Maroon Slaves Discussed At The Schomburg

The little-known history of the maroons, slaves who escaped from their plantations and set up secret communities in the swamps, is coming to Harlem. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from Harlem World Magazine. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant…

Harlem’s Renaissance Casino, 1924

The Harlem Renaissance Ballroom opened in 1923. The casino was built by the black-owned Sarco Realty Company. The Ballroom at 138th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, quaked with the frenzied rhythms of the Lindy Hop. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I…

HW Pick: Ellison at 100: Reading Invisible Man

The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture are pleased to announce a major collaboration celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of America’s greatest writers, Ralph Ellison. On Saturday, March 1, 2014—a century after Ellison’s birth in Oklahoma City—Ellison at 100: Reading Invisible Man will kick…

Carl Van Vechten’s Harlem Color

Ella Fitzgerald, 1940 In “White Mischief,” in this week’s issue of the New Yorker magazine, Kelefa Sanneh writes about Carl Van Vechten, a “New York hipster and literary gadabout” who was an unlikely champion of the African-American experience as it unfolded on the streets of Harlem in the nineteen-twenties. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for…

WQXR Host And Harlemite Terrance McKnight Celebrates Black History

Music—jazz, gospel, R&B, and hip-hop in Harlem—has been a crucial vehicle of African American cultural expression, but the contributions to classical music by people of African descent is rarely given its due. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails…

The Niggerati Manor In Harlem

The Niggerati was the name used, with deliberate irony, by Wallace Thurman for the group of young African American artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. “Niggerati” is a portmanteau of “nigger” and “literati”. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like to…

2nd Annual Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem

The Schomburg Center’s 2nd Annual Black Comic Book Festival celebrates the rich tradition of black comix in a two-day event featuring a special events, panel discussions, film screenings, hands-on workshops and exhibit tables with premiere black comic artists from across the country. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem…

Marva Trotter Louis, Harlem Model, 1936

Harlem’s Marva Trotter Louis, the Chicago stenographer turned model, singer and the first wife of boxing legend Joe Louis and had two children (daughter Jacqueline in 1943 and son Joseph Louis Barrow, Jr. in 1947). Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like…

Harlem Fish Market, 1920’s

This was the Fish Market at 656 West 125th Street on a triangle on Manhattan street (now renamed 125th Street to the right and St. Clair Street to the left) in Manhattanville around the 1920’s. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like…

My Grandmother’s Harlem Renaissance Wedding

By A’Lelia Bundles Langston Hughes called A’Lelia Walker “the joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s” Whenever I see my grandmother Mae’s 1923 wedding photographs, I can’t help but marvel at the elegance and extravagance. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like to receive…

Sugar Ray Robinson In Harlem, 1940’s

The New York Times published a piece on Sugar Ray Robinson and his glory days in Harlem. And the UpTownFlavor ran this piece, so we thought it might be cool to look back over some Sugar Ray’s favorite places to hang out in Harlem. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to…

Harlem Jazzmobile Founder Billy Taylor

Billy Taylor (born William Taylor; July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from Harlem World Magazine. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please…

“The Waldorf of Harlem,” The Hotel Theresa, Harlem NY (video)

The Hotel Theresa, located at 2082-96 Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Boulevard between West 124th and 125th Streets in Harlem, NY, was, in the mid-20th century, a vibrant center of African American life in the area and the city. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe toHarlem World Magazine Example: Yes,…

Dan Burley’s Original Handbook of Harlem Jive (1944)

Harlem in the early 1940s was a place in flux. Though the Renaissance had ended a decade or so earlier, the cultural scene was still quite vibrant, with legendary jazz musicians, dancers, and entertainers of all sorts performing regularly in its many nightclubs. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Select list(s) to subscribe…