I hope by now I’ve made it apparent that Anaheim is more than just Disneyland. Anaheim is home to the Muzeo, a wonderful little museum in downtown that regularly boasts fabulous exhibits. Last week the Muzeo unveiled new exhibits, including Mapping the Guide Guides and Where We Find Ourselves, both of which I found incredibly interesting.

Today many businesses can proudly declare that they are safe spaces for the LBGTQ+ community, but in the mid-20th century that was not the case. Being outed in the first half of the 20th century could be detrimental to ones livelihood, so discretion was necessary for members of the community in finding welcoming places. In an attempt to make the world safer for members of the queer community, one man decided to track and publish locations of safe spaces in a nondescript manner, Bob Damron.

Owner of multiple gay bars, Damron published his first guide, nondescriptly titled Bob Damrom’s Address Book, in 1964. The pages were filled with nearly every kind of business, from bars to churches, hotels to bookstores. Damron’s guides included not just locations, but codes to describe the offerings, the type of crowd, as well as warnings of police presence.

As the years progressed, the books got thicker, and as new strides were made for the LGBTQ+ community, the books no longer required the plain covers of the early years. Today, with the advent of the internet, Damron’s guides have moved into the digital age with a website. Meanwhile historians from California State Fullerton and Clemson University have mapped all of the locations from Damron’s early guides, which you can check out here.

In addition to Damron’s vital guide books, the exhibit also highlights other early gay print media, including ONE: The Homosexual Magazine, which debuted in 1953. The magazine became the subject of the first Supreme Court case on gay issues, One, Inc. v Olesen. A postmaster claimed the magazine violated the Comstock Laws, but the Court ruled that homosexual material was not inherently obscene.

Admirers of early photography and history of the American South will enjoy Where We Find Ourselves, which showcases the photography of self-taught photographer Hugh Mangum, which was almost lost to the ravages of time.

Traveling the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mangum took over 12,000 portraits, regardless of race or class. His use of multiple exposures create wonderful images and collections of various people.

When Mangum died in 1922, his negatives resided in a family barn in Durham, North Carolina. Forgotten for five decades, they were only rediscovered when the barn was going to be demolished.

Both Mapping the Gay Guides and Where We Find Ourselves are available to view at the Muzeo, located at 241 S. Anaheim Boulevard in downtown Anaheim, through June 23, 2024. For more information, including tickets, please visit the Muzeo’s website. If you can’t make it to Where We Find Ourselves but are interested in Mangum’s work, you can purchase the book on the exhibit here. I plan on ordering a copy sometime soon!

What’s Nearby?

Anaheim Packing House

Linbrook Bowl