Columbia University-trained historian and preservationist Michael Henry Adams will present “Seeking Harlem: Lost and Found” February 27 at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Adams will speak in Room 312 of the R.W. Corns Building, 78 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The event is free and open to the public.
A native of Akron, Adams began his preservation career volunteering for Akron’s Stan-Hywet Hall and advocating against the demolition of several historically significant buildings. He moved to Harlem in the 1980s and is a co-founder and board member of Save Harlem Now!
A vocal advocate for preserving black history and culture, Adams also is the author “Harlem Lost and Found, an Architectural and Social History, 1765-1915” and “Style and Grace, African Americas at Home.”
He currently is working a book on lesbian and gay life in Harlem between 1915 and 1995. His field of special interest is revivalist residential architecture of the early twentieth century, exemplified by Gilded-Age country and town houses. Relating the involvement of women, gays, and people of color regarding such buildings is a particular pursuit and goal. Follow Adams on Twitter at @harlemhellion.
His presentation is sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan’s Fine Arts Department, Black World Studies Program, and Richard M. Ross Art Museum.