Dunbar Apartments

At the extreme northeastern end of Harlem, where Seventh Avenue and the Harlem Rivers meet, are two of the locality's most important housing developments. At Seventh Avenue and 150th Street are the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Apartments, occupying an entire city block. The six separate buildings, stories high and of variegated red Holland brick , are grouped around a central garden, with a playground for the smaller children. The develop, named for the noted Negro poet, was financed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr, and the designed by Andrew J. Thomas. It was completed in 1928 and conducted on a co-operative basis until 1936 when as a result of many defaults in payment, Mr.Rockefeller foreclosed; the Dunbar National Bank, in the building, the only bank in Harlem operated by Negroes, was subsequently liquidated. He reimbursed the former tenant-owners for their capital payments and operated the apartments on a rental basis, maintaining the same management and social activities.
(New York City Guide, pp 265)
The Dunbar Apartments were built between 1926 and 1928 paid for by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and designed by Andrew J. Thomas. It was another groundbreaking offer for middle-class African Americans affordable and high-quality housing. The apartments were named after the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
They were designed to counter the high rent practices that were prevalent in Harlem at the time.
The apartments had features like a nursery, playground, and courtyard which wasn't very popular with affordable housing at the time. The Dunbar Apartments not only improved living standards but also played a role in stabilizing and uplifting the neighborhood's African American population by giving them not only a home but also jobs in the Dunbar National Bank that was in the building.

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