LGBT history is American history. But in the mid-1990s, Rodney Wilson—a high school teacher in Missouri—came to the critical realization that this facet of American culture was not celebrated or taught to young people. Wilson teamed with other educators and community leaders to establish LGBT History Month. They selected the month of October to support the academic calendar and to connect with existing LGBT traditions, such as National Coming Out Day, which occurs on October 11 each year.

LGBT history remains largely invisible throughout the United States, and sites associated with this history are often dismissed for their vernacular style and seeming “ordinariness.” In fact, humble spaces such as warehouses, community rooms, bars, and cafes have played critical roles in the history of the LGBT civil rights movement. In New York City, the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project is documenting this underrepresented history and working to see that worthy sites receive the formal recognition they deserve: addition to the state and national registers of historic places and, as appropriate, to NYC Individual Landmarks.

And the initiative History UnErased is putting teacher curriculum kits in the hands of educators in NYC and beyond, empowering teachers to address this important history.

In the spirit of LGBT History Month, celebrate these three historic sites tied to LGBT education, below.

Little Red School House

196 Bleecker Street, Manhattan, New York

One of the most notable and enduring cultural institutions in New York’s Greenwich Village is the Little Red School House, often considered the city’s first progressive school. As early as 1912, reform educator and school founder Elisabeth Irwin worked at revising public school curricula; she started her progressive curriculum in 1921. A high school (now Elisabeth Irwin High School) was added in 1940.

Irwin’s partner of 30 years was Katharine Anthony, a social researcher and feminist biographer. They lived nearby at 23 Bank Street and were members of the feminist Heterodoxy Club.

Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth (now the Hetrick-Martin Institute)

112 East 23rd Street, Manhattan, New York

The Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth (IPLGY) was founded in 1979 by Dr. Emery S. Hetrick, a psychiatrist, and Dr. A. Damien Martin, a professor at New York University. There, they gathered a group of concerned adults to discuss at-risk LGBT youth in New York City affected by homophobia, physical abuse, homelessness, chronic truancy and school dropout rates, and involvement in sex work.

From 1983 to 1986, IPLGY occupied the full third floor of the building at 112 East 23rd Street. To address chronic truancy of LGBT youth—who were afraid to attend schools for fear of harassment and violence—IPLGY established the Harvey Milk High School (HMHS) in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education.

It became the first public high school in the country to provide a safe haven for youths victimized in public schools because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.

IPLGY was renamed the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) in 1988. Today, HMI and the Harvey Milk High School operate out of 2 Astor Place in Manhattan.