Mae West: Back with Texas

MAE WEST will be celebrated in her former court room during August 2015.
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorate the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •
• • New York, NY, July 13, 2015 — During the 1920s, when Mae West was trying to build her career, the building all dramatists and actresses tried to avoid——Jefferson Market Court at 425 Sixth Avenue—— was the very site that made a little-known performer world famous. When N.Y. District Attorney Joab Banton had Mae West arrested and paddy wagoned to Jefferson Market Police Court on February 9, 1927, the controversial Brooklyn entertainer made global headlines for the first time. The actress-writer also served time in Jefferson Jail. At her side, covering the trial for the New York Journal American, was Texas Guinan, Mae’s friend and a frequent passenger in the police department’s Black Maria herself.
• •  In the 1920s, though most Broadway headliners avoided negative publicity, these two diamond-draped divas flouted convention, defied police, and became as well known for being handcuffed as for blazing their way onto theatre marquees. They were “onstage outlaws” during the Prohibition Era.
• •  When Mae West [1893-1980] and Texas Guinan [1884-1933] weren’t being chased by the purity police, they found time to enjoy the speakeasies, bookshops, restaurants, night spots, and theatres in Greenwich Village. In 1907, Texas-born Texas Guinan moved to New York, where she resided at 72 Washington Square South, then at 17 West 8th Street. The speakeasy queen owned bracelets set with 567 diamonds each and a fancy armored car that once belonged to the King of Belgium.
• •  To celebrate Mae West's birthday on August 17, 2015, there will be an illustrated talk: "Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era.” Rare vintage images will show you the buildings around Washington Square as these two headline-makers saw them. Sites include the Village speakeasies where Mae socialized and bent elbows with Texas Guinan, Walter Winchell, Jack Dempsey, George Raft, and Barney Gallant; significant theatres; court rooms where Mae and Texas fought City Hall; and off-beat addresses that made an impact. Rare Texas Guinan silent films will be shown and Mae West’s Jefferson Jail poetry will also be read.
• •  The speaker LindaAnn Loschiavo is a Greenwich Village historian and dramatist; her plays include “Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets” and “Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery.”

        — — — — Who, What, When, Where — — — —
• • What: Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era
• • When: Monday, 17 August 2015 — — from 6:30 — 8:00pm (doors open at 6:00pm)
• • Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (at West 10th Street)
• • Extra: to celebrate the birthday of Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, on August 3rd and on August 10th, her films will be shown at 6:00pm. The first one, "Sextette" [1978] will be screened on August 3rd. Then "Go West Young Man" [1936] will be screened on August 10th. The August 17th multi-media presentation will feature light refreshments (courtesy of East Village Cheese) and a raffle. You could win rare films starring Texas Guinan. Or maybe a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N. Y. Times illustrator.
• • Refreshment sponsor: East Village Cheese
• • Subway: IND line to West Fourth Street; PATH train to West 9th Street
• • Fee: FREE — — no entry fee for the three Mae West events on August 3rd, August 10th, and August 17th, 2015
• • Phone: 212- 243-4334
• • Website for all things Mae West: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the court room as any other stage." 
• • Mae West told the jail matron: "Whaddya mean strip? I thought this was a respectable place!"  
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • 1930, awaiting the verdict with Texas Guinan • •
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New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Mae West: 6th Avenue Rendezvous

