Harlem fundraiser event at the Renaissance Ballroom for the first African-American to be elected to Congress from New York, Adam Clayton Powell

Adam Clayton Powell

Publication Date: 1968

About this Item

Handbill for an Adam Clayton Powell event in Harlem. Handbill, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches;New York, 3 November 1968. A Harlem fundraiser event at the Renaissance Ballroom featuring the longtime congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., as well as soul music, a dance contest, and cash prizes, put on by the Alfred E. Isaac Club for Democrats. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a Baptist pastor and the first African-American to be elected to Congress from New York, as well as the first from any state in the Northeast. Re-elected for nearly three decades, Powell became a powerful national politician of the Democratic Party, and served as a national spokesman on civil rights and social issues. He represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives. Powell ran for the United States Congress on a platform of civil rights for African Americans: support for "fair employment practices, and a ban on poll taxes and lynching." Requiring poll taxes for voter registration and voting was a device used by southern states in new constitutions adopted from 1890 to 1908 to disenfranchise most blacks and many poor whites, to exclude them from politics. The Renaissance opened January 1921. It was built and owned, until 1931, by African Americans. It was known as the "Rennie" and was an upscale reception hall. The "Renny" held prize fights, dance marathons, film screenings, concerts, and stage acts. It was also a meeting place for social clubs and political organizations in Harlem. Jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald performed at the "Renny". In the 1920s the Renaissance Ballroom was known as a "Black Mecca". It hosted Joe Louis fights. The ballroom was on the second floor of the entertainment complex. The "Renny" was a significant entertainment center during the Harlem Renaissance, and the New Negro Movement in Harlem. The "Rennie" was open to African-Americans, while some of the other well clubs in Harlem did not cater to African Americans. It was located in the Harlem at 2341-2349 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Minor creases, and a small ink scribble, in very good condition and scarce.

Seller Inventory # 17800

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Harlem fundraiser event at the Renaissance Ballroom for the first African-American to be elected to Congress from New York, Adam Clayton Powell
• Publication Date: 1968
• Seller catalogs:
  • Civil Rights
  • African American History
  • American History by Region