Primary Sources: The 1920s: Pop Culture

One of America's foremost early twentieth-century African-American magic acts... This collection of 127 items includes letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

"The online collection consists of selected correspondence, financial records, contracts, and advertising materials from the Douglass Theatre's records in the Middle Georgia Archives' Charles Henry Douglass business records, and it documents the amusements available to Macon's African American population and the business dealings of this African American entrepreneur from 1912 to the 1930s. The bulk of these selected records feature the period between 1920 and 1929, and describe the sporting events, vaudeville, and films brought to the theater, as well as the efforts to ensure its financial success."

"Pathe News' coverage of Rudolph Valentino's funeral in New York City, August 16, 1926"

"In 1924 California’s Tribune-American newspaper ran a competition for its readers to write in with their most unusual dreams and the winning entry was made into a short film. This is Mrs L.L. Nicholson from Oakland’s dream of losing her baby, rowing across San Francisco Bay, picking up some fish, and eventually discovering her lost child in a most unusual place and in trouble with the law."

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA