Historical Society Gets New Archive Space

San Francisco's GLBT Historical Society has a new site for its voluminous archives.

Terry Beswick, the nonprofit's new executive director, said that the lease on space at 989 Market Street is expected to be signed this week.

"Our history is so rich. We really need a much larger space," Beswick said of the historical society, which also runs the GLBT History Museum in the Castro district. He said the Market Street site "is a big leap in the right direction for us to adequately represent our community's diverse histories."

The archives hold about 800 collections of personal papers, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and other ephemera.

The nonprofit is looking to move in to the new archives location by May 16. The space is in the climate-controlled basement of a building that has housed offices for the tech firm Zendesk and other companies.

"It's going to take us a while to settle in," Beswick said. Getting everything set up "will probably take us until mid to late June. Our goal is to get it done before Pride," which is June 25-26.

Money was a major consideration for the historical society. Beswick said rent on the current archives space, at 657 Mission Street, was going from more than $10,000 a month to about $25,000.

"We've got to get out," Beswick said.

The rent for the new location is $15,840 a month, with a lease of seven years. The new location has approximately 6,500 square feet for archives and about another 1,500 for offices and conference space, Beswick said.

"It's going to be a wonderful space for us to grow into. We've outgrown our old archives," he said, and the historical society plans to expand its collections.

While the new site will help the historical society, it comes with "a significant increase" in monthly costs, such as utilities. Beswick said the group would soon launch a fundraising drive through an online crowdfunding site and increased mailings.

Along with new space for its archives, the historical society has long been trying to improve how it presents exhibits in its museum, at 4127 18th Street.

The LGBT community deserves a "world class museum and archives," Beswick said.

Reflecting a long-held desire by the organization, he said his goal is that by the time the lease on the museum expires in 2020, "we have a permanent space" for a combined museum and archives.

Beswick, a gay, HIV-positive Castro resident, co-founded ACT UP/San Francisco in the 1980s and was the first national coordinator of the national ACT UP network, known as ACT NOW. He said he wants the historical society's work to capture many things.

"We were fighting for acceptance, and we were fighting for integration," he said, along with "the right to stay in Indiana. ... Let's celebrate that."

The nonprofit's been working on an exhibit featuring the Compton's Cafeteria riots. The 24-hour cafe at the corner of Turk and Taylor streets was the site of an August 1966 riot where transgender patrons stood up against police, who had been called to quell a disturbance. The exact date of the riot has been lost to history.

Beswick would also like to change the museum's draw and educate more school students.

He said, "60 to 70 percent of visitors to the museum are people from out of town," and, invoking the slain gay civil rights icon, he said, "A lot of kids today don't even know who Harvey Milk was."

Beswick also said, "In a new museum, I imagine an auditorium," and he's open to other suggestions.

"An attitude of saying 'Yes' to ideas is how the Castro Country Club survived," Beswick said, referring to the sober space that hosts 12-step groups. Beswick had been a principal leader there since 2009 before joining the historical society in February.

Strengthening the Foundation

Beswick said he's been tasked to "shore up the foundation of the organization" and implement "a vision for the future." He's been talking to staff, board members, and people in the community to discuss what's needed.

The organization's budget is $600,000. "Some of it is confirmed income," Beswick said, while "some of it is based on projections."

He said he's been talking to major donors, and people are interested in supporting the organization.

Beswick said he wants to reach out to people "who have not had direct involvement with the organization" and increase the base of supporters.

"Usually people will only give if they have a stake in the organization," he said.

Small donations sustain the nonprofit, and it's "just as important to have those individuals investing in the organization" as people who give larger sums, he said.

Along with other ideas, Beswick said, "We're exploring the possibility of bringing back the annual gala this year." (The group's Unmasked fundraiser hasn't been held in the last couple years.)

The historical society has two full-time staff. Beswick, whose position is half time and whose salary is at $42,500, plus benefits, said whether he's eventually paid for working full time "depends on whether people step up to support the organization."

Brian Turner, a historical society board co-chair, said in an email, "Terry is doing really well. He's a great fit for the GLBTHS, is highly motivated and came to us with valuable experience in leading a local nonprofit. The other directors and I are very happy he's on board."

Beswick took over from Paul Boneberg, another AIDS activist who was the longtime historical society executive director. Boneberg announced his departure last April amid calls for his resignation. He had been criticized for his leadership and donor relations.

Asked about the problems at the historical society, which last year marked its 30th anniversary, Beswick said, "It's hard for me to comprehend. I wasn't around back then." He'd only been "peripherally aware" about the troubles, and he said, "I haven't asked a lot of questions about that."

The nonprofit has "an extremely engaged board of directors," Beswick said, and there have been a lot of changes since last year. Ten of the 13 board members are new.

In an email, Beswick offered "big kudos" to Turner, "who took the lead in negotiating the seven-year lease on our behalf" for the new archives space.

He added that the historical society also "got some great support from the city-funded Nonprofit Displacement Mitigation Program with a technical assistance grant that helped us find the space and work out all the details."