This curated scavenger hunt celebrates Pride and tests your LGBT history knowledge. Where did civil rights activist and literary icon James Baldwin reside? At what community church did transgender activist Sylvia Rivera find community on the Far West Side (the congregation renamed the food pantry in her honor)? Know the answers? Take part in the hunt! To get credit for solving a clue, check in at the location (tap the lock button to the left; if you’re in the right place, it will turn green). Each location you check in to is worth a single point. For clues that start with a camera emoji (📸), tap the image to re-create the historical photo for an additional point. After you’ve lined up your re-creation, please remember to tap the “submit to hunt” button.

New York City has long been considered the leading American center for arts and culture. The arts, especially theater, constitute one of New York’s primary economic forces. Throughout the 20th century, the LGBT community has had a significant and disproportionate impact on the Broadway stage, even as the New York Legislature-enacted Wales Padlock Law (1927-1967) made it illegal for theaters to show plays that featured gay and lesbian characters (though some productions managed to get around this restriction). This curated collection spotlights the Broadway Theater District and its associations with major LGBT performers and creators.

Gallo Theatre, 1928. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, the theatre at West 54th Street has a long, varied, and unique history. Both early opera and straight play productions were commercial flops in the Eugene De Rosa-designed theatre. Sold in foreclosure less than two years after opening, the building became the New Yorker Theatre and a WPA Federal Music Project venue in the 1930s. Renamed Studio 52 in 1943 when purchased by CBS (the number had nothing to do with the street address), the space hosted radio and TV productions through the 1970s, including What's My Line?, The $64,000 Question, and The Jack Benny Show. In 1977 the building entered its most famed period as the nightclub Studio 54, a glitzy, glamorous, celebrity-filled disco. Studio 54 closed in 1986. Occupied by other clubs and concert venues through the late 1980s and 1990s, the theatre was restored to much of its architectural grandeur in 1994 (the nightclub owners had covered or painted black much of the interior). It was leased by the Roundabout Theatre Company in 1998 for a production of Cabaret and was purchased by Roundabout in 2003.

While their significance is often underestimated or dismissed by heterosexual society, bars and other establishments played a pivotal role throughout the 20th century — but particularly in the pre-Stonewall era — as centers for LGBT activism and community. These spaces, whether always gay friendly or only during certain times of the day or week, gave LGBT people the freedom to be themselves in a way they usually could not be in their personal or professional lives. This curated collection largely reflects the bar and nightlife scene of downtown Manhattan; as we research more sites we encourage you to reach out to us with suggestions in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs.