# Club Harlem > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Club_Harlem > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Club_Harlem.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Harlem > Source revision: 1356959668 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Former Atlantic City, New Jersey nightclub}} {{about|the former nightclub in Atlantic City, New Jersey|other uses|Harlem (disambiguation)}} {{good article}} {{Infobox theatre | name = Club Harlem | image = Club Harlem 1964.jpg | caption = Club Harlem, 1964 | former_names = | address = 32 North Kentucky Avenue | city = [Atlantic City, New Jersey](/source/Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey) | country = United States | type = [Nightclub](/source/Nightclub) | opened = 1935 | closed = 1986 | owner = Leroy "Pop" Williams, Clifton Williams, Ben Alten, Cecil Randall | capacity = 900–1000 | coordinates = {{coord|39|21|35|N|74|25|47|W|type:landmark_region:US|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = USA New Jersey Atlantic City | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Atlantic City }} '''Club Harlem''' was a [nightclub](/source/nightclub) at 32 North Kentucky Avenue in the [Northside neighborhood](/source/Northside%2C_Atlantic_City) of [Atlantic City, New Jersey](/source/Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey), United States. Founded in 1935 by Leroy "Pop" Williams, it was the city's premier club for black jazz performers. Like its Harlem counterpart, the [Cotton Club](/source/Cotton_Club), many of Club Harlem's guests were white, wealthy and eager to experience a night of African-American entertainment. An elaborate all-black [revue](/source/revue) called ''Smart Affairs'', produced by [Larry Steele](/source/Larry_Steele_(producer)) and headquartered at the club from 1946 to 1971, featured 40 to 50 acts and was on a par with Broadway productions. Performers at the club included [Sammy Davis Jr.](/source/Sammy_Davis_Jr.) (who would also invite the white members of the [Rat Pack](/source/Rat_Pack)), [Dick Gregory](/source/Dick_Gregory), [Dinah Washington](/source/Dinah_Washington), [Bootsie Barnes](/source/Bootsie_Barnes), [Gladys Knight](/source/Gladys_Knight), [Teddy Pendegrass](/source/Teddy_Pendegrass), [Hot Lips Page](/source/Hot_Lips_Page), and [Wild Bill Davis](/source/Wild_Bill_Davis). Drummer [Crazy Chris Columbo](/source/Chris_Columbus_(musician)) conducted the club orchestra for 34 years. Club Harlem was outfitted with seven bars, two lounges and a main showroom seating more than 900. A cocktail lounge had room for 400 guests with continuous entertainment available. Club Harlem was the site of the 1972 Easter morning shootout of a [Black Mafia](/source/Black_Mafia) operative by three rival operatives, leaving five dead and 20 wounded, in full view of a show audience estimated at 600 people. The club closed in 1986 and was demolished in 1992. Mementos salvaged from the club are part of a traveling exhibition which has appeared in Atlantic City and other locales since 2010. ==History== Club Harlem was founded in 1935 by Leroy "Pop" Williams on the site of a dance hall called Fitzgerald's Auditorium.{{efn|Fitzgerald's closed in 1933.{{cite web|url=http://atlanticcityexperience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=7:buildings-and-locations&layout=blog&Itemid=11|title=Places in Prohibition Era Atlantic City|publisher=Atlantic City Free Public Library|access-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819080014/http://atlanticcityexperience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=7:buildings-and-locations&layout=blog&Itemid=11|archive-date=August 19, 2016}}}} Williams was a medical student at [University of Pennsylvania](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania) when he managed to acquire enough money to buy Fitzgerald's; he left college after becoming the owner of the nightclub. Williams gave the new nightclub the name of [the Manhattan neighborhood](/source/Harlem) because "a lot of black people live there".{{sfn|Waltzer|Wilk|2001|p=18}} The district, known as "Kentucky Avenue and the Curb", had become the home for African Americans in the racially segregated city since the end of World War I.{{sfn|Willis|2016|pp=97–98}} The new nightspot joined other popular black entertainment venues in the district such as [Grace's Little Belmont](/source/Grace's_Little_Belmont), the Wintergarten, and the [Paradise Club](/source/Paradise_Club_(Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey)).