CuI tural Knowledge harlem Harlem is a section of upper manhattan in New York City which, though originally settled by the Dutch, has long contained one of the largest urban concentrations of black people in the United States. In the 1930s, such figures as the writer langston Hughes contributed to a harlem Renaissance in arts and literature. Today, much of the area is dilapidated and high in crime.Harlem Harlem is a section of upper Manhattan in New York City which, though originally settled by the Dutch, has long contained one of the largest urban concentrations of black people in the United States. In the 1930s, such figures as the writer Langston Hughes contributed to a Harlem Renaissance in arts and literature. Today, much of the area is dilapidated and high in crime. Cultural Knowledge