Susan Kravitz from the Cherry Grove Archives Collection adds: "The Cherry Grove Archives Collection is honored to exhibit our 1950s Cherry Grove photographs and ephemera at the New-York Historical Society.
Famous gay men 1930s archive#
Hot House weekend guest (courtesy of the Cherry Grove Archive Collection) We are proud to partner with the Cherry Grove Archives Collection to display these joyful images." "At a time when they faced homophobia and persecution, the residents of Cherry Grove found a sanctuary where they could socialize and express themselves freely. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of New-York Historical. "Cherry Grove on Fire Island became a weekend and summer destination for gay men and women in the pre-Stonewall era of the 1950s and 1960s," said Dr. Photographs from the exhibition will be on display at the New-York Historical Society from 14 May - 11 October, giving a new generation of LGBTQ people the chance to step back in time to an era that is now on the cusp of leaving living memory.ĭiaper Party II (courtesy of the Cherry Grove Archive Collection) In 2013, the Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre was listed on the USA's National Register of Historic Places - one of only a few sites included to date for their role in LGBTQ history. Young Man Posing for Polaroid (courtesy of the Cherry Grove Archive Collection)
Sadly, and perhaps inevitably for the time, Cherry Grove's growing renown at an LGBTQ haven during the 1950s led to a growing pushback from the area's longstanding heterosexual residents, and police raids began to become common throughout the 1960s, with men in particular being vulnerable to arrest and subsequent exposure in local newspapers.Īs the 1969 Stonewall Riots in nearby New York City sparked a growing wave of LGBTQ politicisation and emancipation, Cherry Grove was able to preserve its status as one of the USA's most popular gay resorts. Patricia Fitzgerald and Kay Guinness on Cherry Grove Beach, 1952 (courtesy of the Cherry Grove Archive Collection)