The New School and Village Preservation Celebrate the James Baldwin Centennial
Centennial celebrations for the renowned Harlem-born writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin (1924–1987) are happening in neighborhoods across New York City, including Greenwich Village. The New School is honoring Baldwin, one of the most important writers of the 20th century, with a large installation in the window of The New School’s 70 Fifth Avenue building. Featuring a passage from Baldwin’s book Nothing Personal, the installation encourages passersby to reflect on the writer’s legacy, impact on American culture, and powerful depictions of the struggles, aspirations, and hopes of the silenced and unheard. The installation, presented by Village Preservation and designed by PS New York, will be on display through February 1, 2025.
Baldwin lived in Greenwich Village for a number of years. From 1958 to 1961, he lived at 81 Horatio Street, where he worked on his third novel, Another Country. In an essay about Marlon Brando included in the 1966 book Double Exposure: A Gallery of the Celebrated with Commentary by the Equally Celebrated, Baldwin reminisces about spending time at The New School, then called the New School for Social Research. He writes, “I first met Marlon Brando in the spring of 1944, when, for reasons having to do with youth and confusion, I spent a lot of time hanging around Manhattan’s New School for Social Research. Marlon was a member of the Dramatic Workshop of the New School and was then studying with Erwin Piscator. It was not long before we struck up a kind of laconic friendship—we were both very shy—and somewhat distrustfully informed each other of the shape of our futures: he was to become a great actor, I was to become a great writer.“
In April 1965, Baldwin delivered the keynote address at a conference titled The Negro Writer’s Vision of America, held at The New School in partnership with the Harlem Writers Guild. Dedicated to the memory of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, who had studied at The New School, the conference featured outstanding scholars, critics, and writers including Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Alice Childress, Milton A. Galamison, Paule Marshall, Truman Nelson, Frederick O’Neal, and Gordon Rogoff.
With the new installation the university and Village Preservation are partnering for the second time to celebrate the unique place Greenwich Village has occupied in the struggle for civil rights. In 2022, the 70 Fifth Avenue building featured an installation honoring the early-20th-century civil rights and social justice activism of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and others.
“James Baldwin was a voice for the voiceless and a champion for truth,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation. “This installation not only honors his extraordinary contributions but also serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggles for justice and equality. Baldwin was a Greenwich Village resident for several years while he wrote some of his most searing work. We are thrilled to partner with The New School to bring this interactive commemoration to life.”