The above photo taken by James Van Der Zee of the Alpha Phi Alpha basketball team in 1926 had us wondering if the fraternity house was in Harlem or not. Looking at the doorway and the cast iron rails as clues, one can conclude that this was at Strivers Row in the upper 130s. Compared to the current lower photo, it becomes evident that this was the case but we can't quite make out the house number. Does anyone have additional information on this photo?
I believe it's 203 w 138. There's a landmarks commission walking tour book that has that, and I think I've walked by and seen the holes where the sign was attached.
ReplyDeleteNote: This was Paul Robeson's fraternity, and W.E.B. DuBois and Thurgood Marshall, among other Harlemites, were members. The architect Vertner Tandy was a founder.
ReplyDeleteThe front center and back center look familiar to me, but I can't offhand identifiy them...
Tips have come in that lesser cropped versions of the Van Der Zee photo reveals that the building number is 203.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture!!
ReplyDeleteWhere can we see more of Mr. Van Der Zee's work?
Perhaps a musuem would be interesting in a retrospective of his work.....
If there is no permanent collection of Mr. Van Der Zee's Harlem photographs, it might indeed be time for a revival of "Harlem on My Mind," the exhibit that resurrected his career in the 80s, not long before his death. Celebrities like Bill Cosby had portraits done by this great artist in his classic style.
ReplyDeleteFabulous photo of the Alpha house, which they sold several years ago.
ReplyDeleteI've been searching and searching for the identities in the photo--and all I can come up with is: Some of these players also appear in the picture of the St. Christopher basketball team Robeson played on around 1919--the picture is in Duberman's Robeson biography
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