Pioneers Converge on MacDougal Street: Dr. Robert Hogan, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, and Sarah Smith Garnet
175 MacDougal Street holds far more history than is visible upon first glance.
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Category: Social & Political Movements
Village Preservation Historic Plaques Honor Trailblazing Women in our Neighborhoods
Today we’re looking at the historic plaques that Village Preservation has placed throughout our neighborhoods commemorating some of the amazing women who have lived, worked, and changed history here. Historic plaques are a great tool to educate the public about the remarkable history of our neighborhoods, and the incredible people, events, and movements connected to sites […]
Women of the Mimeo Revolution: Diane DiPrima & Anne Waldman
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating, honoring, and advocating for the important contributions of women in our neighborhoods. And today we’re highlighting the innovative work of women poets in the mid-century mimeograph revolution. As Rona Cran writes in “Space Occupied: Women Poet-Editors and the Mimeograph Revolution in Mid-Century New York City,” the downtown […]
A Village Song: “Bazooka Joe Don’t Live There Anymore”
The singer-songwriter Gone Marshall recently celebrated a bit of vintage Greenwich Village which might be familiar to you, over on the corner of MacDougal and Houston Street. If you’re thinking fondly of some of the old-school neighborhood heroes, you might find meaning in the new song, “Bazooka Joe Don’t Live There Anymore.” Marshall, known for a […]
Levi Strauss, From Immigrant Peddler to International Icon
In the mid-19th century, Levi Strauss was responsible for bringing one of the world’s most durable clothing items to market: denim blue jeans. Levi Strauss would become a household name as his distinctly American invention — an enduring symbol of cowboy and frontier life in the 1800s, of Beat ‘cool’ in the 1950s, hippies in […]
The Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois Reverberates Throughout Our Neighborhoods
In 1909, the activist, scholar, educator, writer, editor W.E.B. Du Bois co-founded the NAACP.
Jackie Curtis: East Village Superstar, “Pioneer without a Frontier”
“I am not a boy, not a girl, I am not gay, not straight, I am not a drag queen, not a transsexual – I am just me, Jackie.” This wonderful declaration of what Jackie was not leaves so much space to explore who Jackie was — Villager, performer, superstar whose praises were sung by […]
“Artists in Revolt, Form New Society:” The 1913 Armory Show
On December 14, 1911, four artists assembled to discuss the world of new possibilities open to their field. They resolved to “[organize] a society for the purpose of exhibiting the work of progressive painters,” with the goal of highlighting “both American and foreign [artists]… favoring such work usually neglected by current shows & especially interesting […]
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Michael Stewart, and ‘Defacement’
In our new African American History curriculum for middle school students, we explore how Jean-Michel Basquiat’s art also served as a platform for advocacy, addressing some of the most pressing issues of race and discrimination of his (and our) day. Basquiat was already a successful studio artist when, on September 15th, 1983, events transpired in […]
The Birth of the NAACP, and Their Deep Roots in Greenwich Village
For over 100 years, the NAACP has been fighting to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons, and to eliminate race-based discrimination. Though their headquarters is now located in Baltimore, Maryland, the organization called our neighborhood home for decades, and held its first public meeting here as well. Founded […]
The NAACP and National Board of Review Confront “The Birth of a Nation’” Racism from 70 Fifth Avenue
On February 8th, 1915, D.W. Griffith’s acutely racist film The Birth of a Nation debuted.
“Secret Banned Rites”: Poets at Café Le Metro
Café Le Metro, now the 13th Step Sports Bar, was located at 149 Second Avenue. A four-story Greek Revival row house, it is the oldest on its block front and currently retains its original stoop, entryway and upper façade. Constructed in 1850 for original owner Joseph Kirnichon, the building was “tenementized,” or converted to house […]
The Largest Black Studies Collection in the U.S. — University Place Bookshop, #SouthOfUnionSquare
The University Place Book Shop was one of the longest-running “Book Row” shops.
