Harlem's notable citizens have included Alexander Hamilton, Count Basie, Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall and boxing champ Sugar Ray Robinson. Harlem's most enduring icon may be the Apollo Theater, but other huge draws are the Abyssinian Baptist Church where Adam Clayton Powell once preached and dozens of other historic churches , like Salem United Methodist and Metropolitan Baptist.
Harlem is a historical center of urban African-American culture in the heart of New York City. It is home to Columbia University, the famous Apollo Theater and the Schonmurg Center for Research in Black History, part of the New York Public Library system. "Striver Row" boasts some of the finest examples of historic brownstones in Manhattan; Sunday church services draw busloads of tourists eager to hear some of the best gospel music in the country; historic restaurants and clubs from Sylvias to the Lenox Lounge showcase the African-American cultural heritage that first made the area famous during the Harlem Renaissance.
