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Harlem in Disorder: A Spatial History of How Racial Violence Changed in 1935

Monterey Luncheonette windows not broken

Sometime during the disorder, the message "This is a Store Owned by Colored" appeared on the window of the Monterey Luncheonette at 2339 7th Avenue, on the southeast corner of West 137th Street, according to a story in the Afro-American. That message was likely painted on the window, as the story reported a similar message on the windows of Williams' drug store, rather than being on a sign, such as those that appeared in Winnette's Dresses. As in those cases, the windows on which the message was painted were not broken during the disorder.

The Afro-American reporter implied that putting the message on the restaurant was more a matter of playing it safe than a response to direct threats, writing that the "Even the nationally-known Monterery Luncheonette thought it safe to inform the rovers" that the store had Black owners. While certainly far fewer in number than in the blocks of 7th Avenue around the restaurant than in those closer to 125th Street, there were reports of disorder north of 135th Street around the restaurant: two white-owned businesses had windows broken, a tailor's shop south of the restaurant at 2310 7th Avenue, and a shoe repair located to the north, at 2360 7th Avenue, but not reports of looting. Far more of the businesses north of West 135th Street had Black owners than in the blocks to the south, making the area less likely to attract those seeking to attack white businesses. As the Afro-American reporter implied in labeling the Monterey Luncheonette "nationally-known," the restaurant was widely known to have black owners, so less likely than most of those businesses to be mistakenly targeted, even by "rovers" from other parts of Harlem.

The basis for the venues notoriety is captured by the note an investigator added to its record in the MCCH business survey taken in the last half of 1935: “One of the better restaurants in Harlem. Frequented by the better type of person. Mr Bruce is part owner of establishment." Opened in October 1930, the Monterey Luncheonette advertised itself as "The Most Beautiful Place in Harlem." A promotional article in the New York Amsterdam News described a "French-flake black and Persian rose marble" counter with fourteen seats, "green and rose walls" and "very modern chandeliers, decorated with airplanes." In 1932 a grill room was added, "a picturesque and comfortable place where respectable people may dine and dance in an agreeable atmosphere," a story in the New York Age reported. Advertisements for the new venue were more effusive, describing the Monterey Grill as "Harlem's Newest Modernistic Rendezvous," "Conceived, designed and decorated in a decorative motif to please the most fastidious and exacting clientele." According to the New York Age, that design featured furnishings "done in blue and peach tiling with polished black marble tables and seats, upholstered with dark blue leather," walls decorated with paintings, and a polished floor. In 1937, Bruce and Duncan further expanded the Monterey, adding a basement cabaret and renovating and enlarging the dining room, according to a report in the New York Age. The regular appearance of the Monterey in the society news and gossip columns of both of Harlem's Black newspapers indicates its success in attracting Harlem's elite.

The profile of the owners, particularly Herbert Bruce, helped draw customers. Born in 1900 in the West Indies, Bruce arrived in Harlem in 1914. Census enumerators recorded him working as a hotel porter in 1920, a hotel bellman in 1925, and as a redcap at Pennsylvania Station in 1930, alongside Miles Duncan, who became his partner in the Monterey Luncheonette. In those years he was active in Harlem's athletic and social clubs, with the Alpha Physical Culture Club and St. Mark's Catholic Boys Club among those listed by his supporters for the New York Amsterdam News, and drew on those associations as an organizer of social events such as a benefit for the Red Caps Scholarship fund at the Alhambra Theatre in 1929. After opening the restaurant Bruce became active in Democratic Party politics, and in 1935, after the disorder, was elected the leader of the 21st District, the first Black Democratic Party district leader in New York City.

The Monterey became most widely known in 1939, when Bruce literally split it in two, even sawing the counter and bar in half, to take his share of the fittings, a story reported in both Black newspapers like the New York Age and New York Amsterdam News (with photographs), and white papers like the New York Times, New York Herald Tribune and Daily News. Bruce arrived at the venue just before 4 AM with a crew of around twenty men and had removed his share to a warehouse over an hour before Duncan arrived at 8.30 AM. He alleged to the New York Amsterdam News that Duncan and their landlord, Richard Wheaton, attempted to force him out of the business, refusing to include him on a new lease. Wheaton and his mother Dora owned several buildings on 7th Avenue, purchased by Dora and her husband, prominent Harlem lawyer J. Frank Wheaton, in the early days of Black Harlem. Duncan told the New York Amsterdam News that he and Richard Wheaton did susbequently form a partnership to operate the Monterey, but less than two months later the newspaper reported that Wheaton had taken sole control. When photographed by the Tax Department between 1939 and 1941, the business operating at 2339 7th Avenue was "Dick Wheaton's Bar."

 

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