234 West 131st Street, ca. 1932.

Merson's Liquor and Wine, January 7, 1941.

Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church ARCHITECT: George W. Foster, Jr. DATE: 1923-25 STYLE: Neo-Gothic The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, built in 1923-25, is the sixth home of New York City’s first black congregation and the founding church of the A.M.E. Zion Conference of churches, which spread throughout the United States and Canada. Established in 1796, under the leadership of James Varick, Mother Zion has a long and illustrious history of religious and social activism. In the nineteenth century, the A.M.E. Zion conference was popularly known as the “Freedom Church” because of its important role in the abolitionist movement; many conference churches, including Mother Zion, served as stations on the Underground Railroad. The movement of the Mother Zion congregation northward, beginning in lower Manhattan, to the present location in Harlem, reflects the residential patterns of New York City’s black population. At the time the present church was constructed, Harlem contained the majority of New York’s black residents. A distinguished composition in the neo-Gothic style, reflecting the tradition of Protestant church design in the 1920s, the church building was designed by George W. Foster, Jr., one of the first black architects to be registered in the United States. During the twentieth-century leadership of Pastor James W. Brown and his successor, Dr. Benjamin C. Robeson, Mother Zion rose to even greater prominence as a religious and social institution. Robeson’s civil rights crusade attracted such notable Harlem residents as Langston Hughes and W.E.B. DuBois, and the Zion pulpit was often a platform for the social and political activism of Robeson’s brother, Paul Robeson. Mother Zion has continued its almost two-hundred year tradition of service to its congregation and community, not only addressing the spiritual needs of its members but also providing an array of social programs.

The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 140-148 West 137th Street is the sixth home of New York City’s very first black church, and the founding church of the A.M.E. Zion Conference of churches. Today, the gorgeous neo-Gothic structure, built in 1923-1925, stands as a symbol of the city’s black, religious, and civil rights history while continuing to serve as a touchstone for over 1.4 million followers. In honor of Black History Month, we delve into the remarkable story of Mother Zion, which takes us beyond the Village and back. This story is adapted from a Village Preservation blog, which can be viewed here.

Watt-Pinkney Mansion, 1925. Built in 1796 by John DeLancey, the dwelling later known as the Watt-Pinkney mansion originally stood on a low rise of what would become 139th and 140th Streets. Archibald D. Watt acquired the house and its 300-acre farm in 1826. Eleven years later, following the crash of 1837, he borrowed funds from his stepdaughter, Mary G. Pinkney (1810-1908). A mortgage on the Watt acreage secured the loan. In the 1860s, when Seventh Avenue was extended northward, the house was moved around the corner to 139th Street. Mary G. Pinkney left a fortune in uptown real estate and a house worthy of becoming a museum. However, her home was not to enjoy the fate of the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Around 1915 the Libya nightclub opened in the mansion near the foot of Libya Hill. Harlem’s most influential politicians, professionals, and theater people patronized the club, where the Clef Club provided the musicians. A young Ethel Waters, famous later as a singer and then as an actress, performed at the Libya as part of a dance duo. The nightclub closed in 1921. For a time, the local community tried to interest the City of New York in acquiring the property for a playground, but the house was ultimately demolished in 1925.

St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, founded in 1809, is one of the country’s oldest black parishes. From its origins in Lower Manhattan, the church moved uptown several times, following the black community and seeking safety from sporadic violence such as the race riot of 1900. Around the turn of the century, church rector Hutchens Chew Bishop began buying Harlem rental properties, evicting whites and renting to blacks. With the income, he bought land on 134th Street and hired black architect Vertner Tandy to design a new building. The impressive Gothic structure provided a spiritual and community home for black parishioners in Harlem.

Abyssinian Baptist Church ca. 1923 Abyssinian Baptist Church was located on West 40th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues when Adam Clayton Powell Sr., arrived from New Haven to take up the pastorship of what was the largest black congregation in the world in 1908. Powell, who moved his family to a house in a predominantly white neighborhood on West 134th Street, soon tried to interest his congregation in relocating the church to Harlem but encountered considerable resistance. Abyssinian did not purchase land on West 138th Street between Seventh and Lenox Avenues until 1920. A white architectural firm designed the Gothic edifice, completed in 1923, which still features stained-glass images of blue-eyed blond angels, saints, and biblical figures. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who succeeded his father as pastor in 1937, used the substantial power base afforded by the largest black congregation in America to win election as the first black member of New York's City Council and as Harlem's Congressman for twenty-five years.

