In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Chapter Fourteen Alberta Harlem, 1940 Harlem! I stood there, dropped by bags, took a deep breath, and felt happy again —langston Hughes in the summer of 1940, samuel sweeney and his family packed their clothes, sold their furniture, and climbed aboard the broadway limited train bound for new york City.1 the sweeney family had spent the past eighteen years moving from town to town across the Midwest because the Methodist Church required its pastors to change congregations every three years. in each new city, alberta had tried to finish her college degree. she majored in music education at Capitol University in Columbus, ohio. at Case Western reserve University in Cleveland, she majored in english and was featured in the school’s literary magazine. at the University of Chicago, she took classes in social work. yet in spite of her best intentions, she had never been able to graduate. However, this move, to the tiny parsonage of st. Mark’s Methodist Church on the corner of 138th street and st. nicholas avenue in the heart of Harlem, would be her last. although she now felt herself too old to return to school, alberta looked forward to living in a place where she’d be able to satisfy her insatiable desire for intellectual and cultural stimulation. in 1940 new york City was america’s undisputed artistic capital, boasting three major art museums, hundreds of smaller galleries, a first-rate opera company , a major symphony orchestra, the broadway theater district, and the Julliard school of Music, the most famous music conservatory in america. the parsonage at st. Mark’s Methodist episcopal Church was located in Harlem, only blocks away from some of the country’s most illustrious african americans . langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay—three black poets who are now required reading in college poetry classes—lived nearby, as did the musicians duke ellington, lionel Hampton, billy strayhorn, Johnny Hodges, and fats Waller. the novelists Zora neale Hurston, nella larsen, and richard 72 73 Alberta, Harlem, 1940 Wright lived in Harlem, along with the actor, singer, and political activist Paul robeson. romare bearden and Jacob lawrence, two of america’s best-known african american artists, exhibited their jazz-accented canvases at the Harlem yMCa, while the walls of Harlem’s local library were decorated with the art deco style murals of aaron douglas.2 alberta loved living in the big apple. she took her children to the new york Philharmonic and to see Paul robeson sing on broadway. if she didn’t feel like leaving her neighborhood, there were several places to hear classical music right in Harlem. st. Mark’s Methodist episcopal Church, st. Philip’s episcopal Church, the abyssinian baptist Church, and st. Martin’s episcopal Church all hosted recitals. the 135th street branch of the new york Public library, later to be known as the schaumburg library, held a concert series, as did the Harlem yMCa. black musicians performed frequently at fund-raising events for popular civil rights causes, while african american sororities, fraternities, and women’s clubs also sponsored performances by local musicians.3 it is entirely possible that alberta heard my friend spencer’s aunt ruth lipscomb perform in one of these venues. lipscomb and her sister, luetta, had moved to new york from West virginia in 1920 to study at the Julliard school of Music. among a tiny handful of african american instrumentalists at the school, the lipscomb sisters battled poverty along with race and gender discrimination to pursue their dream of becoming concert pianists. both women were able to graduate, but luetta eventually married and returned south to teach in West virginia’s segregated state college system. ruth, on the other hand, was stubborn. she did not want to teach and she did not want to marry, and most of all she did not want to return to the south. ruth avery lipscomb was determined, despite all the odds, to make her living as a concert pianist. between 1934 and 1942, ruth lipscomb performed regularly in Harlem, giving concerts at the yMCa, st. Phillips episcopal Church, and with an enterprising group of Harlem musicians called the Musicians and artists for“U” association.4 since the recital series at st. Mark’s Methodist episcopal Church was a common stop on the Harlem concert circuit, lipscomb most likely performed at alberta’s church or, at the very least, attended recitals there. However, the pianist whose career alberta was most likely to have followed was Philippa...

Share