Illuminating Forgotten Histories: New York City’s Early Black Communities

The Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation are partnering to illuminate aspects of New York City’s early Black neighborhoods. From Seneca Village, a community that will be formally memorialized in Central Park soon to Greenwich Village’s “Little Africa”, our group of experts will address the work of discovery, preservation, and documentation of these and other historically significant, but widely-forgotten Black communities. Panelists will include:

Leslie M. Harris, professor of history at Northwestern University and author or co-editor of numerous books, including In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863 and Slavery in New York (co-edited with Ira Berlin)

Jamila Brathwaite, a trustee of the African American Historical Society of Rockland County. She is an educator and curator and has worked to uncover the hidden history of the people of the African Diaspora, including “Little Africa,” a Black community, which flourished during the 19th century in New York City’s Greenwich Village.

John Reddick, an architectural historian and Columbia University Community Scholar who is actively engaged in Harlem’s culture, art and preservation. He’s lectured and published broadly, and recently served as a curator and discussion leader for the Harlem Focus series at the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt Design Center.