Sarah Carroll, Chair, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
On this Juneteenth, a day that we recognize the emancipation of African Americans from slavery in the United States, I want to honor and recognize the critically important contributions of African Americans to shaping New York City. I also want to affirm the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s continued commitment to inclusive designations and recognizing the complete story of the African American heritage and experience in New York City.
Our designated landmarks are a source of inspiration and a tangible connection to the past. On this day, I urge New Yorkers to learn more about the landmarks and historic districts related to the African American experience. We’ve pulled together resources to help share this history.
- Interactive Designation Explorer: Today LPC launched a new feature so people may learn more about New York City’s landmarks and historic districts that recognize and represent its significant African American heritage across all five boroughs. The new feature covers topics including Free and Enslaved Africans in Colonial New York City, 19th Century Reform Movements and Free Black Communities, New York City in the Post-Reconstruction Era, Harlem in the 1910s and 20s, The Fight for Civil Rights, and African-American Activists, Creatives, and Pioneers.
- Abolitionist History Story Map: LPC developed a story map, “New York City and the Path to Freedom,” which highlights the city’s abolitionist history by telling the story through designated landmarks that embody it. New York City played an important role in the effort to abolish slavery nationwide, and to assist those seeking to escape it. The story map highlights landmarks associated with New York’s free black communities established in the 19th century in the period before nationwide emancipation, and landmarks associated with the multiple ways people and institutions engaged with the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War, whether through political and religious activism or by housing freedom seekers as part of Underground Railroad networks.
- Central Harlem Historic District Story Map: In 2018 LPC designated this important district, which not only illustrates the architectural development of Central Harlem, but the rich social, cultural, and political life of its African American population in the 20th century. To illustrate the significance of the historic district, LPC launched an interactive story map to learn more about the artists and change agents who lived and worked in these buildings, including Bayard Rustin and the March on Washington Headquarters.
I hope, like me, you find inspiration from the stories embodied in these designated landmarks and historic districts.