H. Adolph Howell Funeral Chapel, ca. 1926. The H. Adolph Howell Funeral Chapel was considered one of the first "funeral churches" (what would come to be known as funeral parlors). Howell was a Caribbean immigrant, local Harlem businessman and undertaker, who moved to Harlem in the first decades of the 20th century. The building at 2332 Seventh Avenue became the funeral facility in the middle of the 1920s and quickly became a prominent part of the community, a space where the neighborhood's deceased were mourned and celebrated. Often the bodies of the recently departed were laid out in state for a few days before their Sunday afternoon burials (as Sunday was the traditional day for funerals). This was the case for two famous burials that occurred at H. Adolph Howell's. In 1927 famed Harlem cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian laid in state for five days while more than 10,000 mourners passed by her coffin. In 1931 the funeral services for A'Lelia Walker, daughter of Madam C.J. Walker and mainstay of the Harlem Renaissance in her own right, also saw 10,000 mourners files passed her casket at Howell's. On the day of the funeral itself, more than 1000 people gathered outside the funeral parlor for the invite-only funeral. In later years the building served as the John Joyce-Rodney Dade Funeral Home, which only ceased operations in 2007.

Harlem YMCA, ca. 1930. Officially designed by the Architectural Bureau of the National Council of the YMCA, the architect in charge of the project was James C. Mackenzie, Jr. The red brick, neo-Georgian building was completed in 1932 and replaced a former YMCA building across the street. The building became an important location for the African American community in Harlem, with a number of well-known residents, including authors Ralph Ellison and Maria Celeste and Malcolm X.

Saint Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church ARCHITECT: Tandy & Foster DATE: 1910-11 STYLE: Neo-Gothic, Church St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church is the fourth home of New York City’s first African-American congregation of Protestant Episcopalians. From its beginnings as the African Episcopal Catechetical Institution in the City of New York shortly after the American Revolution, St. Philip’s was established as its own parish in 1818 under the leadership of Bishop John Henry Hobart and the Reverend Peter Williams, Jr. St. Philip’s long and inspiring chronicle of religious and social activism adds a depth to our national history not generally acknowledged. The movement of St. Philip’s congregation northward, beginning in lower Manhattan, to the present location in Harlem, reflects the residential patterns of New York City’s African-American population. When the Reverend Hutchens Chew Bishop purchased residential property in Harlem in 1908 on behalf of St. Philip’s and the church building was constructed at its present location, St. Philip’s became one of the first institutions to attract African-Americans to Harlem. St. Philip’s Church building was designed in the neo-Gothic style by the firm of Tandy & Foster. The design of the facade, a response to certain liturgical requirements, incorporates fourteenth-century English, or Perpendicular, Gothic elements in contrasting orange Roman brick and cast-stone aggregate. Vertner W. Tandy was the first African-American architect to be registered in the State of New York and George Washington Foster, Jr., was among the first African-Americans to practice within the architectural profession in the United States. St. Philip’s has continued its nearly two-hundred-year tradition of service to its congregation and community, addressing the spiritual needs of its members and providing a variety of social programs.

407 West 130th Street, unknown date.

Once called the "richest Negro church in America," St. Philip's Episcopal Church is also one of the oldest black congregations in New York. The church was organized in 1818 by, among others, Peter Williams Jr., a passionate political activist, and abolitionist. Many of the parishioners of St. Philip's were members of New York's extremely small nineteenth-century black elite. Located since 1886 in the infamous Tenderloin neighborhood on the middle west side of Manhattan, St. Philip's acquired a new church site on the south side of West 134th Street near Seventh Avenue in 1909. (The church also purchased ten apartment houses on West 135th Street that had previously been restricted to whites. When the congregation began its move to Harlem, St. Philip's evicted the white tenants and made the apartments available to blacks. For half a century, rent from those apartments subsidized the St. Philip's endowment). One of the architects of the church, which opened in 1911, was Vertner Woodson Tandy, the first black architect registered in New York and designer of Madam C. J. Walker's townhouse/hair parlor.

