Strivers' Row
Strivers' Row consists of three rows of listed townhouses in West Harlem in New York City's Manhattan borough , USA . The building complex is listed as the St. Nicholas Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places .
location
Strivers' Row townhouses are located on West 138th Street and West 139th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue).
history
Originally these rows of townhouses were called "King Model Houses" after the developer David King . They were designed for the white upper middle class and erected between 1891 and 1893. The three rows of townhouses are considered to be the architectural gems of New York City and were designed by different architects: McKim, Mead & White completed the northern part of 139th Street in neo-Italian style. The buildings on 138th Street were designed by James Lord Brown , Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce .
The rows of houses share the backyards. The paths to the backyards between the townhouses have wrought-iron gates. At some entrances you can still find the note "Private Road - Walk Your Hourses", as it used to be possible to accommodate horses here and deliver goods without bothering the residents of the houses. Today the backyards are used almost exclusively as parking spaces. This makes the houses on Strivers' Row one of the few private houses in Manhattan that on the one hand have their own parking spaces but on the other hand no gardens in the backyard.
When the houses were completed, the targeted clientele, the white population of New York City, had left Harlem. David King's speculative construction project failed, leaving most of the homes owned by the Equitable Life Assurance Society , which funded the project. The insurance company didn't want to sell these buildings to black people . So they stood empty at first. When they were sold to blacks for US $ 8,000 each, hardworking business people who had made it up to the social level moved in. Therefore the rows of houses were given the name "Strivers' Row" (Striver = nerd). Wallace Thurman said in 1928: "Between Seventh and Eighth Avenues is 139th Street, known to Harlem residents as the 'stivers' row.' It is the posh street in Harlem. Stanfort White designed the houses for a wealthy man "White clientele. Wealthy Afro-Americans own them and live there today. If someone lives in 'strivers' row", you've allegedly achieved something. This is where Harry Rills lives, as does some of Harlem's biggest philistines and businessmen. ("Between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, is 139th Street, known among Harlemites as" strivers' row. "It is the most aristocratic street in Harlem. Stanford White designed the houses for a wealthy white clientele. Moneyed African-Americans now own and inhabit them. When one lives on "strivers' row" one has supposedly arrived. Harry Rills resides there, as do a number of the leading Babbitts and professional folk of Harlem. ").
Stivers' Row residents included Eubie Blake , Fletcher Henderson , Vertner Tandy , WC Handy , Dr. Louis T. Wright , Henry Pace , heavyweight boxer Harry Wills , comedian Stepin Fetchit , actor and singer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson , and preacher and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
In the 1940s, many of the houses fell into disrepair. Eventually they were rebuilt so that the individual rooms could be rented out permanently. Many of the original architectural details inside the houses were lost. The facades were generally retained. With the housing boom in Harlem after 1995, many of these buildings were renovated and returned to roughly their original condition. Every Strivers' Row townhouse is a registered monument. The buildings offer a view of the City College of New York , on a hill to the west.
The Time Out New York , a New York magazine had published in the March 2009 edition of "The 50 Best block in New York City" as a cover story. All five boroughs were included in the ranking, which was based on seven criteria: aesthetics, amenities, "green factor", noise and traffic, public transport , "New York-ocity" and affordability. Here, Strivers' Row was ranked 16th.
Culture
Harlem-born jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins named a counterfactor of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" after Strivers' Row - heard on the 1958 album " A Night At The Village Vanguard ". Jazz singer Cab Calloway mentions Strivers' Row in his song "Hard Times (Topsy Turvy)". Strivers 'Row is also mentioned in the song "Harlem Blues", which is part of the soundtrack for the movie " Mo' Better Blues ".
Abraham Hill's 1940 satirical society play "On Strivers' Row" was performed at the American Negro Theater (ANT) and is about the weirdness of social advancement and subtle racism between African-Americans during Harlem's renaissance. Kevin Baker's novel "Strivers Row" is about two historical characters who lived in Harlem in the 1940s: Malcolm X and Jonah Dove .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Andrew S. Dolkart, Gretchen S. Sorin: Touring Historic Harlem. New York Landmarks Conservatory, 1997.
- ↑ Kevin Baker ( Memento of March 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) "Our Malcolm," American Heritage , February / March 2006.
- ^ Wallace Thurman, Negro Life in New York's Harlem , (Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Publications, 1928)
- ↑ a b c d e Benson, Kathy, Jones, Celedonia, The Manhattan African-American History & Culture Guide, Museum of the City of New York , brochure, page 22 ff., 2005, presented by The Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields .
- ↑ Kevin Baker: Jitterbug Days . In: The New York Times , January 22, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
- ^ Time Out New York Block Stars
- ↑ Abram Hill's "On Strivers Row" at Black Theater Troupe-10/17 to 11/2/03 ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- TIME Magazine, July 31, 1964. "Harlem: No Place Like Home"
- Harlem: Lost and Found, Michael Henry Adams, 2002
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 49 ′ N , 73 ° 57 ′ W