Difference between revisions of "Stonewall Riot Police Reports, June 28, 1969"

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(New page: ==Documents Reveal Name of Woman Arrestee and Three Men Arrestees== Image:SW Head Image"Sat"150dpi.jpeg __NOTOC__ To honor the 40th anniversary celebration, in June 2009, of the Ston...)
 
 
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==Documents Reveal Name of Woman Arrestee and Three Men Arrestees==
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==Newly Obtained Documents Reveal==
  
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==Name of Woman Arrestee and Names of Three Men Arrestees:==
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'''Marilyn Fowler, Vincent DePaul, Wolfgang Podolski, and Thomas Staton'''
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Reproduced in facsimile with transcriptions, these sometimes hard-to-read but historic documents provide an immediate sense of the rebellion that has come to symbolize the start of the modern, militant LGBTQ movement for civil rights and liberation.
+
Reproduced in facsimile with transcriptions, these sometimes hard-to-read but historic documents provide an immediate sense of what the police called an "Unusual Occurrence" at the Stonewall -- the rebellion that has come to symbolize the start of the modern, militant LGBTQ movement for civil rights and liberation.
  
  
 
The NYPD records include new, important, and striking details:  
 
The NYPD records include new, important, and striking details:  
 +
[[Image:RayCastro1.jpg|right|frame|Raymond Castro, about 1969]]
 +
  
 +
*Officer Charles Broughton of the 1st Division arrested Raymond Castro, Marilyn Fowler and Vincent DePaul, charging that they “with each other did shove and kick the officer.”  This is the first time that Fowler and DePaul have been named and documented as rebellion participants. Fowler’s name is extremely significant, since no other woman’s arrest has so far been documented, and numbers of witnesses attributed the intensification of the riot to the arrest and resistance of an unnamed butch lesbian. (Castro is named as a participant in David Carter’s ''Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution''. See also: [[Raymond Castro Interviewed by Jonathan Ned Katz: June 16, 2009]].)<ref>See: Image:NYPD 3.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
  
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*Officer Charles Broughton of the 1st Division arrested Raymond Castro, Marilyn Fowler and Vincent DePaul, charging they “with each other did shove and kick the officer.”  This is the first time that Fowler and DePaul have been named and documented as rebellion participants. Fowler’s name is extremely significant, since no other woman’s arrest has so far been documented, and numbers of witnesses attributed the intensification of the resistance to the arrest and resistance of an unnamed butch lesbian. (Castro is named as a participant in David Carter’s ''Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution''.)<ref>See: Image:NYPD 3.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
 
  
 +
*Police officer Charles Holmes of the 6th Precinct was treated at nearby Saint Vincent’s Hospital after being bitten on the right wrist by a Stonewall rebel. Biting has not earlier been documented as a Stonewall resistance tactic.<ref>See: Image:NYPD 8A.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
  
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*Police officer Charles Holmes of the 6th Precinct was treated at nearby Saint Vincent’s Hospital after being bitten on the right wrist by a Stonewall rioter. Biting has not earlier been documented as a Stonewall resistance tactic.<ref>Holmes’ first name, Charles, does not appear in any of the nine NYPD documents viewed by Katz, and was supplied from notes taken by David Carter in preparation for his book on the Stonewall rebellion.  See: Image:NYPD 8A.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
 
  
 +
*Officer Andrew Scheu of the 6th Precinct charged that Wolfgang Podolski had resisted arrest and had struck the “arresting officer in the left eye with a rolled up newspaper causing officer to fall to ground sustaining a fractured left wrist.” This is the first documented reference to Podolski, a waiter or writer (the report is unclear), as a rebellion participant. This is also the first reference to a rolled up newspaper as a resistance weapon.<ref>See: Image:NYPD 2.150dpi.jpeg and Image:NYPD 7.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
  
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*Officer Andrew Scheu of the 6th Precinct charged that Wolfgang Podolski had resisted arrest and had struck the “arresting officer in the left eye with a rolled up newspaper causing officer to fall to ground sustaining a fractured left wrist.” This is the first documented reference to Podolski, a waiter or writer (the report is unclear), as a rebellion participant. This is also the first reference to a rolled up newspaper as a resistance weapon.<ref>See Image:NYPD 2.150dpi.jpeg and Image:NYPD 7.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
 
