I am an independent historian, guide and author, based in New York City. I've held fellowships at Columbia University and the CUNY Leon Levy Center for Biography, as well as the MFAH Dora Maar House in Ménerbes, France. My books include the local history, Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem (Arcadia-Images of America, 2002), and the biography, Boss of the Grips: The Life of James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Central Terminal, (Liveright/W.W. Norton, 2019), about the influential chief railroad porter throughout the storied Harlem Renaissance-era. I am the owner of Tagging-the-Past, which endeavors to reconnect forgotten history to present landscapes through articles, talks and tours.