New York

The Staten Island House Where Black History Lives

Published

3 years ago

March 8, 2022

The Staten Island House Where Black History Lives

In Elizabeth Meaders’s eating room, the horrors of slavery are displayed on the desk: reward posters for the seize of individuals fleeing enslavement and the instruments — a branding iron, picket hobbles and a bullwhip — for punishing them.

Within the room by her entrance door, an exhibit of navy objects utilized by Black troopers consists of headgear worn by Tuskegee Airmen in World Battle II and a parade helmet utilized by the famed buffalo troopers within the 1800s.

In the lounge, the sofa is flanked by a life-size wax determine of the baseball slugger Hank Aaron and cabinets of things honoring Black athletes, together with a pair of Muhammad Ali’s tall white boxing footwear.

From the surface, Ms. Meaders’s residence on Staten Island is unremarkable — a slim, three-story field within the working-class neighborhood of Mariners Harbor. However to step inside, along with her as your information, is to journey by the Black American expertise, from the horrors of slavery and the dream of the civil rights motion to the glory of stars like James Brown and Cab Calloway.

The gathering of roughly 20,000 objects that Ms. Meaders, a retired New York Metropolis schoolteacher, has been constructing for greater than six many years is among the largest collections of African American historic artifacts within the nation.

Tons of of things are organized thematically all through the home, turning it into one thing of a museum, if one which few individuals have ever seen in individual.

“That is simply the tip of the iceberg,” Ms. Meaders stated not too long ago whereas strolling by the reveals. Many of the assortment, she added, is stored in storage crates in closets, the basement and the storage.

Ms. Meaders, a retired New York Metropolis schoolteacher, stated she started amassing in her youth with mementos of Jackie Robinson and different Black athletes, then widened her amassing to “encompass myself with issues that lifted my spirits.”

However she is now 90, and with restricted years and cupboard space left, she is lastly promoting her assortment in a single bulk providing on March 15 at Guernsey’s public sale home in Manhattan.

“I can’t go any additional — the gathering is outgrowing the home and pushing me out,” stated Ms. Meaders, whose two daughters will not be excited about taking it over. “I’m used up and the area is used up, so it must be transferred into competent fingers that may take it to the following degree.”

Ms. Meaders stated she hoped to draw a purchaser who would make the gathering accessible to the general public and to students, at a museum or college, for instance.

“I hope the sale will give it a greater life as a result of it doesn’t belong in anyone’s home any longer — every bit wants an opportunity to sing its personal track,” stated Ms. Meaders, whose actual want is that the objects turn into the idea of an African American museum in New York.

Many objects lack documented particulars on their provenance, authenticity and historic significance, leaving Ms. Meaders herself as the only real authority. She has made lengthy video segments detailing the gathering.

Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey’s, stated he knew of “no different assortment of this measurement specializing in Black historical past ever arising on the market at public sale earlier than.”

“Crammed into this easy house is a group that tells the entire saga of African American historical past, from the scourge of slavery to the wrestle of civil rights, to Black troopers in all of our wars from the Revolution by Vietnam,” stated Mr. Ettinger, whose public sale home has dealt with the property gross sales of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Rosa Parks and Joe Frazier, in addition to some Apollo Theater materials.

Diane DeBlois, a co-owner of aGatherin’ ephemera sellers in West Sand Lake, N.Y., who appraised the gathering at $10 million, stated it was enhanced by the again story of a plucky schoolteacher who was resourceful sufficient to amass objects on a shoestring price range.

“She needed to go toe-to-toe with some fairly spectacular collectors to outbid them,” Ms. DeBlois stated. “She raised cash by bake gross sales and college raffles, all types of how.”

Ms. Meaders stated she funded her acquisitions by working a number of jobs at a time, in addition to shopping for objects on installment plans and borrowing in opposition to the worth of her home.

“I’ve by no means been rich, however I refinanced my home a number of occasions and ran up fairly a little bit of debt,” she stated.

Randy F. Weinstein, founding father of the W.E.B. Du Bois Heart in Nice Barrington, Mass., appraised the gathering at $7.5 million in 2009.

“I’ve seen nice collections, however this was one thing in my wildest goals I may by no means think about, the vastness and depth of it,” he stated.

Mr. Ettinger stated he had already been in discussions with potential patrons, together with a number of universities, and that it was doable a deal might be struck earlier than the public sale.

Usually, he stated, a philanthropist may purchase such a group to donate for the general public good; that occurred with the Rosa Parks property, which was purchased by Guernsey’s by the Howard G. Buffett Basis in 2014 for a reported $4.5 million and donated to the Library of Congress.

