October is LGBTQ History Month! There are many places in Pennsylvania to celebrate the LGBTQ community’s rich history. In Philadelphia, step into Giovanni’s Room, one of the oldest LGBTQ bookstores in the United States. The capital building in Harrisburg displays a historic marker recognizing Governor Milton Shapp (2021HM00025) as the first governor to prohibit discrimination toward LGBTQ state employees.
In addition to the sites and markers across the state that explicitly celebrate LGBTQ history, many more places hold an “unofficial” connection to the community. Notable LGBTQ individuals across Pennsylvania have made history in politics, arts, and sciences, even if their sites don’t explicitly highlight the connection to LGBTQ history. This month we’re sharing three buildings in Pennsylvania where “everyday” individuals made history.
Bayard Rustin’s Childhood Home
West Chester, Chester County (PA-SHARE # 2023RE00837)
Bayard Rustin’s Childhood Home in West Chester, PA-SHARE # 2023RE00837.
Bayard Rustin was a key figure in the United States’ peace and Civil Rights movements in the twentieth century, including acting as the principal organizer of the March on Washington in 1963. Rustin, a gay man, spent his later life in New York City and his apartment there is listed on the National Register. However, Rustin grew up in Pennsylvania and his childhood home in West Chester is also listed on the National Register as part of the West Chester Historic District.
Bayard Rustin at 17 when he lived in West Chester, Image courtesy of the Estate of Bayard Rustin.
The Rustin home, where his grandparents raised him, was a hub for the West Chester Quaker and Black community. His grandmother’s involvement in the community, as well as Rustin’s own encounters with racism and segregation in West Chester, shaped his political and social consciousness.[1] In his family home in West Chester, Rustin was immersed in an environment where community organizing, mutual aid, and civil rights activism were tightly interwoven. It was this environment that shaped his later activism, which in turn shaped twentieth-century American social movements. Though Rustin was sidelined during the Civil Rights movement due to his sexuality, his contributions to the movement are now being recognized (including a biopic called Rustin starring Colman Domingo). [2]
Charles Demuth’s House and Studio
Lancaster, Lancaster County (PA-SHARE # 1994RE00569)
Charles Demuth’s House and Studio, PA-SHARE #1994RE00569.
Charles Demuth was a painter known for his watercolors and his Precisionist paintings, adapted from Cubism principles.[3] Demuth studied at Drexel University and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, before going to Europe to study.[4] In Paris, he became involved in the avant-garde art and bohemian queer communities.[5] Later in life, Demuth became known for his cityscapes that incorporated advertisements and billboards.[6]
Buildings, Lancaster, Image from Whitney Museum of American Art.
Demuth’s house and studio in Lancaster is listed on the National Register as part of the Lancaster Historic District. The house is now the Demuth Museum of Art and is open to the public.
Billy Strayhorn’s High School
Westinghouse High School, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County (PA-SHARE # 1984RE00895)
Westinghouse High School in 1985.
Billy Strayhorn was composer and pianist best known for his lifelong collaboration with Duke Ellington. Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio and spent part of his childhood living with his grandmother in Hillsborough, North Carolina.[7] His family moved to Pittsburgh to the Homewood neighborhood.[8] It was here that Strayhorn attended Westinghouse High School where he played in the school band. Other jazz legends including Erroll Garner and Mary Lou Williams also attended Westinghouse High School.[9] Westinghouse High School is individually listed on the National Register.
Duke Ellington (right), Alfredo Gustar (left), and Billy Strayhorn (center) inside the Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ca. 1943–43. Photo from National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Strayhorn began collaborating with Duke Ellington when he was in his early twenties and spent the rest of his life working on Ellington’s major compositions. His songs include ‘Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Chelsea Bridge.” It is said that “his work as a composer became so intertwined with Ellington’s that it was said that eventually neither man was able to distinguish his own contributions to their joint work.”[10] Strayhorn lived as an openly gay man and had several long-term relationships with men. He was also involved in the Civil Rights movement and attended the March on Washington.[11]
[1] Bayard Rustin and Ed Edwin. The Reminiscences of Bayard Rustin: Interview of Bayard Rustin by Ed Edwin, November 14, 1984 (Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street press, 2003).
[2] John D’Emilio, Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin (University of Chicago, Chicago, 2004).
[3] “Charles Demuth (1883 – 1935),” Demuth Museum of Art, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.demuth.org/charles-demuth.
[4] “Charles Demuth,” Smithsonian Institution, accessed September 23, 2026, https://americanart.si.edu/artist/charles-demuth-1211.
[5] “Charles Demuth (1883 – 1935),” Demuth Museum of Art.
[6] “Charles Demuth,” Brittanica, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Demuth.
[7] Trudy Ring, “The lush life of Billy Strayhorn, the gay Black man who was Duke Ellington’s ‘right arm’,” The Advocate, February 7, 2026, https://www.advocate.com/history/billy-strayhorn-black-gay-musician.
[8] Lauren Davidson, “Billy Strayhorn’s Life and Music Come to the Stage in His Hometown,” Pittsburgh Magazine, August 14, 2023, https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/billy-strayhorns-life-and-music-come-to-the-stage-in-his-hometown/.
[9] “Billy Strayhorn: Pittsburgh’s Hidden Jazz Genius,” Steel City History, accessed September 23, 2026, https://steelcityhistory.com/.
[10] “Billy Strayhorn; American composer and musician,” Brittanica, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billy-Strayhorn.
[11] Trudy Ring, “The lush life of Billy Strayhorn.”
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