Voting Rights For All? 1624-1870
Village Preservation’s curriculum on Black history for middle school students focuses on local, citywide, national, and global themes and movements from pre-European settlement through the 21st century. One of the themes we explore is how voting rights and other civil rights evolved and were won by and for African Americans in our city and elsewhere […]
Jackson Pollock’s Greenwich Village
Influential Abstract Expressionist painter Paul Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. With his father, a farmer and government surveyor, mother and four brothers, Pollock grew up in Arizona and Chico, California, before moving to Greenwich Village. He lived in several Village apartments before becoming the Jackson Pollock who is considered one of […]
Igal Roodenko: Printer and Civil Rights Trailblazer #SouthOfUnionSquare
The anti-war and civil rights activist Igal Roodenko was a leader in a number of the most significant social movements of the twentieth century.
Michael E. Levine Oral History: How the Greenwich Village Historic District, SoHo, and Stonewall Happened
Village Preservation shares our oral history collection with the public, highlighting some of the people and stories that make Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo such unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Each includes the experiences and insights of leaders or long-time participants in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life. Michael E. Levine is […]
Bethune Street: Tribute to a Remarkable Woman
We have posted a number of times about the origins of the names of various streets in our area, nearly all of which honor men. Bethune Street, barely three blocks in length, deviates from that patriarchal trend. It was named after a woman who was exceptional in her philanthropic and educational work, Joanna Graham Bethune […]
The Umbra Collective: “The Downtown Poets Stayed Downtown”
Like the New York branch of the Black Panther Party, the Umbra Poets Workshop started in an unidentified location somewhere in the East Village. Working to establish a Black poetic community counter to the mainstream in the 1960s and ’70s, the collective conducted readings, performances, and festivals, met to collaboratively workshop each others’ writings, contributed […]
#SouthofUnionSquare — The Social Reform Club at 45 University Place
In 1900, the Social Reform Club hosted a lecture by labor leader Edward King.
Butterfly McQueen’s Groundbreaking Performances in the Village and Beyond
Butterfly McQueen — it’s an unusual name, but in many ways perfect for the woman to whom it is attached, as it evokes both flight and royalty. Born in Florida, McQueen was a dancer and actor who was made famous by her role as Prissy in Gone With The Wind — followed by many similar […]
‘People in Trouble’: A Case Study of the AIDS Crisis in Historical Memory
In her manuscript for the novel People in Trouble, lesbian author and activist Sarah Schulman tells of a fictionalized AIDS activist organization called JUSTICE. By the time People in Trouble reached the shelves a couple years later, however, the real-life activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) of which Schulman became an active […]
“The Prince of Greenwich Village,” Max Eastman
Around 1907, after recovering from a chronic backache, the 24 year old Max Eastman moved to New York City.
Margaret Woodrow Wilson: First Lady, Suffragist, and Village Socialite
A remarkable number of people and places in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo played important roles in the move towards women’s suffrage. These neighborhoods were long centers of political ferment and progressive social change, and women and men here played a prominent part in removing barriers to women voting in New York State […]
African Free School #3, 120 West 3rd Street
The creation of the African Free School, which was founded on November 2, 1787, signaled a profound shift in the course of social reform, abolition, education, and racial equality in New York City and early America. Prior to the Revolutionary War, New York City had one of the largest populations of Black slaves in the […]
Revolutionaries on East Second Street: The STAR House
The East Village is home to a dynamic group of historic LGBT+ sites — overshadowed as they may be by the many such landmarks of the West Village, including Stonewall. But LGBTQ+ artists, writers, musicians, and activists have long called the East Village home, or spent significant time there. Among them are Allen Ginsberg, Emma […]
Translation and Transformation: Carl Jung, Beatrice Hinkle, and Greenwich Village Bohemia
Carl Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist whose ideas about the human unconscious had a profound effect on literature, art, and philosophy. While he was a longtime corresponder and collaborator with Sigmund Freud, Jung eventually departed from traditional psychoanalysis to explore and document his own unique vision of the human mind, spirit, and personality. Among […]
The Legacy of Italian-American Entertainment Venues in the South Village
In 2007, Village Preservation published “The Italians of the South Village” by Mary Elizabeth Brown, Ph.D. The report is exhaustive and highlights buildings, people, and dynamic histories of a long-storied community in an historic neighborhood. The report opens with a map of Italian-American Sites in the South Village, which lists 45 sites in this relatively […]
The Voice of Italian Anti-Fascism at 80 Fourth Avenue
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, the neighborhood south of Union Square was a hub for leftist and labor organizing.
