Brooklyn Historical Society Gears Up For Pride Month

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — From a drag queen story hour to a historical look at everything from queer nightlife to Walt Whitman's queer poetic exploration, the Brooklyn Historical Society is ready to celebrate pride month in the borough.

The historical society already has a few attractions celebrating LGBTQ history set up, including the first exhibit to focus on the borough's queer history "On The (Queer) Waterfront," which opened earlier this year and will run through August. But a slew of new exhibits and events are set to debut throughout June and the summer to add to the pride month celebrations.

Celebrations will start as early as the first full week in June, when a professional development day about gender and sexual identity for educators will be held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and a Drag Queen Story Hour will be featured at BHS's Dumbo location.

Here's a full look at what the society has on the agenda:

• On the (Queer) Waterfront, which explores LGBTQ communities that thrived along Brooklyn's waterfront in the 1800s through World War II will be on display until August 4.

• A Queer Look at Brooklyn, an expansion to the Queer Waterfront exhibit, this was written and curated by Brooklyn high school students and emphasizes the ways race, class, and illness have uniquely impacted LGBTQ+ people from the 19th century to the present day. It is on display until spring 2020.

• Curator Tour: On the (Queer) Waterfront a private tour from the Queer Waterfront curator Hugh Ryan on June 2 about the stories he unearthed while researching the history.

• Uncovering LGBTQ History at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a day of professional development on June 6 aimed at classroom teachers and administrators uses the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a case study for exploring social history, oral history, and identity with students.

• Drag Queen Story Hour at BHS DUMBO on Saturday, June 8 will feature drag queens Harmonica Sunbeam and Cholula Lemon will read Rosie Revere, Engineer during a free family program.

• “Live Oak, With Moss”: Uncovering Walk Whitman’s Queer Private Life on Tuesday, June 11 will feature Walt Whitman scholar Karen Karbiener and Illustrator Brian Selznick discussing Whitman’s revolutionary collection of poems portraying his most ardent explorations of same-sex love.

• The Tea on Brooklyn’s Prismatic LGBTQ Nightlife on Monday, June 24 will explore the importance of queer, people of color dance scenes through clips from "We Came to Sweat," the documentary on the storied Starlite Lounge that served as a black queer hub in Crown Heights. A panel of queer POC nightlife experts will include Calvin Clark of the former Club Langston, Mohammed Fayaz of Papi Juice, and Ryann Holmes of Bklyn Boihood

• Getting the History of HIV/AIDS Right on Wednesday, June 26 will feature University of Illinois at Chicago professor and author Jennifer Brier and Northwestern University professor and journalist Steven Thrasher discussing gender, race, sexuality, political and social history, and the tension between complacency and urgency today.