Cabin Inn
Title
Cabin Inn
Subject
Cabin Inn or Cozy Cabin Inn
3119 South Cottage Grove Avenue
Description
One of Chicago's famous queer cabarets, the Cabin Inn (or Cozy Cabin Inn) opened in Bronzeville in 1933 just south of the World's Fair grounds. Owned by Jack Hardy and Nathan "Big" Ivy, the fan dancing Gilda Gray was the venue's original hostess and the club featured the Brown Mae West (aka female impersonator Dick Barrow). While strategic bribes enabled the venue to avoid some of the scrutiny heaped on Near North Side venues during the time, its patrons, performers, and management were still subject to raids and arrests.
Source
Chad C Heap. 'Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife, 1885-1940.' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007: 94-6.
St. Sukie De la Croix. Chicago Whispers A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2012: 146-8, 152.
Tristan Cabello. "Queer Bronzeville: African American LGBTs on Chicago's South Side, 1900-1985: The emergence of African-American queer cultures on Chicago's South Side, 1920-1940." Windy City Times, 2012-02-29. www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Queer-Bronzeville-African-American-LGBTs-on-Chicagos-South-Side-1900-1985/36389.html.
Read more: http://zagria.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-cabin-inn-chicago.html#ixzz4GmHeKuYV Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
St. Sukie De la Croix. Chicago Whispers A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2012: 146-8, 152.
Tristan Cabello. "Queer Bronzeville: African American LGBTs on Chicago's South Side, 1900-1985: The emergence of African-American queer cultures on Chicago's South Side, 1920-1940." Windy City Times, 2012-02-29. www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Queer-Bronzeville-African-American-LGBTs-on-Chicagos-South-Side-1900-1985/36389.html.
Read more: http://zagria.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-cabin-inn-chicago.html#ixzz4GmHeKuYV Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Date
1933/1938
Contributor
Oana Alexan Katz
Identifier
Cabin Inn
Coverage
Social Culture
Location
Ballrooms and Cabarets
Citation
“Cabin Inn,” Chicago Black Social Culture Map, accessed October 15, 2026, https://cbscmap.omeka.net/items/show/258.