100 Objects #21: Window from the House of D

Roman Mars and historian Hugh Ryan examine the unintended consequences of a unique architectural feature at the Women's House of Detention, New York City's first women's prison, which opened in Greenwich Village in 1932. Designed as a humane gesture, the operable windows inside the cells allowed incarcerated women to communicate with the outside world, transforming the prison courtyard into an unexpected public forum. This architectural quirk became a magnet for the burgeoning queer community in the Village and, over the building's four-decade history, catalyzed a significant movement for LGBTQ+ rights.