The 1960s saw immense change as calls for civil rights and racial justice transformed our cultural landscape. In tandem with these movements, many of which have their roots in our neighborhoods, Black artists across the country used their platforms to amplify the kaleidoscopic perspectives and experiences of black people in America. The Negro Ensemble Company […]
On January 3, 2017, we launched our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, a unique online resource that marks more than 200 sites in our neighborhoods significant to the history of various civil rights and social justice movements. Since history is never finished, we continue to add new sites and stories with connections to civil […]
Few places in America have made more significant contributions to civil rights and social justice struggles.
Ira Frederick Aldridge is today remembered as one of the most renowned actors of the nineteenth century.
Greenwich Village in the early 19th century had a varied mix of racial communities living within its boundaries. As slavery was not formally abolished within New York until 1827, there existed both slave and free black communities, inhabiting an area around the now disappeared Minetta Creek (namesake for Minetta Lane/Minetta Street) known as “Little Africa.” […]
