| “From 1929 to 1974, the House of Detention permeated life in New York City so thoroughly that it even began appearing in songs and pop culture. In 1960, Jerry Herman, the famed Broadway composer of Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles, wrote a song for his Off-Broadway musical revue Parade! called ‘Save The Village,’ originally entitled ‘Don’t Tear Down the House of Detention.’ In 1972, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, the Broadway musical by Melvin Van Peebles, known as the godfather of modern Black cinema, featured the song ‘10th and Greenwich’ (the well-known address of the prison). The song is considered the first lesbian love song in Broadway history.“ |
