Program from the Cotton Club: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Program from the Cotton Club with menu and program listing. Front cover has a blue background with white printed text reading [THE WORLD FAMOUS / COTTON / CLUB] over top of an orange circle and features black and white illustrations by Julian Harrison. On the lower half of the cover is a large illustration titled [JAM SESSION] featuring Duke Ellington seated at a piano, with Cab Calloway behind him and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson dancing in the middle, with other musicans and dancers around them. Along the left side are four smaller illustrations in a vertical line against an orange background. At the top is [JUNGLE JIVE], followed by [BOOGIE WOOGIE], [CONGO CONGA], AND [JITTER BUGS]. The program's interior consists of two single sheets making four pages. The first page introduces the show with [HERMAN STARK / Presents / World's Fair Edition / Starring / Bill ROBINSON - Cab CALLOWAY] followed by other performers, including Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and production credits including choreography by Clarence Robinson and sets by Julian Harrison. At the bottom is [ENTIRE PRODUCTION CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED BY TED KOEHLER]. The interior two pages present the menu with [Wine List] on the left and [Supper Menu] on the right. The final page lists the program in two acts. On either side of the page are illustrated columns with tribal mask adorning them.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1938
• Written by: Ted L. Koehler, American, 1894 - 1973
• Composed by: Rube Bloom, American, 1902 - 1976
• Produced by: Herman Stark, American, 1895 - 1981
• Subject of: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, American, 1878 - 1949
• Subject of: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: Clarence Robinson
• Subject of: Julian Harrison, American
• Subject of: Al Richards, American
• Type: programs
• Medium: ink on paper and metal
• Dimensions: H x W: 13 1/4 × 10 1/4 in. (33.7 × 26 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2013.223.21
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Vicki Gold Levi
• 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: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.