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Title: Roz Joseph photographs
Dates: 1975-1991
Collection Number: 2010-08
Creator/Collector:
Joseph, Roz
Extent: 7 linear feet (6 cartons, matted art)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: Roz Joseph (1926–2019) was a San Francisco-based photographer who in the mid-1970s photographed the pageantry and activism
of the city’s diverse drag cultures at Gay Freedom Day parades, Halloween celebrations, Imperial Court coronations and drag
and costume balls. The collection consists of a total of 63 matted color photographic prints, 7 notebooks of slides, interviews
and manuscript materials, and various ephemera.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright to most material has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission
to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist.
[Identification of item]. Roz Joseph photographs. Collection Number: 2010-08. GLBT Historical Society
The collection was originally donated to the GLBT Historical Society by Roz Joseph in December 2010, with multiple accretions
since that date, including a 2022 gift from Ricky Keller after Joseph’s death.
Biography/Administrative History
Roz Joseph was born Rosalind Malamud on June 30, 1926, in the Bronx. She received a bachelor’s degree in education in 1947
from City College of New York, where she also pursued postgraduate courses in art and photography. In 1948, she married advertising
professional and writer Elliott Joseph. The couple lived in Paris from 1950 to 1951, then returned to New York. While continuing
her work as a photographer, Joseph also developed a career in higher education, ultimately serving as executive assistant
to the chair of the City College of New York Psychology Department. Joseph began documenting drag queens in June 1975 at San
Francisco’s annual Gay Freedom Day Parade, and continued to document drag and Imperial Court culture through 1984. (Source:
GLBT Historical Society exhibit, "Reigning Queens, The Lost Photos of Roz Joseph," curated by Joseph Plaster).
Scope and Content of Collection
Roz Joseph (1926–2019) was a San Francisco-based photographer who in the mid-1970s, photographed the pageantry and activism
of the city’s diverse drag cultures at Gay Freedom Day parades, Halloween celebrations, Imperial Court coronations, and drag
and costume balls. The collection consists of a total of 63 matted color photographic prints, 7 notebooks of slides, interviews
and manuscript materials, and various ephemera. Subjects include Halloween on Polk Street, Tavern Guild events, Gay Freedom
Day (early Pride) parades and festivals from approximately 1975-1978, and other subjects. Also included is one postcard of
Joseph's 1984 showing at Paradox Gallery titled “Gender Bender”. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008194;
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001443. The collection also contains the manuscripts of the unpublished photography book
“Golden Gays”.
Photography
Drag
LGBTQ
Gender nonconformity
Gay men
Imperial Court System
Nightlife
Sex work
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)