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Legendary Footprints: The Apollo Walk of Fame
Posted By The Editors | June 2nd, 2010 | Category: LDF Voices | No Comments » Print This Post
By Ralph Richardson
The Harlem Renaissance, which followed World War I and the beginning of the Great Black Migration, can be credited for some of the most important intellectual, cultural, political, and social contributions in American History. From W.E.B. DuBois to the Savoy Ballroom, from Hubert Harrison to the Harlem Stride Style, from Roland Hayes to Zora Neale Hurston. But no institution had a bigger impact on American life to come out of the Harlem Renaissance than the Apollo Theater, the venue whose stage launched the careers of dozens of black entertainers.
Now, that unparalleled record and influence has been memorialized by the establishment of the Apollo Theater?s Walk of Fame. Last month at a gala ceremony in front of the theater on Harlem?s storied 125th Street, six plaques were set in the sidewalk bearing the names of Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Little Richard, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Smokey Robinson.
?For me to have a plaque honoring me in front of the ApolloTheater is one of the proudest achievement of my life,? the legendary singer and songwriter Smokey Robinson told the Associated Press at the event. ?I started out at the Apollo and it will always be a home to me.?
This month plaques honoring Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin will be added.
The Apollo had several incarnations before the Jazz Age. It was first known as the Apollo Hall, a ballroom and dance hall when it was founded around 1866 by former Civil War General Edward Ferrero. The current building, which was designed in 1913 by the architect George Keister, opened as Hurtig and Seamon?s New (Burlesque) Theater.
In 1932 Sidney Cohen, president of the Motion Picture Theater Owners of America, bought the building. Cohen sold it in 1934, and the new owners renamed the hall the 125 Street Apollo. In 1934 Ralph Cooper, Sr. decided to do a live version of his already popular radio show, Amateur Nite Hour at the Apollo, at the Apollo Theater. Up until this point the Apollo was better known as a dance and burlesque theater. Cooper?s idea turned out to be a great one.
Ella Fitzgerald was 17 when she won the first amateur night. She sang the song ?Judy? and took home first prize and 25 bucks. From Ella, to Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan James Brown, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Mariah Carey, The Isley Brothers, Lauryn Hill, , and even the poet Jessica Care Moore, the Apollo has long been known as the stage where careers are launched, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Imagine America without the gifted artists who graced its stage and brought down the house. The Apollo theatre: ?Where Stars are Born and Legends are Made.? Amen!
Ralph Richardson is a filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn with his family.