It seems MAE WEST can't stay away from 425 Sixth Avenue.
• • Legendary Actress Returns to the Scene of the Crime at Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village in New York City
• • "Courting Mae West" revives an arresting drama of 1927 and invites the public to be the jury at Mae West's censorship trial in Judge Donnellan's original courtroom
• • NEW YORK, NY — —  Join us on Saturday afternoon, November 23, 2013 when a house of history lifts its petticoats, permitting Mae West to face her fans and accusers during an extraordinary reenactment.
• • Jefferson Market Library is proud to present scenes from "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship and Secrets" -- --unlocking the same chamber where Mae West [1893-- 1980] faced off with the magistrate in 1927 when the space was used as Jefferson Market Police Court. (The structure that escaped the wrecking ball is now Jefferson Market Library.)  
• •  Gripping trial scenes will be performed by a cast of professional actors led by Darlene Violette who portrays Mae West. Along with the staged drama, there will be a discussion "Mae West: Sex, Censorship, Prison, and Politics" by LindaAnn Loschiavo, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, who was commissioned to write the cover story for the summer issue of The Dramatist.
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" by LindaAnn Loschiavo -- -- Based on true events, the stage play "Courting Mae West" explores how a vaudevillian with a dozen years of bad reviews and highly placed enemies in the media and the Mayor's Office climbed the ladder of success, wrong by wrong. This serious minded comedy has been seen in New York City at the Fresh Fruit Festival and, most recently, in Australia as part of Midsumma's Playing-in-the-Raw.

• •  Who, What, When, Where • •
• • WHO: Actress Darlene Violette and actors TBA with dramatist-journalist LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • WHAT:     Scenes from "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship and Secrets" and discussion of the era's homophobia and the political powers that lined up against Mae West and why.
• • WHEN:       2:00 pm, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013
• • WHERE:     Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY -- --in the same chamber where Mae West [1893-- 1980] faced off with the magistrate in 1927
• • WHAT ELSE:     the popular Mae West Raffle
• • FEE:                FREE
• • RSVP:    Jefferson Market Library, T 212-243-4334
• • URL:   http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
• • Email:   maewestdiamondlil@gmail.com
• • SUBWAY: West Fourth St. station via A, C, D, E, F subway
• • PATH: West Ninth St. station

Audience Response to "Diamond Lil" onstage at 343 W. 46th St.

— — — — — On-going performances of "Diamond Lil" — — — — —
• • Those who prefer night life will enjoy "Diamond Lil" starring actress Darlene Violette — — and the roisterous cast who brought the Bowery denizens and Suicide Hall’s ne’er-do-wells to life — — now onstage with performances at Don’t Tell Mama [343 W. 46th Street] on certain Sunday evenings from October 27 until November 24, 2013.
• • Reserve seats by phone: 212-757-0788; RSVP online: www.donttellmamanyc.com
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "You gotta fight in this world, my father told me, and keep on fightingI"
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • in 1927; the return of "Diamond Lil" in 2013 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Old Jeff Embraces Mae West in 2013

Hollywood's interest in a "picturization" of "Diamond Lil" by MAE WEST was discussed in the book "The Dame in the Kimono" by  Leonard J. Leff and Jerold L. Simmons (University Press of Kentucky, 2001).
• • Here's an excerpt from their chapter "Welcome Mae West!"
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Audiences went crazy over "Diamond Lil." The play opened on Broadway in Spring 1928, toured well into summer 1929, and despite "vulgar dramatic situations" and "highly censorable dialogue won over Hollywood.  Universal production head "Junior" Laemmle needed some properties to balance his forthcoming release "All Quiet on the Western Front," and by January 1930, he had contacted the Studio Relations office about "Lil." When Jason Joy answered that no company could make an acceptable picture from "Lil," Universal countered that it might add Mae West to its writing staff.  Joy knew where the back door led and naturally "discouraged the idea."
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Aware that more such queries about "Diamond Lil" were forthcoming, Will Hays triggered an existing mechanism to blunt them.  ...

