Bev Hickok

Hickock was born in San Francisco, California, the only child of Clifton Ewing Hickok (1880–1954)^[1] and Adelaide Valentine Cutler Hickok (1887–1987). Her father, a civil engineer from Missouri, was a city official in Alameda.^[2] She attended the University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate,^[3] and earned a master's degree in library science.^[4]

Hickok taught as a young woman. She was a riveter at a Douglas Aircraft plant in Santa Monica,^[5] and a member of the United States Navy WAVES during World War II. She created the Transportation Library at the University of California, Berkeley in 1948,^[6] and was head of the collection.^[7][8] She compiled and published several specialized bibliographies and research guides for transportation engineers.^[9][10] She was president of the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Special Libraries Association.^[11][12] In 1982, she received the first Professional Achievement Award from the Transportation Division of the Special Libraries Association, in the year of her retirement from Berkeley.^[13]

Hickok was an early member of gay rights organizations in San Francisco, including the Daughters of Bilitis,^[14] Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC) and Lavender Seniors. A story by Hickok, "The Gay Party", was published in The Ladder. She wrote a book, Against the Current; Coming Out in the 40s (2003).^[15] She gave oral history interviews in 1994, to the GLBT Historical Society,^[16] and in 2003, to the Old Lesbians Oral History Project.^[4]

Hickok's first long-term partner was photographer Cecil (Cece) Davis; they were together 41 years before Davis died in 1988.^[17] Her second long-term partner was Doreen Brand; they legally married in 2008, after 18 years together.^[18] Hickok died in 2014, aged 94 years.^[15][19] Her papers are part of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives at UCLA.^[7]