Dunbar Theatre (Philadelphia)
Dunbar Theatre was a 1600-seat theatre and jazz club on the corner of South and Broad Streets in Philadelphia, United States.[1] It opened in 1919 and was later called the Gibson Theatre and Lincoln Theatre.
History
Part of the thriving South Street scene, the theatre was opened on December 29, 1919 by African-American bankers E. C. Brown and Andrew Stevens, Jr., with a performance from the Lafayette Theatre group from Harlem, who were raising money for the NAACP and Marcus Garvey. They performed Shuffle Along at Dunbar, before moving to Broadway where it premiered as the first all-black cast and production.[2] Brown and Stevens ran into financial difficulty and in 1921 the theatre was acquired by businessman John T. Gibson, who bought it, offering a 10% share to another partner.[2][3] The club, which was renamed the Gibson Theatre, along with The Standard Club made Gibson the wealthiest African-American in the city in the 1920s.[4]
Despite his wealth and the club's success, Gibson was ruined by The Great Depression, and the theatre was sold to white owners who renamed it the Lincoln Theatre. It flourished as a jazz venue in the 1930s and 1940s with performances from the likes of Duke Ellington, Lena Horne and the Nicholas brothers.[2]
Today there is a historical marker sign at 500 South Broad Street in the city remembering the theatre and its role in history as a successful venue for black performers of the 1920s to 1940s.[2]
References
- ^ Ted Vincent (1995). "Keep Cool:The Black Activists Who Built the Age of Jazz". Pluto Press. p. 20.
- ^ a b c d "The Dunbar Theatre". Explorehistory.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ The Western Journal of Black Studies. Black Studies Program at Washington State University and Washington State University Press. 1992. p. 42.
- ^ "The Philly Venues". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 7 May 2020.