Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the political and spiritual leader of the early civil rights movement — and complex figure — became the first person to represent Harlem in Washington, D.C.
Student advocacy beginning in the 1960s led to many institutional changes, including the establishment of a cultural center. From humble but earnest beginnings in the 1970s eventually grew the Africana, Latin, Asian, and Native American (or, ALANA) Cultural Center.