By Iger Rolyat
The Harlem Tourism Board is hosting a special presentation as part of this year’s NYCxDesignFestival on Tuesday, May 20th at the Harlem Renaissance Marriott Hotel where they will feature the Birthplace of the Big Apple sculpture, created by board member, Regi Taylor, HTB’s Creative In Residence. The commemorative monument premieres 87 years after Harlem first ‘defined’ the Big Apple as its own. The official Big Apple announcement will take place during Harlem Week in August.
The “[Big] Apple, (noun), the big town, the main stem, Harlem” was the official definition ascribed to New York City in 1938 by Maestro Cab Calloway in the first dictionary published by a Black man in American history, and the first time the Big Apple was defined in print to mean New York. “This evidence makes it clear that the globally iconic New York City nickname, the Big Apple, is a cultural legacy of Harlem evolved from organic slang,” explains sculptor, Regi Taylor, “making Harlem, the Birthplace of the Big Apple.”
“The evidence could not be more clear according to former Manhattan Borough Historian, Doris Rosenblum, who declared after a thorough review of the research report that “I do believe you are correct regarding the derivation of the ‘Big Apple,’ “ according to Mr. Taylor.
While the generally accepted theory of the Big Apple’s trajectory to pop culture status is attributed to 1920’s horse racing writer, John FitzGerald, who acknowledges first overhearing the phrase discussed between two Black stable hands 1300 miles from New York at a New Orleans race track, perhaps exposing his limited readers to the term, his contribution falls short to explain how the rest of the planet became enlightened.
Harlem Renaissance jazz impresario, Cab Calloway, however, who first defined the Big Apple in his Hepster’s Dictionary, Language of Harlem Jive, which sold over two-million copies internationally and was adopted by the New York Public Library as its official glossary of popular slang, does explain the global circulation of the nickname.
Taylor uncovered the obscure origins of the Big Apple’s cultural orbit from an extensive examination at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. His findings were subsequently authenticated by historian Rosenblum. After getting the green light on his research and his proposal to build an outdoor commemorative Big Apple sculpture from Community Board 10 in Central Harlem, Taylor joined with the Harlem Tourism Board to put in motion a Big Apple public education campaign and has undertaken exploratory steps to construct the monument.
To support Regi Taylor’s efforts, fellow Harlem Tourism Board member, Gary Jones, CEO of manufacturer, New York City Jewelry Connection, has created a spectacular pendant developed by Taylor from the original sculpture design – https://hbcuamazing.com/products/birthplace-of-big-apple-sterling-silver-pendant – to fundraise the project. Supporters who purchase the Big Apple pendant before the May 20th NYCxDesign Festival may choose any t-shirt as a thank you gift from this exclusive selection of Birthplace of the Big Apple collectibles https://www.teepublic.com/user/harlem-crossroads-of-the-diaspora.
As a bonus gift, all will receive a virtual copy of Cab Calloway’s 1944 6th edition of the Hepster’s Dictionary as an additional keepsake. Contact villageofharlem@gmail.com for t-shirt and dictionary details.
