Guide to the Robert Prager Papers,
1961-2003
Processed by Robert Prager and Martin Meeker
© 2003
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Robert Prager Papers,
1961-2003
Accession number: 1998-20
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
San Francisco, California
- Processed by:
- Robert Prager and Martin Meeker
- Date Completed:
- April, 2003
© 2003 The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Robert Prager Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1961-2003
Accession number: 1998-20
Creator:
Robert Prager
Extent:
9 Boxes
Repository: The
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
San Francisco, California.
Abstract: This collection documents the intellectual pursuits of independent literary scholar Robert Prager. Included in the collection
is correspondence and interviews with gay male writers. Also included is biographical research, including interviews and correspondence,
into the life of artist Chuck Arnett.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright to selected material has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. Copyright
of correspondence, unpublished writings, and oral history interviews are retained by the author/narrator unless otherwise
noted.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Prager Papers, 1998-20, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
Acquisition Information
Donated to the GLBT Historical Society by Robert Prager from 1998 through 2002.
Biography
Robert Prager was born on May 16, 1955. Although Prager claims that his "education has largely been a matter of self-education,"
he attended Cass Technical High School in downtown Detroit, Michigan from 1970 until 1973. He then attended nearby Wayne State
University from 1973 until 1975 with a declared major in Journalism. After dropping out of Wayne State University, Prager
worked in various surveying, construction, and road-building jobs. He returned to Wayne State University as a student in 1979
and graduated a year later Phi Beta Kappa in 1980 with a B.A. in English.
At the end of June 1990 Prager was hired to work as a bartender at Folsom Street leather bar The Powerhouse and then in July
1991 at My Place, also located on Folsom Street. He quit bartending a year later at the end of June 1992 to attend Syracuse
University as a graduate student in its MA program in American literature. He withdrew from his formal studies in literature
in February 1993 to resume bartending at My Place, a position he continued to hold until the end of October 1993 at which
time he retired from the business.
Prager became very interested in "gay literature" beginning when he lived in Key West, Florida in 1981. He was fascinated
by the overlap and interplay between the ideology of the gay movement and the aesthetics of literary production. He began
corresponding with various published and unpublished gay writers as a way of documenting the literary history of the post-Stonewall
gay literary movement.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Robert Prager Papers were donated to the GLBT Historical Society by Robert Prager beginning in 1998. The collection includes
a significant collection of correspondence, the majority of which was exchanged between Prager and published gay male authors
and others within the publishing industry. The most extensive and important exchanges were with Daniel Curzon (author of
Something You Do in the Dark), Andrew Holleran (author of
Dancer from the Dance), and Dirk Vanden (author of
I Want It All); the content of these letters focuses on gay literature as well as the creative process. Also included in this collection
are interviews with selected authors as well as copies of drafts and other unpublished writings by Prager and other writers.
The second significant portion of this collection is composed of documents relating to the life and work of artist and pioneer
leatherman Chuck Arnett; along with a small cache of correspondence Arnett wrote in the 1960s are tapes and transcripts of
interviews Prager conducted with individuals who knew Arnett. The collection also includes five cartoon panels of Tom Hachtman's
Gertrude's Follies displayed in a frame.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into 4 series: :
-
Correspondence
-
Gay Authors Research and Writings
-
Chuck Arnett Project Research
-
Audio-Visual
Related Material at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
Title: Chuck Arnett Paintings
Identifier/Call Number: 1997-42
Title: Chuck Arnett Artifacts and Papers
Identifier/Call Number: 1999-10
Title: David Barnard Papers
Identifier/Call Number: 1998-07
Title: Kerry Bowman Papers and Ambush Records
Identifier/Call Number: 1998-30
Title: William Ewing Photo Album
Identifier/Call Number: 1995-14
Series: 1:
Correspondence,
1964-2003
Physical Description:
4 Boxes, 3 Folders
Scope and Content Note
This series includes correspondence, the majority of which was exchanged between Prager and published gay male authors and
others within the publishing industry. The most extensive and important exchanges were with Daniel Curzon (author of
Something You Do in the Dark), Andrew Holleran (author of
Dancer from the Dance), and Dirk Vanden (author of
I Want It All). The content of these letters focuses on gay literature and the creative process as well as personal opinions and issues.
A small number of letters are photocopies of correspondence from the personal collections of various authors including Daniel
Curzon and Dirk Vanden. The authors are listed by pen names, real names follow in parantheses.
With the exception of Prager and Vanden, the authors of the letters have not been asked to provide the GLBTHS with copyrights
to their correspondence; therefore, the correspondence may be read but may not be quoted or reproduced without the prior permission
of the authors. Vanden has retained copyright of his correspondence until the time of his death, at which point it is to be
transferred to the GLBTHS.
