HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

Henry Miller

New York, Kings County, New York

Marker Inscription

Henry Miller 1891-1980 Raised in Brooklyn, the best-selling author is noted for his imaginative, controversial novels Tropic of Cancer (1934), which chronicles his colorful life as an expatriate in Paris, and Tropic of Capricorn (1939), which depicts his adult life in New York City. Both books were banned in the U.S. until 1961. Miller lived here from 1924 to 1925.

Erected by Historic Landmarks Preservation Center

The Story

Henry Miller, raised in Brooklyn, became one of the most daring and controversial American authors of the twentieth century. His novels "Tropic of Cancer" (1934) and "Tropic of Capricorn" (1939) drew on his bohemian years in Paris and his life in New York, and were so frank that they remained banned in the United States until 1961. He lived at this address in 1924-25, before his expatriate breakthrough.

Why it matters

The long ban on Miller's books and its eventual lifting became a landmark in the American struggle over literary censorship and free expression.

Plan your visit

Nearby

Make a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.

Museums & culture

Attractions

Food & drink

Places to stay

Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • ¡ Henry Miller

Themes & tags

Civil RightsHome

Nearby & related markers

William Jay Gaynor

New York, NY

This monument honors William Jay Gaynor (1851–1913), who rose from a childhood in Oriskany, New York, to become a justice of the State Supreme Court and then mayor of New York City from 1910 to 1913. Gaynor was a reform-minded and fiercely independent figure in the Progressive Era, celebrated as a defender of civil liberties and honest government against the machine politics of his day. His tenure was cut short after he was wounded in a 1910 assassination attempt, and he died in 1913 while still in office. The inscribed motto — "Ours is a government of laws not of men" — captures the principle he championed from the bench and City Hall.

Civil Rights

343 The City's Bravest

New York, NY

The New York City Fire Department — long known as "New York's Bravest" — lost 343 of its members on September 11, 2001, the single greatest loss of life any American fire department has ever suffered in one day. Standing in Lower Manhattan within sight of the former World Trade Center site, this memorial honors both those firefighters who died rushing toward the towers and the department that shoulders the same duty today. The pairing of "those who fell" and "those who carry on" captures how the FDNY absorbed catastrophic loss yet never stopped answering the call.

Civil Rights

John F. Kennedy Memorial

New York, NY

This monument honors John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, whose brief presidency from 1961 to 1963 came to define an era of youthful optimism before it was cut short by his assassination in Dallas in November 1963. The inscription's closing lines preserve the most famous passage of his 1961 inaugural address — a call to civic duty that challenged Americans to serve something larger than themselves. Standing in Brooklyn, the memorial joins the countless schools, streets, and public spaces across the nation renamed in the months and years after that November day.

Civil Rights

Allen Ginsberg

New York, NY

Allen Ginsberg lived at this address from 1958 to 1961, in the years just after his poem "Howl" (1956) exploded onto the American scene and helped ignite the Beat Generation. Here in apartment #16 he wrote "Kaddish" (1961), a raw and mournful elegy for his mother Naomi. An internationally acclaimed poet, he later joined the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Civil Rights