400 Years of Hispanic History in Our Neighborhoods
Over 2.4 million New Yorkers, or nearly one-third of its population, identify as Hispanic or Latino, including myself. National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) is one of many occasions that allows us to reflect on the impact that Hispanic and Latino residents and revolutionaries have had on our neighborhoods for over 400 years. Juan […]
Jesús Colón Writes and Fights for Puerto Rican New Yorkers
The progressive mutual-benefit organization the International Workers Order (IWO) was located at 80 Fifth Avenue.
The Pathfinder Mural: Public Political Art in the Far West Village
“The pathfinder mural is a historic political and artistic landmark now nearing completion on a six-story wall of Pathfinder publishing house in New York’s Greenwich Village. The centerpiece of the mural is a giant printing press churning out sheets of paper and books adorned with the portraits of outstanding working class and revolutionary leaders whose […]
Make Sure Our Voices Are Heard: Census+Vote
Responding to the census and participating in the upcoming national elections are critical to ensuring our communities are represented, our voices heard, and our democracy maintained. However, doing each is a little different this time around. If you haven’t already, please fill out the 2020 Census, and make a plan for voting in November, including arranging […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 112 Fourth Avenue
The five story Italianate style cast-iron loft building at 112 Fourth Avenue was constructed in 1872.
Rose Schneiderman: Making History at the Intersection of Labor and Women’s Suffrage
A remarkable number of people and places in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo played important roles in the move towards women’s suffrage. These neighborhoods were long centers of political ferment and progressive social change, and women and men here played a prominent part in removing barriers to women voting in New York State […]
Explore Our 19th Amendment Centennial StoryMap
August 18th is the hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited discrimination in voting in the United States based upon sex. It was the culmination of generations of effort by dedicated women and men, many of whom lived, worked, wrote, organized, protested, marched, and lobbied in Greenwich Village, the East Village, […]
The Woman On The White Horse: Inez Milholland and the March for Suffrage
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted on August 18, 1920, affirming that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The adoption was the culmination of decades of work by suffragists to eliminate […]
Mabel Ping-Hua Lee and the Fight for Chinese American and Women’s Rights
On May 4, 1912, ten thousand people marched for women’s suffrage along Fifth Avenue.
Sarah Smith Garnet: Suffragist, Principal, Villager
In the late 1880s, Brooklyn-born Sarah Smith Garnet helped found the Equal Suffrage League, a Brooklyn-based club for Black women, which worked with the Niagara Movement, a predecessor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP.). She also served as superintendent of the Suffrage Department of the National Association of Colored Women. […]
Renowned Actor Ira Frederick Aldridge Gets His Start at the African Grove Theatre
Ira Frederick Aldridge is today remembered as one of the most renowned actors of the nineteenth century.
Art and Suffrage on 14th Street
Art of Our Century Gallery Celebrates 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage with a contemporary twist A Particular Group of Women at a Particular Place in Time, a solo exhibit of paintings timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment granting women suffrage in the United States, opens Thursday July 23, 2020 at Art of […]
Remembering the HIV/AIDS Crisis
We’re in the midst of battling a global pandemic, with a federal government which often seems disinterested at best in addressing the situation and unwilling to take the steps necessary to stop it. Though very different, it’s not the first time we’ve faced such a situation. In the 1980s and 90s, Greenwich Village, the East […]
The Scopes Monkey Trial and its origins in Greenwich Village, south of Union Square
On July 10, 1925, what would come to be known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial” began in Dayton, Tennessee.
