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Blue Max Motorcycle Club records
Coll2013-055
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Blue Max Motorcycle Club records
creator:
Blue Max Motorcycle Club
creator:
Hegge, Hal (Hjalmer M.)
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013-055
Physical Description:
17.2 Linear Feet
2 archive boxes, 15 archive cartons, and 7 flat archive boxes.
Date (inclusive): 1922-1996
Abstract: Administrative records, slides, photographs, film, video recordings, sound recordings, objects, textiles, buttons, and ephemera
from the Blue Max Motorcycle Club, a gay motorcycle club founded in Los Angeles in 1968. The materials document club events
such as motorcycle runs, anniversary celebrations, fundraisers, officer ceremonies, gay pride festivities, and other events.
Excerpted from Little Fairy on the Prairie, Red Baron 1991 program: "The Blue Max Motorcycle Club was founded on June 7, 1968
with an original membership of eleven, and became incorporated on June 23, 1968. In the Fall of 1968, we joined the Council
of Southern California Motorcycle Clubs. The first chapter of "The Rose of No Man's Land" was presented at Badger Flats in
1968. Over the years, our membership has grown as high as twenty-three and dropped as low as seven."
Blue Max held monthly meetings, organized benefits for community groups, and organized annual motorcycle runs throughout California.
The Blue Max was known for its reverence of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia and the Red Baron with members' uniforms resembling
Prussian military regalia. In 1969, Blue Max organized its first annual Red Baron Run. Hal Hegge, the donor of this collection,
served as one of Blue Max's early presidents and Chancellors and was involved with the club from its founding through the
late 1970s. Blue Max continued to operate into the 1990s.
The collection is open to researchers. The films in this collection are deposited in conjunction with the Outfest Legacy Project
at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Advance notice is required for researchers wishing to access these materials.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Hal Hegge, circa 1996.
[Box/folder #, or item name] Blue Max Motorcycle Club Records, Coll2013-055, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
A portion of this collection was formerly housed in box #103-358 and A235. Collection processed by Rachel Roque and Loni Shibuyama,
December 2014.
The collection comprises administrative records, slides, photographs, film, video recordings, sound recordings, objects, textiles,
buttons, and ephemera from the Blue Max Motorcycle Club, a gay motorcycle club founded in Los Angeles in 1968. The administrative
records and scrapbooks document Blue Max's activities, such as its Red Baron motorcycle runs, beer busts, monthly meetings,
officer ceremonies, and fundraisers; as well as events of other motorcycle clubs and the Council of Southern California Motorcycle
Clubs. The photographs, slides, and audiovisual material document Blue Max and other motorcycle clubs' events. The objects,
textiles, and ephemera include buttons from Blue Max and several other motorcycle clubs, accoutrements for Blue Max's elaborate
uniforms, and flags and props likely used for Blue Max's annual performance, "The Rose of No Man's Land." Personal papers
and photographs from Hal Hegge are also included.
This collection is divided into five series:
Series 1. Administrative records
Series 2. Photographs and slides
Series 3. Film and video recordings
Series 4. Sound recordings
Series 5. Objects, textiles, and ephemera
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Acetate film
Buttons (information artifacts)
Gay men
Gay motorcycle clubs -- Los Angeles, Calif.
Slides (photographs)
Sound recordings
Videotapes
Blue Max Motorcycle Club
Hegge, Hal (Hjalmer M.)