Emil Rickert
Tim Lowry’s family did not talk about Emil; it was not until Tim moved to California as an adult that his great aunt Agnes opened up about Emil’s life.[1] The great nephew of Emil Rickert, Tim shares a lot in common with him: they were both twins, born in Grand Island, Nebraska, and gay. They also bear a striking resemblance to each other. Much of what we know about Emil comes from Tim and Agnes; the only surviving documents in Emil’s words originate from his incarceration and reflect his fear of further punishment if he admitted same-sex attractions.
Born into a working-class Nebraskan family in 1907, Emil suffered harsh losses in the early part of his life. His twin sister, Evelyn, died in infancy, and his mother died in childbirth when he was twelve. Emil’s sister, Agnes, became his mother figure as he grew up. Tim remembers Agnes telling him that Emil was so gay that he could not pretend to have romantic interests in a woman, much less get married to one.[2] In 1931, he served as one of two witnesses at Agnes’s wedding.[3]
As an adult, Emil found work at the Union Pacific Railroad (UPR) as a common laborer and kitchen helper. After striking up a romance with Ray Voss, in 1947 police caught them sharing a room at the Koehler Hotel in downtown Grand Island.[4] The court gave Emil the option of either going to prison or leaving town. He chose to work for the UPR out of Ogallala, 200 miles from home. From there, Emil travelled west, eventually landing in Idaho.[5]
Because Idaho state law made gay sex illegal regardless of the location, queer men developed a culture around public sex.[6] While public spaces may seem like the antithesis of safety and privacy for sex, private spaces arguably came with more risks because family members, neighbors, and others might be present. Public sex also appealed to many men. Some men who cruised for sex were married with children, and some did not have permanent housing, so sex in a bathroom at times allowed for more privacy than communal living quarters did. Rural men typically met romantic partners in public spaces, and, without a larger community serving as a buffer (as was the case in big cities), police frequently targeted and arrested them.[7]
Such was the case for Emil’s first offense in Idaho. On the night of November 1, 1950, in Emmett, Idaho, Emil met local truck driver Raymond Grogan at the Headquarters Bar.[8] The two went to Depot Park nearby, where local police found them having sex. Judge A. O. Sutton sentenced Emil and Grogan to fifteen years at the Idaho State Penitentiary in 1951. In their inmate records, both blamed alcohol for their actions, which was a common justification offered in ICAN cases. Of the known cases involving adults, thirteen of the twenty-five men incarcerated claimed drunkenness as the cause.
Grogan served a notably shorter sentence than Emil, only one year and seven months, while Emil served five years and one month of his fifteen-year sentence.[9] Depending on who the court believed had instigated sex, some inmates served longer sentences than others. Emil not only had his prior arrest in 1947, but also got in trouble at the penitentiary for sneaking food from the dining hall, for which he received one month of solitary confinement. Grogan only had one prior arrest for stealing a car and received no punishment while incarcerated.[10] In the eyes of the Board of Corrections, Emil posed a higher risk of recidivism and thus he served a longer sentence.
During his first incarceration, Emil primarily worked in the kitchen. Early in his sentence, Emil sent a letter to one of his sisters reassuring her that he was receiving good food and adjusting to prison life well. Emil wrote to the Board of Correction that, when free, he wanted to go back to working on the UPR out of Omaha. He also expressed a desire to go back home to Grand Island.[11] Emil received indeterminate parole on December 5, 1955. From his release until 1958, Emil found employment with the UPR out of Kemmerer, Wyoming; by 1959, however, he was unemployed.[12]
At some point Emil moved back to Idaho, and on January 10, 1959, he went to Charles Edward Baxter’s room in Boise, Idaho, where the two drank and had sex. While prison records do not reveal the circumstances, police arrested Emil in Middleton, Idaho, on February 2, and Judge Oliver Koelsch sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, less than half his first sentence.[13] Emil’s second arrest demonstrated that neither public nor private spaces protected queer men from law enforcement controlling their sex lives.
During Emil’s second stint at the Idaho State Penitentiary, he worked as a janitor, kitchen pot washer, and trusty (an inmate trusted to work outside of the prison). Emil’s inmate file listed him as a “habitual homosexual.” A letter from prosecuting attorney Eugene C. Smith to Saul Clark, the Idaho State Board of Correction Secretary, noted his fear that Emil would not change. His release would simply mean that he would once again become a “burden to society.”[14]
Captain Richardson discharged Emil from the penitentiary for the last time on July 9, 1962. After his release, Emil moved to Elko, Nevada, and worked for the Rancho-Grande Ranch. He died November 4, 1973, after a year of failing health.[15] While Emil never moved back to Nebraska, he is buried in his hometown of Grand Island.
During Emil’s incarceration, he crocheted an antimacassar (a piece draped along the headrest of an armchair to protect it from hair oil and pomade) for his sister Agnes.[16] Emil’s great nephew, Tim, requested the antimacassar from Agnes, had it custom framed, and donated it to the Idaho State Museum in 2022. He lovingly refers to “Uncle Emil’s little gay balls” decorating the surface.[17] Emil never comfortably came out during his lifetime, but family members Tim and Agnes ensured that his memory lived on by refusing to erase him in their stories.
Notes
[1] Because most of Emil’s story comes from a family member, I will be using his first name to tell his story. For all other inmates I will use their last names.
[2] Tim Lowry, interview by Micah Hetherington, 17 Jan. 2023.
[3] “In Society,” The Grand Island Independent, 25 May 1931, 3.
[4] Tim Lowry, interview by Micah Hetherington, 17 Jan. 2023.
[5] Tim Lowry, interview by Micah Hetherington, 17 Jan. 2023.
[6] John Howard, Men Like That: A Southern Queer History (University of Chicago Press, 2001), 35.
[7] Regina Kunzel, “Lessons in Being Gay: Queer Encounters in Gay and Lesbian Prison Activism,” Radical History Review 100 (2008): 14.
[8] Raymond Grogan inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[9] Raymond Grogan inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[10] Raymond Grogan inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[11] It is unclear if he could go back to Grand Island after his agreement to leave town in 1947. Emil Rickert inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[12] Emil Rickert inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[13] Emil Rickert inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[14] Eugene C. Smith to Saul Clark, Dec. 13, 1961, Emil Rickert inmate file, ISPIFC, AR 42, ISA.
[15] “Emil Rickert,” The Grand Island Daily Independent, 7 Nov. 1973, 10.
[16] Tim Lowry, interview by Micah Hetherington, 17 Jan. 2023.
[17] Tim Lowry, interview by Micah Hetherington, 17 Jan. 2023.