In the early 1960’s Susanna Valenti and her wife Marie ran Casa Susanna a popular weekend destination for cross-dressing men and transgender women. It was situated on a large private estate in the Catskills in NY in a town called Jewett where the two women also ran a wig store.
Way ahead of its time Casa Susanna provided much-needed privacy to its guests in a time when publicly cross-dressing was a criminal offense. Some of the brave souls would visit the nearby town of Hunter where they were met with mixed emotions. Disapproval from many BUT also acceptance from the shopkeepers who valued their business.
In those days it cost $25 for a weekend at Casa Susanna which included food, lodging, and makeup lessons.
Most guests there were married and considered themselves heterosexual men who enjoyed cross-dressing, but many others later identified as transgender and lived out their lives as women, including Virginia Prince and Susanna herself.
Most of the guests would want a memento of themselves dressed and as it was far too dangerous to have these films developed professional, Casa Susanna appointed an in-house photographer.
Many years later a whole cache of these images were found by Robert Swope, an antique dealer, and he published them into a book with his partner Michael Hurst. When the book was released in 2005 many former attendees of Casa Susanna to come forward and share their experiences helping safeguard this crucial part of queer history.
It incidentally went on to inspire Harvey Fierstein to write Casa Valentina which premiered on Broadway in April 2014 and was nominated for 4 Tonys. It tells the story of men who spend weekends at a resort in the Catskill mountains, dressed as women.
Labels: 2020, cross dressing, gay history, transgender
