Stonewall Inn Project Gets $1M Grant From Google

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A project to document the experiences of people who lived through the Stonewall Inn uprisings is getting a $1 million boost from Google, the internet giant announced Sunday.

A new project to document and preserve the experiences of New Yorkers who lived through the Stonewall uprisings will be funded in large part by Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm. Google committed $1 million to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, the longtime pillar of the gay rights movement, to create a "digital experience" that will document and share testimonies from people who lived through the 1969 riots.

"This announcement sends an unmistakable message to Washington: that the America we know celebrates and cherishes its diversity; it doesn’t hide from it or fear it," U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer said in a statement. "Google's $1 million grant to New York City’s LGBT Community Center will support the preservation and dissemination of‎ LGBTQ history. With this money, they will translate the legacy of Stonewall from a physical landmark into a digital experience, so that the lessons of its history can reach tens of millions of people across the nation, and across the globe."

Stonewall Inn, which President Barack Obama declared a national monument last year, is largely credited as the birthplace of the LGBTQ civil rights movement. When police raided the bar at 53 Christopher St. in June 1969, a frequent occurrence at LGBT establishments, the bar's patrons fought back. One night of riots turned into days of demonstrations that eventually launched an entire movement. (Want more locals news? Subscribe here for free breaking news alerts and updates from Patch.)

The two-year grant, which goes to both The Center and the National Parks Foundation, will allow project organizers to "seek out and document robust, diverse narratives of the Stonewall Uprising and transform the reach of the national park beyond a physical place." The project's organizers have not yet released details about what shape it will take.

In total, the project is seeking $2 million in funding. Last week, American Express announced a $100,000 grant for the project.

The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2019, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprisings as well as 2019's World Pride, which will be hosted in New York City.

The idea stemmed in part from Google employee William Floyd, who lives near the search engine's NYC offices in Chelsea with his husband and their son.

"This is a living, breathing, active thing," he told the Times. "It’s not like Mount Rushmore or a physical natural thing of beauty, it’s civil rights. We thought it was really important that we could provide money and technology to capture those voices and help amplify them."

Lead image credit: Yana Paskova / Stringer / Getty Images News.