Martelle (Vern) Scrapbooks, circa 1910-1970

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Scope and content:: This collection is composed of two of Martelle's scrapbooks, which contain clippings, photographs and ephemera. He collected material relating to his performances, to camp icons such as Tallulah Bankhead, to cross-dressing in the theater and society, and to transgender people. The collection also includes a 1951 Northern California Players Directory in which Martelle is listed as a variety act and a letter from the San Francisco Chronicle's columnist, Millie. Most material appears to date to the 1940s-1960s, with some photos and an early review of Martelle’s act appearing to date to the 1910s or 1920s. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001443
Biographical / historical:: Vern Martelle (sometimes Verne Martell) was a female impersonator who performed in Europe, North Africa (USO during World War II), Las Vegas, Seattle (Garden of Allah Club), San Francisco (Finocchio's), and other locales. He enjoyed a fifty-year career – which began in vaudeville, and incorporated occasional modeling and Hollywood stunt work – and claimed to have been the first drag performer to lip-synch on stage. His act featured lip-synch and up to twenty-five costume changes per performance. In 1951, he was billed as “The man with a thousand voices and a thousand gowns.”
Acquisition information:: The collection was donated to the GLBT Historical Society by David Peckman in 2003.

Collection Guide Author:: Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff.
Date Prepared:: circa 1910-1970
Date Encoded:: This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Copyright to material has not been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist. Permission for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material is given on behalf of the GLBT Historical Society 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 researcher.

Location of this collection:: GLBT Historical Society

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, CA 94103, US