“No Jim Crow in the IWO!”, the rallying cry heard from 80 Fifth Avenue for a quarter century
For nearly a quarter of a century, the International Workers Order fought relentlessly for racial equality.
Legendary LGBTQ Nightlife of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo
LGBT nightlife in New York has changed drastically throughout the years, with an exodus of sorts to Brooklyn. There have been a multitude of reasons suggested for the decline, including rising rents, growing social acceptance obviating the need for LGBT clubs, and dating culture shifting to apps, eliminating the need to meet someone in a […]
African American, Feminist, & LGBTQ Solidarity at the Women’s House of Detention
The Women’s House of Detention, an eleven-story prison in the center of Greenwich Village, closed on June 13th, 1971.
LGBT Historic Sites in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo
June is Pride Month, which makes it an especially exciting time to be in the Village. LGBT history is closely tied with our neighborhood and their culture, and throughout the course of this month we’re focusing on four areas of our neighborhood — the West Village, East Village, NoHo, and South Village — to highlight […]
Uta Hagen: Actor, Teacher, Author, and Human Rights Advocate
Uta Thyra Hagen had one of the longest and most impressive acting careers in American theater.
Village Preservation Oral History: LGBT Activist Richard Wandel
It’s Pride Month!! Today we look at Richard Wandel, someone who has been instrumental in archiving LGBT history and who shared his story with us through our Oral History Project — read or listen to it here. Richard Wandel is a former President of the Gay Activists’ Alliance (GAA) in New York, and the founding […]
In Memoriam: African American Artists of Westbeth
Westbeth is the first subsidized housing for artists in the United States, offering affordable housing and work space in New York City.
Village Pride & LGBT Establishments
June is Pride Month, a time when LGBT communities come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves. The Stonewall uprising in June 1969 is the original inspiration behind the annual June festivities. The global coronavirus pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives, including how pride festivities take place this year, as the annual NYC Pride parade has […]
The Animal Rights Movement’s Origins (and still-visible legacy) in Greenwich Village
On the 19th of April in 1860, the New York state legislature passed a bill punishing an act, or omission of an act, that caused pain to animals “unjustifiably.” It was a historic step forward in the nineteenth-century movement toward animal protection. Just a few days before the New York legislature passed the animal-welfare act […]
2020 Village Awardee: Village Apothecary, 346 Bleecker Street
In 1983, Michael Konnon decided to create a dedicated, independent community pharmacy.
2020 Village Awardee: George Cominskie
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees at our— RSVP here to participate virtually. George Cominskie is a beloved longtime West Village and Westbeth community activist, […]
Chinese American Activists Fight for Their Rights in Our Neighborhoods
Our neighborhoods have been the home of many of history’s most important civil rights and social justice leaders, as documented in Village Preservation’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Map. Three of our lesser-known map locations, however, highlight the under-recognized stories of 19th century Chinese American immigrant-rights activists. Some of these influential individuals, families, and organizations […]
The International Workers Order’s Fight to Protect All Americans, from 80 Fifth Avenue
For twenty four years, the entire existence of the organization, the International Workers Order (IWO) was headquartered at 80 Fifth Avenue (southeast corner of 14th Street), an elaborately-detailed Renaissance Revival style office building designed in 1908 by Buchman and Fox. This progressive mutual-benefit fraternal organization was a pioneering force in the U.S. labor movement, which […]
Mutual Aid-Then and Now
A collective supportive response to health disasters or other struggles is not new to our neighborhoods. “Mutual aid” as it’s often called and mutual aid societies have been a hallmark of the communities we work in for over a century, mostly responding to the needs of recently-arrived immigrant communities. Today we take a look at […]
Rita Mae Brown and Her “Rubyfruit Jungle”
