Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: The Gay Harlem Renaissance

Date: December 29, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart, WNYC
Guests:

• Allison Robinson (Lead Curator, "The Gay Harlem Renaissance" exhibition)
• George Chauncey (Chief Historian, exhibition; Author, Gay New York; Professor, Columbia University)

Overview

This episode explores the vibrant, complex, and often overlooked queer dimensions of the Harlem Renaissance—a period in the 1920s and 1930s when Harlem blossomed into a global center of Black culture and art. Through the lens of the new “Gay Harlem Renaissance” exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, host Alison Stewart and her guests illuminate how Black LGBTQ communities shaped and celebrated life in Harlem amid both joy and adversity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Exhibition: Origins and Purpose

[00:29, 02:04]

• The show, “The Gay Harlem Renaissance,” is grounded in the vision of historian George Chauncey.
  • George Chauncey: “...the vibrancy, dynamism of black LGBTQ life in Harlem in the 1920s and 30s is still one of the least known and least understood aspects of New York City's queer history.”
  • Marks the centenary of The New Negro (1925), and spotlights figures like Alain Locke—“gay and mentored many of the young writers who he published who were also gay.”

Hidden Histories: The Hamilton Lodge Ball

[03:05, 03:44]

• Allison Robinson: Learned about the massive Hamilton Lodge Ball—“the largest drag show on the East Coast, regularly had thousands of attendees coming from as far as Europe... a beautiful celebration of Black LGBTQ life.”
• George Chauncey: The Ball was “unexpectedly open and visible and accepted... the black press delighted in it, actually gave it more coverage than regular society balls.”

Policing, Community, and Resilience

[05:13, 06:18]

• Despite the criminalization of queerness, Harlem’s Black LGBTQ community forged spaces for visibility and joy.
  • Robinson: “We are seeing collaboration between the police and private anti vice societies... in Harlem it was this really, I would say unexpected, but an open society.”
  • Chauncey: “...the real oppression of queer life... and the resilience of people who created lives in that context. So we tell the stories of people who were arrested... but they came out of this and continued to live queer lives.”
  • Performers expressed queerness with varying degrees of openness (e.g., Gladys Bentley vs. Ethel Waters).

Beyond the Cotton Club: Spaces and Social Life

[08:30]

• Harlem’s nightlife extended far beyond the famous Cotton Club.
  • Robinson: “...there are dozens of clubs, hundreds of rent parties, all of these spaces... spaces where Black LGBTQ people can gather and form communities and find each other.”

Elite vs. Everyday Experience

[09:32, 10:55]

• Elite figures like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Alain Locke fostered private and public queer networks.
  • Chauncey: “...writers... built very strong gay social networks and supported one another, even though most of them publicly, except for Bruce Nugent, kept their same-sex desires private...”
• Rent parties exemplified working-class resilience and inclusive, cross-orientation camaraderie.
  • Chauncey: “...at most of these parties, both straight and queer couples could openly socialize together. ...everyone’s accepting everyone there.”

Representation: Navigating Visibility and Identity

[12:41]

• The exhibition is intentional in portraying the spectrum of identity and expression.
  • Robinson: “There are so many different ways of expressing oneself’s gender identity, your sexual identity, and also how those experiences get translated into the work...”
  • Highlights both discreet figures (e.g., Langston Hughes, whose queer poetry is featured) and more openly queer artists (e.g., Wallace Thurman).

The Great Migration and the "Promised Land"

[14:20]

• The arrival of LGBTQ Southerners catalyzed Harlem’s queer visibility.
  • Chauncey: “...many LGBTQ people... had been more open, even in the South... but when they came to Harlem... part of a much larger, freer community... where they weren't literally under the gun...”

The Complicated Role of Carl Van Vechten

[15:45]

• A white ally and provocateur who engaged deeply with Harlem’s culture but also fueled controversy.
  • Chauncey: “He was both a booster, an advocate, a participant, and a complicated figure who really antagonized a lot of people.”

Looking Forward: The American LGBTQ Museum’s New Home

[17:34]

• The New-York Historical opens a new wing featuring a floor dedicated to LGBTQ history.
  • Robinson: “...a gallery with Stuart Wiseman's shoes... a number of exhibitions... classrooms. It's really a multi-purpose experience that I think people of all ages will enjoy.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Prof. Henry Louis Gates’ observation [00:00]:
  “The Harlem Renaissance was, quote, surely as gay as it was black.”
• Chauncey on the openness of Harlem’s queer community [04:39]:
  “For me, it conveys both the vibrancy of Black LGBTQ life in this period and how open it was, unexpectedly open and visible and accepted it was in the Black community of Harlem.”
• Robinson reflecting on inclusive celebration [03:41]:
  “It just seems such a beautiful celebration of Black LGBTQ life in New York City.”
• Chauncey on everyday acceptance [10:55]:
  “Queer men would call [Ed Smalls] darling and he’d say, fine, come on in. And very welcoming scene. People felt very accepted there.”
• Robinson on the show's curatorial approach [12:50]:
  “That was a really important point that we wanted to make in the exhibition, that there are so many different ways of expressing oneself’s gender identity, your sexual identity, and also how those experiences get translated into the work that these cultural giants are producing.”

Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:00–02:04 Introduction & exhibition origins
• 03:05–04:39 The Hamilton Lodge Ball and drag in Harlem
• 05:13–06:18 Policing, oppression, and community resilience
• 08:30–09:32 Beyond the Cotton Club: LGBTQ-friendly spaces
• 09:32–12:28 Elite vs. working-class experiences; rent parties
• 12:41–14:05 Presenting sexual identity in the exhibition
• 14:20–15:39 The Great Migration’s impact on queer Harlem
• 15:45–17:17 Carl Van Vechten’s complex legacy
• 17:34–18:04 Preview of the new American LGBTQ Museum wing

Tone & Style

The conversation is direct, celebratory, and occasionally candid—inviting honesty about joys and dangers while balancing scholarship and storytelling. Throughout, both guests and host exude admiration for Harlem’s queer history, and a palpable excitement about making its legacy visible.

Further Reading & Action

• The “Gay Harlem Renaissance” exhibition is open at the New-York Historical Society through March 8, 2026.
• Watch for the new American LGBTQ Museum wing at the New-York Historical Society.
• For a deeper dive: George Chauncey’s Gay New York (especially chapters on Harlem).

Summary prepared for listeners of All Of It and anyone interested in the intersection of Black, queer, and New York City cultural histories.