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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections > Manuscripts > Finding Aids > Arnie Kantrowitz Papers, 1958-1995 Arnie Kantrowitz Papers, 1958-1995ContentsSummaryTitle: Arnie Kantrowitz Papers, 1958-1995 Size: 14 linear feet (29 AB, 4 FB, 3 file boxes) Restrictions: None Source: Gift of Arnie Kantrowitz, 1996 Finding Aid: Compiled by Melanie A. Yolles, March 1997 Biographical Note: Writer, gay rights activist, and professor of English at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. Officer of the Gay Activists Alliance (1970), Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee (1976) and cofounder of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (1985), Kantrowitz is the author of many essays in the gay press and the memoir, Under the Rainbow (1977). Description: Personal papers and organizational records chiefly concerning his activities as a writer and gay rights activist, including correspondence from friends, follow writers, and readers (1964-1995); diaries and notebooks (1960s-1986); records kept as secretary of the Gay Activists Alliance (1970), Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee (1976), and Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (1985); notes, drafts and manuscripts of his published and unpublished writing (1960s-1990s) and personal memorabilia. Special formats: Photographs, drawings, audio- and videocassettes, buttons Related collections: Gay Activists Alliance Records; Lawrence Mass Papers; Vito Russo Papers Biographical SketchArnie Kantrowitz, writer, educator, and gay activist was born in Newark,
New Jersey in 1940. Having received a bachelor's degree from Rutgers
in 1961 and a master's degree from New York University in 1963, he
taught English at State University College at Cortlandt (New York)
before accepting a position in the English Department at Staten Island
Community College (now The College of Staten Island, City University
of New York) in 1965. After many years of struggle with his homosexuality, including psychotherapy
and two suicide attempts, Kantrowitz "came out" and immediately
became active in the gay liberation movement in New York City. He joined
the recently established Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) in 1970, was
elected secretary and, the following year, vice-president. In addition
to participating in GAA's non-violent protest "zaps," and
speaking out for gay rights on national television, Kantrowitz also
put his writing talent at the service of the movement. He contributed
first to GAA's newsletter Gay Activist and then for several
other gay publications. By 1975 he had become a popular regular contributor
to the Advocate and Christopher Street. Kantrowitz
became known to an even wider audience when his autobiography, Under
the Rainbow, was published by William Morrow and Co. in 1977. Kantrowitz has been an activist in the classroom for over twenty years.
In order to present a positive role-model for gay students and increase
the understanding of gay men an lesbians among all students, he made
it a policy to formally discuss his homosexuality in each of his classes,
and invite responses from the students. In 1985 Kantrowitz became a founding member and officer of the Gay
and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an organization devoted
to advancing fair and accurate portrayals of gay men and lesbians in
the media. He has continued to write frequently about the gay experience
for the gay and popular press, and his essays have been widely anthologized,
most recently in Personal Dispatches: Writers Respond to AIDS,
1990; Hometowns, 1991,Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People,
Politics, and Practice, 1991; A Member of the Family: Gay
Men Write About Their Families, 1992; Friends and Lovers:
Gay Men Write About the Families They Create, 1995; and Gay
and Lesbian Literary Heritage, 1995. He is also the author of Walt
Whitman, a biography of the American poet written for the Chelsea
House series Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians. Kantrowitz currently (1997) lives in New York City with his life partner,
fellow writer and activist Lawrence D. Mass, MD, and is Associate Professor
of English at The College of Staten Island. Scope and Content NoteThe Kantrowitz Papers contain correspondence, diaries, professional
and organizational files, published and unpublished writings, and audio
and videotapes documenting his career as a writer, teacher, and gay
activist. Much of the collection is composed of notes, drafts, and
various states of his published and unpublished writing, including
student essays, poetry, drafts of a novel about Walt Whitman, as well
as copies of his published essays on aspects of the gay experience,
1970s-1990s, and his two full-length works, a biography of Walt Whitman
and his autobiography, Under the Rainbow. Gay activism is documented in records he kept as an officer and/or
member of the Gay Activists Alliance, Gay Academic Union, Christopher
Street Liberation Day Committee and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation, as well as audio and videotapes of his public appearances
and GAA "zaps," notebook and diary entries, buttons, and
in clippings of interviews, news stories, and announcements of his
public appearances. The responses to his classroom activism can be
found in a folder of essays from his students marked "Student
reactions to homosexual teacher." His efforts on behalf of gay
rights are also documented by the many letters to the editor written
in response to news stories and public statements about gays. The correspondence in the collection, chiefly incoming letters, highlights
his friendships and collegial relations with fellow writers and former
students. Included are letters from such prominent gay and lesbian
literary figures as John Preston, George Heymont, Douglas Sadownick,
Rita Mae Brown, and most notably, his close friend, Vito Russo. There
are also numerous letters from his readers among the general public
expressing their appreciation for his work, and relating details of
their own lives and struggles as gay men. The collection also contains numerous pocket notebooks, travel diaries, a few photographs, sketches, and personal memorabilia such as cards from his life-partner Lawrence Mass and documents of his friends Vito Russo and Jim Owles. Series DescriptionsSeries I. Correspondence, 1964-1995. Boxes 1-6 The correspondence contains letters written and received by Kantrowitz
during the years 1964-1995. Among his correspondents are friends, lovers,
fellow writers, gay activists, and teaching colleagues, students, and
members of the general public who sent him their reactions to his work.
The letters are arranged chronologically in three groups: general correspondence,
letters regarding his writing, and public statements. The general correspondence consists of letters Kantrowitz received
and about a half dozen of his replies. The letters from friends relate
details of their lives and relationships, including discussions of
pride parades, gay writing, bashing incidents, and in the eighties,
the loss of friends to AIDS. Writers discuss their work and the difficulties
involved in writing and finding publishers. Of particular note is the
folder of letters from Kantrowitz's closest friend, the film historian
and gay activist Vito Russo. The letters, 1972-1988, relate his activities,
comment on the gay scene in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and London,
and discuss films and theater. The letters are full of intimate detail,
humor, and eventually sorrow and rage at the AIDS epidemic and the
illness of his lover. Some of Kantrowitz's replies can be found in
this file as well. Other correspondents in this series include Daniel
Bar-David, Pat Califia, David Doyle, Arthur Evans, Adrienne Gilde,
George Heymont, Duff Kreitzberg, Herb Liebman, Annie Russo, Douglas
Sadownick, Bob Tavani. The general correspondence is arranged chronologically
with the exception of Russo's letters which were kept together and
filed at the end of the series. The correspondence regarding his writing contains responses of friends,
fellow writers, and many members of the general public to his writing,
particularly his essays in the Advocate and his memoir Under
the Rainbow. In addition, there is correspondence regarding the
publication and editing of his work, including efforts to have Under
the Rainbow published and reprinted, and correspondence with John
Preston and Advocate staff members, Boyd McDonald, Robert
McQueen, and Mark Thompson about the publication of his essays as well
as their comments on his work. Among the letters are expressions of gratitude from many readers telling
how moved they were by his work and inspired by his example as a man
with an open and positive gay identity. Kantrowitz seems to have responded
to most of these letters (although they are not in the collection)
provoking additional letters in which the individuals relate their
own struggles to come out and their views on gay issues. This section
also includes letters of numerous gay writers and activists which range
from simple congratulations to extended discussions of issues of importance
to the gay community. Included is an exchange of letters with Arthur
Evans in 1988 regarding Kantrowitz's review of Evans' book The
God of Ecstasy. Other prominent correspondents include Rita Mae
Brown, Pat Califa, Louie Crew, Daniel Bar-David, Bette Davis, Lenny
Giteck, George Heymont, Toby Marotta, John Preston, Michael Rumaker,
Charles Shively, Donald Vining and Randy Wicker. Public Statements, 1964-1995 include letters to the press and politicians
expressing his opinions on current events. The earliest letters are
written to the editors of the student newspapers at the State University
College at Cortlandt and Staten Island Community College regarding
teaching and university affairs in the 1960s. Letters from the 1970s
on are written chiefly to editors of gay and general interest publications
regarding stories touching on homosexuality and gay rights, especially
responses and corrections to unfair, inaccurate or incomplete portrayals.
The files contain clippings of his letters and the articles which provoked
his responses as well as typescripts of his remarks which were not
published. The letters from 1985-1987 include those he wrote as secretary
of GLAAD and letters that he, Darrel Yates Rist, Vito Russo, and the
board of GLAAD wrote in response to a story which appeared in the Philadelphia
Gay News about internal strife among GLAAD board members
This series contains documents relating to Kantrowitz's activities
as a professor of English at the College of Staten Island, as a writer,
and as a gay rights activist. The College of Staten Island materials
chiefly concern his application for promotions, grants, and fellowships.
Included are curriculum vitae, requests for leave, reports on his professional
activities, faculty evaluation reports, project reports, grant applications
and proposals, and related routine correspondence. A file of letters
from students, 1971-1992 contains responses to Kantrowitz's open discussion
of his homosexuality in his classes and in presentations to other classes.
