My previous post mentioned the documentary Paris is Burning, which filmed drag balls taking place at the Elk’s Lodge at 160 W. 129th Street. Here is a description of the Elk’s Lodge from NY Mag’s 2009 Summer Guide:
Imperial Lodge of Elks (160 W. 129th St.)
Home to the drag balls that evolved into the competing drag “houses” portrayed in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, which was mostly filmed here. Balls were held late at night because the rent was cheaper and drag queens were safer than on Harlem streets, where black-nationalist militancy had cramped the quasi tolerance of gay culture common in the neighborhood in prior decades.
To track changes in the neighborhood, I used the address of Elk’s Lodge and created five maps using Social Explorer to track demographic changes in the neighborhood using census data. I specifically picked the categories of race, education, and housing valued at $100,000 because a) the population represented in Paris is Burning was largely minority and b) a working thesis that the neighborhood may have gentrified – specifically, an increase in the neighborhood population’s education levels and housing values. These maps are by no means comprehensive nor have I checked my methods. These maps are for demonstration purposes only!
Anyways, here are my maps: the 1990 map is left and colored green and the 2014 map is on the right colored blue – move the slider to see the changes:
To learn how to use Social Explorer, check out this great Youtube tutorial made by fellow ITF, Andrew Lucchesi with his then-colleague Darren Kwong: Exploring Social Explorer: Interactive Maps and Data Visualization for the Classroom. You can use the Pro version of Social Explorer by accessing it through the Brooklyn College Library Website > Databases > Social Explorer > create account with your .edu email address.