  
 +
*Officer Gail Lynch, of the 5th Precinct, charged that Thomas Staton interfered with an officer making an arrest “by throwing assorted objects [and] while with others did become very loud and refused to comply.” Staton has not earlier been named and documented as a rebellion participant, and Lynch has not earlier been named as one of the women police officers at the scene. The records published by OutHistory for the first time list the full names of several other officers involved in the riot.<ref>See: Image:NYPD 6.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
  
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*Officer Gail Lynch, of the 5th Precinct, charged that Thomas Staton interfered with an officer making an arrest “by throwing assorted objects [and] while with others did become very loud and refused to comply.” Staton has not earlier been named and documented as a rebellion participant, and Lynch has not earlier been named as one of the women police officers at the scene. The newly released records for the first time provide the full names of several other officers involved in the riot. <ref>See: Image:NYPD 6.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
 
  
 +
*An unfortunate Volkswagen owner complained to officer Robert Hansen of the 6th Precinct that her car, parked near the rebellion scene, had been “stomped” on during the disturbance and sustained damage to the roof, hood, and rear.<ref>See: Image:NYPD 5.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
  
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*An unfortunate Volkswagen owner complained to officer Robert Hansen of the 6th Precinct that her car, parked near the rebellion scene, had been “stomped” on during the disturbance and sustained damage to the roof, hood, and rear.<ref>Image:NYPD 5.150dpi.jpeg</ref>
 
  
 +
*Officer Gilbert Weisman of the 6th Precinct charged that David Van Ronk, “Actor” (he was actually a well-known folksinger) “Did assault the officer about the face with an unknown object.”  The heterosexual, resistant Van Ronk was arrested, handcuffed, taken into the Stonewall, and later taken away in a patrol wagon. He eventually pleaded guilty to “harassment,” a violation, and was later sued by Weisman for assault, and paid the officer a fine. Van Ronk's arrest was reported at the time of the rebellion, and is discussed in David Carter's history.<ref>See: Image:NYPD 1.150dpi.jpeg and Image:NYPD 4.150dpi.jpeg. Information about Van Ronk from the notes of David Carter.</ref>
  
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*Officer Gilbert Weisman of the 6th Precinct charged that David Van Ronk, “Actor” (he was actually a well-known folksinger) “Did assault the officer about the face with an unknown object.”  The heterosexual, resistant Van Ronk was arrested, handcuffed, taken into the Stonewall, and later taken away in a patrol wagon. He eventually pleaded guilty to “harassment,” a violation, and was later sued by Weisman for assault, and paid the officer a fine.<ref>See Image:NYPD 1.150dpi.jpeg and Image:NYPD 4.150dpi.jpeg. Information about Van Ronk from the notes of David Carter.</ref>
 
  
 +
Seven pages of NYPD records reproduced on OutHistory.org were obtained in May 2009 by Jonathan Ned Katz, Director of the website, in consultation with historian David Carter, and two additional pages reproduced were obtained in 1988 by the late Michael Scherker, under the New York State Freedom of Information Law.<ref>In 1988, Michael Scherker, with the aid of Joan P. Gibbs, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, sued under the New York State Freedom of Information Law, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, for copies of New York City Police Department records on the Stonewall raid, and for records of surveillance of gay and lesbian political groups. In November 1988, Scherker won his case and received numbers of redacted police records, two of which are reproduced here (documents 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B) from the Scherker file in the Cornell Universitiy Library. See Scherker v. Ward, New York State Supreme Court, Index No. 19024-1988, and City of New York, Police Department Legal Bureau, F.O.I.L. Unit to Jonathan Ned Katz, May 1, 2009.</ref>
  
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Seven pages of NYPD records were obtained in May 2009 by Jonathan Ned Katz, Director of OutHistory.org, in consultation with historian David Carter, and two additional pages reproduced here were obtained in 1988 by the late Michael Scherker, under the New York State Freedom of Information Law.<ref>In 1988, Michael Scherker, with the aid of Joan P. Gibbs, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, sued under the New York State Freedom of Information Law, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, for copies of New York City Police Department records of the raid on the Stonewall, and for records of surveillance of gay and lesbian political groups. In November 1988, Scherker won his case and received numbers of redacted police records, two of which are reproduced here from the Scherker file in the Cornell Universitiy Library. See Scherker v. Ward, New York State Supreme Court, Index No. 19024-1988, and City of New York, Police Department Legal Bureau, F.O.I.L. Unit to Jonathan Ned Katz, May 1, 2009.</ref>
 
