Race and Real Estate: Conflict and Cooperation in Harlem, 1890-1920

Through the lens of real estate transactions from 1890 to 1920, Kevin McGruder offers an innovative perspective on Harlem's history and reveals the complex interactions between whites and African Americans at a critical time of migration and development. During these decades Harlem saw a dramatic increase in its African American population, and although most histories speak only of the white residents who met these newcomers with hostility, this book uncovers a range of reactions. Although some white Harlem residents used racially restrictive real estate practices to inhibit the influx of African Americans into the neighborhood, others believed African Americans had a right to settle in a place they could afford and helped facilitate sales. These years saw Harlem change not into a "ghetto," as many histories portray, but into a community that became a symbol of the possibilities and challenges black populations faced across the nation. This book also introduces alternative reasons behind African Americans' migration to Harlem, showing that they came not to escape poverty but to establish a lasting community. Owning real estate was an essential part of this plan, along with building churches, erecting youth-serving facilities, and gaining power in public office. In providing a fuller, more nuanced history of Harlem, McGruder adds greater depth in understanding its development and identity as both an African American and a biracial community.

Business & Money

McGruder, Kevin

Real Estate

Columbia University Press

Philip Payton: The Father of Black Harlem

At the turn of the early twentieth century, Harlem--the iconic Black neighborhood--was predominantly white. The Black real estate entrepreneur Philip Payton played a central role in Harlem's transformation. He founded the Afro-American Realty Company in 1903, vowing to vanquish housing discrimination. Yet this ambitious mission faltered as Payton faced the constraints of white capitalist power structures. In this biography, Kevin McGruder explores Payton's career and its implications for the history of residential segregation. Payton stood up for the right of Black people to live in Harlem in the face of vocal white resistance. Through skillful use of print media, he branded Harlem as a Black community and attracted interest from those interested in racial uplift. Yet while Payton "opened" Harlem streets, his business model depended on continued racial segregation. Like white real estate investors, he benefited from the lack of housing options available to desperate Black tenants by charging higher rents. Payton developed a specialty in renting all-Black buildings, rather than the integrated buildings he had once envisioned, and his personal successes ultimately entrenched Manhattan's racial boundaries. McGruder highlights what Payton's story shows about the limits of seeking advancement through enterprise in a capitalist system deeply implicated in racial inequality. At a time when understanding the roots of residential segregation has become increasingly urgent, this biography sheds new light on the man and the forces that shaped Harlem.

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Review\nKevin McGruder renders a poignant and revealing portrait of one of Black America’s pioneering entrepreneurs, the Harlem real estate impresario Philip Payton. This timely and important biography brings to life the limits of trying to achieve racial justice by playing by the capitalist rules of a segregated economy. -- Khalil Gibran Muhammad, author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America\nThis meticulously researched must-read biography of Harlem’s pioneering Black businessman Philip Payton masterfully shows the promises and pitfalls of Black capitalism on the eve of the New Negro Renaissance. -- Shannon King, author of Whose Harlem Is This, Anyway? Community Politics and Grassroots Activism during the New Negro Era\nHow do you promote racial equity but still maximize profits? That was the balance that Philip Payton had to strike as a Black real estate broker in Harlem in the early 1900s. His Afro-American Realty Company said “Race prejudice is a luxury.” But this fascinating biography shows what a formidable obstacle it was. -- Laurence Pearl, former attorney at the Department of Housing and Urban Development\nDespite his extraordinarily significant role in American urban history, Philip Payton’s story has remained obscure and elusive. McGruder weaves together an engaging biography of a complex figure whose ups and downs in Harlem reveal the halting progress and profound tradeoffs that attended efforts to find decent housing for Black Americans. -- Brian Goldstein, author of The Roots of Urban Renaissance: Gentrification and the Struggle over Harlem\nKevin McGruder reveals the central role Philip Payton played in increasing the Black population in housing by maximizing profits and promoting racial equality. This is an expert addition to the growing list of biographies on major lesser-known African Americans. -- David Canton, author of Raymond Pace Alexander: A New Negro Lawyer Fights for Civil Rights in Philadelphia\nMcGruder's meticulous concern for the facts and the community's history are compelling. ― New York Amsterdam News\nAt the turn of the early twentieth century, Harlem―the iconic Black neighborhood―was predominantly white. The Black real estate entrepreneur Philip Payton played a central role in Harlem’s transformation. He founded the Afro-American Realty Company in 1903, vowing to vanquish housing discrimination. Yet this ambitious mission faltered as Payton faced the constraints of white capitalist power structures.\nIn this biography, Kevin McGruder explores Payton’s career and its implications for the history of residential segregation. Payton stood up for the right of Black people to live in Harlem in the face of vocal white resistance. Through skillful use of print media, he branded Harlem as a Black community and attracted interest from those interested in racial uplift. Yet while Payton “opened” Harlem streets, his business model depended on continued racial segregation. Like white real estate investors, he benefited from the lack of housing options available to desperate Black tenants by charging higher rents. Payton developed a specialty in renting all-Black buildings, rather than the integrated buildings he had once envisioned, and his personal successes ultimately entrenched Manhattan’s racial boundaries. McGruder highlights what Payton’s story shows about the limits of seeking advancement through enterprise in a capitalist system deeply implicated in racial inequality.\nAt a time when understanding the roots of residential segregation has become increasingly urgent, this biography sheds new light on the man and the forces that shaped Harlem.

Witness: Two Hundred Years of African-American faith and Practice at the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem, New York

This detailed history of the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York City, begins with its organization in 1809 and continues through its relocations, its famous senior pastors, and its many crises and triumphs, up to the present. Considered the largest Protestant congregation in the United States during the pre-megachurch 1930s, this church plays a very important part in the history of New York City.

Witness: Two Hundred Years of African-American Faith and Practice at the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem, New York

History

McNeil, Genna Rae

Roberson, Houston Bryan

Dixie, Quinton Hosford

World

Eerdmans

Dixi, Quinton Hosford

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

The Alabama Black McGruders tells the story of Charles McGruder Sr. (1829 – 1900-c), his father Ned (1795 – 1853-c) and mother Mariah Magruder (1800 – 1880-c). Charles, the enslaved black grandson of a white slave owner, Ninian O. Magruder (1744 – 1803) was born in Alabama on the plantation of his white aunt, Eleanor Magruder Wynne (1785 – 1849) in 1829. Through a series of events, Charles, a carpenter, came to be sexually exploited and forced to sire a hundred children, including fifty-two sons, with numerous women. During the Reconstruction era, Charles, his last wife Rachel Hill (1845-1933), and their children, received reparations from his white relative and enslaver, Osmun A. Wynne (1804 -1877). Charles' children established communal and business networks and institutions to support their families and communities. Today, the Alabama Black McGruders continue to impact the story of the United States in areas of culture, government, law, science, medicine, academia, and business. This is the story of their origins.

The Alabama Black McGruders

Reference

Rothstein, J.R.

Tichy, Susan

Genealogy

Redstone Publishing

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