Globe Theatre

Vick and others incorporate theatre business.

I knew Samuel H. Vick founded a vaudeville hall and movie theatre on the second floor of the Odd Fellows building, and I knew he (and later his son, Samuel Vick Jr.) booked talent for his venue. I was surprised, however, to learn that Vick had joined with other Black North Carolina businessmen to incorporate First National Negro Theatre Corporation in 1926.

The theatre corporation’s purview was broad — financing, theatre operation, vaudeville development, film production, booking services, and standardized theatre plans. “In the case of the First National … the Negro banker and business man and the theatre owner or operator will join hands and will unite capital and experience in the promotion of the corporation.” S.H. Vick was a charter member and treasurer. “Movie King” Frederick K. Watkins of Durham, N.C., and William S. Scales of Winston-Salem, N.C., were also charter members, and notable Durham lawyer R. McCants Andrews signed on as legal advisor.

New York Age, 23 January 1926.

I have found little additional mention of the First National Negro Theatre Corporation and suspect it tanked during the Great Depression.

Harry T. Burleigh Glee Club at the Globe!

Harry T. Burleigh was a classical singer, composer, and arranger known for his adaptations of African-American spirituals. I have found scant documentation, but there appear to have been glee clubs named in his honor in several cities across the country, including Hampton, Virginia, and Dayton, Ohio.

Courtesy of an anonymous reader.

A nice and cozy place to rest.

The Globe Theatre

A nice and cozy place to rest and enjoy the pictures the night before or after selling your tobacco. The seating capacity is quite large enough to accommodate all our friends.

If you want to laugh and grow fat come see Fatty Arbuckle and Mack Sennett in their funny comedies. If you want excitement that will almost make your hair stand on your head, come and see Ruth Roland in Tigers Trail on Monday, Wm. Duncan in “Man of Might” on Tuesdays, Tom Mix’s Westeners and “Silent Mystery” on Wednesdays, Eddie Polo in “Lure of the Circus” and “Masked Raider” on Thursdays, and the great Wm. S. Hart features on Fridays and Fox Features on Saturday. Dispersed among these nights will be Pathe News, Pictorial Life, and regular and colored comedies. The program condensed is as follows:

MONDAYS: Fox Features, Pathe-News and Comedy.

TUESDAYS: “Man of Might”, Pictorial Life and Colored Comedy.

WEDNESDAYS: “Silent Mystery”, Pathe News, Tom Mix‘s Westener

THURSDAYS: Eddie Polo in “Lure of the Circus” begins September 25th and “Masked Raider” begins October 23rd. 

FRIDAYS: Wm. S. Hart pictures every Friday and good comedies.

SATURDAYS: A five reel features and good comedies.

The great advance in Pictures forces the General Admission to 25cts.

The show begins each evenings at 7:00 o’clock. Come early and see the first show.

The Williams Jubilee Singers, the Greatest Aggregation of Negro Singers in this Country will start at the Globe Wednesday, Oct. the 8th. Regular admission 50c. Reserve seats 75c.

TAKE NOTICE: Boys who are Boisterous and noisy are not wanted and we reserve the right to eject all such.

My thanks to a reader who shared this handbill for Samuel H. Vick‘s Globe Theatre, which likely dates to about 1920.

Singers lose their clothes.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 June 1922.

Two unnamed African-American entertainers, described as “singers of note and the highest priced among their race,” were robbed of their wardrobes before a performance at the Globe Theatre. Booker Dew and Sylvester Jones were charged with the theft, and Gussie Davis, Marie Wallace, and Maggie Jefferson with receiving stolen goods. Globe owner Samuel H. Vick, Allen Armstrong, and Noah Tate appeared in court as witnesses.

——

  • Booker Washington Dew — Booker T. Washington was a popular inspiration for names of African-American boys in the early 20th century. Almost universally, however, such children were named “Booker T.,” rather than “Booker W.” Thus, in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 602 Stantonsburg Street, widow Maggie Dew, 48, and children Maggie, 21, Alfred, 18, T. Booker, 14, and Mildred, 3. Booker T. Dew died 22 May 1923. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 July 1905 in Wilson to Jackson Dew and Maggie Thompson; worked as a day laborer; and lived at 602 Stantonsburg Street. Maggie Belle Rutherford was informant.
  • Sylvester Jones
  • Gussie Davis
  • Marie Wallace
  • Maggie Jefferson — perhaps, in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 Spring Street, carpenter John Jefferson, 68, and wife Maggie, 31. And/or, in the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Jefferson Maggie tobwkr 622 Wiggins
  • Samuel H. Vick
  • Allen Armstrong — in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: public laborer Allen Armstrong, 35, and mother Ellen Armstrong, 70, widow, cook. [Both were described as born in Texas, but other records indicate the more likely North Carolina.]
  • Noah Tate