Henry Gerber Home
Henry Gerber Home
1710 North Crilly Court
Chicago, IL
n December 1924, at a cost of $10, the Society for Human Rights incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, listing its business offices in this rowhouse, the home of its leading force, Henry Gerber (1892-1972). With this move, the Society went into history as the first homosexual rights organization in the country.
Gerber had been to Germany as part of the Army of Occupation after World War I, and had seen firsthand the early German homosexual rights movement there. Back home, he founded the Society to "protect the interests of people… abused and hindered in the legal pursuit of happiness" - coded language for protecting gay people from discrimination, harassment, abuse, and arrest.
The Society published two issues of Friendship and Freedom, written by Gerber, before running out of money for printing and distribution. The group disbanded after just one year, when the police caught wind of its activities and arrested Gerber, confiscating his typewriter, diaries, and all the Society's literature. Although a judge threw the case out because the police had not obtained search warrants, Gerber lost his job when the newspapers reported his arrest. But he continued to write about gay rights throughout his life. Chicago's LGBT library and archives, founded in 1981, is named in Gerber's honor, and in 2001, the city of Chicago bestowed landmark status on Gerber's rowhouse.
Paula Martinac is the author of six books and numerous articles on LGBT topics. Her blog, The Queerest Places, chronicles LGBT historic sites. She holds an M.A. in history and works for a community development organization in Pittsburgh, PA.
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