Looking Back and Forward
Conference overview
Post-Conference Recap
Conference participants submitted a number of recommendations at the close of the sessions.
Tiptoeing through the GLBT Preservation Movement
(PDF) Conference organizer, Gerry Takano's 2011 call to reassess GLBT historic preservation, and news of Will Fellows' and Helen P. Branson's new edition of the 1957 memoirs, Gay Bar.
Conference Photos
Photos taken throughout the Conference sessions are now online.
Conference Speakers List
Information on the Conference speakers and brief summaries of topics they presented.
Conference Addresses Preservation of Gay Sites
The Bay Area Reporter article on the Conference
Session Schedule
Looking Back and Forward 2001 Conference Sessions - Activities schedule.
BAY AREA REPORTER — June 14, 2001
by Katie Szymanski
Just when you thought that Pride week was all commercialism without context comes the gay preservation conference, "Looking Back and Forward: Significant Places of the GLBT Community," taking place June 21 and 22 in San Francisco.
Based on the concept that our significant places tell an important story, the conference will focus on interpreting and documenting historical sites of the GLBT community; highlighting preservation projects like Harvey Milk's former camera shop; hearing from queer historians; and identifying underground culture. Presentations and walking tours will be given, and featured speakers include Susan Stryker of the GLBT Historical Society of Northern California, author Will Fellows, national consultant William Coburn, and others who focus on community preservation.
The conference kicks off on Thursday, June 21 with a plenary session addressing "The Evolution of the GIBT Community and Place," and the preservation movement and its relationship to the national GLBT community. Next, a session will give an overview of neighborhoods and GLBT projects as described by historians from particular regions. A lunch time talk will unveil current research on San Francisco's queer geography, which is followed by a session on the GLBT role in historic interiors. A tour of the Civic Center area and Hayes Valley District will walk participants through the assassination of the late Supervisor Harvey Milk as well as visit the new emerging gay communities. The day wraps up with a gala reception at the hip Bucheon Gallery, 540 Hayes Street near Laguna and Octavia. The reception begins at 6 p.m. and is open to attendees and the public.
On Friday, June 22, the conference picks up with a session on strategies to save these historic GLBT sites, followed by a presentation on San Francisco's Tenderloin, Polk, and SOMA, and an overview of places of GLBT spirituality. The lunch time discussion is entitled, "Gay Men as Keepers of Culture." The walking tour that follows will include the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library, as well as significant places of the transgendered community throughout the Tenderloin district. The conference concludes with a discussion of specific national and local activities and tasks ahead. A TGIF party with tours of the nearby Fallon Building will take place at Piaf's, 1686 Market Street at Gough.
"Looking Back and Forward" is sponsored by Friends of 1800 Market, the group that was originally formed to save the historic Fallon Building during construction of the GLBT Community Center. It will take place, for the most part, at the Hotel Bijou, 111 Mason Street. Registration is $100 and includes all sessions, tours, lunch, receptions, and other activities. Space is limited; call (415) 364-1626 or visit www.friendsofl800.org for more information.