Featured articles
Featured articles
Featured articles
What's next
Featured articles
Featured articles
Featured articles
Ready to know more about San Diego?
SubscribeReady to know more about San Diego?
A century ago, same-sex couples and a female impersonator lived prominent and public lives here
The Villa Montezuma house (left) and female impersonator and Alpine resident Julian Eltinge (right)
Wikimedia Commons and the Los Angeles Public Library, Herald-Examiner Photo Collection
Two progressive, upper-crust women who hosted a former president and first lady at their home at the edge of Balboa Park. A spiritualist who channeled famous composers and built one of the most stunning mansions in San Diego for himself and his companion. A celebrity female impersonator who’s still the talk of East County history buffs. And a La Jolla physician whose stunning secret made front-page news from coast to coast.
Meet the early LGBTQ – or at least LGBTQ-adjacent – pioneers of San Diego. They each lived here about a century ago, long before most people thought “gay” was anything other than festive. We know nothing about their intimate physical relationships, but it’s clear they lived lives that would be considered alternative in their time – and ours.
In honor of San Diego Pride this week, here’s a closer look at six LGBTQ pioneers.
Alice Lee, a second cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife, had connections in high places. She forged friendships with the Roosevelt family, Florence Nightingale, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and President Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances. She moved west to San Diego around 1902, possibly due to her poor health. If that was the reason, she had company in the thousands of others who flocked here to soak up our supposed healing powers. One savvy promoter, the city’s official physician, claimed that ultra-fit locals had “lungs like a blacksmith’s bellows and hearts as tough as that of a turtle.”
Around 1900, Lee met a woman named Katherine Teats and spent the rest of her life with her. Teats lived a low-profile life, while Lee advocated progressive causes and joined local charity boards galore. She led the influential Save the Beaches movement to keep the coast out of private hands and founded a public forum that lasted into the 1970s.
Lee and Teats spent decades living in a home on Seventh Avenue at the northwestern edge of Balboa Park. There, they hosted Theodore Roosevelt and his second wife Edith when they visited town for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition that gave us modern Balboa Park. (There’s a brief film of Roosevelt’s visit that shows him and a lady with a rather remarkable hat.)
Were Lee and Teats a romantic couple? Teats’ grand-niece told the late local historian Sarai Johnson that family lore considered the pair to be lesbians, and a census form described Teats as Lee’s “partner.” But then, as now, we can’t make assumptions about the intimate lives of private people.
Still, it’s clear they had what was known then as a “Boston marriage” – a partnership between two wealthy women that may or may not have been physically intimate. It’s likely that “most people outside of the relationship didn’t dwell on the sexual possibilities of the relationship. They didn’t think of two women living together as pathological as they did when I was growing up in the 1950s,” said Lillian Faderman, a retired La Jolla professor who’s considered “the mother of lesbian history.” (See our 2021 Q&A with her.)
There are many other examples of female same-sex relationships. “I just find these late 19th- and early 20th-century women so awesome,” Faderman said. “They refused to confirm to what society expected. They might have been seen as somewhat odd, but not unrespectable. They managed to maintain their role in their society. They’re our foremothers.”
Jesse Shepard, a spiritualist and musician who performed for a Russian czar and a future British king, didn’t spend long in San Diego with his devoted “secretary” Lawrence W. Tonner. But the pair spent a busy and influential two years here in the late 1880s. Thanks to them, the Sherman Heights neighborhood is home to Villa Montezuma, one of the most impressive and well-preserved Victorian houses in San Diego.
Shepard came to town as a well-known spiritualist who “sometimes claimed that the spirits of famous composers or pianists performed through him,” according to a 1987 article in the Journal of San Diego History. He traveled throughout Europe, performing for famous people such as royalty and the novelist Alexander Dumas.
Spiritualism was hugely popular around the turn of the 20th century, and many celebrities like Arthur Conan Doyle embraced the idea of communicating with the dead. But Shepard abandoned spiritualism while in San Diego and turned to another focus: building Villa Montezuma. He didn’t own it for long, however: Shepard sold it in 1889, a year after the San Diego real estate market went bust.
