Leather Archives & Museum: 25 Years

viable than establishing single-purpose
organizations with more specialized
functions. However, NLA did play a critical
role in the transition to what would become
the LA&M.
Tony DeBlase was also a member of that
same NLA Executive Committee, and later
that year, he coordinated the educational
programs for Living In Leather VI, held in
Chicago. He arranged a workshop called
“Preserving Our Leather Past.” He appointed
me as chair, and rounded out the panel with
Woody Bebout, that year’s Mr. Drummer, and
Chuck Renslow, whose own varied career
made him one of the most consequential
figures of leather in the 20 th century. The
workshop description read: “A report on the
need for, and the movement towards,
preserving a record of our past and the
establishment of a national Leather Archive.
Thoughts on the preparation of wills and
other methods of seeing that historically
important documents, works of art, and other
items are preserved.”
As I recall, my own contribution focused on
the kinds of storage media needed for
archival preservation, and their expense. In a
conversation with Chuck Renslow after the
workshop, I was surprised and delighted to
discover that Chuck knew all about acid-free
folders. He told me he was the archivist for
his Lodge, and was conversant with the
technical issues of preservation. What I did
not know then was that he and Tony had
evidently been having their own discussions
about the need for a leather archives. Despite
not knowing about their plans, it was not
exactly a shock when I heard that Chuck–
with his enormous resources and vast
experience in business and in community
organizations– had gone ahead and
incorporated a Leather Archives in the state
of Illinois. It is my understanding that Chuck
and Tony were primarily responsible for
establishing the LA&M, and they both then
played crucial roles in its development.
Chuck announced its formation at the 1992
IML. Shortly after, Tony asked me to join the
fledgling Board of Directors, which of course,
I did eagerly. I attended my first meeting of
the Board in 1992, and served on it until
2000. In the fall of 1993, I penned a short
article for Quarterlink, an NLA publication,
called “Saving Leather History: Preliminary
Guidelines.”
As someone wrote in the Wikipedia entry on
the LA&M, at that point, in the early 1990s, it
was still an “idea struggling to take form.” In
the decades since, that struggle has
produced a permanent building, a substantial
budget, paid staff, and a full-time archivist.
Many people have made this happen: first
and foremost, Chuck Renslow and Tony
DeBlase, as well as Joseph Bean, Rick and
Jeffrey Storer, and countless volunteers,
donors, board members, and fundraisers.
In the earliest days, it was mainly Chuck and
Tony who kept the idea afloat and helped the
LA&M grow. Chuck provided most of the
organizational stability, operational funding,
and our first physical location: a storefront
adjoining his bathhouse, Man’s Country. Tony
brought his professorial training and his
curatorial background to developing its
collections and its knowledge base. In
addition, Tony ultimately brought us Joseph
Bean. Joseph was an accomplished artist
and writer when Tony hired him, in 1989, to
edit Drummer and its affiliated leather
publications. After Tony and Andy sold
Drummer, Joseph became the manager of
Mr. S Leather in San Francisco. Joseph
subsequently edited International Leatherman
and its group of leather and bear magazines.
When that business foundered and Joseph
became available, Tony and Chuck jumped
on the chance to hire him. When he arrived at
the Archives as its first executive director in
1997, Joseph brought a formidable set of
skills and contacts developed through nearly
a decade in high-level leather managerial
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