Bob Martin's Cigarette Dispenser
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March 15, 2015: Bob Martin is one of St. Louis' most colorful historical characters. The stories and memories of his bars are legendary with locations near Christ Church Cathedral, the old McKinley Hotel (long gone), and finally at the infamous YMCA Railroad Exchange Building (today's Drury Inn at Union Station). It was at the Union Station site of Bob Martin's we hear about the "stairway to heaven" and the "wrinkle room." During this time Stephen Adams (Dusty Michaels) became friends with Bob, and it was through this friendship that the Project's most recent rare find came to be. Stephen tells the story of being in Bob's office at the bar one day and remarking how much he had always admired the antique cigarette dispenser on Bob' desk. Without missing a beat, Bob gave the musical dispenser to Stephen as a present. Stephen has treasured this momento for years, and has now donated the item to the Project. Thanks Stephen for this amazing piece of St. Louis LGBT history.
Lonnie Lappie Artifacts
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March 8, 2015: Last year during the Project's exhibt at PHD Gallery, a visitor was suprised to see a picture of her uncle on display. She knew that her family had several momentos of her uncle and reached out to the Project to see if we would like to add them to our collection. The Project thanks Rachel DiDonato Tinsley for assembling a collection of artifacts documenting the life of Lonnie Lappie. Lonnie was a well known member of the St. Louis LGBT community in the 1980s and 1990s. He was an accomplished athlete, winning the gold medal for physique (middleweight division) at the 1986 Gay Games. Rachel and her family are still gathering additonal items to donate to the Project. Thanks Rachel for these important additions to the Project.
Vital Voice Adds to Project's Media Archives
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February 10, 2015: The Vital Voice had added to the Project's media archives. Darin Slyman, CEO of Vital Voice, has donated copies of the last five years of the magazine. Darin has just celebrated his five year anniversary as CEO of the publication, whose roots trace back to the Lesbian and Gay News Telegraph founded in 1981 - making Vital Voice one of the oldest operating LGBT media outlets in America. Thanks Darin for these most recent pages documenting the history and vibrant life of St. Louis' LGBT community.
Goodson/Dowling Donations
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February 8, 2015: The Project sincerely thanks David Goodson for recently donating several new finds for the Project's archives. Dave provided regional LGBT publicaitons and a fun dinner menu from Bootsie, Winkie and Maude’s bar and restaurant that was located on Tucker Blvd., in the early 1990s. But the highlight of his donations is a polo shirt from City Centre bar in East St. Louis on behalf of his partner Seumas Michael Dowling, who sadly passed away last summer. Thanks David for these great memories.
