After running "The Gray Cottage"[2] with Ruth Norlander inChicago in 1921–1923 , Kotchever left Norlander and moved toGreenwich Village, which had become an important area for the gay and lesbian community in New York City.[3][4][5]
In 1925, Kotchever opened "Eve's Hangout" at 129MacDougal Street, a mecca forbohemian New Yorkers.[6] The only source that mentions a famous sign on the door that allegedly read "Men are admitted, but not welcome" is a 1926 article inVariety, which accused Adams of being financed by "a ring of rich women cultists" and inviting "mannish" women preying on girls. This led Adams's biographer,Jonathan Ned Katz, to claim that the sign "probably never existed".[3]
The place was a haven for lesbians and migrants, working-class people, and intellectuals. It became a popular club, especially for artists likeBerenice Abbott.[7] Kotchever organized concerts and readings and meetings where it was acceptable to talk about love between women, political matters, and liberal ideas.[8]Consequently, Kotchever became a notable figure of "The Village".[9]
Bobby Edwards, writing for theGreenwich Village Quill, described the club as a place that was "Not very healthy for she-adolescents, nor comfortable for he-men."[9] An upstairs neighbor complained to the police.[10] On June 11, 1926, the Vice Squad ofNYPD organized a raid on the bar.[11] One of the detectives, the young Margaret Leonard, discovered the bookLesbian Love,[12] that Kotchever wrote under the pseudonym Evelyn Adams. Kotchever was charged with and found guilty of obscenity and disorderly conduct. The bar did not survive the arrest of its owner and soon closed. Kotchever was imprisoned atJefferson Market before being deported from the United States to Europe,[13] but Greenwich Village did not forget her.[14][b]
Eve's Hangout is notable for LGBT history.[17] It is considered one of the first lesbian bars in the United States and is recognized as part a New York City's heritage,[1] and is recognized as historic by the National Park Service.[18] It is included on tours for Europeans on official US websites,[19] and has become a must-see.[20][21]
Playwright Barbara Kahn wrote a play, "The Spring and Fall of Eve Adams", and musical, "Unreachable Eden", aboutEve's Hangout.[22][23][14]
^Eva Kotchever was born Chawa Zloczower in Poland and it seems that her name has been spelled as "Eva Kotchever" atEllis Island in 1912 when she was 21-year-old. In fact, she was in Greenwich Village better known as Eve Adams (sometimes spelled Eve Addams), and the Eve's Hangout is therefore often said "Eve's Adams Tearoom". Otherwise, Kotchever's pen name was Evelyn Adams
^Eva Kotchever was arrested inNice by the French police andNazis in 1943, just before she was scheduled to join her family in Palestine. She was emprisonned near Paris atDrancy internment camp before to be murdered atAuschwitz'sgas chambers.[15] The city of Paris paid tribute to Kotchever by naming a school and street after her.[16]