Ms. Meaders, a historical past buff, stated her amassing started with fan materials associated to her teenage idol, Jackie Robinson, who broke skilled baseball’s coloration barrier when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

She started visiting sports activities memorabilia reveals after which shopping for objects honoring different Black athletes, just like the boxer Joe Louis. A picture of Crispus Attucks, believed to be the primary American killed within the American Revolution, sparked an curiosity in Black navy objects, “and little by little I simply expanded, and it turned a labor of affection,” she stated.

Ms. Meaders’s ancestors, she stated, embody servants in abolitionists’ households within the 1700s and the final slave freed on Staten Island, within the mid-1800s.

Her grandfather, William A. Morris, owned an public sale home on Staten Island and based the island’s N.A.A.C.P. department, she stated. He later had a center college named after him the place Ms. Meaders taught historical past.

“I’ve struggled to inform a historical past that’s been both ignored or not instructed appropriately, and it’s a historical past that’s immediately associated to me,” she stated. “The extra I discovered, the extra I needed as a result of the entire thing turned an enormous puzzle and I started obsessively making an attempt to fill within the lacking items.”

A principal objective was to teach individuals on forgotten Black tales.

“This can be a motherlode of data, with so many tales which have by no means been instructed,” she stated. “That’s the aim of my assortment: to teach, heal, encourage and empower.”

Wyatt Houston Day, an historian and appraiser who has visited Ms. Meaders’s residence, agrees.

“The factor that makes her assortment so distinctive,” stated Mr. Day, who can be a former specialist in African-Americana gross sales at Swann Public sale Galleries in Manhattan, “is that she has a number of the connective tissue that fill within the gaps in different accounts, small belongings you received’t discover in different collections however that add the vital particulars.”

For instance, he stated, “individuals speak about African Individuals within the navy, however she has an precise musket that will have been carried from a Black Civil Battle soldier.”

Ms. Meaders stated she did little or no shopping for on-line because the specialised objects she was in search of had been greatest discovered by wanting by sale catalogs at auctions and continuously calling sellers.

She was additionally an everyday at reveals for vintage distributors and sellers of historic, navy, sports activities and different memorabilia.

At many gross sales, she stated, “I used to be typically the one Black lady there, and I used to be thought of an oddball.”

Ms. Meaders has devoted her life to the gathering, Mr. Day stated: “When she began, nobody knew who she was, and now she’s legendary in amassing circles — all people is aware of Elizabeth.”

There have been some objects that her restricted price range made out of attain. For instance, when bidding by cellphone on one of many pens used to signal the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Ms. Meaders reluctantly withdrew when the bid went as much as $8,000 with no installment plan out there.

She nonetheless regrets it. “That will have been the spotlight of my civil rights assortment,” she stated.

Down a slim, creaky stairway to her basement is an exhibit that she calls “Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs.”

There’s a Ku Klux Klan grand dragon gown and a Okay.Okay.Okay. model water pistol for kids. Subsequent to the boiler are posters from Harlem’s well-known Apollo Theater and a rocking chair that belonged to the pitcher Satchel Paige. Close by is a golf bag that belonged to the pioneer Black golfer Charlie Sifford.

A treasured piece is an Military of the James Medal given by the white Civil Battle basic Benjamin Butler to one in every of his Black troopers.

Requested about the potential of fireplace or burglars, she shrugged. “I hate to inform you,” she added, “however there aren’t too many individuals who would even know what they had been taking a look at.”

Many objects are one-of-a-kind, such because the hand-carved picket mantelpiece depicting the abolitionist John Brown. One merchandise Ms. Meaders holds expensive is a medal honoring Crispus Attucks that she stated she acquired from a “prime supplier who’s nicely often known as a crank.”

“I needed to undergo hell to get it, nevertheless it was price it,” she stated.

Promoting her assortment will lastly get Ms. Meaders some residing area, however she admitted that it won’t fully halt her amassing.

When a desired merchandise got here up at public sale not too long ago — a Ku Klux Klan gown made for a kid — she resisted and as a substitute implored a fellow collector to purchase it.

“I believe that even after I’m in my coffin and one thing comes up for public sale,” she stated, “I’ll most likely toss a bid out.”

New York

When Harlem Was ‘as Gay as It Was Black’

Published

2 days ago

October 9, 2024

Press Room

When Harlem Was ‘as Gay as It Was Black’

Two Black men, in tuxedos, clasp hands and dance in a smoky foreground in a scene from “Looking for Langston,” the 1989 film that reevaluated gay and lesbian contributions to the Harlem Renaissance.

A map of Manhattan with a boundary drawn around Harlem, just north of Central Park.

A map shows the borders of Harlem, which, south to north, extends from the top of Central Park to the area above 145th Street, and, west to east, from St. Nicholas Park to Fifth Avenue.

A black-and-white photograph of Ma Rainey’s Georgia Jazz Band. Ma Rainey, in a dress and headband, is surrounded by five Black male musicians playing, from left, trombone and trumpet.

