Prehistoric and Ahead of Her Time: Sapphasaura at the Museum of Natural History
By Rachel Pitkin
In the summer of 1973, members of the newly formed Lesbian Feminist Liberation (LFL) group were engaged in a unique construction project in the Upper West Side backyard of one of its members, Robin Lutsky. A physically onerous labor of love, the project unfolded over ten days of round-the-clock attention, a last-ditch protest effort to gain the attention of one of New York’s most celebrated yet controversial institutions: the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).[1]
Cover Page from October, 1973 issue of The Lesbian Tide, courtesy of the LGBT History Research Collection at the University of Houston Libraries: https://libraries.uh.edu/locations/special-collections/lgbt/. Photography by Rose Jordan.
On August 26th, a paper mache lavender dinosaur — or “Sapphasaura,” as it was affectionately dubbed by LFL members — measuring over fourteen feet tall and twenty feet long emerged from the LFL workspace and appeared to onlooking neighbors. The group shepherded the towering model up Broadway, first with a makeshift wooden dolly and then a rope tied to the back of a car. Despite having broken its wheels en route, the women successfully dragged the dinosaur through the Upper West Side’s crowded streets and over to Central Park West, in a “real demonstration of Dyke power,” according to one LFL member.[2] Footage from the journey shows a quintessential cast of New York spectators, perplexed in some moments, but delighted in others: older men of various races sitting on a park bench, seemingly baffled; a young Black boy on a banana seat bike, happily waving to the camera while zig-zagging in front of the procession, and a multitude of visitors holding the hands of young children while awkwardly attempting to avoid Sapphasaura’s path.[3] Musical scores such as “Hail, Hail, the Dykes are Here” offered by the accompanying Victoria Woodhull Marching Band (whose members dressed in their uniform of Converse sneakers, overalls, and black baseball caps) made the purple dinosaur’s journey all the more exuberant. After it reached the museum’s entrance on Central Park West, Sapphasaura stood for the day against a backdrop of joyous activities ranging from chanting and singing to orchestrated pickets at the foot of the equestrian statue of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Members of the Victoria Woodhull Marching Band play at the foot of the Theodore Roosevelt Equestrian Statue during the Sapphasaura demonstration. Photography by Karla Jay, courtesy of the personal collection of Karla Jay.
This certainly was not the first time activist groups targeted the AMNH with concerns over its exhibits and practices, nor was it the first time LFL attempted to do so, either. After visiting the AMNH in the winter of 1973, members Arcus Flynn and Kathy Williams left disillusioned by the erasure of women in the museum’s displays, especially within the widely recognized Hall of Everyday Life. “Women weren’t given any appreciation in any of the exhibits,” according to Flynn, “and they were very sexist—never mentioning “people” or “women” [as opposed to men].”[4] The lack of representation prompted Flynn and Williams to visit the New York Public Library and research the Native American tribes mentioned in exhibit labels. Their findings on the significance of women’s work in agriculture and elements of tribal society left them not only disturbed at women’s erasure from the displays, but also the significant inaccuracies represented in the museum’s depiction of tribal activities.[5] After bringing their discoveries back to the group, LFL committee members then developed a position paper totaling of more than 100 pages and sent it to the AMNH administration.[6] The paper called for an overhaul of displays that LFL deemed sexist and homophobic and also sought a transition to gender-neutral language within the institution’s nomenclature and exhibition labels. Rather than refer to scenes of “prehistoric man,” for example, members called the AMNH to read as prehistoric “people.” But the paper failed to elicit a response from the museum’s administration.
In ignoring their appeal, museum representatives underscored one of LFL’s core grievances: that traditional institutions operated with exclusionary practices and a blatant disregard of gay and lesbian concerns. The dismissal of the position paper catalyzed members to change strategy; rather than a long, detailed, carefully researched letter presented privately, now the group would undertake efforts in hopes of accomplishing what the position paper could not: a sensational public display that would ensure their concerns were heard.
The timing of AMNH’s failure to address the position paper in the spring fortuitously aligned with early planning for a week of upcoming protest in August in recognition of International Women’s Day and celebration of the 53rd anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States. During planning meetings at the Women’s Liberation Center on West 20th LFL members decided to organize a demonstration at the AMNH.[7] By early July, out of a pile of chicken wire, planks, newspapers, paint, and paste, Sapphasaura began to take shape.
Accompanying Sapphasaura was a flyer that included an abbreviated version of the position paper demands. At the top, a summative description explained:
“There are documented accounts of long periods of matriarchy on this earth.
