Ep 1: Lost and Found: Lesbian Bars and the Music Box Lounge
Produced by: Quinn Rose
Edited by: Mara Lazer
Release Date: 9/23/2025
“This whole project has shown us how fragile history is and how much of it just lives in people's memories, as opposed to anything that is written down or photographed" -Quinn Rose, episode producer
In 2023, staff at the Music Box Lounge began investigating a rumor they’d heard: that the location where the Music Box Lounge now stands (3733 N. Southport Ave) was once a lesbian bar in the 1970s. This kicked off a deep dive into the archives and collections at Gerber/Hart and months of sleuthing to find out more about the bar’s lesbian past. Producer Quinn Rose interviews Matt Kasin, staff at the Music Box Lounge, about this journey as well as seeks to find patrons who may have visited the bar in the 1970s.
In this episode, we sleuth through the archives, reimagine 1970s Chicago lesbian life, and investigate thriving queer women’s spaces in Chicago today.
Attention Ladies! A Bar Just for your Lifestyle
This advertisement, published in Gay Life on December 30th, 1977, proclaiming “Ladies! A bar just for your lifestyle!” grabbed attention for the opening of the Music Box Lounge just in time for New Year’s Eve 1977. Despite their lack of affiliation with the theater, which was sitting mostly dark at the time, the bar borrowed the name and invoked music boxes in their advertisements to lean into the recognizable marque next door.
Curiously, just two weeks after advertising to the ladies, the Music Box switched gears and started running an ad for “Ladies AND Gentlemen!” In gay bar directories at the time, different publications noted the Music Box as a “women’s bar” or “mixed” at different points. With conflicting information from different publications, it’s unclear why the messaging shifted, especially since the Music Box seemed to be active in the lesbian bar community.
“We see evidence of this in different places, that they had this kind of shifting identity, where in some of the periodicals of the time it was listed as a women's bar for a little while, and then it would switch to mixed gender bar. And then in a different periodical it was listed as a mixed gender bar, and then they switched to listing it as a women's bar." - Quinn Rose
Eerie in a Good Way: Ricky Dolat and the Music Box Lounge
“The manager wheels out Ricky's stuff in a shopping cart, and we're just picking things up to put them in Erin’s trunk, and I pick up a stack to put in the trunk, and this flyer flutters to the ground, and I swear to God, it's for Music Box Lounge.” -Jen Dentel
In May 2023, Gerber/Hart staff member Jen visited the Center on Addison to see the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Projects Spring Exhibition. While there, Marti Smith, one of the elders involved in the project, brought Jen to Town Hall apartments, the LGBTQ+ affirming community where Marti lives, to show her materials that had belonged to a resident named Ricky Dolat. Ricky had recently passed away but he had left behind hundreds of photos as well as costumes, wigs, and other materials from his life as drag performer Marsha Michaels in Chicago in the 1970s and 80s. Ricky was a hairdresser, avid lottery player, and, according to Marti, a wonderful person. After Marti showed Jen these materials, Jen left her information with staff at Town Hall in case there was any interest in any materials living at Gerber/Hart. A week later, the manager of Town Hall apartments reached out, and Gerber/Hart Director Erin and Jen took a trip back to Town Hall to pick up materials in June.
A copy of the “Guys are Dolls” show flyer from 1978 fluttered out of Ricky Dolat’s belongings right after Jen Dentel learned about the mystery of the Music Box Lounge. This serendipitous coincidence spurred on the search for more information about the lost lesbian bar.
These photos have since been organized and placed in archival safe materials to protect them for years to come. They are a beautiful look at 1970s and 80s life in Chicago. It’s a joy to be able to share these photos with visitors to Gerber/Hart.
What do we know about the Music Box Lounge?
While finding someone who had been to the Music Box Lounge during its brief existence was difficult, we were able to find several items in Gerber/hart’s collections that help us reimagine what the space would have been like.
This article from lesbian publication Blazing Star is the most detailed source on the Music Box we’ve seen so far. Much of it is devoted to profiling enigmatic owner Rhonda Renee, who was clearly a fascinating figure to the writer and the patrons of the bar.
A few patrons shoot pool at the Music Box, maybe during one of their “rowdy” Tuesday night pool tournaments.
The Music Box appears to have closed before the end of 1978 (the last time it was listed in the Directory of Gay Chicago was in November 1978).
Michelle Faithe
Michelle Faithe was the first musician featured in Music Box advertisements, performing there in a mini-residency over a few weeks. She recorded some of her original music in the 70s and then made it available on YouTube with the help of a family member in 2015. One of the songs featured on the episode, (It’s Been) Five Years Tonight, was “still my favorite song I've ever given birth to,” according to her comment on the YouTube video.
One of the publications of the time, Gay Chicago, listed the Music Box alternatively as a “predominantly female” or “both male and female patrons.” They also produced a map of North Side bars that the Music Box didn’t quite fit on since it was further North than most bars at the time. Despite the publication’s promise to produce a new version for future issues, the Music Box remained off the edge of the map.
Lesbian Bars of the 1970s and 80s
“But while I was looking for someone who could tell me about dancing to Michelle Faithe under the Music Box’s disco ball, I instead found a whole collection of stories about the lively and beloved lesbian bar scene of the 70s and 80s.” -Quinn Rose
Chicago lesbians and feminists created numerous communities in the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, the number of activist spaces grew exponentially during this period. Women worked together to form political action groups, music festivals, publishing presses, health centers, bars, and community centers, all of which served as lifelines for women in Chicago.
The flannel-clad woman standing confidently signaled to savvy 1980’s viewers that the “women” referred to in this poster were lesbians. Before the internet, lesbians turned to guides like the Gaia’s Guide and Women’s Guide USA and Canada to locate places where they could openly express their sexuality, meet other lesbians, and build community.
In the 1950s and 60s, bars were one of the few public places where lesbians could meet each other. In the 1970’s bars and restaurants that catered to Chicago’s gay and lesbian population flourished, even with the threat of bar raids. Bars were also sites of tensions. Chicago was (and is) a deeply segregated city. In the 1970s and 80s, many bars that catered to a lesbian clientele were racially segregated, with African American women being asked for unreasonable forms of identification at North Side, white bars. Additionally, conflicts arose over bars that encouraged Butch/Femme roles, with a younger, politically focused lesbian-feminist clientele deriding these roles as “old school.” Ultimately, bars were a deeply important community space for lesbian and queer women at this time - and visiting your first lesbian bar was often a formative experience.
My first bar, lesbian bar, was Lost and Found. And it was just one of those experiences where there was, there was a couple dancing, and of course, it was to Patsy Cline and slow dancing. And the one woman had on, like, this really, really frilly party dance that you would wear to, like square dancing, and the other woman had on a zoot suit with black and white spats. And I thought, well, I'm not quite like her, and I'm not quite like her… I might not be in the right place! But I stayed.” - Kathy
In 1973 Lavender Woman, Chicago's first lesbian newspaper, published a survey of Chicago’s lesbian bars. Bars were rated on a number of variables, including “attitude of owner/bartender”, “atmosphere”, and “quality of drinks.” In 1973, many lesbian and gay bars were still run by organized crime and were often unfriendly to patrons, who they considered to be a captive audience in a semi-legal space. However, as time went on, more bars were owned and run by people sympathetic to lesbians. Lavender Woman’s bar guide helped their readers take their business to these friendlier bars.
“So I drank Schlitz. Remember, the bartender used to go–she was Nan, actually, it was actually Sue and Nan–'Schlitzerooni for you!'” -Pam
Bar Raids
“There were raids. You had to wear your pants backwards. If you wore men's pants, you had to wear them back, or you would be cross dressing.” - Marti
Bar raids were a pervasive aspect of lesbian life through the 1970s. Chicago police used city ordinance 192-8, which forbade people from wearing clothes of the opposite gender. This rule was often referred to as the “zipper ordinance” because pants with zipper flies on the front were considered to be “male” and women wearing front-fly pants were arrested and harassed by police.
Chicago repealed the “zipper ordinance” in 1973. Renee Hanover, partner with Pearl Hart at the Women’s Law Center, took on the ordinance. Though police harassment of LGBTQ people continued after the ordinance was repealed, police lost one major excuse to raid lesbian bars.
Police raids were less common by the late 70s, but they were still an active threat to gay and lesbian bars. Ten years after the Stonewall Riots that kicked off the modern gay rights movement, two thousand people gathered in Chicago to protest recent raids.
Bar Discrimination
As noted by Cecilia on the episode, several North Side bars that catered to white women had exclusionary ID practices to prevent Black and Latina women from entering. Blazing Star, concerned about the reports of these practices, supported the recently formed Anti-Discrimination Committee in gathering formal accounts of discrimination. One particular bar mentioned in the episode was C.K.’s
“Lesbian bars had their fair share of tension, incidents, and bad actors. But amongst those issues, they were essential places of connection for a community that had been searching for that for a long time.” (Quinn)
Bars as Centers for Community and Activism
“No matter how you identify, no matter the time period–when you're fighting for something, you are trying to be with like minded people in spaces that allow you to plan and strategize and figure out what's next. And so I think for this lesbian movement, bars started to play a really important role in all of that.” -Liz Garibay
Lesbian bars were precious sites for community in Chicago. By investigating the bars of the 1970s and 80s we can gain a better understanding of lesbian life at this time and place the Music Box Lounge in context with the LGBTQ+ scene of the time.
“It was the entire center of our social life. It was absolutely the center–the softball field, and then the bar. That was it. I guess I feel kind of sad that you didn’t experience all of the goings on, and the variety of things that you could do. I mean, I kind of feel like you guys missed out. And I'm sorry for that, you know, I really am. I mean, it was fun. It was fun.” -Kathy
Lesbian Spaces in Chicago Today
“Recently the Lesbian Bar Project brought widespread attention to the fact that hundreds of lesbian bars closed in the United States, with only 37 open today” -Quinn Rose
Sapphopalooza
“Alongside new lesbian bars are programming slates that bring lesbian nightlife to new and old locations alike. I started this episode at the Music Box’s Sapphopalooza series of lesbian films” -Quinn Rose
In May 2025, Elizabeth Arnott at the Music Box programmed a series of films called “Sapphopalooza.” This series of 13 sapphic films was hugely popular, with many screenings selling out. The films centered Sapphic identity and provided a wonderful space for queer women in Chicago to gather.
“From the island of Lesbos to the Music Box Theatre, sapphic culture has always found its way into hidden corners of cinema, visible to those who know where to look. This vibrant collection of sapphic films showcases groundbreaking classics, cult favorites, and overlooked gems that explore the lives, longings, and complexities of women who love women. Featuring visionary filmmakers like Yvonne Rainer, Cheryl Dunye, Lizzie Borden, Céline Sciamma, Barbara Hammer, and more, this series honors the many ways queer storytelling has been boldly brought to life. Discover the on-screen evolutions of sapphic desire from shadows and subtext to unapologetic celebrations of love and identity.”-Music Box Theatre
In 2025 Gerber/Hart was invited to co-present two films: Murder & Murder (1996, Yvonne Rainer) and Bound (1996, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski). At both films, Gerber/Hart brought displays of materials to the screenings from our collections that related to the films. This partnership with the Music Box has continued and been a wonderful way to engage audiences with our collections.
Dorothy
“But in the past few years we’ve also seen renewed demand for spaces for queer women, including a resurgence of lesbian bars—in Chicago, Nobody’s Darling and Dorothy have opened in the last few years and are paving the way in dedicated sapphic nightlife spaces for a new generation.” -Quinn Rose
“Queer spaces naturally, if they’re done right, are community spaces,” -Whitney LaMora
Dorothy opened in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood in February 2020 and then officially reopened in July 2022. The lesbian cocktail bar hosts a variety of events, from burlesque shows, open mic nights, and film screenings.
The Dorothy Living Archive Project
The Dorothy Living Archive Project began in Spring 2023 as a collaboration between Dorothy and Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, led by Gerber/Hart volunteer Kaitlyn Griffith. In June, Gerber/Hart hosted a panel discussion with queer elders, along with the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project. After the event, knowing that G/H and Dorothy both wanted to maintain and grow this relationship, Kaitlyn proposed the idea of creating a living collection with Dorothy to preserve the ongoing history of this lesbian bar.
Learn more about the Dorothy Living Archive Project in the “Want to Learn More” section below.
“I think at the end of the day, it's incredibly invaluable to be able to walk into a space in your true, authentic self and know that our team will never question you for it. And I think especially on the lesbian front. You know, lesbians can identify in all sorts of ways, but we have a very–to go into a space that's, you know, woman forward, femme-forward, trans-forward, and just be able to feel that vibe is awesome. So, you know, try to go to try to go to Dorothy one night, and then immediately go to a regular old straight bar the next and, and you'll get it.” - Whitney LaMora
“Keep printing your photos. Next time you go out to a lesbian bar, write a journal entry about it.” -Quinn Rose
Want to Learn More?
Books to Check Out from Gerber/Hart's Library
-Last Call Chicago
-Chicago Whispers (St Sukie De la Croix)
-Are We There Yet (Lavender Woman)
-Finding the Movement: Sexuality, Contested Space, and Feminist Activism by Finn Enke (amazing coverage of 70s and 80s lesbian spaces in Chicago)
-A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture by June Thomas
-Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest To Track Down The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars In America by Krista Burton
Periodicals and Special Collections Materials to Browse at Gerber/Hart
-Gay Life
-Blazing Star
-Lavender Woman
-LGBTQ+ Travel guides
Archival Collections to view at Gerber/Hart
-Ricky Dolat - photos of Ricky, all flyers from Music Box, photos with Miss Tillie - can be requested during Open Hours from Gerber/Hart archives
-Dorothy Living Archive Project, email info@gerberhart.org for more information
The collection is organized into four main components:
-Physical materials such as menus, promotional flyers, matchbooks, and photobooth photos. Dorothy’s owners and staff have been setting aside these items in a box on site for transfer into the archive.
-Digital materials like born-digital photos, event graphics, performer agreements, and planning documents. Dorothy has shared access to their Google Drive, and these files are being organized and named for eventual integration into the collection.
-Proactively recorded audio/visual materials including performances and interviews with staff and management. Capturing Dorothy’s strong culture of performance—burlesque, live music, poetry, stand-up—which creates a rare and valuable resource, especially in the wake of anti-drag and anti-trans legislation.
-Crowdsourced contributions such as photos, memorabilia, and personal histories from patrons and performers, which will help create a multi-dimensional picture of the community around Dorothy. This piece is still aspirational.
The project was originally planned to run for a year as a pilot to gauge its sustainability, but that timeline stretched slightly. Gerber/Hart staff and volunteers have recorded at least 30 performances, and we're at the beginning of processing the AV materials into the archive. To learn more and to inquire about materials included in the Dorothy Living Archive, please email info@gerberhart.org
Recordings of Past Gerber/Hart Events
Browse recordings of online events and interviews at Gerber/Hart, including events about 1970s and 80s lesbian bars and organizations here
View online exhibits, recordings of 1990s cable access shows, and more in the "Online Resources" section of gerberhart.org
Outside Links
Articles and Resources:
-”Searching For Rhonda Renee: A Bar Manager’s Quest To Uncover The Lost History Of Lakeview’s Music Box Loung,” Block Club Chicago
-”Sapphopalooza stuns at the Music Box Theatre,” Chicago Reader
-”Chicago’s sapphic nightlife scene goes back more than a century,” WBEZ Chicago
-”Chicago’s LGBTQ+ library is a space for people to ‘find themselves in the shelves’,” WBEZ Chicago
-Michelle Faithe songs on YouTube
Organizations Mentioned in this Episode
-LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project
Chicago Lesbian Bars to Visit!