  
 +
For the first time, in the seven documents obtained by Katz, the names of those arrested are not blacked out, providing the public and historians with important new evidence about the rebellion's participants.  None of the nine NYPD reports made available on OutHistory.org have earlier been published
  
−
For the first time, in the documents obtained by Katz, the names of those arrested are not blacked out, providing the public and historians with important new evidence about the rebellion.  None of the nine NYPD reports made available on OutHistory.org have earlier been published
 
  
 +
Katz asks that anyone with knowledge of the persons arrested or charged, or any knowledge of the police officers named, contact him at: jnk123@mac.com.  Any information about arrestees Vincent DePaul, Marilyn Fowler, Wolfgang Podolski, and Thomas Staton would be "greatly appreciated," says Katz. Any information about Fowler is of “special interest,” he says.
  
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Katz asks that anyone with any knowledge of the persons arrested or charged, or any knowledge of the police officers named, contact him at: outhistory@gc.cuny.edu.
 
−
Any information about arrestees Vincent DePaul, Marilyn Fowler, Wolfgang Podolski, and Thomas Staton would be greatly appreciated.  Data on Fowler is of “special interest,” says Katz.
 
  
 +
New York Police Department reports and transcriptions listed below.
  
−
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall resistance, OutHistory.org is also republishing novelist and essayist Edmund White’s eyewitness letter about the riots, written to friends a few weeks after the rebellion, and playwright Martin Sherman’s recollection of the riots. Neither were earlier available online. See: Edmund White: Letter to Ann and Alfred Corn, July 8, 1969 and Martin Sherman: "A Hot Night in June," November 1994.
 
  
 +
==The Joseph Ambrosini Photo==
 +
[[Image:PhotoStonewall riots.jpg]]
  
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40th Anniversary Events
+
This photo of young Stonewall resistors, one of the few known pictures from the first night of the rebellion, is credited to Joseph Ambrosini in the New York ''Daily News'' on Sunday, June 29, 1969. Several years ago, historian Jonathan Ned Katz found the name Joseph Ambrosini in the New York City telephone book, called, and spoke to a relative of the deceased news photographer. Asked what happened to a lifetime's collection of negatives and prints, the relative said the photographer had dumped his whole archive in the garbage, imagining that it was worthless.
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Events commemorating the Stonewall 40th are listed on OutHistory.org at “Stonewall 40th Anniversary.” Among these, “Stonewall Was a Riot!,” a fundraiser for OutHistory.org, will be held at the Stonewall Inn (“the scene of the crime”) on Monday, June 22, 8-10 pm, and will feature numbers of performers riffing on life since 1969. Space is limited and reservations may be made by emailing outhistory@gc.cuny.edu. A donation of $20 is requested.
 
  
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OutHistory.org is also sponsoring a “Since Stonewall Local LGBT Histories Contest,” with substantial prizes for the best five entries.  The entry deadline is June 28, 2009. See: Since Stonewall Contest
 
  
 +
The story in the ''Daily News'', night owl edition, page 30, is headlined: "3 Cops Hurt As Bar Raid Riles Crowd." The caption under the picture says: "Crowd attempts to impede police arrests outside the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street."
  
−
==Stonewall Riot NYPD Reports and Transcriptions==
 
  
 +
The story reads: "Police have been keeping an eye on the Stonewall Inn at 55 Christopher St. for some time. They had been told to explore the possibility of 'local syndicate involvements.' Last week, they raided the Greenwich Village place, tabbed a homosexual handout and said they gathered evidence of illegal sale of alcohol. That raid went off without a hitch. At 2 a.m. yesterday, in a second raid, the picture was different. At least three policemen suffered minor injuries from an irate crowd, the front of the place was set afire and 13 persons were arrested. Peace was restored about 4 a.m."
  
