Francis Hill photograph albums

Francis Hill photograph albums, 1940s-1980s

Overview of the Collection

Compiler

Hill, Francis E., 1927-2001

Title

Francis Hill photograph albums

Dates

1940s-1980s (inclusive)
1950s (bulk)

Quantity

2 albums containing 158 photographs (1 box, 1 folder) ; sizes vary
2 greeting cards

Collection Number

PH1028

Summary

Photographs of Seattle female impersonators in the 1960s and 1970s and of Frances (Francis) Hill who was a transvestite who was among the first to attend parties at the Double Header bar, the oldest gay bar in Seattle

Repository

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Request at UW

Languages

English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Francis E. Hill (1927-2001) was born in Spokane, Washington, where he worked making railroad tracks until his mid twenties, when he relocated to Seattle in the early 1950s. Hill became one of the first transvestites to attend parties at the Double Header in Pioneer Square, the oldest gay bar in Seattle.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Two albums of photographs of Seattle transvestite Francis Hill, showing Hill as a child and as a soldier, but largely in his later female persona, Francine. Many of the photographs depict Francine, other drag queens, and others at private parties. Some were taken at The Double Header in Pioneer Square, Seattle's oldest gay bar, and at the Casino Pool Room, nicknamed Madame Peabody's Dance Academy, in the basement of the Double Header. Also includes several photographs of other servicemen from Hill's time as a soldier.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

For this collection, when gender is unknown, it is determined by the clothes the individual is wearing. In reference to Francis Hill, the name Francine is used when Hill appears in drag. Francis Hill is used when he appears in men's clothing.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The photographs are arranged in folders by album, in page number order

Custodial History

Francis Hill gave Christine Suter the albums to make them available for researchers. Suter donated the albums to the Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives, which donated them to Special Collections because the subject was not within their collecting scope.

Acquisition Information

Donor: Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives, June 25, 2007.

Processing Note

Processed by Claire Tally-Foos, 2014.

The photographs were removed from the albums for preservation purposes and placed in folders in album page order. Photocopies were made of the album pages to show the original arrangement of the photographs on each page.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Album 1Return to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/1	1-1a	Francis Hill posing with motorcycle	circa 1930
1/1	1-1b	Francis Hill seated on bench	circa 1930
1/1	1-1c	Francis Hill standing with three horses Written on verso: To Mama. Oct. 6/34.	October 6, 1934
1/1	1-1d	Francis Hill kneeling in field	circa 1930
1/1	1-1e	Francis Hill seated in front of rock	circa 1930
1/2-1/9	1-2a - 1-9c	Female impersonators in various costumes at a house party	October 1956
1/10	1-10a	Two men sitting at a bar	1978
1/10	1-10b	Man wearing white western-style shirt	1978
1/10	1-10c	Men and a female impersonator at a bar or party	circa 1950
1/11	1-11a	Countess Estelle standing in front of a curtain Countess Estelle began performing in drag in high school and performed in USO shows in 1946 and 1947. She was a regular performer at the Garden of Allah. Estelle worked as a cook in Seattle until her death in 1995.	circa 1961
1/11	1-11b	Female impersonator in glasses seated in front of a curtain Written on verso: 10/10/72. To my daughter, True I am older, but don't you think your mother looks well preserved. Love you Rony. P.S. Call me one of these week-ends soon & lets get your hair done.	1972
1/11	1-11c	Female impersonator standing indoors holding a clutch purse	undated
1/11	1-11d	Countess Estelle on stage in front of a microphone	circa 1961
1/11	1-11e	Man singing on stage with pianist behind him	1961
1/12-1/16	1-12a - 1-16c	Female impersonators in various costumes at a house party	circa 1956
1/17	1/17a	Francine in a party dress	undated
1/17	1-17b-d	Female impersonators standing indoors	undated
1/18	1-18a-b	Francine wearing glasses	undated
1/18	1-18c	Countess Estelle with two people in dresses	undated
1/19	1-19a-d	Men sitting in a bar	circa 1976-1978
1/20	1-20a-b	Polaroid photo of two men sitting at a bar	undated
		Loose photos from Album 1
Box/Folder	item
1/21	2	Studio portrait of young child Written on verso: Hill, Jan 10, 1903.	January 10, 1903
1/21	3	Portrait of man in navy uniform	undated
1/21	4	Portrait of Francis Hill in uniform Written on photo: All my love Francis, 50.	1950
1/21	5	Francine on stage wearing a waitress costume	circa 1970s
1/21	6	Francine seated indoors	undated
1/21	7	Female impersonator perched in the back of a convertible	circa 1980s
1/21	8	Female impersonator and a man serving drinks Color photo Written on verso: Lucie & Mike, 505 1 #58 285-2704, work 611 2 ave. 345 9430.	undated