JP Jazz Archives/Redferns

On Stage and Off

Many L.B.G.T. performers and entertainers of the Renaissance used their artistry to express their sexuality. Others went to great lengths to keep their private lives hidden. Only recently have scholars been able to unpack their complicated lives, providing a brighter, clearer vision of who they were.

A map highlighting various points in Harlem.

A map of Harlem with a location labeled “Ma Rainey at the Lincoln Theater” near 135th Street and Lenox Avenue.

Map with location labeled “Gladys Bentley at the Clam House” near 135th Street.

Map with location labeled “Bessie Smith at Hotel Olga” in the northernmost part of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “Jimmie Daniels” on 116th Street, and a photograph of Jimmie Daniels Restaurant.

Map with a location labeled “Ethel Waters” near Colonial Park in northwest Harlem, and a photograph of 580 St. Nicholas Avenue, where she lived for a time.

Map with a location labeled “Edna Thomas” in south Harlem, and a photograph of 1890 Seventh Avenue, where she lived.

Map with a location labeled “Georgette Harvey” south of 116th Street.

Map with a location labeled “Alberta Hunter” north of 135th Street, and a photograph of 133 West 138th Street, where she lived.

Patrons of the Savoy Ballroom dancing the Lindy Hop and other dances.

Out and About

As the period flourished, so did the number of public and semi-public spaces for L.G.B.T. life — theaters, lodges, cabarets, salons, nightclubs, parks, bathhouses, streets — developed, said Shane Vogel, a professor of English and African American Studies at Yale University and the author of “The Scene of Harlem Cabaret: Race, Sexuality, Performance.”

Each location “created spaces for people in Harlem to experience new kinds of social contacts and erotic possibilities that weren’t as widely available in the decades before the Harlem Renaissance,” he said.

Patrons of the

Map with a location labeled “Hamilton Lodge at Rockland Palace” at the very top of Harlem, and a photograph of 280 West 155th Street, where the venue was located.

Map with a location labeled “Ubangi Club” at 131st Street and Seventh Avenue, and a photograph of the building where the venue was located.

Map with a location labeled “Swing Street” at West 133rd Street, running between Lenox and Seventh Avenue, and a photograph of The Nest, one of the nightlife venues on that block.

Map with a location labeled “The Cotton Club” at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, and a photograph of the exterior of the club, with a large marquee and cars in the foreground.

Map with a location labeled “Clam House” at West 133rd Street, near Seventh Avenue, and a photograph of the exterior of the club, with an awning, flanked by two cars.

Map with a location labeled “Savoy Ballroom” on Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets, and a photograph of the exterior of the club, with a large marque that reads “SAVOY.” Pedestrians walk in the foreground.

Map with a location labeled “Mount Morris Bathhouse” at 28 East 125th Street, just outside the east parameter of Harlem, and a photograph of the building, with a man crossing the street in the foreground.

Map with a location labeled “Harlem Y.M.C.A.” at 180 West 135th Street, near Seventh Avenue, and an illustration of the building, which rises high above its neighbors.

Map with a location labeled “Hotel Olga” at Lenox Avenue and 145th Street, and a photo of the building.

Map with a location labeled “Lafayette Theater” at 2247 Seventh Avenue, and a photo of the exterior of the theater, with a marquee, arched windows and a sign or flag hanging above them.

Robert W Kelley/The LIFE Picture Collection, via Shutterstock

The Smart Set

While race was commonly explored among the artists, thinkers and writers of the Renaissance, some openly broached the subject of sexuality, which was viewed as scandalous. For others, any references may have been carefully coded and more difficult to detect.

Map with a location at the far bottom of the map labeled “Alain Locke,” “Washington D.C.” and an icon pointing down.

Map with a location labeled “Nella Larsen” at 236 West 135th Street, near Eighth Avenue.

Map with a location labeled “Langston Hughes” at 20 East 127th Street, north of Mount Morris Park, just outside the parameters of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “Countee Cullen” at 104 West 136th Street, near Lenox Avenue.

Map with a location labeled “Richard Bruce Nugent” at 267 West 136th Street, near Eighth Avenue.

Map with a location at the far bottom of the map labeled “Carl Van Vechten,” “150 West 55th Street” and an icon pointing down.

Map with a location labeled “Harold Jackman” at 7 West 134th Street, just outside the east perimeter of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “Maurice Hunter” at 254 West 135th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

Map with a location labeled “Claude McKay” at 147 West 142nd Street, between Seventh and Lenox Avenues, and a photograph of the exterior of the building.

A photograph of the Alexander Gumby Book Studio, with a semi-circle of people sitting and chatting or reading.

