Ford's Grand Opera House was a major music venue in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, located on West Fayette Street between North Howard and

Eutaw Street Eutaw Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, mostly within the downtown area. Outside of downtown, it is mostly known as Eutaw Place. The south end of Eutaw Street is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After this point, the street continue ...

s. It was founded by theatre manager John T. Ford (also the owner of infamous

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater bo ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

where President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

was assassinated, April 14, 1865) and designed by architect James J. Gifford. The opera house/theatre opened to the public on October 2, 1871, with a show that included readings from Shakespeare's ''" As You Like It"'' as well as vocal and orchestral performances. Then owned by 1950s–60s era theatre magnate Morris A. Mechanic, it closed almost 93 years later with its last

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

show from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, " Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Forum" in 1964. It was replaced three years later as the prime site for Baltimore live theatre patrons with the opening in the landmark of the new downtown redevelopment project of

Charles Center Charles Center is a large-scale urban redevelopment project in central Baltimore's downtown business district of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Beginning in 1954, a group called the "Committee for Downtown" promoted a master plan for arresting th ...

, the starkly modernistic "Brutalist" architecture of the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre at the southwest corner of Charles and Baltimore Streets, four blocks to the east. The Ford Opera house was later the site of newspaper publisher of the '' New York Tribune'', Horace Greeley's nomination as the Liberal Republican Party candidate from a split Republican Party for the 1872 American Presidential election versus regular Republican Party candidate, incumbent 18th President,

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

and Democratic candidate Seymour, who was reelected.

Protests (1946-1952)

The allure of the theatre attracted many kinds of people. Starting in 1946, Civil Rights activists in Baltimore such as

Adah Jenkins Adah Louise Killion Jenkins (April 23, 1901 – May 8, 1973) was a Civil rights activist, musician, teacher, and a music critic for the ''Afro-American'' newspaper. Early life Adah Louise Killion was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, th ...

began to picket the Ford's Grand Opera House. This demonstration was a direct result of the Jim Crow policies at the time, which led to segregation in seating, accommodation, and ticket availability for people of colored skin. The Ford Theatre gave specific seating to African-Americans, often in the third row of the theatre. During this period, Civil Rights activists were able to make an impact on the segregation policies of Baltimore's theatres to the point where it was recognized by the NAACP.Brown, Milton P. Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Hollander. Sidney Hollander Papers, MS 2044, March 4, 1949, MdHS After six years of protesting, Ford's Opera House desegregated in 1952. Fords theatre had been operating under segregation since its opening in 1871. After multiple appeals to actors and other influential people in the community, officials in charge of the theatre agreed on the desegregation of the theatre, saying that it would add to the welfare of colored people and help aid in the betterment of race relations. To help end segregation in Ford's theatre, protestors enlisted the help of the NAACP, playwrights, actors, and more which proved to be very effective in bringing awareness to the community. Even Government officials found themselves speaking out against the segregation of Ford's theatre such as Governor McKeldin, when he called the segregation, offensive, illogical, and absurd.

References

External links

Baltimore Almost Broadway
* https://mdhs.org/sites/default/files/cxvj.pdf Music venues in Baltimore 1964 disestablishments in Maryland Theatres completed in 1871 1871 establishments in Maryland Event venues established in 1871 {{music-venue-stub