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The June-July 1969 Stonewall rebellion is widely considered the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement, but efforts to achieve LGBT equality in the United States actually date back to the 1920s when Henry Gerber — who later lived and worked on Governors Island — founded the Society of Human Rights in Chicago.

In the 1950s and ’60s, “homophile” groups such as the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis formed chapters in several cities and openly identified as “homosexuals” at demonstrations and in televised appearances, despite the threat of arrest, being fired from their jobs, or being disowned by their families in the conservative McCarthy era.

This curated collection highlights the little-known history of pre-Stonewall activism in New York as well as the 1970 raid and aftermath of the Snake Pit, which inspired even more people to become involved in the fight for LGBT equality.

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