Harlem on My Mind Exhibit now at York W. Bailey Museum

Visitors at I.P. Stanback Museum at SCSU view
Harlem on My Mind Exhibit, now on loan through May 3rd
at York W. Bailey Museum, Penn Center, Inc. St. Helena Isl.

The M.L.K. Jr. Park Committee encourages you to visit the York W. Bailey Museum at Penn Center to see the " Harlem on My Mind" exhibit from S.C. State Univ. I.P. Stanback Museum & Planetarium.  This exhibit features historic photographs of Black Americans in Harlem from 1900-1968.  The pictures are large and seem to invite the viewer to step inside.  I imagined my grandparents who lived in Harlem off Lenox Ave. during the 1920s through the 1930s, as I strolled around the museum taking in the vastness of the pictures and the liveliness of the scenes.  This is an exhibit will be here until May 3rd and you don't want to miss it.  Stop by the museum, Monday through Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. Admission is only $5, paid at The Shed Museum Gift Shop before entering the museum.       

Make this a family adventure.  Bring as many of your family members with you when you visit the exhibit.  Talk about family members who may have migrated to New York from the Low Country.  Look up the Harlem Renaissance and artists who emerged during that time period.  Research the Harlem Renaissance before your visit and see how many things in the exhibit you recognize from your research. Learn a song or a dance from that time.  Discover what the Gullah community in New York was like. My paternal grandmother was of Gullah heritage and grew up in Charleston. Though she migrated to New York for a number of years she returned to South Carolina. How about your family? Make this a starting point to research your family history. Look through your family photos and discover who lived in New York or visited during the span of exhibit dates.  Plan a visit to the St. Helena Branch Library to search for your family members who lived during the time period of 1900-1968.  Use the library edition of Ancestry on the library computers; its free! Libraries and museums work well together.  Make your own Harlem on My Mind Exhibit. There is so much that can be taken from a museum visit, I hope you will enjoy visiting our local museum as much as I do!  

 My family Harlem on My Mind mini exhibit:

My paternal grandparents, Gladys Fulton Glover, and
Herman Winford Glover, Sr. in Harlem.

Four Gullah Generations Living in Harlem
My paternal grandmother, Gladys Fulton Glover, standing.
Seated Left, my great-great grandmother, Harriet Weston Townsend,
 child is my aunt Ethel Louise Glover (Griffin),
seated right my great grand mother, Charity Townsend Fulton,
 child is my uncle, Herman Winford Glover, Jr.
Photo taken at Vithana Studio New York.

Submitted by:  Belinda Jones, Secretary of M.L.K. Jr. Park Committee