Oral Histories
Recorded memories from people connected to sites on the map. Each interview has its full recording and transcript.
Ann Bradley
Ann Bradley discusses her work at A Different Light bookstore and the Lesbian Writers Series she founded.
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Ann Giagni
Ann Giagni has been president of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives since 1996. She describes the history of the archives, including the decision not to move into a shared building with ONE Archives at USC, and its partnership with UCLA.
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Angela Brinskele
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives Communications Manager Angela Brinskele remembers lesbian and queer spaces along Santa Monica Boulevard and in Sunset Junction, including The French Market, The Palms, and A Different Light Bookstore. She also describes her experiences as a photographer in the 1980s and 1990s and how lesbian visibility changed over time.
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Carol Przybycien
Carol Przybycien, an original board member of Connexxus/Centro de Mujeres, discusses the lesbian social services agency's history.
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Geri Bonillas
Geri Bonillas discusses her experiences as a bartender at the lesbian bar The Palms and as a participant in lesbian nightlife along Santa Monica Boulevard.
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Jason Shokrian
Jason Shokrian, former owner of The Normandie Room and The Palms, describes the bars’ histories and their place in West Hollywood’s lesbian and LGBTQ community.
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Jeannette Bronson
Black lesbian activist Jeannette Bronson discusses her experiences in the West Hollywood and Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community beginning in her teenage years in the 1980s. She remembers the French Market, the nightclub Peanuts, and volunteering at West Hollywood Pride from the mid 1980s to 1990s.
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Lillian Faderman
Historian Lillian Faderman details Los Angeles lesbian bar culture from the 1920s through the 1980s, drawing on both her research and her own life experiences.
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Linda Spheeris
Linda Spheeris describes the Hollywood lesbian bar scene and West side lesbian social life in the 1970s. She discusses the bar and nightclub Bacchanal 70, bar softball teams, and some of her past relationships.
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Lynn Ballen
Lynn Ballen remembers A Different Light with Jeanne Córdova, Friday gatherings at the French Market with Sallie Fiske, the Palms, and efforts to preserve lesbian historic sites.
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Marcia Schwemer and Jeri Deitrick
Marcia Schwemer and Jeri Deitrick have volunteered at the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives since 1989 and 1993. They describe the archives’ early years and the ACT UP Women’s Caucus that Deitrick started, and explain why lesbians need an archive of their own.
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Marie Cartier
Theologian, poet, and performance artist Dr. Marie Cartier remembers driving cross country along Route 66 and tells stories about the lesbian spaces along Santa Monica Boulevard.
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Marna Deitch
Marna Deitch describes lesbian community spaces along Santa Monica Boulevard, her experiences working at The Palms and Peanuts, and her initial journey from New York to West Hollywood on motorcycle in 1985.
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Odalys Nanin
Playwright and producer Odalys Nanin ran Macha Theatre in the old Globe Playhouse in West Hollywood from 2007. She describes how she leased and remodeled the theater and the Latina lesbian plays she wrote and staged there.
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Paula Goldberg
Paula Goldberg, director of the short film Traveling Companion, describes how the lesbian coffee shop Little Frida’s inspired her film.
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Rita Gonzales
Latina lesbian activist Rita Gonzales recounts lesbian and Latino community spaces along Santa Monica Boulevard, in Silver Lake, and in the San Fernando Valley.
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Vanessa Craig
Event organizer Vanessa Craig describes lesbian and queer nightlife in Los Angeles from the late 1990s through the 2010s. Craig organized diverse, artistic, and kinky LGBTQ parties mainly on the East side of Los Angeles.
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