John Robaton photographs relating to The Cockettes Take NYC
Overview
Almost 50 images by John Robaton from The Cockettes Take NYC.
Dates
- Creation: 1971 November
Creator
- Robaton, John (Person)
Condition Description
In good condition.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
.08 linear feet (1 box)20 original black and white gelatin prints plus 27 black and white scanned images, some of the latter with duplicates. The photographs, taken by photojournalist John Robaton, depict backstage shots, portraits of performers, and fans on the streets.
Biographical / Historical
The Cockettes, called a "fantasy drag troupe" and the inventors of "acid drag", drew from and influenced culture broadly, developing from underground performance to mainstream fame in San Francisco. The troupe was founded in 1969 and disbanded in 1972; some performers struck out on their own in the wake of the troupe's success.
John Robaton is a photojournalist who has covered events around the world; he was at one time director of Boston University's College of Communication Photojournalism Department.
The troupe flew to New York in 1971 for a two-week run of performances in the Anderson Theater on the Lower East Side; opening night was November 7. They selected for the performance a show from their repertoire, "Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma".
Arrangement
Arranged as received.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Custodial History
Ownership prior to this acquisition is unknown.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2022MT-21. Purchased from Daniel Oliver with the Beatrice, Benjamin and Richard Bader Fund in the Visual Arts of the Theatre, 2021 September 13.
Processing Information
This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation.
Topical
- Title
- Robaton, John, photographer. John Robaton photographs relating to The Cockettes Take NYC, 1971 (MS Thr 2147): Guide
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Date
- 2021 October 25
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou03406
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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