Newspaper advertisement for Sonny Blount and his Orchestra in a special dance for white visitors to the Colored Masonic Temple. "The most exciting event of the season. Doors open 7:30, dancing at 8 o'clock. Come early, be patriotic, obey the curfew."…
As this and other advertisements indicate, bandleader Sonny Blount -- performing here with "His 10-pc. Colored Orchestra" at the posh white venue, Queenstown Lake -- had by 1945 become popular with both Black and white audiences in Birmingham. Early…
Newspaper advertisement for a Victory Jubilee Dance ("An All-Star Jubilee Special") at Birmingham's Masonic Temple. On occasions like this, the Masonic Temple -- a center for Black life in segregated Birmingham, and a key venue for top local and…