There is also a small file of publication agreements, 1982-1995. The organizational materials include files he kept as an officer of
the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), Christopher Street Liberation Day
Committee and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation , and
as a panelist at the Gay Academic Union 1974 annual meeting. GAA records
include carbon copies of meeting minutes, May - December 1970 and executive
committee minutes, September - December, 1970 as well as correspondence,
notes, flyers, newsletters, name and address lists and other documents
concerning the planning of the GAA 25th reunion in 1994. The Gay Academic Union materials relate to the 1974 annual meeting
keynote session panel on gay and lesbian separatism, including Kantrowitz's
notes for his talk, his response to a call for conference papers, two
letters from George Whitmore of the Program Committee, and a copy of
the conference program. The Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee records concern the
plans for the 1976 Gay Pride parade in New York City. Included are
copies of Kantrowitz's correspondence as secretary, holograph meeting
notes, original typescripts and photocopies of Steering Committee minutes
and attachments, attendance sheets, and related documents submitted
to the Committee. Kantrowitz was a founder of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
(originally the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League) and acted as
secretary and member of the Steering Committee. His files, November
1985-June 1986 contain photocopies of Executive and Steering Committee
minutes, articles of incorporation, by-laws, and copies of treasurer's
reports. Series III. Notebooks and diaries, 1960s-1986. Boxes 9-10. This series contains forty-three notebooks, chiefly spiral bound pocket
memo books, and one typescript covering the 1960s to 1986. The notebooks
contain a wide variety of material including lists, addresses and phone
numbers, poetry, notes for essays and novels, random reflections on
life, teaching, the passing scene, notes from a GMSMA meeting, descriptions
of a mescaline trip, and a night at the Continental Baths. The content
varies from book to book, from single lines to extended essays. Of
particular note are three lengthy travel journals written in 1972 when
Kantrowitz traveled to Europe and across the United States. The European journals (2 vols.) contain his impressions as a tourist
in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Italy, and Greece as well as remarks
on the gay bars and night life, and comparison of social attitudes
with those prevalent in the United States. There are also meditations
on his feelings of loneliness and varying degrees of self-consciousness
as an American, a tourist, a gay man, and a Jew. The journal documenting his transcontinental trip with his close friend
and former GAA president Jim Owles describes visits to Chicago, Madison,
Minneapolis, Billings, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Denver. Kantrowitz met with members of other gay organizations
in nearly all of those cities and set down his reflections on the prevailing
state of gay liberation and activism or social repression in those
locales. He also describes the bar scene, gay and/or "hip" nightlife
and his own sexual activities. The journal contains his thoughts on
GAA and its failings, the Metropolitan Community Church, political
action and the counter-culture, natural food, and varying modes of
dress and personal expression. Much of the journal is devoted to discussion
of his spiritual journey to discover an ideal life and love through
which he could express his true identity, and ends with his ultimate
disillusion and return to New York City. Series IV. Writings, 1958 - 1995. Boxes 11-29. This series contains copies of Kantrowitz's writing in all genres
from his student years through the mid 1990s. Included are college
and graduate school examinations and papers, pieces written for the
college newspaper, extensive files of poetry, public service announcements
and advertising copy written for WNEW-TV, theater reviews for Show
Business, and notes for speeches as well as drafts, typescripts,
and published copies of his better-known essays and autobiography, Under
the Rainbow. Also included are an unpublished collection of his
essays, Stonewall's Children, and many notes, drafts, and
revisions for a novel involving Walt Whitman, The Poet of the Body (later Song
of Myself), and the typescript of Walt Whitman, a biography
written for the Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbian Series published
by Chelsea House. The series also contains issues of Gotham, a short-lived
magazine for which Kantrowitz acted as managing editor, and a few typescripts
and photocopies of scholarly articles, and other writing not by Kantrowitz
but sent to him by the author. Series V. Personal Papers. Boxes 30-34. The personal papers contain clippings, ephemera, photographs, sketches,
greeting cards and artifacts saved by Kantrowitz. Included are press
clippings and other printed material about Kantrowitz or in which he
is mentioned, cards from his life partner Larry Mass, documents and
memorabilia of his two closest friends, Jim Owles and Vito Russo, clippings
and notes about Cary Yurman, an ex-lover who set off a bomb in Sir
Harry's bar in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and a box of gay liberation
movement buttons. Series VI. Audiocassettes and Videotapes. Boxes 35-36. Audio and videotapes documenting public appearances or interviews with Kantrowitz, 1971-1994, activities of the Gay Activists Alliance, the creation of the Hetrick-Martin Institute's Harvey Milk School, memorials for Vito Russo and Jim Owles, and twelve segments from the series Our Time aired on WNYC-TV in 1983.
Container List
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