THE PLAIN AND THE HEIGHTS
Andrew Dolkart

An oversupply of housing stock built in Harlem around 1910 led landlords to begin accepting African American tenants. The sign reads "Apartments to Let. 3 or 4 Rooms with Improvements For Respectable Colored Families Only."

© Brown Brothers, Sterling, Pa.

In this essay, the introduction to Andrew S. Dolkart and Gretchen S. Sorin's Touring Historic Harlem: Four Walks in Northern Manhattan, Dolkart, James Marston Fitch Chair and associate professor of historic preservation at Columbia, charts the growth of Harlem and its buildings, from its roots as a Dutch farming village called Nieuw Haarlem in 1658, centered at East 125th Street.

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And, in a video presentation recorded for the Web site The Architecture and Development of New York City, Professor Dolkart discusses Harlem churches and synagogues, and the efforts of congregations to erect great buildings upon their arrival in Harlem early in the twentieth century.

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Photo Essay: The Streets of Harlem
"Can we think of another neighborhood in the world that has the kind of resonance that Harlem has? Greenwich Village, and neighborhoods in London, but I think it's hard to beat Harlem."
—Robert O'Meally


Arts and Culture
The flowering of Harlem music, theater, and writing is explored by Columbia faculty and recalled by eminent African Americans social leaders.

The Neighborhood
Harlem at different times was a magnet for Jews, West Indians, and African Americans from across the United States.

Politics
Reflections on Adam Clayton Powell, the odyssey of David Dinkins and political culture itself in Harlem.

Columbia Next Door
Quotations on Columbia’s role in the Harlem community.

IRAAS
The Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia.
Paul Robeson
One of the most prominent black Americans of the 1930s and 1940s, Robeson won critical and popular acclaim for his stage and screen roles.

Ahead of Their Time
From Sid Luckman to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Columbians have often been ahead of their time.
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