But men have led women to believe that they have not contributed to this history
at all. And the Museum of Natural History perpetuates this belief.
WOMEN, DEMAND YOUR PLACE IN HISTORY.”
Other sub-demands included the establishment of “on-going exhibits” focusing on “women’s history and culture” and the elimination of all racist terms such as “primitive” and “civilized” as part of an effort to “correct the museum’s white male supremacist take on history.” The demonstrators also objected to the museum’s portrayal of Christianity, calling for an “elimination” of references to the church as a “civilizing influence” and the accurate inclusion of examples of atrocities carried out by its missionaries.[8] =
Members and supporters of LFL picket on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History while being filmed and interviewed by members of the L.O.V.E. Collective. Messages on signs include: “The Museum is Prehistoric”, “The Museum of Unnatural History”, “Elimination of all Racist and Hierarchal Terms” and “Research on Matriarchy.” Courtesy of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.
At one point during the demonstration, participants marched in a circle at Roosevelt’s feet, chanting their demand that “Museums hire feminists! Museums hire feminists!” Later in the afternoon, Flynn spoke of the necessity for educational institutions of learning such as the AMNH to “undertake new research into the matriarchal origins of human society, and restore to women the true history of their role in human development.” The time was critical, she added, especially for lesbians who were “attempting to achieve not only legal status but also the right to live openly…”[9]
“She was quite a spectacle,” Flynn remembered fondly as she reflected on Sapphasaura’s memory. “She attracted a tremendous amount of people.”[10]
In the wake of Sapphasaura’s appearance at the AMNH, news of LFL’s actions reached numerous communities throughout the country. In addition to more mainstream media outlets such as the Daily News in New York City, the demonstration resonated especially with founders of various lesbian-oriented publications of the Women-in-Print Movement, such as L.A.’s Lesbian Tide and Houston’s Pointblank Times.[11] The nation-wide attention was due, in part, to strategic planning on behalf of Jean O’Leary and other LFL members who contacted media outlets such as the Daily News prior to the AMNH action in hopes that the day’s events might be covered. But the most extensive coverage was thanks to the assemblage of lesbian-identified members of the press, such as the newly established L.O.V.E. (Lesbians Organized for Video Experience) Collective and the efforts of journalist-activist Karla Jay, who copiously reported on the details surrounding Sapphasaura and recorded them through photos, film, and interviews. The demonstration was captured as part of a loosely organized web of women-centered events across the country and throughout the week, from a “Ride for Rights” in Cincinnati by women roller skaters in support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), to a “Great Guts Awards” ceremony in honor of Shirley Chisholm and Billie Jean King by the National Organization of Women (NOW) in Los Angeles’ Rancho Park.[12]
This media recognition was a major win for LFL leaders like O’Leary, who commonly cited “rampant sexism,” women’s erasure, and a general invisibility of lesbianism within the era of Gay Liberation as causes of frustration for women in the movement.[13] Still, though the Sapphasaura action combatted what O’Leary referred to as the “universal media blackout” directed towards movement lesbians, the attention existed as a double-edged sword; on the one hand there was more coverage, but on the other hand, much of it was inaccurate and demeaning.[14] The Daily News, for example, couldn’t help but engage in flippant editorial choices, reducing LFL goals to a show against “male chauvinist piggery” beneath a headline that described the women as “Libbers.”[15]
Reaction on behalf of the Daily News is not only unsurprising from a modern perspective, but was also expected- and provoked - by LFL members. The Sapphasaura demonstration, like other “zaps” in the 1970s, were often effective forms of political protest for their comedic and even theatrical nature.[16] Despite the disparaging nature of the Daily News’ headline, the nation-wide media attention was critical to LFL members who harnessed the zap tactic’s creative power. Sapphasaura-as-spectacle served as an antidote to both the AMNH’s failure to respond to the position paper and the exclusionary treatment of traditionalist institutions toward the Queer community; a joyful presentation that could not be ignored.
