918 SW Yamhill [Pythian Building] June 24, 1977 – 1979 

Mildred’s Palace

History: Lanny Swerdlow opened an underage LGBTQ nightclub called Mildred’s Palace at the Pythian Building in 1977 per Lanny's 10/9/2021 email, “in the grand ballroom”.  [NOTE: Lanny had several spaces next will be the Metropolis/The Met]

Per William Hicks aka Rosebud II Betty Bomber and his detailing of how things started in his paper Genesis of Rosebud and Thorn. “I grew up in Portland and went to Marshall High School where I met a couple of gay kids in the drama (not draama!) dept. These friends of mine provided a conduit to the greater gay youth community in Portland, as small as it was, and ultimately led me to meet Lanny Swerdlow, who at the time was the publisher of The Northwest Gay Review where I pitched my idea of opening a gay youth center. This led to the opening of “Mildred’s Palace” in the Pythian Bldg.” See the article below “Fountain for Youth” March 1977 issue of Northwest Gay Review.

The time was 1977. Lanny Swerdlow [pictured above Left] with Neil Hutchins started a magazine called Old Portland Today. Neil became part of The Second Foundation, and they began publishing a newspaper The Fountain in February 1971. Lanny, under the pseudonym Dave Laurence, until they left the paper in September 1973 and by February 1974, had started the Northwest Gay Review [see above Middle].

He also was a member of the Burnside Community Council and was asked to represent them at the Central Police Chief’s Advisory Council. This group complained and complained about youth who were congregating in an outdoor area generally around SW Yamhill and Third Avenue. There were as many as 100 kids hanging out there at a time, something that upset others in the area. The area began to be known as ‘Camp’. ‘Camp’ had, and no one is for sure why, moved from SW 6th between SW Morrison and SW Yamhill in front of Van Duyn’s Candy and across from the Pioneer Court House to SW Yamhill and Third Avenue. Another place was the Greyhound Bus Depot [see above Right 1946 photo], but ‘Camp’ is where most mingled – it was right at the on/off ramp of the Morrison Street Bridge and close to several known gay bars such as Dahl & Penne and The Other Inn. In one meeting they point blank asked Lanny, who he surmises was the only out gay at the meeting, “Do you approve of what is happening down there?” His reply was, “No.”

Through Bill (William) Hicks, they brainstormed and came up with a solution, so they thought - to open a club for underage youth. Lanny said he had a couple of thousand dollars set aside and thought he would just help Neil find a space. Reaching out to Jim Atwood who was a real estate developer, Jim said there was some space in one of his buildings that might come up soon, “a rock promoter owes me three months back rent. If he doesn’t pay by the first, the place is yours.”  He didn’t and as Lanny was the lease was signed to take over the second-floor ballroom at the Pythian Building. With help from six young people who volunteered their time as well as Bill and Lanny space was transformed in a month’s time and christened “Mildred’s Palace”.

Per website https://www.glapn.org/6058CityNightclub.html

Why the name “Mildred’s Palace”? During the 1974 ordinance fight about businesses doing contracts with the city that they should take affirmative action to eliminate discrimination in employment based on race, religion, color, sex, national origin, or age, City Commissioner Mildred Schwab [see photo Left below] said that gay people, which was part of the original ordinate be taken out.

She stated that it stemmed from a meeting with the Portland Chamber of Commerce which opposed the inclusion of gay people. However, upon checking with Oliver Larson, Vice-President of the Chambers, it was revealed that the Chamber had never taken an official position on the issue.  Lanny Swerdlow, speaking for the Portland Association for Gay Equality, outlined the history of the gay rights struggle as it pertains to the contract compliance ordinance, HE claimed that there had been a systematic effort on the part of City Commissioner Mildred Schwab to prevent gay people from ever achieving equal rights status.  He then went on to have the Commission reinstate the words sexual orientation back into the proposed ordinance. “It was asked of Mr. Kalinoski who represented the Oregon-Columbia chapter of the Associated General Contractors, and he said, “Our only concern is the person who works as a subcontractor is qualified and we meant exactly what we said. As far as we are concerned, it wouldn’t make any difference to you as you see it if sexual orientation were inserted back into it. He replied, “That is correct” It was agreed to make a revision to the ordinance which read, “That standards of merit and job-relatedness be applied in personnel decisions affecting persons known to practice mono-sexual relations.”  Mono-sexual is later defined as sexual relations between persons of the same sex.” Lanny thinking about what to call his underage club said, “Look what Mildred did to us. She turned her back on all of us gays. The club should be named Mildred’s Palace so she would know that We know what she did, and she will have a daily reminder of what she did – not support all of her constituents.”

