q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS
What's New!
THE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
BHP HOME BEFORE AMERICA 1800–1936 1937–1957 1958–1980 1981–2000 2001–PRESENT

Explore Black History

Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.

✊🏾

Civil Rights

Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.

⚙️

Black Inventors

Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.

🏆

Sports

Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.

♟️

People

Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.

📍

Places

Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.

📜

Events

Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.

Enter a person, place, event, or topic.
MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

MORE →
BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Shirley Chisholm — Unbought and Unbossed

In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.

MORE →
BHP gathered finds from its connected research sources. Showing the 4 strongest Black History matches.
← BACK TO RESULTS
NMAAHC

Sign advertising Club Plantation

Date
1932-1940
Printed by
Unidentified
Subject of
Club Plantation, American, founded 1932
Caption
The Club Plantation opened on the west end of the block at 911 North Vandeventer on August 25, 1932 and was there until it moved to the Palladium Building in 1940. The club stayed open through the early 1950s.
The owners of Club Plantation were Anthony “Big Tony” Scarpelli (1899–1978) and his older brother, James “Gentleman Jim” Scarpelli (1896–1981), both gangsters in the St. Louis mafia. Tony was the public face of the club due to his brother's criminal record. He modeled it after the successful Cotton Club in Harlem, New York and other famous black-and-tans of the days. The Scarpelli brothers' club was the first St. Louis venue to offer top Black entertainment to a whites-only clientele. As a work-around for liquor laws, the club only sold food and provided ice, soft drinks, and glasses and the customers brought their own liquor. This also provided the venue a way to avoid the 1:30am curfew.
The club regularly offered shows at 11 pm, 1 am, and 3 am. The house band was a local one called the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra, that included Harry “Sweets” Edison, Clark Terry, Charlie Christian, and drummer Art Blakey. Other major jazz musicians also regularly performed at the club such as Jimmie Lunceford, the Mills Brothers, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, to name a few. The club also offered a line of chorines, known as the Plantation Dollies. All of the talent featured at the club were hand-picked by Tony Scarpelli.
CF, 1/2/2025
Sources:
Feldman, Carrie and Hannah Grantham."Showstoppers! Putting Chorines Back Under the Spotlight," https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/showstoppers-0. Accessed 1/2/2025.
"The Palladium Made St. Louis Music History; What Will We Make of the Palladium?" Preservation Research Office
Description
A sign advertising the segregated Club Plantation in Saint Louis, Missouri. The sign is printed on light yellow poster board and features black text and black-and-red graphics. Just above the center of the sign is a caricatured cartoon depiction of a man's head. Printed text in the negative on the man’s hair and forehead reads [Man / dat sho was / good!]. Above the man’s head is a rectangular red block with a convex bottom and upwards pointing arrows printed in the negative. The arrows point towards the name of the club printed in large, black, centered text at the top that reads [CLUB / PLANTATION]. Printed below the man’s head, in centered black text, is information about the club that reads [911 N. Vandeventer / St. Louis / 3 FLOOR SHOWS / NIGHTLY / STRICTLY / WHITE PATRONAGE ONLY / Franklin 7244-9605]. The text and graphics are framed with a thin red border with flourishes in each corner. The back of the print is blank.
Statement
Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
Place used
Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, North and Central America
Topic
African American
Blackface
Caricature and cartoons
Jazz (Music)
Nightlife
Segregation
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Racist and Stereotypical Objects
Memorabilia and Ephemera - Advertisements
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of J. Alex Rodriguez
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2024.114
Type
information signs
Restrictions & Rights
Unknown - Restrictions Possible
Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
ink on poster board
Dimensions
H x W x D (Framed): 21 × 11 1/2 × 3/4 in. (53.3 × 29.2 × 1.9 cm)
H x W x D (Unframed): 19 13/16 × 10 7/16 × 1/16 in. (50.3 × 26.5 × 0.1 cm)
Title
Object Name • Sign advertising Club Plantation
Record ID
nmaahc_2024.114
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
SIGN ADVERTISING CLUB PLANTATION
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1940s • 1930s
Name
Club Plantation
Place
Saint Louis • United States • North and Central America • Missouri
Topic
Nightlife • Segregation • Jazz (Music) • Caricature and cartoons • Blackface
Culture
African Americans
Geo Location
City • Saint Louis • State • Missouri • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America
Type
Signs (declaratory or advertising artifacts)
Online Media Rights
Unknown - Restrictions Possible

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Rights and restrictions shown above are supplied by the Smithsonian record.

NMAAHC

Flier for The Beastie Boys with Fishbone at the Hollywood Palladium

Date: Date

Description

MORE →
No preview image
NMAAHC

Bonz Malone - "The Slip Mahoney of Hip-Hop" The Palladium '93

Date: Date

Description

MORE →
NMAAHC

Program for the Negro Ensemble Company's 20th birthday celebration

Date: Date

Description

MORE →
No preview image
NMAAHC

Sign advertising Club Plantation

Date: Date

Caption

MORE →
TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

MORE →
TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who was the first African-American woman millionaire in the United States?

Madam C.J. Walker