Album 2, 1940s-1970sReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/22	9-1a-b	Female impersonator in costume in basement	undated
1/22	9-1c	Person in head scarf standing in front of a door Written on the verso of one of the photos: With Love Bobbie.	undated
1/22	9-1d	Person in head scarf standing in front of a door This is a picture of the individual in the previous photo from the back.	undated
1/22	9-1e	Person seated at a counter The photo is cut so the person's head is not visible.	undated
1/22	9-1f	Three people posing in a basement Two of the people are seated and the third is standing next to them, wearing joke glasses with a fake nose and mustache.	undated
1/23	9-2a	Portrait of Freddie Stewart Written on recto: Sincerely, Freddie Stewart. Freddie Stewart was a band singer and lead actor in a series of movies starring Freddie Stewart and the Teen Agers, a group of wholesome, clean-cut high schoolers in the 1950s.	circa 1940s-1950s
1/23	9-2b	Portrait of man in uniform Written on recto: To Fran From Terri, True Friends Always.	circa 1950s
1/23	9-2c	Man in uniform standing by a mantle Adrian DeVries, Spokane WA (Photographer) Written on verso: To A. Swell Guy Vergie. Also stamped on verso: Adrian De Vries Photographer R. 1739 227 W. 21st Spokane, WA	circa 1950s
1/23	9-2d	Man with arms crossed seated on couch Written on verso: AW Douglas. To a real good friend.	undated
1/23	9-2e	Two men, one in uniform, standing in front of a car	undated
1/24	9-3a	Portrait of a young man, possibly Victor	undated
1/24	9-3b	Victor with puppy, Lady, sitting on a porch Written on verso: Victor & Lady, August 1955. To Fran, From a "drag" to a "hag"!! Hehe. Vic.	August 1955
1/24	9-3c	Young man with hands on hips standing in front of a house	undated
1/24	9-3d	Photobooth portrait a woman	undated
1/24	9-3e	Portrait of a young man	undated
1/24	9-3f	Photobooth portrait of a man	undated
1/24	9-3g	Young man with hands in pockets standing in front of a house	undated
1/24	9-3h	Female impersonator lounging on couch holding a dog and a cat	December 1952
1/25	9-4a-d	Female impersonators posing indoors	1959-1964
1/26	9-5a-b	Female impersonator	1955
1/26-1/27	9-5c - 9-6d	Men and female impersonators at a party One of the people pictured is Countess Estelle.	circa 1960
1/28	9-7a-b	Female impersonator in an evening gown	undated
1/28	9-7c	Bartender reading a magazine behind the bar	undated
1/29	9-8a-b	Female impersonator posing indoors	undated
1/29	9-8c	Two men seated at a bar	Oct. 1961
1/29	9-8d-e	Female impersonator posing indoors	undated
1/30	9-9a	Man and two women outside	undated
1/30	9-9b-d	Men and female impersonators at a party Countess Estelle is pictured in some of the photos.	undated
1/31	9-10a	Man and woman standing behind a bar	undated
1/31	9-10b	Man with glasses seated at a bar	Feb. 1962
1/31	9-10c	Woman and two men seated at a table	undated
1/31	9-10d	Female impersonator looking at a hand mirror in a living room	undated
1/32	9-11a	Man and three female impersonators	1961
1/32	9-11b	Three men in a field holding a large dog and a puppy	undated
1/32	9-11c	Francine Hill sitting on a couch	undated
1/33	9-12a	Two people hugging, one is African-American	1956
1/33	9-12b	Man and woman behind a Chrysler convertible	1957
1/33	9-12c	Man in sunglasses in front of a building	1957
1/33	9-12d	Two people hugging in front of a sign Sign behind the couple reads: Warning, Dangerous, No life guard patrol beyond this point.	circa 1950s
1/34	9-13a	Bartender pouring drinks at a bar	undated
1/34	9-13b	Man holding a snake standing in front of a ferris wheel Written on verso: To F.E. Hill, My one and only Friend, Gene II.	undated
1/34	9-13c	Vern in polka dot shirt Written on verso: To my sincere friend Francis. Written on photo: Vern.	undated
1/35	9-14a	Man and woman sitting indoors	undated
1/35	9-14b	Man with his arm around a female impersonator Photo is scratched and creased.	undated
1/35	9-14c	Three female impersonators and possibly a male impersonator at the Golden Horseshoe In the early 1960s, the Golden Horseshoe became the first regular hours bar where men could dance with men.	1961
1/35	9-14d	Female impersonator sitting in front of a brick wall	circa 1971
1/36	9-15a-d	Female impersonator with microphone on stage Countess Estelle is the performer in two of the photos.	undated
1/37	9-16a	Man with two female impersonators in evening gowns	undated
1/37	9-16b	Man standing in living room Written on photo: Jan. 25, 81 - Kim.	January 25, 1981
1/37	9-16c	Man and two children standing on a porch Written on photo: Jim.	undated
1/37	9-16d	Close-up photo of a man and a woman	undated
1/38	9-17a-d	Countess Estelle posing and performing	undated
1/39	9-18a	Two men at a bar Written on verso: To Fran with much love and respect! Kim Tutt.	1984
1/39	9-18b	Female impersonator wearing white feathered hairpiece	undated
1/39	9-18c	Man with two female impersonators	undated
1/39	9-18d	Francine Hill sitting on a couch	undated
1/40	9-19a-e	Female impersonators including Countess Estelle	undated
1/41	9-20a-c	Female impersonator wearing evening gown	circa 1961
		Loose photographs and ephemera from Album 2	1972, undated
Box/Folder	item
1/42	10	Hand colored studio portrait of a man in a suit Dojacs, Spokane (Photographer)	circa 1930s-1940s
1/42	11	Hand-drawn greeting card addressed to Francine Drawn inside the card is a partially naked man wearing a heart crown. Card reads: To the Queen of Hearts! Francine. From Brad. Happy Valentines Day.	undated
1/42	12	Holiday photo greeting card Card reads: To Francis, Season's Greetings. Tokyo Rose 1972.	1972

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