By Ivan Pereira
Acting and singing legend Lena Horne made a name for herself in Hollywood and Broadway during the 1940s and ’50s, but borough music experts and leaders also remember her as one of the first black performers to move into Addisleigh Park at a time when parts of the affluent neighborhood were restricted.
Horne, who died at the age of 92 Sunday in Manhattan, lived at 112-45 178th St. from 1946-62, according to the neighborhood historical advocacy group the Historic Districts Council.
The celebrity’s move to Queens was a stepping-stone in making the area’s community more diverse during the early years leading up to the civil rights era, Executive Director Simeon Bankoff said.
“I think there was something that made it very attractive to people. ‘Look! Lena Horne lives there.’ It was a symbol where you can be successful and famous and it made it a very posh place,” he said.
Born in Brooklyn, Horne began performing in Harlem clubs at the age of 16 along with jazz greats such as Duke Ellington. She later performed in various Broadway shows before heading to Hollywood in 1938, starring in hit musicals such as “Stormy Weather.”
Her voice and performances inspired generations of jazz singers and actors, according to music historians in Queens.
“Lena Horne was an elegant and beautiful chanteuse of the screen and the jazz scene, who helped establish the female voice in the jazz vernacular,”Clyde Bullard, the jazz producer at Flushing Town Hall, said in a statement.
Her star power kept rising during the ’40s as she broke color barriers in the entertainment industry, becoming the first black woman to perform at the Copacabana.
It was during this height of fame that Horne moved into her two-story Tudor house when the neighborhood was not entirely welcoming to black homeowners, according to Bankoff. In the 1930s, several homeowners set up legal covenants that mandated they would not sell to black families, the historian said.
Several lawsuits were filed when black families tried to move into the neighborhood, but some homeowners did sell to blacks, including Horne, jazz musician Count Basie and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois. Although Horne was active in the early civil rights movement, it was not known if she had any role in fighting the prejudice in Addisleigh Park.
“She may have just felt that she wanted to bring her politics into her neighborhood. She knew all the people who were involved in the politics at the time, so I can only imagine she lent her support in some way,” Bankoff said.
In the late ’40s, a judge ruled the covenants were illegal and had them voided, allowing more black residents to move into the area. Horne’s home is part of the “Queens Jazz Trail Tour,” which provides interested residents with looks at the borough homes that various jazz lived in.
“The passing of Lena Horne is an enormous loss. Lena Horne’s legendary musical contributions will live on and continue to inspire future generations of jazz musicians and audiences for years to come,” Ellen Kodadek, Flushing Town Hall’s executive and artistic director, said in a statement.
City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) also acknowledged Horne’s contribution to southeast Queens.
“She was one of numerous African-American jazz, sports and literary luminaries who made their homes in Addisleigh Park and built a foundation that enriches our community even now,” he said in a statement.
Addisleigh Park is currently being reviewed by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission for historical district status. Bankoff said he has sent the commission several reports on the significance of the neighborhood during the civil rights era and is confident the city will approve the measure.
“You got a good impression of a good community and one that was pretty upper-class,” he said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