• • See "Diamond Lil" This Autumn! • •
• • By popular demand, actress Darlene Violette — — and the wonderful cast who brought the Bowery denizens and Suicide Hall’s ne’er-do-wells to life — — will return in “Diamond Lil” for several evening performances at Don’t Tell Mama [343 W. 46th Street] on these dates:
• • 7:00pm on Sunday September 15th and 22nd. 
• • 7:30pm on Sunday October 27th — Hallowe'en Party — come in 1890s costume!
• • 7:00pm on Sunday November 3rd — Gus Jordan for Sheriff — Pre-Election Mayhem.
• • 8:30pm on Sunday November 10th
• • 7:00pm on Sunday November 17th
• • 7:00pm on Sunday November 24th
• • Reserve seats by phone: 212-757-0788; RSVP online: www.donttellmamanyc.com
• • Closest MTA subway stations: 42nd St./ Times Sq. via A, C, E, 1, 2, 3
• • The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over). Join us as we turn the iconic NYC nightspot Don't Tell Mama into Gus Jordan's "Suicide Hall"! 
• • The Cast: Starring Darlene Violette as Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery and also featuring Sidney Myer, Anthony DiCarlo, Joanna Bonaro, Gary Napoli, Juan Sebastian Cortes, Kimmy Foskett, Jim Gallagher and live music by Brian McInnis
• • Come up and see for yourself.
• • Read a Review of "Diamond Lil" • •
• • L'Idea Magazine's editors attended four times and had a lot to say. Here's the link: http://www.lideamagazine.com/usa-still-entertaining-mae-wests-diamond-lil-makes-new-fans-in-new-york-city/
• • Staying faithful to the gritty themes in the novel, LindaAnn Loschiavo trimmed the work to 85 minutes for a cast of eight.

• • Meet Mae West at Jefferson Market Court! • •
• • In 1927 Mae West sat sulking in the Police Court (425 Sixth Avenue) after her arrest.
• • To commemorate her passing, on Friday, 22 November 2013 and again on Saturday, 23 November 2013, two special events will be held in the Willa Cather Reading Room — — i.e., the same judicial chamber where Mae and her cast faced off with the Special Sessions magistrate 86 years ago. Don't miss it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I sat around for 12 weeks drawing money and I never saw a script. This wasn't for me."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • in 1927; the return of "Diamond Lil" in 2013 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Mae West: Bowery Belle Returns

MAE WEST invites you to come up to see her at Jefferson Market Library — — later this year, in the same Police Court chamber where she faced off with the judge in 1927 — — and during the current month of August. There are three events and three different locations in Manhattan. 
• • Save the Dates: August 12th and August 17th and 18th • • 
• • What: three events timed to celebrate the 120th birthday of Mae West, born in Brooklyn, NY on August 17, 1893

• • On Monday, 12 August 2013 at the Hudson Sq Library • • 
• • One afternoon only! • •
• • When: Monday, August 12, 2013 from 4:00pm — 5:45pm [Seating from 3:45pm]
• • Where: Hudson Branch Library, 66 Leroy St., New York, NY 10014; NOT accessible to wheelchairs 
• • Who + What: "Diamond Lil" by Mae West as a Reader's Theatre Experience with words and period songs and live music — a unique, unforgettable presentation
• • Cast: Costumed in 1890s Bowery style, actress Darlene Violette and actor Sidney Myer present the 1932 novel "Diamond Lil" written by Mae West in Mae's words — enhanced with period songs and live music by Brian McInnis.  At intervals, historian and playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo leads an "Armchair Tour" through the boisterous Bowery and Chinatown of the 1890s with rare vintage images you have never seen before. 
• • What else: The ever-popular Mae West Raffle. 
• • August 12th Admission and Raffle Tickets: FREE. 
• • RSVP:  Email  MaeWestDiamondLil (at) gmail  (dot) com
• • Closest MTA subway stations: Christopher St. or West Fourth St.; or the M7 bus. 
• • Closest PATH station: Christopher St. 
• • The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over)
• • The library has a very spacious air-conditioned auditorium so tell your fun-loving friends about this!

