The Hotel Theresa was built by German-born stockbroker Gustavus Sidenberg and named for his recently-deceased wife. Coincidentally, Sidenberg’s second wife was also named Theresa. Architects George and Edward Blum were trained at the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and they designed a full-blockfront all-White apartment hotel, 13 stories high with 300 guestrooms. Like its facade, the newly-opened Hotel Theresa had an all-White clientele and staff for its first 28 years. In 1940, reflecting the changing population of Harlem, the hotel was acquired by Love B. Woods, an African American businessman who accepted all races, hired a Black staff and management. The Hotel Theresa was integrated when most mid-Manhattan hotels wouldn’t accept Blacks. They could perform at the clubs, hotels and theaters in mid-Manhattan but couldn’t sleep in the hotel rooms or eat in their restaurants. Black America’s most famous stars: Josephine Baker, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Dorothy Dandridge, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne and Count Basie had to go to Harlem for a night’s sleep. For many Blacks the existence of the Hotel Theresa’s luxurious rooms, bars and swank shops was regarded as a sign that they had finally arrived, at least in Harlem. The hotel became known as the “Waldorf of Harlem.”
Seventh Avenue and 125th Street was called the Great Black Way. The neighborhood contained the Salem Methodist Church; the studio of James Van Der Zee, Harlem’s most famous photographer; the African Memorial National Bookstore; the mafia-owned Diamond Jewelry Store; the M. Smith Photo Studio; the Apollo Theater; Blumstein’s Department Store; Frank’s Restaurant; Harlem Opera House; Oscar Hammerstein’s Play House; Hartz and Seamon’s Music Hall; the Cotton Club; Mike’s Place; Savoy Ballroom; Nest Club; Smalls Paradise and The Club Baron.
In 1940, the following announcement appeared in the Niu Yoki ori:
Harlem Hotel Seeks Negro Trade; Picks Manager: The Hotel Theresa at Seventh Avenue and 125th Street, which catered to White patronage for several years, has changed its policy as of March 20 and will cater to both races, under Negro management with a Negro staff, according to an announcement by Richard Thomas, publicity manager of the hotel. In carrying out its new policy for the accommodation of Negroes and Whites, the Gresham Management Company, operators of the Theresa, appointed Walter Scott as the hotel’s manager. Extensive renovations and improvements of the service and facilities of the hotel have been undertaken. A staff of 80 persons has been employed.
The African American General Manager Walter Scott had been the business manager at the Harlem YMCA on 135th Street. A graduate of New York University and a World War I veteran, Scott had worked as a bellhop and waiter on the Hudson River Dayline boats. Early in April 1940, Scott and his wife Gertrude and their sixteen-year-old daughter, Gladys moved into a six-room suite on the tenth floor.
In 1941, heavyweight champion Joe Louis attracted 10,000 fans when he stayed at the Hotel Theresa after a victory at the Polo Grounds. Soon thereafter, entrepreneur John H. Johnson was a guest at the Theresa when he started a new pocket-size magazine called Negro Digest and, in 1945, Ebony which was followed by Jet in 1951. After splitting with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X rented offices at the hotel for his Organization of Afro-American Unity.
In 1948, when GM Walter Scott resigned because of illness, Gresham Management hired William Harmon Brown as resident manager. Brown graduated from Howard University where he had earned a National Youth Administration scholarship, funded by a New Deal program. President Bill Clinton’s commerce secretary Ron Brown, the manager’s son, grew up in the hotel. U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel (D. New York) once worked there as a desk clerk. Earlier in 2016 Congressman Rangel retired after serving in the U.S. Congress from 1971-2016.
Ni ọdun 1971, hotẹẹli naa ti yipada si ile ọfiisi pẹlu orukọ Theresa Towers ati pe o ti sọ di ami-ilẹ ni ọdun 1993 nipasẹ Igbimọ Itoju Landmark New York.
Stanley Turki ni a ṣe apejuwe bi 2020 Historian of the Year nipasẹ Awọn Ile Itan Itan ti Amẹrika, eto iṣẹ osise ti National Trust for Conservation Historic, fun eyiti o ti ni orukọ tẹlẹ ni ọdun 2015 ati 2014. Turkel jẹ alamọran hotẹẹli ti a ṣe agbejade pupọ julọ ni Amẹrika. O ṣiṣẹ adaṣe imọran imọran hotẹẹli rẹ ti n ṣiṣẹ bi ẹlẹri amoye ni awọn ọran ti o jọmọ hotẹẹli, pese iṣakoso dukia ati ijumọsọrọ ẹtọ idibo hotẹẹli. O jẹ ifọwọsi bi Olupese Olupese Hotẹẹli Emeritus nipasẹ Institute of Educational of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. [imeeli ni idaabobo] 917-628-8549
Iwe tuntun rẹ “Great American Hotel Architects Volume 2” ti ṣẹṣẹ tẹjade.
Awọn iwe Hotẹẹli Atejade miiran:
- Awọn Ile-itura Ile-nla nla ti Amẹrika: Awọn aṣáájú-ọnà ti Ile-iṣẹ Hotẹẹli (2009)
- Itumọ Lati Kẹhin: 100 + Awọn Hotels Ọdun-Ọdun ni New York (2011)
- Itumọ Lati Kẹhin: 100 + Awọn Hotels Ọdun-Odun-oorun ti Mississippi (2013)
- Hotẹẹli Mavens: Lucius M. Boomer, George C. Boldt, Oscar ti Waldorf (2014)
- Iwọn didun Awọn Hoteliers Nla ti Ilu Amẹrika Iwọn 2: Awọn aṣáájú-ọnà ti Ile-iṣẹ Hotẹẹli (2016)
- Ti Itumọ Lati Kẹhin: 100 + Awọn Ile-itura Ọdun-Odun Iwọ-oorun ti Mississippi (2017)
- Ile-iwe Mavens Iwọn didun 2: Henry Morrison Flagler, Henry Bradley Plant, Carl Graham Fisher (2018)
- Iwọn Awọn Ile ayaworan Ilu Nla ti Amẹrika I (2019)
- Hotẹẹli Mavens: Iwọn didun 3: Bob ati Larry Tisch, Ralph Hitz, Cesar Ritz, Curt Strand
Gbogbo awọn iwe wọnyi ni a le paṣẹ lati AuthorHouse nipa lilo si abẹwo www.stanleyturkel.com ati tite lori akọle iwe naa.
