Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. Periodicals Collection, 1953-1972, bulk 1953-1967

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Summary

Title:
Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. Periodicals Collection
Dates:
1953-1972, bulk 1953-1967
Abstract:
The Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. Periodicals Collection consists of Mattachine Review (1956-1957, 1960-1962), ONE Institute Quarterly: Homophile Studies (1958-1965), and ONE Magazine (1953-1967, 1972) publications. The contents of the periodicals include short stories, poetry, book reviews, scholarly articles, and artwork speaking to historical and contemporary homophile and homosexual experiences and perspectives.
Extent:
4 boxes (1.625 linear ft.)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. Periodicals Collection, MSS-2012-09-14, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of four boxes primarily containing periodicals produced by the homosexual and homophile organizations Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. from 1953 to 1967. The contents of the periodicals include short stories, poetry, book reviews, and scholarly, scientific, and philosophical articles, as well as sexually graphic artwork, cartoons, and magazine covers, speaking to individual, interpersonal, historical, cultural, social, and political homosexual experiences and perspectives. Issues showcase different stances and perspectives as the emerging gay community developed an articulation of itself and its position and relationship to dominant society in the 1950s and 60s.

Biographical / historical:

Mattachine Society was founded by communist and labor activist Harry Hay in 1950. As one of the first successful national gay rights groups, it was conceived by Hay as "a service and welfare organization devoted to the protection and improvement of Society's Androgynous Minority [as] an international [...] fraternal order" (Hay, 1996). Other early members included Rudi Gernreich, James Gruber, Bob Hull, Dale Jennings, Chuck Rowland, and Konrad Stevens.

Deriving its name from Société Mattachine, masked peasant protesters of medieval France who used their anonymous identities to "perform rituals of protest against oppression in the name of the peasantry" (Camp, 2018), Mattachine Society was organized for anonymity for its members, with a focus on unity, education, leadership, combatting the oppression of homosexuals, and the development of a distinct homosexual culture. Hay's staunch commitment to anonymity was motivated by the targeting of earlier homophile societies like the Society for Human Rights (1924-1925), whose members had faced severe persecution after their names had been shared with law enforcement.

In 1952, an amicable split within the organization produced ONE, Inc., named as an allusion to the aphorism from writer Thomas Carlyle that "a mystical bond of brotherhood makes all men one." Led by Jim Kepner, other early members included Merton Bird, Martin Block, Dale Jennings, W. Dorr Legg, Antonio "Tony" Reyes, Chuck Rowland, and Don Slater. ONE, Inc. sought to explore "homosexuality from a scientific, historical and critical point of view, and to aid in the social integration and rehabilitation of the sexual variant" (Articles of Incorporation, 1952).

Mattachine Society began to see fractures develop along ideological fault lines related to anonymity, homophile culture, and relationships to dominant society. Primarily, some viewed homophiles as fundamentally separated from heterosexual society by individual and interpersonal experiences, leading to the development of a distinct culture that members could engage with in private, anonymous spaces they created for themselves away from the public. Others believed homophiles were distinguished only by their sexuality, and thus were capable of assimilating into dominant society as a visible minority. This ideological division led to most of the original communist leadership leaving Mattachine Society in 1953, as the members like Hal Call sought to move the organization out of anonymity through publicity and outreach.

Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. frequently supported each other and other early gay rights organizations, particularly the lesbian organization the Daughters of Bilitis, into the 1970s. Notable moments of support include during Dale Jennings' trial after an arrest through entrapment in 1952, where he was one of the first men to admit to being a homosexual while successfully denying any wrongdoing, and ONE, Inc. v. Oleson in 1958, a Supreme Court case which reversed a lower court ruling that ONE Magazine violated obscenity laws. Both cases were landmark achievements in the gay community's history with law enforcement.

In January of 1953, with Jim Kepner serving as the first editor, ONE, Inc. began publishing ONE Magazine, the first widely circulating homosexual periodical. It ran until 1967, with four special issues later published in 1972. ONE, Inc. included more women like Geraldine Jackson and Ann Carll Reid among its leadership and membership, in a departure from Mattachine Society's gay male focus. As a result, ONE Magazine more frequently featured female editors and material speaking to female homophile experiences. In 1955, Hal Call became the creator and first editor of Mattachine Review, which reached a national circulation of 3,000 in 1960 and ran until 1966. In 1956, ONE, Inc. created the ONE Institute of Homophile Studies for the academic and educational study of homosexuality, publishing ONE Institute Quarterly: Homophile Studies from 1958 to 1965. Kepner again served as the first editor.

In 1961, Mattachine Society disbanded at the national level – the San Francisco chapter retained the Mattachine Society name, and other chapters persisted under regionalized names. In 1994, Jim Kepner's personal collection of queer material merged with ONE Institute, collectively becoming the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives in 2004, and then the ONE Archives at the University of Southern California Library in 2010. In 2014, ONE, Inc. became the One Institute, and with the ONE Archives, remains focused on "queer and trans history in action" through "education, advocacy, and cultural enrichment" (About One, 2023).

Citations About One. One Institute. https://www.oneinstitute.org/about/, 2023.

Articles of Incorporation, 1952. Finding Aid of the ONE Incorporated records, 1907-2001. https://oac.cdlib.org/static_findaids/ark:/13030/kt7290389h.html, 2011.

Camp, Devlyn (Host). Queer Serial Episode 2: The Call [Audio podcast], 2018.

Hay, Harry. Roscoe, Will (ed.). Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the Words of its Founder. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.

Processing information:

Reprocessed by Alena Karkanias, 10/22/25. The Finding Aid was revised to more fully reflect the organizations and publications within the collection. The collection was physically reorganized utilizing newly available storage options.

Originally processed by Maegan Sloggett and Danelle Moon, 2014. Encoded in the Archivists' Toolkit.

Arrangement:

This collection is organized alphabetically and then chronologically into three series by magazine title: I: Mattachine Review (1956-1975, 1960-1962); II: ONE Institute Quarterly: Homophile Studies (1958-1965); III: One Magazine (1953-1967, 1972).

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Alena Karkanias
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-06-30 19:25:37 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the SJSU Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

Mattachine Society and ONE, Inc. Periodicals Collection, MSS-2012-09-14, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.

Location of this collection:
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0028, US
Contact:
408-808-2062
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Website