Museum of the CIty of New York: LGBT Programs

1995

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 1. Chauncey, George. "The National Panic over Sex Crimes in Cold War America," Inaugural Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture, Museum of the City of New York, June 1995.

The Museum's Manuscripts and Ephemera section also includes: "The Mark E. Ouderkirk Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Collection".

The Mark E. Ouderkirk (1958-1994) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Collection consists primarily of print materials, with some three-dimensional ephemera such as textiles and buttons, related to Mr. Ouderkirk’s involvement with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Inc. (GMHC). The bulk of the collection was gifted to the Museum in the early 1990’s by Mr. Ouderkirk himself, and then through a bequest in 1995 following his death. Amongst the materials included in the collection are reports published by the GMHC; publications advocating for safer sex and acting responsibly about HIV testing; fliers for events such as benefit concerns, remembrance tributes, AIDS Walk New York, and an AIDS Dance-a-thon sponsored by Madonna; advocacy materials such as stickers, posters, and postcards; and three-dimensional ephemera including buttons, T-shirts, and ribbons. The collection also includes a selection of material related to an AIDS impact study conducted by the Columbia University School of Public Health. The collection spans the mid-1980’s through mid-1990’s, and comprises approximately one archival box, plus a few oversized materials.

1996

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 2?

Brendan Fay declined the MCNY's invitation to deliver the Mark Ouderkirk Memorial lecture in a lengthy and very critical letter he sent to Jan Ramirez, January 11, 1996. Cited by Steven C. Dubin in Displays of power: controversy in the American Museum from the ???? to the ????. 2001.

1997

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 3?

1998

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 4?

1999

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 5?

2000, June 20

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 6. LESBIAN PIRATES OF THE AVANT GARDE: A CONVERSATION BETWEEN JILL JOHNSON AND EILEEN MYLES

Author, art critic and cultural commentator Jill Johnson and poet/art critic Eileen Myles - winner of the 2005 Lambda Literary Award - for an in-depth and informal discussion about their lesbian cultural experience in New York City from the pre-Stonewall era through the present; 6 p.m. Museum of the City of New York, 1120 Fifth Ave., the sixth annual Mark E. Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture. Registration required. Call (212) 534-1672, ext. 257 to register.

2001

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 7?

2001, April 21-September 10

Jean Carolomusto and Jane Rosett: "Gay Men's Health Crisis: 20 Years Fighting for People with H.I.V./AIDS", April 21-September 10, 2001

Censorship issue discussed by curators and museum director.

2002, June 27

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 8: Park, Pauline. "The Making of a Movement: The Story of the Successful Campaign for a Transgender Rights Law in New York City." The 8th Annual Mark E. Ouderkirk Lecture, The Museum of the City of New York, 27 June 2002.

Introduction It is indeed a high honor as well as a great pleasure to speak to you today. I would like to thank the hard-working staff of the Museum of the City of New York, including Lavinia Mancuso and David Spiher, who made this happen, and Steve Turtell, who first suggested my name for this event and who has since moved onto the South Street Seaport Museum. I am particularly honored to be the first openly transgendered person to deliver the Ouderkirk lecture, and I am delighted that the Ouderkirk family and the Museum have chosen this occasion to change the name of the event permanently to the Mark E. Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Programming. It is appropriate and fitting that the occasion of my speech should serve as the catalyst for the change in the name of the event to make it transgender-inclusive in name as it has become in fact, and this small but significant alteration is ironically enough an illustration [...] PUBLISHED: JUNE 27TH, 2002

2003, September

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 9. Chauncey, George. "Drag Balls as Society Balls: Phil Black's Funmakers' Ball and the Changing Rituals of Belonging in African American Society, 1940-1973," Museum of the City of New York, September 2003.

2004

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 10?

2004, January 18

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

January 18, 2:30 p.m. - Museum of the City of New York

A Film Screening in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

Co-Sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York

During his 60-year career as an activist and organizer, Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) formulated many of the strategies that propelled the American civil rights movement, attracting the attention of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, including the FBI. His open homosexuality forced him to remain in the background and marked him as a "brother outsider."

This film, directed by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer and released in 2003, combines rare archival footage, some never before broadcast in this country, and provocative interviews that illuminate the life and work of a forgotten prophet of social change. A discussion with Walter Naegle, Director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, and filmmaker Bennett Singer follows.

Free with Museum admission; reservations recommended. Please call 212-534-1672 x207. Museum of the City of New York; 1220 Fifth Avenue, between 103rd and 104th Streets. Suggested admission contributions: Adults $7; seniors, students, and children $4; families $12; members free. 212-534-1672 www.mcny.org

2005

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 11?

2006

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 12?

2007

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 13?

2007, June 4 - September 17

EXHIBIT

From Suzanne Poli's website:

HISTORIC GAY PRIDE EXHIBITION CELEBRATES GAY LIBERATION MARCH FOLLOWING THE STONEWALL REBELLION AT FOUR NYC VENUES

A View From My Window A Photographic Retrospective

The origins of the colorful, festive Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade, an iconic Spring celebration since 1970 is reflected in an historic exhibit by photographer Suzanne Poli at The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13 St. and three other NYC venues. . . .

