Photographs of Fire Island’s Cherry Grove Show Its History as a Gay Sanctuary | Vogue

Contents:

• BEFORE STONEWALL, CHERRY GROVE: HOW A BEACH TOWN BEME A GAY 'SAFE HAVEN'
• SAFE/HAVEN: GAY LIFE 1950S CHERRY GROVE
• "SAFE/HAVEN: GAY LIFE 1950S CHERRY GROVE"
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS CHERRY GROVE BEACH
• SUN, SAND, AND SK: FIRE ISLAND’S GAY HAVEN THE NETEEN-SEVENTI
• SWEET ESPE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF FIRE ISLAND’S CHERRY GROVE SHOW ITS HISTORY AS A GAY SANCTUARY

BEFORE STONEWALL, CHERRY GROVE: HOW A BEACH TOWN BEME A GAY 'SAFE HAVEN'

A few away, was said to be a welg muny of gay people.

SAFE/HAVEN: GAY LIFE 1950S CHERRY GROVE

Hartmann walked down, and what she saw is on display at a new exhib at the New-York Historil Society, as well as chronicled the 1993 book “Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years Ameri's First Gay and Lbian Town” by Esther Newton. Hartmann, now 90, was terviewed for the exhib, “Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove, ” which opens Friday at the New-York Historil Society, on Manhattan's Upper Wt Si.

And I’m gay. Hot Hoe, Grove Archiv CollectnCherry Grove was one of the first gay beach towns the Uned Stat, jog a handful of LGBTQ vatn spots and rorts that beme popular the pre-Stonewall era, along wh plac like Provcetown, Massachetts, and Sgatuck-Douglas, Michigan.

"SAFE/HAVEN: GAY LIFE 1950S CHERRY GROVE"

In Cherry Grove, gay rints were able to form a muny, have a voice how thgs were n and be out. Cherry Grove Archiv CollectnCherry Grove was different om the cy, where the gay bars were n by the mob, acrdg to Sargent, who scribed the urban waterg hol as “dark and seedy clubs” where “you always had to be reful that the lights would e on, ” signalg a police raid. ” Cherry Grove ntued to evolve after the 1950s, movg om a sanctuary for mostly whe and affluent gay men and women to a more clive place wh the advent of the 1960s, as the civil rights movement gaed tractn and more mercial real tate the area led to affordable hog optns for greater swaths of the muny.

"Cherry Grove Archiv CollectnPart of the missn behd “Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove” is to create an archive where there has been none. “It's gettg that material out there for people to see and to rewre our history a way that has been very blank bee we tend to thk that gay life started at Stonewall.

… People have a look at gay history before Stonewall. ” Today, Cherry Grove remas a beloved summer statn for LGBTQ beachgoers, particularly lbians, as has the adjog muny of the Fire Island P, which has tradnally tered to gay men. Photo cred: Hot Hoe, 1958Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn, Gift of Harold SeeleyIn the summer of 2021, the New-York Historil Society prented "Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove, " an timate look at one of the first gay beach towns the Uned Stat.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS CHERRY GROVE BEACH

The outdoor exhibn explored mid-20th-century gay life Fire Island's remote hamlet of Cherry Grove, loted on the barrier island south of Long Island, through some 70 enlarged photographs and addnal ephemera om the holdgs of the Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn--which works to llect and archive the muny's rich and lorful history. "Cherry Grove on Fire Island beme a weekend and summer statn for gay men and women the pre-Stonewall era of the 1950s and 1960s, " said Dr.

"At a time when they faced homophobia and persecutn, the rints of Cherry Grove found a sanctuary where they uld socialize and exprs themselv eely. "As you walk around this exhibn, we hope you will bee aware of the joyo eedom of exprsn that LGBTQ people monstrate so many of the photographs, rememberg that pre-Stonewall 1950s was a time when persecutn and prosecutn led the liv of homosexuals maland Ameri.

Yet the 1950s was a richly creative historil perd Cherry Grove when gay and straight people worked and played together, whether theatril productns, stumed cktail parti, annual balls, or a range of muny-sponsored events. Cred: Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn, Gift of Gay Nathan and Julie Paradise"Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove" was prented njunctn wh the Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn.

SUN, SAND, AND SK: FIRE ISLAND’S GAY HAVEN THE NETEEN-SEVENTI

Throughout the exhibn, visors uld hear personal, rerd acunts om members of the Cherry Grove muny about their experienc and Cherry Grove, gay men and women uld socialize out the open, whether on the beach or on the cks of Grove ho. Gay people beme the majory of the populatn durg the 1950s and joed wh lol straight fai to work muny anizatns. Visors to the Grove took pleasure the stumed parti, theatril events, and liberated atmosphere that this gay sanctuary provid.

A sense of togetherns uld be felt at mpy Cherry Grove stume parti where atten, straight and gay, showed off flamboyant outfs that would have otherwise been nsired a vlatn of New York laws prohibg risque attire and cross-drsg. Cred: Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn, Gift of Don SteepleWh more and more gay people arrivg the 1950s, long-standg lol rints attempted to restate "cent" behavr, and police raids beme mon through the 1960s.

"Safe/Haven" also highlighted the creative atmosphere appreciated by cultural figur, gay and straight, Cherry Grove. In the 1960s, followg velopments the civil rights movement, Cherry Grove beme more welg to Black and Lato gay people, reflected photographs om that time. Workg-class gay women began spendg more time the Grove the 1960s, a change om the groups of mostly affluent and fancially succsful women who were there the 1940s and 1950s.

SWEET ESPE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF FIRE ISLAND’S CHERRY GROVE SHOW ITS HISTORY AS A GAY SANCTUARY

Both lbians and gay men the Grove took re of many of their male iends who were dyg om the disease. Later on, middle-class lbians had the fancial abily to buy ho that had once belonged to the men, prervg the Grove as a gay muny.

Cred: Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn, Gift of Gay Nathan and Julie Paradise.

For more rmatn on “Gay Fire Island” and Cherry Grove please vis. Durg weekends and summers the pre-Stonewall era, gay men and women, cludg many New Yorkers, traveled to the seclud beach town of Cherry Grove on Fire Island where they found opportuni for sexual exploratn and self-exprsn—behavr that was both stigmatized and crimalized the straight world. Aun, Carson McCullers, and Patricia Highsmh, the visors to the Grove took pleasure the stumed parti, theatril events, and liberated atmosphere that this gay sanctuary view outdoors New-York Historil’s rear urtyard, this exhibn explor the gay and lbian muny that flourished durg the 1950s Cherry Grove through some 70 enlarged photographs and addnal ephemera om the unique holdgs of the Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn.