James Baldwin Home Now on US Historic Register
Upper West Side building designated a city landmark earlier this year
BY MATT TRACY
The Manhattan home of
renowned author, poet,
and civil rights activist
James Baldwin, who
drew the ire of publishers more
than half a century ago by writing
about gay relationships, has been
added to the National Register of
Historic Places just months after
the residence was designated as a
New York City landmark.
The national designation represents
a signifi cant recognition of a
man who was unafraid to confront
social injustices and whose work
featuring queer characters and
topics was revolutionary during
his time. Baldwin recognized from
an early age that he was gay.
In 1965, Baldwin moved into an
apartment in a now-landmarked
building located at 137 West 71st
Street between Broadway and Columbus
CARL VAN VECHTEN/ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
James Baldwin in a 1955 photograph.
Avenue, and spent parts
of the fi nal two decades of his life
there before he died in France in
1987. He wound up purchasing the
entire building, according to the
NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project.
Baldwin was not the only iconic
black author to have lived in that
apartment building. The late Toni
Morrison, who passed away last
month, spent a brief time living
there, as well, according to the Historic
Sites Project.
Baldwin was born and raised in
Harlem, but racism and homophobia
in his home country pushed
him to spend many years abroad
— most notably in France. He was
even forced to turn to publishers in
England when those in the United
States rejected his 1956 novel “Giovanni’s
Room,” which centers on a
torrid sexual relationship between
two men in Paris.
After initially leaving for France
at the age of 24, Baldwin returned
to the US in the 1950s to lend his
skills as a writer to the civil rights
movement. He penned essays
HISTORY
based on interviews with movement
activists and helped draw attention
to the racist realities of the
American South during the era.
“Seeing James Baldwin’s NYC
residence listed on the National
Register of Historic Places is the
realization of our mission, in part,
to increase LGBT representation
on this important offi cial inventory
of sites and to formally recognize
the US home most closely associated
with Baldwin, a pivotal voice
of 20th century America,” Amanda
Davis, project manager of the NYC
LGBT Historic Sites Project, said.
“We are delighted that our years
of research into Baldwin’s connections
to New York City and this
home, specifi cally, have resulted in
the site’s recognition at both the local,
state, and national levels.”
The building was added to the
State Register of Historic Places in
July.
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