Intermediate School 201: Race, Space, and Modern Architecture in Harlem

Harlem parents wanted to harness opportunities in the built environment to make better lives for themselves and their children, and they used urban space to make their demands known to the public. Whether they articulated a vision for the future based in integration or Black autonomy, whether they embraced modern architecture or disdained it, urban places figured in their aspirations for a just society. The exceptional design of IS 201, the heated disputes about the boycott in 1966, the teachers’ strikes in 1967 and 1968, and decentralization of the Board of Education have obscured the interplay between space and society that took place at the school.