Cotton Club, legendary nightspot in the Harlem district of New York City that for years featured prominent Black entertainers who performed for white audiences. The club formed the springboard to fame for Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, and many others.

By reserving Black talent for white audiences while excluding Black customers, the Cotton Club undermined the economic, social, and cultural gains African-Americans achieved during the Harlem Renaissance.

Jul 17, 2023 · One of the most famous was a problematic and heavily segregated establishment known as The Cotton Club or the Aristocrat of Harlem. The Cotton Club was initially owned by Jack Johnson, a retired Black prizefighter, and called “Cafe DeLuxe.”

Feb 23, 2025 · The Cotton Club was arguably the most popular nightclub in Harlem during the 1920s, emerging at the height of the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance.

Feb 17, 2016 · A cornerstone of both the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance, the Cotton Club was renowned for the caliber of its floor shows, which opened twice a year and featured some of the most important African American performers of the early 20th century.

Oct 29, 2009 · Harlem became a destination for African American families of all backgrounds. The Cotton Club, at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, was one of the most successful nightlife venues of...

Jun 27, 2023 · The Cotton Club was the riotous nightclub of the roaring twenties and the Harlem Renaissance, where African American performers made radical new breakthroughs in the worlds of swing, jazz and blues. The club burst onto the Harlem night scene at a time of political instability, when racial segregation was still rife across the United States.

Gangster Owen "The Killer" Madden bought the "Club Deluxe" from Jack Johnson, the former boxing world champion, and renamed the venue The Cotton Club. Madden was a sharp businessman who had spent 9 years in Sing Sing prison for the murder of Little Patsy Doyle.

Jun 8, 2021 · According to Harlem World Magazine, in the late 1970s, a new Cotton Club opened in Harlem on 125th Street. The name is the same and it also revolved around jazz, however it was not made in affiliation with the original.

The Cotton Club was dubbed “the Aristocrat of Harlem”. Established as an East Coast outlet for mob boss, Owney Madden’s bootlegged liquor, it was the largest, most elegant, classy club, exclusively for the white elite.