page_title: Stork Club
section_title: Controversies
hierarchical_section_title: Stork Club / History / Controversies
caption_attribution_description: Photo of pickets at the Stork Club following the accusation of racial discrimination brought against the club by Josephine Baker. Identified are Walter White and Bessie Buchanan.
context_page_description: Stork Club was a nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. During its existence from 1929 to 1965, it was one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. A symbol of café society, the wealthy elite, including movie stars, celebrities, showgirls, and aristocrats all mixed in the VIP Cub Room of the club. The club was established on West 58th Street in 1929 by Sherman Billingsley, a former bootlegger from Enid, Oklahoma. After an incident when Billingsley was kidnapped and held for ransom by Mad Dog Coll, a rival of his mobster partners, he became the sole owner of the Stork Club. The club remained at its original location until it was raided by Prohibition agents in 1931. After the raid, it moved to East 51st Street. From 1934 until its closure in 1965, it was located at 3 East 53rd Street, just east of Fifth Avenue, when it became world-renowned with its celebrity clientele and luxury. Billingsley was known for his lavish gifts, which brought a steady stream of celebrities to the club and also ensured that those interested in the famous would have a reason to visit.
context_section_description: In early 1944, New York mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia ordered a check on the books of all major city night clubs. City tax accountants soon investigated the Stork Club, the Copacabana, and other city night spots. By July, auditors turned in a report claiming that the clubs were overcharging patrons on tax, sending the city the proper amount, and keeping the overbilled sums. On a Saturday in July, city officials arrived at the Stork Club with a court order granting permission for them to seize the club's property for the amount that was claimed to be overcharged as taxes, plus penalties.  The total for the Stork Club was $181,000. Billingsley, out of town with his family, was notified.  The club's employees refused to turn anything over to the officials, who were intent on closing it. Upon his return, Billingsley firmly protested that the Stork Club did not owe the city any money and was up to date on its tax payments. A compromise was reached: the club could stay open as long as a custodian for the city was allowed to be on the premises. Billingsley was eventually able to get a court order to eject the custodian, but the case dragged on for five years, costing Billingsley $100,000.
  On October 19, 1951, Josephine Baker made charges of racism against the Stork Club.  Baker visited the club on October 16 as the guest of Roger Rico and his wife; both entertainers were at the Stork after their theater performances. Baker said she ordered a steak and was apparently still waiting for it an hour later.  The controversy grew when Baker accused Walter Winchell of being in the Cub Room at the time and not coming to her aid.  Winchell was at the club; he said he had greeted Baker and vocalist Roger Rico as the two left their Cub Room table. Winchell said he was not aware of there being any problem, and left for a late screening of the film The Desert Fox. The next morning, Winchell's rumored failure to assist Baker was big news, and he received countless telephone calls. The incident blew into a major scandal and was widely publicized on the radio and newspapers. Mrs. Rico, who was part of the Baker party with her husband, said that Baker's steak was waiting for her at the table after she returned from her phone call, but the entertainer chose to make a stormy exit from the Stork anyhow. News accounts show conflicting statements from the Ricos.
  Along with that of Billingsley and the Stork Club, Walter Winchell's name was further tarnished by the incident. After leaving the Stork, the Baker party made contact with WMCA's Barry Gray, where the story was told as part of Gray's radio talk show. One of those who phoned Gray's program was television personality and columnist Ed Sullivan, a professional rival of Winchell's whose "home base" was the El Morocco nightclub.  Sullivan's on-air remarks dealt mainly with Winchell's alleged part in the event, saying, "What Winchell has done is an insult to the United States and American newspapermen." Winchell's column of October 24, 1951, provides the same details as earlier news stories about Josephine Baker's accusations that he did not assist her at the Stork Club. Winchell also printed a letter he received from Walter White, who was the executive secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the time.
  A New York police investigation of the matter followed the complaint made by the NAACP.  The police investigation found that the Stork Club did not discriminate against Josephine Baker. The NAACP went on to say that the results of the police investigation did not provide enough evidence for the organization to pursue the incident further in criminal court. Baker filed suit against Winchell over the matter, but the suit was dismissed in 1955. Walter Winchell later said. "The Stork Club discriminates against everybody. White, black, and pink. The Stork bars all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. But if your skin is green and you're rich and famous or you're syndicated, you'll be welcome at the club."
  Because of Billingsley's long-standing friendship 
caption: A group of pickets led by Walter White outside the Stork Club following Josephine Baker's accusation of racism.  Baker's friend, Bessie Buchanan, who was also a club guest at the time, is among those on the picket line on October 27, 1951.
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