Picture from: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/HAR/HAR055.htm
"In 1920 heavy weight boxing champion Jack Johnson opened up the Cotton club under the name "Cotton Deluxe" on the corner of 142nd street and lenox avenue in Harlem. Owen madden, a prominent bootlegger and gangster, took over the club in 1923 while imprisoned in sing sing and changed its name to "Cotton Club". A deal was made between the two so Johnson could still be manager. This was a outlet to sell beer during the prohibition.After race riots in Harlem in 1935, the area was considered unsafe for Whites (who formed the Cotton Club's clientele and the club was forced to close from February 1936 until September 1936." [http://www.pbs.org/jazz/places/spaces_cotton_club.htm ) .
"The Cotton Club was a “Whites-only” foundation. The club reproduced the racist imagery of the times, often depicting blacks as savages in exotic jungles or as "darkies" in the plantation South. The club imposed a more subtle color bar on the chorus girls whom the club presented in skimpy outfits: they were expected to be "tall, tan, and terrific," which meant that they had to be at least 5 feet 6 inches tall, light-skinned, and under twenty-one years of age."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Club
"In 1920 heavy weight boxing champion Jack Johnson opened up the Cotton club under the name "Cotton Deluxe" on the corner of 142nd street and lenox avenue in Harlem. Owen madden, a prominent bootlegger and gangster, took over the club in 1923 while imprisoned in sing sing and changed its name to "Cotton Club". A deal was made between the two so Johnson could still be manager. This was a outlet to sell beer during the prohibition.After race riots in Harlem in 1935, the area was considered unsafe for Whites (who formed the Cotton Club's clientele and the club was forced to close from February 1936 until September 1936." [http://www.pbs.org/jazz/places/spaces_cotton_club.htm ) .
"The Cotton Club was a “Whites-only” foundation. The club reproduced the racist imagery of the times, often depicting blacks as savages in exotic jungles or as "darkies" in the plantation South. The club imposed a more subtle color bar on the chorus girls whom the club presented in skimpy outfits: they were expected to be "tall, tan, and terrific," which meant that they had to be at least 5 feet 6 inches tall, light-skinned, and under twenty-one years of age."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Club
Video from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgcJyZA-rrE