Incredible Footage of a World-Class Party at Duke Ellington’s Apartment, Released 54 Years Later
It’s an August night in 1972, and inside of Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse, there’s a cocktail party full of cultural giants.
Artists who contributed to the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most significant artistic movements in U.S. history, sip drinks and swap stories. Photographer James Van Der Zee, painter Romare Bearden and activist Louise Alone Thompson Patterson are present. They’re joined by the likes of scholar John Henrik Clarke, music composer Eubie Blake and others, as the group discusses big questions. Namely, What was the Harlem Renaissance?
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