Stonewall Inn

From June 28 to July 3, 1969, LGBT patrons of the Stonewall Inn and members of the local community took the unusual action of fighting back during a routine police raid at the bar. The events during that six-day period are seen as a key turning point and a catalyst for explosive growth in a gay rights movement that began in the United States in 1950 with the founding of the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles. In the immediate aftermath, large numbers of groups formed around the country and thousands of people joined the movement. Stonewall became the first LGBT site in the country to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1999) and named a National Historic Landmark (2000). The site was designated a New York City Landmark in 2015, a State Historic Site in 2016, and as part of Stonewall National Monument in 2016. To navigate the map with touch gestures double-tap and hold your finger on the map, then drag the map. To activate drag with keyboard, press Alt + Enter. Once in keyboard drag state, use the arrow keys to move the marker. To complete the drag, press the Enter key. To cancel, press Escape. Matchbook cover advertising Bonnie’s Stonewall Inn, c. 1940s. Courtesy of Tom Bernardin. Rare color view of the Stonewall sign (back right) as actresses Diane Baker and Hope Lange cross Christopher Street in a screen capture from the film "The Best of Everything" (1959). Christopher Park is visible at left. Stonewall sign visible in background at right, c. 1960s. Screen capture from the documentary "Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart" by Tracy Heather Strain, via PBS. Close-up of the Stonewall Inn, c. 1965. Photo by John Barrington Bayley. Courtesy of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. The “Bowl and Board” occupies one half of the former space of the Stonewall Inn, while the other half is vacant, c. 1975. Courtesy of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. The “Bowl and Board” and “Bagel And…” occupy the former space of the Stonewall Inn, 1976. Courtesy of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. The “Szechuan Cottage” and “Bagel And…” occupy the former space of the Stonewall Inn, 1984. Courtesy of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the Interior, stands outside the Stonewall Inn to announce a new National Park Service theme study to identify historic sites associated with the LGBT community around the country, May 30, 2014. Button in support of Stonewall National Monument, created by the National Parks Conservation Association. Collection of the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project. Dedication ceremony for the General Sheridan monument and Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth flagpole, October 19, 1936. Courtesy of The New York City Parks Photo Archive. Stonewall National Monument boundary (cropped), June 2016. Source: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Article about the Stonewall uprising in the Sunday News, July 6, 1969. Stonewall Inn, September 9, 1969. Photo by Diana Davies. Courtesy of the New York Public Library. The bar operating at the time of the Stonewall uprising closed a few months later, as is evident with the "For Rent" signs in this photo from Queen's Quarterly, 1970. From the Collection of Fred Sargeant. Partially erased message written by the Mattachine Society on the window of the closed Stonewall Inn, September 9, 1969. Photo by Diana Davies. Courtesy of the New York Public Library. Plan of the Stonewall Inn, October 2, 1968. Source: NYC Department of Buildings. "Where were you during the Christopher Street riots?" flyer from the Mattachine Society, 1969. Courtesy of the Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. Tax photo showing Bonnie's Stonewall Inn (right), c. 1939. Courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives. "Stonewall Inn" sign on the side of a building (at left) in a photo taken from Seventh Avenue South and Grove Street, May 12, 1940. The trees on the right are part of Christo