Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds every other Friday.

San Francisco native José Sarria is a celebrated performer, advocate, and was the first known openly gay person to campaign for elected office in 1961. When the 90-year-old Sarria began to seriously consider the fate of his personal archives, it was no easy task. The Smithsonian expressed interest, but only wanted his correspondence, and Sarria knew that the public and researchers would best benefit from a complete collection at one institution.

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Exploratorium Film Seeks to Capture the Rhythm and Drama of the Embarcadero

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New York City might be home to the big houses, but this scrappy city just happens to be the epicenter of publishing on the Best Coast. Join Alexis Coe every Wednesday for Read Local, a series which focused on books produced in the Bay Area.

This series celebrates Bay Area publishing, but Heyday takes it to the next level. Founded by Malcolm Margolin in 1974, the Berkeley-based, independent press publishes 25 books a year, and all of them focus on a specific part of California culture and landscape. Here are 10 diverse titles to get you started, available for purchase in most bookstores and on the Heyday website.

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You've Never Seen S.F. Like This: Rebecca Solnit's Infinite City

Death in the Tenderloin Chronicles 100 Lives from S.F. Poorest Neighborhood

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Flawed human beings that we are, we routinely take for granted the people, places, and traditions that make this city special. One of the gifts of the holiday season is the chance to convey our appreciation with a heartfelt sentiment -- if not a more tangible (read pourable) form of expression -- to the many unsung heroes we encounter in a typical week. Local filmmaker Richard Gutierrez doesn't need a special occasion; he just picks up his camera.

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Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Picks from S.F. Booksellers

The Roxie, S.F.'s Longest Running Theater, Needs Our Help

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Marilyn Roxie

Since the Gold Rush brought miners and sailors to our city, the disproportionate amount of men to women and their transient lifestyles fostered a sexually liberal environment that has bloomed for decades. The city's now got one of the highest number of sex workers per capita in both illegal and legal trades, necessitating a rich history of activism in sexual politics. For the city with at least a dozen annual occasions to don leather (or nothing at all) out on the streets, the Center for Sex and Culture is putting it all out there in a new mural celebrating S.F.'s sex-positive community and their achievements.

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This American Whore Podcast Seeks to Demystify Sex Work

Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers Is More than Grief and Death

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courtesey of the Presidio Trust

The legends of maritime history evoke images of explorers setting sail to terra incognito, ships conveying pilfered riches from parts unknown, and shipwrecks run aground on unforgiving tropical islands. Due to its storied past as a major shipping channel with unpredictable weather, imposing geology, and perilous waters, the San Francisco Bay has entombed its own share of dead sailors' tales.

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The History of Alcoholics Anonymous Is Now a Musical

The Silent History for Interactive Readers: A Novel Concept

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Longtime residents often grouse about how much cooler San Francisco used to be, usually around the time they moved here. But what about the city before any of us arrived, or were even born? Now in its seventh year, archivist Rick Prelinger's "Lost Landscapes of San Francisco" series makes a strong case for the coolness of the city in the early to mid-20th century, captured almost incidentally at the time in primary sources such as newsreels, industrial films, home movies, and studio outtakes.

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The Roxie, S.F.'s Longest Running Theater, Needs Our Help

Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Picks from S.F. Booksellers

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artist Maëlle Doliveux

Heiress Louise Boyd found arctic exploration far more interesting than Marin high society.

Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds every Friday.

The Marin History Museum has a home because of Louise Arner Boyd, and now Boyd is remembered because of the museum.

"There are so many women who are forgotten in history," said Scott Fletcher, the Boyd scholar who is cataloging the collection at the museum, which was once Boyd's childhood home. "Even people in San Rafael who go to Boyd Park don't know her."

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John F. Kennedy and the Holy Grail of PEZ Dispensers

Freemasons and the Case of the Missing Jewel

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If you haven't been giving much thought to your impending mortality lately, this should help: Star Trek: The Next Generation turns 25 this year. Remember how long ago your 25th birthday was? Exactly. The Next Generation is getting a great birthday party, too, in the form of Creation Entertainment's Official Star Trek Convention at the Westin St. Francis this weekend, Nov. 16-18.
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The word "porn" can make you think a lot of things, most of which you might not be interested in discussing with your boss/professor/mom/grandma. California and New Hampshire are the only two states that legally allow adult films to be produced, and currently an estimated 90 percent of U.S. porn films are made in the suburban San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, the nation's porn capital. But believe it or not, many films are made right here in SF, at the historic San Francisco Armory.

Recently, California Home + Design posted a slideshow of an inside look into some of the intimate settings where the magic happens inside the Armory, currently owned and operated by Kink.com (DISCLAIMER: NSFW), who specialize in films of the hardcore to extremely hardcore variety. We thought this was pretty entertaining, so here's a couple of our personal favorite studio scenes. Just use your imagination...

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There's nothing quite as heartbreaking as seeing a shuttered movie theater, and as a result, it's hard to go more than a mile in San Francisco without being heartbroken. I can hardly ever go into the Haight without being overcome with sadness about the loss of the Red Vic. There's a lot of things to feel sad about in the Haight, admittedly, but damn, I miss the Red Vic so much.

But the Roxie Theater in the Mission has been hanging in there, not just as an operating movie theater but as one that concentrates on independent, experimental, and lower-profile films -- the kind of place that would never devote a week to show the Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean movies (just to cite totally random examples that may or may not have premiered at the Castro Theater in recent years). And they need our help to keep it that way.

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Last Chance to See Christopher Nolan's Batman Films in Glorious 35mm

John Waters Explains His Love for S.F. Muni, the Roxie Theater, and Die Antwoord

Castro Theatre to Start Showing Blockbusters

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