New York, NY

Fraunces Tavern
DESCRIPTION: This Georgian brick structure was reportedly built in 1719 and purchased by Samuel Fraunces in 1762; Fraunces was of West Indian and French descent; previously a steward for General George Washington, he wisely leveraged his friendship with the general and other American Revolutionaries to build one of the finest and best patronized dining establishments of the time; one suspects that Washington liked the food and service because Fraunces sold his establishment after the Revolutionary War and went to work for President Washington; the building was refurbished in 1927 and today serves as a restaurant and period museum

ADMISSION: small fee

DAYS & HOURS: Mon-Fri 10a-4:30p, Sat-Sun noon-4p

ADDRESS: 54 Pearl Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near R & W subway lines

PHONE: 212-425-1778

WEBSITE: http://www.frauncestavern.com

African Burial Grounds
DESCRIPTION: Only preserved African burial site in an American urban area from the 17th and 18th centuries; this National Historic Landmark was used as a cemetery for nearly 100 years; original site encompassed most of the park space in front of City Hall; remains of more than 400 people recovered during a 1991 Federal building construction project in the vicinity of Broadway and Reade Street; there's a museum already open and a monument by Rodney Leon is coming to this site; a FREE walking tour of the historic area began in the summer of 2007 - tour begins at 26 Wall Street and ends at the African Burial Grounds

ADDRESS: 97 Orchard Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near F, J, M, Z subway lines

PHONE: 212-431-0233

WEBSITE: http://www.nps.gov/afbg

Historic Five Points
DESCRIPTION: A district named in the 1830’s as the convergence of five streets: Mulberry, Anthony (now Worth Street), Cross (now Park Row), Orange (now Baxter), and Little Water Street (no longer exists); this multiracial Black and Irish neighborhood is adjacent to the north of City Hall and Courthouse, between Broadway and the Bowery; this district is famous for protecting the lives of its Black residents during the infamous 1863 New York Draft Riot and for inventing Tap dancing

ADDRESS: Mulberry Street, Worth Street, Park Row, Baxter Ave  MAP

TRANSIT: near 4, 5, 6 subway lines

WEBSITE: http://urbanography.com/5_points

National Urban League
DESCRIPTION: Founded in 1910, the National Urban League has 115 affiliates in 34 states and DC; its mission is to assist African Americans in the achievement of social and economic equality; under the leadership of Hugh B Price, it emphasizes greater reliance on the unique resources of the African-American community to solve its own problems

ADDRESS: 120 Wall Street  MAP

TRANSIT: at 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, S, W subway lines in Times Square

PHONE: 212-558-5300

WEBSITE: http://www.nul.org

Historic Black Broadway District
DESCRIPTION: Once home to New York’s largest African American community in the 1800s; it remained so until the infamous New York Draft Riot of 1863 killed 11 and maimed hundreds of African Americans; loosely bounded by today’s Broadway Theater District

ADDRESS: Eighth Ave to Sixth Ave between 40th Street and 45th Street  MAP

TRANSIT: at 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, S, W subway lines in Times Square

Minton’s Playhouse
DESCRIPTION: Allegedly, Bebop music was born here when Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke and others were allowed improvise by the club owner; sessions were often after other gigs in the late hours, so they rapidly become a favorite of top jazz musicians; legend has it that Fats Waller coined the musical term “Bop” when describing improvisational rifts by the younger musicians; the playhouse now includes a housing unit for the elderly

ADDRESS: 210 West 118th Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near B & C subway lines

PHONE: 212-864-5281

Hotel Theresa
DESCRIPTION: This beautiful brick building was “The Hotel” for blacks during the Jim Crow segregation period; so many have laid their head on its pillows and enjoyed the respect and comfort of its service, including Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Joe Louis, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Duke Ellington; the late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown lived upstairs during a good portion his adolescence; after Malcolm X split from the Nation of Islam, he held several of the Organization of African American Unity meetings here; now an office building, no scheduled tours

ADDRESS: 2090 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

Carver Federal Savings Bank
DESCRIPTION: Founded in 1949; with assets of nearly $500 million, Black Enterprise magazine ranks it as one of the nation’s largest African American-owned banks

ADDRESS: 75 West Martin Luther King Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

PHONE: 212-876-4747

Connie’s Inn
DESCRIPTION: Another famous basement club that opened during Prohibition Era of the 1920s, primarily for the benefit of European Americans coming to Harlem for entertainment; a frequent hangout for gangsters; it did however, further the careers of Billie Holiday, Fletcher Henderson, Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong; today its a retail store

