• "Jazz is the sound of our heritage. It is an American idiom with African roots -- a trunk of soul with limbs reaching in every direction."  Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
     
    Before the Apollo, before the Regal, there was The Howard Theatre. At its inception it was "the largest colored theatre in the world." Sadly shuttered and neglected since the early 1980s, the once majestic building with its "trunk of soul" has survived death in order to be reborn in time to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2010.

    For most of the 20th century, The Howard Theatre, located in the
    heart of Washington, DC, near the corner of 7th and T, held audiences captive with music, dance, drama and comedy. Speakers like Booker T. Washington shared the stage with musicals, road shows, vaudeville acts, theater productions and community programs. Later, Washington's favorite son Duke Ellington opened a new era of jazz big bands on The Howard's stage.  
     
    When the nation was deeply divided by segregation, The Howard Theatre provided a place where color barriers blurred and music unified. The Washington Bee dubbed it the "Theatre for The People" for it was the place where dignitaries, like President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the First Lady gathered with everyday folks to see both superstars and rising stars – many of whom debuted at The Howard Theatre. Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Billy Taylor and Bill Kenny of the Ink Spots made way for talents like The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Brown, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gilespie, Shirley Horn, and comedians Petey Greene, Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley.
     
    The Howard Theatre inspired change, yet felt the impact of a nation in flux following the 1968 riots. Eventually, the degradation of the neighborhood forced the theater to close. After several false starts in the late '70s and early '80s to reinvigorate The Howard, the curtains fell.

 

 

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