Nson was aware that there had been considerable racial tension at
earlier dates as Negroes first moved into Harlem. The community had
been, in turn, Dutch, Irish, Jewish, and Italian. Originally Negroes,
living in New York, worked for wealthy Whites and lived in the shadows
of the large mansions surrounding Washington Square. Several of the
streets in Greenwich Village had been almost entirely inhabited by
Negroes. About 1890, the community shifted its focus northward into the
20's and low 30's just west of Sixth Avenue. At the turn of the century,
it moved again into the vicinity of 53rd Street. B
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