Harvey Milk and Scott Smith collection of artifacts and ephemera
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/
Dates: 1973-1993
Collection Number: 2002-43
Extent: 15 cartons, 8 oversize boxes, miscellaneous large objects not in boxes (55 linear feet)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: The collection includes artifacts and ephemera relating to
Harvey
Milk
’s campaign for and election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, his assassination, and the Castro Camera store; and
clothing and memorabilia that belonged to both Milk and Scott Smith.
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).
[Identification of item].
Harvey
Milk
and Scott Smith collection of artifacts and ephemera. Collection Number: 2002-43. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of Elva R. Smith in November 2002.
Biography/Administrative History
Harvey Bernard
Milk
was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York. He graduated from the New York State Teachers College at Albany in 1951
and served in the U.S. Navy until 1955. Milk worked briefly in New York on Wall Street. In 1972, Milk moved to San Francisco
and soon after asked his boyfriend Scott Smith to follow him. They opened Castro Camera the following year.
After two unsuccessful campaigns for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1973 and 1975, Milk was elected to the Board
in November 1977. On January 9, 1978, Milk was sworn into office. In November 1978, ex-Supervisor Dan White assassinated Milk
and Mayor George Moscone.
Joseph Scott Smith (1948-1995) was a gay rights activist and
Harvey
Milk
’s lover. Smith organized and managed Milk’s political campaigns. Although their relationship ended more than a year before
the assassination, the two remained close friends and business partners in the camera store up until Milk's death.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes artifacts and ephemera relating to
Harvey
Milk
’s campaign for, and election to, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; materials related to Milk’s assassination; artifacts
from the Castro Camera store; clothing that belonged to both Milk and Smith; memorabilia and artifacts that had personal meaning
for Milk and Smith; and political posters. There is some material in the collection that dates back to the late 1960s. For
manuscript material and photographs, please refer to the
Harvey
Milk
Archives--Scott Smith Collection at the San Francisco Public Library: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8x63q17/.
GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_003201; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000381
Gay men
Politics and elections
- Container List for the Harvey Milk and Scott Smith Collection of Artifacts and Ephemera [ 29 hits]