Dunbar Theatre was a 1600-seat theatre and jazz club on the corner of Lombard Street and Broad Street in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It opened in 1919 and was later called the Gibson Theatre and Lincoln Theatre.

History

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 Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, who were raising money for the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

and

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

. They performed ''

Shuffle Along ''Shuffle Along'' is a musical composed by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, and a book written by the comedy duo Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. One of the most notable all-Black hit Broadway shows, it was a landmark in African-America ...

'' at Dunbar, before moving to Broadway where it premiered as the first all-black cast and production. Brown and Stevens ran into financial difficulty and in September 1921 the theatre was acquired by businessman John T. Gibson, who bought it for $420,000, offering a 10% share to another partner. The club, which was renamed the Gibson Theatre, along with the

Standard Theatre Standard Theatre or Standard Theater may refer to: ;in Australia *Royal Standard Theatre, in Sydney, known as "Standard Theatre", since demolished ;in Canada; * Standard Theatre (Toronto, Ontario) ;in the United States *Standard Theatre, early n ...

made Gibson the wealthiest African-American in Philadelphia in the 1920s. Despite his wealth and the club's success, Gibson was ruined by The Great Depression, and the theatre was sold to Jewish owners in December 1929, who renamed it the Lincoln Theatre. As early as October 1928 it was announced that Irvin C. Miller would take over the theatre, known at the time as the Gibson.''Variety'' (October 1928)
p. 37. It flourished as a jazz venue in the 1930s and 1940s with performances from the likes of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

and the

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. Today there is a historical marker sign at 500 South Broad Street on the southwest corner of Broad and Lombard Streets in the city remembering the theatre and its role in history as a successful venue for black performers of the 1920s to 1940s.

References

{{coord, 39, 56, 40, N, 75, 09, 56, W, region:US_type:landmark, display=title 1919 establishments in Pennsylvania African-American history in Philadelphia African-American theatre Defunct jazz clubs in the United States Jazz clubs in Philadelphia South Philadelphia Theatres in Philadelphia