Whether for Florida locals or knowledge-seeking visitors, Stonewall National Museum & Archives has a rather broad welcoming message, an inclusive message built from foundation of this mid-century concrete museum nestled along a bustling Fort Lauderdale thoroughfare. This SNMA space has served for nearly 50 years as a conduit for collecting, preserving and sharing items that show showing how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people have always played a substantial role in American society. 

LGBTQ is a term heard a lot today, especially at SNMA, which was created roughly 50 years ago as a direct result of a June 28, 1969, New York City police raid of a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. On that pivotal date, all Americans saw how unstoppable tavern patrons finally stood up and fought back. The future was clear when order was restored after the Stonewall riots and Central Park March: The nationwide LGBT community would no longer endure intimidation and hostility. 

Fort Lauderdale launched Florida's initial efforts to preserve and share the moment’s history, and four years later launched local efforts for LGBTQ equality. Inspired by the Stonewall name, city officials chose it for its local museum born from change. That Sunrise Boulevard building continues to bare the Stonewall name while offering to a safe, welcoming space for those living within, or wanting to learn about, the LGBTQ community. 

 Since joining SNMA in 2013, Deputy Director Emery Grant has enjoyed watching the movement grow. He said, “SNMA takes care to share the stories of the lives, struggles, triumphs and unique experiences of LGBTQ people, and our allies, with dignity and integrity. We bring legitimacy and validity to discussions around LGBTQ culture by approaching it all with seriousness and professionalism.” 

Though in-person visits dipped during 2020 from an average of 600 to 70 people monthly due to COVID, Grant said support remains strong. He added, “Our virtual programming series events are watched by hundreds of people, so we hope folks will join us online. All of our exhibitions are also captured virtually on our website as well with a slide-show style virtual exhibit, as well as a video tour and curatorial talk.” Visit https://stonewall-museum.org/virtual-exhibitions/ and linked to https://stonewall-museum.org/exhibitions/. 

Great selection of good reads 

Within SNMA, the Stonewall Library is a repository for the world's largest LGBTQ collection, reported to have over 28,000 items of fiction, non-fiction, biography and art.   All books, CDs and DVDs are professionally organized and catalogued using the same system as the Library of Congres. Selections are available for online exploration, as well as member use of the lending library. Annual memberships cost $35/Individual and $50/Household, yet use is free for high school students in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. 

Books abound from famous authors, many are even available in foreign languages. There are nearly a dozen designated collections, several acquired as memorial gifts. 

Today’s archives of yesterday 

SNMA’s vast archives include more than 2,700 linear feet of documents hold 6 million pages of material, making it one of the leading repositories for collecting, preserving, and presenting LGBTQ history.  All items are professionally organized and cataloged with detailed descriptions. Most SNMA maintains an environment that meets strict conservation and archival standards.    

There are more than 3,000 periodical titles, national LGBTQ+ publications and regional serials from more than 75 cities nationwide. All are of critical importance to gay history—mostly from the last 50 years.  

Archived clothing, papers, newspapers, pulp fiction, written and recorded serials are used regularly for research by scholars, historians, researchers and the general public. 

“We have recently completed a major project that links the serials collection in our Archives to digitized collections around the country. This makes our website a major finding aide for LGBTQ historic material,” Grant said. Information is at https://stonewall-museum.org/archives/. 

Grant also notes that personal access to the Archives is by appointment only, arranged with Chief Archivist Paul Fasana. To donate materials to the Archives, contact Fasana or Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian.