This guidebook comes from those who know Harlem
best: the people who live, work, and study here. The book represents
ACE’s first major project. It also represents the culmination
of a three-year effort between ACE and the Harlem Congregations
for Community Improvement (HCCI). The two
groups came together in response to the growth of tourism to Harlem
churches. Each week visitors come to see Harlem churches in all
their Sunday morning gospel glory. However, many of these guests
do not understand the etiquette required in the churches; nor
do they understand the history or beliefs of the different faiths.
Harlem Treasures provides both, offering comprehensive
histories as well as commentaries on church cultures. In a further
effort to re-direct tourists into the community, the book also
includes a list of other Harlem treasures: historic landmarks,
buildings, and restaurants recommended by Harlem residents where
tourists can enjoy Creole, West Indian, Guyanese, Jamaican, soul
food, and more.
Written, researched, and designed by Columbia
University graduate students, with the help of HCCI members, this
book is written not only about Harlem, but written together with
the people of Harlem. In the words of the former mayor David Dinkins,
“This guide represents the coming together of two communities-
‘town and gown’- to join in the celebration of the rebirth of
Harlem as an attraction for global tourism while contributing
to programs at the grassroots.”
Harlem Treasures can be purchased at several bookstores in the
New York area including: the Columbia University Bookstore, the
bookstore at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the bookstore at
the Studio Museum of Harlem, and the bookstore at the City Museum
of New York. It can also be purchased on-line at half.com (http://half.ebay.com),
or directly from the ACE. (link to order
form).
The Community Explorers project is a unique mentorship program
launched in 2003-2004 that connects Harlem youth with Columbia graduate
students from the School of International and Public Affairs. The
program has a dual purpose: to introduce Harlem teenagers to the
college experience through the connection with their mentors; and
to have the youth produce a culminating research/artistic project
focused on their community and neighborhood.
ACE developed the basic framework for the Community Explorers Program
in 2003. As it did so, it partnered with the Harlem Children’s Zone
to identify boys and girls from the community who would benefit
from mentorship and increased exposure to college life. The Community
Explorers project kicked off as a pilot program during the Spring
of 2004.
The pilot program revealed excellent results. Mentor and mentee
pairs engaged in a variety of different activities including visiting
Columbia, touring other sights/cultural institutions in the city,
and working on their final community-based research/artistic project.
During the coming 2004-2005 year, the Community Explorers program
will run as a full-year relationship between mentors and mentees,
again with ACE partnering with the Harlem Children’s Zone. The program
will focus on students in the beginning years of high school who
are just beginning to consider their future collegiate goals.
Harlem Treasures: