Harlem's African American Wax Museum Creator: Raven Chanticleer UPDATE

[mnhtnbb]

Last edited Mon Mar 30, 2026, 11:07 AM - Edit history (1)

UPDATE: My son's podcast is recognized by The Guardian today--30 March 2026-- as one of the best podcasts of the week!
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/30/the-new-serial-is-here-best-podcasts-of-the-week?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ3b-hleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF2Qzlva0E2R25ET2o5WFUzc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHgW13PQd4n04JfZvGbWuI5a5n3RO7xxGhCwnBP8WpnvSLE9JUVR365ZERBB-_aem_OJjwuyR6CGpDagSsk6ElKQ

Raven

Part character study, part investigation, this series tells the tale of Raven Chanticleer, founder and owner of the African American Wax Museum in Harlem. The action flits between Chanticleer’s wild life story and the whereabouts of the waxworks which disappeared after his death in 2002, all of which is full of entertaining detail. AD
Widely available, episodes weekly

This link goes to: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raven/id1870115884
but it is also available wherever you get your podcasts.

If you lived in NY in the '80's or 90's, you may have heard or been familiar with the name/persona of Raven Chanticleer.

My youngest son holds a doctorate from Yale Drama and has been writing/producing/narrating a podcast https://www.artofcrimepodcast.com/ for several years. In a roundabout way (after producing a series about Madame Tussaud) he stumbled upon Raven Chanticleer, who was motivated to create Harlem's African American Wax Museum after a visit to Madame Tussaud's in London where he noticed there was not one single wax figure of an African American in the collection at the time.

My son writes:

For about the last year-and-a-half, I've been working on a side project titled Raven. It's about an unforgettable man with an unforgettable name: Raven Chanticleer. In 1989, Raven fulfilled a long-held dream of opening a wax museum devoted to Black history in Harlem. It garnered widespread attention in New York and abroad. When Raven died in 2002, his family gutted the museum and sold the property, destroying his life's work. For years, Raven's prized wax statues were thought to have been lost or destroyed. Plot twist: some of them miraculously survived. Part character study and part detective story, this miniseries looks at who Raven was, why the African American Wax Museum mattered, and what happened to the collection after its closure.

If you like what you hear, please follow the show on your preferred podcasting platform (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.) so you find out as soon as new episodes are out. Again, the podcast is called Raven, and it's linked to my name. (Gavin Whitehead)

Apple Podcasts has spotlighted the series on the homepage under New Shows



I'm posting this in recognition of Black History month.