Research Guides: Harvey Milk: Biography

Harvey Milk (May 22 1930 - November 27, 1978)

In San Francisco, Milk opened a camera store on Castro Street. Following an alleged extortion attempt against him, he decided to run for council office in 1973. In doing so, he challenged the city's more conservative gay establishment—including Jim Foster's Society for Individual Rights (SIR)—who believed that San Francisco would not be able to cope with a gay councilor. Milk, however, garnered populist support—including that of several of the toughest unions—by presenting himself as a “man of the people,” fighting for democratic American values: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He portrayed himself as someone who just happened to be gay; when talking of sexuality, he argued for acceptance of homosexuals as human beings. Continue . . .

Source: Davis, Glyn. "Milk, Harvey (1930–1978)." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed., vol. 3, St. James Press, 2013, pp. 565-566. From Gale Virtual Reference database.

eBook Collections

An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk's Speeches and Writings

Resources

Harvey Milk Foundation Harvey Milk’s dream for a better tomorrow filled with the hope for equality and a world without hate guides the Foundation. Harvey Milk’s ground breaking election in 1977 as one of the world’s first openly gay elected officials-and its most visible one- symbolized the freedom to live life with authenticity to millions of LGBT women and men around the world.
Harvey Milk: "You Have to Give Them Hope" Elected in 1977 to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors after three unsuccessful bids for election beginning in 1973, Harvey Milk held the elective post until his assassination on 17 November 1978. His campaigns for election to public offices in the 1970's and his brief period of officeholding coincided with the emergence of the gay liberation movement nationally. In many ways, Milk's lifestyle reflected what was commonplace to the homosexual experience, and Milk attempted to boost the homosexual cause and at the same time explain their lifestyle rationally in public forums.
Learning from Harvey Milk: The Limits and Opportunities of One Hero to Teach About LGBTQ People and Issues Highlighting a hero is a common response to including the history of marginalized people in the curriculum. Harvey Milk is becoming that hero as social studies curriculum responds to calls for including LGBTQ people. By studying Milk, what might young people learn about LGBTQ people, issues, and movements? What opportunities and limitations exist for moving beyond one hero and learning about justice for LGBTQ people? How might social studies teachers address limitations and capitalize on opportunities in such curriculum? I analyze how Milk is presented in eight published lesson plans ranging from elementary school to adult education, two nonfiction books, and one online script for a school assembly. These materials carry limitations: reinforcing heteronormativity, ignoring homophobia, perpetuating the “great man” notion of history, and obscuring long-term struggle by other individuals and coalitions of diverse groups working for change. In the hands of social studies teachers who are aware of these limitations and can move beyond them, they also present opportunities to explore issues like marriage equality, coming out, bullying, and tools for political and social change.
40 Years After The Assassination Of Harvey Milk, LGBTQ Candidates Find Success In this month's midterm elections, Colorado elected the nation's first openly gay governor. Voters across the country sent a record number of LGBT candidates to Congress. These victories come 40 years after the assassination of the first openly gay elected official in California — Harvey Milk.
Remembering Harvey Milk A Reflection by Harry Britt
Flashback: Meet San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk In this 1978 news report, NBC News introduces viewers to newly elected — and openly gay — San Francisco official Harvey Milk.

From Films On Demand Database:

Mama's Boy HBO documentary Mama's Boy, directed by Laurent Bouzereau (HBO’s Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind), centers around the upbringing of the Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of Milk, Dustin Lance Black.