I want to welcome people who are learning about our film through TLAvideo.com! We’re very excited that TLA has just started carrying THE FALL OF ‘55. You can see clips of the film on the front page of our site, www.FALLof55.com

If you’re not familiar with TLA, they’re one of the largest retailers of LGBT films in the world. Right now, they have film sales priced at $19.99! Your copy is ready to be shipped. Just visit http://www.tlavideo.com/product/2-0-297086_the-fall-of-55.html?sn=1

Talk soon,
Seth

You’re invited to join our “Friends of the Documentary” email list. I send out updates on the film, including different screening locations, DVD Sales and information about some of my other film projects.

Sign up today. Just send your email address to fallof55@gmail.com. Your address is never sold or traded, and we generally send no more than one email a month.

Talk soon,
Seth

I want to share the story of an adventure exploring Kentucky’s gay history during my recent visit.

Before the film screened at Morehead State University, I received a news clipping in the mail from Mike Esposito, the director of Student Activities. It was from the October 15, 1960 Lexington Herald, with the headline, “Two Female Impersonators Booked During Stage Show.” He had discovered it with a search of the newspaper’s archives.

The article talks about a Friday night bust at the Lyric Theater. Female impersonators “Tuesday Taylor” and headliner “Princess De Carlo” were charged under a lewdness ordinance.

The four-man detective team led by Sgt. James Perkins, raided the show minutes after [Tuesday Taylor] performed a “strip dance” and while [Princess De Carlo] was on stage during a singing act. Both men were dressed as women.

An estimated 200 persons, including some youngsters, attended the 9 p.m. show, the second of three performances.

Police allowed [Tuesday Taylor] to complete his twisting, grinding dance and stopped the show toward the end of [Princess De Carlo's] act. –LEXINGTON LEADER, 10/15/1960

It also says, “It was the second time in two weeks that police have arrested men posing as women.”

The article is light-hearted in some ways, including a description of the dresses the duo were wearing, with Tuesday in a “red one-piece dress, large hoop earrings and black high-heel shoes,” and the Princess in a “black chiffon dinner dress, long white gloves, and high-heeled shoes.” Fabulous! As if ripped straight from the society page.

I mentioned this case during my introduction of the film at MSU. It was great to be able to give a little local gay history, a set of arrests that happened just five years after the so-called “boys of Boise” cases.

The next day, Mike and I drove through the Lexington neighborhood where he thought the Lyric Theater had been located and we saw a shell of a building, in a state of deconstruction. What had the theater looked like? What was happening to it?

We headed to the Lexington Public Library and headed for the clipping files. We found a file on the theater, and learned of its rich history, with details like these:

A leading entertainment center in the African-American community, the Lyric Theater hosted first-run films, black films and entertainers like The Temptations, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, The Ink Spots, and Redd Foxx.

The Lyric’s decline began with the integration of Lexington’s other theaters and it closed in 1963. –CINEMATREASURES.ORG

See a photo of the theater in its prime HERE

What was going on? Were they tearing down this landmark? The place looked like it had been run down for years. HERE are pictures from 2000.

I read on in the small mound of newspaper clippings.

NO! They’re rebuilding the long-empty theater! Construction began over the summer and it looks like they’re striping the building to the bones.

City officials committed to restoring the Lyric as an African American arts and culture center… a design that calls for a 588-seat theater, a 2,000-square-foot African American culture museum and a 3,800-foot multipurpose room. –TOM EBLEN

So a happy ending for the Lyric.

While we were there, we also researched an unrelated character from Lexington’s past,”Sweet Evening Breeze,” born James Herndon, who dressed openly as a woman in Lexington from the early part of the 20th century until 1983.

Lexington is known for its unique eccentrics and characters, but none can surpass the notoriety and fame of “Sweet Evening Breeze”, who managed to live openly as an African-American gay crossdressing male in the early-mid twentieth century.

At a time in history when the idea of being “out” was nearly unthinkable, and when most who chose crossdressing not just as a hobby but as a lifestyle had to keep it on the DL, Sweet Evening Breeze would have none of that. Instead of sneaking and slinking around, she walked brazenly down the city streets of Lexington in broad daylight. Everyone in town knew “Miss Sweets” and loved her.– UNUSUALKENTUCKY.BLOGSPOT.COM

As for Tuesday and Princess, we don’t yet know what happened to them. If anyone in Lexington is interested in doing some legwork, we could probably find out more. And, more research could be done on the other arrests two weeks earlier.

“Female impersonators?” Was that really the biggest peril facing Lexington Police in 1960?