Rita Mae Brown, New York University alumnus & former Greenwich Village resident, has achieved great success in the fields of LGBTQ activism and writing. Her most popular work, “Rubyfruit Jungle,” was one of the first books published that went against gay stereotypes and showcased a lesbian character in a positive manner. Today we look back […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked? 70 Fifth Avenue
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. This striking 12-story Beaux Arts style office building was constructed in 1912 by architect Charles Alonzo Rich for the noted publisher and philanthropist George A. […]
The Animal Rights Movement’s Origins (and still-visible legacy) in Greenwich Village
On the 19th of April in 1860, the New York state legislature passed a bill punishing an act, or omission of an act, that caused pain to animals “unjustifiably.” It was a historic step forward in the nineteenth-century movement toward animal protection. Just a few days before the New York legislature passed the animal-welfare act […]
Take a Virtual Walk! Visit the Homes of Greenwich Village’s Social Change Champions
Greenwich Village has long been the home of many of history’s most important social change champions. Now, using Village Preservation’s interactive map of the Greenwich Village Historic District, we can take a virtual walk through the neighborhood to visit the homes of these remarkable individuals. Get to know a nineteenth century abolitionist, an early-twentieth century […]
Dr. Rebecca Cole, African-American Female Medical Pioneer Who Changed Lives On Bleecker Street
The history of medical and public health advancements have played a key role in our neighborhoods’ stories. While the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in America is fairly well known, having launched the very first hospital run by and for women right here in our neighborhood, she had an array of women […]
Beyond the Village and Back: Harlem’s St. James Presbyterian Church
The St. James Presbyterian Church at 409 West 141st Street, on the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue, stands on the incline of a hill looking eastward over Harlem. The commanding, 1904 neo-Gothic structure boasts an ornate bell tower, visible from the nearby St. Nicholas Park and the City College of New York.
The Weathermen on West 11th Street, and Beyond
If you walk down West 11th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, you’ll notice one home with a curiously angled facade at No. 18. If you follow that curiosity, as with so many small curiosities in the Village, whole swaths of American history are revealed. It was here where in 1970 a few radical young […]
Thomas Merton: Trappist Monk and Civil Rights Activist
One afternoon in 1939 or 1940, a young Ph.D. student and aspiring writer named Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was sitting on the floor of his one-bedroom apartment at 35 Perry Street eating scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee with a couple friends who had lingered after the previous night out. As […]
Beyond the Village and Back: Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church
The Abyssinian Baptist Church at 136-142 West 138th Street is the home of the second oldest African-American congregation in Manhattan, and has long been a center of civil rights and social justice activism.
Civil Rights, the NAACP, and W.E.B. DuBois: The African American history tied to 70 Fifth Avenue
When we think of great African American historic sites in New York, we typically think of Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Lower Manhattan’s African Burial Ground, or Brooklyn’s Weeksville Houses. But one building that should perhaps join the list is 70 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village, which housed the headquarters of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights […]
The Many Illustrious Arrests of Anarchist Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was born in Kovno, Lithuania in 1869. By the time she was 23 years old, she was a divorced American citizen under arrest. For everything from being associated with anarchists to “inciting a riot” in Union Square, Emma Goldman served her time. This was just the first of many arrests for this rabble-rouser, […]
Beyond the Village and Back: Harlem’s Mother A.M.E. Zion Church
The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 140-148 West 137th Street is the sixth home of New York City’s very first black church, and the founding church of the A.M.E. Zion Conference of churches.
