Peter Graff, a graduate student in the Department of Music, will discuss how Cleveland’s Globe Theater (Woodland avenue and E. 55th street), once a venue for live Yiddish entertainment, rebranded itself in 1922 to capitalize on the city’s burgeoning black population. Audiences packed the house nightly to see and hear the latest blues queens, black musical revues, and the occasional race picture. As a site for these converging artistic traditions by and for African Americans, the Globe played a significant role in shaping the identity of Cleveland’s black community in the 1920s.
Pre-lecture reception begins at 4:15 pm.
This event is free and open to the public.