Woodmere, New York
Died: November 27, 1978
San Francisco, California
American politician and civil rights activist
As a boy
Harvey Bernard Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York. His grandfather, an immigrant from Lithuania, was the owner of a respected department store. Milk's father, William, was also involved in the retail clothing trade. By his early teens, Milk was already aware of his homosexuality, but he chose to keep it to himself. In high school, he was active in sports and was considered a class clown. He developed a passion for opera and would frequently go alone to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
Looking for a career path
Returning to New York, Milk took a job teaching high school. By this time, Milk was living openly with his lover, Joe Campbell, though he still kept his homosexuality hidden from his family. After a couple of years, Milk left teaching. He tried his hand at a number of other occupations before landing a job with the Wall Street investment firm Bache and Company in 1963. At Bache, Milk discovered that he had a knack for finance and investment, and his rise through the corporate world was swift.
The Mayor of Castro Street
Milk entered the political arena for the first time in 1973 after being angered by the Watergate scandal. (Named after the building in which a burglary took place, Watergate involved political cover-ups that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon [1913–1994].) Hoping to produce change through politics, Milk decided to run for a spot on the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's city council. Using the gay community as his voting base, Milk sought to develop an alliance with other minorities in the city.
Of the thirty-two candidates in the race, Milk came in tenth. Though he lost the election, he gained enough support to put him on the city's political map. Because of his popularity in his own largely gay district, he became known as "the Mayor of Castro Street." Milk spent much of the next year preparing for his next election campaign, including taking on a more mainstream look. He also revitalized the Castro Village Association as a powerful civic organization and launched the popular Castro Street Fair. In addition, he conducted a voter registration drive that signed up two thousand new voters, and he began writing a newspaper column for the Bay Area Reporter.
A life ended
On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor Moscone were shot to death in City Hall by Dan White (1946–1985), a former city supervisor who had quit the board to protest the passage of the city's gay rights law. In his trial for the killings, White's attorneys employed what came to be known as the Twinkie Defense. They claimed that the defendant had eaten so much junk food that his judgment had become impaired, or damaged, and that he had little control over his actions. White was convicted only of voluntary manslaughter, meaning he would receive the lightest sentence possible for a person who had admitted to intentionally killing someone. He served five years in prison before being paroled. On October 21, 1985, White committed suicide.
For More Information
Krakow, Kari. The Harvey Milk Story. Ridley Park, PA: Two Lives Publishers, 2002.
Shilts, Randy. The Mayor of Castro Street. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982.
Weiss, Mike. Double Play: The San Francisco City Hall Killings. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1984.
