Surviving & Thriving: The Faulkner Morgan Archive’s Traveling Exhibit ‘Here, Black, Femme, & Queer’

Here, Black, Femme, & Queer is the Faulkner Morgan Archive’s first traveling exhibit. Created by FMA’s Assistant Executive Director Josh Porter during his internship with FMA in the Spring of 2023, the exhibit features the lives and legacies of a handful of Kentucky’s Black, femme, and queer people. Reflecting the FMA’s goal of sharing LGBTQ+ stories, the exhibit strives to show that queerness in Kentucky is not new: queer people have long been a part of Kentucky history, and the intersections of queer and Black history are rich and vitally important.

As curator, Josh was interested in putting the stories that FMA has collected into a public-facing, cohesive exhibition. 

“When I was looking through the collections, I became absolutely enamored with these images that I was seeing of drag from the 1970s and 1980s,” he said. 

These familiar spaces from a different era, such as the Bar Complex stage and dressing room, drew Josh to icons of Lexington queer life such as Crystal Blue and Leigh Angelique, two Black trans women who are prevalent in many of FMA’s collections. 

“They were so loved and their memories live on through these images shared by their LGBTQ friends and chosen family,” he said. 

The exhibit presents an intimate picture of queer life and events. 

The stories showcase much-needed examples of queer people simply living their lives, having fun, enjoying themselves, creating community, and documenting themselves. The exhibit focuses on Sweet Evening Breeze, Leigh Angelique, Toni LaFlame, Crystal Blue, Miss Joyce, Caldonia Reynolds, Dee Dee, and Rayna Starr. From Sweet Evening Breeze, born James Herndon in 1894, to Rayna Starr, who has performed in Lexington for 4 decades, the exhibit celebrates over 100 years of Central Kentucky history, all proudly and openly expressing and documenting their Blackness, queerness, and femininity.

Sweet Evening Breeze enjoyed a level of celebrity in Jim Crow and pre-Stonewall Lexington that is somewhat difficult to describe. In writing about Sweets in the 1960s, Lexington journalist A.B. Guthrie named her Kentucky’s most famous celebrity. Her home in Pralltown was the epicenter of parties attended by Lexington’s white elite including members of UK’s football program. When Leigh Angelique was arrested in 1970 for “wearing a disguise,” Sweets called the sentencing judge and told him it was “in his best interests to drop the charges.” The judge complied.

Many of the images of Leigh Angelique were taken by a UK sociology student who followed Leigh to a performance at Club Riviera in Newport, Kentucky. These images formed a scrapbook that would eventually be donated to the FMA. Leigh Angelique performed regularly in Lexington and organized the Miss Ebony Lexington Contest held in the Bar Complex’s showroom.

Toni LaFlame was a gender-bending, drag performer whose namesake fire dance went beyond the typical lip syncs, dazzling crowds with the rhythmic use of torches that she held (and extinguished) in several interesting orifices.

Crystal Blue, a trans woman who began performing drag later in life, was well-known for performing at the Bar Complex. She is rumored to have coined the phrase “Don’t make me use my Elly biscuit” in reference to the brick she carried in her purse. She moved to Atlanta where she passed away in December 2021.

Miss Joyce, the drag persona of Charles Dansby, was the last drag daughter of Sweet Evening Breeze. Miss Joyce’s drag career spanned decades until he passed away in 2020. Charles was featured in Jean L. Donohue’s documentary on Central Kentucky queer life The Last Gospel of the Pagan Babies.

Caldonia Reynolds was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Her family moved early in her life to Cincinnati, but she would return to Lexington regularly to tap dance in the pool halls and bars of Water Street. It is rumored – mostly by Caldonia herself – that the song “Caldonia” made famous by B.B. King – was about her.

Dee Dee and her mother moved to Lexington for what was, at the time, a relatively secretive gender reassignment surgery program at the University of Kentucky. Dee Dee frequented the Living Room and became acquainted with artist Bob Morgan and the Pagan Babies.

Rayna Starr, the drag persona of Ben Salyers, has performed in Lexington for almost 4 decades. She was a staple of the Bar Complex stage, where she was part of the Gilded Cage Dives for over 25 years. More recently she has given her talents to various fundraising performances at Crossings. She was recently recognized with the Stonewall Honors Award from Kentucky Black Pride.

The exhibit also features images of Black, trans pioneer Marsha P. Johnson from the estate of renowned, Kentucky-born, queer photographer Leee Black Childers. Born in Louisville, in 1945, Childers first moved to San Francisco and then to New York. He became famous for his photographs of drag queens, punk rockers, and other celebrities. In 1971, he joined Andy Warhol’s Factory and was the official photography and stage manager on Warhol’s Pork. The images of Marsha P. Johnson were found in a folder after Childers’ death.

Here, Black, Femme, & Queer was installed at the Lexington Public Library’s Central Library in October for LGBTQ+ History Month and remained there November 18. During that time, library locations served as early voting and Election Day polling places. The exhibit including the images of Marsha P. Johnson greeted Lexingtonians as they came to cast their votes. “It was especially impactful,” says Josh,” since the exhibit was up while the library was used as a polling place for the election. As I mentioned, this exhibit intentionally focuses on the joy of and shines a light on the lives and legacies of Black, femme, & queer people from right here in Kentucky. At a time when our LGBTQ community is constantly under attack, finding joy can be difficult.”

The people featured in the exhibit are trailblazers that have helped the queer community survive and thrive in Central Kentucky. “Looking to the past provides a unique opportunity to remind ourselves that queer people are in Kentucky and have always been in Kentucky and will forever be in Kentucky.” The subjects provide a roadmap to a world where the LGBTQ community is not only protected, but also included and celebrated without question. They also provide a sense of how we can live when times become difficult. 

The Faulkner Morgan Archive’s vision seeks to provide a sense of belonging to LGBTQ+ Kentuckians and to unequivocally affirm our community’s place in the rich tapestry of Kentucky’s past, present and future.

 “I want people to see a picture of Crystal Blue performing on the Bar Complex stage, and think I’ve been there, I’ve seen that, I can have that real intimate feeling of being in a space with rich history, in a city and state with rich history.”

Here, Black, Femme, & Queer will be on display at Lussi Brown Coffee Bar in Lexington, KY from December 3 to December 28, 2024.

If your group, business, institution, or organization would like to host Here, Black, Femme, & Queer, please contact the Faulkner Morgan Archive at https://www.faulknermorgan.org/contact.