Currently, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York, is the only LGBT-related landmark across the country to earn a National Historic Landmark designation. In addition, four properties across the United States have earned spots on the National Register of Historic Places for their significance to LGBT history.
The National Park Service is hoping to change that with a theme study it announced in May. The LGBT-focused theme study is part of the NPS' Heritage Initiative, a program focused on commemorating minorities and women who have made significant contributions to the nation's history and culture.
"On May 30, 2014, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced a new theme study to identify places and events associated with the story of LGBT Americans for inclusion in the parks and programs of the National Park Service," said April Slayton, acting assistant director for communications for the NPS.
Goals of the LGBT Heritage Initiative and theme study are: engaging scholars, preservationists and community members to identify, research and tell the stories of LGBT associated properties; encouraging national parks, national heritage areas and other affiliated areas to interpret LGBT stories associated with them; identifying, documenting and nominating LGBT-associated sites as National Historic Landmarks; and increasing the number of listings of LGBT-associated properties in the National Register of Historic Places.
The LGBT theme study is the result of a public-private partnership with funding provided by the Gill Foundation through the National Park Foundation.
According to the NPS, the National Register of Historic Places is the nation's inventory of properties deemed to be central to its history and worthy of recognition and preservation. It includes more than 89,000 entries, incorporating more than 1.7 million individual buildings and sites representing local, state or nationally significant people, places and events.
Just more than 2,500 of these properties are national historic landmarks, designated by the secretary as representing the highest level of national significance.
Few of the properties included on either listing represent stories associated with minority groups or women. As mentioned, only five LGBT-associated locations have been included on either list to date.
According to the NPS, Stonewall received the National Historic Landmark designation in 2000 "for its association with events that outstandingly represent the struggle for gay civil rights in America."
The famous gay bar is often seen as the birthplace of the LGBT civil rights movement. Riots erupted on the night of June 28, 1969, just outside of its doors, following a series of police raids, as fed up patrons decided to fight back against the police harassment and brutality they were continually experiencing in New York City.
The four properties on the National Register of Historic Places are the Dr. Franklin E. Kameny Residence in Washington, D.C. ( listed 2011 ); the Cherry Grove Community House and Theater in Fire Island, New York ( listed 2013 ); the James Merrill House in Stonington, Connecticut ( listed 2013 ); and the Carrington House, also in Fire Island, New York ( listed 2014 ).
"We know that there are other sites, like Stonewall Inn, that have played important roles in our nation's ongoing struggle for civil rights," Jewell said in a press release announcing the LGBT theme study. "The contributions of women, minorities and members of the LGBT community have been historically underrepresented in the National Park Service, and the LGBT theme study will help ensure that we understand, commemorate and share these key chapters in our nation's complex and diverse history."
To date, the NPS has completed more than 65 theme studies.
Along with the LGBT Heritage Initiative and theme study, since 2011, the NPS also has launched the American Latino Heritage Initiative, the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Initiative and the Women's History Heritage Initiative.
These initiatives have resulted in the designation of thirty-one new national historic landmarks, according to the NPS.
"A theme study is a research document that helps identify potential new national historic landmarks and properties that may be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as well as potential new units of the National Park System," Slayton explained. "All such identified properties must be evaluated and determined to be of the appropriate level of significance.
"A theme study provides the necessary national historic context so that national significance may be evaluated for properties that are related to a specific area of American history. A theme study provides a comparative analysis of properties associated with a specific area such as women's history, the fur trade, modern architecture or Civil Rights."
Slayton said once LGBT sites have been identified the nomination process for National Historic Landmark recognition can take up to 10 years or longer.
The NPS has made available a map, which shows the existing locations that have been identified by either a researcher or community member as important to LGBTQ history. These locations still have to undergo thorough research in order to determine historical significance and eligibility for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
The majority of map locations identified so far are in the Northeastern United States, however there are several Midwest locations, including a handful of Illinois-based entries.
Locations identified in Illinois are American Medical Association, Cook County Hospital, Gold Coast Bar, Smokey's Den, Red Bull, Henry Gerber House, Hull House, Lorraine Hansberry Residence and Pearl Hart House.
The American Medical Association and the Cook County Hospital were both sites of important ACT UP protests. MAM was targeted by the organization for its "perceived indifference to the AIDS crisis," and CCH for its "failure to create an AIDS treatment ward for women."
The Gold Coast Bar, Smokey's Den and Red Bull were all significant LGBT bars. Gold Coast Bar, which was demolished, was the first gay leather bar in the country, Smokey's Den established in 1966, was a lesbian owned bar offering regular drag shows, and Red Bull was established in 1968 and also offered up drag shows.
The four residents belonged to prominent LGBTQ figures.
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright famous for her play "A Raisin in the Sun." Hansberry had relationships with both men and women during her lifetime.
Jane Addams, believed to have been a lesbian, operated Hull House, a famous settlement house in Chicago.
Pearl Hart, was a lawyer and long-time gay-rights activist, who resided in the Lake View neighborhood.
Henry Gerber led the formation of the Society for Human Rights in 1924, which is credited as the first gay rights organization in the United States. He resided in a house in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood.
Currently, the NPS is engaged with the University of Michigan to write a National Historic Landmark nomination for the Henry Gerber House.
The public is invited to submit additional places and provide information at parkplanning.nps.gov/lgbtlaunch or via email at lgbthistory@nps.gov .
The overall goal of the Heritage Initiative and theme studies is for the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmark designations to better reflect the American experience by including minorities and women.
"As we prepare to celebrate the National Park Service's Centennial in 2016, we have rededicated ourselves to sharing more diverse stories of our nation's history, particularly the struggles for civil rights," National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in a press release. "By telling these stories, we are inviting new audiences to visit their national parks and historic sites and to discover a personal connection in these special places."
