• Jumel Terrace Books

    Revolutionary & Colonial Washington Heights, Harlem, Africa, West Indies, Art, Myth, History & Literature: Slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Theology, Military, Labor, Civil Rights, Negritude, Black Power.

"An Oasis for the Unrestrained Pursuit of Knowledge"
*************And a "Nugget" in the Rubbish*************

Uptown's only bookshop specializing in local history, African & American. The shop on 160th Street, open by appointment or serendipity, faces the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the headquarters of George Washington during 1776’s Battle of Harlem Heights, & our stock addresses its significance in 18th & 20th century Revolutionary American history.

As Sugar Hill, the neighborhood has retained its reputation as the intellectual & artistic home of Black America. Jumel Terrace Books follows in the tradition of bookstores serving the community since George Young’s Book Exchange opened in 1920. Before Black Studies entered college curriculums in 1968, shops like Lewis Micheaux’s House of Common Sense & Home of Proper Propaganda & Richard B Moore’s Frederick Douglass Book Center were important sources of education, aspiration & inspiration. As did our predecessors, we buy & sell very good books on our subjects.

Jumel Terrace Books - Blog

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Herb Boyd’s Harlem History class, City College, at Jumel Terrace Books

The first young man to arrive at the shop for my annual guest speaker turn for Herb’s Harlem History class lives in the Lionel Hampton Houses here on St. Nicholas Avenue but had never seen a picture of or heard Lionel Hampton.  He left here Flying Home.  Despite their nearly all being New York City […]

My turn on the BBC

My interview aired on the BBC’s Outlook program today, Feb. 26th. You can listen here: Kurt Thometz’s Bookshop.  My part starts around 26:55, and they also use a clip from me in the beginning. There are also pictures interviewer Matthew Nelson took on their Facebook page.