Event Registration
Jane's Walk NYC 2026: Men with Painted Faces: Forgotten Stories From the "Fag Ward" (3 PM)
05/03/2026 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM ET
Admission
- Free
Summary
This guided walking tour uncovers a hidden chapter of LGBTQ history at the former Men’s Penitentiary on Welfare Island (now Roosevelt Island). Known as the “Fag Ward,” this segregated unit housed those imprisoned for homosexuality—individuals whose lives were criminalized, yet whose resilience gave rise to unexpected beauty and community.
Though now demolished, attendees will walk the prison’s former footprint and hear how inmates labored in the laundry by day and, by night, the “Fag Ward” transformed into a vibrant underground culture—singing, dancing, and rehearsing for an annual Christmas vaudeville and drag pageant.
The tour features artists behind THE GORGEOUS NOTHINGS, an upcoming Off-Broadway musical, alongside a companion podcast series by MAKING GAY HISTORY.
Event Registration is closed.
Though now demolished, attendees will walk the prison’s former footprint and hear how inmates labored in the laundry by day and, by night, the “Fag Ward” transformed into a vibrant underground culture—singing, dancing, and rehearsing for an annual Christmas vaudeville and drag pageant.
The tour features artists behind THE GORGEOUS NOTHINGS, an upcoming Off-Broadway musical, alongside a companion podcast series by MAKING GAY HISTORY.
| Neon CRM by Neon One |