GALLERY
A Refuge from Repression
Exhibit shows how gays fl ocked to Cherry Grove in the ‘50s
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
When describing the
lives of gay men and
lesbians during the
1950s, when McCarthyism
fanned the fl ames of antihomosexual
fervor, people tend to
use terms like “lonely,” “repressed,”
or “desolate.”
But visitors to “Safe/Haven: Gay
Life in 1950s Cherry Grove,” a free
outdoor exhibition on view in the
rear courtyard at the New-York
Historical Society, are left with a
distinctly contrasting impression.
The exhibit, curated by Cherry
Grove Archives Collection, is fi lled
with 70 enlarged photos portraying
LGBTQ people cavorting on the
beach, camping at costume parties,
and hamming it up onstage
at the community theater. Jaunty
poses and broad smiles abound.
The exhibit also showcases postcards,
fl yers, newspaper clippings,
and other memorabilia to help illustrate
what life was like in this
tiny summer retreat on a barrier
island far from the bustle of New
York City — and from everywhere
else. The fi nal section shows the
evolution of the enclave in more recent
decades.
I was so captivated that I reached
out to Brian Clark, who curated
the exhibit along with fellow Cherry
Grove archivists Susan Kravitz
and Parker Sargent. The project
was coordinated at the NYHS by
Rebecca Klassen, associate curator
of material culture. The biggest
challenge, according to Clark, was
winnowing down from thousands
of items in the archive.
“When we started digitizing
these images, we were struck by so
many pictures from house parties
and theater productions,” he said.
“A story emerged about how much
fun these people were having during
the McCarthy era when there
were so many restrictions and consequences
for being gay. They show
joy and freedom — a stark contrast
to standard depictions of homosexuals
from that period.”
As Clark sees it, these repressed
individuals found a vital sense of
CHERRY GROVE ARCHIVES COLLECTION, GIFT OF GAY NATHAN AND JULIE PARADISE
Kay Guinness (right) was an iconic Cherry Grove fi gure. Independently wealthy and closeted, she had affairs
with women while also being married three different times to men. She fl ew small airplanes, had
her own motorboat, and loved to be part of fashionable society. In the 1950s, Guinness was arrested in
Cherry Grove for nude sunbathing on the beach. Her cottage was named No Man’s Land.
community they never had before.
They were grateful to meet others
like themselves, gleaning support
from each other.
The earliest evidence of the
Cherry Grove Archive is from the
1950s, and the collection greatly
expanded in the 1970s when history
buff Harold Seeley started
actively assembling photos and
ephemera from the shows and
bars. Often items were scavenged
from people’s trash, especially
throughout the deadly AIDS epidemic,
when families would come
over, clear out the house of their
deceased sons and brothers, and
discard the items due to the shame
and social stigma. They wanted
nothing to do with these oncecherished
mementoes. During that
time, entire walks (the Grove’s version
of streets) were wiped out.
What do they hope visitors will
take away from the exhibition?
“Cherry Grove provided a safe
haven in an isolated location where
LGBTQ people could openly explore
their identity and enjoy the experience
of being open and out,” Clark
said. “Which was so profound because
gay people had to hide for
safety. The consequences of being
discovered were dire – they could
lose their job and family and be
shunned by their church.”
“This is one of the fi rst places
in America where the majority of
residents were homosexual,” Clark
explained. “I am passionate to be
able to show this history. When I
was young, I didn’t know any gay
people. I hope that some child sees
the exhibition and thinks, ‘Wow, I
could be like that.’ If I had known
a place like Cherry Grove existed
when I was a little kid, it would
have saved me a lot of time.”
He added that the community
theater was uniquely gay-forward,
offering ample opportunity to explore
a kind of queer sensibility
they could never be attempted on
Broadway. Here the actors could be
openly gay and present gender fl uidity,
camp, and full-on drag.
One of the placards explains
this penchant for gender diversity,
whether it be on stage or at a
themed house party (with intriguing
titles like “The Parasol Party”
and “The Diaper Party”): “Under
the guise of dressing up, many
men and women were able to play
with gender norms, thereby challenging
society’s expectations of
‘proper’ behavior.”
An early version of “Safe/Haven”
was shown at the Stonewall
National Museum in Fort Lauderdale
before the pandemic hit. Since
then, they’ve expanded the show
and swapped out certain images
to make it even more resonant for
today.
“We added a specifi c component
on sexuality because we got feedback
from Fort Lauderdale where
a lot of guys said, ‘The beach and
theater were swell, but we came
there for the sex.’ We felt it was an
important component that must be
told.”
Despite knowing that unwitting
families with young children may
visit the exhibit, the NYHS never
shied away from any racy content.
“It was such a pleasure to work
with them because they fully supported
us in telling our complete
story,” Clark said. “There was no
moment where they tried to steer
us in a direction we were unsure
about. They helped us in every
way.”
Not that life in the Grove was all
cocktail parties, fl amboyant outfi
ts, and unbridled friskiness. The
exhibit is frank about the frequent
raids by police to arrest and jail
men for “indecent” behavior. Gangs
of teens would take boats over from
the mainland just to harass and
beat up the “pansies.” And not all
residents in the Grove greeted gay
people with open arms. Sometimes
the police were called.
It includes images of newspaper
clippings for the Suffolk County
News with headlines like “Fifteen
Seized in Cherry Grove Raid,“ and
their full names were published as
punishment. Often places of employment
were cited as well. The
curatorial team made sure to redact
the last names for the exhibit,
out of respect for any family members.
Clark admits it was tricky to
strike a balance between the safe
haven aspect and the harsh reality
of persecution.
“We did struggle a bit with the
dichotomy,” Clark said. “But remember,
Cherry Grove was infi -
nitely more safe than most places
in America, though it did come
➤ REFUGE FROM REPRESSION, continued on p.39
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