92 Years in Harlem: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Looking Toward 100

In 1934, the world looked remarkably different.

There was no television in most American homes. Commercial air travel was still in its infancy. A telephone was a stationary object, not something carried in a pocket. The music, fashions, neighborhoods, industries, and technologies that define modern life were still decades away.

And in Harlem, a community was building something of its own.

That year, the Antigua & Barbuda Progressive Society was established.

Ninety-two years later, ABPS is still here.

That simple statement carries considerable weight.

Imagine Harlem in 1934

To understand what 92 years means, it helps to imagine the neighborhood in which the Society took root.

Harlem had already become one of the great centers of Black cultural and intellectual life. The Harlem Renaissance had transformed literature, music, art, and political thought, while people from throughout the Caribbean were becoming an important part of New York's growing Black immigrant community.

But 1934 was also a difficult moment in American life.

The United States was living through the Great Depression. Families and communities faced economic uncertainty, unemployment, and profound social challenges. Beyond America's shores, the political forces that would eventually lead to the Second World War were taking shape.

Against that backdrop, organizations like ABPS served an important purpose.

They created places where people could gather, support one another, preserve connections to home, exchange ideas, and build community in a new city.

ABPS became part of that tradition.

Then the World Changed

Consider what has happened since.

ABPS has existed through a world war and the Cold War; through the Civil Rights Movement and the independence era across the Caribbean; through enormous changes in immigration, transportation, communication, music, media, and technology.

Harlem changed, too.

Generations arrived. Generations moved away. Buildings changed hands. Businesses opened and closed. Musical movements were born. Political movements found their voices. New communities became part of the neighborhood while older communities worked to preserve their histories.

Through all of that change, the Antigua & Barbuda Progressive Society continued.

Not unchanged—because no institution survives 92 years without changing.

But present.

And perhaps that is one of the most meaningful things an anniversary can celebrate.

What Does It Mean to Last 92 Years?

An organization does not survive for nearly a century because of a building, a name, or a date printed on a certificate.

It survives because people decide that it should.

Someone attends a meeting.

Someone prepares a meal.

Someone organizes an event.

Someone makes a donation.

Someone volunteers.

Someone teaches a younger person about what came before.

Someone unlocks the door.

And then another generation does the same.

Those individual acts, repeated across decades, become an institution.

This year's anniversary therefore belongs not only to the people who founded ABPS in 1934, but also to the generations of members, officers, volunteers, families, friends, and supporters who carried the Society forward.

And Now, 100 Is on the Horizon

There is another reason why the 92nd anniversary feels significant.

The centennial is no longer a distant idea.

In 2034, the Antigua & Barbuda Progressive Society will reach its 100th anniversary.

Eight years.

For an organization that has already traveled through nine decades, eight years is remarkably close.

That approaching milestone gives us an opportunity to ask a different kind of question.

Not simply:

How do we celebrate 100 years?

But:

What kind of organization do we want ABPS to be when we arrive there?

What stories should be preserved?

What traditions should continue?

What new traditions should begin?

How do we introduce younger generations to an institution founded long before their parents—or perhaps even their grandparents—were born?

And what should the next century of ABPS look like?

Those questions cannot be answered in a single anniversary celebration. But perhaps the journey toward answering them begins now.

Come Celebrate 92 Years With Us

On Sunday, September 27, 2026, we invite members, friends, families, supporters, and the wider community to join us in Harlem as the Antigua & Barbuda Progressive Society celebrates its 92nd Anniversary Service.

The service will be followed by lunch and fellowship as we honor a legacy built over generations—and look toward the future still ahead.

📅 Sunday, September 27, 2026🕚 11:00 AM

📍 Antigua & Barbuda Progressive Society

12 West 122nd Street

New York, NY 10027

🎟️ Admission: $25

Reserve Your Seat:[https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/92nd-anniversary]

At checkout, you may notice an optional additional fee from Zeffy. Please feel free to adjust it to $0 before completing your purchase.

For additional information, contact John at (917) 280-8564 or Claudine at (917) 319-1904.

Whether you have been connected to ABPS for decades or are discovering the Society for the first time, you are warmly invited to celebrate with us.

Ninety-two years brought us here.

Now we begin looking toward 100.