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.

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.