The High School of Music & Art, April 3, 1926. The High School of Music & Art for Gifted Children opened for the spring term of 1936, in a William H. Gompert-designed school building at 135th Street and Convent Avenue. Built in 1924 for the New York Training School for Teachers and the associated New York Model School (where the training teachers taught), by the mid-1930s, the hilltop Collegiate Gothic structure housed P.S. 193 and an annex of the Wadleigh High School for Girls. The New York Times reported that the initial Music & Art enrollment of 215 “specially gifted students” would receive instruction “not only to develop their abilities in fine arts or music but to pursue courses leading either to the academic high school diploma for college entrance or the general high school diploma.” Piano instruction was also compulsory. Music & Art opened during the administration of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, himself an enthusiastic patron of the performing arts. In his remarks at the school’s dedication ceremony, La Guardia predicted that “in five years this will be one of the outstanding high schools in the country.” Over 70 years later, the Mayor’s prediction has been validated by the lengthy list of notable alumcross every discipline of the arts. The “castle on the hill” campus was home to Music & Art from 1936 to 1984, when the school merged with the High School of Performing Arts upon moving into a new campus at Lincoln Center. The new facility was named the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts. Today, over 2,700 students are enrolled at La Guardia, each with a studio or performing arts concentration. Gompert’s building is today part of the City College south campus, and includes the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School.

Mother AME Zion Church, 1925. Designed by one of the first African American architects in the United States, George W. Foster Jr., Mother Zion was completed in 1925, as the sixth and final home of the religious community. The congregation that moved into this new Gothic Revival building dates to 1796 when it was founded as the first African American church in New York. The community became the "mother" church of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Conference denomination when the church broke from the predominantly white Methodist Episcopal Church in 1820. During the 1930s the charismatic preacher of the this church was Reverend Dr. Benjamin C. Robeson, who spoke passionately of civil rights activism. Parishioners, both here and in its previous locations, included singer Paul Robeson (brother to the pastor) Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Marian Anderson, and Madam C.J. Walker.

During an era of racial segregation, pioneering African-American singer and actress Ethel Waters (1896-1977) achieved stardom in theater, radio, movies, and television. Her career in New York began in 1919 when she moved to Harlem and performed at such popular venues as the Lafayette Theater (demolished) on West 132nd Street and the Lincoln Theater (façade since altered) at 58 West 135th Street. By at least 1925, Waters was living in a seven-room apartment at 580 St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem’s Sugar Hill section. The building had become one of the neighborhood’s most prestigious addresses for prominent African Americans around that time. First a blues singer, she recorded numerous hit songs during this time, including “Dinah” (1925), “I’ve Found a New Baby” (1926), and “Am I Blue?” (1927). In 1925, Waters replaced popular black star Florence Mills at the Plantation Club, a nightclub formerly part of Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in Africana (1927) at Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre (demolished), which soon moved to the National Theatre (now Nederlander Theatre). Her performance in the short-lived revue caught the attention of lyricist Irving Berlin, who would later cast her as the only major black performer in As Thousands Cheer, a huge Broadway hit in 1933. Berlin had also been impressed with her “Stormy Weather” act with Duke Ellington at the whites-only Cotton Club (demolished) in Harlem. After Waters found success in Hollywood and her fame grew she never publicly acknowledged her homosexuality, likely because — as with other closeted stars then and to this day — she feared it would ruin her career. However, in the early 1920s, she lived with her girlfriend, dancer Ethel Williams, and was well known in Harlem’s lesbian circles. Fellow entertainer Mabel Hampton called them “the two Ethels” and later recalled spending time with them and other lesbian blues singers in Harlem.

The Wishing Tree was originally located in front of the Lafayette Theater on 7th Ave and 132nd Street. In the 1920s and 1930s, 7th Avenue was commonly called the "Boulevard of Dreams" by Harlem residents, as it was lined with prominent performance venues. Reportedly, before performances, actors, musicians and the like would touch the branches and bark of this tree for good luck on stage. The tree was a symbol of promise for Harlem. Unfortunately, the good-fortune granting shrub was chopped down by the Parks Department in 1934 to widen the Avenue, and sections of it were cut up and sold to private hands. Seeking to preserve the public tradition of the lucky charm, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson saved the stump and brought it at a nearby traffic island. The "replanting" ceremony was attended by over 5,000 Harlem residents, who led a "rhythmic planting" in homage to the music industry the tree served. Even Mayor LaGuardia attended the ceremony. A young sapling was planted at the original location of the Wishing Tree, but hope-seekers continued to visit the stump. Soon, a plaque was laid in front of it, which read "The Original Tree of Hope Beloved by Citizens of Harlem." On November 13th, 1934, the New York Daily News interviewed a few visitors to the newly-minted Wishing Tree. Here are their accounts: George A. Seward, of West 132nd Street, unemployed at the time: "My wish is for tolerance among men and between races. We would all be happier if we could live together without hate or prejudice, each man respecting the other's rights and feelings. If you let me make another wish, I'll make a wish for a good job." Miss Margaret G. Jackson of West 143rd Street, a homemaker: "I've just made a wish and that's a good one, brother. I wish that prosperity will return soon to Harlem, like we used to have it five or six years ago. This Wishing Tree was planted in bad times, and if things go by opposites I will get my wish." Edward M. Fentress, of Seventh Avenue, mortician: "To be able to minister to my fellow men. In particular, I want to minister to the aged and infirm and to children. Boy, how I love the little pickaninnies! Everybody does, and I'm also wishing that we will have a fine playground for them somewhere in Harlem." Miss Peg Buckhoy of West 138th Street, a dancer: "$1,000,000 in cash. Just watch my smoke when my wish comes true. It's bound to come true, because this is the Wishing Tree, and that's what they planted it in Harlem for. I'll give Bill Robinson $1,000 a night to teach me the secret of his dancing, although I'm some dancer myself." Mrs. Roberta T. Williams, of West 143rd Street, a homemaker: This Wishing Tree is new in Harlem, and I've come here to wish that every person who makes a wish her will have his or her wish granted. I'm coming again tomorrow to make another wish, and then I'm wishing that I will always continue to look young enough to be mistaken for my daughter's sister." J.W. Stewart, West 128th Street, steward: "I'm wishing for money and plenty of it. With money I can have all the friends in the world and do anything I want to do. Without it there are few friends and very little liberty. People say that money isn't everything in the world, but try to do something without it." The Wishing Tree has since been removed, but a commemorative sculpture, titled "Tree of Hope III," by Harlem artist Algernon Miller, takes its place. A portion of the original stump can be visited in the Apollo Theater.

Interior of Hamilton Grange, date unknown.

136 West 137th Street, ca. 1932.

Adolph Lewisohn Stadium, during a formal reception for Italian legation when Italy entered World War I., ca. 1915. The Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built where City College's North Academic Center presently stands. Designed by Arnold W. Brunner, the arena opened in 1915 and was the site of City College's athletic events and commencement ceremonies from its inception to 1973, when it was demolished. The structure could not have been built without the financial support of philanthropist Adolph Lewisohn, who donated the money for construction. It was through his contribution that the school was able to construct a great open space that not only served the student body but the public. The stadium was a destination for elaborate theatrical events, summer concerts, including the production of The Trojan Women at the dedication ceremony. In 1973, the structure was demolished to make way for the $125 million North Academic Center.

240 West 131st Street, ca. 1932.

202-204 West 136th Street, ca. 1936. This building has been home to the New York Urban League (NYUL) for over a century. NYUL is part of a much larger, nationwide organization that formed in 1910 to help African American migrants assimilate into urban life. Since the inception of the National Urban League's New York branch in 1918, NYUL has provided essential social services in New York City, helping black individuals find jobs, healthcare, educational opportunities, and also expand their employment.

Abyssinian Baptist Church ARCHITECT: Charles W. Bolton & Son DATE: 1922-23 STYLE: Neo-Gothic The Abyssinian Baptist Church is the home of one of New York City’s oldest church organizations and the second oldest within the family of African-American churches in Manhattan. Organized in 1808 by a small group of black worshippers who withdrew from the predominantly white First Baptist Church on Gold Street, the Abyssinian Baptist Church was incorporated in the following year, adopting the ancient name for Ethiopia. The northward movement of the Abyssinian congregation, which occupied several successive locations from its first home in a wooden church on Worth Street to its imposing stone edifice in Harlem, followed the residential patterns of New York’s black population. Under the leadership of the Reverend William Spellman during the second half of the nineteenth century, the church grew rapidly into one of the wealthiest of the “African” congregations. In the twentieth century, the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Sr.’s “social gospel,” blending social activism with spiritual leadership, set the tone for Abyssinian’s ongoing mission to serve its community. Commissioned during Powell’s tenure, the striking church building and the adjoining community house were the work of Charles W. Bolton & Son, a productive Philadelphia firm which specialized in churches. The neo-Gothic design of the church reflects the tradition of Protestant church architecture of the 1920s. Powell’s son and successor, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who served eleven terms as a U.S. Congressman, put Abyssinian at the forefront of the national crusade for social reform and civil rights. During his pastorate, the church membership grew to over 10,000, placing it among the largest Protestant churches in the world. Today, the church leadership under the Reverend Calvin Butts continues its commitment to religious and social service and economic development in Harlem.

