Category: History

  • Elks Lounge

    Elks Lounge

    A series of images for sale on Ebay from June 1945 and a Harlem Blues nightclub named: Elks Rendezvous. The club was located at 133 and Lenox Ave, and featured distinctive ‘target’ tables. The Smithsonian’s collection in Washington DC includes a table knocker from the Elks Rendezvous in the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum…

  • The Harlem Casino

    The Harlem Casino

    Gambling and entertainment in Harlem’s finest casino. Built in 1889, this was the place to be seen in the late Victorian era. And this is the view, today: A fascinating transformation. Ballot Initiatives The election is coming up and we need to flip the ballot! “People hear me saying all the time: Flip the ballot.…

  • 125th Street, June, 1943

    125th Street, June, 1943

    This photo popped up on Ebay with the date (June, 1943) and a title (New York, New York. Street scene in Harlem): The two soldiers and clothing/cars certainly looked right for the WWII era, but I wondered where the photo was taken. Eventually, I was able to figure out that the building on the right,…

  • Castro Visits Harlem (Again)

    Castro Visits Harlem (Again)

    This photograph was taken on this date in 1995 when Fidel Castro returned to Harlem and spoke at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. The photo shows Castro in his characteristic green military uniform, gesturing at the podium. This Reuters photo has additional information/context on the back: The photograph was up for sale on Ebay. Trunk or…

  • View of Harlem Plains, 1814

    View of Harlem Plains, 1814

    For sale on Ebay. Pups on Parade! (October 29) If your pup has a costume, head on over to Jackie Robinson Park for a pup Halloween costume party: (Hopefully, your best friend won’t be as beleaguered as the pup in the photo, above.)

  • Drag

    Drag

    Vice.com has a great piece on a collection of photos from Halrem’s 1980’s drag scene. The photographs were taken in 1984 by Mariette Pathy Allen who traveled to Harlem to photograph one night at a house ball. By 1984, Mariette was married with two children, doing small photography jobs for publications while also documenting the…

  • Above the Rim

    Above the Rim

    Above the Rim is a 1994 film co-written and directed by Jeff Pollack in his directorial debut. The Harlem/basketball movie featured Duane Martin, Tupac Shakur, Leon Robinson, and Marlon Wayans. The screenplay was based on a story by Benny Medina and focuses on city basketball and the fraught life choices presented to a young Harlem…

  • Inside All Saints

    Inside All Saints

    As the Catholic church and school, All Saints is transformed into the home of Capital Prep, we took a peek in and got a few photos of the work in progress. The original wood doors and vestibule remains – if coated in plaster dust. Further inside the vastness of the nave is emphasized by the…

  • Harlem’s Museum of Civil Rights

    Harlem’s Museum of Civil Rights

    The National Urban League has chosen Jennifer Scott to be the founding executive director and lead curator of The Urban Civil Rights Museum being built on West 125th Street between ACP and Lenox. The new museum will center the Urban League’s Empowerment Center in Harlem and house the NUL’s headquarters along with 170 units of…

  • Horses on Harlem River Drive

    Horses on Harlem River Drive

    Two stereoscopic views looking northward on Harlem Speedway (Harlem River Drive) from around 181st Street. The bottom image captures the finale to a race (note the man lying on the rockface to the left). The top image shows just how wide the Speadway was. In both images, note the domed building on a bluff, in…

  • Harlem, The Fastest Growing Suburb

    Harlem, The Fastest Growing Suburb

    A fascinating map from 1907 shows how the cachet of Harlem (as a wealthy suburb, serving a thriving metropolis) lead distant developers to adopt the name. This map (below) of an area south of Denver was promoted as the fastest growing suburb in the region, and yet proximate to Denver’s city center. A detailed view…

  • Run On The Harlem Savings Bank

    Run On The Harlem Savings Bank

    Ebay has a photo of a 1907 ‘run’ on the Harlem Savings Bank. The photo is from the Brown Brothers Photo Archive’s file titled “Bank Panics”. The 1907 bank panic was caused by public distrust of the banking system and created a frenzy of withdrawals. To avoid a serious financial crisis in the country wealthy…