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Collection Guide
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Guide to the William P. Gaddis, Jr. Papers, 1939-1981
2002-32  
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Table of contents What's This?

Container List

 

Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1958

Physical Description: 1 Box, 5 Folders

Scope and Content Note

This series includes correspondence of William P. Gaddis, Jr. It contains letters from James M. Seale stationed on the U.S.S. Helm in Pearl Harbor, HI, to Bill Gaddis, 1939-1941; letters written by Bill Gaddis to Johnny Holmes from Napa, California, 1942; a forty-nine page, diary-like 'magnum opus' letter chronicling in vivid detail aspects of gay underground life of the era; letters to Harry Hefter written from Napa by Bill Gaddis, 1942; letters to various friends, 1942; letters written by Bill Gaddis primarily from the South Pacific to various friends 1942-1943; miscellaneous writing by Bill Gaddis, 1941-1942; letters and postcards describing gay life in European and Middle Eastern cities, 1956-1958; a letter from Bill Gaddis' father dated September 18, 1943, mentioning Bill's predicament, urging him to fight the case, stating your mother knows nothing of your trouble and I believe in your innocence.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Gay men
Veterans
Photography
World War, 1939-1945
Box-folder 1/1

Letters from James M. Seale stationed at Pearl Harbor, HI , 1939-1941

Box-folder 1/2

Postcards, telegrams, and letters to Gaddis, 1942

Box-folder 1/3

Letters to Johnny Holmes and 49-page, magnum opus,1942

Box-folder 1/4

Letters to Harry Hefter, 1942

Box-folder 1/5

Letters to various friends, 1942

Box-folder 1/6

Letters from South Pacific, 1942-1943

Box-folder 1/7

Writing and letters, 1941-1942

Box-folder 2/1

Letters from European and Middle Eastern cities, 1956

Box-folder 2/2

Letters from European cities, 1956-1957

Box-folder 2/3

Letters about sexual exploits in Europe, 1957

Box-folder 2/4

The Gladyce Report and letters from Europe 1957-1958

Box-folder 2/5

Letter from father, 1942

 

Series 2: Book, Magazine & Newspaper Clippings, Playbills, and Programs, 1959-1981

Physical Description: 8 Folders

Scope and Content Note

This series contains one book, newspaper clippings, playbills, and programs. It includes American Military History 1607-1958, a Department of the Army ROTC Manual (1959); Gays in Business from San Francisco Magazine,1980, Newsweek clipping on Apollo 14 1971; various playbills from theater productions in San Francisco, primarily from the 1970s, including Vincent Price as Oscar Wilde in Diversions and Delights, and a production of The Boys in the Band from December 1969; clippings on homosexuality; Lucius Beebe obituary; a typewritten flyer printed by the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) warning those seeking sex in the public sector of felony arrests by plainclothesmen at gunpoint at various locations in San Francisco; and a Gay Rodeo program.
Box-folder 2/6

Department of the Army ROTC Manual, 1959

Box-folder 3/1

Magazine clipping, 1969

Box-folder 3/2

Playbills, 1969

Box-folder 3/3

SIR program and SIR flyer, 1966, 1971

Box-folder 3/4

Newspaper articles clippings, 1972

Box-folder 3/5

Lucius Beebe obituary, 1969

Box-folder 3/6

Flyers, 1970, 1973

Box-folder 3/7

Gay Rodeo program, 1981

 

Series 3: Photographs and Negatives, 1950-1958

Physical Description: 4 Folders

Scope and Content Note

This series includes four photographs and many negatives. Also included in this series is a guide containing detailed descriptions of photographs that were not donated to the GLBTHS. A sampling of the canisters that originally held the 35mm negatives is located in Box 2, Folder 6.
Box-folder 3/8

Photographs, 1957-1958

Box-folder 3/9

Photograph Guide, 1957-1958

Box-folder 3/10

Contains 370 negatives, primarily portraits, 1950s

Box-folder 3/11

Negative strips (35 mm), 1950-1953

 

Series 4: Magazines, 1939-1970

Physical Description: 1 Box, 3 Folders

Scope and Content Note

These magazines document Gaddis' interest in space travel and highlight some elements of the U.S. culture as it existed during his lifetime. This series includes: Life 1949-1969; Look 1949-1969; Holiday 1948 and 1954; Esquire 1969; Collector's Edition: Man on the Moon, July 20, 1969, A.D.; Newsweek 1968 and 1970; and Time 1939- 1969, including The Homosexual in America issue.
Box-folder 3/12

Time, 1939-1945

Box-folder 3/13

Time, 1969

Box-folder 3/14

Newsweek and Man on the Moon Collector's Edition, 1968-1970

Box-folder 4/1

Esquire, 1969

Box-folder 4/2

Look, 1949-1969

Box-folder 4/3

Life, 1949-1950

Box-folder 4/4

Life, 1962-1969

Box-folder 4/5

Holiday, 1948, 1954