Inventory   [ + ]

Guide to the Don Paulson Papers
1954-2002

Physical Access

Includes 12-inch, 33 1/3 rpm long-playing (LP) records; compact discs, audio cassettes; and 1/2-inch, VHS videocassettes.

Biographical Note

Don Paulson, an artist and author in the greater Seattle area, was born in Seattle in 1933. Paulson attended Auburn High School, then served for two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He lived in New York and Los Angeles for short periods but returned to Seattle in 1966 and devoted himself to painting. Paulson, a contributor to the Seattle Gay News, formed a friendship with Skippy LaRue, whose photo and clipping collection on female impersonators led Paulson to write about the topic. Specifically interested in female impersonators who performed at the Garden of Allah nightclub in Seattle, he collaborated with University of Washington communications professor Roger Simpson on the book, An Evening at the Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle (Columbia University Press, 1996), for which they won the Governor's Writers Award in 1997. Paulson used the nickname "Dawn" among his friends, and he used "Whitey Boom" as an alias in connection with painting.

Paulson was a member of Black and White Men Together, a gay interracial organization committed to fostering supportive environments and overcoming racial and cultural barriers. BWMT/Seattle participated in educational, political, cultural, and social activities as a means of addressing racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and heterosexism in the community.

Scope and Content

The Paulson Papers are comprised of textual materials, sound recordings, videocassettes, programs, handbills, and sheet music relating to Paulson's life as an artist in the Seattle area, his friendships with other gay men, and his research on female impersonators, notably those who performed at the Seattle cabaret, the Garden of Allah, in the 1950s. The collection is organized into three subgroups. The Evening at the Garden of Allah subgroup contains incoming letters, subject files, clippings, handbills, programs, ephemera, audio interviews with performers and patrons of the theater, miscellaneous audio and video recordings, and other material relating to the research and publicity for the 1996 book, An Evening at the Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle. Most of the informants that Paulson interviewed are no longer living. Correspondents include Billy DeVoe and Harvey W. Goodwin. Interviewees include Harvey Lee, Billy DeVoe, and Robin Raye.

Materials in the Seattle Black and White Men Together (BWMT) subgroup include notes and minutes from Don Paulson's term as secretary, newsletters and promotional materials for BWMT, and regional/national convention materials. The Personal Papers subgroup includes biographical information, correspondence, posters, drawings, notes, clippings, and ephemera. Skippy LaRue's clipping collection about female impersonators is also included. Correspondents include Bruce Pitcairn Strachan, Joel Salsman, Rev. Keith D. Davis, John Franklin Koenig, Dennis Meurer, Tim S. Nolan, Terry Nordyke, Diane Scott, Daryl Stipek, and Elizabeth Wight.

Restrictions on Access

The collection is open to the public.

Archival copies of the sound recordings are not available for listening.

Restrictions on Use

Paulson's and Skippy LaRue's rights were transferred to the University of Washington Libraries. Interviews for the book, An Evening in the Garden of Allah may be copied and quoted.

Alternate Forms Available

Listening copies made from the archival originals are available for reference purposes.

Acquisition Info

Gift of Don Paulson, June 16, 2003.

Processing Info

Processing completed in 2004.

Most of the interviews originally recorded on audio cassettes were copied to CD by Michael Monteleone, and preservation CD copies of these were created by the University of Washington Music Library.

The photographs were relocated to the Don Paulson-Skippy LaRue Photograph Collection, PH Coll. 673, in the division in 2004.

Other Finding Aids

The visual materials that form part of this collection are described and indexed in A Preliminary Guide to the Don Paulson-Skippy LaRue Photograph Collection, available in the division.

Inventory