Publisher Elinor Tatum is fighting to keep The New York Amsterdam News alive. A Black-owned weekly newspaper serving NYC since 1909, it has always been a powerful voice for the community, influencing public opinion and advocating for civil rights and social justice.
In a recent feature on ABC 7 Eyewitness News, Tatum discusses the planned preservation project for the building, located at 2340 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem. “We’ve got two phenomenal architects working with us,” she says (4:02).
AYON Studio is collaborating with Tatum, AmNews Educational Foundation CEO Siobhan Bennett, and fellow architecture firm Jerome Haferd Studio, to transform the historic Harlem newsroom into a public gathering and education center. The ultimate goal, however, is to get the building designated as a historic landmark that celebrates the Amsterdam News' work and the role of the Black press.
“This building has a presence in Harlem,” says Angel Ayón (4:50), “The first day we came here, we found a copy of a drawing by Robert L. Wilson. We’re standing on the shoulders of other prominent African American Architects who had the unique opportunity of working on this building. Because this is one of the few opportunities they had. That’s why Jerome and I are so privileged to be able to have a practice.”
One of the oldest newspapers serving the African American community in the United States, Amsterdam News has been associated with notable figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, and Marvel Cooke.