Little is known about Tonner or their relationship, which lasted until Shepard died in 1927 while playing the piano at a recital. “Many wealthy gay men deemed their partners their chauffeur, assistant, or secretary,” Faderman said. “Jesse Shepard must have assumed he’d get away with it because of that, and I imagine straight people believed it.”
Villa Montezuma, with its grand Queen Anne gables, is now a city-owned museum.
One of the most famous performers of the early 20th century had a surprise up her sleeve: She wasn’t what she appeared to be. The classy, graceful woman on stage was actually a man who went by the name Julian Eltinge. Audiences knew this going in, but they were still stunned.
Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego. Please contact him directly at [email protected]. This story was first published by Voice of San Diego. Sign up for VOSD’s newsletters here.
PARTNER CONTENT
VOSD Logo
Georgina Treviño has adorned Bad Bunny and Doja Cat, but still calls San Diego home
One look and it’s easy to see that local jewelry designer Georgina Treviño is overcaffeinated. She has to be. She’s just returned from a whirlwind trip where she finished a workshop residency at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina—while also finding time to pop up and down to LA and Mexico City to, among other things, deliver some custom pieces for a “very important, very secretive” client who sought her out to accessorize his outfit for Chloë Sevigny and gallerist Siniša Mačković’s wedding in Connecticut. Now she’s finally back at her Little Italy studio. And while she found time to create two custom pieces for the bride and groom, anyone who knows Treviño would not be surprised to learn she’s already onto the next thing.
Courtesy of Georgina Trevino
“I feel like I love to go into the chaos knowing that I can come home,” she says, adding that she often gets asked why, after all she’s accomplished so far, she doesn’t simply move. “I love San Diego. I just love being here, because I’m in between both worlds.”
Following Treviño’s Instagram is something of a whirlwind experience itself; a crash course in what it means when an up-and-coming designer generates enough buzz to where they’re becoming the go-to accessory for photo shoots and step-and-repeats for the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga, and Bad Bunny, the latter of whom insisted on keeping a pair of earrings she created after he wore them for a music video. “That almost made me cry,” she admits.
Courtesy of Georgina Trevino
Inspired by lowbrow pop culture as much as by ’80s punk rock aesthetics, Treviño’s custom rings, bracelets, and dangles have appeared in Teen Vogue, Purple magazine, and most recently, the Los Angeles Times, who commissioned her for a custom spread in their style magazine, Image. This is in addition to her even more notable accomplishments, such as appearances in a Nike Air Max campaign and a deal to bring her signature pierced designs to Chunks hair products. She’ll also be customizing purses and creating her own in- store intervention for Spanish fashion tastemaker Bimba y Lola inside their Mexico City storefront. Not bad for an Otay Ranch local who, only a few years ago, switched her SDSU major from painting to metalsmithing.
Courtesy of Georgina Trevino
Next up, she says she’s going to check out real estate while in Mexico City in hopes of opening her own brick-and- mortar space there. “There are so many more, other things I want to do to challenge myself,” Treviño says. “I’m just going to figure out how to do it, you know?”
Wolfinger takes us behind the scenes of his James Beard Award-winning photography career
Eric-Wolfinger-alp-cheese-sdm-0622.jpg.jpg
When The New York Times describes you as the “Annie Leibowitz of food photography” and Food & Wine knights you “one of the world’s best food photographers,” it’s safe to assume Eric Wolfinger could rest on his laurels, content in the fact that he found his true calling.
But the multiple James Beard Award nominee is downright self-deprecating at times. Credit his La Jolla roots, his proletariat beginnings as a food writer for his college newspaper and, later, as a bread baker’s apprentice in San Francisco. Or, perhaps it’s his almost-daily surfing habit. Either way we slice it (pun intended), Wolfinger is as zen as they come.
