Nightclubs and theaters such as the Washington, Sunset Terrace Ballroom, Columbia Theater, and the Walker Theatre hosted renowned African American musicians and entertainers, such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway.[3] Local musicians cut their teeth jamming onstage with jazz legends, and some became legends of their own right, like Wes Montgomery, Slide Hampton, David Baker, and many others.[4] Live performances were announced in the African American Indianapolis Recorder, with colorful headlines such as this one: “Ella Fitzgerald, Sunset Thurs. Nite: Jamtown’s Jumpiest Jivers With That Savage Rhythm, Fiery Beats, Torrid Tempos Will Put You in the Groove and You’re [sic] Feet Just Gotta Move!”[5]
Among the musicians who performed on The Avenue were the Montgomery Brothers. Born in Indianapolis, the Montgomery Brothers (Monk, Buddy, and Wes) were each a talented musician in his own right. Monk was the first to record on an electric bass and played in Lionel Hampton’s band. Buddy, a pianist, performed with trombonist Slide Hampton and later with Miles Davis. Wes, who is considered to be one of the most influential jazz guitarists, started out experimenting with different techniques after initially being taught by older brother Monk, but received no formal training.[6]
In many ways, jazz helped set the stage for the Civil Rights movement, as many musicians spoke out against racial inequality. Duke Ellington, for example, had in his contracts that he would not play for segregated audiences. While touring the South in the 1930s, he rented three train cars for his band to avoid Jim Crow laws that limited African American options for overnight lodging. Ellington’s fight for civil rights and African American pride was most evident in his music, which he referred to as “African American classical music.”[7]
Locally, the creation of segregated Crispus Attucks High School in 1927, a public school for Indianapolis’ African American students, coincided with the jazz explosion. Attucks’ highly regarded music department and the openness of Indiana Avenue combined to provide opportunities for young local African Americans musicians at a time when many Indianapolis music venues were not open to them. David Baker, a Crispus Attucks graduate and famed jazz composer, conductor, and musician reflected on the Indianapolis jazz scene and his experience as a young African American musician. "People tend to excel in the areas that are open to them. At that time, a black was expected to play religious music, R & B or jazz. I can remember auditioning for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and being told, in no uncertain terms, that even though my audition was the best, there was no chance that I'd become a member."[8]
In 1994, an Indiana Historical Bureau marker was placed on Indiana Avenue to commemorate the area’s role as an African American social, cultural, and economic center in the first half of the 20th century.[9]
]]>The jazz scene in Indianapolis was born during a time of segregation and Jim Crow laws, when African Americans could not attend musical concerts and shows, nor perform, in certain clubs and theatres. As a result, African Americans created their own venues and businesses in many cities in the pre-Civil Rights era. Indiana Avenue was the economic and cultural center of the African American community in Indianapolis. Jazz became big during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance in New York, and then spread to the rest of the country. Indiana Avenue, or simply “The Avenue”, became the capital of jazz in Indiana from the 1920s to the 1960s.[1] Night clubs and live music spots lined Indiana Avenue “from one end of it to the other, from Ohio Street to Lockefield.”[2]
Nightclubs and theaters such as the Washington, Sunset Terrace Ballroom, Columbia Theater, and the Walker Theatre hosted renowned African American musicians and entertainers, such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway.[3] Local musicians cut their teeth jamming onstage with jazz legends, and some became legends of their own right, like Wes Montgomery, Slide Hampton, David Baker, and many others.[4] Live performances were announced in the African American Indianapolis Recorder, with colorful headlines such as this one: “Ella Fitzgerald, Sunset Thurs. Nite: Jamtown’s Jumpiest Jivers With That Savage Rhythm, Fiery Beats, Torrid Tempos Will Put You in the Groove and You’re [sic] Feet Just Gotta Move!”[5]
Among the musicians who performed on The Avenue were the Montgomery Brothers. Born in Indianapolis, the Montgomery Brothers (Monk, Buddy, and Wes) were each a talented musician in his own right. Monk was the first to record on an electric bass and played in Lionel Hampton’s band. Buddy, a pianist, performed with trombonist Slide Hampton and later with Miles Davis. Wes, who is considered to be one of the most influential jazz guitarists, started out experimenting with different techniques after initially being taught by older brother Monk, but received no formal training.[6]
In many ways, jazz helped set the stage for the Civil Rights movement, as many musicians spoke out against racial inequality. Duke Ellington, for example, had in his contracts that he would not play for segregated audiences. While touring the South in the 1930s, he rented three train cars for his band to avoid Jim Crow laws that limited African American options for overnight lodging. Ellington’s fight for civil rights and African American pride was most evident in his music, which he referred to as “African American classical music.”[7]
Locally, the creation of segregated Crispus Attucks High School in 1927, a public school for Indianapolis’ African American students, coincided with the jazz explosion. Attucks’ highly regarded music department and the openness of Indiana Avenue combined to provide opportunities for young local African Americans musicians at a time when many Indianapolis music venues were not open to them. David Baker, a Crispus Attucks graduate and famed jazz composer, conductor, and musician reflected on the Indianapolis jazz scene and his experience as a young African American musician. "People tend to excel in the areas that are open to them. At that time, a black was expected to play religious music, R & B or jazz. I can remember auditioning for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and being told, in no uncertain terms, that even though my audition was the best, there was no chance that I'd become a member."[8]
In 1994, an Indiana Historical Bureau marker was placed on Indiana Avenue to commemorate the area’s role as an African American social, cultural, and economic center in the first half of the 20th century.[9]
The Walker Theatre was named after Madam C.J. Walker, a successful African American entrepreneur who developed a revolutionary line of beauty and hygiene products for African American women. Her profits from the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company made her one of the wealthiest people in the nation, but Walker’s recognition as the first black female millionaire in the United States is a myth; her estate was worth approximately $600,000 at the time of her death in 1919.[5] Nevertheless, Walker used her success and wealth to advocate for African American rights and improve the lives of black women in her community. As her business expanded, it began to outgrow its original Indianapolis headquarters, and Madam Walker started planning the Walker Building, constructed after her death.[6]
The building, designed by the premier Indianapolis architectural firm Rubush and Hunter, held a new factory and office space for the Walker Company, as well as a casino, drugstore, coffee shop, and additional offices for rent.[7] The Walker Theatre was a special project of Madam Walker’s, intended as a place of entertainment for the local African American community.[8] The movie theater was a particularly notable addition to the building, as Madam Walker herself had experienced discrimination in Indianapolis movie theaters.[9] In 1915, she sued the Central Amusement Company, which owned the Isis Theatre in Indianapolis, for its discriminatory pricing; African American patrons were required to pay an extra 15 cents for admission.[10] Soon after its opening, the Madam CJ Walker Theatre Center developed into a lasting cultural cornerstone on historic Indiana Avenue.
