H. Lynn Womack
Encyclopedia
Dr. H. Lynn Womack (1923–1985) was the founder of Guild Press (Washington, D.C.), a publishing house that catered almost exclusively to a gay male audience and played a major role in expanding the legal protections for gay publications against obscenity laws in the United States.
, but transferred to George Washington University
in Washington, DC to complete his degree and to pursue graduate studies.
By 1946, Womack came to terms with his homosexuality and ended his marriage to his second wife. This coincided with the collapse of one of his business ventures, the Howell Academy, a private boarding school at which Womack reportedly was rarely present. After the closing of the Howell Academy, Womack enrolled in a Ph.D. program in philosophy at Johns Hopkins University
, receiving his doctorate in 1955.
An investment that he had made earlier in his life paid off and resulted in his becoming the owner of a small printing plant. With this printing press, he developed MANual Enterprises, an earlier incarnation of Guild Press.
By 1960, Guild Press under Womack's leadership as publisher and sole proprietor, was printing physique and art magazines and providing a national mail order business. He was also fighting a major obscenity law case, MANual Enterprises v. Day
(1962), which was one of the First Amendment
cases that determined that erotica intended for gay males was "not obscene as a matter of law".
At its height, Womack's business empire included Guild Press; its mail order distribution clubs; the Mark II gay cinema (808 K St NW in Washington, DC); and Village Books, a chain of bookstores along the East Coast. In Washington, DC, there were Village Books outlets at 819 13 St NW and at 14th and H Streets NW. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Womack ran his businesses through partners and subordinates J J Proferes (also owner of DC's Metropole Cinema), Henry Pryba, and Raymond Pechin.
Womack's mail order business, Guild Book Service, distributed a regular bulletin to members with reviews of selections. In its first Bulletin, Guild Book Service announce that it had "been organized primarily as a service to meet the needs of the subscribers to the various publications of Guild Press, Ltd. We will provide a critical evalution of much of the material now flooding certain areas of specialized interest and will make thses materials available as efficiently and economically as possible." The Guild Book Service goals were to bring the "collective output of gay titles and provide them to a newly defined gay reading public."
In 1970, Womack decided to launch a short-lived gay newspaper, The Gay Forum, with national distribution. Womack's new venture into the newspaper business quickly floundered due in large part to renewed prosecution of Guild Press and Womack on charges of using underage models in the increasingly photo-illustrated publications produced by Guild Press. In April 1970, the FBI conducted major raids on adult bookstores up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
As part of a plea bargain reached in 1971 to reduce Womack's sentence from two-and-a-half years to six months, Womack agreed to legally separate himself from his adult businesses, including the Guild Press. Guild Press ceased nearly all publishing within two years and was bankrupt by 1974.
, where he passed away in 1985.
Biography
Born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi in 1923, Womack began school at the University of MississippiUniversity of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
, but transferred to George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in Washington, DC to complete his degree and to pursue graduate studies.
By 1946, Womack came to terms with his homosexuality and ended his marriage to his second wife. This coincided with the collapse of one of his business ventures, the Howell Academy, a private boarding school at which Womack reportedly was rarely present. After the closing of the Howell Academy, Womack enrolled in a Ph.D. program in philosophy at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, receiving his doctorate in 1955.
An investment that he had made earlier in his life paid off and resulted in his becoming the owner of a small printing plant. With this printing press, he developed MANual Enterprises, an earlier incarnation of Guild Press.
By 1960, Guild Press under Womack's leadership as publisher and sole proprietor, was printing physique and art magazines and providing a national mail order business. He was also fighting a major obscenity law case, MANual Enterprises v. Day
MANual Enterprises v. Day
MANual Enterprises v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that magazines consisting largely of photographs of nude or near-nude male models are not obscene within the meaning of...
(1962), which was one of the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
cases that determined that erotica intended for gay males was "not obscene as a matter of law".
At its height, Womack's business empire included Guild Press; its mail order distribution clubs; the Mark II gay cinema (808 K St NW in Washington, DC); and Village Books, a chain of bookstores along the East Coast. In Washington, DC, there were Village Books outlets at 819 13 St NW and at 14th and H Streets NW. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Womack ran his businesses through partners and subordinates J J Proferes (also owner of DC's Metropole Cinema), Henry Pryba, and Raymond Pechin.
Womack's mail order business, Guild Book Service, distributed a regular bulletin to members with reviews of selections. In its first Bulletin, Guild Book Service announce that it had "been organized primarily as a service to meet the needs of the subscribers to the various publications of Guild Press, Ltd. We will provide a critical evalution of much of the material now flooding certain areas of specialized interest and will make thses materials available as efficiently and economically as possible." The Guild Book Service goals were to bring the "collective output of gay titles and provide them to a newly defined gay reading public."
In 1970, Womack decided to launch a short-lived gay newspaper, The Gay Forum, with national distribution. Womack's new venture into the newspaper business quickly floundered due in large part to renewed prosecution of Guild Press and Womack on charges of using underage models in the increasingly photo-illustrated publications produced by Guild Press. In April 1970, the FBI conducted major raids on adult bookstores up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
As part of a plea bargain reached in 1971 to reduce Womack's sentence from two-and-a-half years to six months, Womack agreed to legally separate himself from his adult businesses, including the Guild Press. Guild Press ceased nearly all publishing within two years and was bankrupt by 1974.
Later life
In the 1970s, after the end of his connection with Guild Press and its ultimate demise, Womack retired to Boca Raton, FloridaBoca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
, where he passed away in 1985.
Physique Magazines
- Fizeek
- Grecian Guild Pictorial
- Manorama
- MANual
- Trim
Book Series
- Black Knight Classics (gay male erotica)
- Roadhouse Classics (gay male erotica)
- Stuart House Classics (heterosexual erotica)
See also
- List of gay pornographic magazines
- Clark PolakClark PolakClark Philip Polak was an American journalist and gay rights activist. He was known for creating and editing DRUM magazine , an early gay-interest periodical, and for his leadership role with the Philadelphia-based homophile organization, the Janus Society.Polak killed himself in Los Angeles in...