• • All of the sex and none of the censorship . . . • • 
• • The novel "Diamond Lil" closely follows the 3-hour production Mae performed onstage from 1928 — 1951, and it is much more exciting than the family-friendly screen version. Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo massaged Mae's classic opus into an 85-minute adaptation featuring all of the sex and none of the censorship. No intermission.   
• • The Cast: Starring Darlene Violette as Diamond Lil, Queen of the Bowery and also featuring Sidney Myer, Anthony DiCarlo, Joanna Bonaro, Gary Napoli, Juan Sebastian Cortes, Kimmy Foskett, Jim Gallagher and live music by Brian McInnis.
• • Two chances to see the show • •
• • There will be two stagings of "Diamond Lil" on August 17th and August 18th in NYC.
• • On Saturday, 17 August 2013 at 7:30pm on West 38th St. • •
• • One night only! • •
• • Where: John Strasberg Studios, 555 8th Avenue, Suite 2310, New York, NY 10018;  accessible to wheelchairs 
• • What: "Diamond Lil" by Mae West in a new adaptation for the stage by LindaAnn Loschiavo — and costumed in 1890s Bowery style
• • August 17th Mae West Raffle Tickets are free
• • August 17th  Admission: $10 — must be pre-paid!
• • RSVP: Advance sale tickets: you must email MaeWestDiamondLil (at) gmail (dot) com
• • Closest MTA subway stations: 42nd St./ Times Sq. via A, C, E, 1, 2, 3 
• • The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over)
• • Updates: facebook.com/MaeWestDiamondLil
• • On Sunday, 18 August 2013 at 7:00pm on West 46th St. • • 
• • One night only! • •

• • Where: Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street, NYC 10036; T. (212) 757-0788
• • What: "Diamond Lil" by Mae West in a new adaptation for the stage by LindaAnn Loschiavo — and costumed in 1890s Bowery style
• • August 18th Mae West Raffle Tickets are free
• • RSVP: August 18th  Admission:  $15.00 cover charge plus a two drink minimum
• • Reservations: www.donttellmamanyc.com
• • Closest MTA subway stations: 42nd St./ Times Sq. via A, C, E, 1, 2, 3 
• • The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over). Join us as we turn the iconic NYC nightspot Don't Tell Mama into Gus Jordan's "Suicide Hall"!
• • Updates: facebook.com/MaeWestDiamondLil 
• • Plan Ahead • •
• • On November 22nd and November 23rd 2013, there will be Mae West events at Jefferson Market Library, the former courthouse where Mae West's 1927 trial took place.
__ ___• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • in 1932 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.
 

Censorship & Mae West

Publishers Weekly offered a capsule review of a new title devoted to Mae West — — which also includes revealing first-person statements about her imprisonment.
• • Speaking about the author Charlotte Chandler's latest release, the critic wrote this: Chandler (Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford) draws on her interviews with the 86-year-old Mae West, known for her “risqué brand of humor,” in this chatty memoir. West carefully constructed and guarded the image of her personality as a woman who enjoyed sex at a time when “skirts had to cover ankles.” She contended she was “never vulgar. The word for me was suggestive.”
• • West (1893–1980) craved the spotlight from a young age and had been a success in vaudeville, where she began to write her own material. Her screen legend perfected her sexually playful alter ego in such films as She Done Him Wrong, which contained her most quoted line: “Come up and see me sometime” [sic].
• • Chandler also includes Mae West's first-person account of her 10 days in jail — — when she was found guilty of producing an immoral Broadway show, her first full-length play, Sex. West remained a box-office draw into her 70s, appearing in the 1970 film Myra Breckinridge. Whether discussing her love life or advising on playwriting or beauty tips, Mae West was always entertaining. Photos. (Feb.)
• • Title reviewed: She Always Knew How: Mae West, a Personal Biography Charlotte Chandler. [NY: Simon & Schuster (336p) ISBN 978-1-4165-7909-0]
— — Source: — —
• • Article: PW's Nonfiction Reviews
• • Printed in: Publishers Weekly — — www.publishersweekly.com
• • Printed on: 12 January 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • "Courting Mae West" features intriguing scenes dramatizing Mae's arrest and trials.
• • Offered onstage July 19th—22nd in New York City during the Annual Fresh Fruit Festival, "Courting Mae West" has been nominated for several awards. The black-tie awards gala will take place during April 2009 in Manhattan.
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• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West • • February 1927 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Courting the media in 1913