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Click on “Image” to see document, and click again to enlarge it. Click again to enlarge it further.
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=Stonewall Riot NYPD Reports and Transcriptions=
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Documents Listed by Time of Occurrence, from Earliest to Latest
+
Documents and Transcripts Listed by Time of Occurrence, from Earliest to Latest
  
 +
=='''[[Document 1]]'''==
  
−
Document 1
 
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Modus Operandi and Pedigree Report
 
 
Against David Van Ronk by Officer Gilbert Weisman
 
Against David Van Ronk by Officer Gilbert Weisman
−
Date and Time of Arrest:  2 am, 6/28/69
 
−
Image:NYPD 1.150dpi.jpeg
 
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Partial Transcription of Document 1: Transcript NYPD 1
 
  
 +
Date and Time of Arrest: 2 am, 6/28/69
 +
 +
=='''[[Document 2]]'''==
  
−
Document 2
 
−
Complaint Report,
 
 
Against David Van Ronk by Officer Gilbert Weisman
 
Against David Van Ronk by Officer Gilbert Weisman
 +
 
Date and Time of Arrest: 2 am, 6/28/69
 
Date and Time of Arrest: 2 am, 6/28/69
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Image:NYPD 4.150dpi.jpeg
 
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Partial Transcription of Document 2: Transcript NYPD 4
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 3]]'''==
  
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Document 3
 
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Complaint Report
 
 
Against People (Raymond Castro, Marilyn Fowler, Vincent Depaul) by Officer Charles Broughton
 
Against People (Raymond Castro, Marilyn Fowler, Vincent Depaul) by Officer Charles Broughton
 +
 
Time of Occurrence: 2 am, 6/28/69
 
Time of Occurrence: 2 am, 6/28/69
−
Image:NYPD 3.150dpi.jpeg
 
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Partial Transcription of Document 3: Transcript NYPD 3
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 4]]'''==
  
−
Document 4
 
−
Modus Operandi and Pedigree Report
 
 
Against Wolfgang Podolski by Officer Andrew Scheu
 
Against Wolfgang Podolski by Officer Andrew Scheu
 +
 
Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69
 
Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69
−
Image:NYPD 2.150dpi.jpeg
 
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Partial Transcription of Document 4: Transcript NYPD 2
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 5]]'''==
  
−
Document 5
 
−
Complaint Report
 
 
Against People (Wolfgang Podolski) by Officer Andrew Scheu
 
Against People (Wolfgang Podolski) by Officer Andrew Scheu
 +
 
Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69
 
Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69
−
Image:NYPD 7.150dpi.jpeg
 
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Partial Transcription of Document 5: Transcript NYPD 5
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 6]]'''==
 +
 +
Complainant (blacked out name of Volkswagen owner) taken by Officer Robert Hansen
  
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Document 6
 
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Complaint Report
 
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Complainant [blacked out name] re Volkswagen taken by Officer Robert Hansen
 
 
Time of Occurrence: approximately 3 am, 6/28/69
 
Time of Occurrence: approximately 3 am, 6/28/69
−
Image:NYPD 5.150dpi.jpeg
 
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Partial Transcription of Document 6: Transcript NYPD 6
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 7]]'''==
  
−
Document 7
 
−
Complaint Report
 
 
Against People (Thomas Staton) by Officer Gail Lynch
 
Against People (Thomas Staton) by Officer Gail Lynch
 +
 
Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69
 
Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69
−
Image:NYPD 6.150dpi.jpeg
 
−
Partial Transcription of Document 7: Transcript NYPD 7
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 8A]]'''==
  
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Document 8 A
 
 
“Saturday, June 28, 1969  5 am,  Unusual Occ[urrence] [3 crossed out] 4 Ptl [Patrolmen] injured”
 
“Saturday, June 28, 1969  5 am,  Unusual Occ[urrence] [3 crossed out] 4 Ptl [Patrolmen] injured”
−
Image:NYPD 8A.150dpi.jpeg
 
−
Partial Transcription of Document 8A: Transcript NYPD 8A
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 8B]]'''==
  
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Document 8B (bottom of Document 8A)
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(bottom of Document 8A)
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Image:NYPD 8B.150dpi.jpeg
 
−
Partial Transcription of Document 8B: Transcript NYPD 8B
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 9A]]'''==
  
−
Document 9A
 
 
“Saturday, June 28, 1969  [time unclear] am, Unusual Occ[urrence] (cont), [page number] 175”
 
“Saturday, June 28, 1969  [time unclear] am, Unusual Occ[urrence] (cont), [page number] 175”
−
Image:NYPD 9A.150dpi.jpeg
 
−
Partial Transcription of Document 9A: Transcript NYPD 9A
 
  
 +
=='''[[Document 9B]]'''==
 +
 +
(bottom of Document 9A)
 +
 +
=='''[[People Named in Stonewall Police Documents]]'''==
 +
 +
OutHistory would like information about any of those mentioned, listed in alphabetical order:
  
