José Sarria papers
Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS
GLBT Historical Society
2023
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 777-5455
reference@glbthistory.org
http://www.glbthistory.org/
Title: José Sarria papers
Dates: 1900-2013 (bulk 1960-2010)
Collection Number: 1996-01
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 2 cartons, 130 boxes, (17 oversize boxes) (65 linear feet)
Online items available
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: The José Sarria Papers include biographical material, correspondence, photographs, ephemera, artifacts and costumes documenting
his career as an entertainer and activist in San Francisco over more than half a century.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research. Funding for processing this collection was provided by the Council on Library and Information
Resources (CLIR).
Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials that José Sarria was the owner of has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
[Identification of item]. José Sarria papers. Collection Number: 1996-01. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of José Julio Sarria in February 2001 and September 2012.
Biography/Administrative History
José Julio Sarria was born December 12, 1923 at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. He was best known as a performer and
a pioneer in the gay rights movement, most notably as the first openly gay candidate in the United States to run for public
office in 1961. He was a founding member of the League for Civil Education (LCE), the Society for Individual Rights (SIR)
and the Tavern Guild. Crowned Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball in 1964 by the Tavern Guild, Sarria proclaimed himself “Her Royal
Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton” and soon thereafter established the Imperial Court System, a
network of non-profit charitable organizations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Sarria died of adrenal cancer
on August 19, 2013, at his home in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Scope and Content of Collection
The José Sarria Papers include biographical material, correspondence, photographs, ephemera, artifacts and costumes documenting
his career as an entertainer and activist in San Francisco over more than half a century. The collection includes memorabilia,
costumes and photos related to Sarria’s opera performances at the Black Cat Café and many other venues in the city. It contains
founding papers for the League for Civil Education, the Society for Individual Rights, and the Tavern Guild, organizations
Sarria helped form in the early 1960s. There is also a small amount of material related to his historic run for the Board
of Supervisors in San Francisco in 1961. A major part of the collection is made up of materials relating to the history of
the Imperial Court System, also known as the International Court System, which Sarria founded in 1965. The Court, one of
the oldest and largest LGBT organizations in the world, raises money for charitable causes throughout North America. GSSO
Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000374; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001443; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008511;
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_007641; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008517; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008531;
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008536; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_003201; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001826
Gay men
Drag
Imperial Court System
Latinx people
Nightlife
Stand-up comedy
World War, 1939-1945
Politics and elections
Latinos
Amateur film
Imperial Court of San Francisco