Box-folder 1/1
Prager, Robert, Biographical Information,
2001-2003
Box-folder 1/2
Abelove, Henry,
1990-1992
Box-folder 1/4
Bergman, David,
1993-1999
Box-folder 1/6
Cooper, Dennis,
1985, 1995
Box-folder 1/7-1/15
Curzon, Daniel (Daniel Brown)
Box-folder 1/15
Daniel Curzon/Joyce Carol Oates Letters,
1974-1976
Box-folder 1/16
Dowell, Coleman,
1986-1990
Box-folder 1/18
Gershman, Elizabeth,
1985-1985
Box-folder 1/19
Greene, Harlan,
1984-1985
Box-folder 1/20-Oversize Box
Box-folder 2/1-3/15
Holleran, Andrew (C. Eric Garber)
Box-folder 4/2
Kramer, Larry, from Robert Prager,
1987-1992
Box-folder 4/3
Labonte, Richard,
1990-1994
Box-folder 4/5
Mattos, Francisco,
1985-1991
Box-folder 4/6
Norse, Harold,
1984-1991, 1998
Box-folder 4/7
Parker, Robert Miles,
1985-1990
Box-folder 4/8-4/9
Patrick, Robert (O'Conner)
Box-folder 4/10
Picano, Felice,
1995-1996
Box-folder 4/13-4/16
Vanden, Dirk (Richard Fullmer),
Box-folder 4/13
Letters from Vanden,
1996-2001
Box-folder 4/14
Dirk Vanden/Richard Amory Letters,
1970-1972
Box-folder 4/15
Dirk Vanden/Tim Ashley Letters,
1964-1972
Box-folder 4/16
Dirk Vanden/John Francis Hunter Letter,
1971
Box-folder 4/17
From Edmund White,
1982-2002
Box-folder 4/18
From Robert Prager,
1988-1996
Box-folder 5/1
Whitehead, Jack,
1982-1989
Box-folder 5/2
Windham, Donald,
1987-1991
Box-folder 5/3
Miscellaneous Correspondence,
1983-2001
Series: 2:
Gay Authors Research and Writings,
1961-2002
Physical Description:
1 Box, 16 Folders
Scope and Content Note
This series includes a small cache of critical writings by Prager; miscellaneous subject files; interviews with selected gay
male authors; and copies of drafts and other unpublished writings by authors represented in the correspondence series.
With the exception of Prager and Vanden the authors have not been asked to provide the GLBTHS with copyrights to their published
and unpublished writings; therefore, the drafts may be read but may not be quoted or reproduced without the prior permission
of the authors. Vanden has retained copyright of his unpublished writings until the time of his death, at which point they
will be transferred to the GLBTHS.
Box-folder 5/4-5/5
Writings by Robert Prager
Box-folder 5/4
"Dirk Vanden, A Retrospective",
n.d.
Box-folder 5/9
Wright, Joseph Arthur,
1995
Box-folder 5/13
Syracuse University,
1991-1996
Box-folder 5/15
Miscellaneous Documents,
n.d.
Box-folder 5/16
"King of the Crystal Palace" - San Francisco Production,
1983
Box-folder 5/17
"King of the Crystal Palace" - Los Angeles Production,
1983
Box-folder 5/18
Miscellaneous Scripts,
1980-1981, 1993
Box-folder 5/19
"The Third Part of Henry the Fourth",
n.d.
Box-folder 5/20
Miscellaneous Writings,
n.d.
Box-folder 6/2
Diary and Miscellaneous Documents,
1961, 1971
Box-folder 6/5
"Hatters and Hares",
1969, 1996
Series: 3:
Chuck Arnett Project Research,
1964-2000
Physical Description:
1 Box
Scope and Content Note
This series includes documents relating to the life and work of artist and pioneer leatherman Chuck Arnett; along with a cache
of correspondence Arnett wrote in the 1960s, this series includes transcripts of interviews Prager conducted with individuals
who knew Arnett.
Releases were never obtained from the oral history interviewees, therefore the GLBTHS does not own the copyright to the contents
of the interviews. Interviews, then, may be read but may not be quoted or reproduced without the prior permission of the interviewee.
Box-folder 7/1
Chronology and Biographical Notes,
1988, 1997
Box-folder 7/2
Arnett Artwork, Prager Collection,
n.d.
Box-folder 7/3
Research Notes,
1997-2002
Box-folder 7/6-7/23
Oral History Interview Transcripts
Box-folder 7/6
Arnett, Chuck and Mike Caffee by Gayle Rubin,
1984
Series: 4:
Audio-Visual,
1982-2000
Physical Description:
1 Box
Scope and Content Note
This series includes the audio-tapes of the interviews Prager conducted with gay male authors and with individuals who knew
Chuck Arnett. Also included in this series are a small cache of photographs, including a number of photographs of Prager with
the writer Edmund White.
Releases were never obtained from the oral history interviewees, therefore the GLBTHS does not own the copyright to the contents
of the interviews. Interviews, then, may be read but may not be quoted or reproduced without the prior permission of the interviewee.
Box-folder Manuscript Photos Box 4
Miscellaneous Photos,
1982-1991
Box-folder Artifact Box 8
Greek Vase by Mike Caffee,
n.d.
Box-folder 9/10
Coates, Paul with Bill Tellman - A,
n.d.
Box-folder 9/11
Coates, Paul with Bill Tellman - B,
n.d.
Box-folder 9/16
Kriegman, Dick/John Bix,
1996
Box-folder 9/20
White, Edmund/Dave Cooper,
1997
Box-folder 9/21
Group Conversation (Tellman, Caffee, etc.),
n.d.
Box-folder 9/22
Gus Spraker/Harlan Reese Dialogue,
1997
Box-folder 9/23-9/30
Interviews on Microcassette