{{sfn|Willis|2016|pp=97–98}} Along with Harlem's [Cotton Club](/source/Cotton_Club), it was a place for the moneyed set to enjoy an evening of African-American entertainment.{{sfn|Simon|2004|p=52}} When the club opened in 1935, there were slot machines along with a basketball court on the top floor of the building.{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/1991-04-03/news/25778716_1_kentucky-avenue-club-club-harlem-club-patrons|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035009/http://articles.philly.com/1991-04-03/news/25778716_1_kentucky-avenue-club-club-harlem-club-patrons|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015|title=Benjamin Alten; Club Harlem Boss|author=Dougherty, Frank|work=Philadelphia Daily News|date=April 3, 1991|access-date=August 2, 2016}} In the 1940s the club became known as Clifton's Club Harlem.{{cite web |url=http://www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/playing-around/on-kentucky-avenue-a-celebration-of-atlantic-citys-historic-club-harlem|title=On Kentucky Avenue – A Celebration of Atlantic City's Historic Club Harlem|first=Alix|last=Cohen|date=February 21, 2016|access-date=August 2, 2016|publisher=womanaroundtown.com}} thumb|left|Club Harlem in 1940 In July 1940, Club Harlem, Little Belmont, the Paradise Club, and the [Wonder Bar](/source/Wonder_Gardens) were targeted in a midnight raid by police officers, accompanied by the newly elected mayor, Tom Taggart, seeking proof of illegal gambling activities.{{efn|Taggart began the action by calling 40 policemen into his office, strapping on a revolver and stating, "Come on, we're going places."{{cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/we-hope/clipnumber/75087/|title=Shore Mayor Conducts Raid|date=July 29, 1940|page=3|newspaper=Chester Times|access-date=August 28, 2016}}{{open access}}}} The police confiscated "three truckloads of gambling paraphernalia" and arrested 32 club owners and employees, then shut down the four clubs.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19400729&id=jactAAAAIBAJ&sjid=enEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3696,2286807|title=Mayor Leads Atlantic City Raid Squads|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=[The Day](/source/The_Day_(New_London))|date=July 29, 1940|page=12}} The next day the clubs were open for business as usual.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6144884/atlantic_city_raidsa_day_later/|title=Business 'Going On As Usual' After Sepia Night Life Circle Raids in Atlantic City|newspaper=[Pittsburgh Courier](/source/Pittsburgh_Courier)|author=Rowe, Billy|date=August 10, 1940|page=20|access-date=August 7, 2016|via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}{{openaccess}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2211&dat=19400803&id=WOZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FQMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1848,5269794|title=Night Clubs at Shore Raided|first=Russell|last=Caution|newspaper=The Afro-American|date=August 3, 1940|pages=1–2}}{{efn|The mayor conducted a second raid two weeks later of the Wonder Bar, Little Belmont and Club Harlem. This raid found no gambling equipment or patrons at any of these clubs. Upon raiding the establishments and finding nothing, Taggart's comment was: "I heard these wise guys were going to try to open up again."{{cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/we-hope/clipnumber/74981/|title=Atlantic City Mayor Revisits Three Clubs|date=August 10, 1940|page=19|newspaper=Hanover Evening Sun|access-date=August 28, 2016}}{{open access}}}} In 1947, showman [Larry Steele](/source/Larry_Steele_(producer)) introduced an all-black revue called ''Smart Affairs'' to Club Harlem. The elaborate show, featuring 40 to 50 acts including comedians, singers, showgirls, chorus lines, and dance numbers, was headquartered at the club through 1970, and also toured throughout the United States and abroad between the 1940s and 1960s, including venues in [San Juan, Puerto Rico](/source/San_Juan%2C_Puerto_Rico), [Adelaide, Australia](/source/Adelaide), and [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Canada.{{cite web |url=http://www.blackpast.org/aah/larry-steele-s-smart-affairs-1946-1971|title=Larry Steele's Smart Affairs (1946–1971)|date=5 March 2014 |website=BlackPast.org|access-date=August 2, 2016}}{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9umweXiDtgC&pg=PA78|title=Many Top Stars Have Been Featured in 'Smart Affairs'|journal=[Ebony](/source/Ebony_(magazine))|date=February 1960|page=78}} The budget for the "Smart Affairs" shows ran as high as US$35,000 per week. The shows were on a par with Broadway productions.