Please join us for a webinar with our 2022 LACHS Scholarship recipients from Cal State Long Beach. The students will present their essays followed by a Q&A session. The webinar will also be recorded and published on our website.
Both essays are available for download here: lacityhistory.org/scholarship
7:00 pm
Militant Machismo: Hypermasculinity & The Brown Berets - Hector Gamboa
In August 1972, residents of Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California panicked as they witnessed a group wearing brown military uniforms raising a sizeable Mexican flag over the town of Avalon. Observers at the event worried that the Mexican army was invading their precious tourist island and petitioned the National Guard to intervene on their behalf. In reality, the Chicano militant group, known as the Brown Berets, was staging a dramatic occupation of the island to bring attention to what they considered the oppressive colonial memory of the former Mexican territory. Their presence caused anxiety and attracted both police and media attention as reporters and investigators flocked to the island to observe this militant group setting up camp on a position now referred to as Burrito Point. Photos taken from the lengthy twenty-two-day occupation, however, revealed an uncomfortable truth about the organization's operations. Amongst the ranks of the proud uniformed men stood a sole woman donning the brown beret who actively participated in all the group's paramilitary drills and protests. The gender imbalance presented within these images was no outlier for the organization; instead, it illustrated a harsh reality concerning the role of women within the Brown Berets. The men stood paramount as the faces of the militant group, whereas the women rarely occupied the positions of true revolutionaries within the organization.
7:30 pm
The San Diego Blood Sisters: Highlighting Queer Women’s Activism During the AIDS Epidemic - Zachery Roethlisberger
The long hot summer of 1983 saw the beginnings of a deadly disease that devastated the queer community across the United States. Many queer men had contracted or died from what was then called Gay-Related Immune Deficiency (GRID), now known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The disease overwhelmed hospitals in most major cities throughout the country and drained the available blood supply from blood banks. As hospitals ran low on blood, they turned to the communities around them and asked for donations. But who would donate to help queer men? The media raged that donating to, or even associating with, queer men would put people at risk for the unknown disease. Queer women, however, acted in response. As San Diego native Wendy Sue Beigeleisen said, “We could not sit by and watch everyone we love die and do nothing.” Starting in the summer of 1983, lasting through the 1990s, Wendy Sue, along with several other lesbian and queer women from the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC), formed the San Diego Blood Sisters. These women inspired other lesbian and queer women’s blood drives across the nation, served their community, and established queer centric directed donation accounts that built a network of unity and solidarity within queer culture.
LOCATION
Webinar via Zoom
REGISTRATION
This is a free event but registration is required.
If you have questions about the event, please email us at lacityhistoryevents@gmail.com.
About the LACHS Scholarship Program
In 2019, the Los Angeles City Historical Society implemented a program to award scholarships to outstanding history graduate students at local universities and colleges. We hope that LACHS members and friends wish to support the program by donating funds to the program. Please note that 100% of all donations will go to students.
The Board recognizes the critical value of the study and analysis of history to our democracy and seeks to encourage outstanding students in the field.
For more information about the LACHS Scholarship Program and to read the students’ essays, please visit lacityhistory.org/scholarship