“I’m still the same dude I was pre-award,” says Wolfinger, referring to the James Beard Award Media award he won in 2020 for his photography in the stunning James Funke cookbook, American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta.
Since beginning to photograph food in the mid ’00s, Wolfinger’s intent has remained consistent: to bring a “sense of humanity” to every picture. That even when it’s a picture of a piece of bread or an elaborate spread, the viewer stares not just at a picture of food, but at the world itself.
“It’s not just food on a plate, right? It came from somewhere, it came from someone, and it arrived in front of you with some intention,” says Wolfinger, who recently returned to La Jolla after living in San Francisco for the last 20 years. “I want to convey all those things. I want to capture that, and I want the viewer to feel that absolutely.”
Fresh off the recently released Bludso’s BBQ Cookbook: A Family Affair in Smoke and Soul, we asked Wolfinger to pick and reflect on his all-time favorite shots from his nearly two-decade career, and while it wasn’t an easy task for him, both the images and words speak loudly.
Follow Eric Wolfinger on Instagram at @ericwolfinger
The exhibition is on display at La Jolla Historical Society Wisteria Cottage Gallery from June to September
Johnny Bear Contreras in his home studio on the San Pasqual Reservation
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Naming a piece of art I’m No Tonto is about as blatant as it gets. For Johnny Bear Contreras, however, naming his new rotary cast resin sculpture after the infamously and offensively named sidekick (“tonto” is Spanish for “stupid”) from The Lone Ranger has layer upon layers of meaning for him.
“I want people from all nations, all reservations, and all native peoples to see something in my work that, when they looked at it, said, ‘Man, we really know what he’s really talking about,’” Contreras says from his home studio on the San Pasqual Reservation. “You know, either the atrocities that have taken place or the beautiful things that have never been embellished on. No one’s peeled that back and really done something like a fine art piece in bronze and statuary.”
Bird Dreams XXVIII by Gail Werner
Photographed by Philipp Scholz Rittermann
As a member of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, he points out that San Diego has been historically slow-moving when it comes to representing and acknowledging Indigenous creators of fine art. Dana Hicks, deputy director and collections manager for the La Jolla Historical Society, knows this and has made it something of a personal mission to correct it.
“I think the public needs to see that there’s not one stereotypical native story,” says Hicks, who curated Voices from the Rez, a new group exhibition of regional Native American artists June 4 through September 4 at the La Jolla Historical Society Wisteria Cottage Gallery.
Hicks has been working with Native American communities for almost three decades; she wanted to showcase not only the vast array of talent in San Diego, but a “spectrum of mediums.”
Peon Players by Robert Freeman
Photographed by Philipp Scholz Rittermann
“My thought was, I just want everybody to see what I’ve had the privilege to see over all these years and get native people out here,” she says. “I don’t want it to be my voice at all. I want it to be native voices.”
Lauren Lockhart, the historical society’s executive director, believes visitors will be taken with the breadth and quality of the artwork. “It will also provoke the viewer to think, ‘I wasn’t aware of this. And what else don’t I know sure about the history of the Indigenous communities here? What else don’t I know about the history of this land that I’m standing on right now?’ Because even our historical society is on the ancestral homeland of the Kumeyaay.”
Oversized Butterfly Coat, Turtleneck and Culottes by Jamie Okuma
Photographed by Philipp Scholz Rittermann
In addition to I’m No Tonto, which will be displayed in the Wisteria Cottage Gallery on Prospect Street, Contreras has plans for another sculptural piece, tentatively titled Return of the Kumeyaay Creators, which will be what he calls a “modern depiction” of the tribe’s traditional creation story of two twins. There will also be works from regional artists such as Gerald Clark (charred prints), Jamie Okuma (fashion), and Gail Werner (monotypes); and accompanying public programming that includes a reading with Cahuilla/Cupeño writer Gordon Johnson, a concert from blues musician Tracy Lee Nelson (Luiseño/Diegueño/ Kumeyaay) and an artist talk with Contreras.
