Plaque to Be Unveiled Honoring Julius', New York City's Oldest Gay Bar
The marker commemorates historic early gay rights action, the 1966 “Sip-In” at Julius’, on the 56th anniversary of event.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Apr. 18, 2022
Village Preservation and the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project will join with the owner of Julius' Bar, located at 159 West 10th Street, Broadway star John Cameron Mitchell, LGBT activist (and 1966 "Sip-In" participant) Randy Wicker, and others for the unveiling of a plaque to acknowledge the bar's significance to LGBT activism and history. The original "sip-in" took place on April 21, 1966.
On April 21, 1966, a "Sip-In" was organized by members of the Mattachine Society, one of the country's earliest gay rights organizations, to challenge the State Liquor Authority's discriminatory policy of revoking the licenses of bars that served known or suspected gay men and lesbians. The publicized event that culminated at Julius' Bar - at which they were refused service after intentionally revealing they were "homosexuals" - was one of the earliest pre-Stonewall public actions for LGBT rights as well as a big step forward in the eventual development of legitimate LGBT bars in New York City.
This is the 19th plaque marking historic sites in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo placed by Village Preservation. For more information, click here.
Julius' was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 following the site being determined eligible for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2012 based on research by Village Preservation and listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places in 2015 by the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. It is one of only ten sites in New York City listed on the National Register specifically for LGBT associations. For more, visit www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/julius.
About the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
The NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, launched in 2015 by preservation professionals, is an award-winning cultural heritage initiative and educational resource documenting and presenting historic sites connected to the LGBT community throughout New York City. Its website, including an interactive map, features 400 diverse places from the 17th century to 2000 that are important to LGBT history and illustrate the community's influence on NYC and American culture.
The Project researches and nominates LGBT sites to the National Register, advocates for the official recognition of LGBT historic sites, provides walking tours (also accessible through a free-app), presents lectures, engages the community through events, develops educational programs for New York City public school students, and disseminates its content through robust social media channels. Its goal is to make an invisible history visible while fostering pride and awareness.
About Village Preservation
Since 1980 Village Preservation (VP) has documented, celebrated, and fought to preserve the special architectural and cultural heritage of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, successfully advocating for landmark designation of over 1,500 buildings, and zoning protections for nearly 100 blocks. VP places a special emphasis on civil rights and social justice history connected to our neighborhoods; in 1999 it was co-applicant for listing Stonewall on the State and National Register of Historic Places - the first time any LGBTQ+ site had ever been so honored in the country - and in 2015 successfully helped lead the campaign for individual NYC landmark designation of the site. VP has also successfully proposed and secured landmark designation of the former NAACP headquarters, the LGBT Community Center, the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, and the studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat, among other sites.
Village Preservation offers 80 public programs annually about our neighborhoods' histories; a need-blind children's education program focused on architecture, African American history, and immigrant history; dozens of online maps and tours, including our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, with over 150,000 views; a 4,000 piece historic image archive; and a collection of over 60 oral histories with important figures in the civil rights, social justice, artistic, literary, business, and cultural history of our neighborhoods.
EVENT DETAILS:
WHAT: Unveiling of plaque to honor Julius' bar and 1966 "Sip-In" for gay rights
WHEN: Thursday, April 21st, at 6PM EST
WHERE: In front of Julius' Bar, 159 West 10th Street at Waverly Place, Greenwich Village
Web: www.nyclgbtsites.org & www.villagepreservation.org
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