Jewel Thais-Williams - The Outwords Archive

A portrait of Jewel sitting with hands crossed, 1970s. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel smiling with friends, late 1970s. L-R: unknown, Jewel’s sister Carole, Avery (Jewel’s spiritual brother), Jewel; front: Henry. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel smiling with her friends, 1970s. L-R: Unknown, Unknown, Jewel’s spiritual brother Avery, Jewel. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Another exterior sign on the side of Jewel’s Catch One that reads, “Catch One” in neon yellow cursive font (which is currently turned off for the daytime), with “Jewel’s Catch One” in red lettering on a white background underneath it. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel smiling at her 75th birthday party (with Lee Jackson of the Black men’s wellness organization In The Meantime in the background), 2010. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel speaking to a friend, mid-1990s. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel smiling next to Hillary Clinton, late 1980s. Jewel was serving on the board of APLA Health. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel and Rue Thais-Williams smiling and interlocking hands at their wedding reception, Jewel’s Catch One in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, CA, 1989. Jewel and Rue were married at the First Unitarian Church near downtown Los Angeles, and they drove in a procession down Pico Boulevard to celebrate at Jewel’s Catch One. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel in a white Jewel’s Catch One-branded pullover with green lettering, late 1990s. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel smiling next to California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel and her friends smiling at Jewel’s Catch One in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, CA. L-R: Bobby, Jewel, Ivan (Jewel’s “spiritual son”) and unknown. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel with Denise, her spiritual daughter, and Marie Elena, who was a long-time employee at the Village Health Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Jewel shares, “People ask me how many spiritual kids I have, and I say the last count is twenty or thirty!” Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel and her wife Rue Thais-Williams waving and pointing to the crowd while riding in WeHo Pride, West Hollywood, CA. The white sign on their yellow car reads, “Jewel Thais-Williams: Andelson/Thais-Williams Business Award”. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel riding on The Lavender Effect float at Weho Pride, West Hollywood, CA, June 6-8, 2014. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel waving to the crowd while riding as Grand Marshal of Los Angeles Pride, Los Angeles, CA, 2016. The sign on the car reads, “Jewel Thais-Williams, 2016 LA! Pride Grand Marshal”. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

A portrait of Jewel smiling. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

A portrait of Jewel at the Village Health Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel smiles with her arms crossed on the cover of “The Fight: A Queer Revolution”, September 2018. The cover reads, “Jewel Thais-Williams: With Gratitude.” Photo courtesy of Jewel Thais-Williams.

Jewel Thais-Williams was born on May 9, 1939 in Gary, Indiana. The fifth of seven children, Jewel moved with her family to San Diego when she was four years old. After high school, she attended UCLA, held a wide variety of jobs from grocery store clerk to women’s prison guard, and eventually opened a clothing store with her sister.

In the 1970s, an economic downturn began to hurt Jewel’s store. Scanning the horizon for recession-proof business ventures, Jewel realized that bars generally did okay during bad times, and might even thrive. In 1973, Jewel purchased a bar that had generally shunned black patrons, and transformed it into Jewel’s Catch One.

Affectionately dubbed ‘The Catch’ by its customers, Jewel’s watering hole and party palace was the only black disco club in Los Angeles, and one of the first in America. Race, gender, or sexual preference aside, everyone was welcome to come and have a good time at The Catch. When business boomed, Jewel resisted calls to upgrade her club. Instead, she used her hard-earned profits to fund a continuous stream of community projects.

In the late 1990s, Jewel went back to school to earn a master’s degree in oriental medicine, with the goal of providing preventative health care options to the black community. In 2001, she opened the Village Health Foundation right next to The Catch, using proceeds from the business side to ensure that no one would be turned away for lack of funds. In 2015, after 42 years of late nights and thumping disco beats, Jewel sold The Catch, turning her full attention to her clinic.

Jewel served on the board of AIDS Project LA, and co-found the Minority AIDS Project. In addition to The Village Health Foundation, Jewel and her wife Rue own and operate Rue’s House, providing services to women and children living with HIV/AIDS. In 2012, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented Jewel with the Dream of Los Angeles Award for her vast, enduring contributions to the LA queer community, and the entire City of Angels.

OUTWORDS interviewed Jewel inside the rambling 1925 building that used to house The Catch, and which was then occupied by a nightclub called Union. Jewel’s interview was interrupted a few times by Union’s young owners bouncing in and out, perhaps hoping to catch a little of the former owner’s entrepreneurial magic. But there’s no magic to what Jewel accomplished. She did it with pride, integrity, hard work, and love.

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