PEPATIÁN

Bronx-based Artists and Non-profit Organizations Timeline, 1840-2014

This chronological timeline is an effort to further develop and highlight Bronx-based arts and non-profit organizations created by the vision and dedication of borough residents and artists.

Building on previous work by other Bronx organizations and individuals, this timeline places grassroots arts and culture organizations, as well as social and environmental justice organizations, at the center of the boroughs’ history. Significant moments in the history of the Bronx and the Puerto Rican diaspora are also included to provide context.

To make additions to this Bronx-based art and non-profit organizations timeline (and in future, we hope to find ways to develop this into an online version that can be directly added to and further entangled in a less linear approach), and bring it more up-to-date, please email your brief texts and images (with permissions and photo credits) to: pepatian@gmail.com

Developed and produced for educational purposes, this window into the variety of organizations and artistic events in the South Bronx will be available on the Pepatián website (donations gladly accepted): www.pepatian.org

CreditsThis timeline incorporates information compiled by:

From Mambo to Hip-Hop: the musical landscape of the South Bronx and the music’s early years in East Harlem. City Lore, Municipal Art Society & The Point: A Place Matters Map, 2002.

Gabriels, Jane. Choreographies of Community: Familias and its impact in the South Bronx. Dissertation, Concordia University, 2015.

Yee, Lydia and Betti-Sue Hertz.“Timeline.” Urban Mythologies: The Bronx Represented Since the 1960s, edited by Lydia Yee and Betti-Sue Hertz, Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1999, pp. 104-105.

For additional historical information, please visit The Bronx Historical Society, bronxhistoricalsociety.orgDesign: Mahmoud Maamoun Images: Edgar Allan Poe Cottage: (c) Courtney Coco Mault, "Bronx Blue Bedroom Project" card designed by artist Ronny Quevedo, Jawole Zollar in "Bitter Tongue" photo Credit: Cylla Von TiedemannProduced by Jane Gabriels, Ph.D., and Director, Pepatián pepatian.org Funded by individual contributions to Pepatián.

copyright (c) Pepatián, 2017 pepatian.org

1841 1846 1851 1856 1861 1866 1871 1876 1881 1888 1891 1898

St. John's College (became Fordham

University in 1907) was established

1841

Edgar Allan Poe wrote Annabel Lee,The Bells and The Cask of

Amontillado in The Bronx at Poe Cottage.

1846

The piano industry flourished in the Bronx, with companies: the Estey

Piano Factory, Kroeger Piano Company, Schubert

Piano, among many others.

1879-1925

City of New York acquires large numbers of acres of land that becomes the foundation for the park system of The Bronx: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx Park, Pelham Bay Park, Crotona Park, Claremont Park, St. Mary s Park, Mosholu Parkway, Pelham

Parkway, and Crotona Parkway.

1888-1890

January 1, 1898, the City of New York consolidates, and includes the Bronx as one of

its boroughs.

1898

The Bronx Zoo opened its doors.

1899

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1906 1910 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933

The first subway connecting The Bronx to Manhattan was

built.

1906

Spooner Theatre opened for live theatre. (East

Morrisania;1807 seating)

1910

United States Congress

approved the Jones-

Shafroth Act giving Puerto

Ricans U.S. citizenship.

1917

New York Yankees moved to their new

home, Yankee Stadium.

1923

Andrew Freedman Home opened.

1924

Loew s Paradise Theater

atmospheric motion picture

theater was built.

1929

The Rise of the Goldbergs, popular,

daily radio show about a fictional

life of a Jewish family in the Bronx.

1929-1931

El Gran Éxodo de Puerto Rico -many Puerto Ricans left the

island during the Depression, this migration was later affected

by Operation Bootstrap, and peaked in late 40s/early 50s

1930

The Ascot Theatre -

one of the first art

movie houses in New York-opened in Fordham.

1935

1935

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"The Great Migration" many African-Americans left the South

to arrive in the Bronx (1910-70)

NYC Housing Authority

(NYCHA) was created and

led to housing

projects being built in the

Bronx.

