sketch writer, and occasional director by the name
of Chester Erskin.” Through Erskin, Thurman and
Rapp were introduced to a theater publicist named
C. A. Leonard, who then introduced them to
“young Edward Blatt, who wanted to become a pro-
ducer and bought the option sight unseen.”
“Harlem” was Edward Blatt’s first BROADWAYplay.
He directed the play’s debut in February 1929 and
its revival a few months later in October 1929.
Blatt’s lengthy career in the theater spanned the
Harlem Renaissance and most recently included
the November–December 1970 production of Lor-
raine Hansberry’s Les Blancs, for which he was
company manager.
Notices about Harlemcalled attention to the
play’s predominantly African-American cast. The
February debut included accomplished veteran ac-
tors like Inez Clough, a member of the stock com-
pany at the Harlem-based LAFAYETTETHEATRE
and a performer whom critics lauded for her
groundbreaking performances on Broadway. One
of the 10 women included on drama critic George
Jean Nathan’s best actresses list for 1916–1917,
Clough’s stage credits included appearances in
RIDGELEYTORRENCE’s SIMON THECYRENIANin
April 1917.
Following its February 1929 opening, the play
traveled to CHICAGO, Detroit, and BOSTON.Ac-
cording to the New York Times,the October revival
at the Eltinge Theatre on Broadway included
members of the New York and Chicago casts.
Bibliography
Curtis, Susan. The First Black Actors on the Great White
Wa y.Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1998.
Harlem Branch of the New York
Public Library
Located on West 135th Street in Harlem, this li-
brary branch was a rich resource for the Harlem
Renaissance community and played an important
role during the period.
The chief librarian of the branch in the 1920s
was ERNESTINEROSE. Her tenure began in 1920,
the same year in which the NEWYORKPUBLICLI-
BRARYhired Catherine Latimer, the first African-
American woman employed by the institution.
REGINA ANDREWS, Rose’s assistant, joined the
staff in 1922 and was appointed circulation librar-
ian. The two women dedicated their resources and
site to community uplift and cohesion. They pro-
vided invaluable introductions to artists newly ar-
rived in the city. They also made the branch
available for readings, drama performances, and
cultural gatherings.
The special March 1925 Harlem issue of SUR-
VEYGRAPHICincluded a profile of the library in its
lengthy overview of Harlem institutions. The edito-
rial noted that the 135th Street Branch “seeks to be
what the Carnegie Corporation would call an intel-
ligence center.” Holdings at the library included a
burgeoning collection of African-American works
for students, set aside on its own floor. The article
emphasized that the branch, which had an interra-
cial staff of librarians, “has already formed a perma-
nent organization of men and women to lend it
support and to preserve and stabilize its policies.”
Finally, Survey Graphicmade a call to patrons and
potential donors who might have “rare, out-of-print
or costly books” that to date had been “lost to the
public in garrets or second-hand shops” that would
“find their way to a collection so well-founded and
so safeguarded for public use.” Survey Graphicread-
ers were encouraged to contact Ernestine Rose, the
branch librarian.
The library’s Division of Negro Literature,
History, and Prints, which is part of the foundation
of the library’s current holdings, was established of-
ficially in May 1925 under the supervision of Rose.
She had campaigned for a formal collection in
order to protect and to showcase the impressive
and valuable donations to the library from biblio-
phile ARTHURSCHOMBURG, Louise Latimer, jour-
nalist John E. Bruce, and others. Rose organized
community meetings to promote the idea, and
Schomburg, JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, Hubert
Harrison, and John Nail became officers of the
branch. The division celebrated by staging the
branch’s first exhibit of rare books and materials
relating to black culture and history.
The formidable collection of Arthur Schom-
burg became part of the library collection in 1926.
The New York Public Library notes that the NA-
TIONALURBANLEAGUE brought the collection
to the attention of the Carnegie Corporation. The
organization purchased it for $10,000. The collec-
tion included some 5,000 books, 3,000 manuscripts,Harlem Branch of the New York Public Library 215