James Baldwin's Former UWS Home Is Officially A National Landmark

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — James Baldwin's home on the Upper West Side has been officially listed as a national landmark.

The author and civil rights activist's home at 137 W. 71st St. is formally listed on the National Register of Historic Places., the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project announced Thursday. Baldwin lived on West 71 Street from 1965 until his death in 1987.

The Historic Sites Project celebrated the designation after two years of advocacy from the group.

"Seeing James Baldwin’s NYC residence listed on the National Register of Historic Places is the realization of our mission, in part, to increase LGBT representation on this important official inventory of sites and to formally recognize the U.S. home most closely associated with Baldwin, a pivotal voice of 20th century America," the Historic Sites Project said in an announcement.

Earlier this summer, Baldwin's residence was listed as a landmark by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. Gov. Andrew Cuomo later recommended the residence to be added to the state and national registers of historic places.

"The NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project has created a national model for recognizing the underrepresented history of LGBT New Yorkers. We are truly grateful for this collaboration and congratulate the LGBT Historic Sites Project on this latest achievement of officially designating the residence of gay author, activist and New Yorker, James Baldwin, to the National Register," New York State's Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said in a statement.

The national landmark joins several other landmarks in New York City historically protected this summer to commemorate LGBTQ history and the LGBTQ rights movement.

The Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, the Women's Liberation Center, the LGBT Community Center, Caffe Cino and Audre Lorde's home in Staten Island were among those landmarked by the city for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in Greenwich Village, considered a watershed moment in the LGBT rights movement.