1934

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947

Star of Munster Ballroom, a Bronx hub for Irish music, on East 138th Street (Mott

Haven)

Stardust Ballroom (East Tremont)

1940

The Golden Era of Mambo," and Latin music in Bronx-based clubs and dance

halls included: Casino Puerto Rico, Caravana Club and La Campana, La

Giralda/Longwood Casino, Casalegre(record store), M.S. 52 (auditorium), Tropicana, Hunts Point Palace, The

Tritons, The Alhambra, Club Cubano, Royal Mansion, Colgate Gardens,

Tropicoro, El Mambo, among others.

1947-1956

Casa Hernandez opened in the Bronx, and became Casa Amadeo record store in 1969 when Mike

Amadeo bought it; it is the oldest, continuously-occupied

Latin music store in NYC.1941

Cross Bronx Citizens Protective Association

founded to resist Cross-Bronx Expressway

1946

Teatro Puerto Rico founded in Mott

Haven (previously it was the Forum

theater, a major neighborhood venue for Irish

music and others)

1947

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1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958

Many Puerto Ricans leave the island for NYC and the South

Bronx due to Operation Bootstrap/Operación Manos a la Obra (1948-53) when the U.S.

industrialized Puerto Rico

1950

Lillian Edelstein organizes protest against Cross Bronx

Expressway

1950

Savoy Manor Ballroom on East 149th Street at Walton Avenue (Hamilton Heights).

1950

Lolita LeBron along with four men fired shots in the House Chambers at the U.S.

Capitol in support of independence for Puerto

Rico.

1954

Bronx County Historical

Society founded.

1955

Major Deegan Expressway is

built

1956

Puerto Rican Day Parade/Desfile

Puertorriqueño, Inc. founded (El Barrio/Spanish

Harlem)

1958

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1960 1961 1962 1963

John F. Kennedy visits during presidential

campaign

1960

ASPIRA organization founded to empower the Puerto Rican and Latino

community

Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education (first & oldest Latino charity) moves to 928

Simpson St.

West Side Story, nationwide film release, featuring Rita

Moreno

Bronx Council on the Arts

1962

Cross Bronx Expressway built

1963

1961

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Joan Miller hired to teach modern and folk dance,

Lehman College

1965

Wave Hill founded as non-profit

1965

1966 1967 1968 1969

United Bronx Parents, founded by Dr. Evelina

Lopez Antonetty.

1966

Hostos Community College of the City of New York: Eugenio María de Hostos

Community College established in South Bronx

as a bilingual college

1968

Young Lords (NYC) supports neighborhood

empowerment and Puerto Rican self-determination;

P alante, bilingual newspaper was published in the South

Bronx.

1969

SEBCO/South East Bronx Community Organization,

founded by Father Louise R. Gigante, offers subsidized

housing and other services.

Charles Baba Chuck Davis (one of the premiere choreographers of

traditional African dance in America) formed the Chuck Davis Dance Company at the

South Bronx Community Action Theatre, later moved

to Bronx Community College.

1967

1967 - New York City Produce Market begins operations in Hunts Point, and is the source for most of New York City’s food.

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first exhibition at The Art Program at the Hebrew Home

(Riverdale)

1971 1972 1973

BronxWorks founded to help individuals and

families improve their economic and social well-

being.

1972

South Bronx Overall Economic Development

Corporation / SoBRO was founded to rebuild

community and create jobs

Save Hostos College community mobilization struggle to prevent the

Board of Higher Education from closing the college

down.

1973-1978

Hip-Hop is Born (Nov 12, 1973 - official birthday of Universal Zulu Nation,

founded by Afrika Bambaataa at community center, Bronx River Houses;

Nov 12, 1974 - official birthday of Hip Hop). August 11, 1973 marks Kool DJ Herc sfirst party held in basement community

room of Sedgwick Houses (1520 Sedgwick Avenue). Cindy Campbell, his sister, known

as The Mother of Hip Hop, organized this gathering, and was the first Hip-

Hop promoter.

1973-1974

Bronx Museum of the Arts

founded

1970 1971

1970

Joan Miller's Dance Players established in

residence, Lehman College

Bruckner Expressway was

built1973

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El Puerto Rican Playwrights'/Actors

Workshop founded by Miguel Algarin, Miguel Piñero, Bimbo Rivas, and

Lucky Cienfuegos

1974 1975 1976

Boricua College was first founded in Brooklyn New

York.