“There was time when people would ask me, ‘What motivates you?’” asks Contreras, somewhat rhetorically. “And it was hard for me to pin it to one thing because at the end of the day, what doesn’t inspire me, you know?
Music Basket by Tracy Lee Nelson
Photographed by Philipp Scholz Rittermann
The annual event honors middle market companies creating jobs, scaling up, and investing in the region
San Diego is known for its startup culture and innovation economy, but what happens when the company moves beyond its early-stage years? The San Diego Business Impact Awards aim to answer that question, spotlighting the middle market businesses helping drive the region’s economy.
Hosted by San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and JPMorganChase, the second annual awards celebration takes place on Thursday, July 23, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Scripps Research Auditorium. More than 200 executives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders are expected to attend the networking and cocktail event honoring some of San Diego County’s fastest-growing companies.
Businesses headquartered in San Diego County that have operated for at least two years are encouraged to submit their nomination by Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. Companies across industries—from technology and life sciences to tourism and consumer products, as well as pre-revenue startups—are eligible for recognition.
For EDC President and CEO Mark Cafferty, the event is as much about building connections as celebrating success. “We’ve had a longtime partnership with JPMorganChase; their work aligns with our efforts to support underserved communities and drive talent development,” says Cafferty. “And the networking was invaluable last year. I’m still in touch with people I met at last year’s awards.”
EDC is an independently-funded nonprofit that works directly with San Diego companies to help them grow the local economy, make the region as a whole more competitive, and attract and retain top-tier talent with quality jobs. Through EDC, companies can get help starting or expanding their business with support for things like site selection, permit navigation, and regulatory guidance, plus connections to local resources and potential business collaborators.
The San Diego Business Impact Awards began as an idea with one of EDC’s longtime strategic partners, JPMorganChase. The two organizations share a commitment to San Diego and are dedicated to bolstering middle market businesses.
“We’re blessed with a robust innovation economy and startup community,” says Aaron Ryan, San Diego Region Manager for JPMorgan’s Commercial and Investment Bank and vice chair of the firm’s’ San Diego Market Leadership Team. “But one of the segments of the business community we felt was overlooked was emerging middle market companies—the businesses that are no longer small but not yet large.”
Ryan says supporting those companies is critical as they scale and decide where to invest, hire, and grow.
San Diego’s high cost of living remains one of the region’s biggest business challenges, making talent recruitment and retention increasingly competitive. But local leaders point to the region’s quality of life, climate, and collaborative business community as advantages that continue to attract employers and workers.
“In order to support thriving households, there has to be enough high-quality jobs for people to be able to afford to live here,” Cafferty says. “Once a company grows and excels past that middle market point in their growth cycle, they become much more likely to pay higher wages and compete globally.”
Both Cafferty and Ryan proudly tout the unique collaboration that exists among San Diego County businesses. Bringing together top universities producing high-quality talent, cutting-edge research institutions, a robust military and defense presence, leading ocean science and environmental organizations, and a binational, cross-border identity creates a distinct business ecosystem that defines and strengthens the San Diego region.
Last year’s San Diego Business Impact Awards celebrated nearly 60 honorees from 49 industries, representing a total of 8,232 jobs across eight sectors, including: software and technology, healthcare and life sciences, consumer goods, professional services, finance, construction and manufacturing, defense, and hospitality and tourism. On average, honoree companies doubled their revenues over the previous year, employed more than 145 San Diegans each, and offered an average annual compensation of $192,415.
Top honorees included defense contractor Innoflight, environmental consulting firm Bancroft Construction Services, life sciences startup Element Biosciences, defense technology contractor GALT Aerospace, organic grocery store chain Jimbo’s, and biopharmaceutical company LENZ Therapeutics. During the event, Innoflight Founder and CEO Jeff Janicik held a fireside chat offering his insights on investing in the community and embracing San Diego culture.