Alexander Gumby collection, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University

Behind Closed Doors

Private spaces in Harlem — mainly homes and apartments — opened doors to the kind of intimate socializing and sexual experimentation that could not exist at large nightclubs or segregated venues. Away from the public eye, these spaces held invite-only soirees or rent parties that were primarily spread through word of mouth.

Map with a location labeled “A’Leila Walker and the Dark Tower” at 108 West 136th Street, on the far east side of Harlem, and a photograph of the exterior of the building.

Map with a location labeled “Wallace Thurman” at 267 West 136th Street, near Eighth Avenue, and a photograph of the block, with a car coming toward the camera.

Map with a location labeled “Iolanthe Sydney” at 267 West 136th Street, near Eighth Avenue.

Map with a location labeled “Alexander Gumby Book Studio” at 2144 Fifth Avenue, on the far east side of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “409 Edgecombe Avenue” at the far north section of Harlem, and a photograph of a cluster of three high-rise buildings.

Harlem in 1938.

Looking Back, Through a Fresh Lens

Efforts to reexamine Harlem’s queer history have helped audiences reimagine Renaissance-era spaces and celebrate aspects of its everyday life that were underground.

New York

Read Eric Adams’s Legal Filing

Published

1 week ago

October 1, 2024

Press Room

Case 1:24-cr-00556-DEH Document 19 Filed 10/01/24
Page 5 of 29
Nicholas Fandos, Ocasio-Cortez Says Adams Should Resign ‘for the Good of the
City,’ N.Y. Times (Sept. 25, 2024),
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/nyregion/aoc-eric-adams-resign.html .
John Miller, Investigation into NYC Mayor Adams Focused on Campaign Money
and Possible Foreign Influence, CNN (Nov. 14, 2023),
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/politics/mayor-eric-adams-investigation-
campaign-money-foreign-influence/index.html.
17
.5, 12
Gloria Pazmino et al., FBI Investigation of NYC Mayor Eric Adams Fundraiser
Centers on Illegal Contributions from Foreign Nationals, CNN (Nov. 4, 2023),
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/02/politics/fbi-search-fundraiser-adams-
campaign-new-york/index.html ……….
.4, 14
.21
Grand Jury Secrecy, 1 FED. PRAC. & PROC. CRIM. § 107 (5th ed. 2024).
William K. Rashbaum et al., City Hall Aide Is Cooperating with Corruption
Investigation into Adams, N.Y. Times (May 20, 2024),
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/20/nyregion/adams-fbi-corruption-
investigation-aide.html……
William K. Rashbaum et al., Eric Adams and His Campaign Receive Subpoenas
in Federal Investigation, N.Y. Times (Aug. 15, 2024),
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/nyregion/eric-adams-fbi-
investigation.html …..
William K. Rashbaum et al., Eric Adams Is Indicted After Federal Corruption
Investigation, N.Y. Times (Sept. 25, 2024),
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/nyregion/eric-adams-indicted.html .
William K. Rashbaum et al., F.B.I. Examining Free Airfare Upgrades Received
by Adams, N.Y. Times (Apr. 5, 2024),
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/nyregion/eric-adams-turkish-airlines-
upgrades.html..
William K. Rashbaum et al., F.B.I. Examining Whether Adams Cleared Red Tape
for Turkish Government, N.Y. Times (Nov. 12, 2023),
. 6, 13, 16
.7, 13
..1, 7, 15
..6, 13
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/12/nyregion/eric-adams-investigation-
turkey-consulate.html..
.5, 12
William K. Rashbaum et al., F.B.I. Raided Homes of Second Adams Aide and
Ex-Turkish Airline Official, N.Y. Times (Nov. 16, 2023),
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/nyregion/nyc-adams-turkey-raid-
aide.html…
iv
.5, 17

New York

Video: New York City Mayor Charged in Bribery and Fraud Scheme

Published

2 weeks ago

September 27, 2024

Press Room

Video: New York City Mayor Charged in Bribery and Fraud Scheme

new video loaded: New York City Mayor Charged in Bribery and Fraud Scheme

transcript

New York City Mayor Charged in Bribery and Fraud Scheme

Federal prosecutors say Mayor Eric Adams of New York took illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel benefits from foreign actors and used his power to help Turkey.

: “Mayor Adams engaged in a long-running conspiracy in which he solicited, and knowingly accepted, illegal campaign contributions from foreign donors and corporations. As we allege, Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal, and even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen to buy influence with him. We also alleged that the mayor sought and accepted well over $100,000 in luxury travel benefits. He told the public he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them.” “This did not surprise us that we reached this day. And I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments. From here, my attorneys will take care of the case, so I can take care of the city. My day to day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do.” “Amen.” Protester: “You’re an embarrassment — you’re an embarrassment to Black people. You’re an embarrassment.” Crowd: “Resign, resign, resign, resign. resign, resign, resign.”
Advertisement

Recent episodes in New York