Tinderbox
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military men in, 52
Saul of Tarsus, 23
Savant, Cynthia Ann “Cee Cee,” 42, 141–42, 150, 179, 185
Save Our Children, 233
Scalia, Antonin, 253
Scalise, Vic, 237
Scarborough, Michael:
after the fire, 144, 164, 192–93, 210–11
during the fire, 75, 79
and Green, 15, 79, 163–64, 219
and Nunez, 65–66, 192–93, 219
and Post Office, 212, 213, 219
and Up Stairs Lounge, 13
Schlosser, Charles, 95–97, 112, 179–80, 185, 192–93, 205
Schmalz, Jeff, 119
Schmitz, Marc, 225
Schwarz, Ms. (social worker), 94
Scott, Rick, xviii
Screen, Msgr. Arthur T., 123, 196
Seattle, new ordinances in, 221
Segura, Chris, 146
sexual orientation disturbance, definition of, 210
Sharohway, Fred, 74, 94, 210
Shaw, Clay:
and American Grotesque, 9
closeted, 7, 8, 49
death of, 217
and French Market Corporation, 134, 160, 161, 217
and Garrison, 7–9, 29, 41, 217, 218
health problems of, 160, 217
and International Trade Mart, 7, 217
and Kennedy assassination, 7–8, 217–18
personal advancement of, 49, 62, 134
and Up Stairs Lounge, 160, 218
and VCC, 160, 161
Shea, Frank J., 194, 215
Shepard, Matthew, 249
Singleton, James, 241
Sirgo, Louis, 132
Sirois, George Robert, 127–28
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, 1963 firebombing of, xxx
Smith, Al, xxx
Smith, Howard, 192
Smith, James, 67, 112
Smokey’s Den, Springfield, Illinois, 198
“Smokie” (longshoreman), 15, 149
Sodom and Gomorrah, xxvi
sodomy, xxvi, 221, 253
Soleto, Richard “Regina,” 36, 37, 60, 68, 87, 150, 235, 267
Solomon, Rev. David, xxv, 23–26, 28, 34, 129, 140
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 27, 130, 231
Southern Decadence, festival of, xxxvii, 221–22, 226
Spiesel, Charles, 8
Spitz, Mark, 19
State Department, U.S., Lavender Scare in, 48
States-Item (New Orleans):
antigay statements in, 150, 153
mayor’s statement in, 187
on memorial fund, 154
police statement about homosexuals in, 91, 145, 146
on Up Stairs Lounge fire, 70, 88, 121, 130, 138, 161, 195
on victims’ families, 181
State-Times (Baton Rouge), 117
Stevens, Buddy (pseud.), 62
Stonewall Riots, New York (1969), xxix–xxx, 52–53, 107–8, 111, 119, 124, 151, 156, 177, 251
Stratton, Larry, xxxiv, 145, 180, 187–88
Streetcar Named Desire, A (Williams), 7
Sullivan, Andrew, xxiv, 248
Sunday Sun (New Orleans), 29
Sunflower (New Orleans), 23–24
Sydney Morning Herald, 117
Tabasco factory, 42
Tane, Vicki, 36, 182
Tavern Guild, San Francisco, 177
Thomas, Eugene, 74, 94, 210
Thomas, Lanny, 121
Thompson, Hunter S., 227
Thompson, Mark L., xxiv, xxxviii, 244
Till, Emmett, xvii
Time, 121, 221, 239
Times, The (London), 117, 132
Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 47, 130, 135
after the fire, 94–95, 100
and AIDS, 240
antihomosexual ads in, xxxii
biased reporting in, xxxii, xxxvi, 24–25, 117, 153
at fire scene, 90–91, 115
and gay activism, 232, 233, 241
on MCC, xxv, 25, 26
and memorial services, xxiv, xxviii, 139
“Orleans Parish Records of the Day,” 61
Shaw obituary in, 217
stories unreported in, 10, 167, 187, 252
and Up Stairs Lounge story, xxxii, xxxvi, xxxviii, 102, 117, 136, 143, 146, 149–50, 153, 154, 161, 172–73, 184, 198, 223, 244, 245, 246, 288
Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, 135
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV), 62
Townsend, Johnny, xxxv, 101, 163, 220, 242
“trans-gender,” use of term, 267
“transsexual,” use of term, 267
Treadway, Joan, 198
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (1911), xvii, xxx
Tulane University, xxxi, 53, 122
Tunney, John, 198–99
Turner, Tad, 34, 129
“unidentified white males,” xxxiv, 190–91
