Some extra information pertaining to the historical relevance of rent parties

Rent Parties
Black domestic workers often organized “rent parties” to build community and share resources during the Harlem Renaissance. Mabel Hampton’s rich account of these parties in her oral histories with the Lesbian Herstory Archives tells us of their importance. Rent parties were a form of mutual aid in which attendees would pay a few dollars for entrance to help a member of the community pay rent. Hosts would go all out, cooking the finest delicacies of the era, booking blues musicians to play, and making sure that guests were having a good time to celebrate everyone who was helping them pay their rent.

The rent parties were especially important for lesbian domestic workers. Recalling a typical rent party, Hampton says, “Most of the women wore suits … and most of them had short hair…. There was singles and couples – the bulldykers used to come and bring their women with them.” Her description of different partygoers — “bulldykers” and “women,” for example — sheds light on the variety of gender expressions among lesbians during this time. Based on this account, rent parties provided a safe space for these women to gather and celebrate each other.

Rent parties helped to build a collective spirit among working-class lesbians in particular. In her oral history, Hampton says that “nobody was broke” and that she “never felt lonely” because of the close-knit community that existed around her. These parties were also important ways that working-class Black women (frequently domestic workers) spent their leisure time. While domestic workers faced many hardships, they were able to support each other and have fun together. The rent parties provided an outlet and distraction from the stressful life of a domestic worker during the 1920s.

More info: https://www.dwherstories.com/timeline/rent-parties