In 1920s Harlem, everyone clamored for an invitation to one place: a grand townhouse on West 136th Street. There, in what was known as the Walker Studio and later, the Dark Tower, arts patron A’Lelia Walker threw lavish parties attended by poets and writers and artists and musicians and activists of the Harlem Renaissance: Countee
Prohibition may have put a damper on alcohol sales in much of the United States in the 1920s and early ’30s, but it didn’t stop the party up in Harlem. The map above, created in 1932, shows a thriving nightlife centered on New York jazz venues like the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. The
In the first half of the twentieth century, the Harlem Renaissance resulted in an array of outstanding and groundbreaking art, literature, and music that still resonates with audiences today. A number of prominent black artists and intellectuals congregated in Harlem, leading to one of the most significant creative scenes in American cultural history. Some of