Interior view of the original front door of Hamilton Grange, date unknown. During the home's time at 287 Convent Avenue (1889-2008), this original door was facing the side of the church next door.

Saint Aloysius Roman Catholic Church ARCHITECT: William W. Renwich DATE: 1902-04 STYLE: Italian Gothic, Church The richly ornamented, polychrome St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church was built in 1902-04 to the design of William W. Renwick based on Italian Gothic prototypes, an unusual source of stylistic inspiration for buildings in New York City. Named after the 16th-century Italian St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the church was organized in 1899 by Rev. John A. McKenna and constructed during a church-building campaign in Harlem to accommodate the growing immigrant population. W.W. Renwick, nephew of noted architect James Renwick, Jr., joined his uncle’s firm in 1885 and became a junior partner in 1890. In his work in that firm and its successors, and in independent practice after 1900, he specialized in ecclesiastical architecture and decoration. The intricate facade of St. Aloysius, considered one of W.W. Renwick’s most important commissions, consists of alternating bands of red brick, celadon-colored glazed brick (by the Grueby Faience Co.), and glazed “granitex” (with the color and texture of grey granite) terra cotta with cobalt blue accents (by the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co.) in a wide variety of molded motifs.

The Constitution of the United States of America establishes the laws and governmental structure of the United States. It was first drafted by James Madison and explains which rights are reserved to the national and state governments. The Constitution was ratified in 1787, four years after the official ending of the Revolutionary War. In the years between the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, and the Constitutional Convention, the United States was governed by a document titled Articles of Confederation. This document gave more power to the various states instead of a single national government. This made important decisions regarding trade, taxation, and defense, very hard to make. Many people recognized the serious situation the new nation found itself in and met in Philadelphia to create a new guiding document. After intense debate, they produced the US Constitution, which still forms the basis of our government. In fact, the US Constitution is the oldest constitution still in use today. While not perfect, this document laid out the fundamental rights that all Americans enjoy today. These different locations throughout New York help to highlight some of the powers and rules laid out in our founding document. NYS Social Studies Scope and Sequence Standards 7.4 & 11.2 For Teachers: US Constitution Lesson Plan

The Harlem Renaissance was one of the most important cultural movements in American history. The legacies left behind, whether musical, political, or legacies of social activism, are ones whose impacts we still see everywhere in American culture today. As a part of my personal project with the Living City Project, I led a walk around Harlem, looking at historical buildings, streets, and institutions, or at least where they once were, and discussing the important people, events and activities associated with those iconic sites. I started this project with an interest in the influential jazz scene of NYC in the early 20th century. As I began to study this, I came across Billie Holiday’s incredible art and life. Although Holiday wasn’t from New York, one of her most famous songs, “Strange Fruit,” was a product of the city’s writers and musicians at the time. The lyrics were written by a Jewish school teacher, Abel Meeropol, who originally wrote them as a poem. The song was heard being sung in Cafe Society by the floor manager at the time, who told the club’s founder, Barney Josephson. Josephson then invited Holiday to come to hear the song. From there, it became the iconic and deeply powerful song we know today. Billie performed it all over the world. It became one of her signature songs. I was equally as fascinated by Holiday’s relentless, fearless singing of the song, the national interest in hearing her sing it, and the federal government’s alarm at her performing the song. Furthermore, as I read more about her and her music, I began to understand how, in many ways, “Strange Fruit” was the catalyst for other protest songs of the 20th century. After beginning with an interest in NYC Jazz, and then Billie Holiday, I arrived at the Harlem Renaissance because of the way it aligned with what fascinated me about Billie. The Harlem Renaissance was also a meeting of civil rights activism, art, and the movement, and has had long-lasting effects on American culture, just as Holiday has. This is only a small sampling of some of these incredibly important and influential institutions and figures, and it is only a fraction of the information out there about this topic. There are many scholars and organizations who have delved deeper into some of these topics, and I encourage the viewer to look beyond this introduction if they're interested. I also recognize that I am a young white woman from out of town, and this is not my community in many senses. I created this walk in hopes of appreciating and better understanding the great cultural influence that many of the figures and institutions from The Harlem Renaissance have had on my own life as well as on the lives of many Americans to this day. Spotify playlist with all songs from the tour: Harlem Renaissance Walk. I chose to include this playlist because the music is what initially drew me to this topic, and I want the reader to get to experience it as well. In addition, sometimes with history, it is hard for the reader to completely feel and understand what was going on; I feel that music is a vivid, real way to gain even the slightest understanding of the moment they’re learning about, especially when discussing an artistic, musical movement. I would encourage the reader to either listen to the playlist before starting the tour, after doing it or both. At each stop, I have included which song from the playlist goes with the stop - I encourage the viewer to play these at each stop in addition to listening to the playlist all the way through.