My trip to Lexington turned into a History Detectives-type treasure hunt, all because Mike had done a little searching! I believe many cities probably have stories like these from the middle of the 20th Century. It just takes people like Mike willing to do a little digging.

I want to offer a big, late THANK YOU to Morehead State University in Kentucky. THE FALL OF ‘55 showed there in October, and I represented the film for an introductory speech and Q&A session afterward. In my introduction, I talked about a newly rediscovered crackdown on female impersonators in Lexington, Kentucky in 1960. That’s discussed in another blog posting.

We had a great question and answer session after the film. The audience was eager to know more about Boise and the factors that contributed to the so-called “boys of Boise” scandal.

In particular, I want to thank Mike Esposito at Morehead State University, an old friend of the film. He helped coordinate our visit, and served as a terrific tour guide around Kentucky. He also discovered the story about the female impersonator crackdown.

Thanks to Toni Hobbs, who designed great promotional materials, as well as members of the Allyance group.

I appreciate the great Kentucky hospitality!

Talk soon,
Seth

I’m very excited to announce the upcoming Kentucky premier of THE FALL OF ‘55!

We show the film TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27th at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. It shows at 6 p.m. in the Rader Hall Theater, Room 112.

Special Thanks to Mike Esposito, the Director of Student Activities for helping coordinate the screening, and Toni Hobbs for doing a great job promoting the screening.

I’ll be introducing the film and doing audience Q&A afterward.

Hope to see you in Kentucky!

Talk soon,
Seth

I received this email from Alan Virta, our historian on THE FALL OF ‘55. I thought you might be interested as well!

Talk soon,
Seth

PBS Fronline will use 4 images from our Lyman Wilbur collection on their program next Tuesday night (Oct 13) which is about the war in Afghanistan. The slides can be seen now in a rough cut preview on the Frontline website HERE.

Alan Virta, Head of Special Collections and Associate Professor
Boise State University, Albertsons Library (Boise, Idaho)

Dear Friends,

I want to welcome members of the American Folklore Society — to Boise and to this website. The group is having its international conference in Boise October 22-26, and the city’s 1955 Morals Drive is a part of the program.

Conference members will have an opportunity to watch THE FALL OF ‘55 on Friday. After that, I appear for a talk with DR. JEANETTE ROSS, In the film, Dr. Ross talks about an oral history project she led discussing Boise in the 1950s. She will be able to talk more some of her observation, and may join me for some audience questions.

Then, a very noteworthy panel will discuss the Morals Drive in further depth. The group includes THE FALL OF ’55’s Historian ALAN VIRTA, along with LGBT Historian DR. PETER BOAG and former Idaho Supreme Court Justice BYRON JOHNSON, who appear in the film. It also features former Supreme Court Justice and Idaho Attorney General WAYNE KIDWELL and Grammy-nominated Singer/Songwriter and Boise native ROSALIE SORRELS. Johnson, Kidwell, Ross and Virta have all previously appeared in post-film discussions about the scandal, and they had excellent things to say.

Virta formerly worked for the Library of Congress, and he and I spent five years researching the cases. He also presents a slide show, “The Gay History in Idaho,” which has shown throughout the state.

Boag also wrote the forward for the most recent re-printing of the book, “The Boys of Boise.” Kidwell and Johnson both attended Boise High in the mid-1950s, and were friends with some of the people involved with the events. I’ve never heard Rosalie Sorrels speak about this, although I’m confident she will add great perspective. I’m very much looking forward to meeting her.

I think members of the American Folklore Society are in for a treat. Organizer Polly Stewart has gathered an impressive collection for this session. It should be a very insightful afternoon! Kudos, Polly!

More details about the conference are below and HERE.

Talk soon,
Seth

FRIDAY, 1:30—3:30 PM
Media Session: The Fall of ’55 (film, 82 min.), by Seth Randal
(Sponsored by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Allies Section; the History and Folklore Section; and the Politics, Folklore, and Social Justice Section; see also 13-03) Summit

Joe Goodwin (Ball State University), chair

Seth Randal (Boise, Idaho); Jeanette Ross (Boise, Idaho)

FRIDAY, 3:45—5:45 PM
Forum: An Engineered Panic: Boise’s Homosexual Scandal of
1955-1956
(Sponsored by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Allies Section; the History and Folklore Section; and the Politics, Folklore, and Social Justice Section; see also 12-03) Summit

Polly Stewart (Salisbury University, emerita), chair

Peter Boag (Washington State University); Byron Johnson (Boise, Idaho); Wayne Kidwell (Boise, Idaho); Rosalie Sorrels (Boise, Idaho); Alan Virta (Boise State University)

CONFERENCE DETAILS

Alan Virta’s slide show, “The Gay Life in Idaho,” is coming back to Boise — this coming Tuesday, October 5th at 5:30 p.m. in the BSU Student Union Room Simplot D. The slide show is for the BSU BGLAD group and anyone else interested in Idaho’s gay history going back to the 1890s! The slide show spends about five minutes talking about the Morals Drive, including the “Boys of Boise” book. It also shares a lot of other stories from Idaho LGBT history that you probably haven’t heard before.

