Eva Kotchever

Eva Kotchever, known also as Eve Adams or Eve Addams, born as Chawa Zloczower (1891, Mława - 17 December 1943, Auschwitz) was a Polish-Jewish émigré librarian and writer, most known for running from 1925 to 1926 a popular, openly lesbian after-theater club in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, called Eve’s Hangout. It closed when Eva was convicted of obscenity and disorderly conduct, which resulted in her deportation.[1]

For the Canadian politician, see Eve Adams.

Eva Kotchever
Born1891
Mława, Poland
DiedDecember 17, 1943
Auschwitz, Poland
Other namesChawa Zloczower, Eve Addams, Eve Adam, Evelyn Addams
OccupationLibrarian, Writer, Novelist, Bartender

Biography

Chawa Zloczower was born in 1891 in Poland. Having emigrated to the United States during the 1920s, she ran with her partner, Swedish painter Ruth Norlander,[2] a business named The Gray Cottage in Chicago, at 10 E Chestnut St.[3] She was a friend of anarchist writer Emma Goldman.[4]

In 1925, she opened Eve’s Hangout, also known as Eve Addams’ Tearoom in Greenwich Village. On the outside, she hung a sign that read: "Men are admitted, but not welcome."[1][5]

She was convicted by New York City's Vice Squad of obscenity for her collection of short stories Lesbian Love (written under the name Evelyn Adams) and for disorderly conduct after undercover police detective Margaret Leonard entered Eve's Hangout and was shown the book.[6] Leonard said Kotchever made overt sexual advances to her. After a year in jail, where she probably met Mae West, at Jefferson Market Prison,[7] she was deported to Europe.[1][5]

In Paris, she ran a bookstore and a café named Le Boudoir de l'Amour in Montmartre (Brevities, November 16 1931).[8] She met other artists such as Henry Miller, June Miller, and Anaïs Nin there,[9] all regulars of Le Dôme Café, called Dômiers, in the Bohemian neighborhood of Montparnasse.

In the 1930s, she fought against fascism. In accordance with her political ideas, she supported the Second Spanish Republic, against the regime of General Francisco Franco.[10] She regularly corresponded with Ben Reitman.[11]

In 1943, she was arrested in Nice with her girlfriend Hella. The two women were imprisoned in the Drancy internment camp, near Paris. Deported to Auschwitz, the two women were murdered by the Nazis on December 17, 1943.[12]

Legacy

Barbara Kahn wrote Unreachable Eden, a play about Eva Kotchever. She read from it in 2014 at the Theater for the New City, 19th Annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts.[13] Kahn[14] popularized the life of Eve Addams in the United States.[15]

Eva Kotchever street in Paris

A street in Paris, rue Eva Kotchever, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris is named after her, as well as a public school.[16]

Kotchever is now considered,[17] especially in Europe,[18] an LGBT icon.[19] The City of New York[20] and the National Park Service[21] tend to keep her memory alive.

See also

References
  1. "Eve Addams' Tearoom". nyclgbtsites. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  2. "The Art Exhibit at Field's". flps.newberry.org. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  3. "The Liberator" (PDF). June 1922. p. 34.
  4. "Eve Adams (on right)". stoned butch blues. October 10, 2011. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  5. ""Men Are Admitted, But Not Welcome" -- 129 MacDougal Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  6. "Eve Adams' Tearoom". NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  7. Merwin, Ted. "Imprisoned For Who She Was". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  8. Gilligan, Heather (2017-02-15). "The economy is killing the lesbian bar, again". Medium. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  9. Gattuso, Reina (2019-09-03). "The Founder of America's Earliest Lesbian Bar Was Deported for Obscenity". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  10. Carpenter, Julia. "A Woman to Know: Eve Adams". awomantoknow.substack.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  11. "The Hobo Doctor | Jewish Currents Archive". Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  12. "Shownotes: Eve's Tearoom Part 2". Queer Ephemera. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  13. "Barbara Kahn "Unreachable Eden" Eve Adams (Eva Kotchever) May 25 2014 - TNC". Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  14. http://www.barbara-kahn.com/
  15. "Eve Adams in Paris". www.nytheatre-wire.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  16. "Ecole polyvalente Eva Kotchever". www.paris.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  17. "17 LGBT landmarks of Greenwich Village". 6sqft. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  18. "Rue Eva-Kotchever", Wikipédia (in French), 2020-02-29, retrieved 2020-03-01
  19. "It happened here! | Things to Do | reviews, guides, things to do, film". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  20. "Eve Adams' Tearoom". NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  21. "LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History" (PDF). National Park Foundation. 2016.
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