Category: Culture
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Quilt
The Africa Center recently displayed a fantastic quilt that celebrates African and African American contributions to this country’s foodways, You are invited to participate by submitting someone or something, that deserves a square: https://legacyquiltproject.mofad.org/ Check with the Africa Center about viewing this amazing artwork: Head Start and Pre-School Program The West Harlem Community Organization is…
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Clean-Up With Congressman Espaillat
Late-breaking news is that Congressman Adriano Espaillat will also be joining the clean-up at Park/125. Here’s your chance to have one-on-one time with a number of your electeds — to both give feedback and ask questions. If you have something to say or ask, here’s your chance. We’ll meet up under the tracks at 125th & Park,…
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Harlem Renaissance Banner 2.0
The Gatekeepers Collective (TGC), with West Harlem Development Corp and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council are launching HARLEM RENAISSANCE 2.0, honoring the Centennial of the Harlem Renaissance and SGLBTQ (same gender loving (SGL), gay, lesbian, bisexual, Transgender, Queer) S/Heroes: a public art and performance initiative including a series of Banners along West 125thSt. celebrating SGLBTQ…
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Post-War Clerical Labor
At the turn of the century, clerical labor in New York was almost exclusively male, native-born, and white. As the size of corporations increased in the 1920s and 30s, stenographers were increasingly in demand and this niche was filled by white, native-born women. When WWII ended, women occupied almost all clerical positions, but a large…
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In The Street
If you haven’t watched this short film (black and white, shot on 16mm film stock in 1948) you should, just to get a sense of East Harlem in the immediate post-war era. Puerto Ricans and Italians make up the majority of the people (often children) filmed via small, hidden 16 mm film cameras. This unique…
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11 1/2
With a facade of only nine and a half feet wide, 75 1/2 Bedford Street is the narrowest house in New York City. The interior space is even cozier, at its widest, 8 feet 7 inches, and at its narrowest, only 2 feet. Some sources suggest it was constructed in 1873 on what was a…
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Harlem Women Bussed To New Jersey
This film from the Library of Congress shows Harlem women (and one man) bussed to New Jersey during WWII to work in a munition factory. The gathering is clearly on a winter’s day, with snow on the ground. You can see that the pickup for the war work was at Adam Clayton Powell and 135th…
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988
All New Yorkers know 311 and 911 are the numbers to call for issues (311) and emergencies (911). But, starting today, dialing 988 will connect you to a combined mental health, suicide prevention and substance use disorder response team. This new 988 number is part of a nationwide initiative to better address those needs without…
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For Boarding of Horses
Ebay has a great receipt for the boarding of horses in East Harlem in 1898. Note that there were less than 100 telephones in Harlem at the time (the number to call in this case was “74”). The rate was $22.50/month ($18.72 of which had been paid by The Department of Bridges) which was certainly…
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Africa Center + MOFAD
Make sure to head down to 5th and 110th Street to see the collaboration between the Africa Center and the Museum of Food and Drink, before the current exhibition closes: The exhibit – African/American: Making the Nation’s Table – celebrates the contribution of African Americans to the nation’s culinary culture (both historic and ongoing). By…
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New Group Exhibit At Claire Oliver Gallery
Be sure to check out the new group exhibit at the Claire Oliver Gallery on ACP, just below 135th Street. It’s a strong selection of artists represented by the gallery and scheduled to have a solo show in the next year: Barbara Earl Thomas, Adebunmi Gbadebo, Robert Peterson, Stan Squirewell, Gio Swaby, and introducing the…
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Photoville on St. Nicholas Ave.
Photoville – the annual photography show in NYC – has photographic banners up in St. Nicholas Park, visible from St. Nicholas Avenue at 133rd Street. The show presents visiting cards – mass produced photographs of Black Americans in elegant clothing. These 19th century photos show a Black middle-class that had fought to uplift themselves and…
