| From 1890 to 1920, the northern Manhattan community of Harlem changed from a village dominated by white middle class merchants and professionals, with a small settlement of black residents, to a densely built urban community that was called the Black Capital of America. Although the dramatic change in Harlem is often described as one of "invasion" by black newcomers and "resistance" by white Harlem residents, details of the real estate trans-actions of the period indicate a more complex reality which challenges some elements of the "ghetto formation" model used by many historians to describe similar changes taking place in many northern cities in the first decades of the 1900s. Blacks were intent on forming a permanent, thriving black community in Harlem and therefore they sought to own residential, religious, and commercial property in Harlem. Many whites did resist blacks' movement into Harlem, but others facilitated this movement by assisting them to finance purchases of properties. White residents and investors in Harlem were a diverse group whose actions regarding race were influenced by length of residency, social class, ethnicity, and personal world views. Most other northern cities experienced variations of the changes experienced in New York City. On both sides of the color line class, ethnicity, politics, and economics dictated a range of strategies to either facilitate or forestall racial change in Harlem. The ownership and occupancy of real estate, long the symbol of citizenship in the United States, was a critical element in implementing and understanding these strategies. |
