By The Editors

Thurgood Marshall

From the 1930s through the early 1960s, when  Harlem was Black America’s unchallenged capitol, 409 Edgecombe Avenue was its swankiest address. During those decades, a host of luminaries from politics, education and the arts populated the spacious apartments at the thirteen-story residence, set on a bluff at the district’s northern edge. They included W.E.B. Du Bois, Aaron Douglas, the painter – and Thurgood Marshall, head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

This week the city of New York designated the five -block stretch of Edgecombe Avenue that includes the building – from 150^th to 155^th streets – as Thurgood Marshall Boulevard. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed the legislation honoring Marshall during a brief ceremony at City Hall in Manhattan. New York City, by vote of the City Council, frequently honors individuals by naming blocks or parts of thoroughfares after them. Nonetheless, the honor for Marshall seemed to carry a special resonance. “He was an extraordinary individual,” said Jacob Morris, president of the Harlem Historical Society, who led the effort to persuade the City Council to act. “The work he did benefited not just Black America, but all of America. (The street sign) is a tangible manifestation of the community’s respect for that.”