En Foco, dedicated to cultural diversity in photography, is

founded as a non-profit in the Bronx.

Barrunto Dancers is founded in Manhattan by choreographers from Puerto Rico: Beti Garcia

and Myrna Renaud.

Bronx River Restoration Project formed by

community activists

Planned shrinkage begins with withdrawal of police, fire,

health sanitation, and transportation services.

Community organizations are founded: Mid-Bronx Desperados,

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, People s

Development Corporation.

1974

El Puerto Rican Playwrights'/Actors

Workshop, incorporated as Nuyorican Poets Cafe, relocates from Miguel Algarín's apartment to

the Sunshine Cafe

Disco Fever dance club, run by Sal Abatiello, featured hip-hop

artists (Grandmaster Flash, Run-D.M.C.) and became the most famous hip hop club in NYC.

1975

Community organizations are founded: Banana Kelly

Community Improvement Association, Bronx Frontier Development Corporation

1976-1986

Largest number of fires in the Bronx, over 30,000, in one year

1976

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Bronx Arts Ensemble was

incorporated

1978 1979

President Jimmy Carter visits the Bronx.

1977

Flag of Puerto Rico fastened to the forehead of the Statute of Liberty (October 25) by Puerto Rican nationalists demanding

release of four political prisoners: Lolita LeBron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores

and Oscar Collazo

The last Bronx piano manufacturer, Krakauer,

left the borough.

The Fire Next Door, CBS television broadcasts

documentary by Bill Moyers.

Grandmaster Flash, hip-hop musician and DJ, innovated the

backspin technique, punch phrasing, and scratching

New York City Blackout(July 13)

Ladies and gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning - televised image

during live coverage of World Series at Yankee Stadium

Mind-Builders non-profit community arts center

founded

1978

Writers Bench meeting place for graffiti writers at the 2/5 train platform,

149th Street/Grand Concourse

Late 1970 s 1980 s

Rock Steady Crew:breakdance crew

organized by b-boys Jimmy D and JoJo in the Bronx (and continues today)

1979 early 1980s

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1977

Chema Soto built Rincon Criollo/Downhome Corner

1978 1980 1981

Fashion/Moda helped redefine art and spotlight

graffiti artists (most active: 1978-1985)

1978-1993

Tats Cru graffiti artists established (founding members: bio,

Nicer and BG183).

1980

Key Skate & Dance Family Center ( Skate Key )

Bill Aguado becomes Executive Director, Bronx Council on

the Arts (1980-2010)

Public housing: MorrisaniaAir Rights built.

Ronald Reagan, campaigning for President, visits the

South Bronx.

Soviet Peace Committee delegates tours Bronx as local government

official seeks foreign aid to rebuild.

Funky Four Plus One/Funky 4 + 1 (with a female MC) was

the first Hip-Hop/Rap group from The Bronx to secure a

record deal.

Richie Perez founded National Congress for

Puerto Rican Rights in the Bronx.

1981

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Nuyorican Poets Cafe bought current site of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (236

East 3rd Street)

1981 1982 1983 1984

Fort Apache, The Bronx film release, Dir.

Daniel Petrie.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder of Urban Bush Women, created dance

works in the Bronx.

Forces of Nature Dance Theatre Company founded in the Bronx

by Exec Artistic Director/Choreographer Abdel

R. Salaam and Exec Managing Director Olabamidele

Husbands.

Bronx Council on the Arts founds the Longwood Arts

Project (formerly P.S. 39).

Tim Rollins and Kids of Survival began

creating visual art works

1981

Pregones Theater (originally founded in 1979) is first non-

profit professional Puerto Rican theater in the Bronx. Pregones

first home: Longwood Arts Project, and in 1986, moves to St.

Ann's Church (Mott Haven)

Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture is founded at

Hostos Community College/CUNY

1982

Pepatián is co-founded as an artists collective by

Pepón Osorio, Patti Bradshaw and Merián

Soto.

1983

Los Pleneros de la 21 - was founded in the South Bronx,

performing bomba y plena

Jesse Jackson, running for Democratic nomination, spent

a night in a public housing project in the South Bronx to draw attention to the plight

of the poor.

