History
1957–1969: The Jazz Workshop
Monroe occupies the original home of The Jazz Workshop, one of San Francisco’s defining live music rooms of the late 1950s and 60s. Opened in 1957 in North Beach, it became a West Coast stronghold for modern jazz at a time when the city was a crossroads for touring musicians, beat poets, and cultural rebels.
Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane performed here, often for extended residencies. Live recordings captured something rare: master musicians playing at the highest level with the audience only a few feet away. The sound was immersive, physical, and immediate.
The Jazz Workshop was also a flashpoint for free expression. In 1959, comedian Lenny Bruce was arrested onstage by the San Francisco Police Department after an audience member objected to his language. The arrest became a landmark moment in the city’s debate over artistic freedom.
In 2018, the City of San Francisco installed a historical marker honoring The Jazz Workshop’s impact on American music.
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1948–1957: Mona’s Candlelight
From 1948 to 1957, this address was home to Mona’s Candlelight, widely considered the first openly lesbian nightclub in the United States.
The club described itself as “bohemian,” a coded term at the time for something sexually unconventional. Its tagline, “Where Girls Can Be Boys,” reflected its identity, with tuxedo-clad female waitstaff becoming part of its signature look.
Mona’s drew artists, locals, tourists, and those seeking something beyond the ordinary. Live music and cabaret-style performances were central to the experience, setting the tone for the building’s long relationship with nightlife and performance.
In 2018, the City of San Francisco installed a historical marker honoring The Jazz Workshop’s impact on American music.
Credit: San Francisco Public Library James Hormel Archives