Photograph of six female dancers performing at Club 845: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of six (6) female dancers performing at Club 845. The dancers are dressed in matching white costumes. The women are wearing knee length, light toned robes with the neckline, front edges, and bottom hems embellished with fur. The woman depicted in the center has robes with dark fur embellishments and the other women’s robes are embellished in light toned fur. The dancers are standing in a row, in various positions. The woman on the far left is Laura Cathrell. The three (3) women on the left are turn towards the right edge of the image and the three (3) women on the right are turned towards the left edge of the image. There is a band depicted behind the row of dancers. In the background on the right, is a drum kit and an amplifier with the number [84[5][?]] painted inside the letter [C]. There are no inscriptions on the front or back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1950-1951
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Laura Cathrell, 1914 - 1999
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Subject of: Club 845, American, founded 1945
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 4 1/2 × 6 7/8 in. (11.5 × 17.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 4 15/16 × 6 15/16 in. (12.6 × 17.7 cm)
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2013.46.25.230
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.