A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, Manhattan Established in 1979, the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School (H.S. 540) occupies the former High School of Music & Art, located on West 135th Street in Harlem. Designed by William H. Gompert and built between 1924 and 1926 in Collegiate Gothic style, the L-shaped building is clad in limestone and mottled buff-to-brown ironspot brick features distinctive square towers. Designated as a New York City Landmark in 1977, the school is named in honor of Asa Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, who is considered to be the greatest African-American labor leader in American history.

A residential enclave, this neighborhood east of St. Nicholas Park features remarkably intact and finely detailed residential rowhouse architecture, built for upper-middle-class professionals in the late 19th century. The community is named for the adjoining park dedicated in 1925 that honors African-American infantryman Dorrance Brooks, who displayed ”signal bravery” in World War I. The square became a rallying point for civil rights protests. Closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance, the area was home to jazz musician Lionel Hampton. Dorrance Brooks Square was designated a historic district on June 15, 2021. Watch the 2020 Grassroots Prersvation presentation on Dorrance Brooks Square

College of the City of New York: The Main Building, 1911. Described in the LPC designation report as being shaped from above as a stubby anchor, Shepard Hall (originally known as Main Hall) is the largest of the buildings on the City College of New York North Campus. Built in a lavish neo-Gothic style with terra cotta quoins and a seven-story tower, Shepard Hall is the "cathedral" of this campus. Designed, along with most of the other university buildings nearby, by George B. Post between 1903 and 1907, it was the particular project a former graduate Edward Morse Shepard. Shepard would oversee the design and decoration of the enormous room within the Main Building called the Great Hall, which could accommodate more than 1000 people.

St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church ca. 1908 It is possible to time-travel in Harlem simply by turning the corner from Seventh Avenue onto West 132nd Street and unexpectedly coming upon William W. Renwick's St. Aloysius's Roman Catholic Church. Built in 1904, following a journey of Renwick's to Italy, its scarlet doors and polychromed terra-cotta so convincingly evoke Italy's late medieval churches that the effect can be somewhat disorienting. The church was built for a primarily Irish congregation. Of particular note was the gold-framed window of yellow leaded glass in the nave, which produced a warm focal point in the space of quiet repose. The window's glow abruptly vanished when a tall apartment building was constructed on the next block.

Drawing of Hamilton Grange, pre-1889. Hamilton's home has only been in its new (and likely final) location in St. Nicholas Park since 2008– not long enough for photographs to be in the collections of NYC archives. For a series of historic photos, make sure to visit the pins for 287 Convent Avenue and 143rd Street between Convent and Hamilton Place. This drawing of the home in its original location (approximately West 143rd Street between Convent Avenue and Hamilton Place) is very similar to how the building looks today. In its final move the original entrance was restored.

Townsend - Harris Hall, City College, ca. 1910.

There have been two Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) buildings on this street. The original, which was built in 1918-19, was the YMCA Building, West 135th Street Branch at 181 West 135th Street. In 1931-32, a new building was constructed across the street at 180 West 135th Street; still in use today as the Harlem YMCA, it was first known as the YMCA Building, 135th Street Branch. The original location at 181 West 135th Street was the successor to the “Colored Men’s Branch” of the YMCA, located on West 53rd Street (1901-19). African-American YMCAs were the result of the YMCA’s official policy of racial segregation, from the organization’s beginnings in the United States in 1851 until 1946. Though excluded from white YMCAs, African Americans were encouraged to form separate branches, which became autonomous community centers. As the African-American population of Harlem rapidly increased and this facility became overcrowded, a new 135th Street Branch YMCA (today’s Harlem YMCA) was constructed across the street from the earlier building. This new 135th Street Branch, partially funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Julius Rosenwald (former president of Sears, Roebuck & Co.), and the Phelps-Stokes Fund, was called at the time of its completion the largest such facility for African-American men and boys, as well as one of the best-equipped YMCA buildings, in the country.

