Revealing LGBTQ+ History on Spring Street
Village Preservation has long paid tribute to the widespread impacts players in our neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo have had on the civil rights and social … Continued
Village Preservation has long paid tribute to the widespread impacts players in our neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo have had on the civil rights and social … Continued
Welcome to February, and African American History Month! Village Preservation has long documented the stories behind the streets, buildings and people of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. Those … Continued
Greenwich Village has long been a mecca and incubator for radical social justice advocates. With Village Preservation’s interactive map of the Greenwich Village Historic District as well as our Civil … Continued
New York City is blessed with a broad range of historic and internationally recognized cultural institutions across the five boroughs. But few know how many of them have origins here … Continued
By David Herman
Throughout the 20th century, the area south of Union Square attracted painters, writers, publishers, and radical social organizations, many of whom were challenging accepted American social and cultural ideals. The … Continued
Beginning in the late 18th century, the area more or less defined by today’s Bleecker, Mercer, Thompson, Sullivan, MacDougal, and Carmine Streets started to grow as a free Black community … Continued
On January 3, 2017, we launched our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, a unique online resource that marks more than 200 sites in our neighborhoods significant to the history … Continued
Village Preservation has long made a priority of celebrating civil rights and social justice history in our neighborhoods.
Few places in America have made more significant contributions to civil rights and social justice struggles.
In 1909, the activist, scholar, educator, writer, editor W.E.B. Du Bois co-founded the NAACP.
The five story Italianate style cast-iron loft building at 112 Fourth Avenue was constructed in 1872.
In 1626, Paulo d’Angola arrived to New Amsterdam on the first ship bringing enslaved people to this region.
For nearly a quarter of a century, the International Workers Order fought relentlessly for racial equality.
The Women’s House of Detention, an eleven-story prison in the center of Greenwich Village, closed on June 13th, 1971.
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 … Continued
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, … Continued
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 … Continued
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 … Continued
The East Village is probably not the first neighborhood that comes to mind when most New Yorkers think about African American history. But this incredibly rich, multi-layered neighborhood was home … Continued
The renowned writer Alex Haley was born on August 11 in 1921. In the 1960’s, the Haley rented a writing studio in the back of the Greenwich Village building at … Continued
The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted on July 28, 1868, played an important role in setting legal precedents for equality after the Civil War. The most radically worded of the Reconstruction Amendments, it … Continued
Helen Keller’s connections to New York City and Greenwich Village are numerous but perhaps less well known, as they are largely rooted in her work not as an advocate for … Continued
On April 3rd, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered what would become both his last and one of his most powerful speeches, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In it, he … Continued
On March 30, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was certified as duly ratified, prohibiting the denial of citizens the right to vote based on “race, color, or … Continued
Black History Month gives us the opportunity to look at an important and too often overlooked or undervalued part of American, New York, and neighborhood history and highlighting. Within our … Continued
To walk by the verdant, lush garden behind the graceful Jefferson Market Library today, one can scarcely imagine that it was once the site of an eleven-story prison, the notorious … Continued
On January 3, 2017, GVSHP launched our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map. Something in the air told us there might be a hunger and need for this kind of … Continued
By Ariel Kates
Some of the most important events and most prominent figures in the labor movement bear strong connections to the Village and East Village. Without these courageous individuals, or the events … Continued
On September 27, 1948, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, more commonly known as W.E.B. Du Bois, began teaching the very first African-American history and culture class ever taught at a … Continued
By Ariel Kates
Last night, GVSHP and the Fortune Society hosted a celebration in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Fortune Society’s founding by David Rothenberg, and marking the release of GVSHP’s … Continued
By Matt