| Paresis Hall | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of Paresis Hall | |
| Alternative names | Columbia Hall |
| General information | |
| Location | 392 Bowery (now 32 Cooper Square),New York City,United States |
| Coordinates | 40°43′41″N73°59′29″W / 40.728183°N 73.991400°W /40.728183; -73.991400 |
| Owner | James T. Ellison |
Columbia Hall, commonly known asParesis Hall, was abrothel,gay bar and meeting spot for "inverts" located at 392Bowery inManhattan,New York City, in the 1890s.[1][2] Located nearCooper Union, the hall was owned by thegangsterJames T. Ellison.[1]
Paresis Hall took its common nickname fromgeneral paresis, a term forsyphiliticinsanity.[3]
Jennie June wrote that the name "Paresis Hall" was the popular name, but androgynes disliked that name, and instead referred to it as "the Hall".[4] June wrote that the termparesis was used as a general term for insanity, but also wrote that the name followed asuperstition that androgynes could cause virile men to succumb to insanity, later discovered to be a side effect of advanced syphilis.[4]
On the ground floor, Paresis Hall had a small bar room in front, and a small beer garden behind it.[4] The two floors above the ground floor were rented out in small rooms.[4] At least ten rooms above the bar were used for private encounters.[1]
One space above the bar was permanently rented by theCercle Hermaphroditos, an earlytransgender advocacy organization. They stored clothing there due to the illegality of and public hostility to dressing in women's clothing.[5]
According to historianSusan Stryker, the Cercle Hermaphroditos was the first group in the United States to be concerned with what today would be considered transgendersocial justice issues.[6]
Paresis Hall was particularly renowned and reviled even at the time, and was a common target for both police activity and religious protests.[7] Despite this, evidence suggests it was active until at least 1899.[1]
.svg)