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6080863/club_harlem/|title=A Man's Dream Mushroomed Into Country's Finest Club|author=Pitts, George E.|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|page=5|date=February 8, 1964|access-date=August 2, 2016|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} {{Open access}} ''Smart Affairs'' productions grossed between $400,000 and $500,000 annually by the early 1960s. Steele also founded the Sepia Revue and Beige Beauties chorus lines at the club. Entertainer [Lola Falana](/source/Lola_Falana) was discovered by Sammy Davis, Jr. while working in Club Harlem's chorus line.{{cite news|url=https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AP%5F%5FA7dTZpuMuW8&cid=3A599D9C0D4AF47E&id=3A599D9C0D4AF47E%211529&parId=root&o=OneUp|title=Future Parking Lot|work=Altoona Mirror|date=May 1, 1987|page=17|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910224308/https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AP%5F%5FA7dTZpuMuW8&cid=3A599D9C0D4AF47E&id=3A599D9C0D4AF47E%211529&parId=root&o=OneUp|archive-date=September 10, 2016}}{{open access}} In 1951 Williams and his brother, Clifton Williams, brought in other partners, including Ben Alten of the Paradise Club.{{sfn|Waltzer|Wilk|2001|p=18}}{{efn|Williams needed a non-African-American partner as he had plans to expand the club; at the time, banks were not lending money to African Americans.}} By 1954, Williams and Alten owned the Club Harlem and the Paradise Club, operating both under joint ownership.{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w78DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58|title=Entertainment|page=58|date=May 13, 1954|publisher=Johnson Publishing|journal=Jet|access-date=August 2, 2016}}{{efn|Pop Williams died in 1976. Alten continued to own the club until it was sold in 1987.}} The club employed 200 people in 1964. Its busiest time was during the tourist season from mid June to [Labor Day](/source/Labor_Day).{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6080917/club_harlem_open_for_season/|title=Atlantic City's Club Harlem Opens June 23|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|date=June 18, 1955|page=20|access-date=August 2, 2016|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} {{Open access}} Alten described the club's most profitable time as being between 1959 and 1977. On the weekends, between 20 and 25 buses from areas in the [Northeastern United States](/source/Northeastern_United_States) arrived, bringing guests who wanted to see the club's shows. By 1968, Williams began having difficulty booking some African-American entertainers into the venue. He wrote an open letter to baseball star [Jackie Robinson](/source/Jackie_Robinson), who had a regular column in the ''[Pittsburgh Courier](/source/Pittsburgh_Courier)'' newspaper. The entertainers in question did not want to work at venues catering to African Americans.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6080981/some_stars_unwilling_to_work_at_cafe/|title=Why Some Blacks Won't Help Others|author=Robinson, Jackie|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|date=February 24, 1968|page=24|access-date=August 2, 2016|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} {{Open access}} After the death of Pop Williams in 1976, Alten's new business partner was businessman Calvin Brock. Alten and Brock refurbished the club, but business was never as good as it had been in the past.{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-03-03/entertainment/26219003_1_sam-cooke-harlem-band-musicians|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230031550/http://articles.philly.com/1987-03-03/entertainment/26219003_1_sam-cooke-harlem-band-musicians|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 30, 2015|title=Harlem Nocturne: Requiem For A Club|author=Bykofsky, Stuart D.|date=March 3, 1987|work=Philadelphia Daily News|access-date=August 2, 2016}} ==Description== Club Harlem was outfitted with two lounges and a main showroom seating more than 900.{{sfn|Waltzer|Wilk|2001|p=18}} A cocktail lounge had room for 400 guests, with continuous entertainment available. The club was equipped with seven bars; the front bar alone accommodated nearly 100 people. Guitarist [Pat Martino](/source/Pat_Martino) recalled in his biography: "In the front room at Club Harlem you had two stages for two different groups. [Willis Jackson](/source/Willis_Jackson_(saxophonist)) would do forty minutes, and then [Chris Columbo](/source/Chris_Columbus_(musician))'s band would do forty minutes. They'd split sets all night long. And in the large back room you had singers like Sammy Davis with an orchestra. That was an incredible place."