A giant lavender dinosaur coated in paper mache and trimmed with pipe cleaner eyelashes and painted toenails diverges in tone from the efforts of recent groups such as Decolonize This Place, who have targeted the AMNH and the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt as espousing a racist and white supremacist point of view. Yet the animating principle of both groups share much common ground, a sentiment aptly summarized by Karla Jay: “For New York City school children, the one museum you would take them to would be the American Museum of Natural History, and that would be the first impression one would have of a museum. So, it was really important to try and get them to rectify their presentation of women, and also cultural diversity.”[17] But responsible interpretation of aspects of women’s history at the AMNH would have to wait at least a decade after the Sapphasaura action; not until 1983 would the museum begin planning stages for displays that more accurately and centrally incorporated women. Furthermore, to recontextualize women’s roles and contributions to economic and social life, museum curators began reconstruction on its most widely-recognized display, the Hall of Everyday Life — the same AMNH exhibit that compelled Arcus Flynn and Kathy Williams to target the institution for its exclusion of women’s history in the winter of 1973.[18]
Martha Shelley (right) and supporters of LFL dance on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History while the Victoria Woodhull Marching Band plays in the background. Photography by Bettey Lane, courtesy of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.
The LFL demonstration that surrounded Sapphasaura was well-attended and impactful, but the protest was also ephemeral. When LOVE Collective questioned her at the end of the day about Sapphasaura’s final destination, O’Leary expressed uncertainty regarding the purple dinosaur’s fate. “I don’t know,” she responded when pressed further. “Just put it in the trash out front, or… give it to the kids in the park.”[19] Fifty years later, the ultimate destination of the Sapphasaura is hazy. Some LFL members remember a rejected donation attempt to the AMNH director, but most of her whereabouts cannot be accounted for. Aside, however, from her head, which apparently hung for a while on the wall of woman-owned coffee house, somewhere on the Upper West Side.[20]
Sapphasaura was indeed, as Flynn stated, “ahead of her time.”[21] We would be wise to remember her presence at the AMNH entrance and accompanying protest activity as part of a rich legacy of agitation directed at monuments and cultural institutions. The “N.Y. Sapphasaura” demanded the museum raise its consciousness — a public challenge to institutional authority that continues to this day.
Rachel Pitkin is a graduate student in Museum Studies and Public History, with a focus on Queer History and Interpretation. She is also an I.B. History teacher, and a volunteer archivist at the LGBT Center National History Archives.
[1] Perry, Troy D., and Thomas L.P. Spicegood, Sister Jean and the Lavender Dinosaur, Profiles
in Gay & Lesbian Courage, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991), 113.
[2] Ibid.
[3] L.O.V.E. Collective, “LO71 LFL Protest Natural History Museum 1973 Purple Dinosaur & Lesbian Feminist Liberation,” Vimeo, https://vimeo.com/user42160507.
[4] “Arcus Flynn, Tape 1 of 1, November 1, 1987 ,” Lesbian Herstory Archives Audio Visual Collections, accessed August 15, 2020, http://herstories.prattinfoschool.nyc/omeka/document/Flynn_Arcus_tape1of1_1987nov1.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Perry and Spicegood, 113.
[7] For more information on the Women’s Liberation Center and other sites critical to events associated with LGBTQ History in New York City, see NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project: https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/womens-liberation-center/.
[8] “Arcus Flynn, Tape 1 of 1.”
[9] L.O.V.E. Collective.
[10] “Arcus Flynn, Tape 1 of 1.”
[11] For history of the Women-in-Print Movement, see Kristen Hogan’s Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian Antiracism and Feminist Accountability from Duke University Press.
[12] Cordova, Jean, “The Herstory of Women’s Suffrage,” Lesbian Tide, V., 3., N., 3, September, 1973, Los Angeles, http://www.houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Assorted%20Pubs/Lesbian%20Tide/lesbian%20tide-7310.compressed.pdf.
[13] Marcus, Eric, Making Gay History Podcast, Interview with Jean O’Leary, 1989, https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/episode-14-jean-oleary-part-1/. Lesbian Feminist Liberation (LFL) originated as a committee within the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), but departed from GAA in 1972.
[14] Perry and Spicegood, 112.
[15] Matthews, Steven, “Libbers Quote Chapter and Verse to St. Pats,” NY Daily News, 27, August, 1973, https://www.newspapers.com/image/465535549/?terms=lavender%2Bdinosaur.
[16] A “zap” is a form of direct action, devised by GAA members in the early years of the Gay Liberation era and used to force a reaction from a public official or protest target. Usually quick, unsuspecting, and even comedic in nature, the zap represents a departure in strategy from earlier homophile groups who participated in more subdued actions such as pickets.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Mayo, Edith P., “Women’s History and Public History: The Museum Connection,” The Public Historian, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring 1983), University of California Press, 69.
[19] L.O.V.E. Collective.
[20] Jay, Karla, interview with Rachel Pitkin, 24 August 2020.
[21] “Arcus Flynn, Tape 1 of 1.”