Uniformed Firefighters Association, 111
United Front of Gay Organizations, 189
United Methodist Church of Louisiana, 170, 240–41
“United We Stand,” 32, 65, 172, 178, 212–13
Up North Chicago, 198
Up Stairs Lounge, 10–19
after the fire, 192
and beer bust, 32, 46, 58–60, 65
as crime scene, 89, 91, 94, 100–101
fire in, see Up Stairs Lounge fire
as gay bar, xxxv, 3, 6, 31, 91, 93–94, 101, 120–21, 131, 136, 138, 139, 146, 162, 171, 172, 237
inspections of, xxx, xxxv, 154, 183–84, 224, 225
interior of, 11–12, 18–19, 99
and lawsuits, 225
licensing of, 16
and MCC, 12, 31–34, 59, 110, 222, 244–46
money missing from, 100–101
“nellydramas” in, 33–34, 38, 227
Nunez in, 64–67, 179, 193
opening of (1970), 16
performances in, 12, 15, 18, 33–34, 35, 36, 38
regular clientele of, 14, 17–18
reviewed in guidebooks, 11, 32
rules of, 13–14, 15, 62, 65
safety features useless in, 99, 160–62, 224, 225
as social club, 11, 18
and support groups, 189–90
as tinderbox, xxxvi, 183, 224, 225
“United We Stand” as anthem of, 32, 65, 172
Up Stairs Lounge fire (1973), 69–81
after the fire, 85–89, 99–101, 103, 109–10, 111–12, 135–37, 190–92, 243
alarm called, 69–70
anniversaries of, xxxvi, xxxvii, 217, 242, 243–48, 249–53
as arson, xxviii, xxx, 89, 91, 92, 99, 104, 108–9, 110, 112–13, 162, 192–94, 195, 196, 205–9, 212, 220–21, 223–24, 235–36
books about, xxxv, 101, 242
contrast with related events, xviiii–xix, xxix–xxx, xxxi, xxxii, xxxv, 132, 159, 224
death count in, xviii, xxviii, 131, 165, 178, 187, 195, 206, 220
evidence considered inadequate in, 162, 209
financial support for survivors, 190, 198, 210–12
“flashover” stage, 71, 80
as fund-raising tool, 198
investigation abandoned by public officials, xxxi, 199, 209, 212, 235–36
legacy of, 246, 247
legal blockades in, 223–26
media silence about, xxviii, xxxi, xxxvii, 241
media stories about, xviii–xix, xxviii, xxxii, xxxvi, 94, 113, 115, 117–22, 130, 136–38, 152, 153–54, 158–59, 160–62, 198, 204, 245, 246
memorial plaque to, xxxvii, xxxviii, 159, 247, 248, 251–53, 254
memorial services for, 157–60, 168–74, 177–78, 189, 217, 222, 233, 249–53
memories of, xxvii–xxx, 243–47
and National New Orleans Memorial Fund, 151, 154, 156, 190, 197–98, 201–2, 211, 228
as “New Orleans Catastrophe,” 190
Nunez as arsonist of, see Nunez, Roger Dale
patrons attempting escape from, 71–81, 108–9
> “people’s shrine” at, 136, 149, 156, 247, 251–53, 254
public burials for victims of, 190–91
public reactions to, xviii, xix, xxx–xxxiii, xxxiv–xxxv, 122–23, 130–31, 134, 192, 196, 228, 248
as public safety issue, 137, 160–62
Red Cross blood drives, 151, 154, 190, 239
“Remembering the Up Stairs Lounge Fire,” 246
scene of, as tourist site, 149–50
starting, 69, 113, 193, 215, 252
survivors of, xxxv, xxxvi, 144–45, 150, 155, 222, 228, 244–45, 249–50, 251
victim identification, 148–49, 164, 190–91
victims’ families and partners, xxxv, 124, 127, 198, 210–11, 223–26, 251
victims’ names, xiii, xxxiii–xxxiv, 95, 102, 130, 162, 243, 247, 251, 254
Up Stairs Players, 33, 38, 227
U.S. Congress:
homosexuals in, 17, 49
investigation closed in, 199
U.S. Public Health Service, 239
U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, 212
U.S. Supreme Court:
death penalty halted by, xxxvi
on homosexuals, 48–49, 149–50, 151, 253
Lawrence v. Texas, 253
Roe v. Wade, xxxvi
Utah Jazz, 235
Vanlangendonck, Robert, 59, 65, 72–73, 87
Vector, xix
Veterans Outreach Program, 197
Victoria, Queen, 18, 35
Vidal, Gore, 64
Vietnam War, xxxvi
Vieux Carré Commission (VCC), 160, 161
Vieux Carré Courier, 11, 14, 18, 122, 172, 184, 190, 224, 231
Vieux Carré Star, 227
Vincent, Jan-Michael, 38
Vincent, Richard, 203
Virtually Normal: An Argument about Homosexuality (Sullivan), 248
Vitari, Joseph, 148–49, 190
Voting Rights Act (1970), 155
Wagener, Rod, 62–63, 80, 144, 188, 231, 234, 241–42
Walgreens, New Orleans, Ronsonol purchased in, 68, 113, 193, 215
Wallace, Mike, xxxii
Wanda’s, New Orleans, 10, 45, 78, 85–86, 92, 161, 214, 220
Warren, Eddie Hosea, xxxiv, 60
Warren, James Curtis, xxxiv, 60
Warren, Willie Inez, xxxiv, 60, 80, 189
Washington, D.C., new ordinances in, 221
Washington, George, xxvi
Washington Post, The, xxxvi, 118, 120, 177
Watergate, xxxvi, 153
Waters, Perry Lane Jr., xxxiv, 36, 60, 61, 80, 163
WDSU New Orleans, 144, 172, 173–74
Welch, Raquel, 222
“We Shall Overcome,” 32
WGSO New Orleans, 234
“When the Saints Go Marching In” (song), 247
White, William, 68
White Citizens Council, New Orleans, 168
White House Conference on Hate Crimes (1997), 246–47
Williams, David, 125
Williams, Douglas Maxwell, xxxiv
Williams, Gary, 68
Williams, Tennessee, 7, 30, 52, 231
women’s movement, 122
Women’s Work Collective of Louisiana, 122
World’s Greatest Athlete, The (film), 38, 97
Wounded Knee, xvii
WVUE New Orleans, 136–37, 147
WWL New Orleans, 137, 200
Yarbrough, Jeff, xxv, xxvi
Young Democrats, 171
About the Author
Robert W. Fieseler is a recipient of the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship and the Lynton Fellowship in Book Writing. He graduated co-valedictorian from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Tinderbox is his first book.
Fieseler’s stories have been published by Narratively and The Big Roundtable, among other places, and been recognized in roundups of best nonfiction by The Atlantic. His essays have appeared in Columbia Journal, the River Teeth blog, and elsewhere. In other lives, Fieseler studied English and history at the University of Michigan and worked as a bookseller for Borders, the now-defunct retailer.
When he received the opportunity to write Tinderbox, Fieseler moved into the guestroom of his friends in New Orleans to soak in the city’s culture. A proud gay American, Fieseler married his longtime partner at Walden Pond and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Map drawn by Jeff Ferzoco
Endpaper image: The Up Stairs Lounge crowd gathers in the bar’s back theater space. Patron Michael Scarborough poses, at lower left, with a drink.
Copyright © 2018 by Robert W. Fieseler
All rights reserved
First Edition
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Book design by Brooke Koven
Production manager: Lauren Abbate
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Fieseler, Robert W., author.
Title: Tinderbox : the untold story of the Up Stairs Lounge fire and the rise of gay liberation / Robert W. Fieseler.
Description: First edition. | New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018004765 | ISBN 9781631491641 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Gays—Violence against—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—20th century. | Mass murder—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—20th century. | Gay bars—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—20th century. | Arson—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—20th century. | Homophobia—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—20th century. | Gay liberation movement—Louisiana—New Orleans—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC HV6250.4.H66 F54 2018 | DDC 364.152/340976335—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018004765
ISBN 978-1-63149-165-8 (e-book)
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