I first met Alan Virta, the historian for “THE FALL OF ‘55,” when I attended a presentation of “The Gay Life in Idaho” back in 2000. After that, we collaborated on the research for the Boise Morals Drive. He had already done some background research for the slide show, and it was possible to get a running start on the broader research I needed to do for the film.

Alan says the best place to park for those without BSU parking stickers is the parking garage at Lincoln and University. Hope you can make it!

Talk soon,
Seth

FOR SCREENERS, IMAGES OR LICENSING CONTACT:
Maura King
Frameline
maura @ frameline.org
415/703-8650 x306

FOR COMMENTS OR INTERVIEWS CONTACT:
Seth Randal
www.FALLof55.com
fallof55 @ gmail.com
208/284-0982

FILM ON NOTORIOUS IDAHO SCANDAL COMING TO POCATELLO
Documentary THE FALL OF ‘55 Directed by Former Idaho Falls Resident

NOTE: DIRECTOR SETH RANDAL IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS IN POCATELLO ON 9/30 AND 10/1

BOISE, IDAHO – A film hailed as “the definitive work” (Barbara Wilcox, gay.com) on the notorious, so-called “boys of Boise” sex scandal is coming to Pocatello for the first time. “The Fall of ‘55″ will screen ONE NIGHT ONLY at the Idaho State University College of Education auditorium on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1 at 6:30 P.M. The public is encouraged to attend this free community screening.

“The Fall of ‘55 documents a misunderstood part of Idaho history,” said Director Seth Randal. “The morals drive changed lives, families and the city of Boise,” Randal said. “It’s important for Idahoans to understand what really happened — and why it happened.” Immediately after the screening, Randal will participate in a question-and-answer session with the audience.

In the fall of 1955, a gay sex scandal erupted in Boise, as teenage boys who had prostituted themselves to older men began to disclose their dalliances to authorities. Overnight, Boise’s homosexual underworld — comprised mostly of married family men — was splashed onto headlines and thrust into the national spotlight. Reputations were shattered and lives ruined as the rumors and accusations flew. What followed was a classic witch-hunt as the focus shifted to all of Boise’s homosexual community, even men involved with other consenting adults.

Randal, a one-time East Idaho resident and former news producer/fill-in reporter at an Idaho Falls TV station, led an Idaho team to produce The Fall of ‘55. He and Boise State University archivist Alan Virta conducted research and interviews throughout the country over five years, uncovering many details never before revealed. The film brings the scandal alive through new and archival interviews, vintage letters, news articles, film and photographs.

The documentary has appeared at film festivals and community events throughout the country, including in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Boise and Spokane. It is also being used as as an educational tool at universities including American University, Boise State, Columbia College Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, and the Universities of Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia.

“In 1955 Boise, a lot of married men were cheating on their wives with other men. So when this scandal erupted, it caused enormous ripples through the entire community,” Randal said. “It’s still happening, possibly even more so in smaller towns.”

“The Boise morals drive made national headlines, and the consequences continue even today. This happened more than 50 years ago, but we believe the story still has great relevance to Idaho — and America — today,” Randal said.

The Idaho State University Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center and ISU Genesis Project are sponsoring the screening and talk, with generous support from the Idaho Humanities Council.

###

Please join us for a free screening of THE FALL OF ‘55 at Idaho State University in Pocatello! It will show Thursday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the ISU College of Education auditorium. The film is showing as part of National Coming Out Day festivities.

I’ll be at ISU for a short introduction and then audience questions after the screening. This is an exciting event for me because I used to live in nearby Idaho Falls, where I worked at one of the TV stations, and also was nearly an ISU student. I hope to see many of my old friends from Idaho Falls!

The Idaho State University Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center and ISU Genesis Project are sponsoring the event with generous support from the Idaho Humanities Council. The Anderson Center serves as the focal point on campus for the consideration of gender issues.

National Coming Out Day is an internationally observed civil awareness day for discussion about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. First observed in 1987, the goal has been to facilitate LGBT and straight allies to live openly and talk about their support for equality at home, at work and in their communities.

Thanks to everyone at ISU who has worked to put this event together! CLICK HERE to learn more about this community event!

Talk soon,
Seth