Giovanni's Room Bookstore

Last updated
Giovanni's Room Bookstore
Company typeBookstore
FounderBern Boyle
Dan Sherbo
Tom Wilson Weinberg  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters,
United States
Historic Bookstore
Street map of Philadelphia and surrounding area.png
Red pog.svg
Location345 S. 12th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
Coordinates 39°56′42″N75°09′41″W / 39.94501°N 75.16128°W / 39.94501; -75.16128 (Giovanni's Room)
PHMC dedicatedOctober 15, 2011
Website www.queerbooks.com

Giovanni's Room Bookstore is a gay bookstore in Philadelphia. It has been called the "center of gay Philly". [1] Founded in 1973 in Philadelphia, Giovanni's Room Bookstore was named after James Baldwin's gay novel Giovanni's Room . Philly AIDS Thrift took over the store after the owner retired in 2014 and the store is now called Philly AIDS Thrift at Giovanni's Room, also known as PAT @ Giovanni's Room. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Location

Giovanni's Room Bookstore was located on the corner of 12th and Pine Street in Philadelphia's gayborhood. The main building was built in 1820, and the second building, which became part of the store several years after the store opened, was built in the 1880s. The store was originally located on South Street and changed locations often in its first few years. It relocated at 345 South 12th Street in 1979. [5]

History

Giovanni's Room Historical Marker Giovanni's Room Historical Marker 345 S 12th St Philadelphia PA (DSC 3217).jpg
Giovanni's Room Historical Marker

In 1973 three Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) members, Tom Wilson Weinberg, Dan Sherbo and Bern Boyle, opened Giovanni's Room at 232 South Street. [5] The store was closed shortly afterward due to a homophobic landlord. The store changed hands to lesbian activist Pat Hill in 1974 and then to Ed Hermance and Arleen Oshan in 1976. [5] Hermance and Olshan moved the store first to 1426 Spruce Street and then to its final location on 12th and Pine in 1979. [1] Olshan left the partnership in 1984.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission unveiled a marker on Sunday, October 15, 2011, to commemorate the location of Giovanni’s Room, as it is the country's first LGBT bookstore still operating. [6] [7]

In April 2014 the store's owner of 38 years, Ed Hermance, announced his retirement plans and closed the store on May 17, 2014. [8] [1] He soon after made an agreement with Philly AIDS Thrift and they reopened the store as its proprietor that fall.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay village</span> Geographical area within a city that is inhabited or frequented by LGBT people

A gay village, also known as a gayborhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establishments, such as gay bars and pubs, nightclubs, bathhouses, restaurants, boutiques, and bookstores.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI), is a charitable, protest, and street performance movement that uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender, and morality and fundraise for charity. In 1979, a small group of gay men in San Francisco began wearing the attire of Catholic nuns in visible situations using camp to promote various social and political causes in the Castro District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Square West, Philadelphia</span> United States historic place

Washington Square West is a neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The neighborhood roughly corresponds to the area between 7th and Broad Streets and between Chestnut and South Streets, bordering on the Independence Mall tourist area directly northeast, Market East to the north, Old City and Society Hill to the East, Bella Vista directly south, Hawthorne to the southwest, and mid-town Philadelphia and Rittenhouse Square to the west. The area takes its name from Washington Square, a historic urban park in the northeastern corner of the neighborhood. In addition to being a desirable residential community, it is considered a hip, trendy neighborhood that offers a diverse array of shops, restaurants, and coffee houses. Washington Square West contains many gay-friendly establishments, especially in the gay village area of the neighborhood commonly known as the Gayborhood, which hosts annual events celebrating LGBT culture in Philadelphia, including OutFest.

Glad Day Bookshop is an independent bookstore and restaurant located in Toronto, Ontario, specializing in LGBT literature. Previously located above a storefront at 598A Yonge Street for much of its history, the store moved to its current location at 499 Church Street, in the heart of the city's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, in 2016. The store's name and logo are based on a painting by William Blake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center</span> LGBT community organization in New York City

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, commonly called The Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population of New York City and nearby communities.

Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) is an LGBT newspaper in the Philadelphia area. The publication was founded in 1976 by Mark Segal, who was inspired by activist Frank Kameny when they met in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay's the Word (bookshop)</span> Lesbian and gay bookstore in London

Gay's the Word is an independent bookshop in central London, and the oldest LGBT bookshop in the United Kingdom. Inspired by the emergence and growth of lesbian and gay bookstores in the United States, a small group of people from Gay Icebreakers, a gay socialist group, founded the store in 1979. These included Peter Dorey, Ernest Hole and Jonathan Cutbill. Various locations were looked at, including Covent Garden, which was then being regenerated, before they decided to open the store in Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury, an area of the capital with rich academic and literary associations. Initial reluctance from Camden Council to grant a lease was overcome with help from Ken Livingstone, then a local councillor, later Mayor of London. For a period of time, it was the only LGBT bookshop in England.

The Tavern Guild was an association of gay bar owners and liquor wholesalers that formed in 1962 in San Francisco, California, and lasted until 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Bartlett (activist)</span> American gay activist and educator

Chris Bartlett is an American gay activist, feminist, educator, and researcher who lives in Philadelphia, PA, and is the executive director of the William Way Community Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Way LGBT Community Center</span>

The William Way LGBT Community Center is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and nearby communities, located at 1315 Spruce Street in Philadelphia in the Gayborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazzoni Center</span> Health care provider in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mazzoni Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health care provider in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that serves the LGBT community.

Lethe Press is an American book publishing company based in Western Massachusetts. Launched in 2001 by Steve Berman, a writer and a former employee of Giovanni's Room Bookstore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the company was originally launched to publish speculative fiction, primarily LGBT-themed, as well as rereleasing out of print titles from other LGBT publishers. In recent years, with numerous LGBT-oriented publishing companies folding, the company has also expanded its line to include new LGBT-themed non-fiction, poetry, and anthology titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture in Philadelphia</span>

The development of LGBT culture in Philadelphia can be traced back to the early 20th century. It exists in current times as a dynamic, diverse, and philanthropically active culture with establishments and events held to promote LGBT culture and rights in Philadelphia and beyond.

New York has a long history of LGBT community building, activism, and culture which extends to the early history of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Casarez</span> American civil rights leader and LGBT activist

Gloria Casarez was an American civil rights leader and LGBT activist in Philadelphia. Casarez served as Philadelphia's first director of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) affairs. During her tenure as director, Philadelphia ranked as the number one city nationwide for LGBT equality. Casarez served as the executive director of Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI) from 1999 to 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Fair</span> American activist

David Fair is an American activist who has been a leader in the labor, LGBT, AIDS, homeless and child advocacy movements in Philadelphia, PA since the 1970s. He has founded or co-founded several advocacy and service organizations, including the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force (1977), the Philadelphia Gay Cultural Festival (1978), Lavender Health (1979), the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Union of the Homeless (1985), Philly Homes 4 Youth (2017), and the Philadelphia Coalition on Opioids and Children (2018), and led the creation of numerous local government health and human service initiatives, including the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (1987) and the Division of Community-Based Prevention Services (2001), the Parenting Collaborative (2003), and the Quality Parenting Initiative (2014) for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Librairie L'Androgyne</span> Book store

Librairie L'Androgyne was an gay, lesbian, feminist bookstore in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, active from 1973 to 2002.

Charis Books & More is an independent bookstore located in Decatur, Georgia. The store is the oldest independent feminist bookstore in the Southern U.S. Charis Books was founded in 1974 by Linda Bryant and Barbara Borgman in the Little Five Points district of Atlanta; in 2019, Charis moved to Decatur and became the bookstore of Agnes Scott College. The store specializes in diverse children's books, feminist literature, and LGBTQ literature.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gillespie, Tyler (21 May 2014). "The Last Day at Giovanni's Room, America's Oldest Gay Bookstore". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  2. Connie Wu (July 25, 2014). "Nation's Oldest LGBT Bookstore Rescued from Closing". OutTraveler.
  3. "Oldest US Gay Bookstore to Reopen in Philadelphia - ABC News". ABC News . Archived from the original on 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  4. "EPGN". epgn.com. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  5. 1 2 3 "Giovanni's Room records, circa 1975–1991" (PDF). John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives. July 19, 2019.
  6. Schechner, Karen. "Giovanni's Room Honored With Historical Marker". American Booksellers Association. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  7. "William Penn's Legacy, PHMC 2010–2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  8. Thomas, Angela. "Giovanni's Room to close next month". Philadelphia Gay News. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.

39°56′43″N75°09′40″W / 39.9452°N 75.1612°W / 39.9452; -75.1612