Ledger pages from the Apollo Theater
date: label: Date
content: 1934-1977
name: label: Created by
content: Apollo Theater, American, founded 1934
notes: label: Caption
content: Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theatre has hosted thousands of Black musicians, dancers, and entertainers across genre and decade. This ledger contains records of performances from Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, the Nicholas Brothers, Fletcher Henderson, Bill Robinson, Ray Anthony, Pearl Bailey, Louise Beavers, James Brown, Buck and Bubbles, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Sammy Davis, Jr., Katherine Dunham, Steppin’ Fetchit, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Billie Holliday, The Ink Spots, B.B. King, Nellie Lutcher, “Moms” Mabley, Buddy Rich, Bill Robinson, George Shearing, Noble Sissle, Ike and Tina Turner, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Ethel Waters, Teddy Wilson, Bessie Smith, and Josephine Baker, Al Green, Kool and the Gang, Sweetback, the Stylistics, Redd Foxx, Aretha Franklin, Richard Pryor, James Brown, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Johnnie Taylor, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Dance Theater of Harlem, Ballet Africa, Wilson Pickett, Curtis Mayfield, The Gospel Caravan, Nancy Wilson, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, The Four Tops, Dick Gregory, and many other performers and films.
label: Description
content: A ledger consisting of approximately 450 looseleaf pages with a record of musical and entertainment acts and films at the Apollo Theatre from 1934 - 1964 and 1969 - 1977 (the pages for 1965-1968 are not included). The pages are lined, with typed and handwritten notations in blue, black, and red inks. Each sheet has four holes punched along the left-hand margin, some of which have been reinforced with adhesive labels, indicating they were once housed in a four-ring binder. The format of the pages and notations varies slightly over time but most pages have columns to record: date, a note on the weather, name of the acts and films, afternoon receipts, evening receipts, total receipts, attendance, and tax. The first two pages are entirely typed, later pages have dates and column headings typed in red ink and completed by hand in various inks. Typed at the top of each page is [APOLLO THEATRE] with the month and year and at the bottom are total amounts for receipts, attendance, and tax. Some areas have been pasted over typewritten corrections.
place: label: Place used
content: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Amusements
label: Topic
content: Business
label: Topic
content: Comedy
label: Topic
content: Entertainers
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Finance
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Music
label: Topic
content: Musicians
label: Topic
content: Nightlife
label: Topic
content: Popular music
label: Topic
content: Rhythm and blues (Music)
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2022.93
objectType: label: Type
content: ledgers (account books)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown – Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Each page): 14 × 9 in. (35.6 × 22.9 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Overall): 14 × 9 × 3 1/4 in. (35.6 × 22.9 × 8.3 cm)