ONE Magazine at Seventy commemorates ONE’s legacy of uplifting LGBTQ+ communities and advancing queer rights and visibility through print. This exhibition chronicles the history of ONE Magazine, from its inaugural issue in January 1953 through its continued publishing until December 1967. The show examines themes that ONE tackled that remain pertinent today, including the fight against police brutality, the importance of building community and cultivating joy, and the protection of free speech. This exhibition considers the production and distribution of the magazine, the makers of the magazine (many of whom used pseudonyms), and the precedent it set for subsequent gay and lesbian periodicals and community formation. A selection of covers and inside spreads from ONE Magazine, supporting archival documents, audio stories, and ephemera will be on view at the Center’s gallery. 

Exhibition materials will highlight iconic artifacts from ONE Magazine’s history such as the October 1954 issue that became the focal point of the landmark Supreme Court case ONE, Inc. v. Olesen, which was the first in U.S. history to rule in favor of LGBTQ+ freedom of speech and expression. Print blocks from the magazine’s production, early homophile posters, and letters to ONE will also be on view. Alongside public programming in the space, these materials will showcase key moments of ONE’s history, activism, and contribution to queer liberation.

ONE Magazine at Seventy will be on view at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries from October 1–November 5, 2023, Friday-Sunday 12-5 PM.

The opening reception took place on October 1, 2023, 3:00-5:30 PM at the Center’s gallery and courtyards.

Newly Announced: Join One Institute and ONE Archives at the USC Libraries Curator Alexis Bard Johnson for a special curator-led tour of the exhibition on its closing weekend, Sunday, November 5, at 2:00 PM. The tour will focus on key individuals — including Bailey Whitaker (Guy Rousseau), Jim Kepner, Dorr Legg and Merton Bird, Don Slater and Toney Reyes, and Eve Elloree (Joan Corbin) and Ann Carll Reid (Irma “Corky” Wolf) — and the legacy of ONE Magazine. The tour will conclude with time to reflect on the magazine and its history as well as the month of Circa programming.

Click “Reserve Tickets” above to secure your spot on the tour before they sell out!

CURATOR BIOS

Alexis Bard Johnson (she/her) is the Curator at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Johnson earned her PhD in Art History with a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Stanford University. Before joining the ONE Archives, Johnson worked at the Princeton Art Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the Terra Foundation for American Art. When she is not researching and writing about queer visual culture, she loves to spend time baking and gardening. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in Los Angeles with her wife, their son, and their two tuxedo cats.

Sela Mariama (they/she) is a curator, researcher and artist-historian from Los Angeles, California. Their practice is foundationally informed by Afro-Indigenous mythologies and narratives, with a focus on underrepresented African-American artists and political histories. As a Curatorial Coordinator in the History department at the California African American Museum (CAAM), they are currently working on the forthcoming exhibitions Queer Black California: Art & Politics (1950 – Present) and World Without End: The George Washington Carver Project. Sela holds a B.A. in Health, Culture, & Ecology and Art History from Mills College and an M.A. in Arts Politics from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.

Quetzal Arévalo (they/them) is a curator and artist based out of Long Beach, California. Before joining ONE Archives at USC Libraries as the Getty Marrow Emerging Professionals Curatorial Assistant, they graduated from UC Berkeley’s History of Art Department with a departmental citation award and highest university honors. Their research and curatorial interests include contemporary arts of the African and Latinx diasporas and their intersections with gender, sexuality, and subculture. Their current research at ONE explores the queer history of western body modification and its legacy. Quetzal is passionate about community care, soup in any weather, and their retired racing greyhound, Maus. 

This exhibition is organized by One Institute as part of 2023 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute. The exhibit is curated by ONE Archives at the USC Libraries Curator Alexis Bard Johnson, curatorial assistant Quetzal Arévalo, and research assistant Sela Kerr. This exhibit is co-presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

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  The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a safe and welcoming place where the LGBTQ+ community finds help, hope, and support when it is needed the most.

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  ONE Archives at the USC Libraries is the largest repository of LGBTQ materials in the world. Its mission is to collect, preserve, and make accessible LGBTQ historical materials while promoting new scholarship on and public awareness of queer histories.