It has been long thought that Mildred Schwab was a lesbian. She lived alone in her home and never married (fact or fiction?).

Mildred’s was the first underage disco nightclub in Portland - open five nights a week. Isn’t it odd, The Second Foundation was in the same space as the Gay Community Center, with their main goal being to get underage youth off the street, and now, here is Mildred’s doing the same thing? Second Foundation failed; Mildred’s was succeeding. To the point that within days of opening Camp’s population decreased, some say by 80%. Mildred’s had on average about a thousand kids per week – with some nights ranging from a hundred to three hundred, of course, the largest crowd was on Friday and Saturday nights. Success? Yes. However, not for the Portland Police Department. You see, since countless citations dealing with various violations, had been written at The Camp (with revenue from that) they didn’t have many to cite, so, they began showing up on the steps outside of the Pythian Building – seemingly waiting for violators.  It didn’t take long before they were boldened to even enter the building, up to the second floor, and arrest those who were. The young people believed that they were in a safe place. So cops entered his club regularly, arresting kids for curfew violations. In one instance, paddy wagons and police cars started pulling those dancing down the stairs and out into the street. A riot took place with a dozen kids with about three of the kids actually bleeding.

Lanny felt like he had to do something. He went to Portland Town Council for advice, and they recommended a lawyer named Craig Colby. Craig wrote a letter to the city attorney city that police were in violation of illegally entering a building, a private establishment, and making arrests for curfew violations. No longer did the police enter the Pythian Building, however, two juvenile officers were stationed outside to arrest the underage kids as they exited. To avoid arrest, the kids would sometimes stay up all night. Lanny went directly to Portland Police Commissioner Charles Jordan [see photo below Right], who happened to be Portland’s first African American City Council member.

The first advertisement which was in Northwest Gay Review June 1977 back page full ad and the July/August 1977 issue page 30.

“All ages permitted” “Fri. & Sat until 5 a.m.” Sun. - Thurs. until 3 a.m.” It should be noted that down 9th going north were many gay bars such as and across on the corner of Yamhill and Park (8th) was Embers. This photo shows SW Yamhill Street between Park and 9th. To your right is Embers and to your upper left is the Pythian Building.

Per Lanny's 10/9/2021 email, “in the grand ballroom” (second floor) Per an interview with Lanny on October 23, 2021, the original lease was for two years. He had an opportunity to sign an additional lease during that time and felt he had time – it ran out when Jim Atwood (his landlord) wife filed for a divorce, and she wouldn’t renew his lease. Bill Hicks, Lanny said, was fully responsible for getting kids together. Incredible at the time, Lanny gave each of the six a percentage of the ‘ownership’ of Mildred’s, however, he would retain 51%. It became such a success that within a couple of months he bought the six out – they were happy and so was he.

Mildred’s Palace is significant in helping gay youth get off the street and have a safe place to be themselves, it also became a place where the longest-running LGBTQ youth Court - Rosebud & Thorn began.  When Mildred’s Palace opened in July 1977 it was almost an instant success, that’s true. But it seemed to lack something. Bill Hicks brought up the fact that it seemed that Dahl and Penne, Club Northwest now the Magic Gardens, and even Darcelle’s all had drag performers which held audience attention and brought in extra revenue. Why not underage shows? By early 1978, Bill devised a four to a five-week competition where kids would very for a crown – and he called it Rosebud. This brought in more kids, and more revenue and seemed to bring excitement to the already vibrant space. Later Thorn was added to complement Rosebud. You can’t have a Rosebud attend a function without an escort, right? When Thorn is crowned it is with a medallion and Rosebud receives a tiara - Rosebud being the drag queen and Thorn being the male counterpart). Over the years those chosen for the reign of one year, go out into the community and perform throughout the Northwest raising money for queer youth and making appearances whenever possible. Out of this contest came Lady Elaine Peacock (1980), and Poison Waters. Rosebud 13 and Jinx Monsoon. Rosebud and Thorn are the oldest and most prestigious underage drag celebrations in the world. The following is an ad in the Northwest Gay Review – July/August 1977.

Below Left: Mention in The Oregon Journal July 15, 1977 and Below Right: Mention in The Oregonian, February 3, 1978.

Per https://www.glapn.org/6058CityNightclub.html#mildreds In the 1970s, for LGBTQ people not old enough to get into a bar, community was almost nonexistent. Queer young people mostly gathered on the street around SW 3rd and Yamhill, down the street from the Greyhound depot, in an area they called Camp.