1984

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Judaica Museum founded at

Hebrew Home (Riverdale)

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

En Foco established bi-lingual photographic magazine Nueva

Luz

1985

Fred Wilson (MacArthur Fellow) directs Longwood

Arts Gallery

Sculptor John Ahearn received commission to create works for

South Bronx Sculpture Park

1986

Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade founded.

Vamos a La Pena founded by Nieves Ayress and Victor Toro.

BRAC, Bronx River Art Center founded

1987

BronxNet and BronxNet Television

Programming founded

The Hunts Point Economic

Development Corporation

established as a non-profit

1988

Merián Soto and Viveca Vasquez co-

produce Rompeforma: Maraton de Baile, Performance and Visuales in Puerto

Rico to support international Latinx

artists creating experimental work.

1989-1996

Renny Molenaar founded Black and White in Color Gallery in

the Bronx.1988-1991

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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Bronx Tourism Council

established

1990

WHEDco, Women s Housing and Economic Development founded

to serve the Bronx

1991

The South Bronx Clean Air Coalition

founded.

Pepón Osorio sretrospective at El Museo

del Barrio (NYC).

Mothers on the Move / Madres en

Movimiento (MOM) founded.

Nos Quedamos/

We Stay founded

1992

The Point C.D.C./ Community Development Corporation

founded by Paul Lipson, Mildred Ruiz, Steven Sapp, and Maria

Torres (Hunt s Point).

1993/1994

YMPJ, Youth Ministries for

Peace and Justice founded

1994

President Bill Clinton designates

South Bronx as Federal

Empowerment Zone

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1997

Rocking the Boat founded

Full Circle Souljahs Productions is co-founded as a non-profit

Hip-Hop collective byKwikstep and Rokafella.

Bronx Lebanon Medical waste incinerator is shut down by local

community and environmental organizers

1996

President Bill Clinton visits the South Bronx

Partnerships for Parks convenes the Bronx River

Working Group.

First Lady Hillary Clinton visits South Bronx to launch

a project to fight asthma.

Bronx is named an All-America City by the National

Civil League as a result of collaborative work of local

residents and government to rebuild the South Bronx

1997

19961995

FABB, For a Better Bronx emerged out of South

Bronx Clean Air Coalition to serve the South Bronx

community

Pregones Theater moves to a new theater at 700

Grand Concourse

National Puerto Rican Day Parade founded as a nonprofit organization.

1995

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Two Bronx visual artists receive MacArthur Fellowships: Pepón Osorio and Fred Wilson

Amadou Diallo, a weaponless man, was shot and killed by four plainclothes officers (Wheeler

and Westchester Aves).

For A Better Bronx successfully targets the closing of a medical incinerator in which

burned 48 tons of medical waste from three states every day.

1999

President Clinton offered clemency to 16 members of FALN Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion

Nacional / Armed Forces of National Liberation

Vieques Campaign stops bombing exercises and closes the U.S. Navy Base

1998

Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez co-found BAAD! Bronx

Academy of Arts and Dance at the American BankNote Building (Hunt s

Point).

Mosaic Literary Magazine is launched

1998

Bronx celebrates its 100th Anniversary

1999

1999-2003

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The Bronx Hispanic Festival

founded

2000 2001 2002 2003

Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre officially incorporates as a

non-profit organization.

Tats Cru paints mural (corner Rogers Place

&Westchester Ave) dedicated to Big Pun

Voices UnBrokenfounded as a non-profit by Victoria

Sammartino

2000

Sustainable South Bronx founded by

Majora Carter

Bronx Tourism Council launches

the Bronx Culture Trolley

2001

Bronx River Working Group creates Bronx River Alliance

as an official non-profit organization.

2002

BAAD! and Arthur Aviles Typical Theater found

the Bronx Dance Coalition and Bronx

Dance Magazine.

The Green Worker Cooperatives is

founded by Omar Freilla

Hunts Point Fish Parade founded

2003

United States Navy agreed to leave the

Vieques base on May 1, 2003 after non-violent

protest.

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Mi Sala interdisciplinary performance and visual art project at studio of Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz with Jose "Original Mr. Bless" Ortiz (Pelham Bay)

INSPIRIT, a dance company founded by Christal Brown supported a range of Bronx-based and women

dancers/choreographers of color.