The Walker Building was constructed by the William P. Jungclaus Company.[11] It was lavishly built in the style of the Art Deco movement, popular during the 1920s. The Walker Building is significant because it is decorated heavily with African elements, using terra cotta accents of African, Moorish, and Egyptian symbols.[12] Sphinxes, Yoruba masks, shields and spears are found throughout the building, especially in the extravagant ballroom and theater, marking the building as a source of racial pride for African Americans, something Madam Walker strove to create in all of her endeavors.[13]
The Madame C.J. Walker building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[14] From 1979-1988, the Madame Walker Urban Life Center, the not-for-profit organization that owns the building, oversaw extensive renovations to the Madam C.J. Walker Building, including the Walker Theatre.[15] The renovated site is now known as the Madam Walker Legacy Center. In 2018, the Madam Walker Legacy Center partnered with Indiana University and began another round of renovations of the building, funded by a 15 million dollar Lilly Endowment Grant.[16] This partnership will not only ensure the continuation of the Walker Theatre as a cultural landmark, but also equip the Madam Walker Legacy Center with the resources and means to revitalize the heritage of Indiana Avenue. As Stephanie Nixon, the former chair of the board of the Madam Walker Legacy Center, stated, “It is truly the start of a new day for the Walker.”[17]
]]>The Walker Theatre is a part of the Madam C.J. Walker Building constructed in 1927 at 617 Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis.[1] The building opened to fanfare on December 26, 1927, with presentations of the feature film The Magic Flame and performances of a Chicago-based dance ensemble set to an orchestra both showing at various times throughout the week for 25 to 40 cents.[2] The Walker Theatre was regularly advertised and reviewed in the black newspaper, Indianapolis Recorder, promoting its “Vaudeville and First-Run Pictures.”[3] The theatre joined a vibrant culture of African American entertainment along Indiana Avenue, known for its dance halls, taverns, and jazz clubs.[4]
The Walker Theatre was named after Madam C.J. Walker, a successful African American entrepreneur who developed a revolutionary line of beauty and hygiene products for African American women. Her profits from the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company made her one of the wealthiest people in the nation, but Walker’s recognition as the first black female millionaire in the United States is a myth; her estate was worth approximately $600,000 at the time of her death in 1919.[5] Nevertheless, Walker used her success and wealth to advocate for African American rights and improve the lives of black women in her community. As her business expanded, it began to outgrow its original Indianapolis headquarters, and Madam Walker started planning the Walker Building, constructed after her death.[6]
The building, designed by the premier Indianapolis architectural firm Rubush and Hunter, held a new factory and office space for the Walker Company, as well as a casino, drugstore, coffee shop, and additional offices for rent.[7] The Walker Theatre was a special project of Madam Walker’s, intended as a place of entertainment for the local African American community.[8] The movie theater was a particularly notable addition to the building, as Madam Walker herself had experienced discrimination in Indianapolis movie theaters.[9] In 1915, she sued the Central Amusement Company, which owned the Isis Theatre in Indianapolis, for its discriminatory pricing; African American patrons were required to pay an extra 15 cents for admission.[10] Soon after its opening, the Madam CJ Walker Theatre Center developed into a lasting cultural cornerstone on historic Indiana Avenue.
The Walker Building was constructed by the William P. Jungclaus Company.[11] It was lavishly built in the style of the Art Deco movement, popular during the 1920s. The Walker Building is significant because it is decorated heavily with African elements, using terra cotta accents of African, Moorish, and Egyptian symbols.[12] Sphinxes, Yoruba masks, shields and spears are found throughout the building, especially in the extravagant ballroom and theater, marking the building as a source of racial pride for African Americans, something Madam Walker strove to create in all of her endeavors.[13]
The Madame C.J. Walker building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[14] From 1979-1988, the Madame Walker Urban Life Center, the not-for-profit organization that owns the building, oversaw extensive renovations to the Madam C.J. Walker Building, including the Walker Theatre.[15] The renovated site is now known as the Madam Walker Legacy Center. In 2018, the Madam Walker Legacy Center partnered with Indiana University and began another round of renovations of the building, funded by a 15 million dollar Lilly Endowment Grant.[16] This partnership will not only ensure the continuation of the Walker Theatre as a cultural landmark, but also equip the Madam Walker Legacy Center with the resources and means to revitalize the heritage of Indiana Avenue. As Stephanie Nixon, the former chair of the board of the Madam Walker Legacy Center, stated, “It is truly the start of a new day for the Walker.”[17]