187 West 135th Street, 1931. Between 1925 and 1938, this apartment was the residence of Civil Rights activist James Weldon Johnson . Johnson could be described as a modern "Renaissance man" - he taught and practiced law, songwriting, poetry, as well as authored novels, and served as the United States consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua all before he was appointed head of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP). Johnson was born in Jacksonville Florida. While studying for the bar exam, Johnson was a schoolteacher and eventually served as the principal of the prestigious Stanton Preparatory School. In 1897, Stanton passed the bar making him the first African American admitted to the Florida Bar. Johnson opened a law practice in Florida while concurrently writing poetry and songs, which led him to New York in 1901 during the Great Migration. He moved to the city with his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, and together they authored around 200 songs (many of which were sung on Broadway.) While in New York, Johnson remained interested in law and thus, became involved in politics. He participated in Theodore Roosevelt's presidential campaign and when Roosevelt was elected, he served as consul to Venezuela in 1906 and to Nicaragua in 1913. During this time, he anonymously published his novel, "The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man." By the 1920s, Johnson had become a leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance as a poet and songwriter. He began working for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1916 and by 1920 he was appointed executive secretary. Johnson lived in this house on 135th Street during his time as head of the NAACP, a position he held for ten years. In "Negro Americans, what now?" an essay published in 1934, Johnson writes the following: "Black America is called upon to stand as the protagonist of tolerance, of fair play, of justice, and of goodwill...White America cannot save itself if it prevents us from being saved." His home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

New York Training School for Teachers, 1926. Known as the "Castle on the Hill," the school building seen here was built in an "abstracted contemporary Collegiate Gothic style," according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Designed by William H. Gompert, Architect and Superintendent of School Buildings for the Board of Education and constructed in 1924-1926, the building originally housed the New York Training School for Teachers. In this buildings teachers were educated and allowed to "practice" teaching. It became the New York Teachers Training College for a few years, but was closed in 1933 when, during the Depression the city had a surplus of 5000 teachers waiting for appointments. Next, the building became Public School 193 briefly before becoming the High School of Music and Art, which it remained for nearly 50 years. Created by Mayor LaGuardia in 1936, it is considered to be the first public high school in the country to have a specialized study of art and music. The school merged with the High School for Performing Arts in 1984 and moved to Lincoln Center. Today the building is occupied by the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, a public school where screened applicants offered a place in one of three academic academies within. An educational collaboration between the Board of Education and CCNY, the school was established in 1979 and moved into this building in 1983.

Lafayette Theatre, 1936. Known to Harlem locals as "the House Beautiful", the Lafayette Theatre was a Renaissance-style building that became a neighborhood landmark. Completed in 1912 to the plans of theatre architect, Victor Hugo Koehler, the two-story, 1500 seat venue was the brainchild of Lower East Side banker, Meyer Jarmulowsky (of the Jarmulowsky Bank family). Initially, African Americans were only allowed seating in the balcony and then were permitted to buy seats in the orchestra, but were charged double the cost of a ticket for a white patron. Through complaints and the loss of revenue, due to this policy, the theatre made a change. One year after opening, the Lafayette became one of the first major theatres to desegregate. This action brought larger black audiences, and a contemporary critic suggested that this would mean more serious black productions. The Lafayette Players, Harlem's first black legitimate theater group, was founded here in 1916 and the theatre and its adjacent nightclub hosted some of the well-known performers of the day, including Bessie Smith, Moms Mabley, Leadbelly, and Duke Ellington. The theatre closed in the 1930s but was revived as part of the Works Progress Administration's Negro Theater Project. In 1936, its most famous production debuted: a performance of "Macbeth," which moved the action to a Caribbean island, directed by 20-year-old Orson Welles. Referred to as "Voodoo Macbeth," the show played here for 10 weeks before transferring to Broadway and having a national tour. The theatre closed once again in 1951 and the building was purchased by the Williams Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. While the interiors were altered, other than removing the marquee, the exterior remained unchanged until 1990. That year the church demolished the exterior, which was unprotected, and replaced it with a somewhat Brutalist marble and concrete facade. The building and its abutting structure to the south, which once housed the Ubangi Club, a nightclub known for its openness to all races, genders, and sexual orientations, were demolished in 2013. The replacement apartment house is called The Lafayette.