Miss Smith's Tea Room Explained

Miss Smith's Tea Room
Established:1954
Closed:1960
Street-Address:1353 Grant Avenue,
San Francisco, California, U.S.

Miss Smith's Tea Room was a gay and lesbian bar in operation from 1954 to 1960 in the North Beach neighborhood at 1353 Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, U.S..[1] [2] [3] It was a lesbian pickup spot,[4] known for its Wednesday poetry nights and was a hangout for Beat poets.[5] It is considered a pioneering gay bar, and had historically faced legal issues in order to maintain operations.[6] [7]

History

It was owned and managed by LaVeta "Connie" Smith (1928–1995).[8] Smith had previously waitressed at the Artist's Club, a 1940s lesbian dive bar in the city, and had also operated a jazz record shop on Grant Avenue.

Miss Smith's Tea Room served wine and beer, but no tea. Patrons would carved their names into the tables,[9] and sawdust covered the floors.

Smith had legal issues around 1958 and was unsuccessfully charged under the statutes, and the bar had its beer and wine license revoked by the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in an attempt to disrupt it from operating. In total, a collection of San Francisco LGBT venues opened and flourished in the early 1950s, including Miss Smith's Tea Room, the Paper Doll Club, The Beige Room, Tommy's Place/12 Adler Place, Tin Angel, Dolan's, and Gordon's.

Closure and legacy

After the Miss Smith's Tea Room closed it became the Coffee Gallery (1954–1980), and later it became the Lost and Found Saloon (1980–2000).[10] The former building is now Maggie McGarry's bar.[11]

It was featured in the Kim Anno art exhibition "Lost and Found: A Museum of Lesbian Memory, Part 1" (2000) shown at "The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society of Northern California," and at the San Francisco Public Library.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Beemyn, Brett . Creating a Place For Ourselves: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community Histories . 2013-05-13 . Routledge . 978-1-135-22240-6 . 82 . en . 2023-04-17 . 2023-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230417212303/https://books.google.com/books?id=PPSqHd-ViLYC&pg=PT82 . live .
  2. Web site: Flanagan . Michael . July 25, 2018 . Beats, Bohemians and Bars: Jack Spicer, Allen Ginsberg and their circle's San Francisco haunts . 2023-04-17 . . en-us . 2022-10-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221014062056/https://www.ebar.com/story.php?263096 . live .
  3. Book: Peters, Erica J. . San Francisco: A Food Biography . 2013-08-22 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0-7591-2153-9 . 74 . en . 2023-04-17 . 2023-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230417212001/https://books.google.com/books?id=nQyYAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 . live .
  4. Web site: Atherton Lin . Jeremy . Jeremy Atherton Lin . February 19, 2021 . A Brief Literary History of Gay and Lesbian Bars . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221206013301/https://lithub.com/a-brief-literary-history-of-gay-and-lesbian-bars/ . 2022-12-06 . 2023-04-17 . . en-US.
  5. Book: Boyd, Nan Alamilla . Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965 . 2003-05-23 . . 978-0-520-20415-7 . 82–83, 123, 132–133 . en . 2023-04-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230416055558/https://books.google.com/books?id=xZ4lDQAAQBAJ . 2023-04-16 . live.
  6. Web site: 1995-04-29 . Laveta Connie Smith . 2023-04-17 . . en-US . 2023-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230417211954/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/laveta-connie-smith-3035079.php . live .
  7. Web site: Ford . Dave . 2000-11-10 . Berkeley Artist Helps Create 'Museum of Lesbian Memory' / 2-site exhibition uses art, artifacts to illuminate past . 2023-04-17 . . en-US . 1932-8672 . 2023-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230417211932/https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Berkeley-Artist-Helps-Create-Museum-of-Lesbian-2729137.php . live .
  8. Web site: March 12, 1958 . Hunt Miss Smith In Holdup Plot . 2023-04-17 . . en-US . Newspapers.com.
  9. Web site: Roland . Jane . May 10, 2019 . Life in the City . . 14 . April 17, 2023 . November 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117064522/https://cedarstreettimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cst-5-17-19-web-.pdf . live .
  10. Book: Richards, Rand . Historic Walks in San Francisco: 18 Trails Through the City's Past . 2002 . Heritage House Publishers . 978-1-879367-03-6 . 289 . en.
  11. Web site: Boyd . Dick . 2010 . Before the Castro: North Beach, a Gay Mecca . 17 April 2023 . FoundSF . 18 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221018190310/https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Before_the_Castro:_North_Beach,_a_Gay_Mecca . live .

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