Landslide In Action: Independence Mall Equal Rights Protests
A major precursor to the 1969 Stonewall protests in New York City’s Greenwich Village, often seen as the genesis of the modern gay rights movement, were the “Annual Reminder Day” marches that took place for five years every July 4th on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall beginning in 1965. The Annual Reminder Day events are featured in Landslide 2024: Demonstration Grounds. Independence Mall and the Stonewall National Monument are maintained by the National Park Service (NPS); recently, written recognition of and was deactivated on NPS’ website and the Stonewall website was altered to remove references to transgender and queer—the TQ in LGBTQ.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the first “Annual Reminder Day” and 56 years since Stonewall; since those events there have been extraordinary changes in law, society, and culture—including the legalization of same sex marriage.
Webinar participants will address the significance of the 1960s protests in Philadelphia and New York, maintaining the history and memory of these events, and current challenges and threats. The session will be moderated by Charles A, Birnbaum, President and CEO of èƵ.
Birnbaum will be joined by:
Andrew Dolkart (panelist) – Author and Professor of Historic Preservation in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University. Dolkart serves as a project director of .
Max Dickson (panelist) – Senior Certified Planner at OLIN. Dickson leads , an emergent research initiative through OLIN Labs that explores LGBTQ+ landscapes and people within the field of Landscape Architecture.
Bob Skiba (panelist) - Author and Curator of the John J. Wilcox, Jr., Archives at the William Way Gay LGBT Community Center
Sahar Coston-Hardy (respondent) – Fine art and landscape architecture photographer whose work is focused on the intersections of race and cultural identity. Coston-Hardy’s images of Independence Mall are featured in Landslide 2024: Demonstration Grounds.