Elephant Walk window

Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS

GLBT Historical Society

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, California 94103

(415) 777-5455

reference@glbthistory.org

http://www.glbthistory.org/

2023

Descriptive Summary

Title: Elephant Walk window

Dates: circa 1974

Collection Number: 2023-80

Creator/Collector: Elephant Walk

Extent: 7 linear feet (1 wood-framed, etched glass window)

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

San Francisco, California 94103

Abstract: This is a window from the Elephant Walk. The Elephant Walk was a restaurant and bar that operated in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood from 1974 to 1995. According to Fred Rogers, who owned the restaurant from 1974 to 1985, the restaurant’s elephant logo was designed by an employee in 1974 and subsequently etched onto its glass windows. As a gay establishment, the Elephant Walk was notable in its time for having large, glass windows that opened onto the street. On May 21, 1979, during the White Night Riots, San Francisco Police Department officers ransacked the restaurant and smashed several windows. A few windows survived that night, remaining installed at the Elephant Walk and a successor restaurant at that location, Harvey’s, until 2023.

Language of Material: English

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist. Permission for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material is given on behalf of the GLBT Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Elephant Walk window. Collection Number: 2023-80. GLBT Historical Society

Acquisition Information

Gift of Misha Langley, May 2023.

Scope and Content of Collection

This is a window from the Elephant Walk. The Elephant Walk was a restaurant and bar that operated in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood from 1974 to 1995. According to Fred Rogers, who owned the restaurant from 1974 to 1985, the restaurant’s elephant logo was designed by an employee in 1974 and subsequently etched onto its glass windows. As a gay establishment, the Elephant Walk was notable in its time for having large, glass windows that opened onto the street. On May 21, 1979, during the White Night Riots, San Francisco Police Department officers ransacked the restaurant and smashed several windows. A few windows survived that night, remaining installed at the Elephant Walk and a successor restaurant at that location, Harvey’s, until 2023.

Indexing Terms

LGBTQ

Nightlife

Castro (San Francisco, Calif.)