Postcard from a Southerner in Harlem

Founded in 1925 with the accession of Puerto Rican scholar Arturo Schomburg’s collection, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is now a division of The New York Public Library. Stepping inside, visitors are greeted by a Richard Avedon photograph of James Baldwin and the ashes of Langston Hughes. A centennial exhibit features works by artists Gordon Parks, Jacob Lawrence, and W.C. Handy.

Outside the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. All photographs by Ashley Steenson unless otherwise noted.

I went to the Schomburg to view the papers of Harlem Renaissance actress, dancer, and journalist Fredi Washington (1903–1994).¹ The research library has one of the only Washington collections in existence, along with New Orleans’s Amistad Center.

Fredi Washington with Paul Robeson in the film version of Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones in 1933 (public domain).

Born in Georgia, Washington could have “passed” as white but chose to identify as Black and fight for equality. She performed at the Cotton Club, toured Europe, and starred in films, including Imitation of Life (1934). After being labeled a communist in 1950, Washington left the entertainment industry. In her collection, I found rare documents like tabloid articles about her marriage to Duke Ellington’s trombonist and a letter from actress Bette Davis.²

While at the Schomburg, I also explored Washington’s neighborhood. Fredi lived at Graham Court, a 1901 behemoth overlooking Central Park. The Times called it Harlem’s “equivalent to the Dakota,” legendary home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.³ Down the street, soul food from Washington’s home region is served at Amy Ruth’s and Sylvia’s. While the famous Cotton Club is long gone, jazz club Bill’s Place, where Billie Holiday was discovered, is open every weekend.⁴

1. The author would like to thank the New York Public Library for supporting this research trip with a short-term fellowship.
2. “Fredi Airs Hubby’s Love Letters,” New York Amsterdam News, February 14, 1948, Fredi Washington papers, 1922–1981, 1922–1941, Reel 1, Microfilm, Schomburg Center for Black Culture, The New York Public Library, New York, New York. Letter from Bette Davis to Fredi Washington,February 15 [1935?], Fredi Washington papers, 1922–1981, 1922–1941, Reel 1, Microfilm, Schomburg Center for Black Culture, The New York Public Library, New York, New York.
3. Christopher Gray, “Streetscapes: Graham Court; Grande Dame Tries to Regain Her Respectability in Harlem,” New York Times, July 12, 1987, https://nyti.ms/4kV1sA8.
4. See Theda Palmer Saxton’s Heirs to Dirty Linen and Harlem Ghosts: Whitewashing Prohibition with Black Soap (Balboa Press, 2013), which documents the history of the legendary 133rd or “Swing” Street.

Ashley Steenson

Ashley Steenson is a PhD candidate in twentieth-century American political and cultural history with a regional focus on the Southern U.S. at the University of Alabama. She’s currently a University of Alabama History Department Dissertation Fellow (2025–2026), and she received an MA in history and graduate minor in women’s studies from the University of Mississippi.

The title of Steenson’s project is “Blacklisted Women: Lillian Hellman, Tallulah Bankhead, and Fredi Washington (recipient of a New York Public Library short-term fellowship). Outside of academia, she has been published in outlets like The Washington Post and TIME .