ADDRESS: 2221 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3  subway lines

Lafayette Theater
DESCRIPTION: A major competitor to the Lincoln Theater since the silent film era; it hosted some of the earliest Off-Broadway revues with African American producers, writers, and performers; Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake introduced Shuffle Along here in 1913, which was the first African American revue to make Broadway; Duke Ellington and many early 20th century composers can rightfully claim that they first ‘hit the big time’ here; since 1950, it has been converted to Williams CME Church

ADDRESS: 2227 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3  subway lines

James Weldon Johnson Homesite
DESCRIPTION: An officer of the NAACP, published poet, songwriter and ambassador to Haiti; lived here from 1925 to 1938; Johnson is credited with writing the lyrics to the unofficial black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing; not open to public

ADDRESS: 187 West 135th Street  MAP
TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

Tree of Hope Monument
DESCRIPTION: The famous good luck tree lived on a boulevard median opposite the Lafayette Theater until it was destroyed in 1934; a small monument for the tree remains at the site; the stump was placed in the Apollo Theatre were it is rubbed for good luck before each performance

ADDRESS: Adam Clayton Powell Blvd at 132nd Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

New York Amsterdam News Historic Site
DESCRIPTION: Harlem’s famous black newspaper was founded  at this original site in 1909; today the newspaper operates at 2340 Frederick Douglass Blvd

ADDRESS: 2293 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

Smalls’ Paradise
DESCRIPTION: Opened in 1925 this basement club could hold nearly 1500; a speakeasy during prohibition, it was famous for waiters who did the Charleston dance while balancing trays; unlike many other famous clubs in Harlem, it admitted African Americans -- with a lot of cash; Wilt Chamberlain was owner for a brief time before it closed in 1986; today it is the Thurgood Marshall School

ADDRESS: 2294 1/2 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

Lincoln Theater
DESCRIPTION: Unlike more famous Harlem venues, from its opening in 1915 this theater catered to African Americans; Fats Waller was the house organist during the silent film era; Bill “Count” Basie became his young understudy here; now a church

ADDRESS: 58 West 135th Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

Harlem YMCA
DESCRIPTION: A cultural and spiritual home to Harlem notables and regulars since 1919; African American leaders, such as James Weldon Johnson, supported separate Y's during the Segregation Era (1877-1965) under the premise that if there were no separate Y's for Black patrons, there might not be rooms for Black guests at all; the Harlem Y offered recreational facilities as well as vocational and literacy classes, lectures, theatrical and musical performances, community meetings, and became a center of political activity; among residents who called the Y home were famed Renaissance poets, novelists, and journalists Claude McKay and Langston Hughes, writer Ralph Ellison, inventor George Washington Carver, rights activists Paul Robeson and Malcolm X, actors Eartha Kitt, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson and Danny Glover; the theatre stage at this site is where many famous actors began their careers; the YMCA hopes to increase rooms available for tourists from 20 to 80 by 2005 end

ADDRESS: 180 West 135th Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

PHONE: 212-281-4100

WEBSITE: http://www.ymcanyc.org/harlem

United Negro Improvement Association
DESCRIPTION: Marcus Garvey ran this famous Black Nationalist and self-help organization here in the early 20th century; not open for tours

ADDRESS: 2305 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2, 3 , B, C subway lines

Renaissance Ballroom
DESCRIPTION: During Prohibition this club, which featured a casino, cabaret acts and dancing was quite a contrast to Abyssinian Baptist next door; frequent musicians here included Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson; not open to public

ADDRESS: 150 Odell Clark Place (138th Street)  MAP

TRANSIT: near 2 & 3 subway lines

Saint Nicholas Historic District
DESCRIPTION: Built in the 1890s one finds stately brownstone buildings that gracefully recall a past era; also known as “Strivers Row”, this area was home to prominent director of Harlem Hospital, Dr L T Wright, as well as early pioneers of American music W. C. Handy, Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle; today many African American professionals proudly call this community home

ADDRESS: 138th & 139th Streets between Adam Clayton Powell Blvd & Frederick Douglass Blvd  MAP

TRANSIT: near A, B, 2 & 3 subway lines

369th Regiment Armory
DESCRIPTION: Historic home of the brave Harlem Hellfighters of WWI and WWII; historians note that when the valor of infantry like the 369th paved the way for our desegregation of the US armed services