{{sfn|Martino|2011|p=28}} Weekends at Club Harlem started on Friday night, with the two bands alternating sets; the music kept going until Monday morning. ==Shows== {{Quote box |width=250px |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor= |salign=right |quote=For more than 50 years, the Harlem was the place in Atlantic City to see the best shows, hear the best musicians and have the best time. |source=''[The Philadelphia Inquirer](/source/The_Philadelphia_Inquirer)'', July 28, 1987{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-07-28/news/26197346_1_cecil-randall-club-harlem-casinos|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914160619/http://articles.philly.com/1987-07-28/news/26197346_1_cecil-randall-club-harlem-casinos|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 14, 2015|title=From Glitter To Gloom: A Painful Silence Has Descended Over Atlantic City's Club Harlem, Where The Biggest Names In Show Biz Once Jammed Through The Night|first=Don|last=Russell|date=July 28, 1987|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[The Philadelphia Inquirer](/source/The_Philadelphia_Inquirer)}} }} The club scheduled matinees, nighttime shows, late-night shows, and a 6 a.m. "breakfast show" during the summer tourist season.{{sfn|Waltzer|Wilk|2001|p=17}}{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=98}} The music played from 10 p.m. Saturday night to 6 a.m. Monday morning. "Celebrities, politicians, and tourists" often arrived in the early morning hours after the clubs on the white side of town had closed, and white performers such as [Frank Sinatra](/source/Frank_Sinatra), [Milton Berle](/source/Milton_Berle), and [Lenny Bruce](/source/Lenny_Bruce) would go up on stage.{{cite web|url=http://www.acmuseum.org/collections-exhibit/the-magic-of-kentucky-avenue|title=Kentucky Avenue Magic|publisher=The Atlantic City Free Public Library|access-date=August 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809011411/http://www.acmuseum.org/collections-exhibit/the-magic-of-kentucky-avenue|archive-date=August 9, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.acmuseum.org/collections-exhibit/the-magic-of-kentucky-avenue/32-club-harlem-kentucky-ave|title=Club Harlem|publisher=The Atlantic City Free Public Library|access-date=August 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809010925/http://www.acmuseum.org/collections-exhibit/the-magic-of-kentucky-avenue/32-club-harlem-kentucky-ave|archive-date=August 9, 2016}} Top-name black musicians also dropped by "to jam and develop their skills".{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=98}} Musician Kelly Swaggerty, who was with [Tadd Dameron](/source/Tadd_Dameron)'s band at the time, remembered a jam session with [Clifford Brown](/source/Clifford_Brown), [Art Farmer](/source/Art_Farmer) and [Joe Gordon](/source/Joe_Gordon_(musician)) that began at the Paradise Club and was continued at Club Harlem as the musicians wanted to continue playing.{{sfn|Catalano|2001|pp=71–72}}{{efn|A private recording of the performance still exists.{{sfn|Catalano|2001|p=72}}}} Long-time Atlantic City disc jockey Pinky Kravitz recalled that by 3 a.m., there were up to 1,000 people in line, waiting for the breakfast show to begin. In addition to the show itself, any celebrities sitting in the audience were called up to the stage and would perform.{{cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/we-hope/clipnumber/74956/|title=Action|date=July 13, 1998|page=53|newspaper=[Doyletown Intelligencer](/source/The_Intelligencer_(Doylestown%2C_Pennsylvania))|access-date=August 28, 2016}}{{open access}} Drummer Chris Columbo, who conducted the club's orchestra for 34 years,{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=98}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/04/nyregion/a-jazz-age-survivor.html|title=A Jazz-Age Survivor|first=Bill|last=Kent|date=August 4, 1996|access-date=August 11, 2016|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)}} remembered that the early morning shows were the most vibrant because the other clubs in town were closed and many of those who were appearing at them were now at Club Harlem jamming with the club's musicians. Johnny Lynch was in charge of the house band of 14 musicians, which was integrated. The band was well