The Spatial Narratives of Black Manhattan: How Guided Tours use the City to Recount Black History

Keywords: Black History, Cultural Landscape, New York, Tour Guides, the City, Cultural Geography
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This paper will consider how guided tours utilize the spaces of the city to tell Black stories. The research site for this study is the New York City borough of Manhattan. An African and African American presence has existed in Manhattan since 1613, meaning that the borough has embedded within it more than 400 years of Black history. Tour guides use the spaces of Manhattan to narrate this history. This study looks at two walking tours: Free Tours by Foot’s Harlem Walking tour and the Tenement Museum’s Reclaiming Black Spaces tour. These tours tell Black stories by lacing them through the city’s spaces. The two tours offer a contrast in how they tell their stories, particularly when the material culture connected to their stories no longer exists — i.e., it has been deracinated and replaced. This work will contribute to the growing spatial narrative literature.