The Regal Theater and Black Culture

"This magnificent volume should be indispensable reading for students of African American and American culture. One cannot help but note that the cultural offerings of Chicago were brilliantly in evidence during the time the national spotlight was for so long focused on New York's Harlem. A landmark achievement."---Sterling Stuckey, University of California, Riverside

"In this exhaustively researched, skillfully crafted study, Semmes has vividly recreated the forty-year life span of black Chicago's cultural cornerstone, the Regal Theater. He admirably insures that this African American urban landmark will not be forgotten."---Robert E. Weems, Jr., author of Black Business in the Black Metropolis

"A fascinating study of one of America's most important theatre institutions and vital reading for anyone interested in American performance history and African American popular culture. A major contribution!"---Nadine George-Graves, University of California, San Diego

"An insightful look into the social history and community function of one of the most important and unique cultural venues in black America. This study opens the door to a comprehensive understanding of the past state of black entertainment as well as the deep-rooted popular appreciation and affirmation of black culture."---Christopher R. Reed, Roosevelt University; author of Black Chicago's First Century, Volume One, 1833-1900 and The Chicago NAACP And the Rise of Black Professional Leadership, 1910-1966

"An invaluable resource for students and seasoned scholars of black literary, anthropological, political, sociological, architectural, legal, economical, and historical epistemology as well as musical and dance productions. Reading this book is a journey through Bronzeville, the center of South Side Black Chicago."---Joyce A. Joyce, Temple University

Chronicling over forty years of critical changes in African American expressive and popular culture, covering diverse forms of music, dance, and comedy, the Regal Theater (1928-1968) was the largest and most architecturally splendid movie-stage-show venue ever constructed for a black community. In this history, Semmes reveals the political, economic, and business realities of cultural production and the institutional inequalities that circumscribed black life.

Clovis E. Semmes is a Professor of Black Studies and Sociology and Director of Black Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Professor Emeritus of African American Studies at Eastern Michigan University. He earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University. Semmes's teaching and research include the impact of systemic inequality on African American institutional and cultural development, the conceptual and theoretical foundations of knowledge in African American studies, African American expressive and popular culture, comparative urban communities, and health systems and practices among African Americans, especially alternative and non-medical practices. His publications include Cultural Hegemony and African American Development; Racism, Health, and Post-Industrialism; and Roots of Afrocentric Thought: A Reference Guide to Negro Digest/Black World, 1961-1976.