In 1977 Lanny Swerdlow opened Mildred's Palace, an all-ages disco, making it clear that LGBTQ people were welcome. Queer young people attended in droves, but response from media, police and city government was generally hostile. (Scroll down or click on this link to read a summary of one conflict with Portland Police at Mildred's Palace.)

That set the pattern for Swerdlow's all-ages, queer-friendly night clubs in Portland – the clientele loved them, the authorities, not so much. Mildred's lasted a couple of years, and was followed by Metropolis (3rd and Burnside), and then The City (first at 13th and Morrison, later at 13th and Burnside). That business eventually moved to 333 SW Park Ave. as the Rage, and it closed in May of 1998. All of the clubs gave LGBTQ young people places where they felt they belonged, and in the early '90s, media reported weekend crowds of 2,000 or more at The City, which was the longest-lived and most notorious of these nightspots.

The clubs were incubators of creativity. On Saturday nights when the dancing stopped, patrons took to the stage with shows of their own. A significant under-21 drag scene developed, which persists to this day. In addition, Swerdlow produced cable television programming on the premises, with the help of his young clientele. An impressive number of creative professionals now in midlife – some with national and international reputations – are proud to say they began learning their licks at The City Nightclub. [WHO?] related to PTC, Portland gay activist Lanny Swerdlow explains that in 1977, he tried to create a safe meeting place for gays who were too young to patronize bars. The youth had been congregating at “camp”, an outdoor area generally around SW Yamhill and Third Avenue. There were as many as 100 kids hanging out there at a time, something that upset others in the area.  

Lanny opened a downtown all ages club called Mildred’s Palace. He says that he soon found himself on the outs with the Portland police, who wanted to be able to arrest underage kids for curfew violation. So cops entered his club regularly, arresting kids. In one incident a couple months after the club opened, Lanny recalls, the police came into the club, arrested about a dozen kids, in some cases knocking them down. Lanny estimates that about three of the kids were actually bleeding. The police then hauled off the arrested kids in a paddy wagon.

At that point, Lanny went to Portland Town Council for advice. PTC recommended a lawyer named Craig Colby. The attorney wrote a letter to the city attorney saying that police could not enter a private establishment and make arrest for curfew violation.

That stopped, but the police then stationed two juvenile officers outside the club to arrest the underage kids when they exited. To avoid arrest, the kids would sometimes stay all night. Lanny went directly to Portland Police Commissioner ally Charles Jordan, who happened to be Portland’s first African American City Council member.

Jordan sent an aide to observe and found the story to be true. Jordan then told the Police Bureau they could not continue waiting outside the club to arrest patrons, so the problems ceased.

Ad above for the 1st Anniversary in the Oregon Gay Rights Report Portland Town Council November 1979 – Vol 5, No 11

Per Mildred's Palace | Just another WordPress.com weblog https://mildredspalace.wordpress.com/

Did You Dance Your Ass Off At Mildred's Palace in The Late 1970's?  “Welcome to our new blog dedicated to Mildred's Palace a Portland Oregon disco that thrived during the late 1970s. My name is Kirsten Johnson and I was lucky enough to have worked at Mildred's. In the summer of 1977, Julie Hayes and I moved to Portland from the Oregon Coast. A friend we had both gone to Seaside High School with was already living there. His name was Joe Elliot and he introduced first took us to Mildred's. I remember that night with clarity. Lyle was the DJ that night. We bought sodas and went up to the balcony. The mirror ball flashed then on came the strobe light. “I Feel Love" by Donna Summer suddenly echoed through the ballroom. Julie and I fell in love with the Gay disco scene right at the moment. We went onto to spending the next couple of years dancing our asses off at Mildred's and making friendships that we hoped would last us a lifetime. We are hoping that this blog can become a way to find friends and people that want to reconnect but also to memorialize our friends that did not survive HIV. The late seventies were a wonderful time of changing and living for us. We feel times should not be forgotten. Where are Bill Hicks Datelif Mahoney Vern Huff Michael Hall and so many others?”

citations & references:

·         Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1979 under Bars/Clubs with notations YC- Young Crowd, D – Dancing, AH – After Hours, WE – weekends, * - Very Popular with the note: (No Booze) (Disco) and Mildred’s is spelled, Milord’s.

·         Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1980 under Bars/Clubs with notations YC- Young Crowd, D – Dancing, AH – After Hours, WE – weekends, * - Very Popular with the note: (No Booze) (Disco)

Mildred’s closed due to lease negotiations and Lanny moved down to 3rd/Burnside and opened the Metropolis. See Youth-Underage Metropolis.

CHECK OUT: Document 1: Mildred's Palace Advertisement | Alexander Street, part of Clarivate