In this special crossover episode of the Urban Roots podcast and the Columbia GSAPP’s Historic Preservation Podcast, host Deqah Hussein-Wetzel has a Black history and preservation-focused conversation with award-winning journalist and historian A’Lelia Bundles about her newest book Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance. A’Lelia Walker—daughter of Madam C.J. Walker and heiress to America’s first Black woman-made fortune—was more than a symbol of inherited wealth. She was a cultural impresario, a connector of artists and activists, and an architectural patron whose Vertner Tandy-designed Villa Lewaro Estate and (rehabbed) Harlem townhouse became vital gathering places for the Black intelligentsia of the 1920s.

Together, Deqah and A’Lelia Bundles, the great-granddaughter of A’Lelia Walker, explore her interest in her family's history and what she’s learned about her ancestor's role in shaping Harlem’s cultural landscape through hospitality, preservation, and community. The episode also delves into the challenges of researching Black women’s histories, the overlooked architectural legacy of Vertner Tandy, and the significance of cultural memory in contemporary preservation work.

🔗 More about her book: https://aleliabundles.com/writing-biography-an-update-on-the-joy-goddess-of-harlem

🎧Listen to the full interview on Columbia GSAPP’s Soundcloud, https://soundcloud.com/columbiagsapp

Credits:

Your host and producer is Deqah Hussein-Wetzel. This episode was edited by Skyler Ficklin and Vanessa Quirk. Mixed by Skyler.

Urban Roots⁠ is a project by ⁠Urbanist Media⁠, a non-profit dedicated to preserving place through story.

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