MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee's drag history is being preserved through a collection of photographs recently donated to the Milwaukee County Historical Society, capturing performances from the 1980s at the iconic Club 219.
"It was like being on Broadway or the theater," BJ Daniels, a longtime Milwaukee drag performer, said.
Daniels recently visited the historical society to view photographs taken of him and other performers during his shows at Club 219 in the 1980s.
"We laugh when we see these things. We're like, we are still here," Daniels said.
The photographs were donated by Diana Sjoberg (Mixalakopoulou), who captured the performances decades ago. The story was first published by the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project, which documents LGBTQ+ people's history in Wisconsin. You can also find some of these photos in a longer history about the Milwaukee drag scene, 'History of Milwaukee Drag, A: Seven Generations of Glamour'.
"And I really wanted to do something that was more honest and just straightforward, but something that was a little bit underground," Sjoberg said.
She didn't realize the impact and importance of the photos she would take over those few months at Club 219 and BJ's apartment.
"When I was taking the pictures, I was just in the moment, and I wasn't thinking about the actual relevance they would have 40 years from now," she added.
The collection represents an important documentation of LGBTQ+ history in Milwaukee, preserving memories of performers like Holly Brown and Ginger Spice, both of whom passed in 1991.
"The best thing about all of this to me is that their names are still going to be said and remembered," Daniels said.
Steve Schaffer, lead archivist at the Milwaukee County Historical Society, sees the collection as part of telling Milwaukee's complete story.
"There's a cultural patchwork to Milwaukee. It's not just beer and, you know, European ethnic groups and famous men and famous women. It's about everybody," Schaffer said.
This collection is particularly important because the Historical Society doesn't have many artifacts that represent Milwaukee's LGBTQ+ people. While dozens of photos were donated, the historical society is still seeking additional items to expand its LGBTQ+ collection along with items that represent all of Milwaukee's people.
"It certainly is the seed for our collection. I'm not going to say it's by any means rounded out. There's a lot more that we would like to collect," Schaffer said.
While the photographs are not currently on public display, they are being preserved for archivists and historians working on a variety of projects.
Watch the story to see more of the photos from the collection....
For those who have items that they think tell the story of Milwaukee's LGBTQ+ history, they are encouraged to reach out to the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. Sometimes it's difficult to determine what is historically significant, but trained historians can help. After all, these photos by Sjoberg were just sitting in her basement for a couple of decades. Those items could also end up at the Historical Society.
This story was reported on-air by James Groh and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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