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My dad lived in Harlem, NY, the first 21 years of his life, overlapping with events of Harlem’s heyday.  For years, I’ve been eager to get his words down as oral history. But in the time it took me to start recording his memories –mostly of the 40s and 50s–I became a filmmaker. Here’s a low-res work sample of  Daddy Remembers Harlem (TRT: 12:04) Intended TRT about 60 minutes.

       Mom & Dad circa 1959.

“I thought all the black people were in Harlem—or trying to get there.” —My dad, Oliver Johnson, on Harlem, NY, of the 1940’s and 50’s.