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The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews by Carol Burch-Brown

Photographer:
Burch-Brown, Carol  Search this
Names:
Shamrock Bar (Bluefield, W.Va.)  Search this
Kilkelly, Ann  Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (2 boxes )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Transcripts
Compact discs
Digital images
Oral history
Interviews
Place:
Appalachian Region
West Virginia -- 1990-2000
Bluefield (W.Va.)
Date:
1997-2003
Summary:
The collection documents a working class "gay" bar, the Shamrock Bar, Bluefield, West Virginia, 1997-2000, through photographs and oral history interviews.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of Carol Burch-Brown's photographs (200 photoprints, mostly silver gelatin on fiber-base paper, but including more than a dozen digital prints), copies of tape-recorded interviews (on 26 compact discs), and transcripts of interviews (3 volumes plus a compact disc containing Word files) made at the Shamrock Bar, Bluefield, West Virginia, 1997-2002, documenting a working-class gay bar. The photographs include "drag" performances, pageants, and other activities at the bar. Many show performers applying makeup and donning costumes, including the use of prosthetic breasts. Pictures taken in the bar are often in a soft-focus, slightly blurred, high-contrast, impressionistic style. There are a number of sharp-focus portraits, however, and exterior views of the building, its neighborhood, and the town are sharply focused, detailed documentary images.

Names (usually pseudonyms or stage names) which turn up in the interviews include: Natasha Michaels, Nikki Eaves, Shea West, Cortney Collins, Taylor Made, India Dream, Clinton, Tiffany Aver, Terba Devero, Roxie Morehead, and Dorothy. The performer "Bunny" is actually the photographer's friend and colleague, Ann Kilkelly. Many of these persons are also shown in the photographs, as is Helen Compton.

Note: The audio compact disks are not original recordings, and may be played by researchers directly.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series.

Series 1: Photoprints

Series 2: Text (including transcripts of interviews)

Series 3: Compact discs
Biography:
Carol Burch-Brown is Professor of Art and Humanities at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, and is a photographer, painter, and musician. Photographer and co-author with David Rigsbee, Trailers, University Press of Virginia, 1996.
Historical:
During its heyday, the Shamrock Bar in Bluefield, West Virginia was a gathering place for gays and lesbians. The photographer reported in March 2003, before donating this collection, that Miss Helen Compton, proprietor of the Shamrock, had died and the establishment had been closed.
Other Title:
It's Reigning Queens in Appalachia
Provenance:
Colection donated by Carol Burch-Brown, December 2003.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright. Requests will be referred to the photographer.
Topic:
Bisexuality  Search this
Working class  Search this
Homosexuality  Search this
Bars (Drinking establishments)  Search this
Gay artists -- Interviews  Search this
Lesbian and gay experience  Search this
Transvestism  Search this
Transvestites  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1990-2000
Transcripts
Compact discs
Photographs -- Digital prints -- 20th century
Digital images
Oral history -- 1990-2000
Interviews -- 1980-2000
Citation:
The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews by Carol Burch-Brown, 1997-2003, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of the artist.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0857
See more items in:
The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews by Carol Burch-Brown
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep84adec4f5-b063-4386-a233-ab46b9cbb361
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0857
Online Media:

"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" performers: Joanna, Carol, Pam, Lynn, Eva, Kathy, Ann. [Photoprint, black-and-white]

Photographer:
Burch-Brown, Carol  Search this
Donor:
Burch-Brown, Carol  Search this
Names:
Shamrock Bar (Bluefield, W.Va.)  Search this
Kilkelly, Ann  Search this
Collection Photographer:
Burch-Brown, Carol  Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on paper., 8" x 10".)
Container:
Box 1
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Date:
[1999]
Local Numbers:
AC0857-0000006.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright. Requests will be referred to the photographer.
Topic:
Lesbian and gay experience  Search this
Transvestites  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1990-2000
Collection Citation:
The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews by Carol Burch-Brown, 1997-2003, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of the artist.
See more items in:
The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews by Carol Burch-Brown
The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews by Carol Burch-Brown / Series 1: Photoprints / Photoprints
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8029929a7-1b49-4b08-9d37-635dd29b091c
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0857-ref525

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