City Lights Booksellers & Publishers - Beat Movement Landmark

City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, founded in 1953 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, is an independent bookstore and small press that became a focal point of the Beat literary movement in San Francisco. Its publishing arm released Allen Ginsberg's Howl in 1956, which led to a landmark obscenity trial that affirmed protections for literary works. The store's combination of retail, publishing, and activist history makes it a one-of-a-kind cultural institution in the city.