regarded among musicians. It was said that if you were in the Club Harlem band for the summer, you were a fine musician. Young men who wanted to become professionals often quit their regular jobs in summer to play with the Lynch band. The leading black entertainers of the day appeared at Club Harlem, including comedians [Dick Gregory](/source/Dick_Gregory), [George Kirby](/source/George_Kirby_(comedian)), [Moms Mabley](/source/Moms_Mabley), and [Slappy White](/source/Slappy_White); singers [Cab Calloway](/source/Cab_Calloway), [Billy Daniels](/source/Billy_Daniels), [Billy Eckstine](/source/Billy_Eckstine), [Ella Fitzgerald](/source/Ella_Fitzgerald), [Billie Holiday](/source/Billie_Holiday), [Lena Horne](/source/Lena_Horne), [Sarah Vaughan](/source/Sarah_Vaughan), [Dinah Washington](/source/Dinah_Washington), and [Ethel Waters](/source/Ethel_Waters); and jazz musicians [Louis Armstrong](/source/Louis_Armstrong), [Count Basie](/source/Count_Basie), [Nat King Cole](/source/Nat_King_Cole), [Wild Bill Davis](/source/Wild_Bill_Davis), and [Duke Ellington](/source/Duke_Ellington).{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=98}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=225}} Daniels first performed his [signature song](/source/signature_song) "[That Old Black Magic](/source/That_Old_Black_Magic)" at Club Harlem in 1942. Guitarist [Pat Martino](/source/Pat_Martino) has stated that as a younger man he would play at [Smalls Paradise](/source/Smalls_Paradise) in New York City for six months and then perform in the summer at the Club Harlem.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY74aRTMmbA|title=An Evening with Pat Martino |publisher=Dave Frank Master Class, accessed via [YouTube](/source/YouTube), 1 hr 15|access-date=July 29, 2016}} Racism, however, prohibited many of these performers from appearing at clubs on the south side of town, where white families lived. However, in the 1950s Frank Sinatra came from the [500 Club](/source/500_Club) to Club Harlem to perform with Sammy Davis, Jr., and sang with Davis, a member of the [Rat Pack](/source/Rat_Pack), back at the 500 Club.{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=225}} [Lonnie Smith](/source/Lonnie_Smith_(organist)) recorded a live album, ''[Move Your Hand](/source/Move_Your_Hand)'', at Club Harlem in 1969.{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Lonnie-Smith-Move-Your-Hand/release/712547|title=Lonnie Smith – Move Your Hand|publisher=discogs|year=2016|access-date=August 1, 2016}} Even in its waning years in the 1970s, Club Harlem continued to attract contemporary black stars such as [Harry Belafonte](/source/Harry_Belafonte), [Ray Charles](/source/Ray_Charles), [Aretha Franklin](/source/Aretha_Franklin), [Redd Foxx](/source/Redd_Foxx), [Marvin Gaye](/source/Marvin_Gaye), [Leslie Uggams](/source/Leslie_Uggams), and [Dionne Warwick](/source/Dionne_Warwick).{{sfn|Raheem|2009|p=150}} The shows at the club were choreographed by Larry Steele for many years, along with those of the nearby Paradise Club, and often featured "comedians dressed like clowns, plantation hands, and frumpy old ladies [telling] dirty jokes to start things off".{{sfn|Simon|2004|p=52}} A full [chorus line](/source/chorus_line) called the Sepia Revue featured 12 showgirls dressed in "black high heels, skimpy, sequined dresses, long boas and feathered headgear" dancing with more and more abandon as the "red hot" house band backed them up.{{sfn|Simon|2004|p=53}}{{sfn|Waltzer|Wilk|2001|p=17}} Another chorus line called Beige Beauties also performed artistic dance numbers.{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2211&dat=19520705&id=q9QmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4131,7722754|title=About the Chorines|newspaper=The Washington Afro-American|date=5 July 1952|page=8}} There was no applause at the club. Guests found long wooden sticks with wooden balls at the end called "table knockers" at their tables. Patrons were to hit the table with their knockers to indicate their appreciation of performances.{{sfn|Sokolic|Ruffolo|2006|p=67}} Not long after its closing, Alten, an owner of the club for 35 years, reminisced about the performers who brought the most guests to the club. He named [Gladys Knight & the Pips](/source/Gladys_Knight_%26_the_Pips) and [Sam Cooke](/source/Sam_Cooke) as the two acts who brought the most business into Club Harlem. Alten said the club prevented fights when Sam Cooke performed there by using "Sold Out" signs, which got people to leave without trying to fight to get into the performances. In the offseason, the club accommodated community fundraisers and teen talent shows.