Jerry Peek and Joe Heatherly Digital Papers
Scope and Contents
The Jerry Peek and Joe Heatherly Digital Papers contain roughly 26 gigabytes of TIFF and JPEG copies of paper documents and photographs related to Peek and Heatherly's management of drag bars in Nashville, Tennessee and their involvement in the Miss Gay America pageant.
The collection is arranged into three series: 1) Journey Restaurant and Lounge, 2) Miss Gay America, and 3) Photographs.
Series 1, Journey Restaurant and Lounge: This series contains scans of menus, employment and entertainer applications as well as correspondence and newspaper clippings related to a local church's attempts to block the construction of the bar during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Series 2, Miss Gay America: This series contains scans of the program for Miss Gay America 2012 and Miss Gay America 2015.
Series 3, Photographs: This series is the most extensive of the three, and it contains scans of photographs and contact sheets from drag performances at The Watch Your Hat and Coat Saloon (1971-1973) and The Cabaret (1977-1993), both of which were located in Nashville.
Dates
- Creation: 1971-2015
Conditions Governing Access
This is a digital-only collection. Users can access the materials on Vanderbilt SCUA's digital collections platforms, JSTOR and Aviary, by clicking the "Go to File" link in the top right corner of each item page. If a link is not present or not working, please notify specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu to gain access.
Conditions Governing Use
The donor grants Vanderbilt Libraries a nonexclusive, perpetual, fully paid up license to make use of the digital files and/or prepare derivative works for academic and non-profit purposes only. Users of these materials who wish to publish any item(s) in for-profit instances must obtain permissions from the donor and/or copyright owners.
Biographical / Historical
Jerry Peek was born on August 14, 1942 in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated high school in 1960 and entered the Air Force, where he was stationed in South Carolina and Texas until 1968. Peek managed a restaurant called Pero's, before opening Nashville's first drag show bar in 1971, called The Watch Your Hat and Coat Saloon. Often referred to as "The Saloon," it was located at 139 2nd Avenue North. Shortly after, Peek met Joe Heatherly, and the two have been romantic partners and business partners ever since.
Joe Heatherly was born on June 15, 1948 in Springfield, TN where he grew up on a farm. After he graduated high school in 1966, Heatherly attended Belmont College (now Belmont University) to study for a life in the ministry. During college, Heatherly realized he was gay and dropped out of Belmont. Heatherly was working for GE Supply when he first got together with Peek in November 1971.
Peek and Heatherly managed The Watch Your Hat and Coat Saloon until it burned down in 1973; the cause of the fire remains unknown. They moved their female impersonation show to Printers Alley, and opened up The Cabaret Room inside Embers. This location often drew an audience of tourists. In 1977, they moved their drag shows from Printers Alley to their own building at 1711 Hayes Street, called The Cabaret, and co-managed the business with Pat L. Blaylock until 1993. The Journey Restaurant and Lounge was another short-lived gay bar Peek managed in the early 1990s. Peek and Heatherly suspected that Journey never recovered from its controversial start when the Baptist Sunday School Board attempted to stop the bar's opening in 1990. Following this business failure and lack of support from the gay community, Peek and Heatherly went into a period of seclusion and pulled back from their involvement in the gay bar scene.
Journey closed in 1991, and Peek and Heatherly opened four Rent-To-Own stores in Nashville and Kentucky, which they ran until 2004. They sold the stores and Peek retired due to health issues, while Heatherly maintained working as a truck driver until his retirement. Today, they live in Nashville, and enjoy spending time with their family, especially their son and granddaughter.
Full Extent
26.1 Gigabytes : Vanderbilt Special Collections maintains digital copies ONLY. The original physical items remain with the donor.
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Originals
The original physical materials for this collection reside with the donor.
- Title
- Jerry Peek and Joe Heatherly Digital Papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Sarah Calise
- Date
- 2024-05-06
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives Repository
Special Collections Library
1101 19th Ave. S.
Nashville TN 37212 United States
specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu
About this Site
This site contains collection guides, or finding aids, to the archival collections held by Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives, the History of Medicine Collection, and the Scarritt Bennett Center. Finding aids describe the context, arrangement, and structure of archival materials, allowing users to identify and request materials relevant to their research.
Requesting Materials
Each finding aid contains a link to request materials from the collections. Collections can also be requested by emailing the repository directly through the library website. Each repository has its own location, hours, and contact information. Please consult the repository with questions about using the materials. Collections are non-circulating and must be used in the repository’s reading room. In many cases, the collections are stored off-site and require advance notice for retrieval.