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Document 9B (bottom of Document 9A)
 
−
Image:NYPD 9B.150dpi.jpeg
 
−
Partial Transcription of Document 9B: Transcript NYPD 9B
 
  
 +
=='''40th Anniversary Events'''==
 +
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall resistance, OutHistory.org is also republishing novelist and essayist Edmund White’s eyewitness letter about the riots, written to friends a few weeks after the rebellion, and playwright Martin Sherman’s recollection of the riots. Neither were earlier available online. See:
  
−
==People Named in the Above Documents==
+
==[[Edmund White: Letter to Ann and Alfred Corn, July 8, 1969]]==
  
−
OutHistory would like information about any of the following, listed in alphabetical order:
+
==[[Martin Sherman: "A Hot Night in June," November 1994]]==
  
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===Arrestees===
+
==[[Since Stonewall Contest]]==
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Castro, Raymond
+
OutHistory.org is also sponsoring a '''Since Stonewall Local LGBT Histories Contest''', with substantial prizes for the best five entries.
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DePaul, Vincent
 
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Fowler, Marilyn
 
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Podolski, Wolfgang
 
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Staton, Thomas
 
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Van Ronk, David
 
  
 +
==New York Times and Associated Press Cover OutHistory.org Revelations==
 +
The importance of the documents published by OutHistory were discussed on the ''New York Times'' website on June 22, 2009, at: [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/police-records-document-the-stonewall-uprising/ "Police Records Document the Stonewall Uprising"], and OutHistory's documents were reproduced.
  
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===Police Officers===
 
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Atlas [or Athos?], Sergeant, 10th Precinct
 
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Bellin, Patrolman, 4th Precinct
 
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Bradley, Patrolman, 4th Precinct
 
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Broughton, Charles, 1t Division
 
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Burns (?), Patrolman, 4th Precinct
 
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Carr, Patrolman, 10th Precinct
 
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Colongelo [?], Patrolman, 10th Precinct
 
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DeMatte, Patrolman, 5th Precinct
 
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Graniew, (?), Patrolman, 5th Precinct
 
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Hansen, Robert, 6th Precinct, Shield No.
 
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Holmes, Charles, 6th Precinct, Shield No. 4026
 
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Johnson, Sergeant, 5th Precinct
 
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Lynch, Gail, 5th Precinct, Shield No. <?>
 
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Mallon, Patrolman, 5th Precinct
 
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Micucci, Patrolman, 10th Precinct
 
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Quinn, Patrolman, 10th Precinct
 
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Rosenblum [?], Captain, 6th Precinct [?]
 
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Rossi [?], Patrolman [no division or precinct
 
−
Scheu, Andrew, 6th Precinct, Shield No. ???
 
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Sternisky, Patrolman, 5th Precinct
 
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Tembo, Patrolman, 5th Precinct
 
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Sgt Thraick (?), Sergeant, 4th Precinct
 
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Twily [sp?], [first name?], 6th Precinct [?]
 
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Van Arsdale, C.Y. (?) 1st Division
 
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Weisman, Gilbert, 6th Precinct, Shield No. 18228
 
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Zalusky, Patrolman, 4th Precinct
 
  
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===Other Officials===
+
The Associated Press also ran a story on June 27, 2009, about Raymond Castro, citing OutHistory's record of his arrest and that of Marilyn Fowler. See: [http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Marcus_Franklin:_%22Stonewall_rebel_reflects%2C%22_June_27%2C_2009 "Stonewall Rebel Reflects 40 Years After NYC Riots"].
−
Pine, Seymour, Deputy Inspector, 1st Division
 
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Smyth, Deputy Inspector,  1st Division
 
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Tatem, Adam, Inspector, Div of Licensing[?], Department of Consumer
 
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Affairs
 
  
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===Doctors at Saint Vincent’s Hospital
 
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Campanella, Dr.
 
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Donnelly, Dr.
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
{{Protected}}

Latest revision as of 08:52, 1 April 2013

Newly Obtained Documents Reveal

Name of Woman Arrestee and Names of Three Men Arrestees:

Marilyn Fowler, Vincent DePaul, Wolfgang Podolski, and Thomas Staton


SW Head Image"Sat"150dpi.jpeg


To honor the 40th anniversary celebration, in June 2009, of the Stonewall Riots, OutHistory.org is, for the first time, publishing nine pages of New York City Police Department records created early on the morning of the rebellion’s start, June 28, 1969.


Reproduced in facsimile with transcriptions, these sometimes hard-to-read but historic documents provide an immediate sense of what the police called an "Unusual Occurrence" at the Stonewall -- the rebellion that has come to symbolize the start of the modern, militant LGBTQ movement for civil rights and liberation.


The NYPD records include new, important, and striking details:

Raymond Castro, about 1969


  • Officer Charles Broughton of the 1st Division arrested Raymond Castro, Marilyn Fowler and Vincent DePaul, charging that they “with each other did shove and kick the officer.” This is the first time that Fowler and DePaul have been named and documented as rebellion participants. Fowler’s name is extremely significant, since no other woman’s arrest has so far been documented, and numbers of witnesses attributed the intensification of the riot to the arrest and resistance of an unnamed butch lesbian. (Castro is named as a participant in David Carter’s Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. See also: Raymond Castro Interviewed by Jonathan Ned Katz: June 16, 2009.)[1]


  • Police officer Charles Holmes of the 6th Precinct was treated at nearby Saint Vincent’s Hospital after being bitten on the right wrist by a Stonewall rebel. Biting has not earlier been documented as a Stonewall resistance tactic.[2]


  • Officer Andrew Scheu of the 6th Precinct charged that Wolfgang Podolski had resisted arrest and had struck the “arresting officer in the left eye with a rolled up newspaper causing officer to fall to ground sustaining a fractured left wrist.” This is the first documented reference to Podolski, a waiter or writer (the report is unclear), as a rebellion participant. This is also the first reference to a rolled up newspaper as a resistance weapon.[3]


  • Officer Gail Lynch, of the 5th Precinct, charged that Thomas Staton interfered with an officer making an arrest “by throwing assorted objects [and] while with others did become very loud and refused to comply.” Staton has not earlier been named and documented as a rebellion participant, and Lynch has not earlier been named as one of the women police officers at the scene. The records published by OutHistory for the first time list the full names of several other officers involved in the riot.[4]


  • An unfortunate Volkswagen owner complained to officer Robert Hansen of the 6th Precinct that her car, parked near the rebellion scene, had been “stomped” on during the disturbance and sustained damage to the roof, hood, and rear.[5]


  • Officer Gilbert Weisman of the 6th Precinct charged that David Van Ronk, “Actor” (he was actually a well-known folksinger) “Did assault the officer about the face with an unknown object.” The heterosexual, resistant Van Ronk was arrested, handcuffed, taken into the Stonewall, and later taken away in a patrol wagon. He eventually pleaded guilty to “harassment,” a violation, and was later sued by Weisman for assault, and paid the officer a fine. Van Ronk's arrest was reported at the time of the rebellion, and is discussed in David Carter's history.[6]


Seven pages of NYPD records reproduced on OutHistory.org were obtained in May 2009 by Jonathan Ned Katz, Director of the website, in consultation with historian David Carter, and two additional pages reproduced were obtained in 1988 by the late Michael Scherker, under the New York State Freedom of Information Law.[7]


For the first time, in the seven documents obtained by Katz, the names of those arrested are not blacked out, providing the public and historians with important new evidence about the rebellion's participants. None of the nine NYPD reports made available on OutHistory.org have earlier been published


Katz asks that anyone with knowledge of the persons arrested or charged, or any knowledge of the police officers named, contact him at: jnk123@mac.com. Any information about arrestees Vincent DePaul, Marilyn Fowler, Wolfgang Podolski, and Thomas Staton would be "greatly appreciated," says Katz. Any information about Fowler is of “special interest,” he says.


New York Police Department reports and transcriptions listed below.


The Joseph Ambrosini Photo

PhotoStonewall riots.jpg

This photo of young Stonewall resistors, one of the few known pictures from the first night of the rebellion, is credited to Joseph Ambrosini in the New York Daily News on Sunday, June 29, 1969. Several years ago, historian Jonathan Ned Katz found the name Joseph Ambrosini in the New York City telephone book, called, and spoke to a relative of the deceased news photographer. Asked what happened to a lifetime's collection of negatives and prints, the relative said the photographer had dumped his whole archive in the garbage, imagining that it was worthless.