It was a hot summer attraction — — on 4 August 1913 — — and the crowds may (or may not) have recalled that in 1912 and 1913 Hammerstein had booked the vivacious teenager MAE WEST for eleven week-long engagements at his vaudeville playhouse situated in Longacre [later Times] Square. The location was popularly known by New Yorkers as "the corner."
• • On 4 August 1913, however, Mae West was there to open for a world-famous star: Evelyn Nesbit [1884 — 1967]. Despite a low-cut gown and provocative songs, Mae failed to fire up the audience.
• • The critic from The New York Tribune [whose coverage ran on 5 August 1912] commented that even Mae's low neckline and raunchy bumps and grinds were not enough to sway the hoi polloi.
• • Though most of the reporters ignored the 19-year-old's attempts to woo the crowd and did not even mention her name in their reviews, at least Variety's columnist Joshua Lowe [whose critique was published on 8 August 1913] noticed how hard she was working. "Mae West sang loud enough to be distinctly heard in the rear," wrote Lowe.
• • Clearly, Hammerstein's ticket-holders had come to worship Evelyn, the showgirl who had shied away from the spotlight for several years after the infamous Sanford White trial. "Anything's a good act that will make 'em talk," insisted Willie Hammerstein, who was a magician when it came to commandeering media interest and a big box office.
• • Evelyn's appearance was quite the ticket. Willie Hammerstein was so pleased at his box office bonanza that he had his sign painters create this come-on in four-foot-high letters — —

"Modern Ballroom Dancing," screamed the marquee,
"Performed by EVELYN NESBIT THAW!"

• • Readers of The New York Times saw these headlines Tuesday morning on 5 August 1913:
• • Evelyn Thaw Appears; Then Thanks Audience that Applauds Dancing at Hammerstein's.
• • According to the Times: Although it was reported at the time that Evelyn Nesbit arrived on the Olympic that she had said she would not dance unless the name of Thaw was eliminated from the signboard in front of Hammerstein's, she did appear yesterday afternoon, and the sign remained unchanged until after the performance, when "Thaw" was thinly covered with white paint.
• • A packed house tested her and applauded so persistently that she was forced forward finally by her dancing, . . . and expressed her thanks briefly for the reception. The sight of her face peeping through the mauve curtains masking the back of the stage started the applause. Then she and Mr. Clifford did three "trotting" turns, with evolutions that have been made familiar in the cabarets and public dancing places. She wore an ecru gown of light fluffy material bound in at the waistline with a broad black sash, and, with her hair loose about her neck and shoulders and a smile lighting her features, created an agreeable impression. Her dancing was of an average qualIty — — neither remarkably good nor the reverse. . . .
• • In 1899, Oscar Hammerstein built his fifth showplace — — the Victoria Theatre — — at the corner of West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Stars like MAE WEST, Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Ethel Barrymore, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Buster Keaton, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, and Eva Tanguay were among the thousands of performers who made Hammerstein's Victoria the vaudeville "nut house" of Times Square.
• • Mainly, it was Oscar's son Willie Hammerstein who deserves credit for the playhouse's 17-year successful run. Willie had the knack for booking crowd-pleasing stagebills along with a peacock's genius for public relations.
• • In 1906, Evelyn's millionaire husband Harry Thaw shot architect Sanford White. The "trial of the century" was held at Jefferson Market Court — — the same celebrated Sixth Avenue courthouse where Mae West would wind up in 1927. Mae's censorship trial is dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West."
• • The 19th century Greenwich Village landmark designed by Withers and Vaux is one stop on the annual Mae West walking tour that will take place this year on her birthday, specifically, beginning at 1:00 PM on Sunday 17 August 2008: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side." Info: MaeWest.blogspot.com
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• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Hammerstein's Victoria • • circa 1901 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

April is the coolest month

A West Coast feature "This Week in History" — — which mentions MAE WEST — — is glued together by the Santa Barbara Independent's news staff who, obviously, is a wee bit thick. Though this paper has had eighty-one years to get their facts straight, here is their inaccurate backwards glance on the date 19 April 1927.
• • To wit: Actress/ playwright Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for writing Sex, a Broadway show about a gigolo, deemed “scandalous” by the courts. [Source for the incorrect info: Santa Barbara Independent: 122 West Figueroa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101; T. (805) 965-5205. Their excuse for getting details wrong is rich, however. They admit to doing a quick cut-and-paste from The History Channel — — even if that means passing errors along. So if you want a job as a fact-checker, you know where NOT to go. Salaries must be low at the Santa Barbara Independent, where the corn is as high as a pink elephant's eye. Sigh. A more suitable title would be "This Week in Mystery" — — with trinkets given to the first canny readers who can spot the mistakes. This would be an inexpensive way to get the copy proofread as well, eh?]
• • Since when was Mae West's play "Sex" referred to by the wishy-washy, inaccurate, tea-party word "scandalous"? In Jefferson Market Court and in the courtroom transcript, this was called "an obscenity trial." The actors were fined and charged with giving an offensive and indecent performance.
• • Since when was "Sex" about a gigolo? Wrong plot and wrong-headed altogether.
• • Why? Well, since when would Mae West choose to star in a vehicle unless the narrative centered on the leading lady's role? She wouldn't and she didn't.
• • Too bad the Santa Barbara Independent staff did not bring their ink-stained selves off to the Aurora Theatre Company's revival of "Sex" (starring Delia MacDougall in the role of Margy LaMont) onstage in Berkeley, California in November and December of 2007. Nor did they read the reviews.
• • Synopsis of the 1926 play Mae West wrote in order to give herself a starring role: "Sex" is the tale of Margy LaMont, an ambitious young prostitute in Montreal, who is determined to get out of the skin trade and marry well. Margy takes the advice of a British naval officer [played in 1926 by handsome Barry O'Neill] to ''follow the fleet.'' That takes her to Trinidad, where she meets Jimmy Stanton, a naive rich boy from a blue-blooded Connecticut family. Jimmy proposes to Margy and whisks her home to his parents' well-furnished mansion.
• • Well, there's no gigolo in that synopsis! Anyway this blog posting is set forth for all news media outlets who would like to have correct information.
• • On 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • On 19 April 1927, actress MAE WEST was sentenced for her performance in "Sex," the Broadway play she wrote, cast, and starred in. She was given ten days in prison and the jail time seems to have done her good — — from a publicity standpoint. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, friends, fans, and gawkers, Mae predicted, "I expect this will be the making of me!"
• • Though Mae West was sentenced to 10 days, she actually only served 8 days. The actress received "time off for good behavior."
• • "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets" — — based on true events when Mae West was tried at the Jefferson Market Police Court on Sixth Avenue — — will be onstage at the Algonquin Theatre [123 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010] July 19th — 22nd, 2008.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage in mid-July 2008.
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• • Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Mae West at her Jefferson Market trial • • 27 March 1927 • •
NYC
New York Public Library
Jefferson Market.

Inez Milholland [1886-1916]

