Dewey's Sit-in Site

In April 1965, Dewey's restaurant at 219 South 17th Street started refusing service to people it saw as gay or gender-nonconforming. On 25 April some 150 people were turned away. Three teenagers who would not leave the counter were arrested, along with Clark Polak of the Janus Society, Philadelphia's homophile group, and all four were convicted of disorderly conduct. The Janus Society spent a week handing out leaflets on the sidewalk, and a second sit-in on 2 May ended without arrests. Dewey's dropped the policy. It came four years before Stonewall and is one of the earliest LGBT sit-ins in the country, notable for being fought on behalf of gender-nonconforming young people. The restaurant building has since been replaced. A Pennsylvania state historical marker stands at the site, a block from Rittenhouse Square and a short walk from the Gayborhood.