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Pride Month
Pride Month is a celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and accomplishments and is also a time for activism and commemoration. The New York State Museum is celebrating LGBTQ+ history as we highlight some of our collections that tell the stories of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and share additional educational resources.
The celebration and commemoration of Pride Month in June originated in the Stonewall Uprising. When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, on the night of June 28, 1969, the LGBTQ+ community fought back—for six days. At the time, there were numerous laws that criminalized homosexuality, and raids, as well as resistance to them, were not uncommon. However, the events at the Stonewall Inn lit a spark that led to new organizing and calls for equal rights.
On June 28, 1970, the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade was held in New York City to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, and other marches took place in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Since then, Pride observances have grown to a whole month, celebrated in more and more communities across New York State, the country, and the world.
Related Programs
2023 Pride Month Statewide Events
The Office of the State Historian presents this comprehensive list of Pride Month events taking place in person and virtually at museums and historical societies across New York State!
LGBTQ+ Stories in our Galleries
Throughout its history, New Yorkers have led the charge for equality, including fighting for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals. Discover several objects currently on display throughout the NYSM that are a reflection of some of these important and unique stories.
Related Resources
Pride Center of the Capital Region
The Pride Center of the Capital Region is the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ+ community center in the country.
To commemorate the Pride Center’s 50th anniversary in 2020, the New York State Museum partnered with the Center to collect oral histories from members of the community, ultimately resulting in the creation of a panel exhibition and recorded interviews.
View the Panel Exhibition and Community Member Oral Histories here:
https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/pride/pride-center
New York Minute in History Podcast, The Persistence of Dr. Mary Walker
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was a women’s rights activist, suffragist, and medical doctor who served as a surgeon during the Civil War. Walker advocated for the reform of traditional dress for women, which in the middle of the 19th century included heavy, floor-length skirts that dragged on the ground picking up dirt and restricted women’s movements. For much of her life, Walker wore either a shorter skirt with trousers underneath (known by various names, including the Bloomer costume, the reform dress, and the Turkish trousers), or later, just a jacket and trousers—and often, her signature top hat. For dressing outside of gender norms, she was arrested multiple times and faced widespread discrimination, to which she replied, “I don’t wear men’s clothes, I wear my own clothes.”
NYSM Collection Spotlight: FAGBUG
On Tuesday, May 29, 2018, the NYSM acquired the FAGBUG from owner Erin Davies. Watch this short video to discover how Davies turned a single ugly and damaging event into a positive personal journey and public outreach project that touched the lives of many.
Art Resources
The New York State Museum’s collections include works by artists who today might identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, including photographer Berenice Abbott and member of the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Zulma Steele. Arts communities in New York, from enclaves of artists in New York City to upstate communities like the Byrdcliffe and Maverick Colonies in Woodstock, were often welcoming places for people of a variety of identities.
Berenice Abbott: Photographer
From 1935-1940, Berenice Abbott (1898–1991) worked on a photographic project documenting the unprecedented growth and changes taking place in a burgeoning New York City. The project, "Changing New York," became one of the monumental achievements in 20th-century photography.
Historic Woodstock Art Colony
Long before the famous music festival in 1969, Woodstock, New York, was home to what is considered America’s first intentionally created, year-round arts colony—founded in 1902 and still thriving over 100 years later.
Highlights from the Collection
Discover some of the LGBTQ+ stories present in the NYSM Collections and featured in the banner above.
Community Resources
Understanding LGBTQ+ Identity: A Toolkit for Educators | PBS LearningMedia
Understanding LGBTQ+ Identity: A Toolkit for Educators offers a series of digital media resources to help teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, and other educators understand and effectively address the complex and difficult issues faced by LGBTQ students.
The New York State Museum is a program of the University of the State of New York
New York State Education Department