The Evolution of a Cultural Epicenter
The story of how Washington Heights came to be a vibrant, thriving community is a fascinating one. And it has several revealing similarities to and differences from Cleveland’s immigration history.
Washington Heights Immigration History
Washington Heights spans roughly from W155th street of Manhattan northward to Dyckman Street, and stretches from the Hudson River to the Harlem River- less than two square miles now home to just over 2,000 diverse New Yorkers.
1775 - Eponymously dubbed for the fort established by George Washington during the Revolutionary War, the site now hosts a playground for families, nestled on the raised rocky pinnacle that stands as the highest natural elevation point on Manhattan. . George Washington’s headquarters resided down the hill on the eastern bluff of the island at the Morris-Jumel Mansion (on what is today 160th) for just a single month before encroaching British forces seized the real estate. Mary Morris, the house’s original matriarch was one of three women accused of treason in NY, and as such had the home confiscated and sold to cover war debts. The property was occupied by farmers and would soon be owned by NY socialite Eliza Jumel who has an absolutely FASCINATING history (check her out). Will this be a link to something?
Most of uptown Manhattan. Which proved to have a uniquely tenable soil and topography for agriculture, remained rural farmland until the subway to the area was built in 1900. Lower Manhattan’s agricultural efforts proved fairly impossible as it was prone to flooding and incompatible soil and season temperaments.
1889 - Washington Heights became the very first home of NYC professional baseball, with the NY Giants playing at the Polo Grounds at 155th on the east side of the neighborhood until 1957. The NY Mets took a residency at the stadium in 1962-1963. American League Baseball got its start just ten blocks up and a few avenues to the west at what was Hilltop Stadium (what is now Columbia Medical Center) with their debut team, the NY Highlanders (now known as the Yankees).
1900-1950s - The A line of the subway was built (1906) to 157th and with it came a construction boom and huge influx of Irish, Greek, and Jewish communities that had immigrated to America, fleeing economic hardships and political persecution. There was such an influx of German-Jewish immigrants that the northern Heights was referred to as “Frankfurt on the Hudson.” Over these five decades, the groups were able to establish a foothold in the NYC economy and identity.
1940s-1980s - Dovetailing into the 40s through the 60s, having gained social, financial, and political traction within NYC, these groups started moving north, south, and east. In the gradual exodus, New York saw a major surge of immigrants coming from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, and just a short time after, from the Dominican Republic. While each culture made a definite and distinct impact on the neighborhood, the Dominican culture reached a greater prominence within the Washington Heights neighborhood. This was primarily due to three major factors:
- 1. From 1916-1924, there was an American military occupation of the Dominican Republic. There’s a lot of fascinating history to piece through there, but in a very broad way, it laid the groundwork for a degree of cultural exposure.
- 2. From 1931-1961, a militia-empowered dictator, Rafael Trujillo, ruled over the Dominican Republic. In 1961, the Trujillo regime had come to an end, and with it, the emigration ban placed on Dominicans. Politically, in the void left by the brutal dictatorship, there was great difficulty in settling a new government structure and how the country as a whole could rebuild itself. By 1965 there arose a civil war and another US occupation. For these reasons especially, the exodus to America was very strong, aided by a diverse city with an international hub for flights.
- 3. By 1966, the Fourth Republic was established under a Reformist party leader. This was another fascinating few decades of socio-political development, but that said, in an overly broad way, the Dominican Republic stabilized significantly in a relatively short period of time. Because of this, there was and remains the capacity for families and individuals to have one foot in NYC and one foot in DR. The level of financial remittance from Dominican communities in the U.S. back and forth with families and communities in the Dominican Republic is substantial - evidence that the bonds between DR and NY are very strong financially and culturally.
Cleveland Immigration History
In 1914-1915, many southern African Americans migrated northward where there were more enterprising factory jobs during WWI in the resource rich area near Lake Erie.
Immigration restriction legislation kept immigration suppressed in the Midwest. Displaced immigrant communities who came to settle in America migrated to larger metropolis hubs like NYC and Chicago.
1948 witnessed the repeal of the National Origins Act and a loosening of a number of immigration restrictions in the Midwest. It’s at this point in Cleveland’s history that opportunities for communities from the Indian Diaspora, China, and Korea were able to make a home. During the 50s and 60s, social and political upheaval across Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East created a surge of diverse immigrant communities that came to Cleveland.
Throughout the 50s and 60s, a huge population of Puerto Rican immigrants came to Cleveland through a range of recruitment efforts for the wide variety of work opportunities that were booming in the region. Originally Puerto Ricans made a home on the east side of Cleveland, but, like NYC, after establishing themselves, moved closer to where the jobs and financial resources of the city existed: to the Near-West and in the Flats districts of Cleveland.
When Castro took power in 1959, there was a swift and significant increase in the number of Cubans who immigrated to Cleveland. By 1980, the Cuban population of Cleveland tripled but then declined substantially over the next ten years as families moved to other neighborhoods a bit further out such as Lorain, Painesville, and Brooklyn.
