‘El Baile de los 41’ (‘Dance of the 41’) Memorial Plaque

The José Martí Cultural Center was established in 1976 as an initiative intended to represent the union of the peoples of Latin America. José Martí was a noted Cuban writer and revolutionary, part of a late-19th-century movement for civil rights and post-colonialism in the Americas. Some of this revolutionary spirit was part of the motivation that lead to the contemporary movement of cross-dressing balls. 

These balls were most commonly attended and organized by queer men as a relatively safe haven to explore their identities and sexuality. They were common throughout the Western world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.