Emma Jones Society

The Emma Jones Society celebrates and preserves the LGBTQ+ history of Pensacola through oral, written and visual storytelling. Its name honors a hidden network that began in the late 1950s, when Ray and Henry Hillyer set up a New Orleans post office box under the ordinary name "Emma Jones" so gay men in Pensacola could receive publications like ONE Magazine and quietly find one another. That network grew into Fourth of July beach gatherings from 1964 until a 1974 police crackdown, a chapter the society documents in detail.

Today the society builds a public archive of photographs, documents, publications and archival profiles. Collections include early local LGBTQ+ publications such as UpFront, Christopher Street South Quarterly and GulfBiz, image galleries from Pensacola's Memorial Day Weekend and Mardi Gras traditions, and records of the 1998 Matthew Shepard memorial events. A Bars & Nightlife section and research indexes of businesses, organizations and people support anyone tracing the city's past.

Active projects include Mapping Our Legacy, an interactive map of historic LGBTQ bars, businesses and allies; Pride In Service, documenting LGBTQ military service; an Oral History Initiative that records firsthand accounts; and gaypcola.com, the LGBTQ+ guide to Pensacola first created in the mid-1990s and since relaunched with nightlife, beaches, events and the Pink Pages directory.

Volunteers help with research and archives, oral history interviews, social media, and events and outreach, and the society welcomes publications, photos and memories that fill gaps in the record.