Milwaukee Marks 60th Anniversary of Pre-Stonewall Bar Uprising
crowdfunding page for the anniversary event. The bar had been nearly empty when the sailors had been their earlier, but now they encountered 75 patrons ready to fight back.“The battle didn’t last long, but it was intense: One patron suffered extreme lacerations when he was thrown through a broken window; another patron experienced a brain concussion when he was hit in the head with a barstool,” Milwaukee historian Michail Takach wrote in OnMilwaukee in 2017. “He would remain in critical condition for weeks after the brawl.
In the end, over $2,000 in losses were reported, including the bar’s entire bottled liquor inventory, an electric organ, a jukebox and all windows.”Police actually defended the bar and its patrons, arresting the attackers.
