Queer
Places:
Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Edward G. Perry (1908
- January 30, 1955) was a New York arts critic, party
planner and social secretary. He was known as the male
Elsa Maxwell. Perry, a former actor,
traveled with the Negro Actors Guild in the 1920s, partecipating in
performances in the United States and in Paris. During WWII he traveled abroad
for three years with a USO troupe staging the musical Porgy and Bess. In the Negro Creative Musicians inside Negro: An Anthology edite by
Nancy Cunard (1933) he
wrote that “during the so-called New Negro Renaissance hardly any Negro singer
attempted a program without including a group of spirituals…the concerts that
featured a black singer and all spirituals were the most lucrative”
The organization of the Hamilton Lodge ball codified the differences
between the public styles of middle-class and working-class gay men.
Middle-class men passing as straight sat in the balcony with other
members of Harlem’s social elite looking down on the spectacle of
workingmen in drag. Although the newspapers regularly noted the
appearance of Caska Bonds,
Harold Jackman, Edward G.
Perry,
Clinton Moore,
Eddie Manchester,
Jimmie Daniels, and
other middle-class gay men at the balls, they simply included them
in the lists of other celebrities and society people in attendance,
all presumed to be straight. Some of the society people they joined
to watch the queers must have known of their involvement in the gay
life, and undoubtedly some of the reporters and readers of the
papers knew as well. But all concerned seem to have agreed not to
say anything.
Edward G. Perry was born in Jacksonville, Fla., son of Anna C. and Edward F. Perry. He
moved to New York in 1924 to study at Pratt institute and under the tutelage of famed artist Weinold Reiss. As a decorator's assistant, he came in contact with socially prominent and wealthy New Yorkers and quickly learned what was considered proper etiquette
in these circles. As secretary to actor
Basil Rathbone, he picked up further knowledged and a few years later, in 1935, embarked
upon his professional career in the Harlem community.
Edward G. Perry, “Harlem’s male Elsa Maxwell,” 1939
photo by Carl Van Vechten
During the prohibition era, he planned and executed parties for top Negro socialites and introduced many well known white authors artists and socialites to Harlem society. The gregarious advisor to
many leading women, professionals and clubs, was a bachelor; and widely travelled in the United States and Europe. Advisor to many top social
club and charitable organizations, Perry's biggest promotional effort was, for several years, the Urban League Guild's Beaux Arts ball which attracted patrons from all over the country. Perry was one of the few male members
of the large organization. For the last four years of his life, he
was advisor to "The Women" who yearly chose an outstanding worman of the community as "Woman of the Year" at their
colorful "Bal de Tete." As guest columnist and feature writer his
byline appeared intermittently in many of the local periodicals.
Perry was hospitalized in Harlem hospital, where
he died on January 30, 1955, of an acute gall bladder condition. A brief but impressive service was held at St. Philip's Episcopal church, Manhattan.
Ten honorary pallbearers in attire and wearing white carnations were: Harold Jackman, Hilton Mayers, Ralph Lewis, Drexel Dibble, Edward Coleman, Dr. Edward Rudd, Harold Ellis, Casper Barnes and Melvin Patrick. Members of the Urban League guild and "The Women" of which he was member and advisor respectively were prominent among the mourners participating in the services.
My published books:
BACK TO HOME PAGE
- Chauncey, George. Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making
of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 (p.266). Basic Books. Edizione del
Kindle.
- The New York Age
New York, New York
12 Feb 1955, Sat • Page 3
- The New York Age
New York, New York
05 Feb 1955, Sat • Page 2