San Francisco Bay Times Photographer Sandy Morris Honored on Her 85th Birthday

One of the Bay Area lesbian community’s most beloved members, Sandra “Sandy” Morris, was celebrated on September 7, 2025, during the week of her birthday; she turned 85 on September 3. The party took place at High Street Station in Alameda, a site that formerly presented concerts, often for the LGBTQ+ community, which Morris photographed.

A longtime photographer for the San Francisco Bay Times, Morris has been interested in photography since childhood. Her father, Frank, was an enthusiastic photographer, and his passion for the visual arts carried over to his daughter.

Morris was born in the Bronx, New York, where she, her father, mother Anna, and brother Marty all resided throughout her formative years. After graduating from William Howard Taft High School, Morris began to travel, including hitchhiking, and embracing the emerging counter culture movement.

She eventually landed in San Francisco, where in the mid and late 1960s she was at the heart of the Summer of Love and the growing community of LGBTQ+ individuals. Legendary singer Janis Joplin was one of her girlfriends at this memorable time.

Morris eventually moved to Oakland, where there was already a thriving LGBTQ+ community, including one of the highest concentrations of lesbians in the nation. Many such women, including Morris, gravitated to the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club run by Barbara “Boo” Price. Morris photographed numerous performers there, and expanded her work to other women’s events throughout the region.

She was also among the organizers of the popular annual Women’s Celebration of Chanukah. With Rachel Ginsberg, Shari Kline, Bobbe Leviten, Leslie Bonett, Pamela Spevack, Ruth Hurvitz, Cate Larsen, Emily Brooks, Leslie Hassberg, and others, she helped create a festive five-hour-plus celebration that included a candlelight ceremony, music, and an incredible lineup of women busily cooking homemade latkes with all the fixings. One of Morris’ trademarks, a nod to her Jewish roots and sense of humor, is a rubber chicken that she often includes in photos for friends.

Many of these friends and admirers came to honor Morris at the recent party in Alameda, where a commemorative cover of the San Francisco Bay Times in her honor was displayed. She has said, “A few years ago when I was about to retire, friends told me, ‘Best to keep busy, and, of course, have fun.’” She continues to do that, remaining active at 85 and an important member of the Bay Times team.