Greenwich Village Folk Recording Released 58 Years Later by Smithsonian
Tagged with: blind lemon, blues, doc watson, folk, folklore center, gaither carlton, Gaslight Cafe, Greenwich Village, mississippi john hurt
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. The prison was located on this site, between Greenwich Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Christopher Street, and West 10th Street for thirty nine years, beginning in 1932. Over the course of its lifetime, countless radical, revolutionary, transgressive, and “obscene” individuals passed through its doors. Many of those imprisoned were women of color, queer women, and gender non-conforming people, who have throughout history been arrested in disproportionately high numbers. Though the Women’s House of Detention was demolished by 1974, activists and scholars continue to recall the prison’s important history. It was, all at once, a building where extreme brutality and violence occurred, a place where queerness was made visible, and a significant site of solidarity and protest across the Black Power, Feminist, and LGBTQ-rights movements.
Women’s House of Detention at the intersection of Greenwich and Sixth Avenue. At this time, the prison had been closed for two years and was slated for demolition, which was completed the following year. (August 17, 1973). Photo © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah. Our special thanks to the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah for their support of Village Preservation.
Tagged with: Afeni Shakur, Andrea Dworkin, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Black History, Black Panther Party, Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, Dorothy Day, Ethel Rosenberg, Gay Liberation Front, House of D, Joan Bird, LGBT, lgbtq, LGBTQ History, Panther 21, Stonewall, Valerie Solanas, Women's history, Women's House of Detention
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 important locations, either long gone or still standing, that join the neighborhood narrative with this diverse history.
The first gay pride march held in New York City on June 28, 1970 (photo from the NYPL)
Village Preservation also has a long list of online resources and tours that celebrate LGBT history which can be accessed from the comfort of your home.
Supreme Court LGBT Rights Decision Had Nearly 50 Year Old Roots in Greenwich Village
The June 15, 2020 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court finding that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are entitled to federal civil rights protections against employment discrimination has deep roots in Greenwich Village, extending back almost fifty years. The ruling, which has broad implications given that only 21 states (along with Washington D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico) prohibit discrimination against LGBT people, in many ways had its origins in the groundbreaking work of people and organizations in Greenwich Village in the 1970s, the years immediately following the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
Tagged with: 186 Spring Street, 80 fifth avenue, Bella Abzug, Bruce Voeller, civil rights, ed koch, LGBT, LGBT Activism, LGBT History, lgbt landmarks, Supreme Court
Uta Hagen: Actor, Teacher, Author, and Human Rights Advocate
Uta Thyra Hagen (June 12th, 1919 – January 14, 2004) had one of the longest and most impressive acting careers in American theater. Her work was expansive and dynamic, shaping a generation of emerging actors in the mid-to-late 20th century. Hagen dedicated her life not only to her acting, but to writing best-selling texts, and to teaching at the Greenwich Village-based HB Studio, founded by her husband Herbert Berghof. Hagen was also a an uncompromising human rights advocate. Though she was placed on the Hollywood blacklist for a number of years in the 1950s, she continued to believe in, and to teach, the importance of art and theater for social change.
Uta Hagen. Photo courtesy of the HB Studio.
Tagged with: broadway, GVHD50 map, HB studio, Herbert Berghof, Hollywood blacklist, Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism, Red Scare, Theater, Uta Hagen
2020 Village Awardee: Jaime Hernandez
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. This year, on June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually.
Community Affairs Officer Detective Jaime Hernandez of the 9th Precinct has spent 31 years building relationships of trust and mutual respect with the East Village’s diverse and sometimes contentious communities. At a time when society is taking a hard look at our police and criminal justice system, Jaime has built a highly regarded reputation throughout his career as someone who builds bridges, listens, and works closely and collaboratively with the communities he serves. Read the rest of this entry »
2020 Village Award Winner: Thompson Alchemists, 132 Thompson Street
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. This year, on June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually.
Jolie and Gary Alony
Thompson Alchemists is not just a regular neighborhood pharmacy. This unique family-owned and operated pharmacy does far more than fill your prescriptions. They have all kinds of essential daily and beauty products, and host live performances and jam sessions — it’s all part of their holistic approach to creating a community and soothing the soul. We are proud to announce that Thompson Alchemists is one of our 2020 Village Award winners!
Business of the Month: New York City Pharmacy, 206 1st Avenue
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends.
In recent weeks, probably more than ever, New Yorkers have come to cherish their local pharmacies. Already places of community comfort where the local pharmacist knows your name, they were friendly and sometimes lifesaving places, even in less tumultuous times. While the city is re-opening in phases, pharmacies have stayed open through this whole pandemic. And while that may be easily taken for granted given their professionalism and dedication, that does not obscure the risks they took in opening every day to serve us. An example: Ali Yasin, the founder of New York City Pharmacy, located at 206 1st Avenue between 12th and 13th Street, lost his life at the age of 67 in May from Covid. In recognition of his service and sacrifice, and all his pharmacy continues to do, New York City Pharmacy is our June Business of the Month.
Tagged with: bloom and krup, Business of the Month, east village, eastvillage, First Avenue, NYCpharmacy, pharmacy, Yasin
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 at the LGBT Center at 208 W. 13th Street on June 8, 2016. Photograph by Liza Zapol.
In Memoriam: African American Artists of Westbeth
Westbeth Image from fineartamerica.com
It was a project like no other before. The first subsidized housing for artists in the United States, offering affordable housing and work space in New York City, Westbeth is a large scale adaptive reuse of an industrial building for both artistic and residential purposes. And it celebrates 50 years of life this year.
We are proud to highlight the remarkable history of Westbeth throughout this year on its golden anniversary. Today’s post is in memoriam of all the African American artists who lived and worked at this place of great diversity and creativity. We honor and salute them for the contributions they made to our society and hope that our post will encourage you to take a further look at their work and their lives.
Benny Andrews
November 13, 1930 – November 10, 2006
Tagged with: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Amiri Baraka, Arena Stage, Benny Andrews, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Carole Byard, Carole Cole, Cordell Reagon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dudley Williams, Ella Fitzgerals, Freddie Hubbard, Freddie Waits, Freedom Singers, George Barrow, George Faison, Gilbert Moses, Hugh Hurd, John Cassavetes, Leonard Bernstein, LeRoi Jones, Lincoln Center Theater, Madeleine Yayodele Nelson, Maya Angelou, Michelle Hurd, Moses Gunn, Nasheet Waits, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Patti Bown, Sonny Rollins, Westbeth, Westbeth50
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