Ronald Levin Carter is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded numerous times on that instrument. In addition to a solo career of more than 60 years, Carter is well-known for playing on numerous iconic Blue Note albums in the 1960s, as well as being the anchor of trumpeter Miles Davis's "Second Great Quintet" from 1963-1968.
Harry Belafonte was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte's career breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.
Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside Heights borders Central Harlem and Morningside Park to the east, Manhattanville to the north, the Manhattan Valley section of the Upper West Side to the south, and Riverside Park to the west. Broadway is the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, running north–south.
The Apollo Theater is a multi-use theater at 253 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a popular venue for black American performers and is the home of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo. The theater, which has approximately 1,500 seats across three levels, was designed by George Keister with elements of the neoclassical style. The facade and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation (ATF) operates the theater, as well as two smaller auditoriums at the Victoria Theater and a recording studio at the Apollo.
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He received numerous accolades including a Grammy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award as well as nominations for five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and Tony Award. Davis was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the National Medal of Arts in 1995, Kennedy Center Honors in 2004
Aaron Siskind was an American photographer whose work focuses on the details of things, presented as flat surfaces to create a new image independent of the original subject. He was closely involved with, if not a part of, the abstract expressionist movement, and was close friends with painters Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning.
The Gershwin Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street, on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in 1972, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named after brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who wrote several Broadway musicals. The Gershwin is Broadway's largest theater, with approximately 1,933 seats across two levels. Over the years, it has hosted musicals, dance companies, and concerts.
Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) is an art school located in the Harlem section of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Opening its doors in 1964, HSA serves ages 2 through 18.
The Beacon Theatre is an entertainment venue at 2124 Broadway, adjacent to the Hotel Beacon, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1929, the Beacon Theatre was developed by Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel and built as a movie palace, with 2,894 seats across three levels. It was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager with decorations inspired by the Renaissance, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek, and Rococo styles. The theater is designated as a New York City interior landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lasker Rink, dedicated as the Loula D. Lasker Memorial Swimming Pool and Skating Rink was a seasonal ice skating rink and swimming pool at the southwest corner of the Harlem Meer in the northern part of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. Designed by the architects Fordyce & Hamby Associates, it operated from 1966 to 2021. Lasker Rink was demolished after its final season of operation and is to be replaced by a new facility known as the Harlem Meer Center in 2024.
The 369th Regiment Armory is a historic National Guard Armory building located at 2366 Fifth Avenue, between West 142nd and 143rd Streets, in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It was built for the 369th Regiment, also known as the "Harlem Hellfighters", founded in 1913 as the first National Guard unit in New York State composed solely of African-Americans. It later became home to the 369th Sustainment Brigade.
The Harry Belafonte 115th Street Branch of the New York Public Library is a historic library building located in Harlem, New York City. It was designed by McKim, Mead & White and built in 1907–1908 and opened on November 6, 1908. It is a three-story-high, three-bay-wide building faced in deeply rusticated gray limestone in a Neo Italian Renaissance style. The branch was one of 65 built by the New York Public Library with funds provided by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, 11 of them designed by McKim, Mead & White. The building is 50 feet wide and features three evenly spaced arched openings on the first floor. The branch served as Harlem cultural center and hub of organizing efforts.
Gordon Jamison Davis is an American lawyer and civic leader. He was born in Chicago in 1941 and has been a resident of New York City since his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1967, and has been a leader in New York City's public, civic, and legal affairs. He was Mayor Ed Koch's first New York City Parks Commissioner and is considered New York's most successful parks commissioner since the Robert Moses era. Since 2012, Davis has been a partner in the New York office of the law firm Venable LLP.
Voza Rivers is an American producer and co-producer of theater, film, music, and live events, born in Harlem, New York. River's work as a theater producer, music executive, event producer, and documentary filmmaker has been presented in the United States, Japan, South Africa, Togo, Nigeria, Cuba, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
The Harlem Repertory Theatre was founded in 2004 by Keith Lee Grant, a Theatre professor at City College with a goal of making theatre accessible to the Harlem community. They primarily seek to present shows that explore issues of class and race. Harlem Rep performed for seven summer seasons at Aaron Davis Hall before moving off campus to the 133rd Street Arts Center. It was at this venue that Harlem Rep's production of Dreamgirls ran and received AUDELCO awards in a number of categories. After two years, the company moved to a larger space in the Tato Laviera Theatre in East Harlem. Among the productions at their East Harlem Home are: A Raisin in the Sun in 2017, Sweet Charity (2019), and Harburg & Saidy's Jamaica (2017).
Judy Elizabeth Tyrus is a classical ballet dancer who danced as a principal with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) from 1977 to 1999. She was the curator and an archivist for DTH for over eleven years. She founded ChromaDiverse, Inc., a non-profit company supporting arts, culture and theatre causes in May 2019.
Olga James is an American singer and actress best known for her role in the film Carmen Jones (1954). Her later acting credits include a role in the Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful and a recurring role on The Bill Cosby Show.
The Apple Bank Building, also known as the Central Savings Bank Building and 2100 Broadway, is a bank and residential building at 2100–2114 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Constructed as a branch of the Central Savings Bank, now Apple Bank, from 1926 to 1928, it occupies a trapezoidal city block bounded by 73rd Street to the south, Amsterdam Avenue to the east, 74th Street to the north, and Broadway to the west. The Apple Bank Building was designed by York and Sawyer in the Renaissance Revival and palazzo styles, patterned after an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo.
Bryonn Bain is an American poet, actor, prison activist, scholar, author, hip hop artist and professor of African American Studies and World Arts & Cultures in the School of the Arts and the School of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
