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Ralph G. Moritz Papers
Coll2008-040
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Title: Ralph G. Moritz papers
Dates: 1967-1985
Collection number: Coll2008-040
Creator:
Moritz, Ralph G., 1912-1998
Collection Size: 1 archive carton.
0.4 linear foot.
Repository:
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Abstract: Travel diaries of librarian and classical music
enthusiast Ralph G. Moritz (1912-1998), listing the sights he saw, the concerts
he attended, and his sexual encounters on his travels from the late 1960s to
the early 1980s. The bulk of the collection consists of letters Moritz received
from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s from Samuel Potter, aka "Octavian", Brown
(1916-1995), an expatriate American living in Rome, who in the 1970s and early
1980s ran a small bed and breakfast and male bordello, that Moritz frequented,
out of his apartment. The letters detail the trials, tribulations, and
pleasures of life in Rome, and are filled with gossip about the lives of his
"boys" and his clients, from the unnamed to the famous.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access
restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in
writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner.
Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in
the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant
copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for
all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).
Ralph G. Moritz Papers, Coll2008-040, ONE National Gay and Lesbian
Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer,
June 24, 2008.
Processing this collection has been funded
by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
Ralph G. Moritz was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on November 16, 1912. He
attended the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Rapids, in the 1930s. He
became a librarian; his last known position was Chief Catalog Librarian at
California State University, Los Angeles. His special interests were travel and
music, and from at least the 1960s onwards he made several trips a year to
music festivals and performances both in the United States and Europe. He died
in Los Angeles on June 19, 1998.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of Moritz's travel diaries and the letters he
received from Octavian Brown. Moritz traveled extensively to Europe, where he
attended music festivals and performances. The diaries consist largely of
typewritten outlines of Moritz's daily activities-including, from the late
1970s, his sexual encounters-on his travels. The letters from Brown form the
bulk of the collection. Samuel Potter, aka "Octavian", Brown (1916-1995) was an
expatriate American living in Rome, who in the 1970s and early 1980s ran a
small bed and breakfast and male bordello, that Moritz frequented, out of his
apartment. The letters, written in an engaging, breezy style, detail the
trials, tribulations, and pleasures of life in Rome, and are filled with gossip
about the lives of his "boys" and his clients, from the unnamed to the famous.
In 1982, Brown moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he died in 1995. The
miscellaneous materials include a letter on family matters from C. E. Moritz,
of Denver, Colorado, a 1985 letter to
Los Angeles Times columnist Jack Smith,
concerning one of the latter's columns, several typed pages of notes for a
"philosophy essay" and an autobiography, and two maps of Rome from a late
19th/early 20th century Baedeker.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Brown, Octavian (Samuel P.),
1916-1995
Europe--Voyages and travels
Italy--Voyages and travels
Male prostitution--Italy
Moritz, Ralph G.,
1912-1998
Voyages and travels