In the past, Nashville was not the first city that came to mind when I thought about urban areas with sizable black populations. Atlanta, Detroit, and Memphis top my list. Certainly I knew that Nashville is home to four historically black colleges and universities; indeed we published an article about Meharry Medical College (“Medical School With a Mission,” by Julie M. Fenster, Fall 2002). We featured the Nashville music star DeForest Bailey in “The Harmonica Player,” by Rick Petreycik, (Summer 2007). And I knew about the world famous Fisk Jubilee Singers. Still, when I was invited to visit Music City, U.S.A., I balked just a bit. Call me unschooled, but I honestly thought I was going to be immersed only in the city’s music culture, even though the people at Geiger & Associates who arranged the trip, told me otherwise. I was immersed, but contrary to what many of us might think, Nashville is not only about country and western music. It has its honky-tonks, and the Country Music Hall of Fame (a terrific exhibit “I Can’t Stop Loving You: Ray Charles and Country Music” is open there until December 31, 2007), but it also has a glittering new music hall, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and the city is a nexus for the gospel music industry (the 2008 Stellar Awards, recognizing the best in gospel music will be held there in January for the third year in a row).

There is much more to Nashville than the great music. One native Nashvillian I would like to mention here is Carol Fay Ellison. I ate some of her delicious biscuits at the Loveless Cafe, where she has worked for 25 years. Opened in 1951 on Highway 100, the Loveless Cafe—offering up Southern-fried chicken, country ham and red-eye gravy, and their famous biscuits, is a Nashville institution, as is Ms. Ellison—she is the keeper of the recipes and the secrets that make Loveless Cafe what it is. She is so much a part of the city’s culture—she’s appeared in Life and Gourmet magazines, and on the Today show, Ellen, Martha, and Late Night With Conan O’Brien, that to not mention her would be a glaring omission.

We are happy to take you on a trip to Harlem. Although I live a subway ride away and visit it often, I learned more about the neighborhood while working on this issue than I could have imagined. In the process, I was reminded of some marvelous books about the community. When Harlem Was in Vogue, by David Levering Lewis, is a solidly researched, well-paced account of the Harlem Renaissance. There are others: Herb Boyd’s The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York’s Most Famous Neighborhood From the Renaissance Years to the 21st Century; and On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld, are both stand-outs. Two pictorial surveys of both the community’s architecture, Harlem: Lost and Found, by Michael Henry Adams and Paul Rocheleau, and its people, Spirit of Harlem: A Portrait of America’s Most Exciting Neighborhood, by Craig Marberry and Michael Cunningham, provide a visual treat.

Speaking of omissions, in our double feature we decided to focus on Central and West Harlem, not because we think that East (or Spanish) Harlem is any less significant. Indeed, there is much crossover between the Latino and black communities in New York City. But to try to properly include East Harlem would have required three articles, not two, leaving no room for our other features. We hope you enjoy your trips to both Nashville and Harlem as much as we did.

AUDREY M. PETERSON, Editor