{"nrhp_refnum":"76001241","name":"Johnson, James Weldon, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"187 W. 135th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.81526622350006,"lon":-73.94302371887875,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-11","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1976-05-11","areas_of_significance":["Black","Education","Politics/Government","Social History","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story early twentieth-century apartment building at 185-187 West 135th Street in Harlem, New York City, just west of Seventh Avenue, where James Weldon Johnson lived from 1925 to 1938.","why_significant":"The building is nominated for its association with James Weldon Johnson, who lived there while leading the NAACP as its national executive officer. Johnson was a writer, songwriter, educator, diplomat and civil rights leader, known for \"Lift Every Voice and Sing\" and his campaigns for racial equality. The form places it under Afro-American history and social/humanitarian significance.","narrative":"This five-story apartment building at 185-187 West 135th Street in Harlem was the home of James Weldon Johnson for a little more than thirteen years, from 1925 to 1938, while he headed the NAACP. Built in the early twentieth century, it has red face brick above a rusticated stone first floor, an entrance porch carried on four marble columns with round arches, and a projecting metal cornice on modillions. Its plan resembles a dumbbell, with a side light court. Johnson, born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1871, was a school principal, lawyer, newspaper founder, songwriter, diplomat and author. With his brother Rosamond he wrote \"Lift Every Voice and Sing,\" later known as the Negro National Hymn. At the NAACP he organized branches, backed the Silent Protest Parade, petitioned President Wilson for clemency for convicted soldiers, lobbied for an anti-lynching bill and investigated conditions in Haiti. The nomination recognizes the building as his residence.","period_of_significance":"1925-1938","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Romanesque rusticated stone first floor with Italian Renaissance details above","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as an apartment building; structure appears sound but needs architectural repairs, and the brickwork needs cleaning and painting.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.979732-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/76001241_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001241/bc7f43ec30-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001241/bc7f43ec30-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dmadeo","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:187-west-135th.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dmadeo</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:187-west-135th.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100009934","name":"Central Harlem North Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/central-harlem-north-historic-district-100009934/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315926","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Weldon_Johnson_Residence","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6145294"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/johnson-james-weldon-house-76001241/"}