South Central during the 40s and 50s was a time of burgeoning progress. Bon Bon paints the story of South Central as a place of jubilation. There were black doctors, lawyers, teachers, insurance companies, funeral parlors, and restaurants. You could find it all, in South Central.
Singers such as Billie Holiday sang at the Club Alabam and famous poets like Langston Hughes had shows at the entertainment clubs in the area. According to Bon, “if you came from any other part of the United States ,and you asked where did blacks live in LA? They would say Vernon and Central Avenue, that was like the crossroads…Vernon and Central Avenue”
click on the link to look at the pic: caption follows
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assetserver/controller/view/scl-mss064-0476~1
Photograph of the bar at the Club Alabam, where bartenders are serving drinks to customers. Club Alabam opened in 1931 and was located next to the Dunbar Hotel at 4015 Central Avenue (later renumbered to 4215). The club featured black entertainment for integrated audiences and was one of numerous nightclubs and theaters that flourished on Central Avenue until the early 1950s. In the early 1930s, Club Alabam employed 100 African-Americans and had a weekly payroll of $1,500."
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