LA’s Trailblazing Founder of the Iconic Nightclub Jewel’s Catch One Dies at 86 | Eater LA
"Founded in 1973 by Jewel Thais-Williams — known affectionately as Mama Jewel — this Arlington Heights nightclub on Pico Boulevard near Crenshaw operated for 42 years after Thais-Williams purchased the building in 1972, which had previously housed the Diana Ballroom. She opened the space as a welcoming venue for queer Black and Latino patrons, the transgender community and gay clubgoers; in a 1995 interview with LGBTQ+ series In the Life she said Black patrons experienced hostility and discrimination at Los Angeles queer clubs and wanted to open a venue where everyone was welcome. Reflecting on the economic climate of the early 1970s, she explained her business reasoning: "People party and have a good time and drink when they can’t afford to do anything else," said Thais-Williams. As the venue launched she inherited the Diana Ballroom’s daytime crowd of retired white locals, straight Black blue-collar workers in the after-work hours, and a queer crowd late at night; the expansive space featured two separate dance floors, multiple bars, DJs, strip shows, card games and live music. During the 1970s she faced restrictive laws and harassment — California barred women from bartending unless they owned the venue, there were legal restrictions on same-sex dancing, and the Los Angeles Police Department at times intimidated or arrested patrons, sometimes entering the building brandishing guns. Lillian Faderman observed that "The LAPD was just merciless in their raids of gay bars." The club became a disco-fueled magnet that hosted or drew crowds to see recording artists like Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Sylvester, Rick James and Evelyn "Champagne" King, and it wasn’t uncommon to find legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, the Weather Girls, Bette Midler and Whitney Houston simply hanging out; Madonna even hosted a release party there for her 2000 album Music. Beyond nightlife, Thais-Williams used the venue as a resource hub — hosting Alcoholics Anonymous meetings — and expanded into activism and services: in 1989 she and her wife Rue Thais-Williams opened Rue’s House to provide healthcare and social services to women and children living with HIV and AIDS, she co-founded the Minority AIDS Project and served on the board of AIDS Project Los Angeles. She opened a short-lived Houston outlet in 1982, and after four decades announced the club’s closure following its sale in 2015; the current venue using the same name is not associated with her original operation. Her life was later captured in a 2018 documentary distributed by Ava DuVernay’s production company, Array. She is remembered as a force in Los Angeles’s queer community and is survived by her wife and partner of 40 years, Rue, and siblings Carol Williams, Lula Washington and Kenneth Williams." - Mona Holmes
