The Capitol & The Crystal Room
The Capitol
Prior to the 1970s, LGBTQ people met in unofficial gathering spaces and private residences. In Champaign County, two examples of such spaces are The Capitol and The Crystal Room.
The earliest-documented space for gay men to socialize, though it was unofficially a gay space, was The Capitol during the 1950s and 1960s, located at 604 E. Green St in Champaign, where Murphy's Pub stands today. It was rarely frequented by lesbians, who did not become integrated into the city's gay club scene until the 1970s.
The Capitol was described as having a relaxed atmosphere where food and drinks were sold. It is listed as being a gay-friendly space with a mixed crowd and tourists for the years 1966 -1972, in Bob Damron's Address Book. Published annually, these were guides to gay spaces in the US. More information on the guides can be found in the section Bob Damron's Address Books.
"The Capitol had a lot of gays, but it wasn't known as a gay bar. The times prevented it. You just went in and drank and talked -- and never danced. We were all pretty much in the closet in those days, when simply touching another guy could land you in jail... we were still afraid to show any affection openly toward one another when we were in a place like The Capitol. Like I said, it was the times."
"An Informal History of the C-U Bar Scene: Part One: In the Closet," People Like Us, September 1986.
Roger Ebert recalls seeing two men kiss for the first time in The Capitol in the mid-1960s. He saw an actor named Lara Maraviglia kiss another man "full on the lips", and it shocked Ebert and his friend group.
"Something like a mild electric shock ran through my body. No, I didn't 'discover I was gay'. I discovered that other people surely were."
Life Itself: A Memoir, Roger Ebert, 2011, p. 351.
The Crystal Room
A more well-known, though still unofficial, hang-out spot for gay men was the lounge in the Inman Hotel, known as The Crystal Room. After 10 p.m., gay people would start to arrive at The Crystal Room, and it was a very busy place. According to Champaign resident Doug Barnes, who would travel from Danville to sneak into the place with friends when he was in high school, The Crystal Room had a jukebox, a no-dancing policy, and always a drag queen.
"The Crystal Room ... had long been a favorite hangout for railroad men, yet gays were tolerated there for many years, even into the late '60s when camp was in and drag came out of the basements of our homes and into the bars. There are memories of a few scuffles between the railroaders and gays, however. The Crystal Room also had a no-dancing policy, but one bartender, Charlie, occasionally let gay patrons dance together. And The Crystal Room allowed a little more touching."
"An Informal History of the C-U Bar Scene: Part One: In the Closet," People Like Us, September 1986.
Incoming performers to the town, such as ballerinas, the Ice Capades, and Barnum & Bailey's Circus, would come to The Crystal Room to party after their performances. Joe McNamara, a human-interest photographer and reporter for the News-Gazette, interviewed performers, and they would ask where gay people could go to party. Joe would recommend The Crystal Room.
Doug Barnes recalls as a young gay man, he would sit in the corner, listen to the jukebox, watch people, and enjoy the atmosphere.
"Meeting other gays and just the excitement and feeling of being able to be myself around everyone, I had been out most of my life, but being in that space was the beginning of a whole new life."
"A need for community: the history of queer spaces in C-U" by Jacqueline Hannah, 2017.