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Hotel Theresa History

Hotel Theresa was a vibrant center of Black life in Harlem, NYC, in the mid 20th century. The hotel use to sit at the intersection of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and West 125th st (Martin Luther King. Jr. Boulevard). Hotel Theresa was built by Gustavus Sidenberg 1843-1915. Sidenberg's wife was named Theresa so he named it after her. Hotel Theresa was the tallest building in Harlem until the Construction of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building across the street in 1973 Hotel Theresa was officially opened in 1913.

Famous people such as Louis Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Duke Ellington, Muhammad Ali, Dinah Washington, Ray Charles, Little Richard, and Jimi Hendrix all stayed in the hotel or lived there for some time.

The hotel profited from the refusal of prestigious hotels elsewhere in the city to accept black guests. Therefore, black businessmen, performers, and athlets were thrown under the same roof. The hotel suffered from the continued deteriornation of Harlem through the 1950s and 1960s, and from the end of segregation elsewhere in the city. As black people of means had alternatives, they stopped coming to Harlem. The hotel closed in 1961.

I think hotel Theresa is a very historical and amazing place to be able to stand in because it had famous people that everybody wish they could have met. I find it very interesting that not a lot of African Amercian people know much about this hotel. Hotel Theresa was basically the only hotel at the time who allowed African Americans. Most white owned hotels were very racist, so didnt allow African American people in. When it comes to this project, I want to be able to tell people more about hotel Theresa because they should know about why it only allowed African Americans in, and why it is important today.