Description
Henry Diekow (1915-1988), known as the Baroness Eugenie von Dieckoff, was a major figure in the Imperial Court System and
midcentury Bay Area drag society. Diekow’s papers include photographs, organizational materials, ephemera, and a complete
run of Diekow’s diary- as-gossip column, “Bag-a-Drag-by-the-Bay.”
Background
Henry Diekow (1915-1988), known as the Baroness Eugenie von Dieckoff, was a major figure in the Imperial Court System and
midcentury Bay Area drag society. Between 1940 and 1958, Diekow kept a diary in the form of a society column, “Bag-a-Drag-by-the-Bay,”
the title of which was a parody of Herb Caen’s column “Baghdad by the Bay.” The column narrates the activities of gay and
drag luminaries, and also provides coded glimpses of Diekow’s personal life – the Baroness often marries, and at one point
adopts a daughter. When the Imperial Court System was founded, Diekow became active in it and held a position on the Council
of Empresses.
In addition to his drag activities, which allowed him to indulge his fascination with court dress and protocol, Diekow was
a member of early gay motorcycle clubs in the 1960s (the California Motorcycle Club and the Sixty-Nine Club, based in London).
Diekow’s day job was domestic service; he was butler to Helen de Young Cameron for thirty years, working at her estate, Rose
Court (he has a cameo in the film Harold and Maude, essentially playing himself, in a scene filmed at the mansion). After
Cameron’s death in 1969, he worked as a freelance butler for the rest of his life.
Extent
10 linear feet (three cartons, one half manuscript box, two small oversize boxes, one medium oversize box, one costume box)