The moment has arrived. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, along with the National Park Service, has the pleasure to announce that Chicago's Henry Gerber House will be designated a National Historic Landmark. Old Town's Henry Gerber House, a starting place for the history of gay rights in Chicago is now officially recognized.
While this is only the second LGBT-related property to achieve this distinction (the Stonewall Inn of New York is the other one), the home itself has a long history.
Built in 1885, the home at 1710 North Crilly Court was the birthplace of The Society for Human Rights in 1924, becoming the first gay civil rights organization in the nation.
Henry Gerber was a soldier stationed in Germany during the years after WWI. Inspired by the work German activists were doing to overturn their country's anti-homosexual laws, upon his return to the country and 1924 move to Chicago, he began writing and organizing. He only lived at the home on Crilly Court between 1924 and 1925, but managed to found both the Society for Human Rights and the publication Friendship and Freedom. Quite productive.
The home was previously awarded Chicago landmark status on June 6, 2001. Fourteen years later, the house has reached the finish line.
·Historic Home of Gay Rights Pioneer Inches Closer to National Landmark Status [Chicago Curbed]
·Henry Gerber House [City of Chicago]
·Gerber House granted national landmark status [Windy City Times]