Watercolor © Sandra Walker, RI
From Fading Ads of New York City © Frank H. Jump
Saunas & Baths
Mount Morris Baths – Steam & Turkish – Madison Avenue & 125th Street – Harlem, NYC
- April 1997 © Frank H. Jump
July 2011 © Frank H. Jump
Mount Morris Baths – Steam & Turkish
Harlem, NYC-
taken April, 1997 – July, 2011This image was originally part of a collection I call Urban EdiGlyphs- which was also featured at the THE FADING AD GALLERY in Brooklyn in 2004.
This establishment had been around since the late 1800s and gay since the 30s. It had been frequented chiefly by African-American men. When gay bath houses were systematically closed during the 80s by the NYC Dept of Health – in their hasty response to the AIDS crisis, this one was overlooked. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
Mt. Morris had remained open until 2003, when it was closed by the NYC Buildings Department for structural problems. It had come to my attention that since its closing, the “gay press” had not made the same uproar as they had over the closing of the Wall Street Sauna in 2004. It was one of few establishments in that area that distributed safe-sex information and paraphernalia. It will be sorely missed.
Remember- the AIDS crisis is not over!
