Program for Club Ebony: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A program from Club Ebony. The program is a single sheet of heavyweight cream paper that folds in half. The front features a black and red illustration of a conga drum and woman's head printed in the top left corner. The woman is depicted in profile. She has black skin, red lips and wears a tall red, black, and white headdress. The illustration of the drum overlays the illustration of the woman. The drum is white with a red and black drumhead and zig zag pattern along the base. Black text with differing fonts to the right of, and below, the illustration reads, [CLUB / EBONY / ON BROADWAY / Between 52nd and 53rd Streets / Program]. Printed on the interior pages, at the center top of the program, the text reads, [CLUB EBONY / Presents / TWO EXCITING NEW SHOWS / With / Dickie Wells]. The interior pages feature the Club’s programs for two shows printed inside in black lettering: "Ya-Ya" on the left interior page, and "Revue Ebonia" on the right interior page. The highlighted entertainers include: Jean Parks, The Three Riffs, Archie Savage, Van Dutton, Chino Roman, Ted Barnett, Edgar Johnson, the Debutones, and Mercer Ellington and Orchestra. Each interior page also features a red illustration of a scantily clad female dancer, kneeling with her arms and hands extended in front of her. Red bubble lettering above and below the illustrations reads [EN BOBO] and [CLUB / EBONY]. The back page has blank space for a message and lines for an address.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1947-1948
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Distributed by: Club Ebony, American, 1947 - 1948
• Subject of: Dickie Wells, American, 1907 - 1985
• Subject of: Archie Savage, American, 1914 - 2003
• Subject of: Jean Parks, American, born 1924
• Subject of: Mercer Ellington, American, 1919 - 1996
• Subject of: Van Dutton
• Subject of: Chino Roman
• Type: souvenir programs
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Closed): 9 9/16 × 7 1/16 × 1/16 in. (24.3 × 18 × 0.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Open): 9 1/2 × 14 1/16 (24.2 × 35.7 × 0.1 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.72
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.