Friends of Judy: A new oral history with lifelong Garland fans Andrea, Sean, & Devlyn

Queer Serial: American LGBTQ+ History

Happy LGBTQ+ History Month!
Join me on YouTube to listen to this full special episode while I show you the Judy scrapbook discussed in this interview! youtu.be/tZgQ7hNFhpQ?si=R3OTHpcAX9zdqCvb

When Andrea Eisner was a kid in the 1960s, she collected Judy Garland news clippings. Why was she so obsessed? And why do so many queer people gravitate toward Judy, and even form community around her? We discuss it all as we peruse Andrea’s Judy scrapbook, which I recently restored for her, along with our sister-in-Judy Sean.

Andrea tells her story of coming out in Greenwich Village, waking up the next morning to hear Judy had died, and attending Judy’s funeral the same week she was present at the Stonewall Riots. Sean talks about discovering Judy as a kid and how his collection has grown over the decades to rival any Garland museum. We all talk about visiting Judy’s graves, and how we first met in Judy’s childhood home in Grand Rapids, Minnesota on her 100th birthday.

Learn more about the 1969 Stonewall riots, as discussed in Andrea’s interview, on the Queer Serial podcast episode pages by clicking here: Part 1 & Part 2.

You can support my LGBTQ+ archival history projects by subscribing to my Patreon, shopping on my Etsy, or donating here! Get periodic email updates here. Thanks for watching/listening to this very special episode! And thanks to Andrea & Sean for sharing their stories.

queerserial.com/judyscrapbook

xo
Devlyn Camp
@queerserial
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