Black New York: Historic Photos From the Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York, located at the top of Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue in New York City, presents lively exhibitions and public programs that explore and interpret the city's past, and celebrate New York's heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation.

Among its vast holdings, the Museum is the steward of more than a quarter of a million photographs depicting New York City and its inhabitants from the advent of photography forward. Before photography was recognized by other museums as an important art form, an early, visionary curator, Grace Mayer, began collecting photographers' work for its documentary value.

There are countless stories in these images; the movement of the African American community within Manhattan is just one of them. We're proud to celebrate Black History Month by presenting this selection of photographs.

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Street Scenes, Seventh Avenue Around 30th St.

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Street Scenes, Seventh Avenue Around 30th St., Colored District, 1903, Byron Company, from the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York.

Before Harlem became arguably the most well-known African American neighborhood in the United States, an area called the Tenderloin (or the "colored district" as the Byron Company termed it) on the west side of Manhattan was home to many of New York City's black residents. This and most captions to follow were assigned by the original photographers.

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Street Scenes, Seventh Avenue Around 30th St., Colored District, 1903, Byron Company, from the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York.

Before Harlem became arguably the most well-known African American neighborhood in the United States, an area called the Tenderloin (or the "colored district" as the Byron Company termed it) on the west side of Manhattan was home to many of New York City's black residents. This and most captions to follow were assigned by the original photographers.

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Comments

[Iwie]

03:01 PM on 02/19/2011

This is a phenomenal tool for teaching. Thanks!

[drlove907]

04:49 PM on 02/18/2011

i love pics like this, sometimes wish I could walk into some of those photos!

[Postum]

10:37 AM on 02/18/2011

These photographs are wonderful. And it's great to find that each of these here are linked to many others in the collection.

[Pandechion]

04:57 PM on 02/17/2011

Fantastic collection. I would like to see a script for the Carolyn Capers of 1935, just to find out what part the drum and bugle outfit played. And those kids at the theater! "Eager" doesn't half describe it.

[db08]

03:41 PM on 02/17/2011

Nice. Thank you for sharing.

[tiemposdepaz]

12:32 PM on 02/17/2011

Love the Black history of New York. I was fortunate to have a cousin who lived on Striver's Row in Harlem, and that home was originially owned by a black composer at the turn of the 20th century. The house with its many rooms and floors fascinated me, to learn so much more about the history of the earliest Black inhabitants, some of which were enslaved, through the 1800s (lower east side), Harlem, and definitely observant of West Indian's involvement in the city. I keep telling my friends of the Real New York, that they should be sad that many native New Yorkers (meaning those who have lived here for more than 2 generations) are being forced to move out. New York has changed, because the working class are being forced out of the city. Who stays are some of the dryest, materialistic, shallow individuals, and I don't enjoy Manhattan anymore. My friends are stuck dealing with roommates or project living, if they want to stay in the city. Soon gentrification will hit the best parts of New York, and all will go down the tubes.

[PoliSci2008]

05:40 PM on 02/16/2011

Thank You for share this. It was a real treat. The gathering of women under one roof while getting their hair done hasn't changed much from Mrs. Robinson's Beauty Parlors days.

[Rus Viking]

04:51 PM on 02/16/2011

Interesting note (to me anyway.)

The film in #15 that the little ones are so anxious to see is a Ronald Reagan film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031045/

[nappyman]

03:58 PM on 02/16/2011

The article doesn't state it, but is this collection on display now? I'd go this weekend if it is.

[Lacy Schutz]

05:37 PM on 02/16/2011

These photographs are all on display online only in the Museum's Collections Portal. We do, however, have an exhibition up in the building called Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment. It's a fabulous show that will be here through May 1.

[nappyman]

06:13 PM on 02/16/2011

Sweet. I will take your advice and check that out.

[Widespread Panic]

03:54 PM on 02/16/2011

Awesome photos!! Old black and whites are my favorite style of photography.