An Introduction to Rusty's
One of Philly's oldest lesbian bars, Rusty's, was mafia-owned and subject to frequent police raids. Are you interested in being interviewed? Fill out this survey: tinyurl.com/wwgout
“Wicce,” Summer 1974 issue cover. John J. Wilcox, Jr., Archives at William Way LGBT Center.
Rusty’s opened in 1963 and stayed open until the mid-70s. The bar moved to two locations over the years, one in Chinatown and one on Quince Street. The manager, known as Rusty, is pictured in the illustration above. The women I interviewed who had been to the place all remember her as being very tough. She had to be, since the mafia owned the bar—and they did not own it to create a welcoming space for lesbians.
Those who frequented Rusty’s also had to contend with the police, who raided the place several times, verbally abusing and arresting lesbians and holding them overnight on charges that would later be dropped. Many of these raids took place under Frank Rizzo, the Philadelphia police commissioner from 1968 to 1971. Among those I interviewed who were frequent guests of the bar, none held the illusion that it was a safe space to be. But often, it felt like the only space where they could be.
For some women of color, even Rusty’s did not feel like a space that they could go. Anita Cornwell, a black lesbian feminist author, remembers that the other lesbians at Rusty’s did not seem at all welcoming. “It was very prejudiced,” she later told historian Marc Stein. “I could tell they didn’t want us there.”
MORE ON RUSTY’S:
“Rusty’s: Where Were You in ‘62?” | The Gayborhood Guru
“Rusty’s” | Lost Womyn’s Spaces
Anita Cornwell, October 6, 1993 | Interview with Marc Stein | OutHistory.org
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