This year, organizers hope to continue highlighting the middle market players driving economic impact across the region. Nominations are now open through June 18 at 4 p.m. Get your tickets to the San Diego Business Impact Awards celebration to enjoy drinks by Snake Oil Cocktail Co., light bites, live music, and networking.
Our new back page takes a closer look at the hidden and lesser known landmarks of San Diego
Some of the curiosities to be found inside The Museum Of__, a small space within La Jolla’s Quint Gallery
Nick Nacca
The man, the myth…the zombie dust collection. Quint is a name synonymous with art-world heavyweights and The Next Big Thing.
When founder Mark Quint isn’t uncovering new darlings, he’s scouting local flea markets for his oddities collection. We’re talking artificial sushi, religious sculpture, tourist tchotchkes, Edwardian taxidermy, matchbox cars, marbles, and, yes, dust. The high-low mash-up serves as a lifelong obsession and inspiration for The Museum Of__, a 140-sq-ft space inside his eponymous Girard Avenue gallery. Since he first opened in 1981, the La Jolla native has organized 250+ exhibitions of local, national, and international artists. Here in this plywood box, he curates his own collection and the kitsch of others. It’s both a wink and a prompt, asking viewers to question how we define the exotic and the ordinary.
7655 Girard Avenue, La Jolla.
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby “Magic in the air.” That’s how Joe Skoby describes his home during the holidays. “I love seeing the excitement pour out of my daughters. We decorate the Christmas tree on St. Nicholas night.” As for what’s under that tree? Skoby patronizes local retailers almost exclusively, because he’s pretty […]
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby
“Magic in the air.” That’s how Joe Skoby describes his home during the holidays. “I love seeing the excitement pour out of my daughters. We decorate the Christmas tree on St. Nicholas night.” As for what’s under that tree? Skoby patronizes local retailers almost exclusively, because he’s pretty ingrained in his community. You can spot him managing El Pescador Fish Market in La Jolla, or you may recognize him from his ceramics brand, Skoby Joe.
And while being a ceramicist does make gift-giving a little easier, Skoby puts more thought into his presents than just convenience. “I like the idea of giving something with meaning, whether it is supporting a small local business, or making something for someone, or donating to a cause that will help the less fortunate.” Pore over his recommendations and get your own wheels turning.
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Greenpacha Hat
“Based in La Jolla and Argentina, Greenpacha designs hand-woven toquilla hats made by artisans in Ecuador. Once you try a Greenpacha, it’s impossible to go back to a cheaply made hat.” From $99
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Matuse Wetsuit
“This wetsuit is any surfer’s dream. Matuse is a local company that can be found worldwide. Their wetsuits are the best in the game.” From $100
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Cleo Skincare Products
“My wife goes crazy for all of Cleo’s natural skin oils and products. Their little shop is in Bird Rock, making it an easy stop to grab a gift for her. They sell gift certificates, too!” Prices vary
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Unity 4 Orphans
“In my opinion, this means much more than most gifts. I try and give these to my daughters every year in hopes they would understand what the holidays should really be about.” $50 per monthly sponsorship
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Green Flip Flop Sandals
“These sandals are 100 percent recyclable and made from biodegradable vegetable components. The company is owned and operated by a Brazilian guy whose name translates to John the Baptist. We met on the street in La Jolla, and he gifted me and my daughter a pair. I am now a believer and have worn them ever since.” $25
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Hydrodynamica Surfboard
“Locally designed and crafted, Hydrodynamica surfboards are pure fun and have a progressive design.” Prices vary
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Seaesta Surf Swimsuit
“Owner Julia Wheeler is a local mom who was looking for better-quality swimwear for her kids. My kids love her swimsuits, which are made of 50 percent recycled polyester and 50 percent organic cotton.” Prices vary
Gift Guide Sun Worshippers / Joe Skoby Skoby Joe Vase
“I always feel incredibly honored when people purchase our pieces for their special occasions. Some popular pieces conceived as gift ideas are the small and medium pieces.” $475–$650
Scripps study shows that some patients may be able to taper their dose and maintain results
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
