SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Harlem Markers Project

The SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Harlem Markers Project is an initiative to install twenty-five historic markers around the community to honor events, people, and organizations that imbue Harlem with its unique character. 

Honorees of the project include notable figures such as Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and Yuri Kochiyama. There is also a marker to honor the Lenape Nation, the indigenous nation upon whose land Harlem exists. 

Seven out of twenty-five markers have been installed thus far, including those to 555 Edgecombe Ave., the sister building to 409 Edgecombe Ave. and Paul Robeson’s former residence; the Green Book, a guidebook for Black road trippers; Queen Mother Moore, reparations and human rights activists; Regina Anderson Andrews, the first Black woman to head a branch of the New York Public Library; and Nelson Mandela, to honor his historic visit to Harlem in 1990 after being released from prison; the Lenape Nation, the traditional territory in which Harlem is built upon; and Blumstein, the department store which was the site of the 1934 “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” protest. Featured below are some photos of the markers installed thus far.

WWSH has hosted various programs to celebrate the Harlem Markers Project, including Lift Ev’ry Voice of Fire: Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Larry Neal, and J. Rosamond Johnson, a day-long bus tour to visit each marker site of the respective honorees (2023); a book giveaway in honor of Regina Anderson Andrews at the Washington Heights New York Public Library branch (May 2024); and Honoring the Ancestors: Celebrating the Harlem Markers Project, a daylong celebration of the initiative at the Victoria Theater Building (June 2024). You can learn more about these programs by visiting our past events page.

WWSH anticipates the rest of the markers to be installed by Fall 2024. Find out more about the marker honorees and the site locations of each marker by visiting the bio pages below.