The collection of limited edition photographs from 1970-1984 represents the first of three exhibitions celebrating the Gay Pride march and parade spanning the past 37 years following the Stonewall Rebellion in June 1969.

Entitled A View From My Window, this personal retrospective portrays Christopher Street Liberation Day, the early march and origins of the Gay and Lesbian liberation movement. . . . Simultaneously during the month of June, the photographs will be exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York, the Riverside Church and in storefront windows along Christopher Street where tens of thousands will flock in the weeks leading up to the Gay Pride Parade, Sunday June 24, 2007.

2007, August

Weena Perry: NYC Museums’ Representation of LGBT Artists and Art, August 2007

Includes analysis of LGBT content in programs and exhibits at the Museum of the City of New York.

2008

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 14?

2009

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 15?

2010, May 5-October 3

An exhibit titled "America's Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York" was on view at the Museum of the City of New York from May 5, 2010 through October 3, 2010. It contained data on the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights during the Lindsay administration.

The online version of the exhibition allows you to explore many of the objects and images that were on view at the Museum and to learn about the controversial tenure (1966–1973) and dramatic times of New York's 103rd mayor.

One section titled "FIGHTING FOR RIGHTS" says: "The gay rights movement in New York mushroomed during Lindsay’s first term, when police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a private gay club in Greenwich Village. Patrons fought back and helped spark a widespread gay movement against discrimination and for equal protection under the law." A photo of gay activist Marty Robinson speaking to a large crowd is included with the above section. It is captioned: "Photograph by Frank McDarrah. Courtesy of Fales Library, New York University. Demonstrators outside the Stonewall Inn, July 27, 1969. Protests against a police raid on the Inn mark the beginning of the gay rights movement".

A second section on "LINDSAY’S NEW YORK" includes a text that says: "New York was further transformed by the events of the 1960s and 1970s—the growing movements for civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights, the mounting opposition to the Vietnam War, and the spread of the "'counterculture.'" This section includes a photo captioned: "Courtesy of Rich Wandel. Gay activist Rich Wandel (right) with his partner, Hernan Figueroa, on Gay Pride Day in Central Park, in June 1971.

A third section titled "LEGACY" says: "Lindsay’s own vision succumbed not only to fiscal problems, but to a new politics polarized by racial, ethnic, and class resentments, and conflicts over busing, abortion, and women’s and gay rights."

A fourth section titled THREE ACTIVISTS SPEAK includes: "Representatives of the Young Lords, the Gay Activists' Alliance, and the feminist movement remember the Lindsay years." It includes an interview with RIch Wandel, former president of New York City's Gay Activists Alliance.

2010, August 3

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Program 16: Gay Rights in the 1960s and Today

In June of 1969, the Stonewall Riots, a six-day series of protests, demonstrations, and confrontations between the city’s gay community and the police, sparked a new phase in the civil rights movement. Almost all of the most critical events that redefined the movement for gay equality, including Stonewall and the birth of Gay Liberation, occurred during the Lindsay administration.

Join historian David Carter, author of Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution, as he moderates a discussion with key figures in the gay rights movements of the Lindsay era and today. Featuring Dick Leitsch, President of the New York Mattachine Society, and Rich Wandel of the Gay Activists Alliance.

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition America’s Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York. This Mark E. Ouderkirk Memorial Program (16) exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender culture and history is generously supported by The Ted Snowdon Foundation.

2011

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Lecture 17?

2012, February 11

Mark Ouderkirk Memorial Program 18: Gay New York and the Arts of the Twentieth Century

This day-long symposium (10:00 am–4:00 pm), presented in conjunction with Cecil Beaton: The New York Years, explores both the influence of gay New Yorkers in the formation of the city’s artistic life from the 1920s through the 1960s and the dense social and cultural networks that fostered and supported them in fields as diverse as opera, theater, literature, music, and photography.

Speakers include Donald Albrecht, the exhibition’s curator; George Chauncey, award-winning author of Gay New York; Wendy Moffat, author of A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E.M. Forster (Picador, 2011) and Hugo Vickers, Beaton’s official biographer.

This symposium is made possible with the generous support of William T. Georgis and Richard D. Marshall. Additional support is provided by the Museum’s Mark E. Ouderkirk Memorial Program (18) exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender culture and history.

RESERVATIONS AND PREPAYMENT REQUIRED: $25 Museum members, seniors, and students; $35 non-members. For more information please call 917-492-3395 or visit website: https://boxoffice.mcny.org/public/show.as

Response:

A reporter named Rodney, in Next Magazine, speaks with curator Donald Albrecht and reports:

With exhibitions like Hide/Seek highlighting how uniformly New York museums have avoided discussing gay artists’ sexuality, Albrecht is quick to note that MCNY has been showing and, more significantly, talking about gay art for years. “There was a man who worked for the Museum of the City of New York named [Mark E.] Ouderkirk and when he died he left an endowment to do specific programs on gay and lesbian people,” he says. “We’ve done these Ouderkirk lectures many times.” --Rodney. "SPOTLIGHT: In A Different Time". Next Magazine.