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3. Cleaning House (1953-54)
- University of Illinois Press
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3 Cleaning House (1953–54) Dale’s life revolved around the court case. . . . It was a huge focus of his life, defined him and his path for the remainder of his days. He could never escape it, could never forget it when it became a burden. He did not easily carry that enormous weight of the icon that had landed on his shoulders, but it was his destiny. —Patrick Dale Porter (May 26, 2000, letter to Jim Schneider) I am aware of my almost total preoccupation with the male and male sexuality. It is life-long. I prefer to think that I’d not have accomplished my bit without it instead of the depressing possibility that I’d have done more. —Dale Jennings (October 19, 1990, letter to Don Slater) This chapter documents a paradoxical time of prosperity and growth on the one hand, internal strife and ultimatums on the other. When it became clear in 1953 that they were on to something, the men of ONE began jockeying for power. Who would be the first to reap the financial reward? As the organization became solvent—the distribution for ONE Magazine rose from 500 to 6,000 copies—many started looking at the dollars. All of a sudden, ONE’s integrative ideals went right out the window and, over the course of the year, African American members fell by the wayside and the women of ONE became marginalized and unsung. This was a time of purging 42 . pre-gay l.a. for both ONE and Mattachine. Despite the copious metaphors of inclusion bantered about in the formative days, white (non-Communist) men would control both organizations by the year’s end. Many of the facts, dates, and political wrangling presented in this chapter have been reconstructed almost entirely from historic documents, especially minutes of business and editorial meetings. Although I have tried to identify and present salient passages and citations pertaining most directly to the institutional history of ONE and the evolution of the Los Angeles–based movement, there are as many different ways of presenting and interpreting this information as there are thoughtful minds interested in this story. Needless to say, there is far more information available than is presented here, as any narrative history is an act of asyndeton, of necessity omitting more than it can possibly include. Readers who want more details of these meetings and events are encouraged to visit the history section of the HIC Web site where the minutes and other documents referred to herein are available for public perusal (www.tangentgroup.org). Readers will also find posted several “who’s-on-first” time lines to help the reader and other researchers to keep track of ONE’s board members, editors, and corporate correspondence. In its early days, ONE was distributed throughout the Los Angeles area in a variety of ways. At first, many newsstands refused to distribute the magazine. Martin Block recalls distributing ONE in the Los Angeles bars: “Only after the bar sales proved that the magazines could make a profit did a few newsstand owners agree to stock copies. As soon as they did, 90 percent of sales were by single copies, rather than subscription. By the end of the decade, the three magazines [ONE, The Ladder, and Mattachine Review] were selling at dozens of newsstands and adult bookstores across the country, with ONE boasting that it was selling copies in every state” (Streitmatter 1995, 28–29). Increasingly, local subscribers helped to bolsterONE’s sales, and the editors relied increasingly on the post office to distribute the magazine. Of course, via post or newsstand, it usually came discreetly wrapped in a plain brown wrapper. The editorial board was listed on the masthead of the first six issues as Block, Jennings, and Slater, with William Lambert noted as business manager and Donald Webster Cory as contributing editor. Jennings, Block, and Antonio Sanchez signed ONE’s articles of incorporation on February 7, 1953, and the State of California granted ONE’s charter on May 27. This document established the primary and ancillary missions of ONE, Incorporated, which were first and foremost to publish ONE Magazine: “The specific and primary purposes for which this corporation was formed are to publish and disseminate a magazine dealing primarily with homo- [54.160.133.33] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:09 GMT) cleaning house (1953–54) . 43 sexuality from the scientific, historical and critical point of view, and to aid in the social integration and rehabilitation...