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Harlem

Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur

March 3, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

History Twins PodcastThe latest History Twins podcast is about Madam C. J. Walker (1867 – 1919), who made a fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women, especially through the business she founded, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

The first child of her large family born free. Sarah Breedlove was a child near Delta, Louisiana where her parents die and she was orphaned by the age of seven. She moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of 10, working as a domestic servant. [Read more…] about Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Financial History, Greenburgh, Harlem, Harlem Renaissance, Labor History, New York City, Podcasts, Pop Culture History, Westchester County, Women, womens history

$26M Renovation Underway At Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park

January 27, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Riverbank State Park courtesy Wikimedia user Anthony22The most-visited state park in New York City is getting a much-needed update. This project will include the renovation of all locker rooms, resurfacing the outdoor track and replacing the turf field, and upgrading the heating and ventilation system in the performing arts center at Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park in West Harlem . [Read more…] about $26M Renovation Underway At Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park

Filed Under: New York City, Recreation Tagged With: Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park, Harlem, New York City, OPRHP, State Parks

New Director for Adirondack Diversity Initiative

January 23, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Adirondack Diversity InitativeThe Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has announced the hire of the new director of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI). Tiffany Rea-Fisher, who has extensive leadership experience in the arts, activism and community organizing, will be the second director of ADI, an ANCA program that aims to make the Adirondack region a more welcoming and inclusive place for residents and visitors. [Read more…] about New Director for Adirondack Diversity Initiative

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY Tagged With: Adirondack Diversity Initiative, Adirondack North Country Association, Adirondacks, Dance, diversity, Harlem, New York City

The Battle of Harlem Heights, 1776

January 22, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

battle of harlem hightsThe engagement on upper Manhattan Island on September 16th, 1776, was the first successful battle for George Washington’s troops in the quest for independence from Great Britain and presaged the emergence of an effective fighting force among the citizen-soldiers who made up the Continental Army.

The cooperative effort of regiments from New England, Maryland, and Virginia — whose men lacked any sense of national identity before the American Revolution — indicated the potential for this fledgling army to cohere around a common national purpose and affiliation and become the primary instrument for securing America’s right to self-rule. [Read more…] about The Battle of Harlem Heights, 1776

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Battle of Harlem Heights, Connecticut, Harlem, Manhattan, Military History, New York City

NYC Preservationists, Officials Protest Demolition of Historic Landmarks

December 22, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

press conference at City HallOn Thursday, December 15th, the New York City Historic Districts Council (HDC) and their community partners were joined by elected officials and concerned members of the public for a press conference at City Hall, condemning City agencies for approving a raft of demolitions of landmarked buildings across New York City. [Read more…] about NYC Preservationists, Officials Protest Demolition of Historic Landmarks

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Advocacy, Bedford Stuyvesant, Greenwich Village, Harlem, Historic Districts Council, Historic Preservation, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Manhattan, New York City

Sandra Adickes: New York City Teacher and Civil Rights Activist

December 19, 2022 by Alan J. Singer 2 Comments

Sandra Adickes teaching at Benjamin Franklin High SchoolOn June 25, 1964, The New York Times reported that thirty New York City public school teachers, most of them women, young, and white, would travel to rural Mississippi to teach African American children in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades for six weeks. While in Mississippi the teachers would live in the homes of Black families and join the families on Sundays in “Negro churches.”

On June 30, 1964, at the end of the school year, eight New York City teachers boarded a bus bound for Memphis, Tennessee where they would receive training before continuing on to Mississippi. Another 23 New York City teachers were expected to join them. [Read more…] about Sandra Adickes: New York City Teacher and Civil Rights Activist

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Civil Rights, Education, Harlem, Legal History, New York City, Political History, Supreme Court

The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family

December 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

the grimkesSarah and Angelina Grimke are revered figures in American history, famous for rejecting their privileged lives on a plantation in South Carolina to become firebrand activists in the North. Yet retellings of their epic story have long obscured their Black relatives. [Read more…] about The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family

Filed Under: Books, Events, History Tagged With: Abolition, Black History, Boston, Civil Rights, Harlem, Harlem Renaissance, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Historical Society, New York City, Slavery

Artists Reflect On the Impact of Great Migration in New Exhibit

November 24, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

A Movement in Every DirectionBetween 1915 and 1970, in the wake of racial terror during the post-Reconstruction period, millions of Black Americans fled from their homes to other areas within the South and to other parts of the country. This movement of people caused a radical shift in the demographic, economic, and sociopolitical makeup of the United States.

For instance, New York City — and particularly Manhattan — became home to hundreds of thousands of Black Americans during this time, catalyzing the start of the artistic and cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. [Read more…] about Artists Reflect On the Impact of Great Migration in New Exhibit

Filed Under: History, New Exhibits, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Black History, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, Great Migration, Harlem, Harlem Renaissance, New York City, painting, Photography

New York: A Metropolis of Murals

August 2, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Harry Siddons Mowbray’s Renaissance murals at J.P. Morgan’s Library on Madison AvenuePlastered on walls in public spaces and civic buildings, scattered in hotels and restaurants, hidden in private mansions, a plenitude of murals form part of New York City’s infrastructure.

Although American interest in the medium originated in the 1893 World Fair which presented visitors with numerous large-scale murals, the vogue for this form of artistic expression dates back to the Great Depression. With the introduction of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933, federal funds were made available to support and promote public art. Muralism became fashionable. [Read more…] about New York: A Metropolis of Murals

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Art History, Black History, Cultural History, Harlem, Immigration, Manhattan, New York City, painting, Political History, womens history

Harlem on Fire: Langston Hughes & Wallace Henry Thurman

July 26, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 3 Comments

Ad for Hotel OlgaBefore the arrival of European settlers, the flatland area that would become Harlem (originally: Nieuw Haarlem after the Dutch city of that name) was inhabited by the indigenous Munsee speakers, the Lenape. The first settlers from the Low Countries arrived in the late 1630s.

Harlem was an agricultural center under British rule (attempts to change the name of the community to “Lancaster” failed and the authorities reluctantly adopted the Anglicised name of Harlem). During the American Revolutionary War in September 1776 it was the site of the Battle of Harlem Heights. Later, rich elites built country houses there in order to escape from the city’s dirt and epidemics (Alexander Hamilton built his Harlem estate in 1802). [Read more…] about Harlem on Fire: Langston Hughes & Wallace Henry Thurman

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Civil Rights, Cultural History, French History, Harlem, Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, LGBTQ, Literature, Music, Musical History, New York City, Performing Arts, Poetry

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