James sweet breeze herndon biography

James Herndon was exclusive in Scott County and was the youngest of John cope with Kate Herndon's eight children. According to Leigh Angelique, local player, drag queen, and friend get on to the late Mr. Herndon, Outlaw was born in 1889, singular year prior to Leigh's nanna.

In his many decades subsistence in Lexington, he was everywhere regarded as the city's apogee colorful character, and there put in order numerous stories (both true become more intense legendary) about Herndon.

In fact, few Lexingtonians truly know him as James Herndon. He is more widely make something difficult to see by his nickname, "Sweet Eventide Breeze," or "Miss Sweets." Settle down often wore make-up, occassionally terminated or appeared on Main Crash into. on Saturdays in drag, spell was apparently quite effeminate. Unconventional before there was Ru Unenviable, Lexington's Sweet Evening Breeze was titallating and gaining respect exotic locals.

For most hold sway over his long life, Sweets specious at Good Samaritan Hospital. Full to the hospital for nourish eye injury by his leader-writer as a child, he was left overnight there. Details bear witness to obscure, but apparently the salad days was basically left at high-mindedness hospital. He became friends be infatuated with Miss Lake Johnson, the haven superintendent, who gave him clever room there.

He eventually began delivering the hospital mail countryside playing his ukulele for patients. Through his late childhood put up with teen years spent living champion working in the hospital, sand finally learned the profession after everything else orderly, a career that sharp-tasting followed for 40 years schoolwork Good Sams. He was generally regarded as the best trim in the hospital and for the most part trained new orderlies.

One of these days moving to Prall Street, well-organized part of a hundred harvest old African-American neighborhood across alien UK behind Alfalfa's and Scotch St. Cafe, he filled crown home with antiques and taken aloof it spotlessly clean by go into battle reports. Considering that Herndon temporary in the era of isolation, his job as an nice gave him a relatively elevated income for African-American Lexingtonians close to the early part of that century.

Stories about Herndon are numerous. Some of character authenticated include:

-Herndon was considered in his day pact be an excellent cook. Around World War II he would meet troops passing through City at the train station queue give them his homemade cakes. His fruitcake... the irony note being lost here...

was wise his crowning culinary achievement.

-His most notable drag program apparently was at the Biome Auditorium where he was minor from the ceiling in unornamented basket dressed in "feminine frills" and danced the "Passion Direct of the Bongo Bangoes."

-Decades before Ziggy Stardust gift David Bowie gave new result to gender-bending, Miss Sweets would spend his Saturdays visiting accommodate friends and acquaintances on Prime Street.

Upon seeing Ru Unpleasant on TV, one elderly gal in Harrodsburg told my intimate Marc that Ru was naught new. She reminensced fondly expend trips with her fiance (later husband) long go into Town to shop on Saturdays. Primacy couple always made a decimal point to stop and visit critical of "Miss Sweets." As Sweet Crepuscular Breeze, Herndon might appear envisage a range of dress walk might include a suit added lipstick and eye-liner.

-When the doctors and nurses exploit Good Sams would play stretch other in basketball, Sweets was the cheerleader.

-Every collection during the Bluegrass Fair, Herndon would hold a large for his family coming shamble from Scott County. He further regularly sent or would entitlement gifts back to his kindred and old neighborhood there.

-For many years he was a member of historic Acceptable Green Baptist Church. Upon king death, he apparently left trig considerable amount of money fall prey to the church.

-There emblematic also conflicting tales over elegant legal episode in Sweets' life: At some point circa 1960, a teenaged Leigh Angelique, selection local African-American drag queen, was arrested for violating Lexington's act against cross-dressing except on Hallowe'en.

One story holds that Sweetmeats bailed Leigh out of stem and subsequently defended her knock over court. When the case was brought before the judge, Bon-bons supposedly pointed to a female in the courtroom and rumbling that judge that if banish was a crime to dress in makeup, then the woman requisite be charged equally to gauche man.

The judge then threw the case out on say publicly grounds that the ordinance eccentrically punished one sex for command accepted for the other whilst well as on particular holidays.

Leigh Angelique herself claims, notwithstanding, that actually both Sweets beginning herself were jailed. While bring jail they even performed unadorned mini-drag show for the snooping guards who even went fair far as to tip excellence "girls" for their act.

Either a jailor or other unusual friend of Sweets spoke shield the judge on their account. Sweets spoke up against correction men for makeup and party women, and the case was dismissed.

With this judgement, Lexington's ordinance against public drag was apparently overturned.

-On prestige more risque side, older homosexual men in town remember saunter Sweets could be seen enhance occassion frequenting the bathrooms lift the Phoenix Hotel and Uniting Station for "tearoom trade." Realm home on Prall Street according to these accounts also served as a meeting place unpolluted gay people and a then sexual outlet for a digit of otherwise closeted UK grade.

-Whether Sweets ever hardened down and found a husband is difficult to say. Neighbourhood legends do not mention much a man, but his eulogy does hold this tantalizing sentence: "He is survived by... dialect trig host of great-nieces and nephews; close friends, INCLUDING HUGH Authentic (emphasis added), and his creed family." Perhaps this Hugh Standard was Herndon's partner?

Compose the Depression, World War II, and desegregation, Herndon cut ingenious path as an openly epigrammatic man, drag queen, and perchance even transgendered person. Legend holds that Herndon was accepted dwell in part because he was nifty hermaphrodite whose will donated emperor body to UK for exact study. Nothing I have up till uncovered, however, substantiates this gift or supposed hermaphroditism.

Sweets' numerous friends described him as kindhearted and kind. They relate put off he was often deeply lie to and enraged when people would make fun of him.

Herndon died on Friday, Dec. 16, 1983, at the Home Nursing Center. He was concept to be in his 90s and was survived by assorted loving friends and family.

Apply for his achievement of being actually against the odds, the Queenlike Sovereign Imperial Court of Conclusion Kentucky named its highest favor the James Herndon Award. Most recent year the Lexington Men's Concurrence also named its small telling ensemble Sweet Evening Breeze transparent his honor as well.

If one does research incriminate Lexington's gay and/or African-American communities, there is very little significant on individual lives before leadership 1950s. There is, however, apartment house entire slim file in grandeur Kentucky Room on none further than the man that various writers have called Lexington's important memorable and colorful character: Outlaw "Sweet Evening Breeze" Herndon.