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The Renaissance Theatre which opened in 1921, was the first stage of the Renaissance Casino & Ballroom, which opened in 1923.

Acquisition of lot[edit]

In January 1920, the Central Union Trust Company, trustees for the Estate of Curtis B. Pierce (1834–1912), sold to Sarco Realty, through the Cruikshank Company as broker, a vacant parcel, 100 x 100 feet, at the northeast corner of 7th Avenue and 137th Street.[1]

Dispossession of theater[edit]

Sometime after 1925, William H. Roach lost control of underlying property and building. Roach exited the organization, but the Renaissance Theatre continued to operate under management of the Charity brothers and Joseph Henry Sweeney. In 1932, they lost the lease under financial duress owed partly the to post-crash economy and a long picket against the theater by the Motion Picture Operators' Union that began in 1931. The projectionist at the Renaissance Theatre was black – and black projectionists were not allowed to be members of the Motion Picture Operators' Union, Local 306.[2][3] Distraught over the disposition of the theater, Joseph Henry Sweeney committed suicide on April 21, 1932.[4][5]

  • (more on the Jim Crowism of Local 306)[6]
  • John J. Robertson, a white attorney at 60 East 42nd Street (catty-corner to the Grand Central Terminal building), was the landlord. John J. Robinson, possibly the same person, was, in 1923, counsel for the Sarco Realy Company.[7][8]
  • John Robertson was the broker who sold a parcel for the theatre[9]

Pipe organ[edit]

Organists[edit]

  • 1927: Elnorist Young (1900–1981) was an organist, pianist, and composer. While studying at Howard University for two years, she majored in piano and organ. She married Edwin Carr Yancey (1893–1958).

Timeline[edit]

  • Retail stores at the Renaissance in 1923:
  • A.I. Hart (Arthur I. Hart)[10]

New York Age, July 28, 1923, p. 2

  • Colored American Retail Company, Inc. (William H. Roach)
  • Bankruptcy of William H. Roach[11]
  • Not bankrupt, say Roach.[12]
  • Liquidation of Roach's Colored American Retail Company, Inc., in October 1924[13]
  • December 1924, Renaissance Apartments, owned by Sarco, just south the the Renaissance Theatre, sold at public auction[14]
  • Roach experiencing financial duress.[15]
  • Renaissance introduced talkies March 9, 1929[16]
  • July 1930, new management[17]
  • Change in Control in 1932.[18]
  • New Management in 1932[19]
  • George Jackson, new manager in 1933.[20]
  • Harold McCarter, new manager in 1935[21]
  • Harlems first neon sign in 1935.[22]

Sarco[edit]

Money borrowed for the Renaissance[edit]

Rosalind Realty Company, as reported by Joseph L. Moyse (1871–1931), its president, financed through Nettie B. Moyse (née Minette Blum; 1882–1957), Joseph's wife:

  • Sarco Realty and Holding Company a 5-year mortgage loan of $180,000 for the Renaissance Theatre and and a store property, both on the northeast corner of 137th Street and 7th Avenue; and
  • Roach's House Cleaning Company a mortgage loan $35,000 for the Smithsonian 7-story apartment building at 60 West 129th Street, near Lenox Avenue[24][25]

Early personnel[edit]

Immigrants in Harlem[edit]

For over a century, Harlem has been a melting pot of immigrants, notably and many famously, those of African descent. The group that promoted that managed the Renaissance Casino were British immigrants from the British West Indies. They also were followers and exponents of Marcus Garvey's philosophy of self-sufficiency.

Journalists[edit]

  • Vere Everette Johns (1893–1966), who closely chronicled the Renaissance Casino for New York Age was born in Jamaica. On at least two occasions – 1935 and 1939 – he was deported by the U.S. Department of Labor, perhaps for criticizing the Jim Crow aspect of labor unions, particularly the Local 506.

Executives[edit]

Roach's response to offense claim[edit]

An article in the February 17, 1923 issue of Negro World, a publication of the Negro Improvement Association, purportedly signed by Marcus Garvey as President General of the Negro Improvement Association, stated that the buildings on 7th Avenue, between 137th and 138th Streets, known then as the Renaissance Theatre and the Renaissance Casino, were

"the properties of industrious Jews who have sought an outlet for their surplus cash in the colored district."

Roach promptly submitted a letter to the editor expressing his indignation of a "gross misrepresentation of facts."[26][27][28]

More on Roach[edit]

In 1945, Roach, who at the time was living in the Bronx, became vice-president of New Gem Realty Co., which was organized July 31, 1945. George H. James, of Montserrat was President.[29] Roach was a member of Marcus Garvey's UNIA

There's a death notice, October 12, 1935, for William Roach, age 46, of 139 West 143rd Street
On a WWII Draft Card, there's a William Howard Roach living at 286 West 151st St, Manhattan
"Deaths Reported Last Week," New York Age, October 12, 1935, p. 12, col. 3 (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/40812806)
Per 1930 US Census, William and Nettie Roach owned their house at 26 Edgecombe Avenue, at 136th Street, northeast corner
Letter from Roach
Blood Relations: Caribbean Immigrants and the Harlem Community, 1900-1930 by Irma Watkins-Owens
Sweeney lived at lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue, sometimes called the "White House of Harlem." 409 Edgecombe was also the address, at various times, of W.E.B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, Marvel Cooke, William Braithwaite, Aaron Douglas
  • Cleo Charity (1889–1964), born in Antigua, British West Indies; according to his U.S. Draft registration in 1943, he was working at RKO Roosevelt Theatre, 7th Avenue and 145th Street; he became a naturalized citizen in 1926

Directors[edit]

