Founded by George Edgerly Harris III Jr. – better known as “Hibiscus” – the group was a theater troupe of drag performers. The original troupe consisted of fourteen people, including an infant and specialized in vibrant, extravagant performances, full of glitter and over-the-top (often homemade) costumes. Often performing at the Pagoda Palace Theater (a vaudeville theater, which was located on Columbus Avenue, across the street from Washington Square, from 1907 to 2013), the Cockettes had a large underground following in San Francisco.

You might recognize Hibiscus from his appearance in the 1967 photo “Flower Power” (he is placing a flower in the barrel of a gun during a Vietnam War protest). Another Cockettes member, Sylvester, later went on to become San Francisco’s “queen of disco.” For more on Sylvester, check out Joshua Gamson’s book The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco.

Photos from Peter Mintun collection at the San Francisco Public Library. For more images please SFPL’s photo desk at the Main Branch.