Harlem

This year, we explored parts of Harlem on Thanksgiving Day. We got off the train at Harlem-125th Street and explored the area for a few hours. There is so much history in Harlem and it was neat to see some of the sights.

Harlem received its name from the Dutch. Originally a Dutch village, dating back to 1658, it;s named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem was largely farmland and belonged to the descents of Dutch, French and English settlers during the seventh and eighteenth centuries. African Americans migrated to Harlem around the 1900’s during the Great Migration.

Harlem is probably known best for the renassaince period from 1919 to the 1930’s. The Harlem Renaissance was a defining period for African Americans who many migrated from the South fleeing Jim Crow Laws. During this period Harlem was a cultural center for writers, activists, artists, musicians, poets and intellectuals looking for a place to freely express their voices and talents. Harlem discovered such celebrated writers as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and James Weldon Johnson.

There is a unique culture to the neighborhood. Many buildings are beginning to be restored and new buildings are popping up. Hopefully a new era for the upper Manhattan region is on the horizon!

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