{{sfn|Raheem|2009|p=150}} ==Final years and demolition== Club Harlem was the site of the 1972 Easter morning assassination of the [Black Mafia](/source/Black_Mafia)'s "Fat" Tyrone Palmer, in full view of a show audience estimated at 600 people.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6115430/club_harlem_shooting_1972/|title=Four Killed By Gunfire In Drug War|date=April 4, 1972|page=1|work=The Cumberland News|access-date=August 4, 2016|via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}{{openaccess}} Four rival operatives entered the club and one shot Palmer in the face after the featured singer, [Billy Paul](/source/Billy_Paul), finished his opening song. Palmer's bodyguard and three women were killed in the melee that ensued, and 20 people were injured.{{sfn|Griffin|2006|pp=32–33}} Business dropped off after that. The club went into a steep decline between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s as the introduction of casino gambling on the Atlantic City Boardwalk pulled business away from Club Harlem and other nightspots located streetside. In the winter of 1986 it was purchased by a developer for $200,000–well below its valuation of $673,000–and shuttered; it had last opened for two weeks in the summer of 1986; it was the last of Atlantic City's major golden age nightclubs still in operation. When the club closed for good, owner Alten made it clear that the closing was not due to unpaid bills; he referred to it as "going out with its face up". There had been an effort to sell the property for some years. After the sale, many people expressed a wish to save Club Harlem. Atlantic City's mayor at the time, [James Usry](/source/James_Usry), was among those who wanted to preserve the club and took part in a private effort to do so. In December 1992 a [nor'easter](/source/nor'easter) struck the building, and the building was torn down. Fans retrieved the interior furnishings and vintage photographs before the demolition in the hopes of displaying them in a future museum. A historical marker on Kentucky Avenue commemorates Club Harlem. The building site is now a parking lot{{cite web |url=http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_brigantine/atlantic-city-longs-for-harlem-nights/article_878436f6-4104-11e4-b032-b35e350c434d.html|title=Atlantic City longs for Harlem nights|first=Donna|last=Weaver|date=September 20, 2014|access-date=August 1, 2016|publisher=Press of Atlantic City}} where the [Kentucky Avenue Renaissance Festival](/source/Kentucky_Avenue_Renaissance_Festival) is held each summer.{{sfn|Waltzer|Wilk|2001|pp=18–19}} ==Legacy== The African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey, founded by Ralph Hunter, and the Noyes Arts Garage at [Stockton University](/source/Stockton_University) are in possession of the mementos rescued from the club, including "costumes, posters, ashtrays, the neon sign", and a set of red padded leather double doors illustrated with full-size drawings of Pop Williams and Sammy Davis Jr.{{cite web |url= http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/arts_and_entertainment/features/club-harlem-revue-evokes-a-glamorous-time-in-a-c/article_5e9e64fa-d335-11e4-a83c-f3d7d1b3817d.html|title='Club Harlem Revue' evokes a glamorous time in A.C. this weekend|first=Sekia|last=Mangum|date=March 25, 2015|access-date=August 5, 2016|work=[Atlantic City Weekly](/source/Atlantic_City_Weekly)}}{{cite web |url= http://articles.philly.com/2010-02-23/news/25219026_1_teddy-pendergrass-exhibit-doors|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160403223655/http://articles.philly.com/2010-02-23/news/25219026_1_teddy-pendergrass-exhibit-doors|url-status= dead|archive-date= April 3, 2016|title=Hot Club Harlem Memories|first=Amy S.|last=Rosenberg|date=February 23, 2010|access-date=August 5, 2016|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer}} The museum has lent the artifacts to a traveling exhibition that appeared at the Atlantic City Public Library in 2010 under the name "A Pictorial of Club Harlem and the Way We Were". The collection, along with more than 100 historical photographs and newspaper articles, has also traveled to [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia), [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore), and [Newark](/source/Newark%2C_New_Jersey).