(1930-1978)

Who Was Harvey Milk?

Gay rights activist and community leader Harvey Milk made history when he became one of the first openly gay officials in the United States in 1977 when he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. He was tragically shot and killed the following year, and numerous books and films have been made about his life.

Early Years

Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York. Reared in a small middle-class Jewish family, Milk was one of two boys born to William and Minerva Milk. A well-rounded, well-liked student, Milk played football and sang in the opera at Bay Shore High School. Like his brother, Robert, he also worked at the family department store, Milk's.

After graduating from the New York State College for Teachers in 1951, Milk joined the U.S. Navy, ultimately serving as a diving instructor at a base in San Diego, California, during the Korean War. Following his discharge in 1955, Milk moved to New York City, where he worked a variety of jobs, including public school teacher, production associate for several high-profile Broadway musicals, stock analyst and Wall Street investment banker. He soon tired of finance, though, and befriended gay radicals who frequented Greenwich Village.