Top of page

Stonewall 50 in Newspapers

Share this post:

The Stonewall uprising was a series of six-day protests that began in the early morning of June 28, 1969, and centered around the Stonewall Inn, a gay tavern in New York City’s Greenwich Village on Christopher Street.  This particular event (also called the Stonewall rebellion or Stonewall riots), represents a turning point in the movement for LGBTQ rights. Christopher Street Liberation Day on June 28, 1970, marked the first anniversary of the Stonewall uprising with an assembly on Christopher Street and the first Gay Pride march in U.S. history, covering the 51 blocks to Central Park.

The Stonewall uprising was widely covered in the underground press or alternative newspapers such as Village Voice (New York, NY), Rat Subterranean News (New York, NY), East Village Other (New York, NY), The Berkeley Barb (Berkeley, CA), The Los Angeles Free Press (Los Angeles, CA), Quicksilver Times (Washington, DC), and Great Speckled Bird (Atlanta, GA). Underground press publications started during the radical movements of the 1960s and these papers often played an important role in the U.S. media landscape by covering stories and topics that were underreported by their mainstream counterparts.  The Library of Congress has an Underground Newspaper Collection on microfilm that includes several hundred newspaper titles that thrived in the 1960s and early 1970s, most of which are concerned with themes or subjects of particular reference to the era.

“Thousands of Homosexuals Hold a Protest Rally in Central Park,” New York Times, June 29, 1970

As we celebrate Pride Month at the Library of Congress, we invite you to visit the Library of Congress and have a look at our myriad newspaper collections to find other articles that commemorate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.  

Discover more:

  • Search and browse issues of the Washington Blade, Washington, D.C.’s principal lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper through  DigDC, a portal to selected digital collections from DC Public Library Special Collections.
  • An open-access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines, and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries is available on the Independent Voices website.
“STONEWALL INCIDENT,” East Village Other, July 9, 1969
“GAYS HIT NY COPS,” Berkeley Barb, July 4-10, 1969. Source: Independent Voices digital collection.

Comments (29)

  1. uwu trans rights

  2. LGBT rights uwu

  3. gay rights

  4. fam

  5. what if they had tik Tok

  6. why tf are some people commenting things like “trans rights uwu” like bruh it’s not an aesthetic and it’s not quirky, we’re talking about basic human rights here

  7. uwu trans rights

  8. the people commenting like “what is they had tiktok?” and “uwu” and shi its not cool. its not cute. its not an aesthetic. grow up. these people suffered. it wasn’t ‘uwu trans people” it was BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS.

  9. I wonder if the people saying to stop saying uwu trans rights are cis or het lol

  10. Im doing a project on this :D

  11. doing a project on this lol

  12. Doin’ a project on this too, the fight still going ✊

  13. I am also doing a report on this event

  14. Good primary sources to use if you are doing a national history day project on it or just doing a project on it in general.

  15. These undercover journalists really did do big things for the the gay liberation movement. It spread it to everyone. they did a really huge favor because without them normal news outlets wouldn’t cover it and we wouldn’t know about the riots in full detail.

  16. so we’re all doing projects on this lol

  17. Doing a project too!! Sad to see that this is still a fight, but we are worth every second of it! One for all, and all for one.

  18. I have a feeling that anyone that comes to this page will be working on a project about Stonewall. Also HELLO HUMANS!! :D

  19. here for NHD, tbh im disgusted at the people who are making this look like a funny aesthetic. People were beaten and arrested and this tragic event is what inspired the fight for our rights. You guys are gross

  20. Cheezit isn’t wrong. i’m doing a project on Stonewall

  21. Hey guys!!1! =^3^=
    doing a NHD project on this too!!
    rofl we all share the same brain *rawr XD*

  22. Also doing a project on this

  23. Broski some of these comments are corrosive, but I’m also doin’ a project on this so yeah, have a good one to anyone readin’ this <3

  24. I saw the riots on tv and there are tons of footage from various NYC network news. What became unique about this riot, the cops actually became the victims. The riot went on for days and bottles and Molotov cocktails were thrown at the cops. Afte the riot was over, a cop gave a tour of the place. The warrant was for health violations. There was no running water, the glasses were washed out in a bucket and the bathtub had homemade whiskey. That bathtub was not far from the only toilet in the place. Unless, all of the footage is destroyed, that interview should be available.

  25. doing a project on this! do you know any valid resources i could use??

  26. hey people doing projects!
    for extra primary resources you can go to the columbia university E-resource page
    it’s called “stonewall and beyond: gay and lesbian culture”

  27. Hey! Doing a project too! However the Columbia University E-Resource needs passwords to get into the articles. Is this right??

    • Thank you, Maddi! I’m not sure which resource you are referring to. Please submit an inquiry to us at https://ask.loc.gov/newspapers-periodicals for more help. Wishing you the best of luck on your project.

  28. yo same doing a project on it! go trans rights

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.