The Stonewall Reader

Drawing on the New York Public Library’s archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodicals, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented the years leading up to and following the riots. Most importantly, the anthology spotlights iconic activists pivotal to the movement, such as Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), as well as forgotten figures like Ernestine Eckstein, one of the few out, African American, lesbian activists in the 1960s. The anthology focuses on the events of 1969, the five years before, and the five years after.

Reader Fit
For readers who want to understand the Stonewall uprising, the people behind the gay liberation movement, and the firsthand experiences that shaped modern LGBTQ+ history.

Why We Carry It
By bringing together firsthand accounts, diaries, articles, and other archival voices, The Stonewall Reader lets readers encounter LGBTQ+ history through people who participated in and documented the movement themselves.