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William Howard Roach (surname later also spelled "Roche;" 8 September 1881 Plymouth, Montserrat, British West Indies – September 1963 The Bronx) was an influential Montserratian-born-and-raised-turned-American entrepreneur noted for having been among the first African-Americans to own and operate commercial real estate in Harlem. The era, early 1920s, was coincident with the Harlem Renaissance. Roach, an exponent of Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois, among other things, led the development of the Renaissance Theatre which opened in 1921, and the add-on of the Renaissance Casino, which opened in 1923. Roach, under the auspices of the corporation he founded, was the founding owner-manager. Roach also was in 1923 instrumental in securing the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom as the venue for a newly-formed all-black basketball team, the New York Renaissance," the namesake of its new home. Roach lost possession of the Renaissance Theatre and Renaissance Casino in 1924 under financial duress.

Immigration and naturalization

Roach immigrated from Hamilton, Bermuda, arriving at the Port of New York July 13, 1903, abord the S.S. Trinidad of the Quebec Steamship Company of Bermuda. As a contact, he listed Joseph Henry Duberry (1881–1963), his cousin, at 307 West 146th Street, Manhattan. Duberry, in 1924, was corporate secretary of Guyfran Realty Corporation, incorporated in 1920 by Errol Ashton Guy (born 1889), A.J. Francis, and J.J. Allen. Errol Guy was also president of Guy & McDonald Realty Corporation. William Howard Roach became a naturalized citizen March 5, 1915, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. In 1920, Errol Guy was also president of Guy & McDonald Realty Corporation.

Acquisition of lot

In January 1920, the Central Union Trust Company, trustees for the Estate of Curtis B. Pierce (1834–1912), sold to Sarco Realty, through the Cruikshank Company as broker, a vacant parcel, 100 x 100 feet, at the northeast corner of 7th Avenue and 137th Street.

Dispossession of theater

Sometime after 1925, William H. Roach lost control of underlying property and building. Roach exited the organization, but the Renaissance Theatre continued to operate under management of the Charity brothers — Cleo and Cornelius — and Joseph Henry Sweeney. In 1932, they lost the lease under financial duress owed partly the to post-crash economy and a long picket against the theater by the Motion Picture Operators' Union that began in 1931. The projectionist at the Renaissance Theatre was black – and black projectionists were not allowed to be members of the Motion Picture Operators' Union, Local 306. Distraught over the disposition of the theater, Joseph Henry Sweeney committed suicide on April 21, 1932.

• (more on the Jim Crowism of Local 306)

• John J. Robertson, a white attorney at 60 East 42nd Street (catty-corner to the Grand Central Terminal building), was the landlord. John J. Robinson, possibly the same person, was, in 1923, counsel for the Sarco Realy Company.

• John Robertson was the broker who sold a parcel for the theatre

• Central Union Trust Company of New York, as Executors Under the Last Will and Testament of Curtis B. Pierce, Deceased (plaintiff), vs. Frances Roach and William H. Roach, her husband; Maurice M. Krum; Albert McDowell Taylor; Cornelius Taylor, and wife, Desondania Taylor. (public action, August 24, 1926)

Theories for the foreclosure of the Renaissance Casino

• In Harlem, southern blacks and native black New Yorkers balked at throwing support towards businesses run by blacks from the Caribbean Islands.

A.I. Hart Co., Inc., 5-10-25 cent department store

• Before opening the Renaissance Casino in January 1923, young Jamaica-born Arthur Isles Hart (1894–1956), proprietor of the A.I. Hart & Co., Inc., 5-10-25¢ store founded in September 1917 (incorporated in 1921), and Roach's biggest retail tenant, informed Roach's that the bank had foreclosed on his branch store located at 2252 7th Avenue at 133th Street, which opened in 1918. The original, a small store, opened in 1917 at 2401 7th Avenue at 140th Street.

The A.I. Hart shareholders voted to close its two smaller stores, the original store and branch store, an consolidate into a large store. To that end, in January 1923, A.I. Hart & Co., Inc., opened a new store covering the entire first floor of the new Renaissance Casino. The firm borrowed $19,700 to pay for fitting and equipping the space. A.I. Hart & Co. borrowed the money from several private lenders and from Chelsea Exchange Bank, Harlem branch at 135th Street and 7th Avenue. The bank loan was in the form of banknotes (aka promissory notes): sixty days, ninety days, six months, and so on. The objective was to generate enough profit to pay an expanded staff, higher overhead expenses, and interest the notes – and to pay-off the private loans and notes as they matured. A.I. Hart & Co., Inc., was a New York entity with capital stock of $50,000. Its directors were Arthur Isles Hart, President and General Manager; W. T. McLennon and Miss J(osephine?) McPherson. The chain was a member of Consolidated Merchants Syndicate, Inc., headquartered at 460 Broadway, a 5-10-25 cent variety store merchant that represented 833 stores nationwide. When the new store opened in the Renaissance Casino, there were about 22 employees.

The A.I. Hart & Co. 5-10-25₵ Department Stores represented one of the few African-American businesses that had a first class credit rating by agencies of the New York City – namely R.G. Dun & Company and the John M. Bradstreet Company – and held the distinction of having never been sued.

A petition for involuntary bankruptcy was filed against A.I. Hart & Co. December 27, 1923.

Colored American Retail Company, Inc.

In an effort to continue the A.I. Hart department store that failed for $15,000, Roach launched the Colored American Retail Company, Inc., in March 1924, billing it as a $100,000 store. But the store failed in August 1924 and its inventory and fixtures were liquidated October 1924.

Renaissance Apartments

On December 9, 1924, creditors of the defunct Colored American Retail Company, Inc., forced the public action sale of the Renaissance Apartments at 2424 7th Avenue, which Sarco Realty Company had purchased in 1919 for about $200,000. Spur Realty Corporation – of which Irving Bachrach (1869–1936) was president – paid $109,000 for it.

Sarco properties in 1921

• Rangley Apartment, 2340 7th Avenue
• Valentine Apartment, 212 West 141st Street
• Renaissance Apartment, 2424 7th Avenue
• New law apartments, 5 & 7 West 137th Street
• Smithsonian Apartment, 60 West 129th Street
• 500 lots near Plainfield, New Jersey
• Renaissance Theatre

Pipe organ

Organists

• 1927: Elnorist Young (1900–1981) was an organist, pianist, and composer. While studying at Howard University for two years, she majored in piano and organ. She married Edwin Carr Yancey (1893–1958).

Timeline

• Retail stores at the Renaissance in 1923:

• A.I. Hart (Arthur I. Hart)

New York Age, July 28, 1923, p. 2

• Bankruptcy of William H. Roach

• Not bankrupt, says Roach.

• December 1924, Renaissance Apartments, owned by Sarco, just south the the Renaissance Theatre, sold at public auction

• Roach experiencing financial duress.

• Clearing confusion over whether Roach was bankrupt, as was reported July 19, 1924, the Pittsburgh Courier issued a correction August 2, 1924, stating that Roach, rather than being bankrupt, lost ownership of his property at 60 West 129th Street through a foreclosure on $20,000 mortgage.

• Renaissance introduced talkies March 9, 1929

• July 1930, new management

• Change in Control in 1932.

• New Management in 1932

• George Jackson, new manager in 1933.

• Harold McCarter, new manager in 1935

• Harlems first neon sign in 1935.

Sarco

• Sarco Realty and Holding Company, Inc., Manhattan, $50,000 to $200,000, "Capital Increases," New York Times, October 2, 1920, p. 24, col. 2 (accessible at timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/10/02/102898501.html)
• Roach's House Cleaning Co., Inc.
• R. Holding Co. Inc.

Money borrowed for the Renaissance

Rosalind Realty Company, as reported by Joseph L. Moyse (1871–1931), its president, financed through Nettie B. Moyse (née Minette Blum; 1882–1957), Joseph's wife:

• Sarco Realty and Holding Company a 5-year mortgage loan of $180,000 for the Renaissance Theatre and and a store property, both on the northeast corner of 137th Street and 7th Avenue; and
• Roach's House Cleaning Company a mortgage loan $35,000 for the Smithsonian 7-story apartment building at 60 West 129th Street, near Lenox Avenue

Early personnel

Immigrants in Harlem

For over a century, Harlem has been a melting pot of immigrants, notably and many famously, those of African descent. The group that promoted that managed the Renaissance Casino were British immigrants from the British West Indies. They also were followers and exponents of Marcus Garvey's philosophy of self-sufficiency.

