June: NYC Public Library To Launch Gay Activism History Exhibition

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the New York Public Library will host the special exhibition, 1969: The Year of Gay Liberation, for the month of June.

The exhibition features original photographs, pamphlets, police reports, newspapers, and letters. Included are materials relating to activist groups formed between 1969-1970 such as Gay Liberation Front, the Radicalesbians, Gay Activists Alliance, and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries. Other materials that can be found in the exhibition include a letter to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller by Jim Owles, President of the Gay Activists Alliance, asking to meet to discuss Gay rights. Many of the photographs featured were taken by activist Diana Davies who captures events such as a march by the Gay Liberation Front in Times Square and protests by gay NYU students for equal rights. The exhibition shows that while each activist group fought for Gay Rights differently, with some more radical than others, they all shared the unified goal of equal treatment in society.

1969: The Year of Gay Liberation will be on view from June 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009 in the Stokes Gallery (third floor) at The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, located at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan. The exhibition will also be viewable online beginning June 1st.

NYPL public relations director Jonathan Pace noted to me that the library is facing massive budget cuts at time when more people than ever rely on their services. He urges New Yorkers to visit their action page and urge their legislators to restore funding.