{"id":19,"featured":0,"modified":"2022-05-20 15:52:17","latitude":44.893163999999999,"longitude":-93.198106999999993,"title":"Chuck Rowland","address":"","thumbnail":"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/square_thumbnails\/22783be815fcf13f63422f02b52cf311.jpg","creator":["Museum of History and Holocaust Education"],"description":"Born in Gary, South Dakota, in 1917, Chuck Rowland knew that he was homosexual by the time he was ten years old. He felt from a young age that there should be a gay rights movement just like there were civil rights movements for other identity groups.<br \/><br \/>After the U.S. entered World War II, Rowland was drafted into the Army and served until 1946. He never served overseas but stayed stateside, and although Army official policy did not admit gay people, Rowland met many other servicemen who were gay.<br \/><br \/>After the war, Rowland became an organizer, first with the American Veterans Committee and then, briefly, with the Communist Party. In 1950, he formed the Mattachine Foundation (which later became the Mattachine Society) with a small group of homosexual men including his then-boyfriend Bob Hull. The society attempted to stay small and diffuse at first, out of fear of McCarthy era anti-Communist politics, but it had grown to over 2000 members by 1953 thanks, in part, to active support of a man named Dale Jenning's when he was accused of soliciting a public officer.\u00a0<br \/><br \/>During the 1950s, the society fractured along political lines, with some members wanting it to be less \"activist\" and more fraternal while others wanted it to take a more active role in advocacy for Homosexuals as a minority group deserving of public recognition and civil rights. Speaking on behalf of the \"activist\" contingent, Rowland said, \"<span>\u201cThe time will come when we will march arm in arm, ten abreast down Hollywood Boulevard proclaiming our pride in our homosexuality.\u201d Many members found that idea shocking.\u00a0<\/span><br \/><br \/>Following his evection from the society due to his Communist background, Rowland went through a difficult period in the 1960s, but he ultimately became a high school teacher and earned a masters's degree in theater from the University of Minnesota in 1968. He spent the 1970s and 1980s devoted to theater, founding the Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles in 1982 dedicated to the production of gay and lesbian plays.\u00a0<br \/><br \/>Rowland died in Duluth, Minnesota, on December 20, 1990 before he could see his dream of a gay rights movement rooted in pride and openness fully realized. Nevertheless, he is considered an inspiration by many who advocate on behalf of civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community.\u00a0","sponsor":"Kennesaw State University Department of Museums, Archives, and Rare Books","subtitle":"World War II Veteran, Organizer, Gay Rights Activist","accessinfo":"","lede":"\u201cAs soon as I read that there were millions of us, I said to myself, well, it\u2019s perfectly obvious that what we have to do is organize, and why don\u2019t we identify with other minorities, such as the blacks and the Jews? I had never known a black, but I did know one Jew in our town. Obviously, it had to be an organization that worked with other minorities, so we would wield tremendous strength.\u201d\u201cIn the Army I met a lot of sweet guys, many who weren't gay and a lot who were.\u201d~Chuck Rowland, Interviewed by Eric Marcus, Making Gay History, 2002","website":"","related_resources":["https:\/\/lanetwork.facinghistory.org\/chuck-rowland","https:\/\/makinggayhistory.com\/podcast\/episode-1-7\/","https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/hull\/rowland_outhistory.html","https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/articles\/000\/cold-war-lavender-scare-and-lgbtq-activism.htm"],"files":{"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/fullsize\/22783be815fcf13f63422f02b52cf311.jpg":{"id":21,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Chuck Rowland","thumbnail":"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/square_thumbnails\/22783be815fcf13f63422f02b52cf311.jpg","description":"Portrait of Chuck Rowland when he was a high school teacher in Orange City, Iowa. ID: A color portrait of a white man with glasses and flat-top haircut, wearing a brown suit with a white shirt and blue tie. | Making Gay History | John Callahan"},"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/fullsize\/abf69d620897127239176fab23394350.jpg":{"id":19,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Staff Sergeant Chuck Rowland, U.S. Army","thumbnail":"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/square_thumbnails\/abf69d620897127239176fab23394350.jpg","description":"ID: Black and white portrait of a white man with glasses, wearing an Army uniform and cap. | Tangent Group, Making Gay History | U.S. Army"},"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/fullsize\/7e0c2180d9372d8f320f5d9abe0b54d8.jpg":{"id":100,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"The first Mattachine Christmas Party","thumbnail":"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/square_thumbnails\/7e0c2180d9372d8f320f5d9abe0b54d8.jpg","description":"Chuck Rowland in glasses. From left to right: Konrad Stevens (back of head), Dale Jennings (in profile), Harry Hay, Rudi Gernreich, Stan Witt, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland, and Paul Bernhard. ID: A black and white group portrait of eight white men of various ages, dressed in shirts and ties, seated in front of an evergreen Christmas tree draped in tinsel. | Making Gay History | John Gruber"},"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/fullsize\/fa11eb0f1c919830dc409d4d49e1157b.jpg":{"id":101,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Flyer from the Mattachine Society Inc. of New York","thumbnail":"https:\/\/veteranstories.kennesaw.edu\/files\/square_thumbnails\/fa11eb0f1c919830dc409d4d49e1157b.jpg","description":"Flyer depicting a zebra with spots while two zebras with stripes look on from the background. The text reads: Homosexuals are different... but... we believe they have the right to be. We believe that the civil rights and human dignity of homosexuals are as precious as those of any other citizen... we believe that the homosexual has the right to live, work, and participate in a free society. Mattachine defends the rights of homosexuals and tries to create a climate of understanding and acceptance. Write or Call: Mattachines Society Inc. of New York.  | New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division | Mattachines Society of New York"}}}