Collection context
Summary
Background
- Scope and content:
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The Vicki Marlane Photographs and Artifacts document Marlane’s personal life in the 1970s and 1980s and her performance work in the 1990s. There is a small amount of material on her early career. The collection is divided into four series: Biographical Material and Correspondence; Photographs; Publicity and Reviews; and Artifacts. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000130; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000384; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001443
- Biographical / historical:
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Vicki Marlane (1934-2011) was a critically acclaimed drag performer and transgender woman who worked in San Francisco. Marlane’s numerous awards and the efforts of various LGBT organizations to rename a block of Turk Street after Marlane underscore her importance to these communities. Born on September 5, 1934, in Crookston, Minnesota, Marlane left her family’s farm after she began performing at a Minnesota gay bar at age 16. In the 1950s and 1960s, she toured nationally in circus sideshows, then with female impersonator troupes. In 1966, Marlane moved to, and performed widely in, San Francisco. In the 1980s, Marlane transitioned and moved to San Diego. Returning to the San Francisco drag scene in 1998, Marlane earned critical acclaim as “The Lady with the Liquid Spine” while performing at Aunt Charlie’s Lounge. Marlane continued to perform at Imperial and Ducal Court events, was Grand Marshal of the 2003 San Francisco Pride Parade, and was the subject of the documentary Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight (2009). She died July 5, 2011 of AIDS-related complications.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Felicia Elizondo in February 2014.
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Transgender people
Drag
Trans women
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- 1934-2013 (bulk 1981-2011)
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
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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.
- Preferred citation:
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Vicki Marlane Photographs and Artifacts. GLBT Historical Society
- Location of this collection:
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989 Market Street, Lower LevelSan Francisco, CA 94103, US
- Contact:
- (415) 777-5455