Jack Johnson, and the beginning of the Cotton Club

Jack Johnson,  a retired boxer opened up the Club Deluxe in 1920, though in the 21st century it is more prominently known as the Cotton Club. The club was opened up on the corner of 142 street and Lenox Avenue, in the heart of Harlem. In 1923 a famous gangster and bootlegger by the name of Owney Madden took over the club and changed it from the Club Deluxe, to the Cotton Club, though Johnson was still the manager. Madden wanted the club to sell his best brewed beer to the prohibition crowd upstairs while still having a jazz club on the bottom floor. Though the club was a “white’s only” establishment, there were subtle hints of colored people inside. The chorus girls and dancers for the shows were permitted to be colored as long as they fit a very string and specific criteria. Though the club was always success the prime years were from 1927-1931 when Duke Ellington’s orchestra was performing at the Club every night with special guest musicians like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie holiday, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, and Fletcher Henderson. The club was so successful it featured special “Celebrity Sunday’s ” that had special celebrities such as Judy Garland, Paul Robeson, Jimmy Durante, George Gershwin and Moss Hart.