Alice Austen House, a National Register site of LGBT history

“The NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project is pleased to have amended the National Register listing of the Alice Austen House Museum / Alice Austen to reflect her importance to American photography and her 50 year relationship with Gertrude Tate. We’re working to ensure that these hidden narratives become known since LGBT history is American history.” — Andrew Dolkart, lead listing author and our co-director

This morning was marvelous as we gathered, on Staten Island, to celebrate the amended designation of the Alice Austen House Museum to include its significance as a National Register site of LGBT history — the first lesbian site in NYC to be listed on the register. Read the amendment, via the National Park Service.

Pictured: Michael Lynch, Director of the Division for Historic Preservation Services, and Kathleen LaFrank, National Register Coordinator, both of the NYS Historic Preservation Office, NY State Parks & Historic Sites; Joan E. Biren, keynote speaker; Janice Monger, Executive Director of the Alice Austen House Museum; Joshua Laird, Commissioner of National Parks of New York Harbor; and the Project’s Ken Lustbader and Amanda Davis.