Journalists

• Vere Everette Johns (1893–1966), who closely chronicled the Renaissance Casino for New York Age was born in Jamaica. On at least two occasions – 1935 and 1939 – he was deported by the U.S. Department of Labor, perhaps for criticizing the Jim Crow aspect of labor unions, particularly the Local 506.

Executives

• William Howard Roach (born 1882), born in Plymouth, Montserrat, British West Indies

Roach's response to offense claim

An article in the February 17, 1923 issue of Negro World, a publication of the Negro Improvement Association, purportedly signed by Marcus Garvey as President General of the Negro Improvement Association, stated that the buildings on 7th Avenue, between 137th and 138th Streets, known then as the Renaissance Theatre and the Renaissance Casino, were

"the properties of industrious Jews who have sought an outlet for their surplus cash in the colored district."

Roach promptly submitted a letter to the editor expressing his indignation of a "gross misrepresentation of facts."

More on Roach

In 1945, Roach, who at the time was living in the Bronx, became vice-president of New Gem Realty Co., which was organized July 31, 1945. George H. James, of Montserrat was President. Roach was a member of Marcus Garvey's UNIA

There's a death notice, October 12, 1935, for William Roach, age 46, of 139 West 143rd Street

On a WWII Draft Card, there's a William Howard Roach living at 286 West 151st St, Manhattan

"Deaths Reported Last Week," New York Age, October 12, 1935, p. 12, col. 3 (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/40812806)

Per 1930 US Census, William and Nettie Roach owned their house at 26 Edgecombe Avenue, at 136th Street, northeast corner

Letter from Roach

Blood Relations: Caribbean Immigrants and the Harlem Community, 1900-1930 by Irma Watkins-Owens

• Joseph Henry Sweeney (1889–1932), born in the British West Indies

Sweeney lived at lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue, sometimes called the "White House of Harlem." 409 Edgecombe was also the address, at various times, of W.E.B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, Marvel Cooke, William Braithwaite, Aaron Douglas

• Cleo Charity (1889–1964), born in Antigua, British West Indies; according to his U.S. Draft registration in 1943, he was working at RKO Roosevelt Theatre, 7th Avenue and 145th Street; he became a naturalized citizen in 1926

• Cornelius Charity (1894–1937), Cleo's brother, was born in Antigua, British West Indies

Directors

• John Blake (born abt. 1892, British West Indies), immigrated 1908
• Edmund Carlyle Osborne (1882–1956), born in Montserrat, immigrated 1905
• Shervington Athelstan Lee (1884–1949), born in Montserrat, immigrated 1908
• Edward Benjamin Lynch (born 29 January 1884; Monseerat), immigrated from Plymouth, Montserrat in 1914, naturalized 1926

Addresses

• In 1912 (per manifest of Cameons ship manifest; sailing from Barbados, arriving July 10, 1912), William Henry Roach (sic), married to Frances Roach, residing at 661 East 86th Street, Brooklyn
• In 1914 (per naturalization petition): 53 W. 139th Street
• March 5, 1915 (per naturalization petition): 71 W. 138th Street (Nettie is his wife)
• 1918 (per brothers WWI Draft registration) 100 W 139
• From about 1925 to about 1935: 26 Edgecombe Avenue, at 136th Street, northeast corner
• 1918 (per WWI Draft card): 100 W 139th St
• 1920 (per US Census): 2468-2470 7th Avenue (married to Frances Roach, no kids)

Neighborhood

• Strivers Row runs along 139th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Affiliations

• 1915: Hiram Union Lodge, No. 3, Independent United Order of Mechanics, founded in New York in 1912 under the jurisdiction of Ben Hur Grand Lodge, Inc., renamed later, on August 13, 1919, as the Ben Hur Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment of the Independent United Order of Mechanics Friendly Society in America and the West Indies, Inc. – a New York not-for-profit corporation; Roach was treasurer in 1914
• Victoria United Benevolent Society, founded 1919, member of the Board of Directors in 1953
• Association of Trade and Commerce, co-founded by William Roach in 1921

Family

Nellia Roach (aka Nelson Mona Roach), William's wife, became a major real estate entrepreneur in Harlem. In 1922, she was a principal shareholder in Roach Leasing Company and Arabella Realty Company. She founded both firms.

External links

• "Renaissance Theatre" at Cinema Treasures
• "Renaissance Theatre" at Tiles, a blog by Michael Padwee
• "Renaissance Theatre" blog of Michael Henry Adams