“What the researchers have shared so far on their site — OurOneStory.com— about the unknown grooms is that this collection of photographs was first printed circa 1957 at a neighborhood drugstore in Philadelphia. They capture what appears to be a same-sex commitment ceremony, including the exchange of rings in front of witnesses, an officiant leading the ceremony, the first kiss, dancing, opening of gifts, cutting the cake and more. The owner of the drugstore deemed these particular wedding photos to be inappropriate. He refused to return the photos to the grooms.
Sixty years later, the photos were found. The originals are now kept safely between the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries in Los Angeles and at the Wilcox Archives in Philadelphia.”