About

Harlem has long been the subject of African American cultural and political history, yet a comprehensive account of Harlem’s religious milieu (historical and contemporary) has yet to be developed. On this website you’ll find a growing document of the religious life of the Harlem neighborhood of New York—affectionately known as Harlem, USA. With the help of Columbia University students, and under the guidance of Professors Obery Hendricks and Josef Sorett, Religions of Harlem uses written research, photos, and video to provide a unique view of the wide range of religious expressions, leaders, and communities that have been and continue to be central to the cultural worlds of Harlem. The locations students visit and capture are shared in our blog section and can also be viewed as a map. Through exposure to a range of research, outreach, and public events, this project will document, gather, compile, analyze, organize and present to a range of audiences the rich religious history of Harlem, as well as its diverse contemporary religious landscape. While currently under construction, our site will also feature a time line charting major turning points in Harlem’s history.

Religions of Harlem takes a broad approach that is informed by major themes in African American religious and cultural history and attends to a range of theoretical questions (i.e. race, diaspora, urbanization, im/migration) and methodological approaches (i.e. historical, anthropological, sociological, etc) to the study of religion. In addition to reaching audiences through the world wide web, Religions of Harlem sponsors public events and operates in conjunction with an academic course in Columbia University’s Department of Religion. This project is supported by and associated with the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Lifeand is a collaborative effort with the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. For more information, please email us at [email protected].