{{cite web |url=http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/doors-of-atlantic-city-club-harlem-to-open-in-newark/article_fb7b7102-5047-11e0-85f2-001cc4c002e0.html|title=Doors of Atlantic City Club Harlem to open in Newark exhibit|date=March 16, 2011|access-date=August 5, 2016|first=Emily|last=Previti|publisher=Press of Atlantic City}} ''On Kentucky Avenue – The Atlantic City Club Harlem Revue'', created by [Adam](/source/Adam_Wade_(singer)) and Jeree Wade, who each performed at Club Harlem in different decades,{{cite web |url= http://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/theater/montclair-couple-bring-atlantic-city-s-club-harlem-back-to-life-1.1015900|title= Montclair couple bring Atlantic City's Club Harlem back to life|first=Gwen|last=Orel|date=May 14, 2014|access-date=August 5, 2016|publisher=[NJ.com](/source/NJ.com)}} made its [New York City](/source/New_York_City) debut during [Black History Month](/source/Black_History_Month) 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/ON-KENTUCKY-AVENUE-Revue-to-Begin-Performances-22-at-Stage-72-20131227# |title= ON KENTUCKY AVENUE Revue to Begin Performances 2/2 at Stage 72|website=Broadway World|date=December 27, 2013|access-date=August 5, 2016}} It plays every few months at [Stage 72](/source/Stage_72). The club served as one of the filming locations for the 1980 film ''[Atlantic City](/source/Atlantic_City_(1980_film))''.{{cite journal|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2001/70s-us-cinema/boardwalk/|title=Boardwalk Xanadu: Time and Place in ''The King of Marvin Gardens'' and ''Atlantic City''|first=Maria |last=San Filippo|date=April 2001|access-date=August 28, 2016|journal=[Senses of Cinema](/source/Senses_of_Cinema)}} ==Notes== {{Notelist}} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Sources== * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjUfAQAAQBAJ&q=lionel+hampton+atlantic+city&pg=PA72|title=Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter|last=Catalano|first=Nick|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-19-514400-0}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs3iBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|title=Philadelphia's Black Mafia: A Social and Political History|first=S.P.|last=Griffin|year=2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=0-306-48132-4}} * {{cite book|last=Martino|first=Pat|title=Here and Now!: The Autobiography of Pat Martino|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9SVGYWreVsC&pg=PA28|year=2011|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-1-61713-079-3}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSH8BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT225|title=Last Stage Manager Standing|first=Daniel B.|last=Morgan|year=2014|publisher=Page Publishing Inc.|isbn=978-1-63417-071-0}} * {{cite book |last1=Raheem |first1=Turiya S. A. |title=Growing Up in the Other Atlantic City: Wash's and the Northside |date=7 December 2009 |publisher=Xlibris |isbn=978-1-4500-0756-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Klne4LAiv0MC&pg=PT150 |language=en}} * {{cite book|last=Simon|first=Bryant|title=Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGf1kKoPUbIC&pg=PA52|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803744-6}} * {{cite book|last1=Sokolic|first1=William H.|last2= Ruffolo|first2=Robert E. Jr.|title=Atlantic City Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9a4db4FvecC&pg=PA77|year=2006|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-4904-0}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FoGKfZqdLlMC&pg=PA16|title=Tales of South Jersey: Profiles and Personalities|first1=Jim|last1=Waltzer|first2=Tom|last2=Wilk|year=2001|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=0-8135-3007-5}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2kvfCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98|title=Tappin' at the Apollo: The African American Female Tap Dance Duo Salt and Pepper|first=Cheryl M.|last=Willis|year=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-2315-3}} Category:Jazz clubs in Atlantic City, New Jersey Category:Nightclubs in Atlantic City, New Jersey Category:Defunct jazz clubs in New Jersey Category:1935 establishments in New Jersey Category:1986 disestablishments in New Jersey Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1992 Category:Demolished buildings and structures in New Jersey Category:African-American history of New Jersey --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Club Harlem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Harlem) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Harlem?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.