There’s Been A Lot of Talk About Affordable Housing in SoHo and NoHo. Here’s What They Really Mean
An abridged version of this piece appeared as an op-ed in the January 23, 2020 edition of AM-Metro NY. A recent report issued on behalf of the NYC Department of City Planning, the Manhattan Borough President, and City Councilmember Margaret Chin called for seeking opportunities to create affordable housing in SoHo and NoHo, and to […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 80 Fifth Avenue
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. 80 Fifth Avenue, an elaborately-detailed Renaissance Revival style office building constructed in 1907-1908 by the architecture firm of Buchman and Fox, has been a […]
The Fight to Recognize LGBT Civil Rights History in Our Neighborhoods
On January 16th, 2013, Village Preservation sent a letter to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) requesting that it landmark key sites of significance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history we had identified. At this time, no buildings in the city were explicitly recognized or protected by the LPC primarily for […]
Looking Back On Our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map
Village Preservation’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Map was launched on January 3, 2017. This online resource, which marks sites in our neighborhoods significant to the history of various civil rights and social justice movements, includes over 200 locations. We’re proud that the map has been viewed by over 100,000 people in its three short […]
14 historic sites of the abolitionist movement in Greenwich Village
In the years before the abolition of slavery in New York State in 1827 and the Civil War, New York was a hotbed of both pro-slavery and anti-slavery sentiment. The latter group consisted of both prominent African-American institutions and individuals (mostly associated with churches) who organized economically, politically, and socially against slavery, and whites who […]
Womens’ Empowerment and Colonial Evangelism Converge at 11 East 12th Street
When doing research on buildings in our area, you never know what you may find. We try to exhume and bring to light all the history we find — the good, the bad, and the ugly — because there are always important lessons to be learned. One such case is 11 East 12th Street, a […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: the Joseph J. Little Building on 28 East 14th Street
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. Where do the piano industry and radical workers’ rights movements intersect? The gorgeous historic cast-iron building at 28 East 14th Street is one such […]
Beyond the Village and Back: NY Foundling Hospital
The New York Foundling is one of New York City’s oldest and largest child welfare agencies. Founded in 1869 to save the lives of babies being abandoned on the streets of New York, the Foundling currently serves over 30,000 people each year in New York City, Rockland County, and Puerto Rico.
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: New York Woman Suffrage League Headquarters at 10 East 14th Street
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation but somehow aren’t. Women have not always had the right to vote in New York State. In fact, the battle to grant suffrage to women took decades, and faced much […]
Romany Marie’s, Feeding and Defining Village Bohemianism
That village, the labyrinth of streets and lanes… into which those restless individuals seeking political or social or cultural change began settling after 1910 consisted mostly of buildings grown dingy since prosperous New Yorkers had begun moving northward…Marie was one of those newcomers. — Robert Schulman from Romany Marie, Queen of Greenwich Village Born and […]
East Village Activist History on Display at Loisaida
Few places have made more significant contributions to civil rights and social justice struggles, artistic creativity, and freedom of expression than the East Village. Now more than ever, it’s important to remember and pay tribute to that history and to the lessons learned from it. That is why it is important to take note of […]
Underground Railroad Church Once Located in Greenwich Village Led Abolitionist Cause
The Shiloh Presbyterian Church is one of many African American churches once found in Greenwich Village, when nearly all the city’s leading African American churches were located in this neighborhood. Like most of those churches, it played a leading role in the abolitionist movement, and its present-day descendant church can be found in Harlem. But […]
Rooftop Farms in Our Neighborhoods: It is Officially “A Movement”
We at Village Preservation keep tabs on all different types of preservation, including environmental sustainability. So we’ve been really interested to learn about the expanding opportunities in our neighborhoods for urban agriculture and beekeeping. Urban agriculture is becoming a big thing in New York City. If you are interested, start looking up! Rooftop farms are […]
Theater Thursday: Novenas for a Lost Hospital at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater has been on quite a journey this past year, and Village Preservation has been thrilled to be a companion on the ride. Novenas for a Lost Hospital is a communal experience to remember, honor, re-imagine and celebrate St. Vincent’s Hospital. Inspired by the caretakers and patients of St. Vincent’s Hospital, and guided […]
The Attica Prison Riots and the Village
The Attica Prison Riots, which took place September 9th through 13th, 1971, rocked the entire country. The bloodiest prison disturbance in recent American history, the riot was unplanned but ignited at a time of deep unrest among the prison population. The prisoners spent the four days of the riot/uprising in negotiations for better conditions, dignity, […]