The story in the Daily News, night owl edition, page 30, is headlined: "3 Cops Hurt As Bar Raid Riles Crowd." The caption under the picture says: "Crowd attempts to impede police arrests outside the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street."


The story reads: "Police have been keeping an eye on the Stonewall Inn at 55 Christopher St. for some time. They had been told to explore the possibility of 'local syndicate involvements.' Last week, they raided the Greenwich Village place, tabbed a homosexual handout and said they gathered evidence of illegal sale of alcohol. That raid went off without a hitch. At 2 a.m. yesterday, in a second raid, the picture was different. At least three policemen suffered minor injuries from an irate crowd, the front of the place was set afire and 13 persons were arrested. Peace was restored about 4 a.m."

Stonewall Riot NYPD Reports and Transcriptions

Documents and Transcripts Listed by Time of Occurrence, from Earliest to Latest

Document 1

Against David Van Ronk by Officer Gilbert Weisman

Date and Time of Arrest: 2 am, 6/28/69

Document 2

Against David Van Ronk by Officer Gilbert Weisman

Date and Time of Arrest: 2 am, 6/28/69

Document 3

Against People (Raymond Castro, Marilyn Fowler, Vincent Depaul) by Officer Charles Broughton

Time of Occurrence: 2 am, 6/28/69

Document 4

Against Wolfgang Podolski by Officer Andrew Scheu

Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69

Document 5

Against People (Wolfgang Podolski) by Officer Andrew Scheu

Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69

Document 6

Complainant (blacked out name of Volkswagen owner) taken by Officer Robert Hansen

Time of Occurrence: approximately 3 am, 6/28/69

Document 7

Against People (Thomas Staton) by Officer Gail Lynch

Time of Occurrence: 3 am, 6/28/69

Document 8A

“Saturday, June 28, 1969 5 am, Unusual Occ[urrence] [3 crossed out] 4 Ptl [Patrolmen] injured”

Document 8B

(bottom of Document 8A)

Document 9A

“Saturday, June 28, 1969 [time unclear] am, Unusual Occ[urrence] (cont), [page number] 175”

Document 9B

(bottom of Document 9A)

People Named in Stonewall Police Documents

OutHistory would like information about any of those mentioned, listed in alphabetical order:


40th Anniversary Events

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall resistance, OutHistory.org is also republishing novelist and essayist Edmund White’s eyewitness letter about the riots, written to friends a few weeks after the rebellion, and playwright Martin Sherman’s recollection of the riots. Neither were earlier available online. See:

Edmund White: Letter to Ann and Alfred Corn, July 8, 1969

Martin Sherman: "A Hot Night in June," November 1994

Since Stonewall Contest

OutHistory.org is also sponsoring a Since Stonewall Local LGBT Histories Contest, with substantial prizes for the best five entries.

New York Times and Associated Press Cover OutHistory.org Revelations

The importance of the documents published by OutHistory were discussed on the New York Times website on June 22, 2009, at: "Police Records Document the Stonewall Uprising", and OutHistory's documents were reproduced.


The Associated Press also ran a story on June 27, 2009, about Raymond Castro, citing OutHistory's record of his arrest and that of Marilyn Fowler. See: "Stonewall Rebel Reflects 40 Years After NYC Riots".


References

  1. ↑ See: Image:NYPD 3.150dpi.jpeg
  2. ↑ See: Image:NYPD 8A.150dpi.jpeg
  3. ↑ See: Image:NYPD 2.150dpi.jpeg and Image:NYPD 7.150dpi.jpeg
  4. ↑ See: Image:NYPD 6.150dpi.jpeg
  5. ↑ See: Image:NYPD 5.150dpi.jpeg
  6. ↑ See: Image:NYPD 1.150dpi.jpeg and Image:NYPD 4.150dpi.jpeg. Information about Van Ronk from the notes of David Carter.
  7. ↑ In 1988, Michael Scherker, with the aid of Joan P. Gibbs, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, sued under the New York State Freedom of Information Law, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, for copies of New York City Police Department records on the Stonewall raid, and for records of surveillance of gay and lesbian political groups. In November 1988, Scherker won his case and received numbers of redacted police records, two of which are reproduced here (documents 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B) from the Scherker file in the Cornell Universitiy Library. See Scherker v. Ward, New York State Supreme Court, Index No. 19024-1988, and City of New York, Police Department Legal Bureau, F.O.I.L. Unit to Jonathan Ned Katz, May 1, 2009.
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