ADDRESS: 2366 Fifth Ave  MAP

TRANSIT: near 3 subway lines

PHONE: 212-926-6401

WEBSITE: link

409 Edgecombe Avenue
DESCRIPTION: This Sugar Hill residence which sits on a bluff overlooking the Bronx, was once home to the intellectual and rights activist William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963), poet Stanley Braithwaite, rights activist Paul Robeson, poet Countee Cullen, explorer Matthew Henson, musician Cab Calloway and union organizer and rights activist Asa Philip Randolph residences; though it is still home for African American professionals, no visitors are permitted

ADDRESS: 409 Edgecombe Avenue  MAP

TRANSIT: near B & D subway lines

Audubon Ballroom
DESCRIPTION: Opened in 1912, this 2,400 seat theatre was one of the first Fox theaters for vaudeville acts and movies; though the venue was also popular for many speeches and rallies, it became an infamous historic site of the assassination site of Malcolm X on 21 February 1965; saved from a controversial demolition, a 12 by 63-foot mural painted by Daniel Galves, debuted to the public in 1997 to honor the achievements of Malcolm X and there is a life-sized statue of Malcolm X in the lobby; Malcolm X Museum needs your financial support to open at the site

ADDRESS: 3940 Broadway  MAP

TRANSIT: near 1, A & C subway lines

WEBSITE: http://www.themalcolmxmuseum.org

Brooklyn, NY

Houses on Hunterfly Road District
DESCRIPTION: A free African American community, Weeksville, was founded here in 1827 shortly after the abolition of slavery in New York; now a National Historic Landmark; Susan McKinney-Stewart, New York's first black female physician and Moses P Cobb, the first black policeman in Brooklyn's 9th Ward were among the luminaries who lived here; the remaining houses (photo) built between 1840 and 1883, are being restored

ADDRESS: 1698, 1700, 1702, 1704, 1706 and 1708 Bergen Street  MAP
TRANSIT: near A & C subway lines

Jackie Robinson School
DESCRIPTION: Jackie Roosevelt Robinson (1919-1972), the barrier-breaking baseball player, lived in a house at this National Historic Landmark, before the site was razed for this elementary school in his honor; he played a huge role leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to pennants in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953 and a World Series Championship in 1955; after retiring from baseball Jackie became Chairman of the Board of Freedom National Bank in Harlem and was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962

ADDRESS: 46 McKeever Place  MAP

TRANSIT: near B, Q, S subway lines

Queens, NY

Louie Armstrong Residence
DESCRIPTION: Satchmo’s home from 1940 to 1971 when his music helped vault jazz into the nation’s mainstream culture; this restored red-brick home is designated a National Historic Landmark; no visitors

ADDRESS: 3456 107th Street  MAP
TRANSIT: near 7 subway line

Malcolm X Residence
DESCRIPTION: Malcolm moved his family to this seven-room house in July 1960; it was owned by the Nation of Islam; in March 1964, the NOI ordered him to surrender his home and car back to the NOI; he resisted their eviction notice; on 14 February 1965; the residence was firebombed; on 18 February, the Shabazz family was evicted; private residence

ADDRESS: 23-11 97th Street  MAP

TRANSIT: none nearby, but LaGuardia Airport is very close

Newark, NJ

Community Hospital
DESCRIPTION: Formerly known as Kinney Memorial Hospital; founded by Dr John A Kinney in 1927 as the first hospital in Newark for African Americans; as the personal physician of Booker T. Washington, Kinney also prided himself on the hospital offering the lowest cost, quality health care in the city; the hospital has been converted into a church

ADDRESS: 132-134 West Kinney Street  MAP

TRANSIT: none nearby

State Street Public School
DESCRIPTION: The oldest public school building in Newark was constructed in 1869 and housed the first Colored School of Newark; National Registrar of Historic Places

ADDRESS: 15 State Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near Newark-Broad Street NJ Trasit and Light Rail Stations

Saddle River, NJ

Ackerman-Smith House
DESCRIPTION: from 1881-1901, Alfred P. Smith published a local monthly newspaper at his home here, called AP Smith Paper, then The Landscape; it was among the earliest known newspapers in New Jersey published by an African American; it targeted a general audience

ADDRESS: 171 East Allendale Road  MAP

TRANSIT: none nearby

Hackensack, NJ

Gethsemane Cemetery
DESCRIPTION: Between 1860-1930 about 300 of Hackensack’s African Americans were buried here; the cemetery is significant because Samuel Bass led the successful legal effort in 1884 to ensure that that people of color could be buried here and the rest of New Jersey; National Registrar of Historic Places

ADDRESS: 360-370 Liberty Street  MAP

TRANSIT: near Essex Street NJ Transit Station