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Finding aid of the Rob Cole Papers
Coll2009-019
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Table of contents
Title: Rob Cole papers
Dates: 1950-2006
Bulk Dates: (bulk
1970-1985)
Collection number: Coll2009-019
Creator:
Cole, Rob (Frederick
Robinson)
Collection Size: 1 records storage box + 8
cartons + 2 half-cartons + 7 oversize boxes + 3 shoeboxes.
13.5 linear feet.
Repository:
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Abstract: The collection consists of materials relating to
the life of Rob Cole, in particular his career as editor of the
Advocate (1970-1974), as unnamed
contributor to the
Forum of Southern California (1974), and
as founder and first editor of
NewsWest (1975). The documents, including
correspondence, draft articles, administrative, legal, and financial records,
shed light on Cole's role as the first professional newspaperman to run a gay
newspaper in Los Angeles. The collection also contains the newsroom copy of the
Advocate for 1967-1968, the two issues of
the
Forum of Southern California (1974), an
incomplete run of
NewsWest (1975-1977), and the single issue
of Out! which succeeded
NewsWest in 1977. The print material is
supplemented by a significant number of photographs published by or submitted
to the
Advocate,
Forum, and
NewsWest. The collection also contains
materials documenting Cole's association with the Christopher Street West
Association, of which he was a founder. The records include board minutes,
souvenir programs, newsletter and public relations campaign materials,
photographs, videotapes, buttons, and t-shirts.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access
restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in
writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner.
Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in
the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant
copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for
all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).
Box #, folder/item #, Rob Cole papers, Coll2009-019, ONE National Gay
and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Gift of Robert W. McCoard, December 16, 2007, and August 17, 2008.
Cole's writings (box 3, folders 23-27, and box 4, folders 1-16), and
certain materials relating to
NewsWest (box 1, folders 16-19 and 22-23,
and box 5, folder 6) found in ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, box
104-160, and added to collection during processing. Collection processed by
Michael P. Palmer, December 31, 2009.
Frederick Robinson Cole was born in Dallas,Texas, on July 27, 1930. A
self-described "loner", he suppressed his homosexuality until the September
1969, when, while on vacation in Los Angeles, he was introduced to the newly
formed Metropolitan Community Church. The following year, after 15 years as an
editor at the
Dallas Times-Herald, he moved to Los Angeles
and joined the
Advocate as news editor, the first news
professional to work at the paper. During his tenure, Cole transformed the
paper from a local Los Angeles bar rag to a respectable newspaper with national
news coverage. Cole not only assigned and edited stories, but often wrote them,
covering serious issues such as conditions for gays in jails, psychiatric
abuse, and gays in religion.
Cole served on the
Advocate until mid-1971, when homesickness
and conflicts with the owners convinced him to resign and return to his former
job in Dallas. He returned to the
Advocate in September 1971, but again
resigned at the end of December 1973, after renewed conflicts with the owners.
After working on the short-lived GLBT newspaper
Forum of Southern California, he returned to
the
Advocate for the third and final time, as
managing editor, in September 1974. The
Advocate was purchased by David Goodstein
late that same year. Although rumor suggested that Goodstein intended to retain
him as editor, Cole was fired in late December 1974, being replaced by John
Preston. Early the next year, Goodstein moved the offices of the
Advocate to the San Francisco Bay area and
refocused the paper on national affairs, arts and entertainment, virtually
eliminating local Los Angeles coverage. To fill in the void left by the
departure of the
Advocate, Cole founded the bi-weekly
NewsWest, the first issue of which appeared
in May 1975.
NewsWest continued the tradition of the old
Advocate, including many of the same
columnists, writers, and stringers, and with the addition of Pat Rocco as
primary photographer. However, Cole's relationship with fellow members of the
board of the paper's parent company, Green Carnation Newspapers, soon became
strained, and in October 1975 he was removed from the board; although he was
retained as editor, his relationship with the board continued to deteriorate,
and he left
NewsWest shortly afterwards. (He continued
to contribute occasional columns to the newspaper until it ceased publication
in 1977.) In the following years Cole worked for other newspapers in Southern
California before leaving journalism to work as a real estate appraiser. He
remained active in the gay community, serving on the board of the Christopher
Street West Association, of which he was a co-founder in 1970, for most of the
last 37 years of his life.
He died at his home in North Hills, California, on June 30, 2007, after
a long struggle with Parkinson's disease, complicated by pneumonia and a
chronic back ailment.
Source: Obituary, in
Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2007.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of materials relating to the life of Rob Cole,
primarily his career as a newspaperman, and his association with the
Christopher Street West Association.
Cole worked with three Los Angles-area GLBT newspapers, as News and
Managing Editor of the
Advocate (1970-1974), as unnamed contributor
to the
Forum of Southern California (1974), and as
founder and editor of
NewsWest (1975). The materials include
correspondence, draft articles, subject files, and other documents that shed
light on Cole's role as the first professional newspaperman to run a gay
newspaper in Los Angeles, and the often contentious world of the Los Angeles
gay press in the 1970s. The collection also contains issues of several
newspapers, including, from Cole's days as a newspaper editor in Dallas, issues
of the
Dallas Times Herald and
Dallas Morning News chronicling several
significant events between 1962 and 1969, as well as the newsroom copy of the
Advocate for 1967-1968, the two issues of
the
Forum of Southern California (1974), an
incomplete run of
NewsWest (1975-1977), and the single issue
of
Out! which succeeded
NewsWest in 1977. The print material is
supplemented by a significant number of photographs published by or submitted
to the
Advocate,
Forum, and
NewsWest. The photographs published in and
submitted to the
Advocate derive from what is now the
Advocate Records collection held by ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives,
and how they came into Cole's private possession is not known. The collection
also contains Cole's typed notes and audiotapes of interviews for stories, most
relating to the Metropolitan Community Church.
Cole's association with the Christopher Street West Association, of
which he was a co-founder, is less fully documented. The records include a
handbill announcing the first Christopher Street West parade in June 1970;
minutes of the board of directors for 1975-1976 (including Cole's account of
police harassment of spectators at the 1976 march); souvenir programs for 1974,
1976, and 1985; materials relating to the 1984 and 1985 public relations
campaigns; documents from 1995 and 1996, when Cole was editor of the
association's newsletter; videotapes, primarily from the 1980s; photographs,
primarily from 2002-2004; and memorabilia, chiefly buttons and t-shirts.
The collection also contains a small amount of a material of a personal
nature, including Cole's unpublished short stories from the 1950, as well as a
series of subject files, audio recordings, and memorabilia.
The collection is arranged in nine series: (1) Newspapers, (2)
Christopher Street West, (3) Subject Files, (4) Personal, (5) Printed Matter,
(6) Photographs, (7) Graphics, (8) Audiovisual, and (9) Memorabilia.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Advocate (Los Angeles,
Calif.)
Christopher Street
West Association
Forum of Southern California (Los
Angeles, Calif.)
Gay pride parades--California--Los
Angeles
Gays' writings, American
Newspapers
NewsWest (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Photographs
Photojournalism
Reporters and reporting
More extensive papers and photographs relating to the
Advocate, which Cole edited, can be found in
the Advocate Records, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles.