Bev Hickok

Bev Hickok
Newspaper photograph of a middle-aged white woman wearing cat-eye glasses
Bev Hickok, from a 1957 newspaper, photograph by Cecil Davis
Born
Beverly Hickok

October 31, 1919
San Francisco, California
DiedOctober 9, 2014
Other namesBev Hickock
Occupation(s)Librarian, activist

Beverly Hickok (October 31, 1919 – October 9, 2014), sometimes written as Bev Hickock, was an American librarian, founder and head of the Transportation Library at the University of California, Berkeley. She was also a prominent early member of gay rights and lesbian community organizations in the San Francisco area.

Early life

Hickock was born in San Francisco, California, the only child of Clifton Ewing Hickok (1880 –1954)[1] and Adelaide Valentine Cutler Hickok (1887–1987). Her father, a civil engineer from Missouri, was a city official in Alameda.[2] She attended the University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate,[3] and earned a master's degree in library science.[4]

Career

Hickok taught as a young woman. She was a riveter at a Douglas Aircraft plant in Santa Monica,[5] and a member of the United States Navy WAVES during World War II. She created the Transportation Library at the University of California, Berkeley in 1948,[6] and was head of the collection.[7][8] She compiled and published several specialized bibliographies and research guides for transportation engineers.[9][10] She was president of the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Special Libraries Association.[11][12] In 1982, she received the first Professional Achievement Award from the Transportation Division of the Special Libraries Association, in the year of her retirement from Berkeley.[13]

Hickok was an early member of gay rights organizations in San Francisco, including the Daughters of Bilitis,[14] Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC) and Lavender Seniors. A story by Hickok, "The Gay Party", was published in The Ladder. She wrote a book, Against the Current; Coming Out in the 40s (2003).[15] She gave oral history interviews in 1994, to the GLBT Historical Society,[16] and in 2003, to the Old Lesbians Oral History Project.[4]

Personal life

Hickok's first long-term partner was photographer Cecil (Cece) Davis; they were together 41 years before Davis died in 1988.[17] Her second long-term partner was Doreen Brand; they legally married in 2008, after 18 years together.[18] Hickok died in 2014, aged 94 years.[15][19] Her papers are part of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives at UCLA.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Hickok (obituary)". Oakland Tribune. 1954-10-11. p. 38. Retrieved 2021-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Mason, Matthew Daniel. Guide to the Clifton Ewing Hickok Papers, Beinecke Library, Yale University.
  3. ^ Cassell, Heather (June 25, 2014). "LGBTs share World War II home front stories". The Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  4. ^ a b "Beverly Hickock". The OLOHP. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  5. ^ Cengel, Katya (2014-06-12). "Rosie the LGBT Riveter". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2014-06-13. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  6. ^ "Transportation Library Named for Harmer Davis". University of California, Berkeley. May 8, 1996. Archived from the original on 2001-04-22. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  7. ^ a b "Bev Hickok". June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  8. ^ Cartier, Marie (2014-09-11). Baby, You are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54471-5.
  9. ^ Hickok, Beverly (1962). Sources of Highway Transportation Information. Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, University of California.
  10. ^ Hickok, Beverly; Cortelyou, Catherine (1979). Transportation Systems Management: A Selected Bibliography for Transportation Planners and Engineers. Vance Bibliographies.
  11. ^ "Libraries Group Plans Convention for 1961". Oakland Tribune. 1957-07-10. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Miss Beverly Hickok". The San Francisco Examiner. 1957-12-01. p. 208. Retrieved 2021-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Professional Achievement Award - Transportation". Special Libraries Association. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  14. ^ Barmann, Jay (2020-04-09). "SF Lesbian Pioneer Phyllis Lyon Dies at Age 95". SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports. Archived from the original on 2020-04-12. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  15. ^ a b Morris, Sandy (December 18, 2014). "A Memorial Ice Cream Party: Remembering Bev Hickok". San Francisco Bay Times: 10.
  16. ^ "Bev Hickock and Doreen Brand, Berkeley CA, Interviewer Sharon Lutz". Calisphere. October 5, 1994. Archived from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  17. ^ Hickok, Beverly (2005). The Life and Loves of Beverly Hickok. B. Hickok.
  18. ^ Meron, Shelly (2008-07-18). "El Cerrito women, 88 and 80, finally able to tie the knot". East Bay Times. Archived from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  19. ^ Nugent, Michael (December 17, 2016). "Groundbreaking National Park Service LGBT Exhibit Opens in SF". The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc. Archived from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-06.