“Barbecue,” by Archibald J. Motley, Jr., 1934. Estate of Archibald John Motley Jr

A century ago, two famous Black academics threw a dinner party to introduce the brightest talents in Harlem’s cultural scene to white publishers and professors at powerful institutions. That party set in motion the relationships that would blossom into the Harlem Renaissance.

We reconstructed the pivotal evening using old letters and other archival materials.

Lives lived: Richard C. Higgins, one of the last survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack, died at 102.

Conversation Starters

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