Race/Related: When Harlem was ‘as Gay as it was Black’

Mapping the people, homes and hot spots that transformed the neighborhood during its Renaissance.

View in browser|nytimes.com October 11, 2024 "Looking for Langston", the 1989 film and art installation by Isaac Julien, reevaluated gay and lesbian contributions to the Harlem Renaissance. Isaac Julien By Derrick Bryson Taylor and Scott Reinhard Mapping the Harlem Renaissance's LGBTQ history On Valentine's Day in 1930, the Hamilton Lodge at the Rockland Palace in Harlem hosted a masquerade ball that was billed as a "rendezvous for the frail and freakish gang," according to a pithy dispatch from The New York Age, the prominent Black newspaper of the era. At the event, the Age report read, "it was difficult to distinguish sexes." Women were "rigged up" in masculine attire, while "scores of males of pronounced effeminate traits gracefully disported themselves in beautiful evening gowns." Although many people associate the history of queer culture (a descriptor whose original negative usage has been transformed over time) in New York with Greenwich Village, events like the ball were not uncommon in Renaissance-era Harlem, where the L.G.B.T. population socialized in a variety of spaces, some of which were interracial. Their lives were frequently viewed as scandalous for the mores of the time. Over roughly two decades, Harlem became home to Black artists, musicians, authors and socialites of all sexual stripes. In a 1993 essay, the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. stated it bluntly: Harlem was "surely as gay as it was Black." In the years since, the Renaissance has increasingly been seen as having created "modes of kinship that far exceeded nuclear families," in the words of Clare Corbould, an African-American history scholar and associate professor at Deakin University in Australia. "Scholarship on the Renaissance has dovetailed with queer theory and studies to deepen and broaden our understanding of the Renaissance," she said. The map and descriptions of figures and venues below aim to capture that reality. The New York Times See the map → EDITORS' PICKS We publish many articles that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldn't miss. Justin Lane/EPA, via Shutterstock; Nina Westervelt for The New York Times; Rebecca Smeyne for The Times; Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images The Met's Next Fashion Blockbuster Takes On the Politics of Race With support from LeBron James, ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and more. By Vanessa Friedman Mary Turner for The New York Times The Global Profile She Didn't See Other Black Hikers. She Decided to Change That. Motivated by the racial disparity she saw on trails, Rhiane Fatinikun founded Black Girls Hike to make Britain's countryside more inclusive. By Megan Specia Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Nonfiction What Does Utopia Look Like for Black Americans? Aaron Robertson's grandparents had a farm in Promise Land, Tenn. In a new book, he explores the history and meaning of such utopian communities for African Americans. By John Jeremiah Sullivan Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times Studio Museum in Harlem to Open New Building in Fall 2025 The 82,000-square-foot structure on 125th Street will open with a show featuring the artist Tom Lloyd. By Robin Pogrebin Rich Pilling/MLB Photos, via Getty Images Luis Tiant, Crowd-Pleasing Pitcher Who Baffled Hitters, Dies at 83 Cuban-born and charismatic, with a personal tale caught up in politics, he was a dominant hurler with a quirky windup who helped lead the Red Sox to a pennant in 1975. By Bruce Weber Jason Henry for The New York Times Richard Mayhew, Painter of Abstract Landscapes, Dies at 100 He drew from his Black and Native American heritage, as well as his own memory, to find an emotional resonance behind the beauty of nature. By Alex Williams Invite your friends. Invite someone to subscribe to the Race/Related newsletter. Or email your thoughts and suggestions to racerelated@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Race/Related from The New York Times. To stop receiving Race/Related, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018