Conversations with Betty

Original Interview

What was it like to be a lesbian in St. Louis during the 1950s? To give us some perspective, I spent time talking to a few incredible lesbians who had this experience. Our first interview features Betty, who was born in 1936 and began to enter the bar community during her teen years. One of the most remarkable changes she described is the gay community relationship with the police. During her early years, it was not uncommon to be in a bar that was raided. The police would come in and make arrests, taking the unlucky individuals away in a Black Mariah. Betty was usually charged with impersonating a male and because she dated prostitutes (a habit that was quite common during this era), she might even get a shot of penicillin at city hospital and be charged with prostitution. You could be held for 24 hours on suspicion and she estimates that she was arrested 4-5 times. Before the feminist movement, the butch-femme dynamic was all encompassing. Everyone had to choose which role to take. Betty, of course, was a butch. I found while reading other studies of lesbians during this era that it has been difficult to locate the stories of femmes. Many of them are no longer active in the gay community and thus, more difficult to locate. Betty reported that it was uncommon for a femme to go out to the bars alone. If there was dancing, it was incumbent on the butch to do the asking. I am hoping to track down more information on some of the bars that Betty remembers: The Goldengate was a men’s bar in the are of Olive and Grand, near Gaslight Square. It had a large serpent on the wall as part of its décor. Janey’s restaurant, which later became El Serape, was located on the southside of Olive near Grand. Shelley’s bar, which was owned by an older straight couple, had music in the form of a piano. It was a small place and upstairs there was entertainment and sometimes jazz. Betty remembers someone by the name of Rusty Warren who performed there and was a humorist as well as a jazz musician. The photographs in the bar post feature a number of lesbian bars or former locations that were made during a tour of St. Louis that Betty led. She shared many memories of each of these bars and described how integral to the community these places really were. Betty's CB was the first lesbian bar that she ever went to and on her very first visit, it was raided. Some older lesbians pushed her out the back window and that time, she escaped arrest. That was particularly fortunate, since she was underage. Betty is the key source of information and contacts for this project and her story will continue to be told as I proceed with this project. In later years, Betty became very involved in Team St. Louis.

 
I received a note from James Hawkins who owned several bars in St. Louis and remembers Rusty Warren. Here is his note

 " On your blog you mentioned Rusty Warren. She did perform at Shelly's Bar. It was rumored she got her start at there. She became one of the funniest comedians through out the US and was a headliner in Las Vegas for many years. She never forgot her roots. When she was appearing in Saint Louis she would make it a point to hit the gay bars. I will never forget the first time she came to The Red Bull she and her girl friend pulled up in a Rolls Royce.                You can pull her up on YouTube at

Rusty Warren - Lady Behind the Laughs            She was one wild and funny lady."

James also opened a bar called the Glory Hole and here is a copy of his original note to me:

"My name is Jim Hawkins. Jerry Edwards and I opened The Red Bull in East Saint Louis and The French Market in Saint Louis. For the past several months I have been writing a book on the experiences we had while we were in business.  I'm trying to find photos that anyone might have of any of our businesses in that time period from 1968 on.

Photos in gay bars at that time are extremely rare. After seeing your Blog I knew you were the one I needed to contact. I have lived in Jacksonville,Florida for many years and have lost contact with so many of the people I knew in Saint Louis. If you know of anyone who may have any photos please contact me and Thank You for your time. Jim Hawkins email jdhawkins2004@yahoo.com"