Episode 395, Jefferson Market, and the Women's House of Detention.

Hey, it's the Bowry Boys.

Hey.

Hi there, and welcome to the Bowry Boys. This is Greg Young.

And I'm Tom Myers, and today, well Greg, we're not alone, are we?

Oh no, as a matter of fact, we're sitting on a stage in front of a lovely crowd of New York history lovers on the Lower East Side.

Wow, that is not a sound effect, Greg. That's really happening.

I did not hit a button. Yes. Wow.

It was real. Hello everybody. We are so happy to be recording today's show live at caveat, the performance space on Clinton Street,

back in our old stomping ground, the Lower East Side.

And we're not alone behind the mics today because we will soon be joined by author and historian Hugh Ryan to discuss his latest book, The Women's House of Detention,

a queer history of a forgotten prison. So you all have that to look forward to later in the show.

And we just need to say, I just said, it's so nice to be back in front of people,

and for listeners, people who are sitting at tables having cocktails, and we hope that this is something that we'll get back on the road to doing more often in the future.

Yes, we do. And check out our websites for announcements of more live events around New York City, including Halloween.

So today we're talking about a historic place in Greenwich Village, Jefferson Market, and the many places which took the name Jefferson Market,

and finally the Women's House of Detention, the notorious detention center, which should here for over 40 years.

Now, when you say Jefferson Market to most New Yorkers today, they usually don't think of a market or a prison at all. Most likely, if they know the name at all, it's because of the Jefferson Market Library,

which is a branch of the New York Public Library that opened in 1967.

And it is a but, any Jefferson Market Library fans out there?

Yes, it is one of my favorite branch libraries in the city. And what makes it so lovely is the beautiful historic building that it occupies was constructed in the 1870s as the Jefferson Market Courthouse,

and it remained in use as a courthouse until the 1940s. But as the name implies, there was once an actual market here as well, and that's where our story begins.

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