This never-to-be-forgotten leader comes to mind for many reasons. If you never met INEZ MILHOLLAND [1886 — 1916], war resister, suffragette, civil rights organizer, and human dynamo, then make her acquaintance here.
• • Though it seems like yesterday that she was arguing the merits of her case in Jefferson Market Court, it took place almost 100 years ago on 18 January 1910.
• • This is what the newspapers said about the trial in January 1910:
• • • MISS MILHOLLAND WILL APPEAL IF CONVICTED • • •
The cases of Miss Inez MILHOLLAND, daughter of John E. MILHOLLAND, and Lieut. Henry W. TOURNEY, of the Coast Artillery Corps — — who were arrested last night as the result of a demonstration by striking shirtwaist workers which Miss MILHOLLAND was leading — — were called in Jefferson Market Court, Manhattan, to-day, and after much testimony had been taken were continued until to-morrow afternoon.
• • Miss MILHOLLAND, accompanied by the lieutenant and 500 strikers and their sympathizers, were marching in Waverly Place in front of a factory when Police Captain HENRY demanded that they disperse. They refused, declaring that Magistrate BARLOW had declared so long as they kept moving they could not be disturbed. HENRY disputed this. He told the court to-day that the strikers and their followers blocked the streets and obstructed traffic. His uniform was badly torn in the melee which followed the refusal of Miss MILHOLLAND to order her followers to disperse and the [ . . . ] were badly ruffled because young women, in ignorance of the divinity that hedges the person of a New York police captain, demanded his number.
• • It is rumored that as the result of his coming into conflict with the civil authorities and being locked up — — both he and Miss MILHOLLAND were placed in a cell until John MILHOLLAND arrived to bail them out — — Lieut. TOURNEY may have to face a court-martial. In all, fifteen strikers and sympathizers were arrested last night.
• • Should the police prove their charge of disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer in the discharge of his duty against Miss MILHOLLAND the case will be appealed to the highest courts in order to get a decision on this question as well as to have determined how far a person may go on "peacefully picketing" a plant where there is a strike. Miss MILHOLLAND is a graduate of Vassar and an ardent advocate of women's suffrage. . . .
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Inez Milholland was born in Brooklyn, New York on 6 August 1886. She attended Vassar and was suspended after organizing a women's suffrage meeting in a cemetery.
• • She matured into a record-setting collegiate athlete, an attorney, a forceful and charismatic public speaker. Friends remembered Inez as a tall, beautiful woman in flowing robes, riding a white horse at the head of a great movement [March 1913]. She fought for labor, was a writer and magazine editor, served as a correspondent in the First World War, was jailed as a suffragette in England, and died at 30 while on a speaking tour as a suffragist in this country.
• • Her last public words were, "Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?"
• • In 1913 Milholland led the women's suffrage demonstration in Washington on a white horse. Wearing white robes, the photograph of Milholland during the parade became one of the most memorable images of the struggle for women's rights in America.
• • Milholland lived in Greenwich Village [New York] and was associated with a group of socialists involved in the production of The Masses journal. [This group included Max Eastman, John Reed, Crystal Eastman, Inez Milholland, Louis Untermeyer, Randolf Bourne, Dorothy Day, Mabel Dodge, Floyd Dell, and Louise Bryant.]
• • Like most of the people involved with The Masses, Milholland was opposed to America's involvement in the First World War. In December 1915, Milholland and other pacifists travelled on Henry Ford's Peace Ship to Europe.
• • On her return to the USA she became one of the leaders of the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage. The movement's most popular orator, Milholland was in demand as a speaker at public meetings from coast to coast.
• • Inez Milholland, who suffered from pernicious anemia, was warned by her doctor of the dangers of vigorous campaigning. However, she refused to heed his advice and she collapsed in the middle of a speech in Los Angeles on 22 October 1916.
• • She was rushed to a hospital. Despite repeated blood transfusions — — blood donated by her sister Vida — — 30-year-old Inez died on 25 November 1916.
• • Jefferson Market Court commemorates this peace activist and suffrage martyr, and rejoices in her bright spirit as this troubled city prepares to go to the polls in November 2008, the sixth year of the wasteful war in the Middle East — — the US-led take-over in Iraq that has resulted in thousands killed.
• • Every New York City historian remembers our hometown firebrand Inez Milholland. In Greenwich Village, many daughters have been named in your honor.
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Source:http://jeffersonmarketcourthouseny.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Jefferson Market
• • Photo: Inez Milholland • •
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Jefferson Market.