2003 - 2012

2004 2005 2006 2007

Mi Sala in Mott Haven studio

of Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz with Jose

"Original Mr. Bless" Ortiz

Literary Freedom Project is launched as a development of Mosaic Magazine to

host the Bronx Literary Festival

Action Lab: a two-year collaborative arts and community project between the Bronx Museum

of the Arts and The Point C.D.C.

2004

Pregones Theater moves from the Grand

Concourse to 571-575 Walton Avenue.

Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, visits the South Bronx and sets-

up charitable foundation for South Bronx organizations

Bronx Museum of the Arts expands, adds new

gallery and educational facilities.

2006

South Bronx Greenway project is

announced

Fulton Fish Market moves to Hunts Point

20072005

2004-06

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DreamYard moves to South Bronx (161st &

Gerard)

DreamYard Prep High School opens

Bronx Hispanic Festival begins the Bronx Latin American Art Biennial

2008 2009

Bill Aguado retires from BCA after nearly 30 years as Director of the Bronx

Council on the Arts.

BronxArtSpace founded by Linda Cunningham &

Mitsu Hadeishi

DreamYard Art Center opens (166th & Washington)

Concrete Plant Park opens

Foundry Theater s The Provence of Beauty/A

South Bronx Travelogue

2009

The "Bronx Blue Bedroom Project" artist run space in founded by artist

and cultural promoter Blanka

Amezkua

The Rebel Diaz Arts Collective founded

as a Hip-Hop community center

by brothers Gonzalo and

Rodrigo Venegas, and other artists.

Barretto Point Park opens

2008

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Bombazo Dance Company, founded by

Milteri Tucker Concepción

Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art

Collection (combining art &

museum program, Hebrew Home, Riverdale)

2010 2011

Boricua College moves to E. 161st St.

and Third Ave

2010

Lolita Lebron dies peacefully at age 90 in

Puerto Rico.

Spofford Juvenile Detention Center closes

2011

Bronx Documentary Center founded to support

photography, film, and new media

Bronx Artists Now: Showcase & Conversation event founded by

Pepatián during annual APAP conference to support artists,

and local non-profits and theaters.

Dancing in the Streets moves to South Bronx as company in residence at Casita Maria

The Young Roots Performance Series at Hostos Center for the

Arts & Culture features emerging Latinx artists in spoken word, dance, music:

Caridad De La Luz/La Bruja; SitaFrederick; Oreste Abrantes, Jason González, and Nelson Matthew

González; Antonio Ramos; Raquel Rivera; Rokafella; and Noemi

Segarra.

2011-2013

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No Longer Empty exhibition This Side of Paradise at Andrew Freedman Home

and Longwood Art Gallery Home is Where The Bronx Is exhibition.

2012

Hunts Point Landing public space opens near the Fulton Fish Market, as part of

South Bronx Greenway (which includes a network of pedestrian and bicycle pathways to connect Starlight Park with Bronx Park

and Concrete Plant Park, Hunts Point Riverside Park, and Barretto Point Park).

Sustainable South Bronx (under new leadership) along with Greenworker Cooperatives and Bronx

Council on Environmental Quality join with other residents and allies as South Bronx Unite to fight

against the relocation of Fresh Direct to the Harlem River Yards (2012-2013)

BMHC, The Bronx Music Heritage Center is foundedStarlight Park opens

Bronx Creative Community Trust marches in Puerto Rican Day Parade in the

South Bronx

Boogie Down Rides, bicycling and art project, begins

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Dancing in the Streets & Casita Maria launchSouth Bronx Culture Trail

& produce Paseo, traveling celebration of local Latin music & dance history

2012 2013

The Laundromat Project begins work in Hunts Point.

2012-13

Bronx Arts Alliance collective founded

Rebel Diaz Arts Collective evicted

from their space (478 Austin Place)

2013

BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance displaced from 841 Baretto Street and

move to a new venue in Parkchester (2474 Westchester Ave.)

Pregones Theater merges with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater

(Times Square, Manhattan)

Wally Edgecombe, Director of HostosCenter for the Arts & Culture, retires as

Director after 30 years

The Future - This legacy of

artist- and resident-led

community building will

continue to grow,

strengthen and empower

the South Bronx.

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