Significant Latinx History Sites in the Village
Village Preservation collaborated recently on a major project with Google Arts + Culture. We put together tours of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo that highlighted the deep and rich cultural and artistic movements in our neighborhoods, one of them being Latinx History. With Google’s innovative technology and a voice-over by actor John Leguizamo, going through the Latinx tour on the Google […]
Woodstock: Three Days of Peace, Music, and Greenwich Villagers
On a farm far from the city on August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival entered into history and helped define a generation. The “Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music” was held at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm which was actually in Bethel, New York. Woodstock marked a pivotal moment in music and countercultural […]
The Pyramid Club: New York City’s First Drag Landmark
101 Avenue A is home to the Pyramid Club which became a launching point for pioneering drag superstars like Lady Bunny and RuPaul, setting in motion the contemporary drag movement. The club gave birth to the iconic drag festival, Wigstock, which liberated drag from gritty nightclubs, bringing it into the broad daylight. The Pyramid Club […]
The Former Gay Activists Alliance Headquarters at 99 Wooster Street Has At Last Become a Landmark
On June 18, 2019, Village Preservation scored a big victory five years in the making — persuading the City to landmark two more LGBT historic sites: the LGBT Community Center at 208 W. 13th Street and the former Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) Firehouse at 99 Wooster Street. Until now, there has only been ONE site […]
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center — Finally a Landmark
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. We’ve recently had ten new buildings in our area designated landmarks, which also means ten new designation reports rich in history available to pour […]
Richard Wright in Greenwich Village
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. Richard Wright (September 4, 1908 — November 28, 1960), novelist and short-story author, is considered among the most important figures of 20th-century American fiction. […]
The long road to landmark: How NYC’s Stonewall Inn became a symbol of civil rights
Millions converge in New York City each year in late June to celebrate events which took place in and outside of a Greenwich Village bar in 1969. The Stonewall Riots are not only be memorialized here in New York City, but those events have come to take on international significance. There are celebrations and marches in countries across the globe, […]
The Stonewall National Monument
On June 27th, 2016, President Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument, the 412th National Park site, and the first U.S. National Monument chosen specifically for its LGBT history. This milestone moment brought national attention to the Village site that transformed LGBT lives forever.
The Mob and the Roots of the Stonewall Uprising
On June 24, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by New York City Police, four nights before the infamous raids that sparked the Stonewall Riots. This was not the first time the police had targeted the bar for a raid, nor would it be the last. That night, in one of a series of what […]
Stonewall Inn: State and National Register Pioneer
Six sites were recently designated landmarks by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission based on their LGBT history and association, two of which were part of a five-year campaign by Village Preservation: the LGBT Community Center and the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse. This comes four years after the first and until recently only NYC individual landmark […]
23 LGBT landmarks of the East Village and Noho
Their neighbor to the west, Greenwich Village, may be more well known as a nexus for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, but the East Village and Noho are chock full of LGBT culture as well, from the site of one the very first LGBT demonstrations to the homes of some of the greatest openly-LGBT artists and […]
17 LGBT landmarks of Greenwich Village
In late June, New York is in the throes of celebrating the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, three nights of disturbances from June 28th to June 30th 1969, which are recognized globally as the start of the modern LGBT rights movement. But Stonewall is only one of the scores of important LGBT landmarks in Greenwich Village – the homes […]
GVHD50 and Stonewall50 – LGBTQ Sites of the Greenwich Village Historic District
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. Rounding up each person, place, and moment in the Greenwich Village Historic District’s LGBTQ history would take longer than it does to line up […]
11 landmarks of immigration in Greenwich Village
Each year, immigrant history week is celebrated in late April, commemorating the day in 1907 when more immigrants came through Ellis Island than any other day in history. More than a few of those immigrants came through Greenwich Village, which has a long and storied history of welcoming newcomers from across the city, country, and […]
12 social change champions of Greenwich Village
Few places on Earth have attracted more or a broader array of activists and agitators for social change than Greenwich Village. And much of that activity took place right in the heart of the neighborhood in the Greenwich Village Historic District, where that rich history has been preserved through landmark designation for the past half-century. […]
13 places in Greenwich Village where the course of history was changed
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. One of the city’s oldest and largest landmark districts, […]