THE BOWERY: From tap dance & vaudeville to skid row and punk rock

An Illustrated talk by author David Mulkins

Native American trail, Dutch farm road, free Black homesteads, and Washington’s march route during the British evacuation, Bowery became the main street of immigrants & the working class. NYC’s 1st entertainment district, it has seminal links to tap dance, vaudeville, Yiddish theater, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Harry Houdini, and modern tattooing. It later became an iconic skid row, but reemerged and helped foster Abstract Expressionism, Beat literature, Free Jazz, and punk rock. Special guest: Ramona Baker (ragtime pianist)