  • John Blake (born abt. 1892, British West Indies), immigrated 1908
  • Edmund Carlyle Osborne (1882–1956), born in Montserrat, immigrated 1905
  • Shervington Athelstan Lee (1884–1949), born in Montserrat, immigrated 1908
  • Edward Benjamin Lynch (born 29 January 1884; Monseerat), immigrated from Plymouth, Montserrat in 1914, naturalized 1926

Neighborhood[edit]

  • Strivers Row runs along 139th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Planning for Auditoriums:"
    – "Negro Organizations to Supply Need for Places of Recreation"
    – "To Erect New Theatre"
    – "Plans Being Drawn for Playhouse at 137th St. and 7th Ave."
    New York Age, February 14, 1920, p. 1
  2. ^ Whose Harlem Is This, Anyway?: Community Politics and Grassroots Activism During the New Negro Era, by Shannon King, New York University Press (2017), p. 84; OCLC 961205903
  3. ^ "In the Name of Art," by Vere E. Johns, New York Age, October 20, 1934, p. 4 (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/40886594)
    Vere E. Johns was a theatre and dance critic for the New York Age; he also performed with Hemsley Winfield in Salome at the Cherry Lane Theatre and in a negro pageant at Carnegie Hall
  4. ^ "Harlem Theatre Magnate Suicide," Pittsburgh Courier April 20, 1932, pps. 1 & 7 (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/39682462 and www.newspapers.com/image/39682467)
  5. ^ "Harlem Theatre Owner Kills Himself As Suicide Wave Strikes Community," New York Age, April 30, 1932, p. 1
  6. ^ "In the Name of Art – Reginald Warner Says a Mouthful," by Vere E. Johns, New York Age, November 3, 1934, p. 4
  7. ^ Why Black Homeowners are More Likely to Be Caribbean-American than African-American in New York: A Theory of How Early West Indian Migrants Broke Racial Cartels in Housing," by Eleanor Marie Brown, George Washington University Law School (2016)
  8. ^ "Spendid New Casino Now Open by Harlem Race," New York Age, January 13, 1923
  9. ^ "Buys Large Harlem Corner," New York Times, November 10, 1920, p. 27, col. 2
  10. ^ "5, 10 and 25 Cent Store Has Passed a Most Trying Period," New York Age, July 28, 1923, p. 2
  11. ^ "Theatre Manager Says He's Bankrupt," Pittsburgh Courier, July 19, 1924, p. 1, col. 7 (bottom)
  12. ^ "Not Bankrupt, Says Head of N.Y. Theatre," Pittsburgh Courier, July 26, 1924, p. 1
  13. ^ "In Harlem Business Circles" (3rd paragraph), Pittsburgh Courier, October 11, 1924, p. 12
  14. ^ "Renaissance Apart. House Is Sold At Public Auction," New York Age, December 13, 1924, p. 10, col. 3
  15. ^ "Wm. H. Roach Interests Face Tangle," Pittsburgh Courier, July 4, 1925, p. 6
  16. ^ "Renaissance Inaugurates All-Talking Pictures With In Old Arizona,"] New York Age, March 9, 1929 (see In Old Arizona)
  17. ^ "Renaissance Casino Under New Management", Pittsburgh Courier, July 5, 1930, section 2, p. 6
  18. ^ "Change of Control at Renaissance Theatre," by Vere E. Johns, New York Age, March 7, 1932, p. 7
  19. ^ "Renaissance Casino Under New Management Has Fall Opening," New York Age, December 10, 1932, p. 7
  20. ^ "George Jackson Now The Manager of The Renaissance Theatre," New York Age, August 12, 1933, p. 6
  21. ^ "In the Name of Art – Local Boy Makes Good," by William E. Clark, New York Age, April 20, 1935, p. 5
  22. ^ "Sports and the Stage – New Note in Courtesy Brought to Harlem by Renaissance Theatre," William E. Clark (column editor), New York Age, November 18, 1935, p. 6
  23. ^ Klasko Finance Corporation v. R. Holding Co., Inc., et al.
    "Amended Answer of Defendant Nettie B. Moyse," pps. 40–45
    Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, First Judicial Department, Vol. 5516, May 6, 1926, pps. 1–45
    Originally printed by The Court Press, 47 West Street, Bowling Green (digitally reproduced by Google from the New York City Bar Association Library)
  24. ^ "$215,000 Loaned on Realty," New York Tribune, November 21, 1921, p. 12, col. 2 (bottom) (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/100128367, subscription required)
  25. ^ "Negroes Buy More Harlem Property – Roach Realty Co., Buys Elevator Apartment House at Lenox Ave. and 125th St." New York Age, December 6, 1919, p. 1
  26. ^ "Deny Renaissance Buildings Are Properties of Hebrews – Pres. Roach Objects to Statement to That Effect By Marcus Garvey and Demands Retraction to Be Printed on First Page of The Negro World," New York Age, February 24, 1923 accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/39624134)
  27. ^ "Editorial Letter by Marcus Garvey, February 13, 1923," Negro World, February 17, 1923; OCLC 808842527
    Reproduction: Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers (Vol. 5 of 13), Robert H. Hill (ed.), University of California Press (1986), p. 233; OCLC 47009869
  28. ^ "DuBois versus Garvey: Race Propagandists at War," by Elliott M. Rudwick (1927–1985) (PhD from U. Penn in 1956), Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 28, No. 4, Autumn 1959, pp. 421-429 (assesible via JSTOR at www.jstor.org/stable/2293598)
  29. ^ "New Gem Realty, Inc., Takes Title to $37,000 Five-Story Apartment House," New York Age, September 15, 1945, p. 2 (accessible via Newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/40854371)

External links[edit]

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