On film and in exhibits, a full picture of Harvey Milk
In conjunction with a new film about San Francisco Supervisor Milk, items belonging to the gay rights pioneer -- including the suit he was wearing when he was killed -- are being exhibited.
Reporting from San Francisco — The sight may be a little shocking, Paul Boneberg warned a visitor. And it was.
There, removed from tissue-paper wrappings in a storage box, were the wingtip shoes, striped suit and white shirt that gay activist and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk wore Nov. 27, 1978, the day he was assassinated. Dark bloodstains remained visible around the shirt collar, and small holes -- from bullets -- could be seen in the suit's blue and gray material.
The suit has been preserved 30 years for a purpose, explained Boneberg, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco, which owns it. "It's an iconic reference to what occurred, that this was a real man who bled real blood," he said.
Harvey Milk: Recent articles in the Calendar and California sections based on the release of the movie "Milk" have referred to San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk as being the first openly gay man elected to major public office in this country. While he was among the first openly gay politicians to hold office in the United States -- Milk was elected city supervisor in 1977 -- at least one other official preceded Milk as an openly gay candidate to be elected. Allan Spear, who served in the Minnesota Senate from 1972 to 2000, announced that he was gay in 1974. Two articles earlier this year also included the error.
Now the clothing and many other Milk-related items in scholarly and library archives in San Francisco are about to get more attention -- as are re-creations of them in the new film biography "Milk," which stars Sean Penn as the nation's first openly gay man elected to a major political office.
The movie's director, Gus Van Sant, and his team did extensive research at the historical society to accurately portray Milk's life, his possessions, his political career and his slaying at age 48. In addition to the evocative suit, they studied Milk's campaign posters, his round dining room table -- a replica of which is featured in the film -- and photos of the early days of gay liberation in the city's Castro district.
The filmmakers also dug into a large trove of Milk's papers, love letters and photos at the San Francisco Public Library. In addition, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black interviewed surviving friends and examined their memorabilia.
"We made a conscious effort to keep it real," said Bill Groom, the film's production designer. With authenticity so important in filmmaking, "all that stuff was really helpful. We discovered a lot that enriched the movie."
The research for "Milk" was an unusually productive example of how archives and scholarship can influence Hollywood and popular culture, participants said.
At the same time, the low-profile library and history collection are hoping to bask a little in the film's afterglow. Both the GLBT Historical Society and the San Francisco Public Library are holding public exhibits timed to coincide with the movie's opening last week and the 30th anniversary of Milk's murder.
- On film and in exhibits, a full picture of Harvey Milk Nov 30, 2008
- Gus Van Sant, 'Milk' Dec 10, 2008
- For Sean Penn, an act of kindness Feb 04, 2009
