of neighborhoods and their successes and difficulties in working on political and social projects together. And when he turns his focus to smaller details--such as the Catholic Church's campaign against naming a new bridge after Walt Whitman or the impact on national politics of Drum, a 1960s Philly-based gay magazine--the result can be engaging and informative. In the end, however, this well-intentioned book too often reads like a doctoral thesis, with insights that are often obvious or academic. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The history of sexual minorities has advanced to the point where historians can focus on tight studies of local conditions. Stein's detailed study of lesbian and gay Philadelphia from 1945 to 1972 will set the pattern for future studies of its kind. Theoretically sophisticated yet accessible, it is important beyond the bounds of concern of gays, lesbians, or Philadelphia. Stein (history, York Univ., Toronto) weaves a dense, richly documented narrative of the interactions of men and women and their political growing pains as they wage a human-rights struggle during tumultuous times and against an oppressive city government. He also portrays the development of a nascent and diverse subculture. Those who find historical writing too obscure for the average reader will appreciate Stein's evocative, insightful prose. By demonstrating how groups of various sexual and political orientations can work together, he amends the adage "the personal is political," adding that the local reveals the nation. Highly recommended.--David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib., Philadelphia Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Library Journal

Aside from its virtues of charm, curiosity and fluency, Marc Stein's book on the history of lesbian and gay experience in post-war Philadelphia is interesting for the way that it skilfully embodies several dominant tendencies in recent American historiography.
—Times Literary Supplement

Kate Fullbrook