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This Pride Month, the streets surrounding the Stonewall Inn won’t just host celebrations. They’ll become a living museum.
From June 20 through July 2, storefront windows across Greenwich Village will transform into a sprawling public exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history. Called Stonewall National Monument 10, the self-guided walking exhibition will spread across 27 neighborhood businesses, using archival photography, historical posters and ephemera to trace the LGBTQ+ rights movement before, during and after the 1969 Stonewall uprising.
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Presented by the West Village Business Improvement District and Christopher Park Alliance, the exhibition arrives at an especially charged moment for the monument itself. Earlier this year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added Stonewall National Monument to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, citing federal policy changes that preservationists and LGBTQ+ advocates say threaten the site’s historically accurate interpretation.
The controversy intensified after transgender references were removed from portions of the National Park Service’s Stonewall website last year following Executive Order 14168, prompting criticism that the changes erased key figures from the story of Stonewall and the broader LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The exhibition revives a series of large-format historical posters originally created in 2014 by Village resident Susanna Aaron with text by historian David Carter, whose book Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution remains one of the definitive accounts of the uprising. The posters debuted during the 45th anniversary of Stonewall and have largely remained unseen since.
“I recently considered donating the posters to the National Park Service,” Aaron said. “But when I was told they would need to be revised to comply with current federal guidance, I decided instead that they should be presented publicly and intact—exactly as they were intended.”
“Our mission is to showcase the Village’s history and character,” said Zach Owens, executive director of the West Village BID. “People come here to dine, shop and experience the neighborhood—but they’re also walking streets that changed history.”
Visitors can begin the walking tour at The Monster Bar on Grove Street, with free maps available at participating businesses throughout the neighborhood. The exhibition footprint stretches around Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn and the broader Stonewall National Monument district.
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