Locals now have another way to learn about Philly’s LGBT history.
Bob Skiba, archivist at William Way LGBT Community Center, recently launched the LGBT Mapping Project, an initiative to amass and promote the area’s many sites of LGBT historical significance.
Skiba said the effort grew out of the National Park Service’s 2014 LGBTQ Heritage Initiative to identify and celebrate places of LGBT import.
“I heard about this initiative and was spurred to create this by the Reminder Day marches, which happened on park land,” Skiba said, referring to the 1960s LGBT-rights demonstrations that took place in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. “I started working with a few other people here at the center — archivist John Anderies and Rich Wilson, who loaned us some materials for the database — to come up with 150 spots in Philadelphia that are important to LGBT history.”
While 150 sites have already been identified, Skiba said he’s eager to expand the list, which is where the project’s social-media presence comes in. Organizers are posting at least one story a week on a Facebook page (facebook.com/Philadelphia-LGBT-Mapping-Project), where followers are also encouraged to suggest sites for project organizers to explore.
“We want people to read and learn about what we’re doing and about all of these great places; there are a lot of sites in Philadelphia that have LGBT stories behind them that many people don’t know,” Skiba said. “And I’d love people to go to the Facebook site and add on anything they think could be of interest.”
Skiba said he hopes the project results in new Philly additions to the NPS’ Places with LGBTQ Heritage map. Currently, the NPS site (www.nps.gov/history/heritageinitiatives/LGBThistory/places.html) includes information on the site of the Reminder Day marches, Giovanni’s Room, the Drake Hotel and the Gayborhood.
The local project also aims to expand the number of LGBT-specific state historical markers in the city. Skiba said organizers have their sights set on a marker for Little Pete’s on 17th Street, which used to house Dewey’s, a diner where LGBT protesters, particularly trans folks, staged a sit-in and picket in 1965, even before Reminder Days.
To get involved in the project or suggest additions, email Skiba at [email protected].
